“I haven’t found anything helpful in the documents yet,” said Izya. “Water was supplied to the town via an aqueduct, and now that aqueduct is as dry as… as I don’t know what.”
Pak said nothing to that.
“And what else have you heard about these city blocks?” Andrei asked him.
“Various more or less terrible things,” said Pak. “Some are clearly tall tales. And as for the rest…” He shrugged.
“Well, for instance?” Andrei asked amiably.
“Well, basically I’ve already told you all this before, Mr. Counselor. For instance, according to the rumors, the so-called City of the Ironheads is somewhere not far from here. But I haven’t been able to understand just who these Ironheads are… The Bloody Waterfall—but it seems that is still a long way off. Probably what we’re talking about is a stream of water that erodes some red-colored kind of rock. At least there’ll be plenty of water there. There are legends about talking animals—that’s already pushing the bounds of probability. And it clearly makes no sense to talk about what lies beyond those bounds… But then, the Experiment is the Experiment.”
“You’re probably sick and tired of all these questions,” Andrei said with a smile. “I can imagine how weary you are of repeating the same thing to everyone for the twentieth time. But please excuse us, Mr. Pak. After all, you are better informed than any of us.”
Pak shrugged again. “Unfortunately, the value of my knowledge is not very high,” he said drily. “Most of the rumors are not borne out. And vice versa—we come across many things that I have never heard anything about… And as far as the questions are concerned, does it not seem to you, Mr. Counselor, that the common soldiers in the team are too well informed when it comes to rumors? I personally only answer questions when I’m talking with someone from the command staff. I don’t consider it right, Mr. Counselor, for the privates and other rank-and-file members of the expedition to be aware of all these rumors. It’s bad for morale.”
“I entirely agree with you,” said Andrei, trying not to look away. “And in any case, I would prefer a few more rumors about a land flowing with milk and honey.”
“Yes,” said Pak. “And that’s why, when the soldiers ask me questions, I try to avoid unpleasant subjects and mostly dwell on the legend of the Crystal Palace… Although just recently they don’t want to hear about that anymore. They’re all seriously afraid and want to go home.”
“And you too?” Andrei asked sympathetically.
“I don’t have a home,” Pak said calmly. His face was inscrutable; his eyes turned absolutely somnolent.
“Mmm, yes,” Andrei said, and drummed his fingers on the table. “Well then, Mr. Pak. Thank you once again. Do please get some rest. Good night.”
He watched as Pak’s blue-twill-clad back receded, waited until the door closed, and said, “I’d really like to know why he tagged along with us.”
“What do you mean, why?” Izya asked with a start. “They couldn’t organize their own reconnaissance, so they asked to join up with you.”
“And what exactly do they need reconnaissance for?”
“Well, my dear friend, not everyone finds Heiger’s kingdom as congenial as you do! They didn’t want to live under Mr. Mayor before—that doesn’t surprise you, now does it? And now they don’t want to live under Mr. President. They want to live by themselves, you understand?”
“I understand,” said Andrei. “Only, in my opinion, no one intends to prevent them living by themselves.”
“That’s your opinion,” said Izya. “You’re not the president, are you?”
Andrei reached into a metal box, took out a flat flask of neat alcohol, and started unscrewing the cap.
“Surely you don’t imagine,” said Izya, “that Heiger will tolerate a strong, well-armed colony right there beside him? Two hundred men, seasoned in battle after battle, just three hundred kilometers from the Glass House! Of course he won’t leave them in peace. So they have to move farther north. But where to?”
Andrei splashed alcohol on his hands and rubbed his palms together as vigorously as he could. “I’m so damned sick of all this filth,” he muttered with revulsion. “You have absolutely no idea…”
“Yessiree, filth…” Izya said absentmindedly. “Filth sure ain’t sugar… Tell me, why are you always hassling Pak? What has he done to annoy you? I’ve known him for a long time, almost from the very first day. He’s an absolutely honest, highly cultured individual. So why do you hassle him? Only your feral hatred of the intelligentsia can explain these interminable, jesuitical interrogations. If you’re really that desperate to find out who’s spreading the rumors, interrogate your own informers, but Pak’s got nothing to do with it.”
“I don’t have any informers,” Andrei said icily.
Neither of them spoke for a few moments.
Then on a sudden impulse, Andrei asked, “Do you want an honest answer?”
“Well?” Izya said avidly.
“Well then, my friend, recently I’ve started getting the feeling that someone very much wants to call a halt to our expedition. A complete halt, do you understand? Not just get us to turn tail and go home, but finish us off. Wipe us out. So we disappear without a trace, do you understand?”
“Oh brother, come on!” said Izya. His fingers rummaged in his beard with a squeaky sound, searching for the wart.
“Yes, yes! And I keep trying to figure out who stands to gain from that. And it turns out that your Pak stands to gain. Quiet! Let me finish! If we disappear without a trace, Heiger won’t find out anything—not about the colony or anything else… And it will be a long time before he decides to organize another expedition like this one. Then they won’t have to move farther north and pull up their roots. That’s the conclusion I come to, do you understand?”
“I think you’re out of your mind,” said Izya. “Where do these feelings of yours come from? If they’re about turning tail and going home, you don’t need any feelings. Everyone wants to turn back… But where do you get the idea that someone wants to wipe us out?”
“I don’t know!” said Andrei. “I told you, it’s a feeling…” He paused for a moment. “In any case, it was the right decision to take Pak with me the day after tomorrow. I’m not leaving him hanging around in this camp when I’m not here.”
“But what has he got to do with all this?” Izya snapped. “Just take that addled brain of yours and think about it! So he wipes us out, and then what? Eight hundred kilometers on foot? Across arid desert?”
“How should I know?” Andrei snapped back. “Maybe he can drive a tractor.”
“Why not suspect Skank while you’re at it?” said Izya. “Like that… like in the fairy tale about Tsar Dadon. The Queen of Shamakha.”
“Mmm, yes… Skank,” Andrei said pensively. “Another blasted dark horse… And that Mute… Who is he? Where’s he from? Why does he follow me everywhere, like a dog? Even to the john… And by the way, it turns out that he’s been in these parts before.”
“What a discovery!” Izya said scornfully. “I realized that ages and ages ago. Those tongueless people arrived here from the north…”
“Maybe someone cut their tongues out here?” Andrei said in a low voice.
Izya looked at him. “Listen, let’s have a drink,” he said.
“There’s nothing to dilute it with.”
“Then would you like me to bring Skank to you?”
“You go to hell…” Andrei got up, wincing as he moved his sore foot about in his shoe. “OK, I’ll go check out what’s going on.” He slapped his empty holster. “Have you got a pistol?”
“I’ve got one somewhere. Why?”