SEMYON CAME INTO THE OFFICE, PUSHING LAS IN AHEAD OF HIM, AS IF HE were some low-grade Dark sorcerer caught red-handed in a petty offense. Las was fiddling with a tightly rolled tube of paper, trying to hide it behind his back.
Semyon flopped down into an armchair and growled, "Your protege, Anton? You sort this out."
"What's happened?" I asked cautiously.
Las's expression wasn't guilty at all. Just slightly embarrassed.
"His second day in training," said Semyon. "Absolutely basic, elementary assignments. Not even anything to do with magic..."
"And?" I encouraged him.
"I asked him to meet Mr. Sisuke Sasaki from the Tokyo Watch..."
I chortled. Semyon turned scarlet. "It's an ordinary Japanese name! No funnier than yours¡ªAnton Sergeevich Gorodetsky!"
"I realize that," I agreed. "Is he the same Sasaki who handled the case of the girl werewolves in '94?"
"The very same." Semyon squirmed in his chair. Las carried on standing by the door. "He's flying through on his way to Europe, and he wanted to discuss something with Gesar."
"And what happened?"
Semyon looked at Las indignantly, then cleared his throat and said, "Our trainee here inquired if the highly respected Mr. Sasaki knew Russian. I explained that he didn't. Then our trainee printed out a notice and went off to Sheremetievo to meet the Japanese gentleman... Show him the notice!"
Las sighed and unrolled the tube of paper.
The Japanese name was written in very large hieroglyphs. Las had made an effort and loaded a Japanese font.
But at the top, in slightly smaller Russian characters, it said:
"Second Moscow Congress of Victims of Forcible Infection with Cholera."
It cost me an immense effort to keep a stony face.
"Why did you write that?" I asked.
"I always meet foreigners like that," Las said in an offended tone of voice. "My business partners, and my relatives¡ªI've got family abroad... If they don't know any Russian, I print their names in big letters in their own language and something funny in Russian in smaller letters. For instance: 'Conference of Non-traditionally Oriented Transsexuals,' 'European Festival of Deaf-Mute Musicians and Performers,' 'Forum of Activists of the International Movement for Total Sexual Abstinence'... And I hold the notice up like this... turning in all directions, so that everybody who's waiting for someone can see it.. ."
"I get the idea," I said. "What I want to know is something else¡ªwhat do you do it for?"
"When the person I'm meeting comes out of customs, everyone in the place wants to know who he is," Las explained im-perturbably. "When he appears, everybody smiles, lots of people even applaud and whistle and wave. He doesn't know why they're reacting like that anyway. All he can tell is that everyone's glad to see him, then he spots his name and comes over to me. I promptly roll up the notice and take him to the car. And afterward he tells everyone what wonderful, friendly people the Russians are. Everyone greeted him with a smile."
"Blockhead," I said emphatically. "That's with an ordinary person. But Sasaki's an Other. A Higher Other, as it happens! He doesn't know Russian, but he perceives the meaning of written words on the conceptual level."
Las sighed and lowered his head. "I realize that now... Well, if I've screwed up¡ªchuck me out!"
"Was Mr. Sasaki offended?" I asked.
"When I explained everything, Mr. Sasaki was kind enough to laugh long and loud," Las replied.
"Please," I said. "Don't do it again."