E-Branch - Invaders Part 14

'Then have pity on me and leave it out!' she told him. And abruptly, angrily starting to her feet: 'Very well, do it your way. Who needs you, anyway!?'

'Wait/ Jake said. 'Sit down. I may need you - to help me with this.' He waved a dismissive hand at Trask's file.

Liz took a very deep breath, but despite her annoyance she sat down, folded her arms, said nothing.

And after a while Jake said, 'You know why I'm p.i.s.sy, even with you?'

That 'even' told Liz something, at least... mainly that she was special, different in his perception. But she remained cool towards him and simply said, 'Go on?'

'Ben Trask, Goodly , Lardis/ he said, 'especially L ardis! - he can give you bad dreams, that one - it's as if they were all waiting for something to happen/ And he thumbed himself in the chest. 'To happen to me!'

'Or waiting for you to do something/ she said.

'Exactly/ Jake narrowed his eyes at her. 'And you, too?'

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'Well, and weren't we justified in that?' she countered. 'I mean, we've seen one of the things you can do. The way you move ...

without moving.'

'But I thought that was agreed/ his frustration was mounting.

'I've already told you that's not me!' 'Maybe it's trying to be you,' she said - and at once bit her KP-.

Jake nodded, and his voice was harder when he accused: 'So you are in on it.'

'Jake/ Liz told him, 'if you were to learn everything all in one go, it might be too much for you. I can understand that even if you can't. Ben Trask and the other espers, they've recognized a germ in you. But maybe it's more than a germ. Especially after last night, and again this morning with McGilchrist. Anyway, they would like it to grow; they don't want to kill it off with the shock of sudden awareness. That's why they'll let you in on it slowly, gradually. That way, when it all becomes clear to you, you'll be ready for it.'

Jake looked at her and saw only truth in her eyes. Then he looked at the file again. 'So reading this stuff is like Trask said: just another step in my gradual education, right?'

'I think so, yes/ she answered.

'Huh!'And muttering darkly to himself, Jake picked up the file.

It had a yellow plastic jacket with a red diagonal stripe stamped with the word COSMIC. A once-white, well-thumbed label gummed in the top right-hand corner bore a scrawled legend in Indian ink: 'VAMPIRES AND THE WAMPHYRI - basic/ But as Jake Cutter was about to discover, there was little or nothing basic about them...

Jake had of course been briefed prior to last night's foray; a very spa.r.s.e - even a brief- briefing before being 'thrown in at the deep end/ as he had had it. He'd seen a jerky old black and white film from a place called Perchorsk in the Ural Mountains, which at first he'd thought was a clip from some old horror movie that a sensitiv e 20th Century film censor had refused to pa.s.s for general viewing. It was just too graphic, too real, too horrific. And its special effects had been ... well, something else.

But the rest of the footage (of the underground Perchorsk Complex, which was obviously real, and of an incredible, nightmarish flying creature that two USAF fighters had sent to h.e.l.l over the Hudson Bay all of thirty years ago, coupled with Ben Trask's matter-of-fact, voice-over commentary) had finally served to convince Jake of its authenticity ... well, almost. But still not quite with it, and at that time not r eally wanting to be, he had allowed himself to arrive at his own inco rrect conclusion: That all those years ago Soviet scientists had been breeding something - probably biologically engineered soldiers - in subterranean laboratories in the Urals, and that an unspecified number of genetically mutated monsters, not to mention several 'altered' human beings had somehow escaped... which even now seemed a far more acceptable explanation than the fantastic story he was beginning to piece together from the notes in Trask's file.

