Robin rubbed his hands a bit. "I really think we should be able to
escape, even so. We now outnumber Von Borck two to one and I think if
we pick our time we could manage to make a getaway. We'll have to be
careful. Do you think you could get back to your rocket on the surface?"
The Russian nodded. "I guess we could. I was planning to go back from
the start."
"Is there anything there we could use to signal the Earth with?" asked
Robin. "A radio, flares, mirrors?"
Piotr nodded. "We had speaker-radio equipment, but it was smashed in
the landing. It was the first thing I tried after we hit. But we do
have flares. We could signal with them."
"I imagine," said Robin, "that both the Americans and Russians must
be working on Moon rockets now. If we can signal back there, the next
rocket along might come to this crater and find us."
"Good," said the Russian rocketeer. "Only how do we get to the surface?
I have a space suit, which is probably in Von Borck's cave. Von Borck
must have a suit too, if we can find it, though I think it will be much
too big for you."
Robin explained about his homemade space suit. Piotr was quite
impressed. The suit which was packed in Robin's big sack was in the
prison cave where it had been thrown and they unpacked it. Piotr
examined the helmet with interest. "Very good. It might work. It seems
airtight."
"I tested it under water," said Robin. "It didn't leak any bubbles."
The Russian nodded. "But I don't believe your big bag of air would
work. How would you blow it up in the first place? I think you would
have had a hard time anyway. But fortunately there are three oxygen
tanks on my own suit. I can detach one for your use."
He nodded, looking over the homemade helmet. In the half light of
the cave Robin looked at his new friend with interest. There was
something about his face which struck an odd chord in Robin's mind.
Something about him brought back faint, almost forgotten memories, dim
frightening memories of bombs exploding, of falling buildings, of a
frightened child, and great loss.
Robin suddenly asked, "How did you learn to speak English so well?"
Piotr looked up. "I was wondering when you would ask that. I always
knew English, I spoke it as a little child. When I was found by the
soldiers in Dresden, I was but a little boy, maybe six or seven. I
spoke some German, but mostly I spoke English. They could find no sign
of my parents, my family, so they took me back to Russia with them. I
studied English too in school, but I always knew it."
Robin started, his heart pounding very strangely. "Where did you get
your name? That's Russian."
The other stared at him hard. "No, it's not. My name--Piotr Ivanovitch
Kareff--means Peter the son of John Kareff."
Robin was sure he knew now, but he doggedly insisted on his next
question. "My father's name was also John. John Carew. And how do you
spell your last name?"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account