The Night Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko, Sergei Luk'ianenko Page B
Authors: Sergei Lukyanenko, Sergei Luk'ianenko
Tags: Fiction, General, Fantasy, Thrillers, Vampires, Modern & contemporary fiction (post c 1945), General & Literary Fiction, Occult, Fantasy fiction; Russian, Science fiction; Russian
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partners, after all."
I felt a warm glow in my heart. This sudden improvement in relations with my partner would have made any mistakes worthwhile.
"Thanks. What do you advise?"
"You're doing everything right. Look for the trail."
I'd have preferred rather less predictable advice…
"Let's go."
By two o'clock, as well as the circle line, I'd combed the entire gray line too. Maybe I am a lousy operational agent, but there was no way I could have failed to spot the trail from yesterday, when I'd captured the image myself. The girl with the black vortex spinning over her head hadn't gotten out here. I'd have to go back and start again from the point where we'd met.
At Kurskaya I went up on the escalator and out of the metro and bought a plastic tub of salad and a coffee from a van right there on the street. The very sight of the hamburgers and sausages made me start feeling sick, even though the amount of meat in them was strictly symbolic.
"Will you have something?" I asked my invisible companion.
"No, thank you."
Standing there with the fine snow falling on me, I picked at my Olivier salad with a tiny plastic fork and sipped the hot coffee. A bum who'd been counting on me buying beer, so that he could have the empty bottle, hung about for a bit and then took off into the metro to get warm. Nobody else paid any attention to me. The girl behind the counter served the hungry passersby; faceless streams of people flooded away from the station and back toward it. The salesman at a bookstall was trying wearily and unenthusiastically to foist some book or other on a customer. The customer didn't like the price.
"I must be in a bad mood or something…" I muttered.
"Why?"
Page 38
"Everything looks dark and gloomy. All the people are lowlifes and idiots; the salad's frozen; my boots feel damp."
The bird on my shoulder gave a derisive screech.
"No, Anton, it's not just your mood. You can sense the approach of the Inferno."
"I'm not noted for being particularly sensitive."
"That's just the point."
I glanced at the station, tried to get a close look at people's faces. Some of them were sensing it too. The ones who stood right on the very boundary line between human being and Other were tense and depressed. They couldn't understand why, so they were compensating by acting cheerful.
"Darkness and Light…What will it be when it happens, Olga?"
"Anything at all. You stalled the time of the eruption, but now when the vortex strikes the consequences will be absolutely catastrophic. That's the effect of delay."
"The boss didn't tell me that."
"Why should he? You did the right thing. Now at least there's a chance."
"Olga, how old are you?" I asked. Between human beings the question might have been taken as an insult. But for us age doesn't have any particular limits.
"Very old, Anton. For instance, I can remember the uprising."
"The revolution?"
"The uprising onSenate Square in 1825." The owl chortled. I didn't say anything. The owl could be even older than the boss.
"What's your rank, partner?"
"I don't have one. I was stripped of all rights."
"I'm sorry."
"No problem. I came to terms with it a long time ago."
Her voice was still cheerful, even mocking. But something told me Olga had never come to terms with it.
"If you don't mind me asking… Why did they shut you in that body?"
"There was no other choice. Living in a wolf's body is much harder."
"Wait…" I dropped the remains of the salad in a garbage can. I looked at my shoulder, but, of course, I didn't see the owl—to do that I would have had to withdraw into the Twilight. "Who are you? If you're a Page 39
shape-shifter, then why are you with us? If you're a magician, then why such a strange punishment?"
"That's got nothing to do with the job, Anton." For just a moment here was a hint of steel in her voice.
"But it all started with me compromising with the Dark Ones. Only a small compromise. I thought I'd calculated the consequences, but I was
I felt a warm glow in my heart. This sudden improvement in relations with my partner would have made any mistakes worthwhile.
"Thanks. What do you advise?"
"You're doing everything right. Look for the trail."
I'd have preferred rather less predictable advice…
"Let's go."
By two o'clock, as well as the circle line, I'd combed the entire gray line too. Maybe I am a lousy operational agent, but there was no way I could have failed to spot the trail from yesterday, when I'd captured the image myself. The girl with the black vortex spinning over her head hadn't gotten out here. I'd have to go back and start again from the point where we'd met.
At Kurskaya I went up on the escalator and out of the metro and bought a plastic tub of salad and a coffee from a van right there on the street. The very sight of the hamburgers and sausages made me start feeling sick, even though the amount of meat in them was strictly symbolic.
"Will you have something?" I asked my invisible companion.
"No, thank you."
Standing there with the fine snow falling on me, I picked at my Olivier salad with a tiny plastic fork and sipped the hot coffee. A bum who'd been counting on me buying beer, so that he could have the empty bottle, hung about for a bit and then took off into the metro to get warm. Nobody else paid any attention to me. The girl behind the counter served the hungry passersby; faceless streams of people flooded away from the station and back toward it. The salesman at a bookstall was trying wearily and unenthusiastically to foist some book or other on a customer. The customer didn't like the price.
"I must be in a bad mood or something…" I muttered.
"Why?"
Page 38
"Everything looks dark and gloomy. All the people are lowlifes and idiots; the salad's frozen; my boots feel damp."
The bird on my shoulder gave a derisive screech.
"No, Anton, it's not just your mood. You can sense the approach of the Inferno."
"I'm not noted for being particularly sensitive."
"That's just the point."
I glanced at the station, tried to get a close look at people's faces. Some of them were sensing it too. The ones who stood right on the very boundary line between human being and Other were tense and depressed. They couldn't understand why, so they were compensating by acting cheerful.
"Darkness and Light…What will it be when it happens, Olga?"
"Anything at all. You stalled the time of the eruption, but now when the vortex strikes the consequences will be absolutely catastrophic. That's the effect of delay."
"The boss didn't tell me that."
"Why should he? You did the right thing. Now at least there's a chance."
"Olga, how old are you?" I asked. Between human beings the question might have been taken as an insult. But for us age doesn't have any particular limits.
"Very old, Anton. For instance, I can remember the uprising."
"The revolution?"
"The uprising onSenate Square in 1825." The owl chortled. I didn't say anything. The owl could be even older than the boss.
"What's your rank, partner?"
"I don't have one. I was stripped of all rights."
"I'm sorry."
"No problem. I came to terms with it a long time ago."
Her voice was still cheerful, even mocking. But something told me Olga had never come to terms with it.
"If you don't mind me asking… Why did they shut you in that body?"
"There was no other choice. Living in a wolf's body is much harder."
"Wait…" I dropped the remains of the salad in a garbage can. I looked at my shoulder, but, of course, I didn't see the owl—to do that I would have had to withdraw into the Twilight. "Who are you? If you're a Page 39
shape-shifter, then why are you with us? If you're a magician, then why such a strange punishment?"
"That's got nothing to do with the job, Anton." For just a moment here was a hint of steel in her voice.
"But it all started with me compromising with the Dark Ones. Only a small compromise. I thought I'd calculated the consequences, but I was
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