"Ian Watson & Roberto Quaglia - Beloved Vampire of the Blood Comet" - читать интересную книгу автора (Watson Ian)

dawn was bedtime in his heavily curtained palazzo in Venice. However, this story was making me
shivery, and to cling to him was of little help since his body wasnтАЩt at blood-heat but many degrees lower.
ThatтАЩs why I usually had a rug over me except in the hot smelly Venetian summer, when the touch of
SilviuтАЩs cool limbs was enchanting.

By the way, vampires never empty a victimтАЩs veins тАУ would you want to drink five litres of soup for
supper? тАУ but often on a Friday or Saturday night vampires are thirstier than usual and their victimтАЩs
blood pressure drops too low to sustain life. Thus not too many vampires tend to live in the same city,
otherwise the number of semi-exsanguinated corpses might arouse suspicions.

Silviu had mesmeric powers, and influential local contacts. Consequently stories appeared in
IlGazzettino di Venezia, blaming McDonaldтАЩs for the semi-exsanguinated corpses which the Carabinieri
fished out of the canals or found in alleyways. Anti-Americanism was popular, and itтАЩs well known that
capitalists are blood-suckers, so many people believed that the seats in McDonaldтАЩs contained
anaesthetising needles which sucked blood from customers, to be replaced with cholesterol. Thus
Venetians ate their hamburgers standing up, whereas Americans always need to sit down. Where
possible at the weekend, Silviu hunted fat tourists.

тАЬVladтАЩs spaceship was made of armour in Gothic style held together by interior leather straps riveted to
the platesтАФand reinforced with internal braces so it wouldnтАЩt be too flexible, unlike armour which needs
to be flexible.тАЭ

тАЬHow do you know all this?тАЭ

тАЬI was on that expedition.тАЭ Quickly I revised my estimate of SilviuтАЩs age.

I didnтАЩt much wish to ask the next question, but the point had been niggling.

тАЬUm, why were those candidatesтАЩ stakes only semi-sharpened?тАЭ

тАЬBecause otherwise they might die too suddenly from shock. However, after leaving EarthтАЩs gravity
behind, the stakes used for the Impalement Drive were fully sharpened because in outer space thereтАЩs no
weight to impale you.тАЭ

тАЬUm, what happened to the strap-on boosters?тАЭ

тАЬOnce we achieved escape velocity, those were unstrapped from within the ship. By then the bodies
were frozen solid. Ice-corpses rained on what are now Romania and Hungary.тАЭ

тАЬWere you all wearing space-armour inside the ship?тАЭ

тАЬNo, my little dove. Vlad needed to limit the weight. As you know, cold means little to a vampire and we
donтАЩt need to breathe, although sometimes we pretend to, as when I make love to you. Vampires are the
best astronauts.тАЭ

тАЬBut what about those Impalement Drivers? DidnтАЩt they need air?тАЭ
тАЬYou mean the successful candidates who pushed the ship along paranormally, strapped to the inside?тАЭ

тАЬYes, them.тАЭ