star butterfly Bernard Werber

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Name: Star Butterfly
Author: Bernard Werber
Year: 2006
Genre: Foreign fiction, Space fiction, Science fiction, Social fiction

About the book “Star Butterfly” Bernard Werber

There are 144 thousand of them. The solar sailboat "Star Butterfly" carried them away from the dying Earth. And only after a few hundred years they will find a new home. During this time, generations and worldviews will change in the “city” flying through space, revolutions and wars will occur. People will love, be jealous, kill each other. Only six will remain on the ship, torn apart by passions on the inside and damaged by meteorites on the outside. But only two will be able to descend to the new planet.

For the first time in Russian! A new novel by the cult French writer, author of the world bestsellers “Empire of Angels”, “Breath of the Gods”, “Day of the Ant”.

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Bernard Werber

star butterfly

Dedicated to Claude Lelouch, thanks to whom I made my first film "Our Human Friends"

Act I

Dream shadow

1. THE POWER OF WATER

In the beginning there was a breath - a powerful breath of salty wind. It filled the sails, and the yachts glided across the endless ocean. The fastest among all sailing ships, without any doubt, was the ship of Elizabeth Malory. This girl with turquoise eyes earned the fame of a champion after circumnavigating the world twice in a row on a single-seater yacht. Before her, only men could do this. Sitting at the front of the Flying Fish catamaran, Elizabeth gripped the wooden steering wheel tightly and confidently steered the long, thin ship made of aluminum and waterproof fabric. The seemingly fragile ship shook from stem to stern, cutting the crest of the wave into pieces or soaring above the surface of the water. "Faster, stronger!" Time after time, the girl was doused with iodine-smelling spray. The howls of the storm intertwined with Elizabeth's singing, causing her to mercilessly misinterpret the tune. This was precisely the secret of her success - in order to defeat the raging elements, you need to mix your voice with the howl of the wind. At such moments, it began to seem to the girl that she herself was becoming the sea - ever-moving salt water, swift, all-crushing waves, dressed in lace made of foam.

Elizabeth Malory was beautiful. All the men around fell under the power of her spell. It was rumored that during the breaks between regattas she changed lovers like gloves, and then, as if tired of these insignificant pleasures, she remained alone in the vast water desert, where only clouds and fish served as her companions.

2. THE SWEETNESS OF THE AIR

In the beginning there was a dream - a dream of new horizons. It was to her that the very refined imagination of Yves Kramer was drawn. He headed the Innovation and Foresight Division of the prestigious space exploration agency and was responsible for selecting new projects related to space flights. True, to date he has not yet managed to bring any of the projects to a successful conclusion, but folders with drawings of new rockets, orbital stations, or even settlements that could be built on the planets closest to Earth accumulated in his office. Yves Kramer did not stand out in any way among the numerous ordinary employees who filled the aerospace laboratories. Average height, thin hair, thick glasses and a gaze directed somewhere into the distance. This designer never parted with a white coat, in the pockets of which there were many pens with dried ink and several completely or partially broken calculators.

Due to the nature of his work, he was often forced to send letters with polite refusal. They invariably began with the phrases: “Thank you for submitting your project. Unfortunately, it does not correspond to any of the currently implemented scientific programs. In addition, the funds at our disposal are not sufficient to implement your proposal.” The ending of the letters was also standard: “Please keep us informed of your further research. Let me express my deepest respect to you."

Yves Kramer took his official responsibilities to heart. He carefully studied most projects, even the most fantastic ones, from cover to cover. The scientist quickly became an attractive figure for journalists, with whom he shared the most original ideas sent to the agency.

One day, Yves Kramer accidentally knocked over a stack of letters with successive refusals and began picking up envelopes from the floor one by one. At that moment the phone rang. Trying to pick up the phone before the answering machine started, the designer pushed another stack of messages. He had to pick it all up and sort it again.

They said that Yves Kramer had the wind in his head, but he considered himself a dreamer. He was reproached for tactlessness, but he believed that he had no time to pay attention to conventions. He had a reputation for being an absent-minded person, but the designer justified himself by saying that he was always immersed in thinking about extraordinary subjects. Yves Cramer knew that no one would give the amount necessary to implement any of the projects considered by his department. However, he continued to desperately hope that he would still be able to catch luck by the tail. The scientist did not want to forever remain “an ordinary observer recounting to journalists the pipe dreams of other people.” This is exactly what his first wife once said about him. At night, wrapped in a blanket, he clung to the rubber-covered eyepiece of a personal telescope installed on the terrace of his house. At these moments, he could allow himself to dream about the day when one of the projects would be successfully completed. And then Yves Kramer will go there - into the distance that opens up before him. “No, even further, much, much further.” He will leave Earth, where every day he feels more and more alien.

3. FIRST WAVE

The meeting of breath and dream, that is, Elisabeth Malory and Yves Kramer, took place in conditions that were very far from ideal. The designer drove his own car while listening to fast rhythmic music. The car was driving at a decent speed, as the scientist was once again late for an interview. At that moment, the navigator was crossing the street, heading to the office of a new sponsor. The latter was ready to finance the upcoming circumnavigation of the world on a single-seater yacht. It was raining. The windshield wipers on the car did not work well. Yves Kramer knew for a long time that it was necessary to go to a service station and fix the problem, but he never found the time for this. In addition to absent-mindedness, the scientist had another drawback - a tendency to delay making unpleasant decisions. Time after time, Yves Kramer, with masterly skill, put off boring tasks until tomorrow, and when that day came, the designer had to rush around like crazy in an attempt to make up for lost time. Therefore, entering the turn, Yves Kramer increased the gas.

