Shadowkill

##

Kikun stirred, blinked, got creakily to his feet.

With the Going-home closed out, the weight of the dead man was off his shoulders. The thing before him was only rapidly spoiling meat; the sooner they got rid of it, the better.

Rose looked up as he wandered into the inner office. The minicorder was sucking up data. It didn’t need her, her hands were limp on her thighs, a sheen of sweat was drying on her face. “You’re supposed to be watching.”

“Jadii-Gevas watches.”

“What?”

“Watch is being kept. Don’t worry.”

“One of your gods?”

Kikun blinked at her. “Say, one of my ghost brothers.” She looked wary, tapped restlessly at her thighs. “If it works.”

“Want me to start cleaning away our traces?”

“Don’t bother. You’d have to burn the place down to thwart the forensic machines the lice are bound to use. Even then…” She flipped a hand, dropped it back. “With luck, they won’t find him before we’re gone. After that, who cares?”

Fighting grime accumulated over the life of the building, they wrestled a window open on the third floor, flung him out.

It was like throwing a log, he was that stiff; he fell like a log, landed on the edge of the wharf, teetered there for a long moment. A gust of wind caught in his rucked-up jacket, swayed him just enough to tumble him into the bay. The splash he made was swallowed by the other night noises and he sank quickly out of sight.

Rose shivered, jerked the window down, ignoring the squeal it made in its slides. “Let’s get out of here. I need sleep and a bath before I start getting ready for the Game.