The Last Watch:

by Sergei Lukyanenko

  This time my attention was caught by a small terrarium. It didn’t have a lid, and there was a piece of paper glued to its side, with the letters OOO (or the numbers 000). Standing inside the terrarium was a stupid little toy made in China – a small plastic toilet, with a tarantula squatting on it in a regal pose. At first I thought the spider was dead or made of plastic, but then I noticed its eyes glinting and its mandibles moving. There was another spider crawling across the glass walls: fat and round, looking like a hairy ball with legs. Every now and then the spider stopped and spat a drop of green venom onto the glass, clearly aiming at something outside. At the same time something showered down off the spider into the terrarium. There were some other spiders moving around on the bottom, greedily reaching out their legs to catch the treat. The fortunate ones who managed to grab something began jumping up and down for joy.

  ‘Interested?’ Gesar asked, without looking up.

  ‘Uh-huh … what is it?’

  ‘A simulation. You know I like to study self-contained social groups.’

  ‘And what does this simulation represent?’

  ‘A very interesting social structure,’ Gesar said evasively. ‘In its basic form it should have become the traditional jar of spiders. But here we have two principal spiders, one of whom has taken up a dominant position by climbing onto a high point, while the other is acting as if he is providing protection against external aggression and caring for the members of the community. As long as the dominant spiders remain active, this simulation can continue to function with minimal internal aggression. I just have to spray the inhabitants with beer every now and then to relax them.’

  ‘But doesn’t anyone ever try to climb out?’ Ilya asked. ‘There’s no lid …’

  ‘Only very rarely. And only the ones who get fed up of being a spider in a jar. In the first place, the illusion of conflict is constantly maintained. And in the second place, the experimental subjects regard being in the jar as something out of the ordinary.’ Gesar finally took some object out of his box and said, ‘All right, that’s enough of the small talk. Here is the first thing for you to think about. What is it?’

  We stared in silence at the grey lump of concrete that looked as if it had been chipped out of a wall.

  ‘Don’t use magic!’ Gesar warned us.

  ‘I know,’ Semyon said guiltily. ‘I remember that incident. A radio microphone. They tried to put it in here in the 1950s … or was it the 1960s? When we were the “Non-Ferrous Mining Equipment Assembly Trust”. Some bright guys from the KGB, wasn’t it?’

  ‘That’s right,’ said Gesar. ‘Back then they were very keen on looking for spies, and on a sudden impulse they decided to check us … we had provoked certain suspicions in the “organs” … It was a good thing that we had our own eyes and ears in the KGB. We organised a campaign of misinformation, certain vigilant comrades managed to get others rebuked for the pointless squandering of expensive equipment … And what about this?’

  A huge steel screw glinted in Gesar’s hands. To be quite honest, I didn’t even know that they made screws that large.

  ‘I doubt if you know about this,’ Gesar told us. ‘It’s the only attempt – at least, I hope it is – ever made by the Dark Ones to spy on us using human means. In 1979 I had a very difficult conversation with Zabulon, and afterwards we signed an appendix to the agreement on prohibited methods of conflict.’

  The screw was put back in the box. In its place two tiny brown ‘tablets’ were taken out.

  ‘That was when they wanted to take our building away!’ Ilya said brightly. ‘In 1996, wasn’t it?’

  Gesar nodded.

  ‘Absolutely right. A certain ambitious young oligarch got the idea that the former state enterprise which had become the “Non-Ferrous Metal Mining Company” looked like a very tasty and absolutely defenceless little morsel of property. However, when their listening devices and external observation revealed the kind of people who simply dropped in for tea and a chat with the old director, the oligarch cut his ambitions back sharply.’

  ‘That was misinformation as well, of course?’ Olga asked curiously. It seemed that the boss’s unusually complicated introduction was intended for her, because she had missed all these old events.

  Semyon giggled and drawled in a voice like Yeltsin’s:

  ‘You un-der-stand, my friend, you decide important matters at the city level, and you don’t ask for any help … Call round if anything happens.’