'WAMPHYRI/ (Jake read the heading again): 'The Mowing notes result from Harry and Nathan Keogh debriefs. The Keoghs, father and son(s), were mainly responsible for the destruction of the Wamphyri. This file should be read in conjunction with 278, "HARRY KEOGH," 279, "NECROSCOPE," and 311, "NATHAN/"

And then he started again on the text: 'The Wamphyri are the original vampires of "myth" and legend. For the last two thousand years vampires have been periodically "banished" from their own world into ours. Prior to that time it seems possible that several of them found their own way to Earth via a "wormhole" situated in Starside, having its exit in a subterranean cave under the foothills of the Carpatii Meridional!, the Transyl vanian Alps. This is obviously the reason why, even to this day, that region is a.s.sociated with vampires and vampirism. It is the source of the so-called "myth."

'But the Wamphyri are not a myth. They are the inhabitants 142.

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of an Earth-type world lying parallel to Earth in a "universe"

on "the other side" of our familiar s.p.a.ce-time continuum; and but for the fact that the wormhole enters our world deep underground on a watercourse subject to flash flooding, it is quite feasible that by now the human race would have been conquered, converted and enslaved by vampires.

'However, and whatever might have been Mankind's fate, one thing is certain: there will be no more vampires in this world.

The only means of entry have been closed. In 2007, the Russian Premier, Gustav Turchin, diverted hydroelectric dam waters from the Urals Pa.s.s into the subte rranean complex at Perchorsk, thus drowning the singularity or "Gate" in the heart of the complex. This action served to preserve the integrity of both worlds and guaranteed the future safety of at least one of them, ours. For further reading see 262, PERCHORSK, and 297, THE REFUGE. 'STAGES OF VAMPIRISM - the Vampire Life-Cycle - in large part speculative: 'In the east and west of Sunside/Starside lie swamps which are always gloomy under rolling banks of fog. In a time immemorial to Sunside's Szgany (nomadic humans), the first vampires came out of these swamps.

'The morphology or evolution of the Wamphyri would make for a fascinating study in its own right. (But we must consider any clinical, laboratory, or experimental study of ANY PHASE of vampires and vampirism far too dangerous!) Cyclical, it frequently involves forms other than human.

Vampire DN A is unique in being mutative within a single life-cycle without the benefit of generation. Like any disease, but almost sentiently aggressive, it invades non- vampire tissues to infect them. But instead of destroying the contaminated body it pa.s.ses on its mutant DNA, causing the host to adapt - and indeed to mutate - within its own span.

Since longevity is invariably a result of vampirism, barring accidental death or fatal diseases the lifespan of the victim, then a vampire in his own right, might easily extend to many hundreds and perhaps even thousands of years. 'In the vampire swamps of Sunside/Starside, the first (or final) phase of the cycle may be found. It is a black mushroom that ripens to give off red spores. SPECULATIVE: The spores are the genesis of vampiric life and carry the as yet "blank" form of vampire DNA. Breathed in, the spores attach to animal lungs and commence leaking their "poison" into the bloodstream along with oxygen. Then the mutation quickens, the victim falls ill, and following a period of some three days emerges as a vampire in his own right. In Transylvania, the illnes s would occasionally app ear fatal and the victim dead. Hence the legend of the vampire rising from his grave after three days in the earth.

'The spor es do not discriminate; they infect who or whatever breathes them in. An infected fox or dog would have vampire instincts. But the true vampire has instincts of its own.

'SECOND PHASE. (In part, speculative): 'Within an infected host, certain special strands join up to take on a separate, parasitic ident.i.ty. Thi s may take a few years, decades, or even centuries; the reason for these variations are as yet undetermined. But the symbiotic creature that results is the true vampire: a semi-protoplasmic leech clinging to the spine of the host and extending its own nervous and sensory systems into his brain, literally possessing his mind. It is him, and he is it. And the parasite or symbiont's appet.i.te is for blood. It feeds on the source of life itself: the blood of its host's future victims. Indeed, "the blood is the life."

'The symbiont is not necessarily "faithful" to an original host; in Sunside, should a dog or fox host come in contact with a human being, a wholesale transfer of leech from the animal to the human is possible, especially if the animal is stricken and dying. In other words the leech will seek a continued existence - or even better, a higher life-form - in its new host. Among the Szgany of Sunside, the tenacity of the leech is a legend in its own right.

