Description: War Thunder is a next generation military MMO game dedicated to...
Artem Kamenisty
RETURN TO THE HEIGHTS
The mushroom was excellent. An unreasonably thick leg, a hat of such impressive dimensions that it will not fit entirely in every pan. They say about such record holders as if they were about apples: “poured”. You don't even have to touch it to know how tight it is. If only the worms did not have time to get to handsome forest. Although even with them you can put up with if their number does not go off scale. It turns out with an admixture of meat, that's all. Even those who previously turned up their noses just from a hint of such a treat, now they will gladly gobble up everything on both cheeks. Dramatically changed life quickly forced us to abandon many principles, including gastronomic ones.
Rogov climbed this slope not at all for the sake of quiet hunting, but he could not resist: he sat down over the handsome man, took out a thin flint plate inserted into a handle made of wood and tarred vegetable fibers, began to try on the base of the leg, but froze when he heard a suspicious noise. Below and to the left, under a low ledge, bristling with angular protrusions of wild stone, someone was walking. And his gait was not like an animal.
Crouching over the mushroom, Rogov lost the height from which one can see who is stomping there. But he, in turn, will not be able to see him now. And he is even in a worse position, because there was no sense from the ears: after all, Rogov did not make a sound.
He was in no hurry to get up. Of course, it's interesting to see who the devils brought here, but recent months dramatically changed life taught Rogov not to rush to show himself to the whole district without special need. Judging by the noise, there is not a single pedestrian, but a group. Maybe there were ten of them, and he was alone, and who knows who he is dealing with now and what is on their minds.
The situation was aggravated by the fact that Rogov knew for sure that none of his own should be here. A group of explorers, having gone deep into the eastern foothills, reached this place a couple of hours ago, and all the fighters were on the other side of the hill. Rogov, violating his own strict instructions not to move away from his comrades, climbed here alone.
It happened by accident. Initially, I planned to just go to the top and appreciate the views. But there the view was hindered by bushes and placers of gnarled pines, I had to cross over to the other side and walk farther and farther in search of a clearing with a convenient view. At the same time, every minute I told myself that here, another hundred steps - and it's time to turn around. But he did not stop at the measured one, all the time it seemed that over there, below, in a few meters, a bald patch suitable for observation began.
In general, I got unhealthy carried away and moved away from the top for a kilometer, if not more. And here I came across this mushroom, which made me sit down and thereby avoid the likelihood of being discovered.
Earthlings have not yet explored these regions. Too far from their lands - almost two days' journey if moving slowly. With the current pedestrian life - a huge distance. But where can you not climb in order to get hold of what they lack in life - metal. If at first they were set on at least the crappiest iron ore, now they agree to anything. Even if it's just soft copper. This is good for waxers, with a few sharp blows they turn a shapeless flint pebble into a stone knife blade, and people have long lost the habit of primitive technologies, give them completely different materials.
And who likes to cut meat with a stone?
There are plenty of difficulties in the way of obtaining metal. To begin with, in the entire settlement, only one person imagined what ore was, how it looked, where and how it could be found. The times are such that, whoever you spit on, you find yourself in an office worker, infinitely far from mining. It just so happened that in the part of the city that flew here, there were practically no industrial facilities and educational institutions with relevant staff and students. Sergei, or, as it is now customary to call him, Sfen, was formerly a candidate of mineralogical sciences, although this information is not completely verified, from someone else's lips, he himself modestly kept silent about the source of his considerable knowledge. But here, no one cares about the authenticity of diplomas and other "crusts" - if only they do not spoil it over and over again, and single mistakes are excusable.
Sfen did not seem to spoil at all. But not a single gram of ore was seen from him. At first, when they were just settling in, they pulled stones from all around for him. He examined them with an air of importance, then put something on a primitive composite map assembled from straightened pieces of birch bark. Then the day came when he began to ask to be given the opportunity to check out a couple of promising areas. Why not give for the sake of all the necessary things? Times are dangerous, so you can't let go of the most sloppy one alone, and even such a useful almost professor - and even more so. Armed escorts were assigned several times, and he spent a lot of time, but all efforts came to nothing, nothing of value was found in the nearby district.
Everyone desperately needs metal, and therefore the circle of searches began to expand. They collected more and more samples from more and more remote areas, then came the sorties of Sphene under heavy guard, lost days, worn out soles of indispensable shoes.
And one blank after another.
For all the time, not a kilogram of at least some metal was received. But in a couple of skirmishes they got three wounded, one of whom was so bad that they thought he would not get out. It seems that he has already begun to recover, but was out of action for several months, and it remains to be seen how this will come back to haunt him further.
Everything is bad here in medicine.
This time they went without any preliminary reconnaissance in the form of samples brought by hunters and other samples. One of the reconnaissance groups that were regularly sent to different sides to search for earthlings, I stumbled upon a tiny settlement, or rather a temporary shelter, where eight people vegetated. The poor fellows, having descended from the mountains almost naked and barefoot, first of all ran into the Waxes, having suffered considerable losses, then skillfully hid in the hills, changing their places of deployment as often as possible. They ate rhubarb, snails, frogs, squirrels and other animal trifles, while they did not use fire at all for fear of being discovered. In general, the state of the unfortunates was such that even though they howled, they attacked normal food almost with a tiger growl during the first days in the village.
