«By morning?» I asked, glancing at my watch. «Another whole day.»
«No, this morning,» the boss replied, as if unaware of the midday sunshine outside the window. «You'll be searching too. Perhaps you'll get lucky again… Shall we continue with our analysis of your mistakes?»
«Can we afford to waste the time?» I asked timidly.
«Don't worry; it won't be wasted.» The boss got up, walked over to the glass cupboard, took out the owl, and set it down on the desk. From close up you could see it really was a stuffed bird, with no more life in it than a fur collar… «Let's move on to the vampires and their victim.»
«I lost the girl-vampire. And the guys didn't catch her,» I confirmed penitently.
«No complaints there. You fought worthily enough. The point is—the victim…«
«Sure, the boy kept his memories. But he took off so fast…«
«Anton! Wake up! They hooked the boy with the Call from a distance of several kilometers! When he walked into that alley he ought to have been a helpless puppet! And when the Twilight disappeared, he ought to have fainted! Anton, if he was still able to move after everything that had happened—he possesses superb magical potential!»
The boss paused.
«I'm an idiot.»
«No, but you have been sitting on your backside in the lab far too long. Anton, this boy is potentially more powerful than I am!»
«Oh, come on…«
«Drop the flattery…«
The telephone on the desk rang. It was obviously something urgent; not many people know the boss's direct number. I don't.
«Quiet!» the boss snapped at the innocent phone. It stopped. «Anton, you have to find that young boy. The girl-vampire who got away is not dangerous in herself. Either our guys will find her or an ordinary patrol will pick her up. But if she drinks the boy's blood or, even worse, initiates him… You've no idea what a full-fledged vampire's like. These modern ones are mere mosquitoes compared with some Nosferatu. And with all the airs he put on, he still wasn't one of the best… So the boy must be found, examined, and, if possible, taken into the Watch. We have no right to let him go over to the Dark Side; the balance of power in Moscow would totally collapse.»
«Is that an order?»
«Given under license,» the boss said darkly. «I have the right to issue that kind of order, you know that.»
«Yes, I know,» I said quietly. «But where do I begin? That is, which one do I begin with?»
«Whoever you like. I'd say with the girl. But try to find the boy too.»
«Shall I go now?»
«Catch up on your sleep first.»
«I slept long enough, Boris Ignatievich…«
«I doubt it. I'd recommend an hour at least.»
I didn't understand. I'd got up at eleven and dashed straight to the office. I felt perfectly fresh and full of energy.
«Here's someone to help you.» The boss flicked the stuffed owl with his finger. The bird stretched out its wings and started screeching indignantly.
I swallowed hard and risked a question:
«Who is it? Or what is it?»
«Why do you need to know?» asked the boss, looking into the owl's eyes.
«To decide whether I want to work with it!»
The owl glared at me and hissed like an enraged cat.
«That's the wrong way of putting it,» said the boss, shaking his head. «Will she agree to work with you, that's the real question.»
The owl started screeching again.
«Yes,» said the boss, talking to the bird now, not to me. «There's a lot of truth in what you say. But who was it that requested a new appeal?»
The bird froze.
«I promise I'll intercede for you. And this time there is a chance.»
«Boris Ignatievich, in my opinion…« I began.
«I'm sorry, Anton, that doesn't bother me…« The boss stretched out his arm; the owl took a clumsy stride with its fluffy legs and stood on his open hand. «You don't know just how lucky you are.»
I didn't answer that. The boss went across to the window, opened it wide, and stuck his hand out. The owl flapped its wings and went hurtling downward, moving really well for a stuffed dummy.
«Where has… it… gone?»
«To your place. You'll be working as partners…« The boss rubbed the bridge of his nose. «Oh yes! Don't forget, her name's Olga.»
«The owl?»
«The owl. Feed her and take care of her and everything will be fine. And now… get a bit of sleep. No need to come into the office when you get up; wait for Olga to arrive and get on with the job. Check out the circle line in the metro, for instance…«
«How can I get back to sleep…« I began. But the world around me was already turning dim, fading away, dissolving. The corner of a pillow jutted painfully into my cheek.
I was lying in my own bed.
My head felt heavy; my eyes were full of sand. My throat felt parched and painful.
«Agh…« I gasped hoarsely, turning over onto my back. Through the heavy curtains I couldn't see whether it was still night or the day was well advanced. I squinted at the clock: The glowing figures showed eight.
It was the first time I'd been granted an audience with the boss in my sleep.
It's not a very pleasant business, especially for the boss—he must have broken through into my mind.
Time must really be short if he'd decided it was necessary to hold his briefing in the world of dreams. And it had all seemed much more real than I would have expected. The mission analysis, that stupid owl…
The sound of tapping on the window made me start. A rapid, gentle tapping that sounded like claws. I heard a muffled screeching.
But what else was I really expecting?
I jumped up, adjusted my shorts awkwardly, and hurried across to the window. All the garbage that I'd swallowed as part of the preparation for the hunt was still affecting me, and I could distinguish the outlines of objects quite clearly.
I tore the curtains aside and raised the blind.
The owl was sitting on the windowsill, screwing up its eyes—indeed, the sun was already up and the light was too bright for it. From down in the street, of course, it would have been hard to tell what kind of bird had landed on the tenth-floor window. But if the neighbors had happened to glance out, they'd have got a real surprise. A polar owl in the center of Moscow…
«What the hell…« I grunted.
I felt like being more specific. But that was a habit they'd cured me of when I first started working in the Watch. Or rather, I'd cured myself. Once you've seen a couple of Dark twisters above the heads of people you've sworn at, you soon learn to hold your tongue.
The owl was looking at me, waiting.
All the birds nearby went wild. A swarm of sparrows sitting in a tree not far away started chirping crazily. The crows were a bit bolder. They settled on the next-door balcony and the nearest trees and started squawking, every now and then launching off from the branches and circling near the window. Their instincts told them this surprising new neighbor meant trouble.
But the owl didn't react at all. She didn't give a damn about the sparrows, or the crows.
«Just who are you?» I muttered as I threw open the window, ripping off the paper strips glued over the cracks. The boss had really saddled me with this new partner…
The owl flapped its wings once and flew into the room. It landed on the wardrobe and closed its eyes, as though it had always lived here. Maybe it got cold on the way over? But then again, it was a polar owl…
I started closing the window, trying to think what to do now. How would I communicate with her, what would I feed her, and how, in God's name, could this feathered creature possibly help me?
«Is your name Olga?» I asked, when I'd finished with the window. There was a draft from the cracks now, but I could fix that later. «Hey, bird!»