(Thinks)
– Actually, later the bridge was built somehow, but with the rest, with the quarantine, it didn't work out…
– Sergey Borisovich, sorry to interrupt, I didn't ask yesterday, the most interesting in all those meetings with the presidents for me…
– So you always interrupt! I have already told you: you can interrupt. Interrupt. You see, I confuse the dates. Enough apologizing. You're not a gentleman, and I'm not a monsieur.
– Have you there, in the Kremlin, considered at least some of the Lightning's other possible reasons? I mean – seriously. Because from the January 1990 there were already regular film shoots at the “thirteenth hostel”, the phalanx was also filmed in the garage cooperative, and things with time-space were already reliably recorded. And there was not a single corpse in the city – that was known from the beginning…
– Exactly so. But in general, there wasn't any talk about aliens, you know… They avoided it. And, accordingly, me too. What damn aliens, they said? Unknown kind and that's it. A gaz meteorite, it’s final. How can serious people talk about this?! Such words aren't even invented…
(Drinks)
– When Gaidar began to drag his father-in-law, the writer, Strugatsky, to these gatherings, I could see how they were jarred. Everybody was jarred. And it jarred me. Fiction writer at the meeting of a top-secret government commission! What a story… What are you staring at? The writer was invited not to a bathhouse for some culture, but to a serious adult meeting, with minutes… Gaidar, yes, he seriously considered it, but kept silent. He was a cunning, clever guy. And this Natanovich, although he's a science fiction writer, he used to be in the military, moreover, he was in our military, special one… He also acted smart. That was impressive. Like, he was just sitting with his stick, but whatever he says – everything is right to the point. He actually recommended announcing an indefinite quarantine, to build the camp for the troublers and not let anybody out… And those who had already left, to relatives maybe, following the resettlement program – make them come back. Notwithstanding the titles. Such a mess started there, whoa! Everybody was stunned. But I was ready to put a candle for him191 because of this for so many times! In the beginning – how they were all barking at him…with one voice. I was also barking, such a fool. Like, it's not nineteen thirty-seven anymore. Democracy, human rights. New thinking. Those times nobody even knew these words, that's what it is about.
– And Matlock? Was he there at the time?
– And Matlock was listening, sipping tea… Or whatever was in his thermos. Coca-Cola. We always kept his own thermos. And an interpreter. He spoke Russian, but not very well.
– And then?
– And he says: I think, he says, the opinion of Arkadiy Natanovitch is a deeply thoughtful opinion (it is full of thoughtful thought). And everyone immediately became silent. Impressive! It's horrendous what would have happened if there had been no quarantine.
– M-m, yes… And Strugatsky, did he also say nothing about an aliens, about UFOs?..
– I'm telling you, ufologist: with Gaidar they were birds of feather. Smart people, but father-in-law was experienced, been there. A drinker, a person who understands. But they both also knew how to keep quiet. And this book… About stalkers… He did write it, invented it in his head! When I was reading it, I did not believe my own eyes! Ten years before the Lightning… even more! With his brother… The book itself spoke for him. Even Yeltsin read it afterwards, I know this for sure… His brother, a scientist, was also