Then they calmed down a little and told a lot of both interesting and not so much. Sphenes was interested in stories that in the area where they lived, there were the remains of some ancient stone structures and huge pits of clearly unnatural origin. He suspected that we are talking about abandoned mining operations. What was the first thing people were interested in? Most likely, metals so needed by earthlings. In general, the “chief geologist” did not have to go to lengthy persuasion in order to organize a long-distance expedition, everything was just “for”.
Artem Kamenisty
RETURN TO THE HEIGHTS
The mushroom was excellent. An unreasonably thick leg, a hat of such impressive dimensions that it will not fit entirely in every pan. They say about such record holders as if they were about apples: “poured”. You don't even have to touch it to know how tight it is. If only the worms did not have time to get to the handsome forest. Although even with them you can put up with if their number does not go off scale. It turns out with an admixture of meat, that's all. Even those who previously turned up their noses just from a hint of such a treat, now they will gladly gobble up everything on both cheeks. Dramatically changed life quickly forced us to abandon many principles, including gastronomic ones.
Rogov climbed this slope not at all for the sake of a quiet hunt, but he could not resist: he sat down over the handsome man, took out a thin flint plate inserted into a handle made of wood and tarred plant fibers, began to try on the base of the leg, but froze when he heard a suspicious noise. Below and to the left, under a low ledge, bristling with angular protrusions of wild stone, someone was walking. And his gait was not like an animal.
Crouching over the mushroom, Rogov lost the height from which one can see who is stomping there. But he, in turn, will not be able to see him now. And he is even in a worse position, because there was no sense from the ears: after all, Rogov did not make a sound.
He was in no hurry to get up. Of course, it is interesting to see who the devils brought here, but the last months of a dramatically changed life taught Rogov not to rush to show himself to the whole district without special need. Judging by the noise, there is not a single pedestrian, but a group. Maybe there were ten of them, and he was alone, and who knows who he is dealing with now and what is on their minds.
The situation was aggravated by the fact that Rogov knew for sure that none of his own should be here. A group of explorers, having gone deep into the eastern foothills, reached this place a couple of hours ago, and all the fighters were on the other side of the hill. Rogov, violating his own strict instructions not to move away from his comrades, climbed here alone.
It happened by accident. Initially, I planned to just go to the top and appreciate the views. But there the view was hindered by bushes and placers of gnarled pines, I had to cross over to the other side and walk farther and farther in search of a clearing with a convenient view. At the same time, every minute I told myself that here, another hundred steps - and it's time to turn around. But he did not stop at the measured one, all the time it seemed that over there, below, in a few meters, a bald patch suitable for observation began.
In general, I got unhealthy carried away and moved away from the top for a kilometer, if not more. And here I came across this mushroom, which made me sit down and thereby avoid the likelihood of being discovered.
Earthlings have not yet explored these regions. Too far from their lands - almost two days' journey if moving slowly. With the current pedestrian life - a huge distance. But where can you not climb in order to get hold of what they lack in life - metal. If at first they were set on at least the crappiest iron ore, now they agree to anything. Even if it's just soft copper. This is good for waxers, with a few sharp blows they turn a shapeless flint pebble into a stone knife blade, and people have long lost the habit of primitive technologies, give them completely different materials.
And who likes to cut meat with a stone?
There are plenty of difficulties in the way of obtaining metal. To begin with, in the entire settlement, only one person imagined what ore was, how it looked, where and how it could be found. The times are such that, whoever you spit on, you find yourself in an office worker, infinitely far from mining. It just so happened that on the part of the city that flew here,
Artem Kamenisty
RETURN TO THE HEIGHTS
The mushroom was excellent. An unreasonably thick leg, a hat of such impressive dimensions that it will not fit entirely in every pan. They say about such record holders as if they were about apples: “poured”. You don't even have to touch it to know how tight it is. If only the worms did not have time to get to the handsome forest. Although even with them you can put up with if their number does not go off scale. It turns out with an admixture of meat, that's all. Even those who previously turned up their noses just from a hint of such a treat, now they will gladly gobble up everything on both cheeks. Dramatically changed life quickly forced us to abandon many principles, including gastronomic ones.
Rogov climbed this slope not at all for the sake of a quiet hunt, but he could not resist: he sat down over the handsome man, took out a thin flint plate inserted into a handle made of wood and tarred plant fibers, began to try on the base of the leg, but froze when he heard a suspicious noise. Below and to the left, under a low ledge, bristling with angular protrusions of wild stone, someone was walking. And his gait was not like an animal.
Crouching over the mushroom, Rogov lost the height from which one can see who is stomping there. But he, in turn, will not be able to see him now. And he is even in a worse position, because there was no sense from the ears: after all, Rogov did not make a sound.
