Once, when behind walls of hotel the polar blizzard stormed, Kostin suggested Jim, Ignat and the ethnographer to look at a picture.
Kostin extinguished an electric lamp under a ceiling, included current in the device and in the twilight began to conjure.
Audience uvidat boundless ice-rinks of the Arctic Ocean, smooth as the surface of the frozen lake, with chaotically heated up ice blocks. The panorama moved, and Jim clearly imagined that he flies on the airplane and under it there pass the dead, snow spaces lit with twilight light. Here ice slopes – icebergs – with the hung arches, ice bridges which half fell, caves – and again a boundless smooth surface rise izjyazvlenny the sun, warm winds and rains… Here ice-covered, snow-covered rocky edges of some island rise. The polar bear looks back, turns the head up, apparently, looks directly at Jim and probably frightened by noise of aeroplanny motors, hurries to take refuge in coastal hummocks.
The island departures back – and again the desert, the snow plain endlessly and edges.
But here it began as though to turn around. Or the airplane a spiral rises up? The horizon extends, rises. Contours of coastal gulfs, bays, capes, islands are visible distinctly. Ignat learns and calls them.
And suddenly all this dead space recovered. From a lip to a lip, from a bay to a bay, from the gulf to the gulf, from the Continent to islands on a white background of snow the set of dark sticks, similar to Koch’s sticks as they are represented in bacteriology courses moved. It is, of course, already the animation imposed on film pictures from nature.
– If you could see through ice, you would uvidat such picture – the voice of the invisible announcer was heard. – These are submarines which carry out communication between separate points of the coast, polar stations, winterings, islands… And here the big stick separated from our coast and, crossing the North Pole, goes to coast of America. That moves the big passenger underwater ship making flights under ice between the USSR and North America…
Jim was stunned. How? These unruly people get even under ice of the cold Arctic seas? And there life, movement, work? Jim already got used that in a wild taiga and even in the dead tundra of the person it is easier to meet, than it would be possible to expect. But under ice! No, it is improbable! Of course, the submarine can float some space under ice. Jim remembers Vilkins’s attempts.
But it, Jim, want to assure that there is a regular, brisk underwater and subglacial movement…
– Submarines transport mail, vitaminozny products, medicines, furs, the radio equipment – the announcer continues. – We have no winterers who are cut off from the world for eight-ten months in a year now. In case of need each winterer can be transported to Moscow, Leningrad and is replaced by other winterer.
– Saw? Heard? – Kostin asks. – Well that! And if not all believe that underwater communication really exists, can admire a type of submarines outside and from within.
And on the screen images of submarines appeared, on appearance it is not enough what differing from usual, military.
– Never I would agree to work in the submarine, in cold water, under ice! – Jim told.
– Yes there warmly! – Ignat burst out laughing. – Look, the thermometer shows twenty three degrees.
– Nevertheless it is terrible – the ethnographer supported Jim. – As you will think that around ice water, and over the head, maybe, five-meter ice, so you and at thirty degrees of heat will tear a frost!
– A habit – Ignat objected.
– Correctly! – Kostin responded. – Whether here you want to have a talk with seamen of scuba diving? I will establish bilateral connection with the old friend, the captain of the U-246 submarine, and his team now.
It tinkered, jumped, and the pomerknuvshy screen recovered again.
On the screen the person of average years with cut moustaches and the cheerful blinked eyes appeared. On it there was a form of Navy.
– Kostin! You called me?
– To companion Yershov, captain of the U-246 submarine, respect! – the projectionist in the microphone answered. – My cohabitants according to number are interested in underwater communication. If you please, tell how it and that.
– It is possible to tell but only I do not like to spin in front of the televizorny device. Admired – and enough! I am switched off.
The screen went out, and at the same moment Yershov’s voice was heard:
– Now we will have a talk. Well what to tell you? How we seized subglacial transport? Not at once, of course. There were also failures, but about them will tell later. The fact the fact that seized; and seized because we are people persistent.
– Forgive, please – Kostin’s voice was heard because of the device. – You where are now, Yershov?
– Where? Where to me to be? Not on an oven, of course. In the submarine, as always.
– Under water?
– Under water.
– Under ice?
– Under two-meter continuous ice.
