'The drivers are taking the scenic route,' Trask told him. I've asked for half an hour at least, an hour at most. In fact we could be at your hotel in twenty minutes, but I wasn't quite sure what degree of privacy you'd have later.'

'Half an hour?' Turchin nodded. 'Good. I'm sure it's going to be enough, but we'll need to get on. As for privacy later - huh!'

'My fault,' said Trask. 'I should have been more subtle. I didn't want to compromise you, but I simply didn't have time to make any other arrangements.'

'No,' Turchin shook his head. 'It's just how things are. I have made myself unpopular with certain people. If a country is rich and strong and its people are well fed, then maybe the man in charge can afford to be unpopular and do things his own way.

Me, I can't afford to do anything my own way! The only reason I hold on is in the hope that things will change. But change is a long time coming.'

Trask had been studying him. The Russian Premier wasn't by any means the same man he'd known previously. Even though Trask had only ever seen him in television broadcasts or on- screen at E-Branch HQ, still he had radiated a lot more power than he did now. And Trask's mind took him back to a time all of five years ago, when he had negotiated a course of action on the Perchorsk Gate with this selfsame man: Then, Gustav Turchin had seemed unshakeable. He had been a rock of a man. Blockily built, square of face and short in the neck - with a shock of black hair, bushy black eyebrows, dark, glinting eyes over a blunt nose, and an unemotional mouth - he had been a veritable bulldog. But even then the Premier had had problems. Coinciding with Trask's, they had served to bring the two together in a mutually beneficial understanding.

Now ... there had been changes. Turchin was a lot thinner, grey-streaked where his hair was brushed back from his temples, 388.

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less bright and sharp of eye; even his voice had lost something of its former authority. The intellect was still there - still lethal, Trask supposed - but the drive was failing. Seven years of political power, and nothing to show for it, had taken their toll of him.

But the way the Russian Premier was studying Trask ... the head of E-Branch couldn't suppress a snort of self-derision. If he found Turchin changed, what must Turchin think of him? As if readi ng his min d, the other said: 'The years haven't been kind to us.'

And Trask smiled wrily and answered, 'It's not so much the years as the mileage.' Then he stopped smiling and said, 'We've not long had definite evidence about what your navy is doing. I certainly won't be saying anything about it here in Brisbane. I wouldn't embarra.s.s you like that. In fact, I'm not here on Earth Year business at all, and I doubt if I'll attend a single session.

But you should know that sooner or later - probably sooner-I'll have to bring it to the attention of our Minister Responsible, and that he has obligations, too.'

'I appreciate that, er, Benjamin?' 'Ben.'

'Then by all means call me Gustav. But you are not the only one whose purpose here is other than it seems. Indeed, I am here simply because you are here! Oh, they have been badgering me to attend these things all over the world, but so far I've managed to hold them off. The admirals, generals, despoilers, et cetera, requiring me to lie for them - huh! Well, and now that I'm here I shall lie for them, telling Brisbane and all the world of the marvellous efforts Russia is making to clean up her act. But you and I, we know the truth. And, as you have pointed out, so will everyone else in the not too distant future. Unfortunately, that is the least of my worries - or if not the least, it is not my major concern. No, for that is something else entirely.'

Trask nodded. He remained silent and thoughtful for a few moments, then said, 'Perhaps I can antic.i.p.ate you? I think it's only fair to tell you that I'm also aware that Mikhail Suvorov has led an alleged "expeditionary" party of soldiers and scientists through the Perchorsk Gate into Sunside/Starside, Nathan Keogh's world.'

Now it was Gustav Turchin's turn to smile wrily. 'Ah!' he said. '

The Opposition! And sharp as ever. Y es, and you are correct: that is my problem. But, alas, it's also yours.'

'Probably more than you suspect,' said Trask. 'But perhaps I should hear your side of the story first.'

'My side is simple,' said the other. 'Five years ago, when Turkur Tzonov escaped justice in Perchorsk by fleeing into Starside, some of his dupes were taken prisoner. That was a mistake on my part; I should have had them shot for mutiny, conspiracy, desertion of duty, sabotage ... oh, half a dozen charges. But I didn't, and one of them talked to Mikhail Suvorov. Not the best possible move, for fehad them shot! Or rather, he saw to their disposal. There were several very unfortunate accidents.'

Trask understood, and said, 'Which left General Suvorov as the sole heir to whatever he could steal from Sunside/Starside. He knew that the Gate would lead him into an alien world, knew about the gold, and wanted it for himself 'The gold and whatever else he could find there,' Turchin answered. 'A whole new world, which he would a nnex and rape f or its riches. And he would have control of the Gate. Why, in retrospect it seems perfectly obvious: if Suvorov had wanted these things for the good of his country, for Russia - which was what he told me - then surely he would have explained his purpose to everyone; to his military colleagues and the whole country, and not just... not just to me.' He turned his face away.

'He told you he was going through the Gate? And you didn't try to stop him?' Trask believed he understood something of the predicament Turchin must have faced, but wante d to hear it from the horse's mouth.

'How could I stop him?' Turchin threw up his hands. 'After the Perchorsk Complex was flooded, a task force of military engineers was sent in to strip and salvage lead from 390.

