Monster Planet(120)

The dead men still beat and kicked at the scaffolding, though half of them were on fire themselves. Their smoke stained the air around them and the stink was oppressive. One by one they broke off from the scene at the scaffolding and rushed toward the Source itself. Perhaps Mael Mag Och was trying to get into their bodies. It didn't work'they flared up and burned to ashes almost instantly.

Eventually there were none of them left.

'It's over,' Ayaan announced. 'Come on, let's get out of here.' She jumped down from the flatbed and headed for the pass that lead down toward the road.

'I just have a couple of things to do,' Sarah said. 'You stagger along. I'll catch up.'

Ayaan frowned at that but she could hardly deny that Sarah could walk a lot faster. She shrugged and headed down the path.

Sarah pulled Gary's tooth out of her back pocket. 'Are you watching this?' she asked. 'He's out of bodies. He's trapped inside the Source. I don't know if I killed him or not but he's powerless now.'

I don't think you can kill him any more. Believe me, I've tried.Gary sounded very faint and very far away. Sarah imagined it had to be a trick. He would be somewhere close, holing up and licking his wounds. He didn't want her to find him.

Well. He had good reason.

'Gary,' she told him, 'there's no one left to heal you. You're not bulletproof any more.'

I have a right to exist,he told her.

'I don't recognize that right,' she replied.

He was silent for a very long time.Let's not forget that I helped you out when you needed it, he suggested.

'And let's not forget you kept my father a prisoner of conscience for twelve years. I'm coming for you, Gary, and I will put you down. That's what I do. I kill liches.' She didn't want to hear his reply. She threw the tooth as far away from her as she could manage. It was lost instantly in the scattered bones of the valley.

Ayaan wouldn't have approved. She would have said that the tooth represented a source of intelligence, that the more Sarah knew about Gary the easier it would be to kill him. Sarah reminded herself, though, that everyone who ever listened to Gary had reason to regret it. He could seduce with words, and he could lie with the best of them. Let him fear her. Let him wonder where she was. It would do him good.

That was taken care of, then. Just one more loose end to tie up. She searched the yurt at the back of the flatbed. She found the female mummy waiting for her, her arms still outstretched to take back the jar. Sarah shook her head. 'You're free now. Ptolemaeus Canopus died to make you free.'

The mummy didn't move. She might as well be dead. Well, she had plenty of time to figure it out on her own. Most likely she wouldn't spend eternity there waiting for the jar to return to her arms but if she did'it was her own choice. At least somebody had been successfully rescued. Sarah sighed and dug through the various boxes and chests in the yurt until she found what she wanted. Her Makarov PM. She shoved it in the pocket of her hooded sweatshirt and stepped back outside and down from the flatbed.

Ayaan was about two hundred yards away, her back turned to Sarah. It couldn't be that easy, though. Sarah owed Ayaan something more. She jogged to catch up and then tapped the lich on the shoulder.

Ayaan turned around painfully as if she had a stiff neck. She didn't look at all surprised to see the pistol in Sarah's hand.

She didn't waste any time begging for her life. She had a better argument to make. 'When your father was dying I was with him. I was in your position, looking down my sights at a monster. He asked me not to shoot, and I didn't. I think you're probably glad for my decision.'

'You just killed my father,' Sarah said, blood rushing into her cheeks. 'How dare you invoke him now?'

'You had a little more time together. Wasn't that better than nothing? Life is precious, Sarah, and death is eternal. Any reprieve from the void is a good thing.' Ayaan said.

'Come on. You're a lich, Ayaan. You're an abomination. What would your God say if he saw you now?' Sarah's hand was shaking. She switched to a two-handed grip and it helped.

'Oh, He sees me just fine,' Ayaan said. She closed her eyes and her mouth moved silently for a while. Sarah knew exactly what she was doing. She was praying. When she finished she opened her eyes and looked very calmly down at Sarah. 'This is what you've made up your mind to do, then. I will not beg like a dog. If you truly believe you can pull that trigger then please do so now.'