Read Online The Night Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko, Sergei Luk'ianenko - Free Book Online 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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gestured for me to come closer and then continued:
"Not in their interest, and we welcome that. We won't get any help from them… well fine, that's just great…"
Clear enough. He meant the Day Watch.
"We can search for the girl without anybody interfering, and Danila and Farid are already getting close. I'd say, another five or six minutes… But we've still been given an ultimatum." I caught Tiger Cub's eye. Oh, that was her ominous smile. That's right, her smile. Tiger Cub's a woman, but there was just no way the name "Tigress" would stick.
Our agents don't much like the word "ultimatum!"
"We don't keep the Black Magician," the boss said, looking around at everyone with a dissatisfied expression. "Got that? We'll have to find him in order to disarm the vortex. But after that we hand the magician over to the Dark Ones."
"We hand him over?" Ilya queried.
The boss thought for a second.
"Yes, that's a fair point. We don't eliminate him and we don't prevent him from contacting the Dark Page 43
Ones. As far as I've been able to tell, they don't know who he is either." The operatives' faces were turning sourer by the moment. Any new magician on the territory they monitored was a big headache. Even if he was registered and observed the terms of the Treaty. But a magician this powerful…
"I'd prefer a slightly different scenario," Tiger Cub said quietly. "Boris Ignatievich, in the course of our work, situations can crop up over which we have no control…"
"I'm sorry, but we can't allow any such situations to arise," the boss snapped. But his irritation was fleeting, he did not press too hard; he'd always been fond of Tiger Cub. She backed off immediately. I'd have done the same.
"Well, that's about it…" The boss glanced at me. "I'm glad you got here, Anton. There's something I especially wanted you to hear…"
I automatically tensed up.
"You did a good job yesterday. Yes, it's true, the reason I sent you out to look for the vampires was to test you. And not just to see how good an operative you are, either… you've been in a difficult situation for a very long time, Anton. Killing a vampire is a lot harder for you than for anyone else here."
"That's just where you're wrong, boss," I said.
"I'm glad if I'm mistaken. I want to thank you on behalf of the entire Night Watch. You destroyed one vampire and captured the image of the female vampire's trail. Captured it very accurately. You still don't have enough experience for investigative work. But you know how to record information clearly. The same thing goes for this girl. It was a completely non-standard situation, but you made a humane decision… and that's gained us some time. The image of her aura was magnificent. I knew right away where to look for her."
That really stung. No one was smiling or laughing, no one was smirking at me, but I still felt humiliated all the same. The white owl, whom nobody had seen yet, twitched on my shoulder. I took a deep breath of the Twilight air, that cold, tasteless air that isn't air at all. I asked:
"Boris Ignatievich, then what was the reason for sending me around the circle line if you already knew the right district?"
"I could have been wrong," the boss replied with a note of surprise in his voice. "That's another thing…
you have to understand that when you're working out in the field, you can't afford to rely on any opinion, no matter how high up it comes from. One man in a field is a warrior—if he knows he's alone."
"But I wasn't alone," I said. "And this assignment is absolutely crucial for my partner; you know that better than I do. By sending us to check districts you knew were empty… you deprived her of a chance to redeem herself."
The boss's face is made of stone; you can't read anything in it if he doesn't want you to. But even so, I felt like I'd hit the target.
Page 44
"Your assignment isn't over yet, Anton and Olga," he replied. "There's still the girl-vampire, who has to be neutralized. No one
"Not in their interest, and we welcome that. We won't get any help from them… well fine, that's just great…"
Clear enough. He meant the Day Watch.
"We can search for the girl without anybody interfering, and Danila and Farid are already getting close. I'd say, another five or six minutes… But we've still been given an ultimatum." I caught Tiger Cub's eye. Oh, that was her ominous smile. That's right, her smile. Tiger Cub's a woman, but there was just no way the name "Tigress" would stick.
Our agents don't much like the word "ultimatum!"
"We don't keep the Black Magician," the boss said, looking around at everyone with a dissatisfied expression. "Got that? We'll have to find him in order to disarm the vortex. But after that we hand the magician over to the Dark Ones."
"We hand him over?" Ilya queried.
The boss thought for a second.
"Yes, that's a fair point. We don't eliminate him and we don't prevent him from contacting the Dark Page 43
Ones. As far as I've been able to tell, they don't know who he is either." The operatives' faces were turning sourer by the moment. Any new magician on the territory they monitored was a big headache. Even if he was registered and observed the terms of the Treaty. But a magician this powerful…
"I'd prefer a slightly different scenario," Tiger Cub said quietly. "Boris Ignatievich, in the course of our work, situations can crop up over which we have no control…"
"I'm sorry, but we can't allow any such situations to arise," the boss snapped. But his irritation was fleeting, he did not press too hard; he'd always been fond of Tiger Cub. She backed off immediately. I'd have done the same.
"Well, that's about it…" The boss glanced at me. "I'm glad you got here, Anton. There's something I especially wanted you to hear…"
I automatically tensed up.
"You did a good job yesterday. Yes, it's true, the reason I sent you out to look for the vampires was to test you. And not just to see how good an operative you are, either… you've been in a difficult situation for a very long time, Anton. Killing a vampire is a lot harder for you than for anyone else here."
"That's just where you're wrong, boss," I said.
"I'm glad if I'm mistaken. I want to thank you on behalf of the entire Night Watch. You destroyed one vampire and captured the image of the female vampire's trail. Captured it very accurately. You still don't have enough experience for investigative work. But you know how to record information clearly. The same thing goes for this girl. It was a completely non-standard situation, but you made a humane decision… and that's gained us some time. The image of her aura was magnificent. I knew right away where to look for her."
That really stung. No one was smiling or laughing, no one was smirking at me, but I still felt humiliated all the same. The white owl, whom nobody had seen yet, twitched on my shoulder. I took a deep breath of the Twilight air, that cold, tasteless air that isn't air at all. I asked:
"Boris Ignatievich, then what was the reason for sending me around the circle line if you already knew the right district?"
"I could have been wrong," the boss replied with a note of surprise in his voice. "That's another thing…
you have to understand that when you're working out in the field, you can't afford to rely on any opinion, no matter how high up it comes from. One man in a field is a warrior—if he knows he's alone."
"But I wasn't alone," I said. "And this assignment is absolutely crucial for my partner; you know that better than I do. By sending us to check districts you knew were empty… you deprived her of a chance to redeem herself."
The boss's face is made of stone; you can't read anything in it if he doesn't want you to. But even so, I felt like I'd hit the target.
Page 44
"Your assignment isn't over yet, Anton and Olga," he replied. "There's still the girl-vampire, who has to be neutralized. No one
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