a hiss of air driven out through temporary lungs specifically created, as on the spur of the moment, to enable speech:
''Aye, get done with it. There are young ones up above…. sweet meat for the taaaking… and a world entire to conquer.' But:
' 'No, ah no,' said Malinari, and moved his slender hand to lift Zek's chin. 'She fights me with a will of iron, and I desire what's in there.' And to Zek — and through her to me — 'Do you know, the eyes are the windows of the soul? It's true, Zekintha. But to these fingers of mine, they are also the doorways to the mind. And I weary of this and would have it quickly.' He held up two fingers before her, aiming them at her, only inches from her eyes.
'Zek knew what he would do; but seeing his fingers vibrating, pulsing with purple veins, elongating and reaching towards her, she also knew what she must do. She volunteered a picture, thrust it at him, showed him the doom she'd planned for him and the others and seared it into his probing mind. Oh, she lied — described a devastation far greater than the truth, that would come ripping through the floor in rivers of fire and tortured concrete, threatening him even here — and perhaps Lord Malinari suspected it was a lie. But the way Zek's eyes were locked on that open hatch, out of which the last of three lieutenants was even now appearing, he couldn't take the chance.
' 'What?' he said, furious where he drew back a pace. 'And was this for me, for us?' Then he gathered her up, carried her to the hatch, and without pause… without pause…
'Head first she fell, down and down, and as Nephran Malinari slammed and locked the hatch, the time was up.
'That was when I woke up, drenched and shivering, hot yet cold, with Zek's last words still ringing in my mind. ''Goodbye, Ben,' she said. 'I love you…' 'And then a blinding white light, which I prayed was only the dazzle of my bedside lamp as my trembling fingers switched it on. That's what I prayed it was— '—But it wasn't.'
CHAPTER FIFTEEN Charnel House
It was plain that Trask couldn't go on, so while he sat there shaking his head in a kind of numb disbelief, still seeking a reason for, or perhaps a solution to, his irreparable trauma, the precog lan Goodly took over. In contrast to Trask's harsh, grating rasp, his voice was almost melodious:
'It was a period of unrest among the old USSR's satellite countries,' he began, 'one of many since the death of European Communism. The former Yugoslavia, Bulgaria, Romania, they were all in a state of political turmoil, and Radujevac stood at the crossroads, as it were, of all three nations. The Refuge was a kind of Sovereign Base Area — a British enclave, if you like — on foreign soil. But despite that, and as a result of its work, it was greatly respected and had achieved an almost diplomatic status. Of course, the British government had safe houses, embassies and the like, in all the former satellites. But because of the unrest access was always difficult, even to the Refuge.
'Well, Nathan Keogh arrived at our London HQ that night, and he was in the process of explaining what was happening in Sunside/Starside when Ben got there. At first Ben was overjoyed, even relieved to see him. Maybe this was what had sparked his dream; perhaps in some way he had anticipated this renewed contact with a friend from the once-hostile environment of the vampire world. But as Nathan's story unfolded, Ben's awareness — his sense of dread, of foreboding — returned in short order. It was one of those times that come to all esp-endowed persons, when out of the blue they're made aware of the other side, the downside of their talents. And now more than ever Ben's talent was telling him that Zek's telepathic message had been no mere nightmare…'
As the precog paused, Trask levered himself off the desk, stood up straight and closed his eyes. He breathed in until his lungs couldn't take any more, then made for the door. And no one said anything until he had made an unsteady exit.
Covering for his superior — though in fact Trask needed no such excuse — Goodly said, 'Did you hear the chopper?' (No one had.) 'Ben will want to see it safely down, and maybe… maybe talk to the pilot?' He offered a shrug which was followed by an awkward silence, until Jake said:
'lan?' It was the first time he'd used Goodly's first name. 'Will you finish it?'
Goodly looked mildly surprised as he answered, 'Of course. All of this is for you, after all. But in any case there's not much more to tell.' And in a little while:
'We had radio and telephone links to the Refuge,' the precog went on. 'Well, we should have had, but not that night. We tried but couldn't get through. And because of what Nathan had told us, we feared the worst. But Ben — denying, or even defying his own talent — he had to know for sure, of course. Several means were to hand.
'We called in our espers, everyone who was available, and put them to work. But long before the first of them arrived at the HQ, Nathan was volunteering his services. He'd been to the Refuge before and its coordinates were locked in his mind. But if Ben was right and the Wamphyri had come through the subterranean Gate — and if they were still there — what then?
'For Ben, the next hour was an endless anxiety attack; he sweated and agonized over danger-fraught decisions and equally
painful but inescapable truths. Having faith in his talent, he knew it was already too late — but it was Zek who was there at the Refuge! And Nathan: he would have gone at the snap of Ben's fingers — indeed, he was the only one who could go, along that special route of his. And in fact we had to restrain him, order him not to. And Ben weighing all of this in his tormented mind, all the time knowing in his heart that it was too late, that it had been too late from the moment he'd started awake in a cold sweat at his home in Kensington.
'Then Millicent Cleary arrived; Milly is — now she is — the very best of our telepaths. And right on her heels our locator of long standing, David Chung. I'll never forget the scene in the Ops Room that night: Chung standing before the illuminated wall map with the tip of his index finger touching the location of Radujevac, and his left hand holding Milly's. We frequently work in tandem that way. And after only a second or so, their reactions:
'How David snatched himself back, away from the wall. And how Milly snatched back her hand from his! For the locator had sensed something — something at Radujevac, at the Refuge — and she had picked it right out of his mind: the clammy feel of it, its evil taint. Mindsmog!
'Milly had hoped to contact Zek; firm friends and colleagues, they knew each other's minds. But now, there was simply no trace of Zek's telepathic aura, no indication of life. Hers was a 'flatline' on the monitor of telepathic awareness. And as for the overwhelming presence of mindsmog: it couldn't be denied or mistaken, and Ben's worst fears were corroborated.
'Of course, the Necroscope had his own way of looking into matters of that sort, but… no need to go into that here.
'Well, just like last night I blamed myself. Why hadn't I seen it coming? What good is a talent that only reveals itself when it wants to? Why is the future so bloody devious? I blamed myself that I hadn't foreseen it, while Ben was in hell for having seen it! And the rest of the team, they were depressed that they'd had to confirm it. While at the Refuge, the mindsmog was rapidly dispersing…
'After that, there was no holding Nathan. His father, Harry Keogh, had owed Zek favours. And Nathan himself was in her debt… not only was she a friend, one who had fought alongside him in Starside, but she'd even been involved with his discovery of the Mobius Continuum. No less than Ben, Nathan knew he wouldn't rest until he — until they — were sure. Not sure that Zek was dead, for all of us knew that by then, but sure that she would never be wndead.
'And so we armed ourselves, and Nathan took us to the Refuge. But a refuge no longer, for now it was a charnel house…
'Ben, myself, Chung, and Lardis — huh! Try keeping the Old Lidesci out of it; he'd loved Zek dearly — Nathan took us along the Mobius route to Radujevac. It was some two hours, maybe two and a half, since Ben had come awake from his nightmare. More than enough time for the… the slaughter of the staff and children. From what we saw, twenty minutes had been enough!
