Mirsky looked at the bodies spaced haphazardly on the field. Two lay half-in and half-out of an unfinished foxhole, several small burned holes and slashes of cooked flesh showing through melted gaps in their uniforms. He had counted twenty-eight corpses so far. There were at least twice that many on the field. His thoughts strayed away from tactical considerations and lingered on the unsimple fact of dead countrymen.

The forty-one wounded in the second chamber were being tended by only two corpsmen. Sosnitsky had died the day before, never emerging from coma. The wounded died two, three and four daily.

Mirsky turned to Pletnev. "What they have broadcast to us—your words, your information—it is true?"

"Yes," Pletnev said.

"Were there any instructions from Earth?"

"No."

"And how bad?"

"It is very bad," Pletnev said softly, scratching his cheek. "There will be no victors."

"No instructions from anywhere? From the Defense Council in a redoubt, from the party, a platform, from some surviving officers?"

Pletnev shook his head. "Nothing. They could not be concerned with us."

"Did you witness engagements?" Mirsky asked, his face tightening.

"We saw Russia glowing at night. All of Europe is on fire."

"Which one of you speaks Russian?" Mirsky asked sharply, glancing at Lanier and Jaeger.

"We both do," Lanier said.

"Are your countries victorious, then?"

"No," Lanier said.

"We are all pigs," Mirsky said.

Pletnev shook his head. "We did our duty, Comrade General. You have accomplished a marvelous—"

"How many ships survived?" Mirsky interrupted.

"Four," Pletnev said. "And how many men?"

Lanier, Jaeger and Major Annenkovsky waited for Mirsky to respond.

"Two hundred—no, about one hundred eighty here." Mirsky frowned at Lanier. "I haven't heard how many in the other chambers. Maybe seven hundred in all. General Sosnitsky died yesterday."

"Then you are the senior officer," Pletnev said.

"We should begin talks now," Lanier said. "I don't see any need to resume fighting."

"No," Mirsky said. He surveyed the field, shaking his head slowly. "If we are all that is left. . . No need to fight."

"Earth is not dead, Colonel," Lanier said. "It is very badly hurt, but it is not dead."

"You sound certain," Mirsky said. "How can you be so sure?"

"Yes," Pletnev said in English. "So you have communication with your superiors?"

"No," Lanier said. "I read about it, and watched it happen. It's a long story, General Mirsky, and I think the time has come to make it known to everybody."

While the bodies still lay where they had fallen, the Russians were guaranteed access to the first four chambers, in return for guaranteeing the Western bloc personnel access to the compounds and zero elevator in the first chamber. Promises were made that bilateral security squads would police the travel routes. With that agreed to, the debris and bodies were cleared from the southern cap and the bore hole and the remaining Russian heavy-lifters were given permission to dock.