He was in no hurry to get up. Of course, it is interesting to see who the devils brought here, but the last months of a dramatically changed life taught Rogov not to rush to show himself to the whole district without special need. Judging by the noise, there is not a single pedestrian, but a group. Maybe there were ten of them, and he was alone, and who knows who he is dealing with now and what is on their minds.
The situation was aggravated by the fact that Rogov knew for sure that none of his own should be here. A group of explorers, having gone deep into the eastern foothills, reached this place a couple of hours ago, and all the fighters were on the other side of the hill. Rogov, violating his own strict instructions not to move away from his comrades, climbed here alone.
It happened by accident. Initially, I planned to just go to the top and appreciate the views. But there the view was hindered by bushes and placers of gnarled pines, I had to cross over to the other side and walk farther and farther in search of a clearing with a convenient view. At the same time, every minute I told myself that here, another hundred steps - and it's time to turn around. But he did not stop at the measured one, all the time it seemed that over there, below, in a few meters, a bald patch suitable for observation began.
In general, I got unhealthy carried away and moved away from the top for a kilometer, if not more. And here I came across this mushroom, which made me sit down and thereby avoid the likelihood of being discovered.
Earthlings have not yet explored these regions. Too far from their lands - almost two days' journey if moving slowly. With the current pedestrian life - a huge distance. But where can you not climb in order to get hold of what they lack in life - metal. If at first they were set on at least the crappiest iron ore, now they agree to anything. Even if it's just soft copper. This is good for waxers, with a few sharp blows they turn a shapeless flint pebble into a stone knife blade, and people have long lost the habit of primitive technologies, give them completely different materials.
And who likes to cut meat with a stone?
There are plenty of difficulties in the way of obtaining metal. To begin with, in the entire settlement, only one person imagined what ore was, how it looked, where and how it could be found. The times are such that, whoever you spit on, you find yourself in an office worker, infinitely far from mining. It just so happened that in the part of the city that flew here, there were practically no industrial facilities and educational institutions with the appropriate staff and students. Sergei, or, as it is now customary to call him, Sfen, was formerly a candidate of mineralogical sciences, although this information is not completely verified, from someone else's lips, he himself modestly kept quiet about the source of his considerable knowledge. But here, no one cares about the authenticity of diplomas and other "crusts" - if only they do not spoil it over and over again, and single mistakes are excusable.
Sfen did not seem to spoil at all. But not a single gram of ore was seen from him. At first, when they were just settling in, they pulled stones from all around for him. He examined them with an air of importance, then put something on a primitive composite map assembled from straightened pieces of birch bark. Then the day came when he began to ask to be given the opportunity to check out a couple of promising areas. Why not give for the sake of all the necessary things? Times are dangerous, so you can't let go of the most sloppy one alone, and even such a useful almost professor - and even more so. Armed escorts were assigned several times, and he spent a lot of time, but all efforts came to nothing, nothing of value was found in the nearby district.
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Chapter 1
The mushroom was excellent. An unreasonably thick leg, a hat of such impressive dimensions that it will not fit entirely in every pan. They say about such record holders as if they were about apples: “poured”. You don't even have to touch it to know how tight it is. If only the worms did not have time to get to the handsome forest. Although even with them you can put up with if their number does not go off scale. It turns out with an admixture of meat, that's all. Even those who previously turned up their noses just from a hint of such a treat, now they will gladly gobble up everything on both cheeks. Dramatically changed life quickly forced us to abandon many principles, including gastronomic ones.
Rogov climbed this slope not at all for the sake of a quiet hunt, but he could not resist: he sat down over the handsome man, took out a thin flint plate inserted into a handle made of wood and tarred plant fibers, began to try on the base of the leg, but froze when he heard a suspicious noise. Below and to the left, under a low ledge, bristling with angular protrusions of wild stone, someone was walking. And his gait was not like an animal.
Crouching over the mushroom, Rogov lost the height from which one can see who is stomping there. But he, in turn, will not be able to see him now. And he is even in a worse position, because there was no sense from the ears: after all, Rogov did not make a sound.
He was in no hurry to get up. Of course, it is interesting to see who the devils brought here, but the last months of a dramatically changed life taught Rogov not to rush to show himself to the whole district without special need. Judging by the noise, there is not a single pedestrian, but a group. Maybe there were ten of them, and he was alone, and who knows who he is dealing with now and what is on their minds.
The situation was aggravated by the fact that Rogov knew for sure that none of his own should be here. A group of explorers, having gone deep into the eastern foothills, reached this place a couple of hours ago, and all the fighters were on the other side of the hill. Rogov, violating his own strict instructions not to move away from his comrades, climbed here alone.
It happened by accident. Initially, I planned to just go to the top and appreciate the views. But there the view was hindered by bushes and placers of gnarled pines, I had to cross over to the other side and walk farther and farther in search of a clearing with a convenient view. At the same time, every minute I told myself that here, another hundred steps - and it's time to turn around. But he did not stop at the measured one, all the time it seemed that over there, below, in a few meters, a bald patch suitable for observation began.
