Анатолий Днепров - Siema

"Then you believe you can build a safe Siema?" I asked.

"Of course, and quite simply too. I can see exactly how it could be done."

"In that case you really will present mankind with an invaluable assistant!"

"That is what I intend to do," he cried. "And quite soon."

I lay down quietly and closed my eyes. Before my mind's eye paraded a procession of metal cylinders crowned by glass heads. They would operate machines, trains, airplanes, and even space ships perhaps. Electronic machines in control of workshops and automatic plants. Standing beside researchers, these machines would make measurements, analyse results and compare with existing knowledge-and all this with lightning speed. They would be an invaluable aid to man in perfecting and accumulating knowledge.

I fell asleep. When I awoke the train was standing. I glanced out of the window and saw the Sochi railway station flooded with sunshine. It was early morning but the southern sun bathed the whole scene in dazzling light. I was alone in the compartment. I dressed quickly and went out onto the platform.

"Where is the man who got left behind?" I asked the conductor who was standing by the carriage.

"Oh, that crackpot!" he said with a laugh. "He's gone."

"Gone? Where to?"

"He went back. Jumped out like a madman, picked up his bags at the station and got into a train going in the opposite direction. Didn't even stop to get dressed."

I was dumbfounded.

"There were some people here to meet him," the conductor went on. "They tried to persuade him to stay, but he was terribly excited, kept jabbering about some sort of brakes he had to make. Rum chap!"

I burst out laughing. I could picture exactly what had happened.

"Yes, he really has to get to work on those brakes right away," I said, thinking that people who are obsessed by some idea and who believe in it do not need to rest. So we would soon be hearing about a new Siema. Splendid!

The whistle blew. I returned to my compartment and sat down. I opened the window and looked out on the vast blue expanse of the sea sparkling in the sunshine. Within a few hours we would be in Sukhumi.