which to daub their crossbow bolts.
'Nevertheless — and despite the fact that silver is by no means rare and garlic is plentiful on Sunside — still the Wamphyri have been a scourge among the Szgany from time immemorial to the most recent of times…
'THE SZGANY: How They Relate to the Vampire.
'The Szgany (Travellers, Romers, or Romany) are so called because they are kept on the move by Wamphyri raiders who come nightly into Sunside to hunt. The Szgany are their prey, their livelihood, their sole means of survival and continuity. Without the Szgany there would be no Wamphyri, for the leech would never have had access to humanity and the means to rise above the intelligence level of, say, a dog or a wolf.
'The Szgany provide sport, and women for the Lords of the Wamphyri and men for their Ladies. Szgany blood is the staple diet of Starside's vampires; their flesh feeds vampire beasts; even their skins, bones, and hair are fashioned into furniture or decorations for the manses of their persecutors. The Szgany are to the Wamphyri of Starside as the coconut to the 20th Century South Sea Islanders: useful in every part, with little or nothing going to waste.
'But when the Szgany are no longer of use as lieutenants, concubines or thralls, then they are drained of their blood and butchered, and all unappetizing parts ground down for 'the provisioning,' as meal for the flying creatures and warrior beasts of their masters…
'WAMPHYRI ESP, AND OTHER 'SUPERNATURAL' SKILLS:
'Most Lords and Ladies of the Wamphyri are to some extent telepathic. In addition to being physically stronger than entirely human beings (in an approximate ratio of four or more to one), their sensory skills have also been enhanced — including several 'sixth' or higher senses as defined by E-Branch. It is therefore fortunate that their intelligence has not been enhanced; their symbionts can only make use of what native intelligence was there to begin with, and ruthlessness and deviousness must compensate for the simplicity of the peasant mind, a lack of learning which, ironically, has come about as a direct result of centuries of Wamphyri predation!
'On the other hand and in response to Wamphyri ESP — and apparently as a process of natural selection — the Szgany are adept at disguising their thoughts; mentally they are equipped to 'hide' from the telepathic probes of their hunters. But the 'supernatural' abilities of the Wamphyri almost always tip the balance their way, and our science is hard-pressed to find an answer to certain of the Great Vampire's skills. 'METAMORPHOSIS:
'The entire life-cycle of the Wamphyri could be said to be a series of metamorphoses; a constant ongoing mutation is apparent even in the individual specimen. But in certain circumstances the vampire's spontaneous metamorphosis is theoretically improbable, scientifically baffling, and physically awesome. It is, too, a reality. In battle, the 'normal' or 'usual' morphology of a Lord of the Wamphyri (the basic structure of his anthropoid form) becomes something else entirely when whatever aspect he has assumed is put aside in favour of his parasite's best protective armour and weaponry.
'His flesh stretches, tears, and refashions itself; hands become talons, while jaws elongate fantastically to accommodate teeth or tusks worthy of a sabretooth or wild boar. His usually pale aspect turns grey to leaden as his skin thickens to hide; the wild, feral yellow of his eyes turns from flame to red (as in infrared, perhaps?), especially at night, possibly enhancing his already incredible night-sightedness. And in the fullness of his change, the very sight of him is as a weapon in itself. The closest approximation in Man would be the rage of the berserker — without the berserker's disregard for his own safety. For over and above all else, survival is uppermost in the vampire's symbiont-controlled mind.
'Survival: the basic instinct that quite literally lends a vampire wings. For in certain extremes many of the Wamphyri can so change their shape as to flatten their bodies, lengthen their arms, sprout webbing like the membranes of a bat or flying squirrel, and form aerofoils to support their weight or at least allow for gliding. And the most adept of all are capable of controlled flight and aerial manoeuvres. In this respect it seems reasonable to suspect that there is something of the bat about them. There are giant bats
in Starside — they are often the watchdogs of the Wamphyri — and if an infected bat with a spore grown to a leech were to bite and pass on its characteristics to a man…?
'This theory might well account for the sensitive, convolute snout to be found in a great many Lords and Ladies of the Wamphyri; also their night vision and of course their tendency to flight. But what theory or accident of evolution could possibly account for their mist-making? Or is this 'simply' another facet of the vampire's powers of metamorphosis?
'For when the Great Vampire is in danger — or conversely, when he sets out to creep up on prey or a foe — he can 'create' or 'call up' a mist to cover his movements. And vampire mist is not the often humid and softly lapping vapour we know but slimy and cold as a cold sweat. And the vampire Lord's enhanced senses — the normal five along with his telepathic probes — are carried in his mist like electricity in a wire but faster than the speed of light, at the speed of thought.
'As for the mist itself:
'It issues from the vampire's pores, as sweat issues from ours. But the process is brought about through his will. There is a theory, however fanciful, concerning the way in which the earth itself is caused to release its moisture.
'This theory holds that the vampire mist is some kind of catalyst, as when dry ice is released over a cloud to excite precipitation. But this scarcely explains the volume of such mists as are generated by the Wamphyri…
'For 'HYPNOSIS, ONEIROMANCY, AND OTHER POWERS OF THE WAMPHYRI,' see also the Appended Notes to 176, E-BRANCH AND OTHER TALENTS…'
This brought Jake to the end of a paragraph a third of the way down a page that was two-thirds blank. Turning the page, he read:
'A more comprehensive file is in preparation.'
Then nothing more, except perhaps the feeling that he was floating at the centre of a weird sphere of inexplicable understanding…
CHAPTER ELEVEN The Lidesci's Story
Silently closing the file, Jake started as Liz's voice reached him through the vacuum of concentration — a zone exclusive to his mind and the words that the file had left mirrored upon it — which had somehow settled about him. 'Well?' she said.
And surprising himself, frowning he answered, 'Where have I read this before? I mean, do I know these things?' Too late, for the vacuum was dissolving, the familiarity fading. 'No, of course I don't.' And shaking his head, perhaps to clear it, he looked at her.
'No questions?' she said, staring hard at him.
'Should there be?'
Liz shrugged, but not casually. 'You tell me, Jake. All I can tell you is that for the last half hour you've been sitting there like a man in a dream, totally engrossed.'
Learning? ht wondered. Or remembering? But aloud he only said, 'Well, a couple of questions, maybe.'
'Like what?'
'Oh, one or two ambiguities. Anyway, I think I've already worked out some of the answers.'
'Go on/
'Well/ he said, 'this file cover, for one thing. It has a few dents in it… it's obviously not new. In fact, it's got to be years old. As for this label on the cover, it's been thumbed to death! But these
pages, I mean the paper itself, is new, and the text has at least one glaring ambiguity/
'Oh?'
He nodded. 'It talks about an underground exit in the Carpathian foothills — one underground exit, that is. But it also mentions Gustav Turchin, and how he flooded a Gate in Perchorsk in the Urals/ He frowned again and continued, Tunny, but when I was reading this stuff it seemed to make sense. I don't know, I seemed to understand. But now I only remember the text/
'Like… Eureka!' Liz said. 'That word on the tip of your tongue. That abrupt but transient flash of insight. It's
