To look at the sun, you have to get into the telescope itself, you can imagine! There is some kind of cunning plan, everything is reflected in mirrors!
Old friends Eva and Nika, the protagonists of Kira Yermish's third novel "It's Close to Here" (published by Medusa), escape from the FSB and rob all over Russia - from Rostov-on-Don to Vladivostok. In this unexpected journey (the entire route, by the way, can be repeated), they often have to hitchhike. One of the drivers who agreed to help the girls get to Yekaterinburg stops on the way at a lookout deep in the forest.
This is what Eva and Nika meet there.
The building we arrived at looked more like a barn than a modern miracle of technology. Sergey - that was the name of our guide - opened the door with his key and let us in. There was a desk with an old computer against the wall: the screen was so unusually bloated it looked sick. Sergey walked up to him, moved his mouse and typed something.
Nika and I stared at the unit that stood on a raised platform in the center. It looks like a huge pair of binoculars.
- How to look at it? Nika asked, walking in a circle around the telescope.
- You don't have to look at it. It's a robot. You give him a task and he does it. A good device, but not particularly suitable for our conditions.
- Why?
"It's already minus thirty," answered Sergey sadly.
We didn't turn on the light, and the room was lit only by the monitor. The fan on the computer worked with such brutal power that it resembled an airplane engine.
"Come on, I'll show you our spectrograph," said Sergei.
The spectrograph was located in a nearby building with a sharp roof - it was huge and looked like a cannon. Nika and I stood respectfully in the doorway while Sergey told us how this device works. I listened out of the corner of my ear, looking around the room: wooden steps, rusted railings, faded stickers with a small man running from the door and the words "exit". On the table in the corner was a plastic lamp, like the one I had at home when I was a child.