“Stand your stations!” Komov commanded excitedly, picked up his equipment, and departed.
I looked at Maika. Maika stood in the middle of the control room, her eyes staring into the distance, her lips moving soundlessly; she was thinking.
I looked at Vanderhuse. His eyebrows were raised high, sideburns sticking out sideways; for the first time in my memory, he didn’t look like a mammal, but rather, like a devil fish pulled out of water. On the observation screen, Komov, loaded with equipment, briskly walked along the construction site toward the swamp.
“So!” Maika uttered. “That’s why there were toys…”
“Why?” Vanderhuse inquired lively.
“He played with them,” Maika explained.
“Who?” Vanderhuse asked. “Komov?”
“No. Semyonov.”
“Semyonov?” Vanderhuse asked, surprised. “Um… So
