Читаем Upsetting the Balance полностью

When they rounded the last corner and came into sight of the Army and Navy General Hospital, Barbara slipped her hand into his. He squeezed it gratefully. Every once in a while, he wondered whether she regretted the choice she’d made. That was another question he was smart enough never, ever to ask.

A horse-drawn wagon pulled up in front of the two towers of the hospital building just as he and Barbara got to the entrance. A GI-even if the fellow was in civvies, Yeager knew one when he saw one-took a gadget, a Lizardy-looking gadget, from the bed of the wagon and started to carry it in.

“What the devil you got there?” Yeager asked him. The thing, whatever it was, was cylindrical, maybe a foot long and three or four inches wide, with a glittering lens at one end and some wires trailing off the other.

“Bomb guider,” the man answered, which left Sam unenlightened. The fellow went on, “We took it from a Lizard dude up in Chicago, figured we’d bring it down here to get the straight skinny on what it does and how it does it. We’ve got several up there, and we can’t make ’em work worth a damn.” He pointed at Yeager. “You talk Lizard talk?”

“Matter of fact, I do, not too bad,” Yeager answered.

“Okay. I figured a lot of guys down here would,” the GI said. “You know whatskelkwank means? That’s what the Lizard POWs say when they talk about this stupid thing, and nobody up north can make it make sense.”

“Skelkwank?”Yeager echoed. “Yeah, that’s a word I’ve run into.” He was damn glad it was, too. Saying you were an expert and then showing you weren’t got old fast. “It’s something to do with light-I’m not sure exactly what, and I’m not sure anybody else human is, either. I’ve heard Lizards sayskelkwank when they’re talking about rangefinders, things like that.”

“That helps some,” the fellow said, nodding. “How’sskelkwank light different than any other kind, though?”

“There you’ve got me,” Sam admitted. “Tell you what-bring that thing inside and we’ll round up a Lizard or two and ask ’em some questions. They’re pretty good about giving straight answers. As soon as they get captured, they figure we’re their superiors now, and they have to obey us. They’re not as ornery as people, you know what I mean?”

“Once they’re caught, they’re not, maybe,” the man with theskelkwank device said. “Long as they’re still carrying guns, they’re no fun at all.”

Sam gave an emphatic cough to show he agreed with that. The other fellow understood and nodded. Barbara said, “Here, Sam, you’re working again. Give me the picnic basket. I’ll take care of it.”

“Okay, honey.” Sam held the door open for her and for the soldier with the Lizard gadget, then followed them into the lobby of the hospital building. He spotted Ristin there, talking with one of the human doctors. Ristin waved to him, a human gesture he’d picked up. Sam waved back, and then waved him over.

Ristin came up, gaudy in his American-flag style “official” POW body paint. “Hello, superior sir,” he said in his hissing English. “You need me?”

“Sure do, pal” Yeager pointed to the device the other man held. “Tell me about that thing, will you?”

Ristin turned one eye turret toward it. “That? That is askelkwank sight, I think maybe from a bomb. Artillery shells use a smaller model.Skelkwank in your language is… is-” He paused and fluttered his lingers, a Lizardy way of showing frustration. “I think your language has not this word. Yep, that is what! think.”

The fellow with theskelkwank sight snorted in amusement. “First time I ever heard a Lizard go, ‘Yep.’ ”

Yeager kicked at the carpet. “He got that from me,” he said, mildly embarrassed. “I’m the guy he learned English from, and I say it. Made me laugh, too, first time I heard it from him” He turned back to Ristin. “Okay, we don’t have a word for it.Skelkwank has to do with light, right? What makesskelkwank light special?”

“Why, it comes from aftaskelkwank, of course,” Ristin said. Tackingfta- onto the front of a word in Lizard talk was about like tacking-er onto the back of one in English. Aftaskelkwank was something that turned lightskelkwank askelkwanker, in other words. The only trouble was, that didn’t help much withskelkwank still undefined.

“Of course,” Yeager said with a sigh. “What does theftaskelkwank do with the light to change it from regular toskelkwank?”

“It makes the light-” Ristin used another Lizard word.

Sam turned to the fellow with the gadget. “I’ve heard that term before, too. It means something like ‘coherent.’ I don’t know what that means here, though.”

“Coherent, yep.” Ristin liked learning new English words. “Most light, ordinary light, is of waves of all different lengths, photons-is right word? — of all different energies. Coherent light has only one length of wave, only one energy. Is all exact same color, you could say.”