"THE PLANET OF STORMS" "Attention!" "Moscow calling!" "Moscow calling!" "All radio stations of the Soviet Union broadcasting a TASS announcement." "Three astro-ships of a Soviet space expedition "Sirius." "Vega" and "Capella" having travelled over 200 million kilometres are approaching Venus." "The cosmonauts feel fine." "They have come so far and die near Venus..." "We are still powerless against big meteorites." "I can hardly believe it." "I just talked to them." "Earth calling!" ""Sirius!" "Vega!"" "We are shocked at "Capella´s" fate." "We have faith in your courage." "Enter the sputnik orbit." "Investigate conditions on Venus." ""Arcturus" will be ready to take off next week." "It will journey for months." "Waiting is torture." "But you know the plan." "One ship remains in orbit with fuel." "Two land, for safety." "No one can land until "Arcturus" arrives." "Ships can´t land what about people?" "One alternative is for "Vega´s" glider to land... with Kern´s automat." "Let me land in the glider." "The glider doesn´t return." "I know." "I`ll work and wait for "Arcturus"." "I´ll, accomplish more than a hunk of steel." "Someone´s got to see Venus with his own eyes." "What if something happens to you?" "I won´t yell for help." "I´ll put that in writing." "My life is my own." "Mr. Kenrl" "We have a problem." "Half a minute!" "I can´t believe they´re gone." "They were lucky." "Instantaneous death." "Alyosha wants to land in a glider." "Why should "Vega´s" glider be used by someone from "Sirio"?" "We understand each other." "What´s it all about?" "Nothing special..." "Better to die usefully than wait for a meteorite to hit you or radiation disease to get you." " Earth won´t permit a landing." " It must." "Let´s figure it out." "Without considering the danger." "Risk is standard behaviour in space." "Figure it out with the help of your invention." "My firm has been waiting for a real work." "7, 12, 9," "Hello, John!" "Wake up!" "Yes, sir." "Dear John, give us the best plan for landing with return with only "Vega" and "Sirio" present." "There are seven of us now, including you." "Ignore the danger factor." ""Vega" remains in orbit with one man." ""Vega´s" glider lands three." ""Sirio" lands three, making six in all." ""Sirio" takes five back" "The sixth remains on Venus." " Who remains?" " I do, sir being dead and the havest." "Mathematics is pitiless." "A rotten plan." "A good plan, but dangerous." "Who remains in orbit?" "According to that plan I´m the only one." "No one else can process the information and transmit it to Earth." "I´d always hoped for something different." "I worked so hard for so many years." "Sputnik, then the Moon You Know!" "I hoped we´d be together." "What do you suggest?" "I don´t know." "The international association insists on the Robot." "It will a test for a whole trend in cosmonautics." "And I have to see Venus." "Don´t I have to?" "Another world." "We´ve sent automats there so many times in recent years." "We´ve studied the atmosphere, discovered oceans and continents measured the temperature..." "But the automats don´t tell us about the main thing." "Is there life there?" "Now man come himself to find out." "Get ready drop a beacon." "Surface pressure 2 and 3." "Cloud altitude 15." "Clouds of ashes above the coast." "Another carbondioxide centre." "A red glow can be seen through the clouds." "Thousands of new facts and nothing about the main thing" " who lives there." "Nothing living has yet appeared." "Perhaps the red glow is a lighted city." "It´s a dead planet." "Intelligence has already destroyed itself." "Who is right?" "Automats can never replace man." ""Sirius!" "Vershininh!"" "I don´t see a landing strip for "Sirio"." "Shall we change the place?" "No, the assignment is to land here." "I have a suggestion." "We don´t need "Arcturus"" "From one kilometre altitude the glider will find you a landing strip." " What if it doesn´t?" " They´ll put up statues to us." "Who´ll be the glider crew?" "Kern. the Robot, myself." "Masha remains in orbit." "We´ll leave the Robot on Venus." " You´ve got it all figured out!" " Long ago." "I wish I were with them." "It´s reckless!" "Prepare a well-substantiated report to headquarters." "Perhaps we´ll get permission." " Ready?" " Yes." "GO!" "I envy you, Shckerba..." "You too, Allan Kern..." "I understand you captain" "Good luck, friends!" "They´re approaching." "Storm clouds..." "Lightning." "We´re turning the controls over to John." "A sheer cliff ahead." "I´m climbing" "Clouds on the ground." "We´re using the locator." "It´s bad so far." "Here´s a flat strip in a hollow." "Hard ground..." "Good for landing" "We´re dropping the beacon." "Land in square 73" "We´re being carried away There´s water below..." "We´ll land in a swamp." "Projecting rocks." "Chandes of destruction 90%" "I´m landing." "Calm down, Masha." "They´ve landed." "We got an image on the