"Spoor,.Ryk.E.-.Digital.Knight" - читать интересную книгу автора (Spoor Ryk E)

"What's this?" I opened the box. On a slender silver chain was a crystal-headed hammer, handle wrapped in miniature leather thongs, the head an angle-faced box. "It's gorgeous, Syl! Thank you!"
"I remembered how much you like the Norse pantheonЧyou even named your car after Thor's hammerЧand if you look real closely on the hammer head, you'll see Mjolnir engraved there in Nordic runes."
I squinted closely at it, and I could just make out the spiderweb-thin runic lines. "It's really beautiful, Sylvie. But why now?"
"I was actually saving it for your birthday next month, but with this vampire thing going on, I decided it was best I give it to you now." She saw my puzzlement. "It's not just a piece of jewelry, Jason. I made it especially to be a focus, a protection against evil, for you."
"But you know I don't really believe in that stuff."
She gave a lopsided smile. "Jason Wood, how in the world can you believe in vampires and sneer at crystals and spirits?"
"Touchщ." I slipped the chain over my neck. It felt cool against my skin. The three-inch-long hammer made a slight bulge below my collar. "This could look a little strange. I don't wear jewelry often. I think I'll put it on the wall. Or on Mjolnir's rearview mirror."
"No, Jason." Sylvie had her "feeling" face on again. "Wear it. Even if you don't believe, it will make me feel better if you keep it on you."
I wasn't about to test her accuracy after the last time. "Okay."
"Now what else has your machine come up with?"
"Nothing good. The problem is that there are so many versions of the vampire legend in myth and fiction that the best I can do is estimate probabilities. Problem with that is that even a low-probability thing could turn out to be real." I picked up a printout. "But I can't prepare for everything. So I've constructed a 'theoretical vampire' using all the probabilities that showed a greater than eighty-percent likelihood." I started reading. "Strength, somewhere between five and twenty times normal human, with a heavy bias towards the high end of that range; he can probably tip over a station wagon like I can a loaded shopping cart and leap small garages in a single bound. Invulnerable to ordinary weapons. What can hurt it is a nice question; only two probables showed up, sunlight and a wooden stake, although three more, running water, holy symbols, and fire, were just below the threshold. Does not show up on mirrors; after that photo I think we can take that as proven."
"Maybe he just doesn't show on film?"
"The legend started long before there was film. Stands to reason the mirror business had something behind it. Okay, where was I? Shapeshifting. This might have started as a blending of the werewolf and vampire legends, but most are pretty emphatic that at the very least the vampire can assume a noncorporeal form, like a cloud of gas. Changes those bitten into others of its kind, that's how they reproduce."
Sylvie shook her head. "No, Jason, that's silly. If getting bitten made vampires, we'd be up to our earlobes in bloodsuckers in nothing flat."
"So I simplified it. Actually, the transformation requires a full exchange of blood; the victim has to both have some of his taken and drink some of the vampire's. As an aside, if that happens, there is a fair chance that the new vampire is controlled by the old one. And speaking of age, the legends also tend to emphasize that the older the suckers get the tougher they are."
"Anything else?"
"Yep. They have a special attachment to the earth, particularly their 'home earth'Чground of the area in which they were first buried. They tend to be inactive in the daytime, and may have psychokinetic abilities. One other interesting note: many legends state that a vampire cannot enter a personal dwellingЧhouse, apartment, whateverЧwithout the permission of a legitimate resident therein. However, once given, the permission is damned hard to revoke." I put the printout down. "That's about it. Lower down on the list you get some really odd stuffЧyou should see the Chinese 'hopping vampire' subtype."
Sylvie sat in frowning thought for a few minutes. "So sunlight is the best bet?"
I waved a hand from side to side. "It's chancy. The problem is that while it's virtually certain that the vampire is somewhat vulnerable to sunlight, the degree of vulnerability is highly variable. Just about any vampire would die if you could stick it out on a beach thirty minutes from shade, but in the first twenty minutes it could do a lot of damage to anyone in the area. Several of the legends emphasize that an old and powerful vampire can even rise and walk about in daylight as long as they wear clothing that covers most of the skin and don't stay out overlong. Besides, I doubt he'd answer an invitation to a beach party."
"So what are you going to do?"
"See if I can get a handle on him somehow, so he has to come to me. And I think this negative is the key."


4
Two hours later, I wasn't so sure. "Funny, Jason . . . that picture looks the same."
"Oh, very funny, Syl." I stared at the screen, willing a faint outline to appear.
"Sorry, Jason. But this is not exactly the most exciting date I've ever been on."
"I'd have thought last night would have been all the excitement you could handle. Besides, we are not dating."
"Oh? So you kiss your male friends good night too?"
"Okay, then I won't do that any more." I pounded another set of instructions into the machine, a little harder than was really wise. Syl always rattles me when she gets on that subject.
"Oh, honestly, Jason! Don't sulk like that. I didn't mean to pressure you. It just strikes me funny."
"What strikes you funny?"
"You, Jason. You can face down an angry policeman, send crooks to jail, run a business, and you're calmly trying to track down a vampire . . . and you just fall apart whenever a woman smiles at you."
"I do not fall apart!" With dismay I watched the entire background turn a pale lavender. Hurriedly I undid my mistake. "I just . . . don't want to get involved. I don't have time. Besides, we are off the subject here." I ignored her tolerant smile.
"So what are you doing now?"
I turned back to the screen, then shrugged. "Nothing, actually. I've tried everything and it's no use. Either he simply does not show on any wavelengths or else, more likely, this film just has no sensitivity at all in any non-visible spectra. I can't bring up something that the film doesn't have on it." I slumped back, depressed. I really hate losing.
"Well, then, why not work with what has to be there?"
I looked at her. She looked serious, but there were little smile wrinkles around her eyes. "What exactly do you mean?"
"Well, this vampire's solid, isn't he? I mean, you don't shake hands with a ghost."
"Right. So?"
She pointed to the area in front of Connors. "He's standing right there somewhere. So his feet mustЧ"
"Чbe on the ground there . . . and he'll be leaving footprints! Syl, you are a genius! And I am an idiot!" I selected the area in front of Connors that his invisible opposite should be in, started to enlarge it.
A few stages of enhancements passed. Then I smiled and sat back.
On screen, in the gravel of the pathway, were the unmistakable outlines of two shoes. A sprig of grass was caught underneath one shoe, showing an impossible half-flat, half-arched outline. "Syl, I could kiss you!"
"I'll bet you say that to all the guys." She looked pleased, though.
I saved the data and hid the disk away. "For that, I'll buy you dinner."



5