Path book 1 Igor

"But, but, the horse!" at the same time, covering Leshka's eyes with his palms. To which the older brother hisses:

"Little one, take your hands off, you can't see anything!" His hands are occupied with a folding table. Ali follows them with Avanti on his shoulders, she periodically bends over to one ear of Ali, then the other, and whispers about something with him intently. Ali probably wants to order someone's portrait from Avanti... and I can even guess whose! Yes, and the holography of the instrumentation went into use. What will they pay with, his wonder? Wow, a box of Azarian colored pencils in 200 colors with a set of spare pencils! Yes, Tamil knows how to interest our little artist! That's it, we've struck a deal. Dad and Uncle Agha are carrying a portable barbecue and a power unit to it, Binned skewers and a huge bucket with all kinds of greens. Uncle Dahi was loaded like a camel with a backpack, and even bags with all sorts of goodies. Different little things are carried by women. That's our place. According to the folder, families have been coming here for 11 years. The city lake with the poetic name "Blue Mirror" is spread out before us in all its glory. The lake, which has an almost regular oval shape, is surrounded on three sides by trees in a park area, and the narrow side rests against urban development. This part of the lake is clad in a granite embankment, which is the pride of the head of the municipality. There is also a hefty summer stage, from where fervent rhythms are now pouring and an urban ensemble is playing. All the urban youth between the ages of 14 and 25 hang out there now. I quickly take off my "unik", it's a kind of combat suit made of durable, beautiful fabric, almost everyone wears them, they're so comfortable, and I run to the lake in my swimming trunks. All the other offspring of all the families are flying after me, hooting, screaming and screeching. Despite October and the air temperature around plus 20 Celsius, the water in the lake is 37 degrees because it is fed by hot springs. We fly into the lake, and it's just a fairy tale! Imagine a bathroom the size of the Luzhniki Stadium with crystal clear and warm water, in which colorful fish of different sizes flash at depth, algae sway, and amazing-looking arthropods crawl. The beauty is breathtaking! And yes, I taught Nain to swim! When we returned to our kindergarten in September, during the next visit to the pool, I had an argument with Nasar that Turians cannot swim, but only drown! So I told him that the body of any organic is lighter than water and simply cannot drown, and since Turians have a larger lung volume than humans, drowning them is generally an almost impossible event. I made it up, in general, convincingly, and then offered him help in mastering swimming. And yes, Nasar, like the rest of the Turians, swim well, even if they stay in shallow water!

While the fathers are celebrating with a barbecue and tasting wine extracted from a portable refrigerator, Uncle Aegikh, by the way, drinks wine through a pipe (brr!.. I shuddered), and the mothers, hooked on tongues, discuss all the latest news, from urban to galactic, my brothers and I dive in the depths. Everyone has masks, including Nasar, made in "made in Aegih 's garage". And they are made of transparent fiberglass and molded industrial sealant. We all have enough. Binna swims next to Nasir. Azat and Ali, along with Ivan and Polkan, are chasing a big red ball through shallow water. Without thinking, I join their screaming and screaming company.

Four hours have passed

That's twilight. Nasir, Azanti, and I are sitting on an inflatable mattress on the shore, huddled close together, wrapped in a big fluffy blanket. Nasir, Azanti, and I are sitting on an inflatable mattress on the shore, huddled close together, wrapped in a big fluffy blanket. Nasir, Azanti, and I are sitting on an inflatable mattress on the shore, huddled close together, wrapped in a big fluffy blanket. The Turin brothers are laughing at the electric grill, passing some kind of toy to each other. My brothers are swimming in shallow water and heading for the coast, they must have swum. Inside, everyone is digesting a substantial portion of shish kebab and a large mug of compote. Pyrotechnics are busy on a cargo platform in the middle of the lake. They're going to set off fireworks, and we're in the front row, beauties! My father comes up from behind and, hugging the three of us, asks quietly:

"Aren't you cold, little ones?"

"It's okay, Uncle Mish. We're warm" Nasar answers and snuggles even closer to me. I'm silent, and Azanti is silent.

In the emotions of a friend with a girlfriend, there is joy and anticipation of the spectacle, and the father has love with notes of care, and for all of us about equally. That's how he was a captain, and he's still there! The main thing is the crew!

Boom, frrrrrrrrshhh... BANG! Boo-boo, frrrrrrshhh... TADADAH!

Rockets are flying and exploding.