screen." "We´ll contact them at the next turn." "Shcherba!" "Hello!" "Kern!" "¡Shcherba!" "¡Kern!" "... ¡Hola!" "It looks bad." "Get ready." "We´ll land now." "It´s calmer at night." "Square 73" "Masha, we´re going to land" "Masha, we´re going to land" "You´re remaining all alone in space." "Masha, dear." "Watch us with the locator." "You know what to do." "I know..." "If we lose our lives, keep yourself in hand." "I understand!" "May I cut the connection now?" "You may, my dear..." "It´s hardest for the one who´s alone." "Earth!" "Flight headquarters permits..." "...you to return at any time." "People are what counts." "We wish you luck." "The whole country is with you." "Earth!" "Headquarters!" "We´re landing as planned." "Landing square 73 chosen by glider." "We assure the Soviet government, Party and people that we´ll do all we can to justify their trust in us." "If anything goes wrong, help Masha." "She´s alone." "Ilya, it´s time." "I´m removing the aerial." "Switching on the automat." "Square 73." "Direct course by beacon." "So this is Venus!" "Square 73." "What a strong downward pull!" "Not used to it." "Hand land!" "Our scouts chose well." "We´re standing!" "Feels like the Earth." "I´m lifting the shades." "Give us some light, Roman." "A dense fog." "Let´s look around with a locator." "There´s a cliff 200 metres away and some sort of protuberance here..." "I´ll switch on the outside microphones." "Hear that?" "What can it be?" "Let´s not lose time." "Use the infra-red viewer and locators." "Then we´ll transmit to Earth." "Do everything according to first plan." "When Masha emerges on the horizon..." "...inform her we´ve landed." "Oh, I´ll boast!" "We´ll boast when we´ve rescued the others." "Do we start at dawn?" "Yes, at 6 a.m." "I´m standing!" "May I walk a few steps?" "Careful, feel your way." "An ordinary stone... ordinary water..." "I can hardly believe it." "Alyosha, turn back." " Masha found the glider." " Are they alive?" "She located tow metal objects." "One is moving..." "Robot, probably" " No word?" " The radio may have broken." " Alive?" " Alive!" "The space suit´s whole." "I´ll photograph it." "There´s life here." "That´s the important thing." "You´re in too much of a hurry." "We´re just in time." " How´d you find out?" " We heard a shouts." " So did I" " Strange!" "Anything´s possible on Venus." "What else did Masha say?" "I was so worried about you all." "I´m so happy." "I sang songs and then I flew about the cabin." "I took off my magnetized shoes and flew." "We´d like details." "Sorry, I lost my head." "They´re in the square beyond the red glow" "That´s 32 km away from you across the gulf." "Get the cross country car ready." "That´s a long distance for it." "What do you suggest?" "Not to land on Venus in gliders." "Are they alive?" "Couldn´t the Robot have begun to move by itself?" "I understand you." "It could not have." "It wasn´t assembled." "They assembled it there." "Stop!" "Imps of the devil!" "Hol on another minute." "That was some blow, John." "Course 110." "Base, yourselves on the cliff." "Stretch a cable across." "Yes, sir." "Ordinary men cannot conquer these wild planets." "Steel men are better suited." "A small tank would be more practical." "A man is more attractive." "You go first." "I´ll help." " Shall we stop?" " Yes, let´s look around." "There´s another one!" "Looks like a brontosaurus" "I´ll get a blood sample" "Careful!" "And measure his temperature." "He´s only just realized." "What did Masha say?" "The Robot is moving towards us, but slowly." "Don´t hurry." "There´s oxygen for only 24 hours." "They must be looking for us." "Coming this way." "Through this hell?" "No!" "People are natural cowards and egoists." "People are natural friends!" "We´ve caught malaria." "Infection has got in." "We´ve torn our suits badly." "Let´s take some quinocillin." "We´ve no time to lie down afterwards as prescribed." "It will pass." "Come on." "How far is it to the other shore?" "10 km, across the gulf, 70 around it." " Listen." " Let´s sit down." "The same voice." "A squid of some sort." "There are plenty of vermin around." " It´s a human being." " A woman, perhaps?" "You´d better recall Darwin!" "How can Man appear in the dinosaur period?" " We´re here." " We flew here." "Alyosha´s right." "Man is a space flier." "There you go again." "Darwin´s theory applies to." "Mans evolution and pot to his distribution among the planets." "That´s in Tsiolkovsky´s field." "I wonder why they keep you in the Academy of Sciences." "We´re the first arrivals from Earth" "But there may have been others before us." "There´s too much water from above." "My mechanism is in danger." "I need shelter." "All right, John, find a cave." "I can´t stand it any more!" "Take yourself in hand!" "We can´t stop here." "We´ll be washed away." "Hold on." "Just a little longer..." "Hey, John!" "I´m in a cave." "Lighting 3.2 