  Gesar smiled and replied:

  ‘“Call round if anything happens”, is putting it a bit strongly. But never mind, no one judges the victors … Right, those were cases from the past. But here is today’s catch …’

  He took something that looked like a Band-Aid out of the box. A thin white square, slightly sticky on one side – it was not easy for Gesar to pull it off his finger.

  ‘Technology is always developing,’ I said, impressed. ‘A microphone and transmitter?’

  ‘You’ll be surprised to know that there’s a recorder here too,’ Gesar told me. ‘Everything is recorded and then shot off in a three-second coded burst once a day. A fine little toy. Expensive. And you can’t buy it just anywhere.’

  ‘Get to the point, Boris,’ Olga said.

  Gesar tossed the ‘toy’ back into the box, and glanced round keenly at all of us.

  ‘A week ago Anton and Semyon spent some time in the city of Edinburgh. Something rather unpleasant happened there: without going into too much detail, a group of Others, including at least one Light One, one Dark One and an Inquisitor, tried to steal one of the most ancient magical artefacts in existence, with the help of paid human assistants who were equipped with magical amulets. The artefact is the so-called “Crown of All Things”, created by the Great Merlin shortly before he withdrew into the Twilight.’

  Ilya whistled. Olga said nothing – either she had already heard about this from Gesar, or she didn’t think any display of emotion was required.

  ‘I should add that the three Others were all Higher Ones,’ Gesar continued. ‘Well … perhaps not all of them. Perhaps two of them. Together they could have taken the third one down to the sixth level of the Twilight.’

  To my surprise, Ilya didn’t say anything. He must have been stunned. I didn’t think he had ever gone any deeper than the third level.

  ‘This is already unpleasant,’ said Gesar. ‘None of us knows what kind of artefact Merlin hid on the seventh level of the Twilight, but there are serious grounds for believing that this artefact is capable of destroying all civilisation on Earth.’

  ‘Another “Fuaran”?’ Semyon asked.

  ‘No, Merlin didn’t have the knowledge to transform people into Others,’ said Gesar, shaking his head. ‘But it is something very powerful indeed. Security measures to keep the artefact safe have been tightened up: the Inquisition is guarding it now, as well as the Night Watch of Scotland. But the situation is too serious. I have learned that attempts have been made to spy on Watches in Moscow, New York, London, Tokyo, Paris, Beijing … in short, at all the key points on the planet. Everywhere the people involved have no idea who hired them. So far all attempts to find the instigators have produced nothing.’

  ‘Gesar, what’s down there, on the seventh level of the Twilight?’ Ilya asked. ‘I know it’s not done to talk about the deeper levels to anyone who hasn’t been there, but—’

  ‘Semyon will tell you what he saw,’ Gesar replied. ‘He’s been to the fifth level. And ask Anton if you like – he’ll tell you about the sixth level. I give my permission. But as for the seventh level …’

  Everybody gazed curiously at Gesar.

  ‘I haven’t been there. And I can’t answer your question,’ Gesar concluded firmly.

  ‘Ha,’ said Olga. ‘I was certain you had been there, Boris.’

  ‘No. And before you ask – Zabulon hasn’t been there either. Nor have any of the Others I know. I believe that only a zero-point magician is capable of it. Someone who possesses
absolute Power. Merlin was such a magician. Nadya Gorodetskaya will become such an enchantress …’

  Everybody turned to look at me.

  ‘I won’t let her into the Twilight before she’s grown up,’ I said firmly.

  ‘Nobody’s asking you to,’ Gesar assured me. ‘And … don’t start objecting before I finish. I want to put your Nadya under guard. Continuous guard, round the clock. At least two battle magicians. Second or third level of Power. They won’t hold out long against Higher Ones, but if we provide them with good artefacts, they’ll be able to drag things out long enough to call help.’

  Ilya held his head in his hands.

  ‘Boris Ignatievich! Where will I get that many second- and third-level Others from? Are we going to take our entire fighting force off the street?’

  ‘No, not all of it,’ Gesar replied. ‘We have four second-level Others, after all. And nine third-level. Alisher and Alexander can be raised to third level.