AAAAAAAAA! WHOOOOOOOOOO!

The crowd of young people on the other side of the stage is screaming. And we're sitting huddled together, looking up at the sky, and only multicolored flashes illuminate our faces. Here, under a blanket, sits a Barsik. He came and climbed in, and just like us, he looks up at the sky, purring loudly. I feel so good! I wish I could just sit there!

Whisper Ranch, November 9th, 2358

Something about fear!

So the real autumn has come. It immediately became very beautiful. I love autumn. And especially on Mendoir. It's already very cold at night, the leaves are falling off the trees, and their color is incredible! Silver-green, lighter on top and darker on the bottom in summer, now they have acquired a bright gold color. Sunny on the one hand, and red gold on the other. At the same time, the forest looks amazing, like a sparkling sea of gold! I am sitting on the fence facing the yard, in my hands I have a carbon fishing rod, requisitioned from Leshka, to the end of which is tied a long piece of nylon twine with a fluffed piece of synthetic insulation at the end, similar to a white pompom. I swing the rod to the right, left, up and down, the pom-pom at the end flies after my movements, and the Barsik rushes after it, radiating childish delight around, pirouetting, bending, bouncing, like an ordinary cat, behind a piece of paper on a string. At the same time, he periodically stealthily casts a glance in my direction, but isn't his little two-legged friend tired of this occupation? No, I'm not tired! Dying! And my supercat rushes on.

Azanti is sitting next to me with an invariable album on his lap and drawing. The whole family moved from the city to our village, Uncle Anker's brother bought the apartment, and the older Natols bought the land next to us. Now there is a modular house there, just like ours. As soon as the house was installed, Uncle Coel kept walking around it, touching his hands first to the wall, then to the carved metal porch railing, then to the window drains. And there was a wave of such strong contradictory feelings coming from him, as if he couldn't believe that this house was his now, and this was HIS HOME! How lousy it must be in the Hegemony for such a common thing for the colonies as a modular house to cause such a storm in the soul of a reasonable person! At the housewarming party, Aunt Saer got so emotional that all the women in the village could barely calm her down, Aunt Ratnet even had to run for a sedative. That's how we live. Suddenly, there was a rustle behind him, the cat made a stand on the fence, and his eyes became fiercely tense, the fur on his spine stood on end, and his tail fluffed out and became as thick as his mother's leg. A wave of such horror came from Azanti that I turned sharply in my friend's direction. And I saw a face distorted in a grimace and bulging eyes, staring somewhere behind my back. Turning around and looking down, I saw... a nightmare come to life! From a distance of about five meters, a hefty rat looked at me, about a meter at the withers, covered with dense black hair, a body about two meters long, and an equally long, hairy tail with a tassel at the end. Its typically rat-like face, with glowing red eyes, was decorated with a mouth studded with a palisade of long needle-shaped teeth. The creature opened its mouth, stuck out a long purple tongue and, making something like a "SNUFFLE", trotted towards us. A wave of anticipation came from her, and I clearly realized that they wanted to DEVOUR me! And I don't even have a railgun with me. It's just too early for me to wear it. My memory went on in spurts. Here I see Azanti jumping off the fence and screeching on the verge of ultrasound, running away to his house at full speed. Here is our courtyard tree in front of me, I jump up, grab the lower branch, pull myself up and quickly climb to the top, while there is some kind of ringing in my ears. Here Gina jumps onto the porch with an incredible leap, hits the door opening sensor and, without stopping screaming, disappears into the house, slipping through the crack of the barely opened door. There is silence. Only rustling and sounds come from the road: "snuffle, snuffle, snuffle." My throat is scratchy, my arms and legs are shaking, and a Leopard is sitting next to me on a branch with its fur on end and making a low throaty hum, interspersed with a powerful hiss. A few seconds later, the door of the neighbor's house opens, and from there, in sweatpants, an elongated T-shirt and slippers on bare feet, but with a hunting carbine in his hands, Uncle Anker looks out.

Igor? — He says softly. — Igor, where are you?

"I'm here" I croak in response, in a broken voice, damn it hurts. "In the tree, Uncle Anaker"

"What's wrong with your voice?"

"I picked it while I was climbing a tree!"

"What scared you?"

"It's over there, behind the fence, Uncle Anker!"

"Who is IT?!"