Luxe." "You´re a fine mathematician." "I feel I´m losing my mind." "By mathematical laws there will be a world government..." "A world government..." "World advantage..." "World science..." "No, Masha, they won´t miss us." ""Sirio"..." "You can reach "Sirio" by car in 37.2 minutes over a concrete road." "Bad news from Masha." "The Robot´s disappeared." "Look for them." "Maybe you´ll hear their helmet phones." "I got them." "It´s the Robot." "He´s talking nonsense." "Listen!" "...the coast of building a road to "Sirio" at Smith prices will be 57 million dollars." "The machine is obviously not controlled by anyone." "Listen you, Iron John..." "The devil´s doll doesn´t answer." "The Robot reacts only if polietely addressed." "The egg head!" "Dear John, please reply to us." "Audibility 46,5%." "Where are your masters?" "No masters." "Slaveholding is forbidden by the Constitution." "I am a free, thinking machine." "Describe your companions position." "Horizontal position." " Where are you?" " Beneath a stone archway." "They´re in a cave." "That´s why Masha couldn´t locate them." "Dear John, what are your companions talking about?" "About Masha, about the world government in witch I´ll be Prime Minister." " They´re delirious." " Malaria." "Something must be done at once." "John, take quinocillin from the kit..." "Quinocillin - tube No.2" "9:15." "Transmitted all data..." "...collected by "Sirio" to Earth." "1:30." "Passed over car." "They were entering the sea." "Something is flying towards us on the right." "Changing form, rather solid." "Looks like a pterodactylus." "Pull down your helmets!" "It´s dangerous." " Did you get a photograph?" " Yes." "Then fire the gun." "The mechanism´s jammed." "A flying animal is attacking." "A heavy blow." "Transmit to Earth." "What happened?" "Transmit what?" " Ready?" " Ready." "They´ve disappeared." "This car´s not meant for underwater." "It´s the end for them." "If their space suits are whole they´ll get out." "What if they´re hurt?" "But if I land we won´t be able to return to Earth." "Still, I must land." "I can land at the next turn." "In an hour´s time." "A whole hour to wait!" "I must think ir out." "The Earth..." "Millions of people worked making a pyramid to sky of their work." "They placed us on the summit, trusted us." "Now everything depends on me alone." "And I don´t know what to do." "The instructions forbid withdrawal form orbit." "If I land, return to Earth becomes impossible." "But why save fuel if the men are dying?" "The instructions could not foresee everything." "My heart tells me they need me more." "I must inform Earth." "How hard it is to speak calmly." "Let them listen to my last recording." "The instrucions couldn´t foresee everything..." "My heart tells me they need me more..." "Hello! "Vega"!" "Masha Ivanova!" "Masha Ivanova!" "Earth is with you." "Take yourself in hand!" "Do not withdraw from orbit." "All will be lost!" "Have courage!" "Earth asks you." "Your Earth!" "My Earth!" "Wait for them in orbit, or all will be lost." "What shall I do?" "My time is nearly up." "I must decide." "I cannot!" "It was easier to sink the car than to drag it." "What resistance!" "Let´s rest for a little while." "Interesting boulders." "I´ll take a look." "Very much like ours." "Conditions resemble ours." "Surely, nature could not have made such an even row of cliffs." "What if it is a sunken city?" "Gave me a fright!" "An entrance?" "Interesting!" "Hope the owners are out." "What a strange triangular stone!" "I´ll take ir along." "Look at this!" " What is it?" " A Petrified dragon." "Perhaps it´s made of stone?" "Made?" "What are you saying?" "An eye!" "It´s ruby!" "Put in by a rational being!" "Hand me the buoy" "Volcanic pourus iron is oxidizing and stealing oxygen from the air." "Man can change that" "Want to win a Noble Prize?" "One can work for mankind without prizes." "Ready, sir." "Give us our favourite song" "The dragon with the ruby eye us nade crudely by a savage, perhaps." "But savages couldn´t have flown to Venus." "Why not." "Borbrov flew here." "Savages couldn´t have flown here." "...but they could have appeared on the spot." "Suppose civilized beings had flown here and remained for some unknown reason and lost contact with their own planet." "In an alien atmosphere and conditions they would perish." "Some would survive but go wild in the brutal fight for survival and adjustment to local conditions." "No time for culture in that case." "Only the strong would survive." "And savages would appear among the dinosaurs... before the local apes appeared and the future master of the planet began to evolve." "Sounds like a warning." "We´re near the red glow." " Is the gun in order?" " Yes." "It´s all very strange." "A buried city..." "The ruby." "That voice..." "Who could have flown here?" "Inhabitants of another planetary system, perhaps?" "Martians?" "On mars every drop of