Part 39 (1/2)
The barracks were as depressing as such places usually were. None of the females with whom she spoke knew anyone she knew. None of them was from the same region of Home as she was. Most of them appeared more interested in watching the video on a large wall monitor than in any sort of conversation.
One who did feel like talking had a definite goal in mind: ”Do you have any ginger?” she asked Nesseref.
”I do not,” Nesseref answered sharply. ”I do not want any, either. Ginger is more trouble than it is worth.”
”Nonsense,” the other female said, and tacked on an emphatic cough. ”Ginger is the only thing that makes this miserable, accursed planet worth inhabiting. Without it, I would just as soon have stayed in cold sleep.”
”I think your wits did stay in cold sleep,” Nesseref said. ”How much trouble have you caused by broadcasting your pheromones far and wide? How many clutches of eggs have you laid because of the nasty herb?”
”Only one,” the female said, sounding altogether unconcerned. ”And I placed no burden whatever on the Race in doing so.”
”Of course you did,” Nesseref told her. ”Someone is now raising the hatchlings who came from those eggs.”
”No one from the Race.” The other female remained blithe. ”As soon as I laid my clutch, I sold the eggs to some Big Uglies who wanted them. Those hatchlings are their worry, not the Race's.”
”You did what?” Nesseref could imagine depravity, but such utter indifference was beyond her comprehension. ”By the Emperor, what would Tosevites do with hatchlings? What would they do to to hatchlings?” hatchlings?”
”I do not know, and I do not much care,” the other female said. ”I do know that I got enough ginger for the eggs to keep me happy for a long time. But now I have gone through it all, and I wish I had some more.”
”Disgraceful,” Nesseref said. ”I ought to report you to the authorities.”
”Go ahead,” the female said. ”Go right ahead. I will deny everything. How do you propose to prove any of this whatsoever?”
Nesseref had no good answer for that, however much she wanted one. She turned both eye turrets away from the other female, as if denying her the right to exist. The direct insult did what she wanted; the other female's toeclaws clicked on the hard floor as she went away. The almost equally hard cot on which Nesseref slept wasn't the only reason she pa.s.sed a restless, uncomfortable night.
She had an uncomfortable flight back to Poland, too. She'd expected the local Big Uglies to stone the vehicle that took her to the airfield, and they did. Had that been all, she would have accepted it as an ordinary nuisance and thought little more about it. But it wasn't all-far from it.
As soon as her aircraft entered the Reich's Reich's air s.p.a.ce, a Deutsch killercraft met it and kept pace with it, so close that Nesseref could seethe Big Ugly in the c.o.c.kpit of the lean, deadly looking machine. Had he chosen to launch missiles or use his cannon, he could have shot down the aircraft in which she flew as easily as he pleased. air s.p.a.ce, a Deutsch killercraft met it and kept pace with it, so close that Nesseref could seethe Big Ugly in the c.o.c.kpit of the lean, deadly looking machine. Had he chosen to launch missiles or use his cannon, he could have shot down the aircraft in which she flew as easily as he pleased.
He didn't. When the aircraft left the Reich Reich and flew into Polish air s.p.a.ce, the Deutsch Tosevite peeled off and went back to one of his own airbases. But even the Deutsche had not offered such provocations for a long time. Nesseref was very happy indeed when her machine rolled to a stop outside of Warsaw and she got off. and flew into Polish air s.p.a.ce, the Deutsch Tosevite peeled off and went back to one of his own airbases. But even the Deutsche had not offered such provocations for a long time. Nesseref was very happy indeed when her machine rolled to a stop outside of Warsaw and she got off.