In general, I got unhealthy carried away and moved away from the top for a kilometer, if not more. And here I came across this mushroom, which made me sit down and thereby avoid the likelihood of being discovered.
Earthlings have not yet explored these regions. Too far from their lands—nearly two days' journey if we were to move slowly. With the current pedestrian life - a huge distance. But where can you not climb in order to get hold of what they lack in life - metal. If at first they were set on at least the crappiest iron ore, now they agree to anything. Even if it's just soft copper. This is good for waxers, with a few sharp blows they turn a shapeless flint pebble into a stone knife blade, and people have long lost the habit of primitive technologies, give them completely different materials.
And who likes to cut meat with a stone?
There are plenty of difficulties in the way of obtaining metal. To begin with, in the entire settlement, only one person imagined what ore was, how it looked, where and how it could be found. The times are such that, whoever you spit on, you find yourself in an office worker, infinitely far from mining. It just so happened that in the part of the city that flew here, there were practically no industrial facilities and educational institutions with the appropriate staff and students. Sergei, or, as it is now customary to call him, Sfen, was formerly a candidate of mineralogical sciences, although this information is not completely verified, from someone else's lips, he himself modestly kept quiet about the source of his considerable knowledge. But here, no one cares about the authenticity of diplomas and other "crusts" - as long as they don't spoil it over and over again, and single mistakes are excusable.
Sfen did not seem to spoil at all. But not a single gram of ore was seen from him. At first, when they were just settling in, they pulled stones from all around for him. He examined them with an air of importance, then put something on a primitive composite map assembled from straightened pieces of birch bark. Then the day came when he began to ask to be given the opportunity to check out a couple of promising areas. Why not give for the sake of all the necessary things? Times are dangerous, so you can't let go of the most sloppy one alone, and even such a useful almost professor - and even more so. Armed escorts were assigned several times, and he spent a lot of time, but all efforts came to nothing, nothing of value was found in the nearby district.
Everyone desperately needs metal, and therefore the circle of searches began to expand. They collected more and more samples from more and more remote areas, then came the sorties of Sphene under heavy guard, lost days, worn out soles of indispensable shoes.
And one blank after another.
For all the time, not a kilogram of at least some metal was received. But in a couple of skirmishes they got three wounded, one of whom was so bad that they thought he would not get out. It seems that he has already begun to recover, but was out of action for several months, and it remains to be seen how this will come back to haunt him further.
Everything is bad here in medicine.
This time they went without any preliminary reconnaissance in the form of samples brought by hunters and other samples. One of the reconnaissance groups that were regularly sent out in different directions to search for earthlings stumbled upon a tiny settlement, or rather a temporary shelter, where eight people vegetated. The poor fellows, having descended from the mountains almost naked and barefoot, first of all ran into the Waxes, having suffered considerable losses, then skillfully hid in the hills, changing their places of deployment as often as possible. They ate rhubarb, snails, frogs, squirrels and other animal trifles, while they did not use fire at all for fear of being discovered. In general, the state of the unfortunates was such that even though they howled, they attacked normal food almost with a tiger growl during the first days in the village.
Then they calmed down a little and told a lot of both interesting and not so much. Sphenes was interested in stories that in the area where they lived, there were the remains of some ancient stone structures and huge pits of clearly unnatural origin. He suspected that we were talking about abandoned mining operations. What was the first thing people were interested in? Most likely, metals so needed by earthlings. In general, the “chief geologist” did not have to go to lengthy persuasion in order to organize a long-distance expedition, everything was just “for”.
And now they made a stop at the stream, where Sphen, as usual, will long and meticulously study the placers of stones in the channel and along the banks, and the rest will have to patiently wait for him. True, not everyone will be left idle, because Rogov, if possible, sent out scouts on four sides at each such stop. Having retired for a couple of kilometers, they high points surveyed the surroundings in the hope of spotting the fires of troglodytes and traces of ancient quarries. Even if you didn’t notice anything, it doesn’t matter. Any information about new territories is valuable.
So Rogov ended up in one of the reconnaissance trios. He appointed himself to it - after all, there is no one more important in the detachment. Sfen is in charge of only the research part, he does not delve into everything else. It turns out that right now Rogov himself is violating his order, hell knows how far away from the fighters accompanying him. It was not enough to run into big problems, then there will be laughter later.
Or bitter tears.
The invisible ones, which, thanks to the mushroom that had turned up, did not catch his eye, seemed to have passed by. After giving them half a minute to retire properly, Rogov cautiously and very smoothly began to straighten up, staring after them. And I managed to notice hunched, half-naked figures disappearing among the thickets.
