some idiots.
We believed Kopanygin
like babies.
And they're just having here
a cosmonautics club.
Right, "The Pioneer Dawn".
You see, it was
some blackout with me.
Oh, if only now...
- Why the fireworks?
- I don't know.
- Looks beautiful.
- Yes, beautiful.
Don't get scared. I think I can
help you, but before that...
I would appreciate it,
and believe me I will return the favor,
if you helped me find
a young man named
Viktor Sereda.
- I'm Sereda.
- You're Sereda.
He's Sereda.
And who are you?
It doesn't matter.
I'm performing special duties,
I'm, so to speak, A.S.A.
Now that's much better.
- Hell's bells!
- Pinch me.
It hurts!
And now, please,
follow me.
Where to?
I would appreciate it
if you spared me the necessity
of answering the questions
I'm not authorized to answer.
- I'm not going alone.
- He's not going alone.
Well, what the heck!
Let's go all together.
And where's my jack...
Well, let's go.
You're getting carried away, as usual.
He's just a boy.
A boy?
And what if this boy is a genius?
Tell me, have you ever thought of it?
Or you think
it was Sergei Sergeyevich's idea,
or mine, for that matter?
He suggested it, the boy.
His idea of preserving antimatter
is one of a genius.
I'm asking you to address
this boy from now on
by his first name and patronymic.
- What's his name?
- Vitya.
Viktor.
Sorry, Kolya, I don't know
his patronymic.
I ask you to immediately find out
and inform me of the first name and
patronymic of this boy from Kaluga.
A boy!
Vasya, may I note
that the great Mozart
played the most complicated pieces
on the harpsichord at the age of 3.
I will also take the liberty to note
that a harpsichord is not
a starship, and even not a piano.
And l'm afraid that your Vitya
from Kaluga is not a Mozart.
Please, excuse me, Vasya,
but I know more than you
about the difference between
the harpsichord and the starship.
And enough of that.
Let's get down to business.
Tell me what exactly you doubt,
what you're afraid of.
I don't know what Vasili's afraid of,
but l'm afraid that you're planning
something beyond the kids' competence.
- The children won't cope with it.
- Precisely.
For the first time man encountered
an extraterrestrial civilization.
And who's going to represent the Earth?
Children? Boys and girls?
Excuse me, but by the time
they reach the area of
Alpha-Cassiopeia,
they'll be about 40. They'll be
adult, educated people,
hardened by
a complicated space flight.
Let me remind you
that only you were invited
to see Academician Blagovidov.
You wait here.
Only you.
I'm not going without Pavlik.
There're academicians in there.
You shouldn't be so stubborn.
Viktor Danilovich Sereda.
Young man,
you should be more careful while
entering unfamiliar premises.
Allow me to introduce
my friend,
Viktor Danilovich Sereda.
Nikolai Kirillovich Blagovidov.
Vitya.
- Did you hurt yourself?
- No, not at all.
Vasili Anistiforovich
Ogon-Duganovsky.
- It may happen with anyone.
- Vitya.
Aleksandr lvanovich Kurochkin.
Nice meeting you.
Why are you looking at me like that?
Are you the Ogon-Duganovsky,
the author of the famous
cosmogonic hypothesis?
Are you familiar with my hypothesis?
Not only familiar,
but I completely agree with it.
See, Vasya?
Let's get down to business.
Please.
Have a seat.
Only yesterday, it was
a fantasy project
of Kaluga schoolboy
Vitya Sereda.
And today, it is the basis
of the project task
of the first spaceship
heading for the distant star
of Alpha, constellation Cassiopeia.
I don't believe it.
Children should keep silent
when grownups are talking.
- I'm sorry.
- He's kidding.
You're entrusted with working out
the final project,
together with Academician Filatov
and his lnstitute
of Space Travel.
I must admit,
dear Viktor Danilovich,
that I had some doubts
about your candidacy.
But now, having
met you personally,
I withdraw all my objections
and, as an