"Jimmy," I say sweetly, "where do you want me to put the poison? It is a new and improved brand.
Guaranteed to kill even a slimy lizard like you."
He swings at me with his right arm and misses, spinning helplessly in front of me, and I stab the knife in his spine behind his heart, just where he shot my daughter. Screaming in agony, he falls to his knees and bows his head. His flaying hands desperately strain to pull out the knife but I know just how powerful the poison is, soaked deep in the folds of the blade itself. He is already doomed.
"Sita," he gasps. "You don"t understand what this moment means to this part of the galaxy. You can"t interfere."
I laugh. "Are you talking about your lizard friends? They are probably still here right now. I"m sure they are, but they don"t have a physical body like mine. They have to work through sc.u.mmy agents like you. And right now their poor agent can"t even see well enough to tie his own shoes. Oh my."
His face is a ma.s.s of black blood. Yet it is as if he is weeping.
"You can"t do this," he says. "This night was planned for ages."
I kick him and he cries out again.
"Yeah?" I say. "Who planned tonight for ages? Not Suzama. Not me. I just wish there were a swarm of flies here and I had the luxury of killing you slowly. But I have other things to do right now." I grab him by his mane of messy hair and pull his head back, exposing his throat. "This, I am going to enjoy."
"Wait!" he cries. "I have not completed my mission! I will not be allowed to transfer to another body!"
I pull out the dagger impaled in his spine.
"James," I say. "I honestly don"t care."
"Stop!" he screams. "I don"t want to die!"
Ah, there is a divine sweetness to total revenge.
G.o.d might not agree but I would argue the point.
"Then you should never have been born," I say.
His blood, when I open his neck, flows like black ink.
There is a loud hiss in my ear. The wind tugs at my hair.
A flash of red light momentarily blurs the stars.
The Setians have left, and in a hurry.
I let go of James and he falls dead on the sand.Drawing in a deep breath of fresh air, I laugh out loud.
The child laughs with me as I carry him back to the road.
I think he likes me. Really, he is so cute.