Old acquaintances - waxes. He got a good look at five, but how many had already disappeared from sight is unknown. In appearance, they are not weaklings and are armed soundly, which means that they are not the most seedy tribe. Hunters who went for game, or warriors went on a raid. They have a glorious tradition of stealing the female contingent from their neighbors everywhere. Not in the sense of indulging or eating for dinner, but with the most honest intentions - they take you as a wife. He cracked the one he liked on the forehead, put it on his shoulder - and dragged the newlywed to hearth. This is usually where the wedding ceremony ends. Everyone is engaged in this without exception, you can run into serious resistance only in those cases when enough male defenders are inopportunely at home. So you have to wait until they leave, and only after that boldly declare for the brides.
A simple way to keep blood from stagnating, which is characteristic of a few primitive peoples. It was used with various variations in many regions on Earth, and in some places “bride theft” has survived to this day in almost its original form or as separate remnants.
Sitting down, Rog placed a dry pine branch on top of the mushroom. Some kind of disguise. He changed his mind about cutting off the handsome man, even helped him, sheltered him from greedy glances - after all, he somehow helped out. Maybe someone will say that it’s ridiculous to suffer such nonsense, but let him first live here for a couple of months, having sipped a lot of dashing before that, and then we’ll see how his views on stupid superstitions and everything that can be attributed to them change.
Rogov remained an atheist, but the mushroom that helped him out would not be destroyed. Wrong behavior for a man of the forest.
The former silence returned: apart from the chirping of insects and the chirping of birds, no sounds could be heard. To go down even lower in search of a glade convenient for review was sharply overwhelmed. Horns and so saw too much, it's time to go back.
Kirya and Kat were waiting at the top. The girl polished the bone arrowhead with slow movements, and an old friend was busy criticizing her work without a twinkle:
- If you suffer all sorts of nonsense, nothing good will come of it. Look at yourself: palms in such labor calluses that a young window cleaner in a women's bath will choke himself from the realization of personal inferiority; all covered in scratches, as if on dark nights you steal gooseberries; and the muzzle tanned to the envy of the indigenous people of Africa. A scarecrow from a scourge hut, not otherwise. So what did you turn your hair into? At least she combed out the straw, what a slob.
- Actually, this is not straw, but needles.
- Well, yes, the difference is huge, I don’t even know how to apologize for this.
- What did you catch? What am I doing here? She is here from every pine tree.
- Yeah, because of the heat, I suppose. But garbage doesn't stick to normal girls, remember that. Rogov, why are you so gloomy? Have you buried your beloved mother-in-law? Put all your money in roulette on blue, and then found out that there is no such color? Tell me.
- It's getting worse.
- Worse? Well, come on, we are listening, have fun with us, you are so funny when you say something with a serious look.
- You consider yourself a great humorist, but in fact you are primitive, like an employee of a cheap booth.
- Am I arguing? More complicated than you, of course, but not a cake, I admit.
- I've seen Waxes.
- Long away?! Kate picked up.
- And when would you have gone far? Kirya answered for Rogov. “Don’t you know yourself, he runs so that the legless easily overtake him. Rog, how many of them are there and what do they do?
- I saw five, but I didn’t seem to see all of them. Judging by the noise, there are no more than a dozen of them. Passed by without noticing. Somewhere to the east they were moving.
- Shantrapa or someone serious?
“The spears are wide, like those of the swamp tribes, but on the backs are something like backpacks made of a wooden machine and ropes. They look good, I've never seen them like this.
“Well, we haven’t gotten here before. It turns out that there are some other tribes here, not from our amiable neighbors. Didn't you see the coloring book? Or tattoos?
- Not. I was afraid to catch their eyes, sat out until they passed by, so I saw only their backs in the thickets. Get up, get back.
Sphene performed his professional duties: sitting on the bank of a stream, he washed the soil poured with the same wooden spatula in a wooden tray, after which he studied clean, pebbles shiny from moisture. Rogov, approaching, patiently waited until he got out of the water, and asked:
- Well, how is it?
- It's hard to say right now. But there are some prospects.
Did you find ore?
- Not really.
- Then what are the prospects?
- Somewhere nearby, the breeds are changing. Unusual picture. I mean different from the old one. Where we settled down, there is nothing interesting. Standard and boring classical sedimentary sequence: limestones, sandstones, siltstones and mudstones. All this may also be of interest, but not in our situation.
“But it seems like you came across ore there.
- Rare grains of hydroxides from nodules, such raw materials are rare there, even for one heat they have never been collected, and the quality is highly doubtful.
- You already said that.
"Then why are you asking?"
- Consolidating the acquired knowledge.
- It's commendable.
- And then. So what's wrong with the local breeds? I climbed over the hill, where they come to the surface. In appearance, they do not differ from ours.
- Right. Judging by the slopes of the stream, there are no geological differences from our places.
But you just said...
Don't confuse me, it's simple. Here, where we stand now, yes, there is no difference. But in the stream occasionally there are samples of rocks that I have not seen anywhere in our country. That is, the water brought them from the upper reaches.
- The river, along which we descended from the mountains, also brought a lot of things to the valley. And the waterfall has other rocks, you yourself said.