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the shielding in the ravine. That was what I was led to believe, though later it turned out that wasn't all they were there for.

Anyway, many of these men were long-term criminals from the punishment garrisons at Beresov and Ukhta. Hand-picked by Mikhail Suvorov, they had been given the choice of serving out their sentences or serving him: his first step towards securing Pe rchorsk. I n return, and after the job was done and everyone else had moved out, Suvorov let them stay on and turn the dry upper levels into living quarters serviced by hydroelectri c power from the dam. They had vehicles, and doc.u.mentation that allowed them to resupply themselves from Beresov. From then on they were the "official" team of engineers, responsible for servicing and running the dam. As for the dam's continued existence: that was easily justified in that the bulk of its electrical power had been re-routed to the service of local logging camps and other communities...'

'And you were in the dark about all this?' Despite Tras k's respect for the other - and the fact that so far the Premier's every word had been t he truth - still he was relentless in his pusuit of all the answers.

'I was kept in the dark about it!' Turchin told him. 'Ben, I don't control the armed forces and I never have. If they want me to know something, then they tell me. And if I require their services, I tell them. And that's it.'

'Bringing a democracy to life isn't easy,' Trask said. 'Neit her is killing Communism!' said the other, then went on to explain: 'Oh, they are still there, the hard-liners. And so we're - how do you say it - between a rock and a hard place? The old guard on the one hand, and all the greed y opportunists, like Suvorov, on the oth er. Do you know what happens to a Russian bank if it runs out of money?'

Trask shrugged. 'It goes bankrupt?'

'No, they turn it into a pizza house! Huh! Among the Muscovites, that is currently a "joke." Here's another that's not so funny: what does a General do when there's no money to fund his parades or pay his troops, and his pension's only good for cheap vodka and cabbage soup?'

And Trask nodded. 'He goes gold-prospecting. But you know, no o ne lives forever. Not me and not you. Somewhere there m ust be doc.u.mentation on the Perchorsk Project, the Gate, the complex, and everything that happened there. While we're alive, of course we'll do our best to protect such records, such secrets. But when we're dead or no longer in office - what then? If not Suvorov, sooner or later someone else would have tried it.'

'I thought of that a long time ago,' said Turchin. 'Also, I liked Nathan and I'm sure I would like his people. There was something about him that was very Russian, you know? And in my way, well, I'm a humanitarian, too ... you'll just have to take my word for that. So, I took what precautions I could.'

'Precautions?'

'Long before Mikhail Suvor ov found out about Perchorsk, I was destroying everything I could find on that place. Every bit of doc.u.mentation, records, reports, you name it. Not the experiment, you understand, not the Projekt itself - for it's better that men should learn from their mistakes - but the horror that came after it, the very knowledge of a vampire world. And I was quite successful, perhaps even too successful. For now ... why, even the so-called Opposition knows a lot more about it than I do, and certainly more than anyone else!'

'We always did,' said Trask.

'Of course you did, yes - and of course you do - for you have even been there, to Nathan Keogh's world in an alien parallel dimension. But isn't that a peculiar circ.u.mstance in itself, since Perchorsk and the Gate lie deep inside my homeland? And if you were me, wouldn't you feel... left out?'

'Not really,' Trask shook his head. 'No one who saw what I saw, experienced what I experienced, would ever want to go back there. Believe me, you must consider yourself fortunate.

And as for General Mikhail Suvorov: well, you can consider him unfortunate. He's dead, Gustav.'

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'Oh?' And Turchin lifted a great bush of an eyebrow. 'Does that explain it, then? The accident or vandalism or whatever it was at the Romanian Refuge? Was that Suvorov?'

'You know about the Re fuge?'

'I.

have my sources.'

Turchin shrugged.

For the momen t at least Trask let that one slide and said, 'No, it wasn't Mikhail Suvorov-but it was as a direct result of his "invasion" of Sunside/Starside. That was what brought it about'

And he quickly told the Russian Premier everything that had happened, including the fact that three Great Vampires were now at large in the world, and that he and E-Branch were trying to hunt them down.

'And that is why you're here?'

'We believe that one of them is here in Australia, yes.'

And Turchin said, 'Ah! Then that would explain why initially you were on the other side of the continent, and not here in Brisbane. And so it's a pure coincidence that the trail has led you here: you think that he - your "man," shall we say? - is close by.'

'He's not far away, that's for sure,' said Trask. 'And now I have a question f or you.'

'Go a head.'

'If you knew we were in the west, in the Gibson Desert on the other side of Australia, why did you ask my headquarters if I'd be attending the conference? Also, how did you know we were in Western Australia in the first place?'

'That's two questions,' Turchin smiled.

Trask nodded. 'Yes, but please don't spoil things by lying to me on either one of them.'

'To you?' Turchin raised that eyebrow again. 'Do you think that's likely, Ben?'

'No, because I know it isn't possible,' said the other. 'I was reminding you of that fact, that's all.'

