"Is Pinov," came the reply. "Help?"
"Nyet," said Major Winship, exhausting his Russian. "Count down. Progress. When—boom?"
"Is Pinov," came the reply.
"Boom! Boom!" said Major Winship in exasperation.
"Boom!" said Pinov happily.
"When?"
"Boom—boom!" said Pinov.
"Oh, nuts." Major Winship cut out the circuit. "They've got Pinov on emergency watch this morning," he explained to the other Americans. "The one that doesn't speak English."
"He's done it deliberately," said Capt. Wilkins, the eldest of the four Americans. "How are we going to know when it's over?"
No one bothered to respond. They sat for a while in silence while the shadows evaporated. One by one they clicked on their cooling systems.