Heiger jerked up his eyebrows in amazement. “What water?”
Andrei realized he’d spoken out loud. “Well, all right, then,” he said. “Only I’ll choose the soldiers myself, since you insist on them so firmly. Or else you’ll hand me all sorts of boneheads… And there has to be a unified command!” he said threateningly, raising his finger. “I’m the one in charge!”
“You, you,” Heiger said reassuringly, and smiled, leaning back in his chair, “You’ll select everybody, in fact. The only man I impose on you is Izya. The others are up to you. Make sure to get good mechanics, select a doctor—”
“Yes. By the way, will I have some kind of transport?”
“You will,” said Heiger. “And it will be genuine transport. Like we’ve never had here before. You won’t have to lug anything around yourself, except maybe your gun… But don’t get distracted; these are all details. We’ll have a special discussion about them later, when you’ve selected the heads of the subunits… What I want to focus your attention on is this… Secrecy! Make sure you give me that, guys. Of course, it’s impossible to completely conceal an undertaking like this, so we have to put out disinformation—say you’ve gone prospecting for oil, for instance. Out on the 240 kilometer line. But the political goals of the expedition must remain known only to you. Agreed?”
“Agreed,” Andrei responded.
“Izya, that especially applies to you. Do you hear?”
“Ughu,” Izya said with his mouth stuffed full.
“But why all the secrecy?” asked Andrei. “What are we going to do that means we have to shroud it in secrecy like this?”
“You don’t understand?” Heiger asked, making a wry face.
“No, I don’t,” said Andrei. “I absolutely cannot see anything about this that is a threat to the system.”
“Not to the system, you blockhead!” said Heiger. “To you! It’s a threat to you! Surely you can understand that they’re just as afraid of us as we are of them?”
“Who are they? Your Anticitizens, is it?”
“But of course! If we’ve finally gotten around to sending out a reconnaissance party, why not assume that they did it ages ago? That the City is simply crawling with their spies? Don’t smile, don’t, you stupid fool. I’m not joking here! You run into an ambush and they’ll slaughter you all like little chicks.”
“OK,” said Andrei. “You’ve persuaded me. I say no more.”
Heiger contemplated him doubtfully for a moment, then said, “All right, then. So you’ve grasped the goals. And the need for secrecy too. So, basically, that’s all. Today I’ll sign the decree appointing you the leader of Operation… mmm… Let’s say…”
“Murk and Gloom,” Izya prompted, opening his eyes innocently wide.
“What? No… Too long. Let’s say… Zigzag. Operation Zigzag. That has a good ring to it, doesn’t it?” Heiger took a notepad out of his breast pocket and jotted something down. “Andrei, you can get started on the preparations. I’m only talking about the scientific part for now. Select the people, define your tasks… order equipment and tackle… I’ll make sure your orders get the green light. Who’s your deputy?”
“In the chancellery? Butz.”
Heiger frowned. “Well, OK,” he said. “Let it be Butz. Dump the entire chancellery on him, and you switch over completely to Operation Zigzag… And warn that Butz of yours not to shoot his mouth off so much!” he suddenly barked out.
“I tell you what,” said Andrei. “Let’s agree between the two of us—”
“Dammit, dammit!” said Heiger. “I don’t wish to talk about these matters. I know what you want to say to me! But a fish rots from the head, Mr. Counselor, and in your chancellery you’ve created a gang of… ah, dammit!”
“Jacobins,” Izya suggested.
“And you keep quiet, Jew!” Heiger roared. “Damn you all to hell, you blabbermouths! You’ve completely put me off… What was I saying?”
“That you don’t wish to talk about these matters,” said Izya.
Heiger stared at him blankly, and then Andrei said in an emphatically calm voice, “Fritz, I ask you please to protect my staff from all sorts of pompous ideological nonsense. I selected those people myself, I trust them, and if you really want to have any science in the City, leave them in peace.”
“Well, all right, all right,” Heiger growled, “we won’t discuss this today.”
“Yes we will,” Andrei said meekly, amazed at himself. “You know me—I’m behind you a hundred percent. Please understand that these people can’t help grouching. It’s just the way they are. The ones who don’t grouch aren’t worth a damn. Let them grouch! I’ll take care of ideological morals in my own chancellery somehow. You don’t need to worry. And please tell our dear Ruhmer to remember once and for all—”
“Can we manage without the ultimatums?” Heiger inquired haughtily.
“Yes,” Andrei said with absolute meekness now. “We can manage without anything. Without any ultimatums, without any science, without any expedition…”
Breathing noisily through flared nostrils, Heiger stared at him point-blank. “I do not wish to talk about this subject now!” he said.
Andrei realized that that was enough for today. Especially since it really was better to talk about these subjects one on one. “If you don’t wish to, then we won’t,” he said in a placatory tone. “It just happened to be an appropriate moment. You see, Vareikis really got under my skin today… Listen, here’s a question for you. What’s the total load I can take with me? At least approximately.”
Heiger forced the breath out through his nostrils a few more times, then squinted at Izya and leaned back again in his chair. “Count on five tons, or six… maybe even more,” he said. “Get in touch with Manjuro… Only bear in mind that he might be the fourth figure in the state but he knows nothing about the genuine goals of the expedition. He’s responsible for transport. You can find out all the details from him.”
Andrei nodded. “All right. And as for the soldiers, you know who I want to take? The colonel.”
Heiger started. “The colonel? You’ve got expensive tastes! Who will that leave me with? The entire general staff revolves around the colonel.”
“Well, that’s excellent,” said Andrei. “Then the colonel can carry out deep reconnaissance at the same time. Make a personal study, so to speak, of the potential theater of operations. And we already get along well together… By the way, guys, I’m having a little party this evening. Beef bourguignonne. How are you fixed?”
A preoccupied expression immediately appeared on Heiger’s face. “Hmm… Today? I don’t know, my old friend, I can’t say for certain… I simply don’t know. Maybe I’ll drop by for a minute or two.”
Andrei sighed. “Oookay. Only if you don’t come, please don’t send Ruhmer to take your place like the last time. I’m not inviting the president to my house, you know, but Fritz Heiger. I don’t need any official substitutes.”
“Well, we’ll see, we’ll see…” said Heiger. “How about another cup? There’s still time. Parker!”
Ruddy-faced Parker appeared in the doorway and listened to the order for coffee, inclining his head with an ideal part in the hair, then said in a deferential voice, “Counselor Ruhmer is waiting on the phone for Mr. President.”