'THIRD PHASE: Wamphyri.

'Not only has the symbiont become an integral part of its host's body, but the host's being - even his thought processes, his 144.

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personality, and of course his DNA - have been altered forever. Just as strands of that DNA have mutated into the leech, so the host's flesh has become in itself imitative. His flesh is now metamorphic: he can within certain limits bring about physical alterations in his shape and form. He is Wamphyri.'

'FOURTH PHASE: Back to the Origin. Speculative: 'In the event of death the symbiont leech (and even the host's "dead"

flesh) may attempt a secondary existence by way of reconst.i.tution. Essential fats and amino acids - the building blocks of life - may seek to escape into the earth, there to develop into mushroom sp.a.w.n that lies dormant until a time of maximum opportunity . How the "vampire essence" or mushroom germs recognize this one opportune moment remains unknown. In Transylvanian legends, as in those of Sunside, certain vampire Lords store native soil and sleep upon it - clear evidence of the instinct for survival. And once again, immemorial Sunside myths have it that the Drakuls - an especially infamous line of Lords - kept loam from Starside's swamps for the same purpose, against just such an eventuality.

'FINAL PHASE: The True Death.

'Decapitated, a vampire dies. (There is no brain for the leech to control to its own ends - but the symbiont itself may still attempt to escape its host's termination). However, the bulk of a symbiont is located mainly on the left or heart side of its host's spine, and a stake driven through the heart will usually suffice to pin the creature there, for a time at least. A stake soaked in garlic will certainly do the job, for garlic, like silver, is a quick-acting poison to vampire flesh. But the only sure way to kill a vampire is to burn it to ashes. Wherefore Sunside's Szgany stake, decapitate, and burn all vampire manifestations wherever possible. Only then can they be certain that the vampire has died the "True Death." 'There exists one other phase in the vampire life-cycle. (See "Egg- son" or "-daughter" in the next section following).

VAMPIRISM: Infection, Deliberate and Accidental. 'By a bite. The virulence of a vampire's bite, which is usually 146 delivered in the act of feeding, would seem to differ from vampire to vampire. But the bite of a Lord of the Wamphyri is especially infectious. It can cause delirium and death, though not necessarily the True Death. When a Lord (or Lady) seeks to "recruit" a vampire thrall or servitor, the bite isn't usually deep and little blood is taken. In this case the bite has been used to transmit vampire DNA, but only in an amount sufficient to bring about the first phase of the change. It may then take years for a leech to develop and the servitor - or, later, the "lieutenant" - to "ascend" and become Wamphyri.

'But when a Lord or Lady's bite is excessive and too much plasma is taken - and a commensurate amount of vampire essence transf used - then the result may be "death" of a sort, lasting the specified three days. Then, too, when the victim ascends it will be with the germ of a leech established and growing within him.

' "Accidental" infection may occur when an infected animal (such as a dog, fox, or wolf), fighting to avoid entrapment or/ and execution, bites a human being. In such a case it is possible for a person bitten in this manner to develop the characteristics of the original host beast. This is the proven source of the werewolf legend; it seems feasible that in Earth's past there were even "genuine" vampire bats other than Desmodus and Diphylla.

'Accidental infection may also occur when vampire blood is spilled, such as in Sunside executions of suspect vampires by the Szgany. In common with AIDS and similar contagious diseases, open wounds and mucous membranes are especially susceptible. Even healthy, whole skin splashed with a vampire's blood or urine should be treated immediately. (Oil of garlic applied with a silver sc.r.a.per is the best remedy, though no guarantees may be given).

'The most definite, and definitely the most effective form of vampiric infection is obtained when a Lord or Lady wishes to create an "egg-son" or "daughter." Apart from one rare exception (see "Mother," below) a symbiont leech is capable of producing only one cryptogenetic "egg" during its lifespan.