moisture is a problem." "Here there is water everywhere." "Maybe they tried to resettle but failed and went wild and are advancing to civilization for the second time." "Perhaps Martians once came to Earth and we modern people..." "We can go!" "I will find her!" "It´s getting dark early." "No wonder." "There´s a cloud of ashes over us." "A volcanic eruption!" "So that´s the glow!" "Your lighted "city"!" "Rather inconvenient." "But we can get samples of lava and ashes." " Is the spectroscope in order?" " Yes" "We must look an elevation away from here." "A pity to leave this magnificent spectacle" "The lava is encircling us." " Did you get a spectrum?" " Yes." "From the crater edge?" "No, it was too late." "Take us across the river of flame." "Audibility is improving." "What´s he got there?" "I am giving our location as demanded." "The distance is two miles." "Why, it´s our men." "And you didn´t believe me." "Your machine is splendid." "At last you admit it." "The heat has reached 500 degress." "Further movment with a load endangers my mechanism." "Turn off the self protection." "Open the door, panel 5." "Break the wire!" "I don´t know which." "I can´t see from here." "I´m compelled to get rid of the load." "Damned fool!" "He´ll throw them into the lava!" "So what´s more suitable steel or flesh and blood?" "Both are needed evidently." "That´s better." "How´s the radio?" " Where´s Masha?" " Passing the zenith." "No sound from the radio." "Why are they numbered?" "We hadn´t named them yet." " Daughters?" " Sons!" "A complete crew!" "So you think rational beings visited the Earth in the past?" "There is no evidence of it" "Many of history´s mysteries could be evidence." "The Stone." "Age drawing on a cliff in Sahara." "That´s right." "It shows a man wearing something like a space suit." "And the ancient column in India." "The iron it is made of was made by a method unknown on Earth." "And the secret of Atlantis." "And the extraordinary knowledge of ancient astronomers." "None of that is evidence." "There is evidence in legends." "The descent of the goods from heaven, for instance." "How would a savage here draw us?" "Like saints with halos and say that a god had descended from the sky" "And there´s your text for local legends." "With illustractions!" "Space flights are and inevitable stage of development of life everywhere." "Worlds are not isolated." "the migration of life in space as natural as... seed swept by the wind on Earth." "And branches of a single ...tribe of living beings are developing in the solar system." "The solar tribe..." "Then rational beings must be related" "Ah, to see her." "What is she like?" "Everything would become clear" "Your squid is happy you are unharmed" "She is good and beautiful" "Tomorrow we´ll try to catch her." "If she´s a Martian gone wild, where are the others?" "In some out of the way plane on Earth you wouldn´t meet anyone in two days." "And the telephone hasn´t been invented here yet." "We´ve carried out our programme." "All this data!" "The stones go to the geologist." "Let´s go to the radio." "Vershinin, hurry." "A recording of Mashas´s transmission." "Perhaps "Sirio" will receive this transmission." "The instructions requiere that I remain in orbit that I wait in idleness while my friends may be in mortal danger." "I´m violating the instructions." "I am landing on Venus." "I shall switch on the engine in one minute." " How could she?" " She didn´t think." "A Robot can think, not a woman." "May God forgive me!" " She´s not in the sky." " She must be." "Hello! "Vega"!" ""Vega" could have crashed or sunk." "We´d better inform Earth." "Our only contact with Earth was via "Vega"." "suggest that Shcherba, Kern and Alyosha... stay here for the time being." "Roman and I will go into orbit find "Vega" and give you the coordinates trasmit our findings to Earth and summon "Arcturús"." "Unload the camping gear." "We´ve got to lighten "Sirio" anyway." "An earthquake!" "The rocket has subsided." "The bluff is going under." "A mountain lake has broken through." "Look, a fissure!" "If "Sirio" collaspses we´re finished." "Prepare for take off quickly." "Maybe we´ll make it." "When was Masha´s last transmission recorded?" "At 7:20." "The locator recorded the "Vega" passing after that." "She has not landed!" "Masha, what happened?" "I realized I was making a mistake." "I switched off the engine but the orbit has changed." "Then I located you at the red glow I watched, but you didn´t answer." "Now they needn´t stay behind." "Right." "Give us the new orbit." "All aboard!" "Ivan, are you alive?" "Alyosha, switch on the meteorological station." "Hurry, Alyosha!" "Ilya Scherba." "Wait!" "We can´t leave." "Look!" "They´re like us!" "They resemble us!" "Wait!" "Where are you dragging me?" ""Planet of Storms". till we meet again." ""Our ships will return to you"." ""For we are sons of the Earth"." "THE END"