THE OUTLAND

154

I glanced at the timer - according to his testimony, I had been working here for two and a half hours, although subjectively, of course, it seemed much more. But nothing, now there is no hurry, now we ... Ignoring the scattering of lines and commas, I leaned my shoulder on the boulder that I liked, braced my legs, sat down - and gritting my teeth from the weight, I pushed with all my might. One time, two, three. He was not here, he could not gain a foothold on something, shake it, shake it.

- And - time! And - two! Startled, the boulder swayed. - And three!

Yielding to my efforts, the stone nevertheless started to move, fell forward. I barely managed to get out from under the falling debris - and right there behind me, with a barely audible sigh, the ceiling settled.

— Yes to you! I spat. “Damn builders, couldn’t they have done it right?!

A pile of dirt, sand and clay looked mockingly at me, as if these two and a half hours of work had never happened! Just in case, I even looked close