'I don't need reminding,' the Premier told him. 'And I say again, I'm not here to lie to you but to ask for your help. And now you ask how I know so much. Very well, then listen: 'When our Russian equivalent of your E-Branch failed - and failed so very spectacularly at the hands of Harry Keogh - then ESP as a weapon was largely discredited and the Russian organization disbanded. Or at least it was "officially"

disbanded. F or our military commanders, down-to-earth fellows who w ould rather put their faith in conventional spying techniques, wanted nothing more to do with it. Which made i t an ideal tool for a Premier who-'

'-Who was pretty much powerless but desperate to keep an eye on things,' Trask finished it for him. 'You yourself, Gustav.

You are now in charge of the Opposition!'

'Covertly, yes. What's left of it,' Turchin nodded.

'And you've been using your mind-spies to watch us?'

'Don't look so hurt, Ben! Haven't you been watching me and mine?'

Trask thought about it and grinned ... and was serious again in a moment. 'But you still haven't told me why you asked my HQ if I was attending the conference?'

The other smiled. 'It was my way of telling you that I was attending, without spelling out a request to meet with you.'

'Still sharp as a tack,' Trask said. And: 'Okay. So, as you now know, I too have a problem ... s.h.i.t, I mean the whole world has a problem! Three of them, and big ones. But yours has to be urgent, too, and probably personal, else you wouldn't be taking chances talking to me.

Obviously we need to make a deal, and we will, a mutually beneficial arrangement. But I can't do or promise anything until I know what your problem is.'

'Urgent, yes, definitely,' said T urchin. 'But personal? Not any longer, not after what you have told me. For it seems to me our problems mesh, becoming one and the same. Very well, I know one of yours - or ours, as it now appears - and the worst of them at that: that there are va mpires in our world. But somehow I think there's a lot more than that to it. Am I right?'

'A tangled skein, yes,' Trask nodded. 'But sync hronous, all coming together at the same time. And meanwhile our time is flying. So okay, you first Just what is your problem, comrade?'

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CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX.

Dilemmas, Dreams, And Deadspeak 'My problems, plural, are not so simple,' said Gustav Turchin.

'Suvorov told a handful of his military cronies that he was onto something big,' also that he'd probably be incommunicado for a while, but in the event he was gone for too long they should come to me for answers. Well, some eighteen months ago they started to ask questions, not too many, for with Suvorov out of the way they had been playing their own hands . These are peo ple with small armies of their own, funded by the drugs trade, I suspect, for they certainly can't be getting it through official channels.

Why not? Because the bank is broke .' Anyway, sooner or later they'll become more insistent, and I'm the one whom they'll squeez e for information. Obvi ously I don't want to tell them anything about Perchorsk, so what can I tell them?

'Next problem: 'The Perchorsk complex is still dry, the Gate stands open, and the Wamphyri are back in Sunside/Starside. Which means, of course, that the Gate has to be closed. But how, since Mikhail Suvorov's gang of criminal "en gineers" are still in control up there, standing guard on the place and waiting for his return? Which brings up another question: how long before some of them decide to follow him through the Gate?

'Well, despite that the complex is isolated, remote, still I can't attack it. Even if I had the military muscle I wouldn't dare use it for fear of attracting the rest of Suvoro v's "colleagues" to Perchorsk. There you have it: it's a vicious circle, and frankly I can't see any easy way to break out of it.'

'Me neither,' said Trask, frowning. 'But that doesn't mean it's hopeless. In E-Branch I have a good many first-cla.s.s problem- solvers, and I promise I'll do what I can. But first let me get it straight. No one else knows about Sunside/Starside's mineral riches?'

'Now that Suvorov is dead, no. Not that I'm aware of.'

'And there are no doc.u.ments to lead anyone in that direction?'

'None that I know of.' Turchin shook his head.

'Then what it boils down to is this: you've got to find a way to tell Mikhail Suvorov's cronies he's dead, while simultaneously ensuring that they don't go looking for him.'

'What?' Turchin was at once alarmed. 'And without telling them how or where he died, surely - that is, if you would save Nathan's world from uttermost destruction! For if you think for a moment they wouldn't go searching for Suvorov, you're wrong. They would. And they would see what they would see, and having seen it... then they would turn a whole world into a nuclear, chemical, and biological wasteland!'

'Zfthey managed to get back here to tell about it,' said Trask.

'But in any case you're right: eventually we'll have to get into Perchorsk and close the Gate, for good this time.'

'Precisely. Until which time the problems remain ...' Trask was silent for a moment, then said, 'As for the one we've just formulated, how to get into Perchorsk and close the Gate: I may soon have the answer to that one at least. But not right now. It's something I'm working on.'

'Harry Keogh could have done it,' said Turchin knowingly, perhaps wistfully.

'Harry's dead,' said Trask.

'But Nathan isn't/ said Turchin. 'And he owes me.'

Trask shook his head. 'No, Nathan can't help us. Not right 396.

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now. He has problems of his own, in Sunside/Starside. And there isn't any way we can contact him.'

But didn't you sa y yo u were working on something?'

'Something, someone, yes. Don't ask me any more about it.'

Turchin nodded. 'I see ...'

'But don't lose hope,' Trask told him. 'Like I said, we'll do what we can. Meanwhile you'll have to sit tight, play dumb.'