And he preferred to live in his mansion house in the Gorki-9 district, only visiting the apartment with the windows overlooking the river when he was with his lover. But then, he was planning to get rid of his full-time lover-after all, no Viagra can conquer age, and conjugal fidelity was coming back into fashion.

His driver and bodyguards were standing far enough away not to be able to hear what their employer said. But even if the wind did carry snatches of his words to their ears, what was so strange about that? Why shouldn't a man make conversation with himself as the working day was drawing to a close, standing all alone above the dancing, splashing waves? Where could you find a more sympathetic listener than your own self?

"Even so, I repeat my proposal…" the man said. "I repeat it yet again."

The stars were shining dimly through the city smog. On the far bank of the river, tiny lights were coming on in the multistory blocks that had no yards. Only one in five of the beautiful lamps stretching along the quayside was lit-and that was only to humor the whim of the important man who had decided to take a stroll by the river.

"I repeat it yet again," the man said in a quiet voice.

The water splashed against the embankment-and with it came the answer.

"It's impossible. Absolutely impossible."

The man on the quayside was not surprised by the voice out of empty space. He nodded and asked, "But what about vampires?"

"Yes, that's one possibility," his invisible companion agreed. "Vampires could initiate you. If you would be happy to exist as non-life… no, I won't lie, they don't like sunlight, but it's not fatal to them, and you wouldn't have to give up risotto with garlic…"

"Then what's the problem?" the man asked, involuntarily raising his hands to his chest. "The soul? The need to drink blood?"