A. Belyaev - Classics fantasy – 3

– Why only on the equator?

– There the attraction of Earth is less, and the radius of rotation is more, so and centrifugal force works stronger.

Scientists already understood imminent danger. Great resettlement of the people from the equatorial areas to higher latitudes where centrifugal force was less began. But so far simplification of weight brought even benefit: trains could lift huge freights, there was enough weak-willed motorcycle motor to carry the big passenger airplane, the speed of the movement increased. People became suddenly easier and stronger. I tested this everything the increasing ease. Amazingly pleasant feeling!

Radio began to bring also more sad messages soon. Trains even more often began to derail on biases and curves of a way, however, without special accidents: cars, even falling under a slope, did not break. Wind, lifting clouds of dust which did not fall by the earth any more, passed into a hurricane. From everywhere came to conduct about terrible floods.

When the speed of rotation increased by seventeen times, objects and people on the equator absolutely lost weight.

Somehow in the evening I heard awful news on radio: in the equatorial Africa and America several cases when the people deprived of weight under influence everything the growing centrifugal force fell up were noted. Soon also the new terrifying news came: on the equator people began to choke.

– Centrifugal force breaks an air cover of the globe which was «attached» to the earth by force of terrestrial inclination – professor explained to me quietly.

– But… then we will choke? – with nervousness I asked Wagner.

He shrugged shoulders.

– We are well prepared for all changes.

– But why all of you made it? Same world accident, death of a civilization!. – I could not refrain from exclamation.

Wagner remained unperturbable.

– Why I made it, you learn then.

– Really only for scientific experience?

– I do not understand what so surprises you – he answered. – At least and only for experience. It is strange! When the hurricane blows over or there is a volcanic eruption and ruins thousands of people, comes to nobody to mind to accuse a volcano. You look at it, as at natural disaster…

This answer did not satisfy me. At me to professor Wagner the feeling of not goodwill involuntarily began to appear.

«It is necessary to be the monster, not to have heart that for the sake of scientific experience to doom to death millions of people» – I thought.

My hostility to Wagner increased as my own health more and more worsened and was from what: these awful, extraordinary messages about the perishing world, all this accelerating flashing of day and night though whom will enrage. I almost did not sleep and was extremely нервен. I had to move with the greatest care. The slightest effort of muscles – and I flew up up and fought the head about a ceiling – the truth, not really painfully. Things lost the weight, and it was harder and harder to cope with them. It was quite casual to touch a table or a chair, and heavy furniture flew away aside.

Water from a wash basin flowed very slowly, and the stream also deviated aside. Our movements became are gusty. Members of the body which is almost deprived of weight twitched, as at the cardboard clown set in motion by threads. «Motors» of our body – muscles – were too strong for the facilitated body weight. And we could not get used in any way to this new situation as weight decreased all the time.

Fima, Wagner’s housekeeper, was angry not less me. She resembled the juggler when she cooked food. Pans and frying pans flew up, aside; she tried to catch them and did the ridiculous movements, danced, jumped up.

Only one Wagner was in great mood and even laughed at us.

I decided to come to the yard, having only filled the pockets with stones that «not to fall into the sky». I saw how shallowed the sea – drove water on the West where probably it filled in coast…

In completion of all I began to feel dizziness and suffocation. Air became more rare. The gale-force wind blowing all the time from the East began as though to weaken… But temperature quickly went down.

Air thins… the end soon… I had such disgusting health that I began to think of what death to me to choose: whether to fall into the sky or to choke. It is the worst death, but I will watch to the end that will be with Earth…

«No, after all it is better to finish at once» – I solved, testing heavy suffocation, and began to take out stones from a pocket.

Someone’s hand stopped me.

– Wait! – I heard Wagner’s voice. In the rarefied air this voice sounded very poorly. – It is time to go down to us in a vault!

He took me by an arm, nodded to the-headed housekeeper who stood on a verandah, panting, and we went to a yard corner, to big round «window» in the earth. I lost the will and went dreamily. Wagner opened the heavy door conducting in underground laboratory and pushed me. Fainting, I softly fell to a stone floor.

I do not know whether long I was unconscious. My first feeling was that I breathe fresh air again. I opened eyes and very much was surprised, увидав the electric bulb strengthened in the middle of a floor, near the place where I lay.

– Be not surprised – I heard a voice of professor Wagner. – Our floor will become a ceiling soon. How do you feel?

– I thank you, better.

– Well, so get up, it is enough to lie! – And he took me by hand. I flew up up, to a glass ceiling, and very slowly fell down.

– Go, I will acquaint you with my underground apartment – Wagner told.

All room consisted of three rooms: two dark, lit only by electric bulbs, and one big, with a glass ceiling or a floor, I find it difficult to tell. The matter is that we endured, obviously, that moment when the attraction of Earth and centrifugal force made our bodies absolutely weightless.

