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Authors: Sergei Lukyanenko
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and then choose the correct one himself.’
Gesar gave Svetlana a rather dubious look. Then he nodded and said: ‘I hope he had more enterprising colleagues than mine. I haven’t heard a single theory so far.’
‘A divine being,’ Jermenson said unexpectedly. ‘No, I’m not talking about God or a Messiah, but perhaps we’re dealing here with a manifestation of some sacral, mystical entity . . .’
‘Retirement’s having a bad effect on you, Mark,’ Gesar said irritably. ‘The only mystical entity in our world is us – the Others. All the rest is human folklore.’
‘Well, some Others don’t think so . . .’ Jermenson muttered, but without any real conviction.
‘So this is Other folklore, then!’ Gesar snapped. ‘Are there any serious theories?’
‘An emanation of primal Power,’ suggested Glyba. ‘The Light or the Darkness . . .’
‘That’s the same “divine entity” again, only in different words,’ said Gesar.
‘But the Light and the Darkness exist,’ said Glyba, with a shrug. ‘When we swear on the Light, it confirms our words.’
Gesar frowned. ‘Sophistry. We don’t know how or why it happens. Do you know? I don’t. Possibly one of the Great Magicians of ancient times created a spell that’s still working now. To suspect the Light and the Darkness of conscious action is—’
‘It’s just like expecting the Twilight to create a Mirror and send it to the side that’s losing . . .’ Olga said in a gentle voice.
Gesar shut up.
He didn’t simply stop talking, he shut up. He sat there for a while, gazing at the tabletop, and then said: ‘The theory is accepted. It’s absurd. I don’t like it – because I’m afraid of something of the kind. But as a theory, it’s accepted. Anything else?’
Nadya raised her hand again. ‘Boris Ignatievich, I don’t think we should be trying to guess right now,’ she said. ‘What difference does it make to us who has appeared? After all, we already know that he’s very powerful and he does strange things. So all right. We need to understand what he wants.’
‘And?’ asked Gesar.
‘Da— Anton . . .’ Nadya blushed.
‘It’s all right, we know that he’s your daddy,’ Gesar said in a surprisingly gentle voice. ‘Go on.’
‘It all started when daddy saw the boy-Prophet who was afraid to fly in the aeroplane because the aeroplane was going to crash,’ said Nadya, clearly embarrassed. ‘Well, he saved the boy and his mummy, didn’t he? But what if someone else wanted to save him too, only he did it a simpler way: he saved the whole aeroplane all at once? And that’s why the aeroplane didn’t crash. And then, when he realised the boy wasn’t on it any more, he set out to look for him . . .’
‘That business with the policeman? Why did he give himself away like that? He left witnesses and a trail as well.’
‘He didn’t give himself away. He . . . he introduced himself,’ Nadya said quietly.
‘He left his visiting card,’ exclaimed Olga, snapping her fingers. ‘That’s right. He realised that one of the policemen had recognised him as an Other and deliberately affected his partner. But what made him think we’d find those policemen, and so quickly?’
‘If that policeman is an ordinary person, but he can see Others, it could be the result of his contact with daddy,’ said Nadya. ‘They taught us that a spell can leave a side effect, a trace . . . and that trace is usually connected with the magician who cast the spell. What if someone saw the trace on the policeman and realised he was connected with my daddy? For him it was . . . well, like kicking a dog to make it whine so that its master would look round.’
‘A fine comparison,’ Olga said drily.
‘Sorry,’ Nadya answered, ‘I was judging from the point of view . . .’
I noticed that Gesar had been sitting with his eyes closed for about half a minute. And slowly turning crimson. Then he opened his eyes and stood up.
‘Right. I can’t
Gesar gave Svetlana a rather dubious look. Then he nodded and said: ‘I hope he had more enterprising colleagues than mine. I haven’t heard a single theory so far.’
‘A divine being,’ Jermenson said unexpectedly. ‘No, I’m not talking about God or a Messiah, but perhaps we’re dealing here with a manifestation of some sacral, mystical entity . . .’
‘Retirement’s having a bad effect on you, Mark,’ Gesar said irritably. ‘The only mystical entity in our world is us – the Others. All the rest is human folklore.’
‘Well, some Others don’t think so . . .’ Jermenson muttered, but without any real conviction.
‘So this is Other folklore, then!’ Gesar snapped. ‘Are there any serious theories?’
‘An emanation of primal Power,’ suggested Glyba. ‘The Light or the Darkness . . .’
‘That’s the same “divine entity” again, only in different words,’ said Gesar.
‘But the Light and the Darkness exist,’ said Glyba, with a shrug. ‘When we swear on the Light, it confirms our words.’
Gesar frowned. ‘Sophistry. We don’t know how or why it happens. Do you know? I don’t. Possibly one of the Great Magicians of ancient times created a spell that’s still working now. To suspect the Light and the Darkness of conscious action is—’
‘It’s just like expecting the Twilight to create a Mirror and send it to the side that’s losing . . .’ Olga said in a gentle voice.
Gesar shut up.
He didn’t simply stop talking, he shut up. He sat there for a while, gazing at the tabletop, and then said: ‘The theory is accepted. It’s absurd. I don’t like it – because I’m afraid of something of the kind. But as a theory, it’s accepted. Anything else?’
Nadya raised her hand again. ‘Boris Ignatievich, I don’t think we should be trying to guess right now,’ she said. ‘What difference does it make to us who has appeared? After all, we already know that he’s very powerful and he does strange things. So all right. We need to understand what he wants.’
‘And?’ asked Gesar.
‘Da— Anton . . .’ Nadya blushed.
‘It’s all right, we know that he’s your daddy,’ Gesar said in a surprisingly gentle voice. ‘Go on.’
‘It all started when daddy saw the boy-Prophet who was afraid to fly in the aeroplane because the aeroplane was going to crash,’ said Nadya, clearly embarrassed. ‘Well, he saved the boy and his mummy, didn’t he? But what if someone else wanted to save him too, only he did it a simpler way: he saved the whole aeroplane all at once? And that’s why the aeroplane didn’t crash. And then, when he realised the boy wasn’t on it any more, he set out to look for him . . .’
‘That business with the policeman? Why did he give himself away like that? He left witnesses and a trail as well.’
‘He didn’t give himself away. He . . . he introduced himself,’ Nadya said quietly.
‘He left his visiting card,’ exclaimed Olga, snapping her fingers. ‘That’s right. He realised that one of the policemen had recognised him as an Other and deliberately affected his partner. But what made him think we’d find those policemen, and so quickly?’
‘If that policeman is an ordinary person, but he can see Others, it could be the result of his contact with daddy,’ said Nadya. ‘They taught us that a spell can leave a side effect, a trace . . . and that trace is usually connected with the magician who cast the spell. What if someone saw the trace on the policeman and realised he was connected with my daddy? For him it was . . . well, like kicking a dog to make it whine so that its master would look round.’
‘A fine comparison,’ Olga said drily.
‘Sorry,’ Nadya answered, ‘I was judging from the point of view . . .’
I noticed that Gesar had been sitting with his eyes closed for about half a minute. And slowly turning crimson. Then he opened his eyes and stood up.
‘Right. I can’t
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