In this the parasite relies on the judgement of its usually human host 147.

to provide a superior vessel for habitation. The egg - a flexible ciliolate spheroid half an inch in diameter - is "willed" into being by the vampire host and pa.s.sed on mouth to mouth, or by s.e.xual intercourse, or by simple spillage when it must find its own way. 'A spilled egg, being protoplasmic, will seep through the skin of a designated host or other acceptable vessel, interacting with him to cause speedy infection and transformation. Any such changeling is considered to have ascended and is Wamphyri.

'Not all exchanges of bodily fluids between vampires (the Wamphyri) and human beings are necessarily infectious. The vampire has a degree of control over his parasite, and also over his blood and other plasma fluids. A Lady of the Wamphyri may consort with a human lover without converting him. She simply avoids taking his blood, and following intercourse "wills" her vampire essence to destroy his sperm. Likewise a Lord may will his sperm free of vampiric influence to keep a concubine pristine.

'This cannot in any way be taken as indicative of love or even affection; it is simply that the Wamphyri do not casually "create" other Wamphyri! Egg- and blood-sons and daughters are chosen with infinite care, and among the reasons are these: 'A powerful egg-son may one day usurp the father; knowing and even accepting this, the nature of the man, the prospective host, must first be explored to the full. And egg-daughters - as all Wamphyri Ladies - are treated with great care not only by their sires but also other Lords, because while the occurrence is rare, nevertheless the occasional Lady will prove to be a "Mother" or breeder of vampires. The exception that disproves the general rule, a Mother's parasite has the ability to sp.a.w.n a great many more than the usual single egg ...

'THE NATURE OF VAMPIRES: A Possible Explanation of the Wamphyri Lifestyle.

'The Wamphyri are aggressive, tenacious, territorial, egotistical, ruthless, and unrepentantly evil, and proceed in each mode or mood with pa.s.sions exaggerated to a degree quite beyond human understanding. By our standards they are derang ed.

'It appears that the symbiont leeches are directly responsible for their hosts' invariably antagoni stic natures: unless the host is made strong, the parasite cannot be certain of its own longevity. Lacking aggression the host would be seen to be weak, easy pre y to his contemporaries. And wi thout tenacity or the will to survive, he must fail. If territory exists for the taking, a vampire will take it; extending his boundaries makes a Lord safer within his own sphere of jurisdiction. And as for ruthlessness: since the driving instinct of the leech is survival, the question of law and order - and especially justice - never arises. Might is the only right.

The "evil"

of the Great Vampire springs naturally from all of his other vices. An intelligent being may not be aggressive, ruthless and territorial - and of course a merciless killer - without being unrepentantly evil.

'As for the vampire's ego: that becomes glaringly evident in the pride he takes in his evil. According to Szgany legends, the first of the Wamphyri was Shaitan-in our world, Satan. And pride (or ego, as we understand it) was his downfall, too.

'It will have been noticed that the above vices are identical with Man's, forming in the main our definition of evil. In that respect it should also be pointed out that the vampire has no recognition of evil. "Regret", "shame" or "guilt" are in all probability words that he does not accept, or emotions which - if experienced at all - are held in abeyance by his parasite. 'As for any comp arison with Man's evil: the scale of difference - the enormity of the gap between ours and the vampire's capacity for evil - simply does not allow for comparison.

Vampires are in themselves the Ultimate Evil.

'DISEASES and VULNERABILITIES: 'The Wamphyri shrug off most diseases common to man; their leeches produce antibodies to order. There is one ailment, however, whose morbid encroachment may only be delayed by the symbiont's healing powers and the host's protoplasmic DNA. Leprosy, "the bane of vampires," disfigures and kills them no less than it kills wholly human beings, but the disease's progression 148.

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is usually far slower in the Wamphyri. The symbiont is itself susceptible to the disease, and once the infection breaks through a vampire's resistance to infect the leech the process becomes irreversible and the True Death results.

