Striking the Balance Read online

  Contents

  Title Page

  Dramatis Personae

  Chapter I

  Chapter II

  Chapter III

  Chapter IV

  Chapter V

  Chapter VI

  Chapter VII

  Chapter VIII

  Chapter IX

  Chapter X

  Chapter XI

  Chapter XII

  Chapter XIII

  Chapter XIV

  Chapter XV

  Chapter XVI

  Chapter XVII

  Chapter XVIII

  Chapter XIX

  Chapter XX

  Author’s Notes and Acknowledgements

  About the Author

  By Harry Turtledove

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  Copyright

  DRAMATIS PERSONAE

  (Characters with names in CAPS are historical, others fictional)

  HUMANS

  ANIELEWICZ, MORDECHAI

  Jewish fighting leader, Lodz, Poland

  Apfelbaum, Moisei

  Colonel Skriabin’s clerk, gulag near Petrozavodsk, USSR

  Auerbach, Rance

  U.S. Army cavalry captain, Lamar, Colorado

  Avram

  Partisan near Hrubieszów, Poland

  Bagnall, George

  Flight engineer, Pskov, USSR

  Beck

  Wehrmacht captain, Riga, Latvia

  BEGIN, MENACHEM

  Jewish guerrilla, Haifa, Palestine

  Birkenfeld; Oskar

  Jewish Order Service policeman Lodz, Poland

  Boleslaw

  Pole in Lodz, Poland

  Borcke, Martin

  Wehrmacht captain, Pskov, USSR

  BRADLEY, OMAR

  U.S. Army lieutenant general, outside Denver

  BROCKDORFF-AHLEFELDT, WALTER VON

  Wehrmacht lieutenant general, Riga, Latvia

  Casimir

  Partisan leader outside Hrubieszów, Poland

  Chaim

  Jewish guard, Lodz, Poland

  CHILL, KURT

  Wehrmacht lieutenant general, Pskov, USSR

  Daniels, Peter (“Mutt”)

  U.S. Army second lieutenant, Chicago

  Dölger, Hans

  Wehrmacht captain and adjutant, Pskov, USSR

  DONOVAN, WILLIAM (“WILD BILL”)

