He had been unsure even about the geography of his own country. History had been a subject in which he had never felt much interest, other than the history of space travel; what he learned in the third chamber library was turning him around completely.

To his colleagues he revealed none of this; he took pains to conceal the fact that he now spoke English, German, and French and was working on Japanese and Chinese.

"On the contrary," Belozersky said, glancing at Vielgorsky, "political considerations must always be foremost. We must abandon neither the revolution nor its ideals; we are the last fortress of—"

"Yes, yes," Mirsky said impatiently. "Now we are all tired. Let us rest and start again tomorrow." He glanced over his shoulder at Garabedian, Pletnev and Sergei Pritikin, senior engineer from the science team. "Comrade Major Garabedian, will you escort these gentlemen to their tents and make sure our perimeters are secure?"

"There is more to be discussed than we have time for," Vielgorsky said.

Mirsky fixed his gaze on him and smiled. "True," he said. "But tired men become angry men, and frustrations make for bad thinking."

"There are other. . . things which lead to weakness and bad thinking," Vielgorsky said.

"Indeed," Belozersky concurred.

"Tomorrow, Comrades," Mirsky persisted, ignoring the barb. "We need to be fresh when we face Hoffman and continue the negotiations."

They filed out and left Pritikin and Pletnev with Mirsky. The senior engineer and former squadron commander sat down at the tank-baffle table and waited as Mirsky rubbed his eyes and squeezed the bridge of his nose. "You realize what happens if Vielgorsky and his puppets take control," Mirsky said.

"They are not reasonable men," Pritikin said.

"Yet I believe about a third of the troops supports them wholeheartedly, and another, third supports nobody—general malcontents," Mirsky said. "I am the commander, so the malcontents dislike me. If it was Belozersky alone, I wouldn't worry—the malcontents hate political officers even more. But Vielgorsky has a velvet tongue. Belozersky lashes with words, Vielgorsky strokes. He can control a dangerous majority."

"What do we do then, Comrade General?" Pletnev asked.

"I want five men to guard each of you. Hand-picked by Garabedian or me. And I want four squads with AKVs around this bungalow. Pritikin, I want the science team confined to the fourth chamber by the day after tomorrow. Vielgorsky will not trust intellectuals; he may not tolerate their existence if push comes to shove."

The two left and Mirsky was alone. He sighed and wished for something to take his mind away for the rest of the evening—a bottle of vodka, a woman. . .

Or more uninterrupted hours in the library.

Never in his life had he felt more aware, and more hopeful, then he did now, even though surrounded by ignorant vipers.

Chapter Thirty-Six

Chapter Thirty-Six

The tuberider was on automatic pilot and all four of them slept in the cabin.