“There is nothing else there, just a steeply dipping sandstone bed. Very strong, silicified, so it remained a wall in the way of water. And those stones were also brought from the upper reaches, and I remember that you told how difficult it was to get out of there. And how far. The expedition to those places will take a very long time, and there will be difficulties with the organization of production. Well, if we're lucky, we'll find something there.
– The locals used to mine emeralds there.
“Emerald is an ore in itself.
- I thought that gem.
- Actually, it's just green beryl, that is, beryllium can be mined from it, and it is also a metal.
- Will we get beryllium?
“Don’t even think about it, we don’t have such technologies, and besides, the poison is the most terrible. With beryl, a lot of things can be found together. Rare metals, other gems, mica, ornamental and building stone. Everything is not what we need, although it is impossible to say for sure.
- How not? Rogov almost jumped. We really need metals.
Yeah, but not rare. By them is meant the group that we definitely do not need. At least in the coming years. Here, let's say, what are you going to do with niobium?
- I do not know. I have never held it in my hands.
– Have you heard about vacuum metallurgy?
- Edge of the ear.
"Can you fix it here?" On our wood-bone technologies?
- I doubt.
- Well, then why do you need tantalum raw materials?
- So all these rare metals are not so easy to extract from the ore?
- You think right. In this stream there are pebbles from igneous rocks. Small, well-rounded, so it was most likely brought from afar. But if there igneous bodies were introduced into our sedimentary strata, rich in limestone, good options may turn up.
- Imagine magma, a heated melt, in which there is nothing, the entire periodic table is present. And it is embedded underground between layers of sandstone and limestone. It turns out natural metallurgical production, sometimes it comes to the formation of deposits of relatively pure native iron. These are also known here, in the same Greenland. All sorts of options are obtained, including very uninteresting ones. But usually it doesn’t come to native iron, it’s still exotic, if it is formed somewhere, it doesn’t live long. But do not be upset, other options will suit us. Have you heard of Magnitogorsk?
- He is. Do you know about Magnetic Mountain?
- Heard. A metallurgical plant was built there because of her. rich iron ore, magnetic rocks and all that.
- And there are the same rocks as under our village - the sedimentary stratum. The same limestones with sandstones and other things. And large deposits iron was formed at the contacts of these limestones with igneous bodies.
- It's clear. It turns out that we need to rise to the upper reaches?
“We have no idea where exactly the places we need are located. But you're right, you have to go up and look at the bus stops, which is interesting in the creek.
“We saw Waxes over the hill.
- Did they see you?
- Hardly. Just passed by.
“We already knew that we could stumble upon them anywhere, so you didn’t tell me anything new. But you are in command of the detachment, so it's up to you to decide whether we go on or go back.
- Can you say anything other than general words? Well, at least some kind of guarantee to give? We came here for ore, not for adventure.
Sphene breathed in:
- I'm already tired of explaining that geology is an inexact science. It works with probabilities, not hard facts. There are positive prerequisites, and so far you will not hear anything from me.
“You know perfectly well that we need metal badly.
- Yes, Rogov, I understand you, but you understand me too: if he is not in these parts at all, then at least a hundred of people like me, bring in - it will not help.
Yes, I understand you too. We are generally on another planet, here our own laws, earthly rules may not work.
- Why do you think so? Our chemistry is the same here.
- Sure?
Are we still alive? What is a person in essence? Chemical reactor, that's all. Since the laws are the same here and there, the chemistry of the planetary interior does not differ. Here, look. See? Rusty patches can be seen in this piece of sandstone. The same minerals containing iron. In fact, it is also ore. But for us it is not suitable, the content is scanty. We have no opportunity to enrich such poor raw materials. But on the other hand, we know for sure that there is iron here. It is everywhere, we just need to find a place where we are satisfied with its concentration. That is, a deposit or even a small ore occurrence, with our requests, will last for a long time. We will definitely find it, the only question is timing.
Everyone wants to be faster.
– And me including.
- This stream can be called a river. In some places it spills four meters or more. This one can leak.
“Where it comes from, I don’t know.
- Okay, we'll have to go up, and there we'll think along the way. But if something is wrong, we will immediately turn around. They climbed too far from their own, became insolent. We can run into. There are only twelve of us, and how many Waxes are here is unknown.
- You can also run into the village.
- Here you are right. But here, away from him, running into more dangerous.
Chapter 2
Aibolit, the permanent cook of the detachment, conjured over the fire, watching the fish strung on twigs, all caught in the same stream. Here, its waters flowed in a gorge carved among piles of stones of various sizes. At one time, they did not slide into the channel of their own accord, breaking off the slopes of the hills squeezing the valley. The human hand is at work here.
The collective efforts of hundreds or thousands of people led to the fact that on the starboard side of the valley a long deep incision was formed. Miners of antiquity mined something valuable that came to the surface in this place. Having chosen easily accessible reserves, they were forced to begin to go deeper for the remaining ones, and over time a pack of useless rocks began to hang over them. I had to do extra work so that all this goodness did not fall on their hunched backs. Interfering soil was dismantled with picks and shovels, wheelbarrows, or somehow dragged down, dropping from a high river terrace. Over time, human activity led to the formation of an extended dump that blocked the way to water. But if she rose above this dam, then not for long. Too loose barrier, it’s easy to pierce through such new way, the level dropped quickly, leaving no trace of the lake.
