be any name at all in the file. It says that Timur's mother disappeared at the end of the war . . . but I know a female Other who spent the time since then trapped in the body of a bird. As far as people knew, she had died.'

Gesar was silent.

'Could you really not find him any sooner?'

'We were sure that Timka had died,' Gesar said quietly. 'Olga was the one who didn't want to accept it. And when she was rehabilitated, she went on looking . . .'

'She found her son. And made him a rash promise,' I concluded.

'It's permissible for women to give way to their feelings,' Gesar said dryly. 'Even the wisest of women. And men exist to protect their woman and their child. To organise everything on a serious, rational basis.'

I nodded.

'Do you blame me?' Gesar asked curiously 'Anton?'

'Who am I to blame you?' I asked. 'I have a daughter who's a Light Other. And I wouldn't want to let the Dark have her.'

'Thank you, Anton.' Gesar nodded and relaxed visibly. 'I'm glad you understand that.'

'I just wonder how far you would have gone for your son and Olga,' I said. 'You know Svetlana had a premonition? Some kind of danger for me.'

Gesar shrugged.

'Premonitions are pretty unreliable.'

'What if I'd decided to tell the Inquisition the truth?' I went on. 'Decided to leave the Watch and join the Inquisition . . .What then?'

'You didn't leave,' Gesar said. 'Despite all Witiezslav's hints. What else, Anton? I can tell you've got another question you want to ask.'

'How did your son turn out to be an Other?' I asked. 'It's a lottery. It's rare for a family of Others to have a child who's an Other.'

'Anton, either go to Witiezslav and present him with your conclusions,' Gesar said in a low voice, 'or get out and go to Svetlana, as you were planning to do. Spare me this interrogation.'

'Aren't you afraid the Inquisition will think it all through and figure out what happened?' I carried on.

'No, I'm not. In three hours Witiezslav will sign a document closing the investigation. They won't open the case again. They're already up to their ears in shit.'

'Good luck with remoralising Timur,' I said.

And I headed for the door.

'You still have another week's leave. Spend some time with your family,' Gesar called after me.

At first I was going to reply proudly that I didn't need any handouts.

But I stopped myself in time.

What the heck!

'Two weeks,' I said. 'At this stage I've got at least a month of compensatory leave coming.'

Gesar didn't say a word.

EPILOGUE

I DECIDED TO return the BMW after I got back from leave. After all . . .

The road surface was brand new – the highway here used to be all potholes, with a few connecting stretches of good road; now it was stretches of good road, only occasionally interrupted by potholes – so the car coasted comfortably at high speed.

It's good to be an Other.

I knew I wouldn't get caught in traffic. I knew a dump-truck with a drunk driver wouldn't suddenly swerve in front of me. If I ran out of petrol, I could pour water into the tank and turn it into fuel.

Who wouldn't want a life like that for his own child?

What right did I have to blame Gesar and Olga for anything?

The stereo in the car was brand-new, with a minidisc slot. At first I was going to stick Combat Implants into it, then I decided I was in the mood for something more lyrical.

I put on The White Guard.

I don't know what you have decided.

I don't know how things are there with you,

An angel has sewed the sky shut with thread,

Dark blue and light blue . . .

I don't remember the taste of loss,

I have no strength to resist evil,

Every time I walk out the door,

I walk towards your warmth . . .

My mobile phone rang. And the intelligent stereo immediately turned down its own volume.

'Sveta?' I asked.

'You're hard to reach, Anton.'

Svetlana's voice was calm. That meant everything was all right.

And that was the most important thing.

'I couldn't get through to you either,' I admitted.

'Must be fluctuations in the ether,' Svetlana laughed. 'What happened half an hour ago?'

'Nothing special. I had a talk with Gesar.'

'Is everything okay?'

'Yes.'

'I had a premonition. That you were walking close to the edge.'

I nodded, watching the road. I have a clever wife, Gesar. Her premonitions are reliable.

'And everything's all right now?' I asked, just to make sure.

'Now everything's all right.'

'Sveta .