Deadspawn by Brian Lumley

‘Not me,’ Harry answered, as running footsteps sounded from outside. ‘Not me – it! And yes, it just might have killed you. But damn you, you trusted me once, Viktor. And did I let you down? All right, so the flesh-and-blood me has changed; but the real me, I’m still the same.’

‘But it’s different now, Harry,’ Luchov answered, suddenly aware that he’d averted . . . whatever. ‘Surely you can see that? I’m not doing anything for myself any more. Not even for “Mother Russia”. It’s for the human race -for all of us.’

They were banging on the door now, voices shouting.

‘Listen.’ Harry’s face was as earnest and as human as the Russian had ever seen it; or it would be, but for those hellish eyes. ‘By now E-Branch – and your Russian organization, too, if they’re worth their salt – must know I only want out. So – why can’t – they – just – let – me –go!’

Shots sounded from the corridor, ten or more in rapid succession, hammer blows of hot lead that slammed into the lock on the steel-panelled door and shattered its works to scrap metal. ‘But . . . are you telling me you don’t know?’ Luchov saw only Harry now, only the man. ‘Are you saying you don’t understand?’

‘Maybe I do,’ Harry answered, ‘I’m not sure. But right now you’re the only one who can confirm it.’

And so Luchov confirmed it. ‘But they’re not worried about you going, Harry,’ he said, as the door was slammed back on its hinges and light flooded in. They’re only worried that one day you might come back, and about what you might try to bring with you!’

Scared men crowded the doorway; one cradled a flamethrower, its flickering muzzle pointing directly at Luchov. ‘Don’t!’ the Direktor screamed, ramming himself into the corner and covering his face with frail, fluttering hands. ‘For Christ’s sake, don’t! He’s gone! He’s gone!’

They stood there in the doorway, smokily silhouetted in cordite stench, looking round the stark cubicle. And finally one of them asked: ‘Who has gone, Direktor?’

And another said, ‘Has the Direktor been . . . dreaming?’

Luchov collapsed on his bed, sobbing. Oh, how he wished he’d only been dreaming. But no, he hadn’t. Not all of it, anyway. For he could still feel the pressure on his wrist where the Necroscope had gripped him, and he could still feel those terrible eyes burning on his face and in his mind.

Oh, yes, Harry Keogh had been here, and pretty soon he’d be back. But the Direktor also knew that unless he was hugely mistaken, Harry had learned only part of what he came to learn. The next time he came, the rest of it would be waiting for him.

But the next time could be any time as of right now!

‘Switch it on!’ he gasped.

‘Eh?’ A scientist pushed hastily, unceremoniously by the rest and squeezed himself into the gap beside Luchov’s bed. ‘The disc? Did you say we’re to switch it on?’

‘Yes.’ Luchov grasped his arm. ‘And do it now, Dmitri. Do it right now!’ Then Luchov lay back gasping and clutched at his throat. ‘I can’t breathe. I can’t . . . breathe.’

‘Out!’ Dmitri Kolchov ordered at once, with a wave of his arm. ‘Out, all of you. Let’s have some air in here.’

But as the men filed out: ‘Wait!’ Luchov held out a claw-like hand after them. ‘You, with the flamethrower. Wait right outside. And you, with the shotgun. Is it loaded? Silver shot?’

‘Of course, Direktor.’ The man looked puzzled. What use to have it if it wasn’t loaded?

‘And is there a grenadier with you, with grenades?’ Luchov was quieter now, steadier.

‘Yes, Direktor,’ came the answer from outside.

Luchov nodded and his Adam’s apple wobbled a little as he gulped down air. ‘Then you three – all of you – wait for me outside. And from now on don’t let me out of your sight.’ He swung his legs wearily to the floor, then noticed Dmitri Kolchov standing there, staring at him.

‘Direktor, I – ‘ Kolchov started to speak.

‘Now!’ Luchov screamed at him. ‘Man, are you fucking deaf? Didn’t you hear me? I said switch on the disc right now. Then report to the Duty Room and get me Moscow on the hotline.’