Сергей Лукьяненко: Twilight Watch

He looked genuinely alive now. And absolutely sincere. His eyes were blazing-not with vampire Power, but with undiluted human passion.

"You used to dream about that yourself, didn't you, Anton? That there wouldn't be any more ordinary people. That everyone would be equal."

"I used to dream that all the people would be Others," I said. "Not that there wouldn't be any more people."

Kostya frowned. "Drop that! That's nothing but verbal gymnastics… Anton, we have a chance to make the world a better place. Fuaran couldn't have done it-in her time there weren't any space ships. Gesar and Zabulon can't do it-they haven't got the book. But we can-we can! I don't want any Power, understand that. I want equality. Freedom!"

"Happiness for everyone, a free handout?" I asked. "With no one left shortchanged and resentful?"

He didn't understand. He nodded.

"Yes, happiness for everyone! The earth for Others! And no more grievances and resentment. Anton, I want you to be with me. Join me!"

"What a wonderful idea," I exclaimed, looking into his eyes. "Brilliant, Kostya!"

I'd never been good at lying. And deceiving a vampire is almost impossible. But Kostya evidently wanted me to agree very badly.

He smiled. And relaxed.

And at that instant I raised my hands and struck out at him with the Gray Prayer.

It was nothing like the blow I had struck on the train. The Power was seething inside me, streaming from the tips of my fingers-and it kept coming, on and on. How can you tell if you're a good conductor until they switch on the current?

The spell was visible even in the human world. Looping gray coils sprang from my fingers, twining themselves around Kostya, clutching and wrenching at him, enveloping him in a writhing gray cocoon. What happened in the Twilight was absolutely incredible-the world was filled with a seething blizzard of gray that made the usual gray mist seem colorful. The thought came to me that if there were any ordinary registered vampires within a radius of several miles, they wouldn't be feeling too great either. They'd be swept away and dematerialize by the ricochet from the spells…

Kostya went down on one knee. He shuddered, trying to break free, but the Gray Prayer was sucking Power out of him faster than he could work his spells.

"Unbelievable!" Las exclaimed in delight behind me.

So much Power had never passed through me before.

Something strange was happening to the world around me. The plane on the runway faded and became a colorless, gray stone monolith. The sky faded to a dull white shroud hanging low above the ground. My ears seemed to be blocked with cotton wool.

The Twilight seemed to be breaking through into our world…

But I couldn't stop. I could sense that if I eased up on the pressure for even a second, Kostya would break free and strike back. Strike so hard, there'd be no pieces left to pick up… it would be me, not Kostya, smeared across the concrete apron…

He raised his head and looked at me. Not in fury, more in resentful bewilderment. He parted his hands very, very slowly…

Could he really have any reserves of Power left?

A transparent, bluish triangular prism took shape in the air around Kostya. It severed the gray threads of the spell, spun around and shrank to a tiny point. Then disappeared.

Taking the vampire with it.

Kostya had gotten away, through a portal.

The Power was still raging inside me. The Power of a thousand Others, transmitted to me by Gesar and Zabulon, a boundless flood of Power, seeking a use, a point of application. Human Power that came to me at third hand…

Enough…

I brought my palms together, crumpling the gray threads into a heavy ball.

Enough…

There was no enemy here any more.

Enough…

A duel of magicians is fencing, not flailing with a clumsy club.

Enough.

Kostya had proved more skillful.

I was trembling violently-but I stopped myself. The sky took on a blue color again, the plane on the runway picked up speed.

Kostya had gone.

Had he turned and run?

No, simply gone. I'd never heard of vampires capable of creating a direct portal. And it looked like the Higher Ones hadn't expected Kostya to pull an incredible stunt like that either.

He'd come to the airport, knowing that everyone would start thinking about planes and helicopters and relax, sure that there was still some time left. A vampire could be intercepted in midair, you could send up the jet fighters, you could zap him with a missile.

But he'd had the direct portal ready in advance. An hour and a half before the launch-he wouldn't have had time to get there by plane. And they wouldn't have let a plane anywhere near Baikonur-whatever they might be like now, the air defense forces still existed. That was why he'd been able to make the jump, even under pressure from the Gray Prayer-the spell for the portal had been hanging there, ready for use, like the combat spells of a field operations magician.

That meant he hadn't believed I would go over to his side. Or at least he'd had serious doubts. But it had been important to him, very important, to defeat me, not by pure Power-what could Power prove, when he was already a Higher Vampire, and I was still a second-level magician, even if I was pumped full of borrowed Power? The most complete and convincing victory is when your opponent admits that you're right. And surrenders without a fight. Accepts your banner as his own.

I'd been really stupid. I'd thought of him as either a friend or an enemy. But he was neither. All he'd wanted to do was prove that he was right. And I just happened to be the target he'd chosen for proving that. No longer a friend, not yet an enemy. Simply the bearer of a different truth.

"Did he teleport?" Las asked.

"What?" I swung around and looked at him. "Well… something of the sort. He opened a portal and got away through it. How did you understand that?"

"I saw something that looked like that in this computer game…" Las said uncertainly. Then he added indignantly, "A lot like that, in fact!"

"People aren't the only ones who can design games…" I explained. "Yes, he got away. He's gone to Baikonur. He wants to take the space tourist's place…"

"I heard," said Las. "What a lamebrain."

"Do you understand why he's a lamebrain?" I asked.

Las snorted. "If all the people become magicians… Today they insult you in the trolley, tomorrow they'll incinerate you on the spot. Today they scratch their neighbor's door with a nail if they don't like him, or write an anonymous letter to the tax office, but tomorrow they'll hex him or suck all his blood out. A monkey on a motorbike is only good in a circus, not on the city streets… And especially if the monkey's got a machine gun."

"You think the monkeys are in the majority?" I asked.

"We're all monkeys."

"You're headed for the Watch," I muttered. "Hang on, I'll ask for advice."

"What Watch?" Las asked cautiously. "Thanks a bunch, but I'm not a magician, thank God!"

I closed my eyes and listened. Silence.

"Gesar!"

Silence.

"Gesar! Teacher!"

"We were in conference, Anton."

In mind conversations, there are no inflexions of the voice. But even so… even so I thought I caught a hint of weariness in Gesar's words.

"He went to Baikonur. The Fuaran really works. He wants to turn everybody on the planet into Others."

I stopped, because I realized Gesar already knew. He'd seen and heard everything that happened-through my eyes and ears, or by using some other magical method, it wasn't important how.

"You have to stop him, Anton. Go after him and stop him."

"And you?"

"We're keeping the channel open, Anton. Supplying you with Power. Do you know how many Others provided Power for the Gray Prayer?"