In the Balance & Tilting the Balance

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by Harry Turtledove


  Larssen rode east, to the University of Chicago campus. If he couldn’t find Barbara, the Met Lab crew was the next best bet—they might even know what had happened to her.

  Though bare of students, the university didn’t seem as badly battered as the city around it, perhaps because its buildings were more widely scattered. Jens rode up Fifty-eighth and then across the lawns in the center of campus. They had been a lot more pleasant before they were pocked with bomb and shell craters.

  Off to the right, Swift Hall was a burnt-out ruin; God hadn’t spared the university’s divinity school. But Eckhart Hall still stood, and, but for broken windows, looked pretty much intact. Worn as he was, hope made Jens all but sprint the bike toward the entrance.

  He started to leave it outside, then thought better of that and brought it in—no use giving booters temptation they didn’t need. “Where is everybody?” he called down the hallway. Only echoes answered. It’s after quitting time, he told himself, but hope flickered all the same.

  He walked to the stairway, took the steps two at a time. No matter when the secretaries and such went home, the Met Lab scientists were busy almost around the clock. But the halls upstairs were empty and silent, the offices and labs not only vacant but methodically stripped. Wherever the Metallurgical Laboratory was, it didn’t live at the University of Chicago any more.

  He trudged downstairs much more slowly than he’d gone up. Somebody was standing by his bicycle. He started to snatch his rifle off his shoulder, then recognized the man. “Andy!” he exclaimed

  The gray-haired custodian whirled in surprise. “Jesus and Mary, it’s you, Dr. Larssen,” he said, his voice still flavored with the Auld Sod though he’d been born in Chicago. “I tell you true, I never thought I’d see you again.”

  “Plenty of tines I never thought I’d get here,” Jens answered. “Where the devil has the Met Lab gone?”

  Instead of answering directly, Reilly fumbled in his shirt pocket, pulled out a creased and stained envelope. “Your wife gave me this to give to you if ever you came back. Like I said, I had my doubts you would, but I always hung on to it, just on the off chance—”

  “Andy, you’re a wonder.” Jens tore open the envelope. He let out a soft exclamation of delight as he recognized Barbara’s handwriting. The note was stained and blurry—probably from the janitor’s sweat—but the gist was still clear. Larssen shook his head in tired dismay. He’d come so far, been through so much.

  “Denver?” he said aloud. “How the devil am I supposed to get to Denver?” Like the war, his journey had a long way to go.

  This is a bundled book. You may experience changes in navigation functionality, but the content has not been affected.

  A Del Rey® Book

  Published by Ballantine Books

  Copyright © 1994 by Harry Turtledove

  All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. Published in the United States by Ballantine Books, a division of Random House, Inc., New York, and simultaneously in Canada by Random House of Canada Limited, Toronto.

  http://www.randomhouse.com

  Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 93-22133

  eISBN: 978-0-345-45613-7

  v3.0

  Praise for Harry Turtledove’s

  WORLDWAR:

  IN THE BALANCE

  “Readers will have a perfectly delightful time … Turtledove’s storytelling and historiography now march in perfect step. World War II buffs will have a particular romp … But the readership will be much wider than this, and all will be glad that Turtledove plans three more volumes in Worldwar.”

  —Chicago Suns-Times

  “Totally fascinating … With this engrossing volume, Turtledove launches a four-book alternate-history saga, possibly the most ambitious in the subgenre’s history and definitely the work of one of alternate history’s authentic modern masters.”

  —Booklist

  “I literally could not put Worldwar: In the Balance down. I carried it with me to the doctor’s office and to a dinner date the day it arrived! The novel is a tour de force in three acts.”

  —S. M. STIRLING

  “A fast-paced, suspenseful work.”