'Silver is a poison to the Wamphyri. The mythical "silver cross" may well turn aside or stay a vampire's hand , but not by virtue of any mysterious religious power in the cross. The silver itself is the deterrent and may not be considered a "supernatural" element in this regard but simply a poison to the Wamphyri, much as m ercury, lead, and plutonium are poisons to Man. But it does more nearly compare with plutonium in this respect, as it is quite deadly when used correctly. (NOTE: In E-Branch, while the supernatural is never scorned, neither is it accepted until scientific explanations have been ruled out.) 'Silver will sear the vampire's flesh. Wounded with a silver knife, the wound will take longer to heal and leave a permanent scar. Injected internally, as by a shotgun using silver shot, or a gun firing silver bullets, it will cripple and even kill.

Vampire flesh damaged by silver in this way must be shed and new flesh manufactured by a protoplasmic process.

'Garlic is also a poison. And once again, no supernatural reason is attached; garlic is simply poisonous to the vampire, even as various fungi, poisoned ivy, and many fruits and vegetables are poisonous to Man. The smell of garlic, offensive to many humans, is emetic to the vampire; its oil will sting him, causing his flesh to slough; taken internally, if it does not kill him it will certainly damage organs and make it difficult for the symbiont to effect repairs. The Szgany of Sunside make extensive use of garlic, not only in their cooking but also as a poison with which to daub their crossbow bolts.

'Nevertheless - and despite the fact that silver is by no means rare and garlic is plentiful on Sunside - still the Wamphyri have been a scourge among the Szgany from time immemorial to the most recent of times ...

'THE SZGANY: How They Relate to the Vampire.

'The Szgany (Travellers, Romers, or Romany) are so called because they are kept on the move by Wamphyri raiders who come nightly into Sunside to hunt. The Szgany are their prey, their livelihood, their sole means of survival and continuity.

Without the Szgany there would be no Wamphyri, for the leech would never have had access to humanity and the means to rise above the intelligence level of, say, a dog or a wolf.

'The Szgany provide sport, and women for the Lords of the Wamphyri and men fo r thei r Ladies. Szgany blood is the staple diet of Starside's vampires; their flesh feeds vampire beasts; even their skins, bones, and hair are fas.h.i.+oned into furniture or decorations for the manses of their persecutors. The Szgany are to the Wamphyri of Starside as the coconut to the 20th Century South Sea Islanders: useful in every part, with little or nothing going to waste.

'But when the Szgany are no longer of use as lieutenants, concubines or thralls, then they are drained of their blood and butchered, and all unappetizing parts ground down for "the provisioning," as meal for the flying creatures and warrior beasts of their masters ...

'WAMPHYRI ESP, AND OTHER "SUPERNATURAL".

SKILLS:.

'Most Lords and Ladies of the Wamphyri are to some extent telepathic. In addition to being physically stronger than entirely human beings (in an approximate ratio of four or more to one), their sensory skill s have also been enhanced - including several "sixth" or higher senses as defined by E-Branch. It is therefore fortunate that their intelligence has not been enhanced; their symbionts can only make use of what native intelligence was there to begin with, and ruthlessness and deviousness must compensate for the simplicity of the peasant mind, a lack of learning which, ironically, has come about as a direct result of centuries of Wamphyri predation!

'On the other hand and in response to Wamphyri ESP - and apparently as a process of natural selection - the Szgany are adept 150.

at disguising their thoughts; mentally they are equipped to "hide" from the telepathic probes of their hunters. But the "supernatural " abilities of the Wamphyri almost always tip the balance their way, and our science is hard-pressed to find an answer to certain of the Great Vampire's skills. 'METAMORPHOSIS: 'The entire life-cycle of the Wamphyri could be said to be a series of metamorphoses; a constant ongoing mutation is apparent even in the individual specimen. But in certain circ.u.mstances the vampire's spontaneous metamorphosis is theoretically improbable, scientifically baffling, and physically awesome. It is, too, a reality. In battle, the "normal" or "usual"

morphology of a Lord of the Wamphyri (the basic structure of his anthropoid form) becomes something else entirely when whatever aspect he has a.s.sumed is put aside in favour of his parasite's best protective armour and weaponry.

