Monster Planet(24)

They made their way into the dark interior of the island where Sarah slept while the mummy watched their prisoner. In the minutes she lay curled inside a blanket, watching his painted face motionless in the starlight, she wondered what exactly she was accomplishing that he couldn't have done himself. They had failed to save his mummies'except for one, maybe, but there was no way to know. She imagined he was probably after vengeance and nothing else. Sarah had no problem using his wrath to help save Ayaan but she had to wonder'was she even helping Ptolemy? Was she just slowing him down?

Added to what she'd learned from the lich she wasn't sure if she hadn't made a terrible mistake. If someone was going to rescue Ayaan, what made her think she was qualified? Who was she trying to kid? She was twenty years old. She'd never lead so much as a squad into combat. Now she had one coward pilot and one insane and vengeful mummy and she had to tell them what to do, when even she had very little idea what to do next.

In the morning they made their way to the pick up down at an abandoned fishing village. Huddled around a decaying wharf the wrecks of boats stood mute in the water that slapped against their hulls. The helicopter stood in the town square, ready to go at a moment's notice. They found Osman standing on the pier watching rotten sails flap in the morning wind, saw him tear pieces of weathered wood away from ruptured hulls. He nodded when she approached.

'Caught yourself a prize, I see,' he told her, glancing at the lich. Flies had gathered in one corner of its mouth and it twitched unhappily. With its hands bound there was nothing it could do but swallow as many of the insects as climbed inside of its lips. 'I've seen fresher catches. What are you going to do with it?'

Sarah grimaced. 'I don't know, tie it to a tree and leave it here or... something.' She shrugged. 'Look, they're gone,' she told the pilot, uninterested in his jokes. 'At least two days ago. The Tsarevich got what he needed here'this piece of shit wasn't sure what that might be, he knew it had something to do with a ghost.'

'A ghost?' Osman winced. 'Like your Jack?'

Sarah raised her hands in dismay. 'No idea. Look. They're gone, they're headed west. Maybe to Europe, maybe farther, the lich wasn't privy to the exact destination There's something out there'something the Tsarevich wants, and now he can get it. They loaded up all the ghouls and liches they could fit into an old tanker or something and set sail. At least two days ago. We need to catch them, Osman.'

He rubbed his chin. 'Do we?'

'Yes. Look, this lich was left behind to kind of keep an eye on the place but even it had heard about Ayaan. She's some kind of celebrity in the ghoul world, probably for killing Gary. There's no telling what they'll do to her. If she's still alive it's probably only because they want to make her suffer as long as possible before they kill her.'

'You know what she would say right now, don't you? 'It's too damn bad.' You can do what you like, Sarah, but I don't plan on racing halfway across the world without a little more to go on.' He threw a piece of waterlogged wood out into the harbor, skipping it a couple of times.

Sarah couldn't believe it. 'Just like that?'

'Yeah, just like that. We gave it a good try. We got here too late. Now I'm going to go back and try my luck with Fathia.' He stood his ground, arms folded. He wasn't headed for the helicopter but he wasn't taking her orders, either. 'This is a game for grown-ups now. You had a little fun playing the hero, girl, but the world doesn't have room for that anymore.'

'I'm not a child,' Sarah said, her teeth grinding together.

'At sixteen years old Ayaan shot her first lich. She was a child. She was a smart child.'

Sarah nodded, understanding. He was willing to help her. He didn't want to go back to Egypt'and he probably had a soft spot in his heart for Ayaan. But he needed to see what she was made of, first. Exactly what she'd wondered herself while she slept the night before and Ptolemy stood watch.

She took out her pistol and moved to stand over the sexless lich where Ptolemy had thrown it on the ground. It looked up at her with eyes that were very, very human. It didn't fear death, she knew, it would welcome a bullet in its brains, but that only made it harder. She had killed before, she had even shot Mariam in the helicopter but that had been self defense. This was cold blood.

She thought of Ayaan. Ayaan had taught her to act, and not think.

She lined up the shot and squeezed the trigger. Skull fragments danced across the wharf. Gray brain matter oozed from the exit wound and slithered onto the rough wood of the pier.