  —Chicago Tribune

  Worldwar: Tilting the Balance

  BOOKS BY HARRY TURTLEDOVE

  The Guns of the South

  THE WORLDWAR SAGA

  Worldwar: In the Balance

  Worldwar: Tilting the Balance

  Worldwar: Upsetting the Balance

  Worldwar: Striking the Balance

  COLONIZATION

  Colonization: Second Contact

  Colonization: Down to Earth

  Colonization: Aftershocks

  Homeward Bound

  THE VIDESSOS CYCLE

  The Misplaced Legion

  An Emperor for the Legion

  The Legion of Videssos

  Swords of the Legion

  THE TALE OF KRISPOS

  Krispos Rising

  Krispos of Videssos

  Krispos the Emperor

  Noninterference

  Kaleidoscope

  A World of Difference

  Earthgrip

  Departures

  How Few Remain

  THE GREAT WAR

  The Great War: American Front

  The Great War: Walk in Hell

  The Great War: Breakthroughs

  AMERICAN EMPIRE

  American Empire: Blood and Iron

  American Empire: The Center Cannot Hold

  American Empire: The Victorious Opposition

  SETTLING ACCOUNTS

  Settling Accounts: Return Engagement

  The Best Alternate History Stories of the 20th Century

  The Best Military Science Fiction of the 20th Century

  (with Martin H. Greenburg)

  DRAMATIS PERSONAE

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

  HUMANS

  ANIELEWICZ, MORDECHAI Leader of Jewish fighters in Poland

  Auerbach, Rance Captain, U.S. Army Cavalry

  Bagnall, George Flight engineer, RAF

  Barisha Tavern keeper in Split, Independent State of Croatia

  Berkowicz, Stefan Landlord in Lodz

  BLAIR, ERIC BBC talks producer, Indian Section, London

  Borcke, Martin Wehrmachtcaptain and interpreter in Pskov

  CHILL, KURT Wehrmacht lieutenant general, 122nd Infantry, in Pskov

  CHURCHILL, WINSTON Prime Minister, Great Britain

  COMPTON, ARTHUR Nuclear physicist with the Metallurgical Laboratory

  Cooley, Mary Waitress in Idaho Springs, Colorado

  Daniels, Pete (“Mutt”) Sergeant, U.S. Army, in Illinois; former minorleague manager