Rogov, having settled down on a comfortable block, with a tiny balcony hanging over the waters of a stream that had spread widely in this place, was busy replenishing food supplies. In the absence of normal preservatives, it is not easy to store food in shoulder bags and baskets. Moreover, the basis of the diet of earthlings was the gifts of reservoirs and game, before developed agriculture they still have to plow and plow. So far, there can be no talk of any cereals and other products that can be easily dispensed with without a refrigerator. Fed up with rhubarb and the same boring roots of the most ordinary-looking burdock - that's the whole plant diet, it's problematic to fully live on this.
In general, on long trips, for the most part, I had to rely on pasture - after all, you won’t be able to carry much with you.
A piece of fishing line with a bunch of pheasant feather trimmings cunningly imposed, a hook and a stick broken out in the nearest thickets of the ubiquitous hazel - that's the whole fishing rod. The local fish can be deceived without any bait. She is not yet familiar with human deceit and is not afraid of it to such an extent that the most careless can be fed out of hand.
A wave of the rod, a feather fly falls near a boulder in the current, the jet picks it up, carries it past a stone, from under which a swift shadow is instantly taken out. Hooking, the changeable weight of a desperately fluttering fish, slowly, so as not to once again load the precious fishing line, the prey reaches the shore - and now Rogov puts his raking hand into action and, with notes of joy in his voice, informs Aibolit:
“They are big in this stream.
- Yeah, in the past it was a trifle, as if the capelin was underdeveloped. It’s good that Sfen didn’t find anything there, otherwise I would have bothered to gut and fry these fry. Listen, Rogov, you tell Kat to help me.
– What is it?
- Well, why all the time I am for a cook? The most extreme, right? In a good way, in fact, women always cook.
Kirya came up and clapped the permanent cook on the shoulder:
“Don’t burden our great leader with such stupid rubbish. And anyway, best friend of animals, do you know that the most famous chefs in the whole world are men? Do not trust? And you go to any decent restaurant and ask who their chef is. O! And this one is already ready, beautifully browned, I will take it for myself, I persuaded it.
- Where?! And the rest?! Removed hands!
– What are you, fish for almost best friend sorry? Yes, there is a whole stream of it here, you can’t be so greedy. Come to your senses, do not lose your human appearance because of such nonsense. Rogov, some kind of gloomy Sphen walks there. It looks like he's about to hang himself.
- Hardly. He is a life lover.
“In that case, it looks like we’re in for another meeting right here with a well-known gentleman named Oblom.”
- I do not know. There are a lot of rust spots on the stones. Sfen says this is a very good sign.
“Then why the hell did we get carried so far?” Without leaving the village, I could haul half a carload of this rust for him. Or is she something special? Well, like chronic prostatitis cures or marvelous visions with immoderate smoking causes. What's wrong with her?
– I didn’t think of smoking rust.
- I give an idea, use it, coffin your health. If it's not mine, I'm not sorry.
- Thanks to.
“Kate and I wandered through the forest, which is higher. I told her poems about platonic love and the exploits of the Vietnamese communists, but Kat is Kat, there is no more romance in her than in a toilet bowl. Here I am ruined by a nightingale, and she wanted to kill a pheasant, such an unusual woman.
- Killed? Aibolit tensed, suspecting that he would have to pluck and gut his prey.
- I didn’t kill a damn thing, he, carrion, for some reason was against it. Oh, I'll tell you how draped from us! Where are those ostriches.
- E! Kirya! You've already carried off the second fish! Removed hands! Got it already!
“Be glad that at least someone appreciates your stinking cooking.” you up coffin board I must thank you, but I do you a great honor. Well, Rogov, my studies in poetry did not prevent me from noticing some details of the landscape, and I think they are unlikely to make you happy. The fact that there are traces of bears, like cow dung in the native village of Kuzmich, is a trifle that you are unlikely to be able to upset. But the fact that there is a clearing with a large fire and the skulls of these same bears on sticks is already much more unpleasant. And I want to say that there are not only bear skulls. There are enough of everyone, including the worst ones.
Kirya nodded.
“Two human pieces, I won’t confuse them with anything.” But you can’t tell from the bones whether it’s ours or locals, because there shouldn’t be any differences.
– What else did you see?
– There is nothing more interesting, but the fireplace is fresh, totem poles are around, people often appear there. I'm talking about waxes.
- I understand.
- Dangerous place.
- Is not a fact. It may come in handy for us. In them, women are forbidden to look at totem poles, so glades with them are arranged far from the villages. That is, you can run into waxes here only if you stumble upon a group of hunters or on a holiday, when they come in a crowd to dance around a ritual fire.
