Night Watch 05 - The New Watch Read Online Free

right.’
    ‘But the plane didn’t crash,’ Olga said quietly.
    We stopped talking for a moment.
    ‘Prophets don’t make mistakes. The boy is a Prophet, since he made predictions about his own fate and the fate of a Higher Other. But the plane didn’t crash. You didn’t interfere in events . . .’ Gesar said quietly.
    That was when it hit me. ‘You weren’t checking if I was under some kind of influence or not,’ I said. ‘You were checking if I saved the plane without permission.’
    ‘That too,’ said Gesar, not even embarrassed now. ‘But I didn’t want to state a reason like that in front of our colleagues.’
    ‘Well, thanks a million.’ I got up and walked towards the door.
    Gesar waited until I opened it before he spoke. ‘I must say, Anton, I’m very pleased for you. Pleased and proud.’
    ‘Why, exactly?’
    ‘Because you didn’t intervene without permission. And you didn’t even come up with any human nonsense like phone calls about a bomb on the plane . . .’
    I walked out and closed the door behind me.
    I felt like screaming out loud or smashing my fist against the wall.
    But I held out. I was imperturbable and cool.
    I really hadn’t come up with any ‘human nonsense’! The thought had never even entered my head. I was convinced that we had no legal right to save two hundred people – and I had saved one Other and his mother.
    I must have learned all my lessons well – I had behaved entirely correctly for a Higher Other.
    And that made me feel lousy.
    ‘Anton!’
    Looking round, I saw Semyon hurrying to catch up with me. He seemed slightly embarrassed, like an old friend who has just witnessed an awkward and ugly scene. But we had been close friends for a long time already, and Semyon didn’t have to pretend that he had been detained by chance.
    ‘I thought I’d have to wait longer,’ Semyon explained. ‘Well, that was a freaky move by the boss – very, very freaky . . .’
    ‘He’s right,’ I admitted reluctantly. ‘It really was a strange situation.’
    ‘I’ve been assigned to talk to the boy, initiate him and explain to the mother why he should study in our school . . . basic standard procedure. Why don’t we go together?’
    ‘You mean you’ve already found him?’ I asked. ‘I only read the names, I didn’t take any more trouble . . .’
    ‘Of course we’ve found him! This is the twenty-first century, Antokha! We called our information centre and asked them who didn’t show up for such-and-such a flight to Barcelona. A minute later Tolik called back and gave me the names and addresses. Innokentii Grigorievich Tolkov, ten and a half years old. Lives with his mum . . . well, you know that Others are statistically more common in single-parent families.’
    ‘It’s the effect of social deprivation,’ I muttered gruffly.
    ‘The explanation I heard is that dads subconsciously sense when a child is an Other and leave the family,’ said Semyon. ‘In other words, they’re afraid . . . The Tolkovs live not far from here, near the Water Stadium metro station – why don’t we mosey over?’
    ‘No, Semyon, I won’t go,’ I said, shaking my head. ‘You’ll manage just fine on your own.’
    Semyon gave me a quizzical look.
    ‘Everything’s cool!’ I said firmly. ‘Don’t worry, I’m not having a fit of hysterics, I’m not going on a binge and I’m not hatching plans to quit the Watch. I’ll take a trip to the airport and wander about there for a while. This whole thing’s wrong somehow, can’t you see? A boy-Prophet mouthing vague prophecies, a plane that should have crashed and didn’t . . . it’s not right!’
    ‘Gesar’s already sent someone to inspect Sheremetyevo,’ Semyon told me.
    His voice had a sly kind of note to it . . .
    ‘Who did he send?’
    ‘Las.’
    ‘I see,’ I said with a nod, stopping in front of the lifts and pressing the call button. ‘In other words, Gesar’s not expecting anything interesting.’
    Las was an