  DIEBNER, KURT Nuclear physicist, Hechingen, Germany

  Donlan, Kevin U.S. Army private in Illinois

  Embry, Ken Pilot, RAF

  FERMI, ENRICO Nuclear physicist with the Metallurgical Laboratory

  FERMI, LAURA Enrico Fermi’s wife

  Fiore, Bobby Lizard experimental subject; former baseball player

  FLEROV, GEORGI Soviet nuclear physicist

  Fritzie Cowboy in Chugwater, Wyoming

  Fukuoka, Yoshi Japanese soldier in China

  GERMAN, ALEKSANDR Commander of Second Partisan Brigade in Pskov

  Goldfarb, David Radarman, RAF

  Gorbunova, Ludmila Pilot, Red Air Force

  GROVES, LESLIE Engineer; U.S. Army colonel

  Harvey Civilian guard in Idaho Springs, Colorado

  HEISENBERG, WERNER Nuclear physicist in Hechingen, Germany

  Henry Wounded U.S. soldier in Chicago

  Hexham U.S. Army colonel in Denver

  Hicks, Chester U.S. Army lieutenant in Chicago

  Higuchi Japanese scientist

  Hipple, Fred RAF group captain in Bruntingthorpe

  Ho-T’ING, NIEH Chinese Communist guerrilla officer

  Horton, Leo RAF radarman in Bruntin
gthorpe

  HULL, CORDELL U.S. Secretary of State

  Isaac Jew in Leczna, Poland

  Jacobi, Nathan BBC broadcaster in London

  Jäger, Heinrich Wehrmacht panzer colonel

  Jones, Jerome RAF radarman

  Karpov, Feofan Red Air Force colonel

  Kennan, Maurice RAF flight lieutenant in Bruntingthorpe

  Klein, Sid U.S. Army captain in Chicago

  Klopotowski, Roman Townsman in Leczna, Poland

  Klopotowski, Zofia Daughter of Roman Klopotowski

  KONIEV, IVAN Red Army general

  KURCHATOV, IGOR Soviet nuclear physicist

  Laplace, Freddie U.S. Army private in Illinois

  Larssen, Barbara see Yeager, Barbara

  Larssen, Jens Nuclear physicist with the Metallurgical Laboratory

  Leon Jewish fighter in Lodz

  Lidov, Boris NKVD lieutenant-colonel in Moscow

  Liu Han Chinese peasant woman; Lizard experimental subject

  Lo Communist Chinese partisan

  Maczek U.S. Army captain in Illinois

  Meinecke, Klaus Sergeant; gunner on Heinrich Jäger’s panzer

  MOLOTOV, VYACHESLAV Foreign Commissar, USSR

  Morozkin, Sergei Red Army interpreter in Pskov

  MURROW, EDWARD R. Radio news broadcaster

  Nakayama Japanese scientist

  NISHINA, YOSHIO Japanese nuclear physicist

  Okamoto Japanese Army major; interpreter and translator

  Olson, Louise Inhabitant of New Salem, North Dakota

  Olson, Thorkil Inhabitant of New Salem, North Dakota

  Oscar U.S. Army bodyguard in Denver

  Peary, Julian RAF wing commander in Bruntingthorpe

  Petrovic, Marko Captain, Independent State of Croatia

  Potter, Lucille Nurse in Illinois

  RIBBENTROP, JOACHIM VON German foreign minister

  ROOSEVELT, FRANKLIN D. President of the United States

  Roundbush, Basil RAF flight officer in Bruntingthorpe

  RUMKOWSKI, MORDECHAI CHAIM Eldest of the Jews in the Lodz ghetto

  Russie, Moishe Former medical student; leader among Polish Jews; fugitive

  Russie, Reuven Son of Moishe and Rivka Russie

  Russie, Rivka Moishe Russie’s wife

  Sawatski, Emilia Wife of Wladyslaw Sawatski

  Sawatski, Ewa Daughter of Wladyslaw and Emilia Sawatski

  Sawatski, Jozef Son of Wladyslaw and Emilia Sawatski

  Sawatski, Maria Daughter of Wladyslaw and Emilia Sawatski

  Sawatski, Wladyslaw Polish farmer

  Schultz, Georg Former Wehrmacht panzer gunner; Red Air Force mechanic

  Sharp, Hiram Physician in Ogden, Utah

  Shmuel Jewish fighter in Lodz

  Sholudenko, Nikifor NKVD man in the Ukraine

  Shura Whore in Shanghai

  SKORZENY, OTTO SS colonel

  Sobieski, Tadeusz Grocer in Leczna, Poland

  STALIN, IOSEF General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union

  Sumner, Joshua (“Hoot”) Justice of the peace in Chugwater, Wyoming

  Szabo, Bela (“Dracula”) U.S. Army private in Illinois

  SZILARD, LEO Nuclear physicist with the Metallurgical Laboratory

  Tatiana Sniper and companion of Jerome Jones in Pskov

  TOGO, SHIGENORI Japanese foreign minister

  Tolya Groundcrew man, Red Air Force

  Tsuye Japanese scientist

  Ussishkin, Judah Doctor in Leczna, Poland

  Ussishkin, Sarah Wife of Judah Ussishkin; midwife in Leczna, Poland

  van Alen, Jacob U.S. Coast Guard lieutenant in Oswego, New York

  VASILIEV, NIKOLAI Commander, First Partisan Brigade in Pskov

  Vernon, Hank Ship’s engineer in the Duluth Queen

  Victor Wounded U.S. soldier in Chicago

  Whyte, Alf RAF navigator

  Wittman, Rolf Driver in Heinrich Jäger’s panzer

  Yeager, Barbara Former graduate student in medieval literature; Sam Yeager’s wife

  Yeager, Sam U.S. Army corporal; liaison with Lizard POWs; former baseball player

  ZHUKOV, GEORGI Marshal of the Soviet Union

  THE RACE

  Atvar Fleetlord, conquest fleet of the Race

  Bunim Official in Lodz

  Drefsab Intelligence agent and ginger addict

  Forssis Landcruiser gunner in Besançon, France

  Hessef Landcruiser driver in Besançon, France

  Ianxx Officer in Shanghai

  Kassnass Landcruiser unit commander in Besançon, France

  Kirel Shiplord of the 127th Emperor Hetto

  Nejas Landcruiser commander in Besançon, France

  Nossat Psychologist

  Ristin Lizard POW with the Metallurgical Laboratory

  Sherran The first male to circumnavigate Home

  Skoob Landcruiser gunner in Besançon, France

  Ssamraff Investigator in China

  Starraf Researcher in China

  Straha Shiplord of the 206th Emperor Yower

  Teerts POW in Japan

  Tessrek Psychologist

  Ttomalss Researcher in China

  Tvenkel Landcruiser gunner in Besançon, France

  Ullhass Lizard POW with the Metallurgical Laboratory

  Ussmak Landcruiser driver in Besançon, France

  I

  For nostalgia’s sake, Fleetlord Atvar called up the hologram of the Tosevite warrior he had often studied before the invasion fleet actually reached the world of Tosev 3. Nostalgia was an emotion that came easily to the Race: with a unified history of a hundred thousand years, with an empire that stretched over three solar systems and now reached out to a fourth, the past seemed a safe, comfortable place, not least because it was so much like the present.