'His flesh stretches, tears, and refas.h.i.+ons itself; hands become talons, while jaws elongate fantastically to accommodate teeth or tusks worthy of a sabretooth or wild boar. His usually pale aspect turns grey to leaden as his skin thickens to hide; the wild, feral yellow of his eyes turns from flame to red (as in infra-red, perhaps?), especially at night, possibly enhancing his already incredible night-sightedness. And in the fullness of his change, the very sight of him is as a weapon in itself. The closest approximation in Man would be the rage of the berserker - without the berserker's disregard for his own safety. For over and above all else, survival is uppermost in the vampire's symbiont-controlled mind.

'Survival: the basic instinct that quite liter ally lends a vampire wing s. For in certain extremes many of the Wamphyri can so change their shape as to flatten their bodies, lengthen their arms, sprout webbing like the membranes of a bat or flying squirrel, and form aerofoils to support their weight or at least allow for gliding. And the most adept of all are capable of controlled flight and aerial manoeuvres. In this respect it seems reasonable to suspect that there is something of the bat about them. There are giant bats in Starside - they are often the watchdogs of the Wamphyri - and if an infected bat with a spore grown to a leech were to bite and pa.s.s on its characteristics to a man ... ?

'This theory might well account for the sensitive, convolute snout to be found in a great many Lords and Ladies of the Wamphyri ; also their night vision and of course their tendency to flight.

But what theory or accident of evolution could possibly account fo r their mist-making? Or is this "simply"

another facet of the vampire's powers of metamorphosis?

'For when the Great Vampire is in danger - or conversely, when he sets out to creep up on prey or a foe - he can "create" or "call up" a mist to cover his movements. And vampire mist is not the often humid and softly lapping vapour we know but slimy and cold as a cold sweat. And the vampire Lord's enhanced senses - the normal five along with his telepathic probes - are carried in his mist like electricity in a wire but faster than the speed of li ght, at the speed of thought.

'As for the mist itself: 'It issue s from the vampire's pores, as sweat issues from ours. But the process is brought about through his will. There is a theory, however fanciful, concerning the way in which the earth itself is caused to release its moisture.

'This theory holds that the vampire mist is some kind of cata lyst, as when dry ice is released over a cloud to excite precipitation. But this scarcely explains the volume of such mists as are generated by the Wamphyri...

'For "HYPNOSIS, ONEIROMANCY, AND OTHER POWERS OF THE WAMPHYRI,' see also the Appended Notes to 176, E-BRANCH AND OTHER TALENTS...'

This brought Jake to the end of a paragraph a third of the way down a page that was two-thirds blank.

Turni ng the page, he read: 'A more comprehensive file is in preparation.'

Then nothing more, except perhaps the feeling that he was floating at the centre of a weird sphere of inexplicable understanding...

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CHAPTER ELEVEN The Lidesci's Story.

Silently closing the file, Jake started as Liz's voice reached him through the vacuum of concentration - a zone exclusive to his mind and the words that the file had left mirrored upon it - which had somehow settled about him. 'Well?' she said.

And surprising himself, frowning he answered, 'Where have I read this before? I mean, do I know these things?' Too late, for the vacuum was dissolving, the familiarity fading. 'No, of course I don't.' And shaking his head, perhaps to clear it, he looked at her.

'No questions?' she said, staring hard at him.

'Should there be?' Liz shrugged, but not casually. 'You tell me, Jake. All I can tell you is that for the last half hour you've been sitting there like a man in a dream, totally engrossed.'

Learning? ht wondered. Or remembering? But aloud he only said, 'Well, a couple of questions, maybe.'