"Well, this one, Nazumi (Magnaflesheter (Nazumi) is a medium-sized scavenger predator on Mendoir. Very slow and slow-witted. It has good dense short dark-colored fur, and is an object of the autumn-winter hunting season. Snufkin is nicknamed for the characteristic sounds he makes.)!

"Nazumi in our village?! How did he get through the fence?

"I don't know! I say hoarsely."

"We've already seen him on the street. Over there!"

Meanwhile, Nazumi had almost reached the intersection in the center of the village, and Nasar jumped out to meet him! When the kid saw the creature, he somehow crouched down, squealed and with incredible speed, gnashing his claws on the smooth bark, climbed up a tree growing in the middle of the intersection, only the leaves fell down. Like other Turians, he had boots with open claws.

Nazumi froze in indecision, Uncle Anker came close to the fence, put his elbow on it, aimed and fired. The creature, which took a few steps towards the tree, buried its nose in the ground, but its hind legs continued to move forward, its spine arched, and the animal toppled to one side, while continuing to twitch convulsively.

"Ready! Get down, Igor."

"Now," I croaked, and began to unclench my clenched fingers. I was still shaking a little. I was already preparing to use magic, even though it's too early for me, but you can do anything with fright. Uncle Anker showed up just in time and shot the creature out of the woods. What had she even forgotten in the village? We have a fence around it.

When I passed by the neighbor's house, the door opened, and a frightened Azanti timidly looked out from behind the jamb.

"Little Igor!" she asked in a whisper. "And where is that, well, scary one?"

Your dad shot you," I whispered. "It's lying at the intersection. Come on, let's take a look!" I'm really scared! Jean whispers. Don't worry, he's dead, and your daddy's with us, and he's got a carbine.

"Okay, let's go" Gina whispers, comes out of the house and clings to my arm like a tick.

We slowly approach Nazumi. There is a heavy smell of the beast and some kind of rotten meat coming from the creature. It's still a scavenger, even though it has a beautiful hide. That's why our farmers hunt them in the foothills. The Barsik, ears flattened and hissing, walks around the creature in a circle on bent paws. Uncle Anker is walking slowly next to him, holding the carcass at gunpoint. The animal does not move, the mouth is slightly open, the tongue has fallen out, and a puddle of blood has flowed onto the grass.

"He's dead!" Uncle Anchor states the fact. He walks up to the tree and raises his head. "Nasar, get off, I killed him. Do you hear me?"

Only rustling sounds are heard in response, then the little Turian descended backwards like a big cat to the ground. Nasar stares at the dead nazumi with all his eyes.

"He's even scary dead!" Nain whispers loudly.

"That's right, baby," Uncle Coel answers. "I'm going to get dressed, otherwise I'm still wearing sneakers! "Hehe, that must be a sight."

In the evening, my father told me about how Nazumi entered the village. The door closer on the gate in the fence broke, and it did not close with a magnetic lock, but the creature, stomping along the fence, noticed a gap and got through. As luck would have it, the brothers took Polkan with them to the city, and in general, of the adults in the village there were only Uncle Anker and Aunt Kasia, but she was asleep because she was pregnant again. Uncle Anker, laughing, told how he had dozed off with a book, but was maliciously awakened by a wild two-voiced childish squeal from the street. So that's why my ears were ringing and my voice was dead! Then his daughter ran past him and hid under the kitchen table. Grabbing a carbine from a closet, he ran out into the street in his clothes and shot Nazumi, who had entered the village. It's funny to them, but I haven't been so scared in a long time. I didn't even have a gun with me. And the power system is simply not ready to use magic. And Azanti and Nasar were terrified. I said that I want us to make hats out of his skin, that should be enough! The elders agreed, laughing.

Good compensation for fright! Uncle Ankor said.

Chapter 4. Christmas and Holidays

Igor (Mendoir, December 2358)

Christmas

December 24, 6:00 a.m.

I'm working out with a pole in front of the window, and snow is falling outside from large, soft and fluffy snowflakes. I've always loved winter, but I was unlucky in my previous life. We lived in a megalopolis, and as it snowed, the whole city was stuck in traffic jams. And here I just love it again. Maybe it's because it's mild on Mendoir, the temperature hardly drops below minus five degrees Celsius, there's a lot of snow, and since there's no wheeled transport, there's no problem with travel. My father, of course, cleans the snow at the garage and in the yard, but that's all. Our village is illuminated by lanterns, they walk along the fences in three-meter increments, so we always have light, since the lighting is automatic: dark turned on, dawn turned off. Beauty!