  The hologram sprang into being before the fleetlord: a stalwart savage, his pinkish face sprouting yellowish hairs, clad in soft iron mail and woven animal and plant fibers, armed with spear and rust-flecked sword, and mounted on a Tosevite quadruped that looked distinctly too scrawny for the job of carrying him.

  Sighing, Atvar turned to the shiplord Kirel, who commanded the 127th Emperor Hetto, bannership of the invasion fleet. He stabbed a fingerclaw at the image. “If only it had been so easy,” he said with a sigh.

  “Yes, Exalted Fleetlord.” Kirel sighed, too. He turned both eye turrets toward the hologram. “It was what the probe led us to expect.”

  “Yes,” Atvar said sourly. Preparing in its methodical way for another conquest, the Race had sent a probe across the interstellar void sixteen hundred years before (years of the Race, of course; Tosev 3 orbited its primary only about half as fast). The probe dutifully sampled the planet, sent its images and data back Home. The Race prepared the invasion fleet and sent it out, certain of easy victory: how much could a world change in a mere sixteen hundred years?

  Atvar touched a control in the base of the holographic projector. The Tosevite warrior disappeared. New images took the Big Ugly’s place: a Russki landcruiser, red star painted on its turret, lightly armed and protected by the Race’s standards but well-designed, with sloped armor and wide treads for getting over the worst ground; an American heavy machine gun, with a belt full of big slugs that tore through body armor as if it were fiberboard; a Deutsch killercraft, turbojets slung under swept wings, nose bristling with cannon.

  Kirel pointed toward the killercraft. “That one concerns me more than either of the others, Exalted Fleetlord. By the Emperor”—both he and Atvar briefly cast down their eyes at the mention of the sovereign—“the Deutsche did not have that aircraft less than two years ago, when our campaign began.”

  “I know,” Atvar said. “All their aircraft—all Tosevite aircraft then—were those slow, awkward things propelled by rapidly rotating airfoils. But now the British are flying jets, too.”

  He summoned an image of the new British killercraft. It didn’t look as menacing as the machine the Deutsche made: its wings lacked
sweep and its lines were more graceful, less predatory. From the reports Atvar had read, it didn’t perform quite as well as the Deutsch killercraft, either. But it was a quantum leap better than anything the British had put into the air before.

  Fleetlord and shiplord stared glumly at the hologram. The trouble with the natives of Tosev 3 was that they were, by the Race’s standards, insanely inventive. The social scientists attached to the fleet were still trying to figure out how the Big Uglies had gone from barbarism to a full-grown industrial civilization in the blink of an historical eye. Their solutions—or rather, conjectures—had yet to satisfy Atvar.

  Part of the answer, he suspected, lay in the squabbling multiplicity of empires that divided up Tosev 3’s meager land surface. Some of them weren’t even empires in the strict sense of the word; the regime of the SSSR, for instance, openly boasted of liquidating its former ruling dynasty. The idea of impericide was enough to make Atvar queasy.

  Empires and not-empires had competed fiercely among themselves. They’d been fighting a planetwide war when the Race arrived. Doctrine from earlier conquests said the Race ought to have been able to take advantage of their factionalism, play off one side against another. The tactic had worked now and again, but not as well and not as often as doctrine suggested it would.

  Atvar sighed and told Kirel, “Before I came to Tosev 3, I was like any sensible male: I was sure doctrine held all the answers. Follow it and you’d obtain the results it predicted. The males who designed our doctrines should have seen this world first; it would have broadened their horizons.”

  “This is truth, Exalted Fleetlord,” the shiplord said. “One thing Tosev 3 has taught us is the difference between precept and experience.”

  “Yes. Well put,” Atvar said. The last world conquest the Race had undertaken lay thousands of years in the past. The fleetlord had pored over the manuals of what had worked then, and in the Race’s previous victory, even more thousands of years before that. But no one living had any practice using what was in the manuals.

  The Tosevites, by contrast, conquered one another and dickered with one another all the time. They made deception and deceit into an art, and were perfectly willing to educate the Race as to their use. Atvar had learned the hard way how much—or rather, how little—Big Ugly promises were worth.

 

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