Living in Lodz, not far from the eastern border of the Greater German Reich, Reich, meant Mordechai Anielewicz could receive German television programming. Speaking Yiddish, and having studied German in school, he understood the language well enough. That didn't mean he turned his receiver to the channels coming from the meant Mordechai Anielewicz could receive German television programming. Speaking Yiddish, and having studied German in school, he understood the language well enough. That didn't mean he turned his receiver to the channels coming from the Reich Reich very often. Football games were worth watching; the Germans and the nations subject to them fielded some fine clubs. But the interminable n.a.z.i propaganda shows ranged from boring to savagely offensive. very often. Football games were worth watching; the Germans and the nations subject to them fielded some fine clubs. But the interminable n.a.z.i propaganda shows ranged from boring to savagely offensive.
Since Himmler's death, though, Mordechai had started paying more attention to German propaganda. He'd never imagined he would miss the SS chief and Fuhrer Fuhrer who'd done the Jews so much harm. With something approaching horror, he realized he did. Himmler had been a known quant.i.ty-a known who'd done the Jews so much harm. With something approaching horror, he realized he did. Himmler had been a known quant.i.ty-a known mamzer mamzer much of the time, certainly, but not someone who was likely to go off half-c.o.c.ked. The Committee of Eight, on the other hand... much of the time, certainly, but not someone who was likely to go off half-c.o.c.ked. The Committee of Eight, on the other hand...
”Look at this!” Anielewicz exclaimed. His wife came over to the sofa in front of the television and dutifully looked. Mordechai pointed at the clumsy-looking panzers with crosses painted on them rolling across the screen. ”Do you see what they're doing, Bertha?”
”Looks like another war film to me,” she answered with a yawn. ”May I go back and finish the dishes now?”
”Well, it is.” Anielewicz clicked his tongue between his teeth. ”But I don't like it when they start showing films about invading Poland. It's liable to mean they're gearing up to try it again.”
”They wouldn't!” Bertha said. ”They have to know they'll get smashed if they try.”
”If they've got any sense, they have to know that,” Mordechai answered. ”But who says they've got any sense? When they start going on about provocations and insults, what are they doing but getting their people ready for trouble? That's what they did in 1939, after all.”
On the screen, the German panzers mowed down charging Polish lancers wearing square hats. Bertha said, ”It won't be that easy this time, if they're meshuggeh meshuggeh enough to try again.” enough to try again.”
”You know that. I know that. I think even Himmler knew that,” Anielewicz said. ”From what I've heard, the Lizards warned him off not so long ago, and he listened to them. But these fools?” He shook his head.
”What can we do?” Bertha asked.
That was more easily asked than answered. ”I don't know,” Mordechai said unhappily. ”I know what I'd like to do-I'd like to put Jewish fighters on alert, and I'd like to get in touch with the Poles, too, so I know they'll be ready to move in case the n.a.z.is really do intend to go after us here.”
”Will the Poles listen to you?” his wife asked.
Anielewicz shrugged. ”I don't know that, either. As far as they're concerned, what am I? Just a d.a.m.ned Jew, that's all. But they certainly won't listen to me if I don't get in touch with them.” His smile looked cheerful, but wasn't. ”Gottenyu, I don't even know if the Jews in Warsaw will pay any attention to me. As far as they're concerned, Poland I don't even know if the Jews in Warsaw will pay any attention to me. As far as they're concerned, Poland is is Warsaw, and the rest of the country can Warsaw, and the rest of the country can geh in drerd geh in drerd.”
”But you came from Warsaw!” Bertha's voice quivered with indignation.
”I've been away a long time-plenty long enough for them to forget where I came from,” Mordechai replied. His laugh didn't sound amused, either. ”Of course, with some of those people you can walk around the corner for a loaf of bread and they'll forget about you by the time you get back.”
”Ingrates, that's what they are?” Bertha made a wife as loyal as any man could want. She was also a long way from a fool, asking, ”Do you suppose they've forgotten about the explosive-metal bomb?”
”No, they'll remember that,” Mordechai admitted. ”I'm the one who wishes he could forget about it.” He went into the kitchen and came back with a couple of gla.s.ses of slivovitz. Sipping from one, he handed Bertha the other. ”I don't know if it will work, and G.o.d forbid I should ever have to find out.”