  U.S. Army major general, Hot Springs, Arkansas

  Donskoi, Yakov

  Soviet interpreter, Cairo

  Drucker, Johannes

  Panzer driver north of Lodz, Poland

  Easter

  British Army colonel, Haifa, Palestine

  EDEN, ANTHONY

  British foreign secretary

  Embry, Ken

  RAF pilot, Pskov, USSR

  Fleishman, Bertha

  Jewish fighter, Lodz, Poland

  Fritz

  Wehrmacht ammunition hauler north of Lodz, Poland

  Fyodorov, Ivan

  Soviet prisoner in transit

  GERMAN, ALEKSANDR

  Partisan brigadier, Pskov, USSR

  GODDARD, ROBERT

  Rocket scientist, Hot Springs, Arkansas

  Goldfarb, David

  RAF radarman, Dover, England

  Gorbunova, Ludmila

  Red Air Force senior lieutenant, Pskov, USSR

  Grabowski

  U.S. Army corporal, Hot Springs, Arkansas

  Grillparzer, Gunther

  Wehrmacht gunner outside Lodz, Poland

  GROVES, LESLIE

  U.S. Army brigadier general, Metallurgical Laboratory, Denver

  Gruver, Solomon

  Jewish fighter, Lodz, Poland

  Hanrahan

  U.S. Army captain, outside Fordyce, Arkansas

  Hawkins

  U.S. Army lieutenant, Hot Springs, Arkansas

  Hines, Rachel

  U.S. Army cavalry private, Lamar, Colorado

  Hsia Shou-Tao

  Communist guerrilla leader, Peking

  HULL, CORDELL

  President of the United States

  Ignacy

  Partisan leader outside Warsaw

  Irma

  Waitress, Lamar, Colorado

  Jäger, Heinrich

  Wehrmacht panzer colonel outside Lodz, Poland

  Joachim

  Wehrmacht ammunition hauler north of Lodz, Poland

  Jones, Jerome

  RAF radarman Pskov, USSR

  Jordan, Constantine

  RAF flight lieutenant, Dover, England

  Kagan, Max

  American nuclear physicist, north of Moscow

  Kapellmeister

  Wehrmacht major Kristianstand, Norway

  Kaplan, Naomi

  Barmaid, White Horse Inn, Dover, England

  Karol

  Farmer north of Lodz, Poland

  KURCHATOV, IGOR

  Nuclear physicist, north of Moscow

  Kurowski

  U.S. Army private, Chicago

  Lidov, Boris

  NKVD colonel, Moscow

  Liu Han

  Ex-peasant woman; guerrilla, Peking

  Liu Mei

  Liu Han’s daughter

  Logan

  Radioman near Fall Creek, Illinois

  Magruder, Bill

  U.S. Army cavalry lieutenant, Lamar, Colorado

  MAO TSE-TUNG

  Communist Party leader, Peking

  Marchenko

  NKVD captain, gulag outside Petrozavodsk, USSR

  MARSHALL, GEORGE

  U.S. Secretary of State

  Mather, Donald

  Captain, SAS, Dover, England

  Mavrogordato, Panagiotis

  Captain of the freighter Naxos

  Maxi

  SS officer north of Lodz, Poland

  McBride

  RAF flying officer, Dover, England

  Mehier, Karl

  Panzer loader north of Lodz, Poland

  Mendel

  Jewish guard, Lodz, Poland

  Mieczyslaw

  Farmer north of Lodz, Poland

  Mikhailov, Anton

  Zek in gulag near Petrozavodsk, USSR

  MOLOTOV, VYACHESLAV

  Foreign commissar, USSR

  Mori

  Japanese Army major, west of Peking

  Muldoon, Herman

  U.S. Army sergeant, Chicago

  NIEH HO-T’ING

  Guerrilla leader, Peking

  Nussboym, David

  Political prisoner in transit

  Osborne, Andy

  Guide near Karval, Colorado

  Palchinsky, Yuri

  Guard, gulag near Petrozavodsk, USSR

  PATTON, GEORGE

  U.S. Army lieutenant general near Fall Creek, Illinois

  Peterson, Richard

  Technician, Metallurgical Laboratory, Denver

  Pirogova, Tatiana

  Red Army sniper, Pskov, USSR

  Rasmussen

  U.S. Army lieutenant, Chicago

  RIBBENTROP, JOACHIM VON

  German foreign minister

  Rita

  Madam, Elgin, Illinois

  Roundbush, Basil

  RAF flight lieutenant, Dover, England

  Rudzutak, Stepan

  Gang boss in gulag near Petrozavodsk, USSR

  Russie, Moishe

  Jewish leader, approaching Palestine

  Russie, Reuven

  Moishe and Rivka Russie’s son

  Russie, Rivka

  Moishe Russie’s wife

  Saul

  Jewish guard, Lodz, Poland

  Schultz, Georg

  German mechanic attached to Red Air Force, Pskov, USSR

&nb
sp; Sholom

  Partisan outside Hrubieszów, Poland

  SKORZENY, OTTO

  SS Standartenführer, North of Lodz, Poland

  Skriabin

  NKVD colonel, gulag outside Petrozavodsk, USSR

  Smithson, Hayward

  U.S. Army major, Medical Corps, Karval, Colorado

  STALIN, IOSEF

  General Secretary, Communist Party, USSR

  Stefarnia

  Partisan outside Hrubieszów, Poland

  STERN

  Jewish guerrilla leader, Jerusalem

  Summers, Penny

  Refugee, Lamar, Colorado

  Su Shun-Ch’in

  Muslim qadi, Peking

  Suzie

  Whore, Elgin, Illinois

  Sylvia

  Barmaid, White Horse Inn, Dover, England

  Szymanski, Stan

  U.S. Army captain, Elgin, Illinois

  Tadeusz

  Farmer outside of Lodz, Poland

  TOGO, SHIGENORI

  Japanese foreign minister

  VASILIEV, NIKOLAI

  Partisan brigadier, Pskov, USSR

  Witold

  Blacksmith, Hrubieszów Poland

  Wladeslaw

  Partisan near Hrubieszów, Poland

  Yeager, Barbara

  Sam Yeager’s wife

  Yeager, Jonathan

  Sam and Barbara Yeager’s son

  Yeager, Sam

  U.S. Army sergeant, Hot Springs, Arkansas

  Yitzkhak

  Jew in Lodz Poland

  Zelkowitz, Leon

  Jewish fighter, Lodz, Poland

  THE RACE

  Aaatos

  Intelligence operative, Florida

  Atvar

  Fleetlord, conquest fleet of the Race

  Bunim

  Regional subadministrator, Lodz, Poland

