good. There was this guy on my squad, his name was Tadd. Always screwing around with weapons, kind of obsessive about them. Anyway, one day we’re out on manoeuvres with an armoured vehicle division and Tadd is playing around with the Browning .30 cal on one of the Hummers. I was standing talking to my captain when, bang, Tadd lets off an accidental shot. Caught me right between the shoulder blades.’
‘Hero’s death. Nice.’
‘You said it, after I was decorated in Iraq and all. Anyway, I’m lying there in the military hospital and the pastor’s just read me the last rites. I haven’t got long to go. Then, when nobody’s looking, this doctor that’s been hanging around me giving me the eye comes over and whispers in my ear, “Psst! Wanna live a little longer?”’
Alex gave a short laugh.
Greg went on. ‘First I thought it was the morphine, fucking with my head. But now I see it’s for real, the guy’s telling me how he’s going to bite me and turn me into a vampire. Said something about recruiting me. I figured, why not, I’d nothing to lose. Only a jackass would turn down an offer of eternal life. Anyway, then I woke up and I was at the Federation rehab centre with my gunshot wound healed up like I’d never taken a bullet. That was two weeks ago. And here I am.’
‘I’ll bet the Feds had their eye on you the moment you were brought into the hospital,’ Alex said. ‘Good army record, no wife or kids, they’d have had you down as an ideal VIA recruit. That vampire doctor was there to pick out the right candidates. When the opportunity comes up to grab someone who looks like they’ll be an asset, they haul them on board. You know about the probation period, don’t you?’
‘A year, right?’
She nodded. ‘To see how you shape up. Then the Federation Board decides whether you can stay.’
‘And if I can’t?’
‘You don’t want to know.’
He sighed. ‘The only thing that really bugs me is that I’m never allowed to see my folks again, my sister, my friends.’
‘Yeah, well, think about it. One minute they’re weeping over their dear departed’s coffin, the next you show up on the doorstep. That’s why you were posted here to London, to keep you far out of temptation’s way. That’s how the Federation works. We can live among humans, that’s fine. But we can’t get too close to them, can’t get emotionally involved in any way. It’s too big a security risk, in case someone spills the beans. Strictly forbidden.’
‘So let me get this right,’ Greg said. ‘Since the Federation was formed in, what?’
‘Nineteen eighty-four.’
‘Since then, it’s been illegal for vampires to actually turn anyone else into a vampire, correct?’
‘Unless it’s an official recruitment, sanctioned by the Federation authorities. That’s to keep out what you might call undesirable elements. The kind of vampires that give vampires a bad name, draw the wrong kind of attention to us. The twentieth century changed everything. Internet, communications, surveillance. The world’s a pretty small place now. That’s why the Federation was created, to maintain a low profile for the community.’
‘And to protect humans?’
She glanced at him. ‘Protect humans? That’s our food resource you’re talking about. We’re not doing this because we love humans. This isn’t some politically correct thing. We’re doing this to survive.’
‘What happens to vampires that don’t play by the rules?’ Greg asked.
‘That’s where VIA comes in. Basically we go after them and kick their arses into line.’
‘We kill them?’
‘Destroy them. Already dead, remember.’
Greg made a face. ‘Right.’
‘Only if we absolutely have to, the ones that won’t listen to sense. Mostly they end up cooling their heels in the Federation Detention Centre for a while. But if they’ve done something really bad, or really stupid, sometimes the Ruling Council will vote for a termination. There was one last year. Rock star. Found out that this guy was a vampire, offered him five million quid to make him into one too. The vampire went for it. Two days later the rock star rose up as one of the Undead and the vampire walked off with the five mill.’
‘Oh, boy.’
‘Everyone’s happy, until the day after that, the rock star forgets what he’s become, walks out onto his balcony at sunrise and – whoosh. He went off like a magnesium flare. Some journo got the shot of him burning up. There was a whole thing in the press about human spontaneous combustion.’
‘Yeah, yeah, I remember that. That was Bobby Dazzler, the lead guitarist of Wild Boys.’
‘He certainly dazzled everyone that day. Of course, Bobby’s name wasn’t on the Federation register and we soon tracked down the guy who had turned him, who was now suddenly spending like a sailor and renting a yacht down in St Tropez. The Council didn’t waste time on him. He got zapped. Lethal injection of Nosferol. That’s one of the special drugs that the Federation produces. We have our own fabrication plant in Italy.’
‘I know about the drugs,’ Greg said. ‘Got the whole lecture already. Like this stuff here, for instance.’ He dug a plastic bottle out of his pocket and gave it a shake. The thick green liquid inside clung to the glass.
Alex glanced at it. ‘That’s that shitty blood substitute they give out to newbies like you who aren’t able to juice for themselves yet.’
‘Tastes pretty bad, but it seems to keep me going. What is it, anyway?’
‘Synthetic crap, kind of vampire baby food. But you can’t stay on it forever. You’re going to have to learn to feed naturally.’
He pulled a face. ‘I’m not looking forward to that part.’
‘Don’t worry, it’s easy. When you get hungry enough, it’ll come naturally. What about your Solazal? You got your supply of that too? I don’t need to be worrying about you?’
He looked blank. ‘My what? Oh, right. Those little white pills.’
‘Shit. When was the last time you took one?’
‘Uh, sometime yesterday, I think.’
Alex slammed her foot on the brake and the Jag skidded to a halt in the traffic to an angry chorus of horns.
‘You think? Have you any idea what’s going to happen when the effect wears off and you’re still out in daylight? Fizz, it’s over, just like Bobby Dazzler. And on my champagne leather seats?’ She reached into the glove box and handed him a packet of pills. ‘Get one down you right now.’
She took off again as he sucked on the pill. ‘Get this in your head. Solazal is a photosensitivity neutraliser, and it’s the centre of your life from now on. You take one every twelve hours without fail, or you’ll fry.’
‘Kind of a departure from tradition, isn’t it?’ he said sheepishly.
‘Modern age, babe. Got to keep up with the times.’
Kate Hawthorne was awoken by the sound of her mother coming into her room.
‘Come on, young lady. Can’t lie there all day. It’s nearly ten past eight and you’re going to be late for school.’
Kate groaned and crawled in deeper under the duvet. ‘Leave me alone.’
‘That’s what you get for all this late night cavorting about,’ her mother snapped. She ripped open the curtains and then marched over to the bed to yank back the edge