  ‘Which Alexander? Korostilyov?’ Ilkya asked in amazement.

  ‘No, Malenkov.’

  ‘Sasha can be raised,’ Olga put in. ‘I’m prepared to do it in three days. Even two.’

  ‘Wait!’ I exclaimed. ‘Wait! Would you like to hear my opinion?’ Gesar looked at me curiously.

  ‘Yes, I would. Only bear in mind that sooner or later the individuals who failed to obtain the artefact will come to the conclusion that they need an absolute magician. And there is only one in the whole world. One. Your daughter. So will you agree to her being guarded?’

  ‘But what will Svetlana say?’

  ‘Svetlana is a mother,’ Olga said in a gentle voice. ‘I think she remembers how her daughter was kidnapped once already. And she understands that she herself cannot guard her daughter twenty-four hours a day.’

  ‘Sveta will agree, Anton,’ Semyon said, with a nod. ‘No need for any crystal ball there.’

  ‘But Boris Ignatievich, what am I supposed to do with the streets?’ Ilya objected. ‘I protest officially as your deputy for the patrol service! Am I supposed to send out fourth- and fifth-level magicians to work on their own? The Dark Ones will walk all over us!’

  ‘They won’t,’ Gesar said, frowning. ‘Zabulon is also allocating his second- and third-level magicians to guard Nadya Gorodetskaya.’

  It was my turn to clutch my head in my hands. But Ilya immediately calmed down.

  ‘Then we only need to supply half of the bodyguards? In that case, I—’

  ‘No, not half. It’s two of ours and two Dark Ones.’

  ‘Gesar!’ I protested.

  ‘Anton, this is being done for the sake of your daughter’s safety,’ Gesar replied in a firm voice. ‘That’s all – the matter’s closed! Let’s get on with other business. Ilya, you stay behind after the meeting, we’ll discuss who to use as bodyguards and how to equip them.’

  I said nothing. I was seething inside, but I said nothing.

  ‘So far we have only spoken about defence,’ Gesar continued. ‘I charge Olga with developing the measures for protecting the Watch against spy technology and a possible attack by human mercenaries. Involve Tolik from the computer service. And Las from the operations side.’

  ‘But he’s a weak magician,’ Olga snorted.

  ‘But he has a non-standard way of thinking,’ said Gesar. ‘And you know pretty much all there is to know about battles between Others and human beings. You’ve certainly had plenty of experience.’

  I gave Olga a curious glance. So she had a interesting background, then …

  ‘What I need from all of you now is something else,’ Gesar went on. ‘How are we going to attack?’

  ‘Attack whom?’ I protested. ‘If only we knew who it is that’s muddying the water …’

  ‘To attack doesn’t necessarily mean to go rushing into battle,’ Olga stated didactically. ‘To attack also means to take actions that the enemy isn’t expecting, to disrupt his plans.’

  Gesar nodded in approval.

  ‘Then there’s only one thing we can do,’ I said. ‘That is, apart from trying to find the traitors … but I expect the Inquisition is breaking its back on that one already. We have to break through to the seventh level. But if we can’t … the chain of Power?’

  ‘Zabulon suggested a Circle of Power,’ Gesar said, with a nod. ‘But it won’t help, not even if we try, by accumulating each other’s power, or the Dark Ones try, by sucking each other dry – not even with a human sacrifice … The strength of barriers between the levels of the Twilight increases exponentially. We have calculated it.’

  ‘Not even a human sacrifice?’ Semyon asked in amazement.

  ‘Not even,’ Gesar said drily.

  ‘That little poem … on the sixth level …’ I said, looking at Gesar. ‘Remember, I told you about it?’

  ‘Recite it,’ Gesar said, nodding.

  ‘The Crown of All Things is here concealed. Only one step is left.

  But this is a legacy for the strong or the wise –

  You shall receive all and nothing, when you are able to take it.

  Proceed, if you are as strong as I;

  Or go back, if you are as wise as I;

  Beginning and end, head and tail, all is fused in one,

  In the Crown of All Things. Thus are life and death inseparable.’