Elizabeth had her cell phone headphones in her ears. Sheltering from the rain under an umbrella, the athlete chatted with one of her fans. He tried to make the woman he wanted to seduce laugh, and, by the way, was quite successful in this matter. Perhaps because of her own loud laughter, Elizabeth did not hear the noise of the car rapidly approaching her in the deepening twilight. Yves Kramer finally made out the silhouette of the girl in front and sharply pressed the brake. The brake pads tightly blocked the wheels, but the grip of the tires on the rain-wet asphalt was insufficient, and the car began to skid. The bumper hit the traveler's knees. There was a dry crack of breaking bone. Elizabeth felt that some powerful force lifted her high into the air. The world around seemed to stop. She rose higher and higher, felt the raindrops on her face, and saw the asphalt quite far below. Then the course of events accelerated again: the woman suddenly fell backward and was no longer able to get up. For a moment she lay on the road, writhing in terrible pain, and then froze without moving.

Dedicated to Claude Lelouch, thanks to whom I made my first film "Our Human Friends"

Act I

Dream shadow

1. THE POWER OF WATER

In the beginning there was a breath - a powerful breath of salty wind. It filled the sails, and the yachts glided across the endless ocean. The fastest among all sailing ships, without any doubt, was the ship of Elizabeth Malory. This girl with turquoise eyes earned the fame of a champion after circumnavigating the world twice in a row on a single-seater yacht. Before her, only men could do this. Sitting at the front of the Flying Fish catamaran, Elizabeth gripped the wooden steering wheel tightly and confidently steered the long, thin ship made of aluminum and waterproof fabric. The seemingly fragile ship shook from stem to stern, cutting the crest of the wave into pieces or soaring above the surface of the water. "Faster, stronger!" Time after time, the girl was doused with iodine-smelling spray. The howls of the storm intertwined with Elizabeth's singing, causing her to mercilessly misinterpret the tune. This was precisely the secret of her success - in order to defeat the raging elements, you need to mix your voice with the howl of the wind. At such moments, it began to seem to the girl that she herself was becoming the sea - ever-moving salt water, swift, all-crushing waves, dressed in lace made of foam.

Elizabeth Malory was beautiful. All the men around fell under the power of her spell. It was rumored that during the breaks between regattas she changed lovers like gloves, and then, as if tired of these insignificant pleasures, she remained alone in the vast water desert, where only clouds and fish served as her companions.

2. THE SWEETNESS OF THE AIR

In the beginning there was a dream - a dream of new horizons. It was to her that the very refined imagination of Yves Kramer was drawn. He headed the Innovation and Foresight Division of the prestigious space exploration agency and was responsible for selecting new projects related to space flights. True, to date he has not yet managed to bring any of the projects to a successful conclusion, but folders with drawings of new rockets, orbital stations, or even settlements that could be built on the planets closest to Earth accumulated in his office. Yves Kramer did not stand out in any way among the numerous ordinary employees who filled the aerospace laboratories. Average height, thin hair, thick glasses and a gaze directed somewhere into the distance. This designer never parted with a white coat, in the pockets of which there were many pens with dried ink and several completely or partially broken calculators.

Due to the nature of his work, he was often forced to send letters with polite refusal. They invariably began with the phrases: “Thank you for submitting your project. Unfortunately, it does not correspond to any of the currently implemented scientific programs. In addition, the funds at our disposal are not sufficient to implement your proposal.” The ending of the letters was also standard: “Please keep us informed of your further research. Let me express my deepest respect to you."

Yves Kramer took his official responsibilities to heart. He carefully studied most projects, even the most fantastic ones, from cover to cover. The scientist quickly became an attractive figure for journalists, with whom he shared the most original ideas sent to the agency.

One day, Yves Kramer accidentally knocked over a stack of letters with successive refusals and began picking up envelopes from the floor one by one. At that moment the phone rang. Trying to pick up the phone before the answering machine started, the designer pushed another stack of messages. He had to pick it all up and sort it again.

They said that Yves Kramer had the wind in his head, but he considered himself a dreamer.

Annotation

There are 144 thousand of them. The solar sailboat "Star Butterfly" carried them away from the dying Earth. And only after a few hundred years they will find a new home. During this time, generations and worldviews will change in the “city” flying through space, revolutions and wars will occur. People will love, be jealous, kill each other. Only six will remain on the ship, torn apart by passions on the inside and damaged by meteorites on the outside. But only two will be able to descend to the new planet.

Bernard Werber
star butterfly

Dedicated to Claude Lelouch, thanks to whom I made my first film "Our Human Friends"

Act I
Dream shadow

1. THE POWER OF WATER

In the beginning there was a breath - a powerful breath of salty wind. It filled the sails, and the yachts glided across the endless ocean. The fastest among all sailing ships, without any doubt, was the ship of Elizabeth Malory. This girl with turquoise eyes earned the fame of a champion after circumnavigating the world twice in a row on a single-seater yacht. Before her, only men could do this. Sitting at the front of the Flying Fish catamaran, Elizabeth gripped the wooden steering wheel tightly and confidently steered the long, thin ship made of aluminum and waterproof fabric. The seemingly fragile ship shook from stem to stern, cutting the crest of the wave into pieces or soaring above the surface of the water. "Faster, stronger!" Time after time, the girl was doused with iodine-smelling spray. The howls of the storm intertwined with Elizabeth's singing, causing her to mercilessly misinterpret the tune. This was precisely the secret of her success - in order to defeat the raging elements, you need to mix your voice with the howl of the wind. At such moments, it began to seem to the girl that she herself was becoming the sea - ever-moving salt water, swift, all-crushing waves, dressed in lace made of foam.

Elizabeth Malory was beautiful. All the men around fell under the power of her spell. It was rumored that during the breaks between regattas she changed lovers like gloves, and then, as if tired of these insignificant pleasures, she remained alone in the vast water desert, where only clouds and fish served as her companions.