”If you do, it won't be the only explosive-metal bomb going off, will it?” Bertha asked. When Anielewicz shook his head, she knocked back her plum brandy like a farm laborer. She said, ”That won't be all that happens, either.”
”Oh, no. Poison gas and panzers and who can say what all else?” Anielewicz poured down his brandy, too. ”The other thing I'd better do is, I'd better talk with Bunim. I'm about as happy with that as I am with a trip to the dentist, and that Lizard loves me every bit as much as I love him. But if we're going to fight on the same side, we'd better have some notion of what we'll be trying to do.”
”That makes good sense.” His wife's mouth twisted. ”Of course, if the whole world goes mad, whether or not anything makes sense stops mattering very much, doesn't it?”
Before Mordechai could answer her, the telephone rang. He walked over to the shabby end table on which it sat and picked it up. Everything in the flat was shabby: other people's hand-me-downs, charity after the arson fire that had forced the Anielewiczes from the building where they'd lived so long. ”h.e.l.lo?” he said, and then spent the next ten minutes in intense conversation, some in Yiddish, some in Polish.
When he hung up, his wife asked, ”Was that Warsaw? Have they decided they need to worry about the Reich Reich after all?” after all?”
He shook his head in some bemus.e.m.e.nt. ”No. You would have thought so from the way I was talking, wouldn't you? That was the Armia Krajowa, Armia Krajowa, the Polish Home Army. They want to cooperate with us, even if the learned fellows back in Warsaw haven't figured out there's anybody to cooperate against.” the Polish Home Army. They want to cooperate with us, even if the learned fellows back in Warsaw haven't figured out there's anybody to cooperate against.”
”The Poles want to cooperate with us?” Bertha sounded astonished. Mordechai didn't blame her; he was astonished himself. Her gaze sharpened. ”You'd better go see Bunim-do it first thing tomorrow morning, too. If you don't get there ahead of the Home Army, who knows how much mischief the Poles may be able to stir up?”
”You're right,” Mordechai said at once. ”You always were the best politician we ever had in Lodz.”
”Feh!” Bertha tossed her head, a most dismissive gesture. ”You don't need to be a politician to see this. As long as you're not blind, it's there.” Bertha tossed her head, a most dismissive gesture. ”You don't need to be a politician to see this. As long as you're not blind, it's there.”
With tea warm inside him, with his greatcoat pulled tight around him, Anielewicz strode through snow-clogged streets to the Race's administrative offices overlooking the Bialut Market Square. As soon as the Lizards let him in, he shed the coat, folded it, and carried it over his arm: the Race kept their buildings heated not only to but past the point humans found pleasantly warm.
That Bunim was willing to see him with essentially no advance notice told him the Lizards were worried about the Greater German Reich, Reich, too. ”I greet you, Regional Subadministrator,” Mordechai said in the language of the Race. too. ”I greet you, Regional Subadministrator,” Mordechai said in the language of the Race.
”Good day,” Bunim answered in fair Polish. The human language he spoke best was German. Neither he nor Anielewicz seemed to want to use it now. Having politely used a human language, the Lizard went back to his own: ”And what is it you want to see me about?”
”What do you suppose?” Mordechai answered. ”The increasing threat from the Reich, Reich, of course. Do you not agree that we will be better off if we prepare joint action well in advance of any certain need?” of course. Do you not agree that we will be better off if we prepare joint action well in advance of any certain need?”
More often than not, Bunim looked down his snout at the idea of cooperating with humans. Now, though, he said only, ”Yes, that might be wise. What sort of notions do you have for unifying your forces, those of the Armia Krajowa, Armia Krajowa, and our own to withstand whatever attacks may come from the west and south?” and our own to withstand whatever attacks may come from the west and south?”
Mordechai Anielewicz stared at him. ”You do do take these threats seriously,” he blurted. take these threats seriously,” he blurted.