Islands in the Sky

(extract)

1. Clarke

(Britain)

The Contest

Vocabulary

• After all

• a competitor

• a semifinal

• a sudden hush

• to select the winner

• to lose a point

• to identify sth

• to be not fair

• to miss a question

• to pay all expenses

• to stick to the rules

• to clear throat

• to change one’s mind

• to give up

• a determined man

• to grow out of sth

• an outgoing rocket

Notes

TV Quiz Master – диктор телевидения, ведущий спортивное соревнование

the Junior Rocket Club – молодёжный ракетный клуб

… went back over a hundred years – был почти столетней давности

the original Wright biplane – первый самолёт братьев Райт

… how far into space any planet’s rights extend – сферы влияния каждой планеты в космосе

He’s never been as far as the moon – он даже на Луну не слетал

a councellor for a big atomic energy combine – консультант крупного объединения по атомной энергии

Elmer Schmitz ['elmә ∫mits]

Martian colonist ['ma: ∫iәn kolәnist] – марсианский колонист

Joe Donovan [' ou 'donәvәn]

My uncle Jim had said, "Whatever happens, Roy, don't worry about it. Just enjoy yourself." I remembered those words as "I followed the other competitors into the big studio, and I don't think I was nervous. After all, it was only a game.

The audience was already in its place, talking and waiting for the program to begin. We walked up on the stage and took our seats. I looked at the five other competitors and understood that each of them was quite sure that he was going to win.

There was a cheer from the audience as Elmer Schmitz, the TV Quiz Master, came into the studio. I'd met him before in the semifinals. He gave us some instructions, moved to his place and signalled to the cameras. There was a sudden hush as the red light came on.

"Good evening! This is Elmer Schmitz, presenting to you the finalists in our Aviation Quiz Program. The six young men we have here tonight..."

But I think it wouldn't be very modest to repeat the things he said about us. He said that we knew a lot about everything that flew – in the air and outside it — and had beaten about five thousand other members of the Junior Rocket Club in a series of contests. Tonight would be the final tests to select the winner.

It started easily enough. Elmer put a question to each of us in turn. The first questions were rather simple.

Then they became more difficult. Our scores were projected on a screen facing the audience, so we could not see them. But you could tell when you had given the right answer by the noise the audience made. I forgot to say that you lost a point when you gave the wrong reply. If you didn't know, it was best to say nothing at all.

As far as I could tell, I had made only one mistake, but there was a boy from New Washington who hadn't made any.

"Now," said Elmer, "the last round! Each of you will see on the screen some kind of aircraft or rocket for one second, and after that you must identify it. Ready?"

A second seems awfully short, but it isn't really. You can see a great deal in that time. Some of the machines they showed us went back over a hundred years. One or two even had propellers! This was lucky for me: I had always been interested in the history of flying. That was where the boy from New Washington made a bad mistake. They gave him a picture of the original Wright biplane and he didn't know it. Afterward he said he was interested only in rockets, and that the test wasn't fair.

They gave me the Dornier-Do-X and a B-52, and I knew them both. So I wasn't really surprised when Elmer called out my name as soon as the lights went up. Still, it was a proud moment. The cameras were following me as I walked over to him.

"Congratulations, Roy!" said Elmer heartily. "You missed only one question. I announce you as the winner of this World Airways Contest!"

The audience applauded.

"You know that the prize is a trip, all expenses paid, to any place in the world. We are all interested to hear your choice. You can go anywhere you like between the North and South Poles!"

I had made my plans long ago. However, my voice trembled when I answered.

"I want to go to the Inner Station."

Elmer looked puzzled and surprised. It was clear that he didn't know what to say. Then he decided to make a joke of it.

"Ha, ha, very amusing, Roy! But the prize is a trip to any place on earth. You must stick to the rules, you know!"

He was laughing at me and that made me angry.

"I've read the rules very carefully," I said. "And they don't say 'on earth'. They say, 'to any part of the earth'. There's a big difference."

Elmer's smile disappeared. He looked anxiously at the TV cameras.

"Go on," he said. I cleared my throat.

"In 2054," I continued, "the United States signed a Convention which decided how far into space any planet's rights extended. Under that Convention, the Inner Station is part of earth, because it is inside the thousand kilometer limit."

The audience was on my side. Elmer made a few attempts to make me change my mind, but finally he gave up and said with a laugh:

"Well, you're a very determined young man, and you've won the prize after all. I hope they'll let you go."

Mom and Pop were pretty mad about the whole business, but it was too late for them to stop me. The only one who understood me was Uncle Jim (that's Pop's brother). He was counsellor for a big atomic energy combine, and he'd been to Mars two or three times, to Venus once, and to the moon so often he could not count the times.

I had wanted to go out into space ever since I was five. I was sixteen now, and rather big for my age. I had read everything I could find about aviation and astronautics. I had seen all the movies and telecasts from space. I had made models of famous spaceships. In my room I had hundreds of photographs not only of most of the famous ships, but all the important places on the planets as well.

At first Mom and Pop didn't mind this interest. They thought I'd grow out of it. "Look at Joe Donovan," they said. "He was going to be a Martian colonist when he was your age. Earth wasn't good enough for him! Well, he's never been as far as the moon and he's quite happy here."

But I wasn't so sure. I have seen Joe looking up at the sky, at the outgoing rockets, and sometimes I think he would give everything he owns to go with them.