- Oh, Rogov, you started to rejoice too early. Here are the swamp waxes of holidays - that of a professional alkonaut. That is, every day of the calendar is red. How they manage to fight in such cases and turn everything else around, I can’t understand. As for the locals, we don't know at all. Suddenly they have the same cheerful orders?
“We are waiting for the rest of the scouts, and no one leaves the camp a single step without my permission. And take out the knife, sit down and clean the fish, since you have already eaten half. Compensate for the losses caused by diligent work.
- O-pa! That's the news! This is why I need such an unexpected outfit in the kitchen ?! For a couple of some lousy fish?!
“He ate three,” Aibolit, who was vitally interested in helping, immediately chimed in.
"Shut up, unfortunate zoophile!" Eh, Rogov-Rogov, but I sincerely considered you mine true friend. And this is after I carried you out of such snows, where even Santa Claus himself tap danced with his teeth on a sunny afternoon.
“I don’t remember you ever wearing me.
- Don't be naughty, nerd. And give me a knife.
- You have yours.
“Mine is not good for fish. Better to clean with your nails than this squalor. Or are you so up in arms against me that you are ready to doom me to such torments?
- Oh, just back off. And hurry with the fish, it's time to feed the people.
Rogov found Sphena on a pile of stones, which he, one after another, heartily beat with a hammer. The heart bled, looking at this: after all, the instrument is heavy, iron, in modern times worth its weight in gold, if not more expensive. But with each such blow, it deforms a little and loses crumbs of precious metal flying away from microscopic chips.
And not only microscopic.
- So how is it? Successfully?
He shook his head.
“If all careers here are like this, then we have wasted our time. Everything is useless, complete zero, we are only wasting time.
- Is something wrong again?
Do you even know what they were mining here?
– No, but I think you will tell about it now.
Rogov, I was right. Here and the truth is the output of igneous rocks. More precisely, not quite here, in the sense, not in this very place. How can I explain to you… In general, yes, the local limestone was warmed up in its time so that it can no longer be called limestone. An increase in temperature or pressure for one reason or another can lead to rock metamorphism. There was limestone, and now another breed has turned out. There is no iron here, and we will not get hold of other metals either.
- So I did not understand. What exactly did they mine here then?
- Marble, Rogov. They quarried marble here. I'm even surprised, because it's not only not up to Carrara - it's not at all. We are embarrassed to use this dregs even for marble chips.
“Maybe there wasn’t another around.
- I do not know.
- And what, besides marble, is there nothing at all here?
“Don't you see what I'm doing?
- Breaking rocks.
- Subtle observation.
- And how are you doing?
“To be honest, I’ll cripple the hammer in vain, we don’t see normal ore here, as a bright future. Volumes are needed, not rare mineralogical samples.
“Give it up, we’re about to sit down to dinner.” The scouts have almost all returned.
- Not the best news.
- I agree.
“It’s even good that no ore was found here. Otherwise, before development, we would have to solve the issue with waxing, and we couldn’t even close it at home.
Sfen is 100% right. Despite the fact that the population of the village exceeded four and a half hundred, this did not remove the threat of attack from the agenda. Since the time of the latter, a lot of water has flowed under the bridge, but the combat detachments of troglodytes did not leave earthlings alone, roaming a few kilometers from the confluence of two rivers, where people from the cold mountains settled down. They were afraid to approach closer, because several times they were arranged for minor and major troubles, but they did not finally repulse the desire to feast on human flesh.
The management feared the worst possible scenario. So far, the waxes are divided, even within the same tribe, neighboring settlements can be at odds with each other for a variety of reasons: from the theft of a particularly fat bride, whom the loving leader had views of, to the unfair division of meat and bones of a jointly driven elk.
With other tribes, they could be in allied relations or be at enmity not for life, but for death, trade in simple goods, or simply ignore. But not so long ago, a situation happened when a relatively large group of people ended up in these parts. There were about four dozen of them, including well-armed men familiar with military affairs. They easily smashed several settlements and founded their own in the hope of sowing fields, wintering, harvesting and after that continue their long journey, bypassing some incomprehensible Grindir.
Unfortunately, the Waxes had other ideas about this. Waiting for late autumn, they gathered the warriors of several tribes and went on a raid under the cover of the lingering downpours that are common at this time of the year. The number of attackers and surprise made it possible to win a crushing victory. All the men were killed, only a few women and children survived. They were left as booty by the savages. But they did not make them slaves without rights, but allowed them to live relatively independently, paying for the saved lives with nets and primitive fabric - all this was made from local grass with strong fibers. Growing boys were killed, not allowed to grow up: the memory of warriors in iron and with metal weapons is too fresh. Let them come a little, but managed to shed a sea of blood.
Sphene made a mistake or made a simplification: in the mentioned region, the native iron deposit is located on Disko Island (off the coast of Greenland).
High quality marble from the Apuan Alps in Carrara. It is considered one of the most valuable varieties of marble. Known since antiquity. Great sculptors and architects have worked with him since ancient times.
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