– And anything?
– Not nothing, and is excellent. We have heat, light-, comfortably. Clean air. Mechanisms work as a chronometer. Precisely according to the schedule we will be on the place.
– Well that! – Kostin told. – And we have that here such children who consider that it is worse than the submarine on the earth and there is no place.
– Yes they, likely, never were in the modern submarine? Would swim for a while with me, would tell other! – hotly Yershov exclaimed. – We have real underwater ships with the big tonnage and spacious passenger cabins. We photographed transfer of several thousand workers, engineers, technicians together with materials and bulky details of cars. Look how at us all this is organized.
Audience saw pictures on the TV again.
Before them there was a pure big bay protected from an impact of the drifting ices by a powerful dam. Ashore – the arc-shaped pier filled with numerous cranes. Near pier stood in a row as huge spindles, the underwater ships. Over water the black shining backs of these new, terribly big inhabitants of water rose only. On pier there were people in warm fur suits. They patted shaggy mittens, foot tapped legs. It was visible that there is a furious frost. But wet backs of underwater giants did not ice over. From them there was even steam as from the horses who ran on a frost there are a lot of kilometers. The external surface of the underwater ships heated up electricity. Above cases of the underwater ships open hatches were seen. There was a loading. Huge arrows of cranes highly flew by over the heads of the people standing on the coast, took freights in boxes, gave them to holds of the ships.
Jim arrived from the country of the advanced equipment. He saw constructions of large ocean ports, but what he saw on the screen now, struck it. Designs, the principles of loading mechanisms were as though the same. Another surprised: rates and coordination of work. Cranes moved silently and with such speed that the head was turned, looking at them. It was some chain of quickly rotating roundabouts. What power! What victory over friction, weight!
Jim gasped when he saw how the huge ten-wheel engine swept by in a roundabout, and he did not manage to disappear in a hold subsoil as it was followed by other, same heavy and bulky cars. Cranes stood on such distance one from another that the ends of their arrows could touch on the run each other if not the hour accuracy of the mechanisms rotating arrows in one direction.
Did not pass also several minutes as all freights were absorbed by underwater monsters.
The melodious sound was distributed, cranes instantly stopped, having extended the arrows in the direction of port. In several seconds landing of people began.
Watching them, the audience as though also made landing and fluently examined an interior of the multystoried underwater ship. There was everything that happens by big ocean steamships: both fine cabins, and pools for swimming, and platforms for games, and library, and auditoriums. But was also features in machines and devices much: laboratories for processing of sea water in oxygen; standard installations for creation of artificial climate; powerful cars for explosions and melting of floating ices; warehouses of underwater suits for big depths with a reserve of oxygen, drinking water, food and the engines allowing divers to float quickly in any direction across and verticals. Even devices and devices for geological researches at the bottom of the sea.
And in ways of loading, and in the device of the underwater ships there was a lot of “poetry” of the equipment that all were delighted.
The underwater ship went with a huge speed… The new port, some mountains covered with snow, the city, the plant… The young ruddy worker ascends to a station platform – one of many thousands of people transferred with unprecedented speed together with cars, materials for thousands of kilometers under ices.
Audience involuntarily deeply sighed, having ended viewing of this amazing, concerning movie. Yershov, having allowed the audience to recover, continued:
– We did not gather as some other, straight away to cross all Arctic Ocean. We began with coasting swimming. The first submarines could pass without rise on a surface only small spaces. We long and carefully studied a bottom of the polar seas, ices, undercurrents. Adapted submarines for subglacial swimming and improved them. We had drills with which it is possible to drill ice, and tubes for receiving external air, and good explosives. Also case durability increased by compression, the accumulators, a radio communication, radio lots warning about obstacles in a way were improved. At “station” we were expected always by a ready ice-hole – гидропорт. Here is how this business carefully accustomed. Also adjusted so that now risk any. Action radius everything extends. And already the first big passenger subglacial ships crossed the ocean from European to the American coast.
– And incidents after all were? And failures? – Kostin asked.