  I recited the poem from memory.

  ‘And what does that give us?’ Gesar asked almost jovially.

  ‘Go back, if you are as wise as I,’ I repeated. ‘There is some kind of detour, an alternative route to the seventh level. You don’t have to go head-on at the barrier.’

  Gesar nodded again.

  ‘That’s right. And I wanted you to say that.’

  Semyon gave me a look of sympathy. It was clear enough. In the Watch, things work like in the army: you suggested it, now you do it.

  ‘Just don’t overestimate my intellectual capabilities,’ I muttered. ‘I’ll think about it, of course. And I’ll ask Svetlana to think about it too. But so far nothing comes to mind. Maybe we should delve into the archives?’

  ‘We will,’ Gesar promised. ‘But there is another way to go.’

  ‘And I’m the one who has to go there,’ I said. ‘Am I right?’

  ‘Anton, your daughter’s in danger,’ Gesar said simply.

  I shrugged.

  ‘I surrender. Okay, I’m ready. Where do I go? Into the mouth of a volcano? Under the Arctic ice? Out into space?’

  ‘You know very well that there’s nothing we can do out in space,’ Gesar said, frowning. ‘There is one hope – not a very big one. Perhaps one of Merlin’s associates might guess what he had in mind.’

  ‘We’d have to find a living contemporary …’ I began.

  ‘I’m his contemporary, more or less,’ Gesar said in a bored voice. ‘But unfortunately I was not acquainted with Merlin. Neither when he was a Light One, nor when he was a Dark One. Why are you looking at me like that? Yes, it is possible. Sometimes. For Higher Ones. That’s not the point … I hope none of you are planning to change colour?’

  ‘Boris Ignatievich, don’t drag it out,’ I said.

  ‘Merlin was friendly – insofar as that was possible – with an Other whom I knew by the name of Rustam.’

  I exchanged glances with Semyon. He shrugged. Olga looked puzzled too.

  ‘He had many names,’ Gesar continued. ‘He used to be in the Watch too. A very, very long time ago. He and I were friends once. We helped each other in battle many times … saved each other’s lives many times. Then we became enemies. Even though he was and still is a Light One.’

  Gesar paused. It seemed as if he didn’t really want to remember all this.

  ‘He is still alive, and he lives somewhere in Uzbekistan. I don’t know exactly where – his strength is equal to mine and he can camouflage himself. He hasn’t served in the Watch for a very long time. He is most probably living as an ordinary human being. You will have to find him, Anton. Find him and persuade him to help us.’

&nb
sp; ‘Uh-huh,’ I said. ‘Uzbekistan? Easy as ABC. A – comb the whole place. B – winkle out a magician in hiding who’s more powerful than I am …’

  ‘I’m not saying it’s simple,’ Gesar admitted.

  ‘And C – persuade him to help us.’

  ‘That part’s a bit easier. The point is that he saved my life six times. But I saved his seven times.’ Gesar chuckled. ‘He owes me. Even if he still hates me as much as he used to. If you find him, he’ll agree …’

  There was no confidence in Gesar’s voice, and everyone could sense that.

  ‘But it’s not even certain that he knows anything!’ I said ‘And is he still alive?’

  ‘He was alive ten years ago,’ said Gesar. ‘My assistant, the devona, recognised him. And he told him about his son.’

  ‘Magnificent,’ I said, with a nod. ‘Absolutely wonderful. I suppose I have to follow tradition and set out unarmed and completely alone?’

  ‘No. You will set out fully equipped, with a thick wad of money and a bag full of useful artefacts.’

  It was several seconds before I realised that the boss was being perfectly serious.

  ‘And not alone,’ Gesar added. ‘Alisher will go with you. In the East, as you know, there are more important things than power and money. It is far more important for someone who is known and trusted to vouch for you.’

  ‘Alisher too …’ Ilya sighed.

  ‘I’m sorry,’ Gesar said, without even the slightest note of apology in his voice. ‘We must regard this as a military emergency. Especially since that’s just what it is.’