  Chook

  Small-unit group leader near Fall Creek, Illinois

  Essaff

  Guard and interpreter, Peking

  Fsseffel

  Headmale, Race Barracks One, gulag near Petrozavodsk, USSR

  Gazzim

  Prisoner and interpreter, Moscow

  Kirel

  Shiplord, 127th Emperor Hetto

  Mzepps

  Prisoner, Dover, England

  Nikeaa

  Infantry officer outside Pskov, USSR

  Oyyag

  Prisoner, gulag near Petrozavodsk, USSR

  Ppevel

  Assistant administrator, eastern region, main continental mass, Peking

  Pshing

  Atvar’s adjutant, Cairo

  Ristin

  Prisoner, Hot Springs, Arkansas

  Saltta

  Psychological researcher, Canton, China

  Straha

  Tosevite propagandist, Hot Springs, Arkansas

  Strukss

  Tosevite liaison officer, Cairo

  Teerts

  Killercraft flight leader, Florida

  Tessrek

  Researcher in tosevite behavior

  Ttomalss

  Researcher in tosevite behavior, Peking

  Uotat

  Atvar’s interpreter, Cairo

  Ullhass

  Prisoner, Hot Springs, Arkansas

  Ummfac

  Aircraft armorer, Florida

  Ussmak

  Mutineer outside Tomsk, USSR

  Zolraag

  Negotiator with Jewish guerrillas, Jerusalem

  I

  In free fall, Atvar the fleetlord glided over to the hologram projector. He poked the stud at the base of the machine. The image that sprang into being above the projector was one the Race’s probe had sent back from Tosev 3 eight hundred local years earlier.

  A Big Ugly warrior sat mounted on a beast. He wore leather boots, rusty chainmail, and a dented iron helmet; a thin coat woven from plant fibers and dyed blue with plant juices shielded his armor from the heat of the star the Race called Tosev. To Atvar, to any male of the Race, Tosev 3 was on the chilly side, but not to the natives.

  A long, iron-pointed spear stood up from a boss on the contraption the warrior used to stay atop his animal. He carried a shield painted with a cross. On his belt hung a long, straight sword and a couple of knives.

  All you could see of the Tosevite himself were his face and one hand. They were plenty to show he was almost as fuzzy as the beast he rode. Thick, wiry yellow fur covered his jaws and the area around his mouth; he had another stripe above each of his flat, immobile eyes. A thinner layer of hair grew on the back of the visible hand.

  Atvar touched his own smooth, scaly skin. Just looking at all that fur made him wonder why the Big Uglies didn’t itch all the time. Leaving one eye turret aimed at the Tosevite warrior, he swung the other in the direction of Kirel, shiplord of the 127th Emperor Hetto. “This is the foe we thought we were opposing,” he said bitterly.

  “Truth, Exalted Fleetlord,” Kirel said. His body paint was almost as colorful and complex as Atvar’s. Since he commanded the bannership of the conquest fleet, only the fleetlord out-ranked him.

  Atvar stabbed at the projector control with his left index claw. The Big Ugly warrior vanished. In his place appeared a perfect three-dimensional image of the nuclear explosion that had destroyed the Tosevite city of Rome: Atvar recognized the background terrain. But it could as easily have been the bomb that vaporized Chicago or Breslau or Miami or the spearhead of the Race’s assault force south of Moscow.

  “As opposed to the foe we thought we faced, this is what we are actually dealing with,” Atvar said.

  “Truth,” Kirel repeated, and, as mournful commentary, added an emphatic cough.

  Atvar let out a long, hissing sigh. Stability and predictability were two of the pillars on which the Race and its Empire had flourished for a hundred thousand years and expanded to cover three solar systems. On Tosev 3, nothing seemed predictable, nothing seemed stable. No wonder the Race was having such troubles here. The Big Uglies did not play by any of the rules its savants thought they knew.

  With another hiss, the fleetlord poked at the control stud once more. Now the threatening cloud from the nuclear blast vanished. In a way, the image that replaced it was even more menacing. It was a satellite photograph of a base the Race had established in the region of the SSSR known to the locals as Siberia, a place whose frigid climate even the Big Uglies found appalling.

  “The mutineers still persist in their rebellion against duly constituted authority,” Atvar said heavily. “Worse, the commandants of the two nearest bases have urged against committing their males to suppress the rebels, for fear they would go over to them instead.”

  “This is truly alarming,” Kirel said with another emphatic cough. “If we choose males from a distant air base to bomb the mutineers out of existence, then, will it truly solve the problem?”

  “I don’t know,” Atvar said. “But what I really don’t know, by the Emperor”—he cast down his eyes for a moment at the mention of his sovereign—“is how the mutiny could have happened in the first place. Subordination and integration into the greater scheme of the Race as a whole are drilled into our males from hatchlinghood. How could they have overthrown them?”