– The person also will not learn to go without to falling – Yershov answered. – There were also failures, there were also incidents. In the submarine all unfortunate incidents come down to the fact that it is impossible to emerge for some reason or other and the crew risks to choke. Was and with us such case when I on “Perch” swam – so called our submarine. This “Perch” got to an ice trap. There was a furious storm. Nervousness is such that our “Perch” even at a decent depth danced as the glass devil in a jar. It was necessary to fall even below. We had an oxygen reserve for about sixty hours, but nevertheless situation was serious. There is nothing to rise to the surface and to think: screws instantly would break in wild chaos of the rubbing, breaking, mixing up ice floes. But how many hours, days the storm still will last?.
We slowly moved forward, to the polar station – the purpose of our swimming. And suddenly – stop! A push from which all of us got. Somehow looked round, we see: we are in an ice cave. Perhaps, we went off-course and entered a cave which was formed in the glacier of some island which was going down in water; and maybe, it was also in an iceberg; and maybe, it just was an ice heap in shallow water. Anyway, it is necessary to get out of a cave. It was such size that the submarine could not be deployed. It was necessary to go carefully a backing. In a few minutes intense silence we felt a push again. Ice hammered an exit from a cave. We appeared in an ice trap. Us was four: I am a captain, my assistant navigator Chudakov and mechanics Shanin and Burmin. With them I swim also now. We began to confer what to do. Fortunately, the radio station was as it should be. From the polar station, by our calculations, we were nearby. We, of course, immediately wired the situation. But from the outside of special hope to assign it was not come to the rescue. First, storm. The airplane will not depart. And if arrives what he can make? With itself will not bring divers with the full equipment. And divers during a storm will not be able to work. From above to lay down a bomb? The bomb together with an ice cave and us could blow up. Ice breakers nearby were not and it was under our conditions difficult to expect the help from them. Here unless more powerful, than ours, the submarine could try to punch the ice stopper which corked our cave if this stopper is not really big. But also for this time it is necessary.
– I – say the mechanic Burmin – I will take with myself an ammonal charge, I will leave in a cave, I will put a charge in a stopper, I will fit wires and I will return. Let’s blow up an electric spark.
– What will turn out? – the second mechanic, Shanin objects. – All ice cave at explosion will collapse and will crush us.
– Perhaps will also not crush – the navigator Chudakov says. – We in water, and ice is lighter than water.
– We first of all should survey the place of an exit from a cave. Perhaps, the stopper absolutely is also not big. Perhaps, our submarine hit against the hummock which is carried away down by a storm – I expressed the opinion.
– To survey is the first business – Burmin, and behind it and all others agreed.
We quickly equipped Burmin, helped it to put on in a diving suit, fastened to it on a back the oxygen device, distances in one hand an electric lamp, in other kaylo and released outside via the special hatch. In half an hour we hear Kyle’s blows to the case: gives signals that we opened the hatch. Opened. We listen – silence. And then again ringing knock on the case. What there befell? It was come urgently Shanina to the rescue to send. Both returned soon. It appeared, at Burmin the electric lamp deteriorated. He somehow came across the submarine, and the hatch in the dark could not find in any way. The stopper, in his opinion, is not big at all. Just pieces of ice jammed. Burmin assured that he in one place even punched a hole. But there will be enough work at several o’clock and on how many, definitely you will not consider: can be, new pieces of ice a current will bring. There is nothing to blow up, so. Not a wall, and porridge, but as to clear up this mess – here a question.
It was necessary to work in turn. Pieces of ice were involved in a cave and rose up. It became close. Worked hour after an hour, cautiously watching an oxygen consumption.
Well, further I have to disappoint you. You wait for the description as there was not enough oxygen as all began to choke as at the last moment we were saved. Perhaps, it and would be more interesting to listen, but actually everything occurred differently. There was enough oxygen. Got out of a cave independently. But when there passed several knots, again all fell from a push. Really new ice wall? No, iron. We faced, fortunately, on small to the course, the submarine which arrived to help out us. It damaged a radio set and therefore she could not warn us about the arrival. This boat was it is precautionary the large supply of oxygen cylinders is taken. We managed to receive them under water. Both boats were defended, the storm did not stop yet.
Here and all story – finished Yershov.
– And how on the ice-rink threw out you? – Kostin asked.
– It and not a so interesting adventure! – Yershov answered.
– And you after all tell – Kostin was not appeased.