It extremely complicated our travel on rooms. We did the most extraordinary pirouettes, clung to furniture, made a start, jumped, flew on tables, sometimes helplessly hung in mid-air, giving each other hands. Only several centimeters divided us, but we could not overcome this space while some smart trick did not bring us out of this unstable balance. The things shifted by us flew together with us. The chair «soared» among the room, glasses with water lay sideways, and water almost did not pour out – it gradually flowed round external walls of glass…

I noticed a door to the fourth room. There something hooted, but Wagner did not let me in this room. In it, obviously, there was a mechanism accelerating the movement of Earth.

Soon, however, ours «the interplanetary travel» terminated, and we fell on… a glass ceiling which from now on had to become our floor. It was not necessary to move things: they moved, and the electric lamp strengthened on a ceiling as it is impossible more useful was at us over the head, lighting our room in short nights.

Wagner really provided everything. Our room was well supplied with the air stored in special tanks. We were provided with canned food and water. «That is why the housekeeper did not go to a market» – I thought. Having moved to a ceiling, we went on it as freely, as on a floor though, in usual sense, we went headfirst. But the person gets used to everything. I felt rather well. When I looked down, under legs, through thick, but transparent glass, I saw under myself the sky, and it seemed to me that I stand on the round mirror reflecting in itself this sky.

However the mirror reflected in itself sometimes extraordinary and even terrible things.

The housekeeper declared that she needs to go to the house as she forgot oil.

– How you will go? – I told it. – You fall down down, that is up, faugh, the devil, everything was mixed!

– I will hold brackets in the earth, professor learned me. When we did not turn the heads down yet, we had brackets in that house, in a ceiling, and I learned «to go hands», grabbed them and went on a ceiling.

Professor Wagner provided everything!

I did not expect such heroism from the woman. To risk itself, «to go hands» over a chasm because of some oil!

– But nevertheless it is very dangerous – I told.

– Not as you think – professor Wagner objected. – The weight of our body is still insignificant – it only began to increase from zero, and absolutely small muscular force is necessary to keep. Besides I will accompany it; by the way, I need to take the notebook from the house – I forgot to take it with myself.

– But outside now there is no air?

– I have caps with compressed air which we will put on the head.

And these strange people, having dressed space suits as if they were going to fall by a sea bottom, went to a way. The double door slammed. I heard knock of an external door.

Lying on the glass floor, I pressed the person to thick glass and with nervousness began to watch them. Two persons in round caps, standing head over heels and clinging to the brackets attached to the earth quickly «went hands» to the house. Whether it is possible to imagine something stranger!

«Really, it is not so terrible – I thought. – But nevertheless it is the extraordinary woman. Suddenly it will begin to whirl the head?.» Wagner and the housekeeper proceeded in the same pose on steps on a verandah and passed out of sight.

They appeared back soon.

They already passed halfway as suddenly there was something what I grew cold with. The housekeeper dropped to bank with oil and, wishing to pick up her, broke and departed to a chasm…

Wagner made attempt to save it: he unexpectedly unwound the rope attached to a belt and, having hooked on it for a bracket, rushed after the housekeeper. The unfortunate woman fell quite slowly. And as Wagner a strong push gave to the body more bystry movement, it managed to catch up with it. He already gave to it a hand, but could not get: centrifugal force rejected its flight a little aside. And it separated from it soon… Wagner hung for a while a little on the dismissed rope and began to rise slowly from a sky chasm by the earth…

I saw how the unfortunate woman waved a hand… her body quickly decreased… The come night as a curtain, covered this picture of death…

I shuddered, having imagined her last feelings… What will be with it?. Its corpse which is not decaying in Universe cold will rush eternally forward if some star passing close does not attract this corpse.

I was so busy with the thoughts that did not notice how Wagner entered and fell near me.

– Fine death – he told quietly.

I clenched teeth and did not answer it. In me suddenly hatred to Wagner wakened again.

I with horror looked at the chasm which is spread under my legs and for the first time with extraordinary clarity understood that the sky – not blue space over us, and a chasm… that we «live in the sky», having stuck to a mote, Earth, and with the big right therefore it is possible to call us inhabitants of the sky, «inhabitants of heaven», than inhabitants of Earth. Insignificant inhabitants of heaven! Inclination of Earth, obviously, affected not only our body, but also consciousness, arresting it to Earth. Now this communication tore. I felt fragility of our terrestrial existence… Our consciousness arose together with the earth, in sky chasms, in chasms of infinite space, and in the same place it will die away…

I thought, and before my eyes something extraordinary was created… Stones came off the earth and fell up… The whole blocks of rocks began to come off soon… Day and night were replaced quicker and quicker… The sun rushed on a chasm sky, and there came night, stars rushed with the same mad speed, both again the sun, and again night… Here, in the light of the sun, I see how the fence broke and fell, having opened the horizon. I see the dried sea bottom, the devastated earth… I see that soon the end…