Sarah turned away from the television.

Redbeard tried to speak but the pain was too intense.

“Uncle?”

“Do you…still want to marry Rakkim?” Redbeard asked.

She looked surprised, lowered her eyes for an instant, but only for an instant. “Yes.”

Redbeard nodded. All pain was bearable when Paradise was at hand. “I would like that too.”

“We have your blessing?”

Redbeard drank her in. Her face sparkled. Stars flickered around her. Oxygen deprivation. So this is what dying is like. A galaxy of love and Sarah at the center of it.

“Uncle? Do we have your blessing?”

“Mine and your mother’s. With both our hearts. With both our souls.” Redbeard smiled. It seemed as if he had been waiting all his life to say those words. Our hearts. Our souls. His vision was narrowing. He could no longer see Sarah, but he felt her kiss his hand. Felt her hold it against her soft, warm cheek.

“Grandma, what a big knife you have,” said Darwin.

Rakkim laughed. It was a good line. No one but another Fedayeen would have seen the knife tucked up against the inside of his forearm.

Darwin shoved the chair, stopped it just short of the edge. His eyes never left Rakkim.

“Camera five, tighten up,” whispered the girl with blue hair into her throat mike. “Camera one, prepare to go wide.”

“Who’s the asshole in the chair?” asked Rakkim.

“He’s the asshole who’s going to die if you don’t put away the blade.” Darwin grabbed Stevens’s ear, twisted. “When a man’s neck gets snapped, he ejaculates like a fountain. It’s a real floor show.” Stevens bit his lips shut as Darwin kept twisting. “You ask me, God’s a fucking maniac.”

“God’s not the only one.” Rakkim held his palm out, the knife perfectly balanced in the center. A drop of blood oozed around the tip. It was a doable throw, but Darwin was fast and if he missed…He flicked his wrist and the knife stuck in the door behind Darwin.

Darwin seemed disappointed. “I looked at the download your buddy here brought. No wonder the old man was upset.”

The girl with blue hair sniffed as she worked the board. “Camera two. Camera eight. Pan the first row, camera four.”

“You ready, Karla?” said Darwin.

Rakkim cocked his head. “You’re going to run it?”

“Soon as they start the retrospective.” Darwin spun the chair across the table, the wire tugging at Stevens’s throat. “Just wish we had some buttered popcorn.”

Rakkim moved closer.

“I kept asking myself, why does the old man want Rakkim so badly when he’s got me? What’s he up to?” Darwin shrugged. One of the casters on the chair squeaked; Stevens was wild-eyed. “If I wanted to be kept in the dark, I would have stayed in the Fedayeen.” Thunderous applause from the monitors all around them, eight different camera angles, and live feeds from remotes all over the world. Movies, the universal language. “You ever get bored with it all, Rakkim? You ever ask yourself, what’s the point?”

“Never. My life is sunshine and kitty cats.”

Darwin patted Stevens’s hand. “Look at this…” He broke one of Stevens’s fingers, and Stevens lunged against his restraints, screams muffled by the tape across his mouth. “There was a time when that snapping sound would have given me a happy tingle.” Darwin broke another finger. “Now, it doesn’t mean a thing.”

Rakkim inched closer. Stevens had fainted.

“I had a good time with a handsome policeman a few weeks ago…but it didn’t last.” Darwin toyed with his own knife. “It never lasts.”

“Maybe you should kill yourself,” said Rakkim. “Put yourself out of your misery.”

“You’re the most fun I’ve had in a long time-that’s why I let you live.” Darwin lightly outlined Stevens’s eyes with the tip of his knife. A beadwork of red goggles. “I saw you at the embassy party…did you know I was in the balcony? The old man said I should stop you. Take you down right there.” The knife traced Stevens’s mouth. Blood reddened his lips. “The Swiss have lousy security. It’s as if they don’t care, or maybe they’re just arrogant. That happens when you win for a thousand years. I saw you down below and I thought, why not let things play out a little longer? Let the old man wonder what I’m up to for a change.”

“Cuing the download,” said Karla.

Rakkim took a small step perfectly timed to the rhythm of her voice. Darwin missed it.

“Craps players, that’s what we are. None of that card-counting drudgery for us. A man could go crazy playing it smart.” Darwin whipped the chair, flung Stevens around. “A couple of go-for-broke boys, that’s what we are, and it’s going to get good and messy after the world gets a look at the download. We’re going to throw the bones, Rikki, and not care how they land.”

“Jill Stanton began her career playing a cheerleader in the little-seen Eyes of Texas, but within five years she was the most recognized face in the world.” The retrospective had started, the Oscars’ website address crawling across the screen, inviting viewers to log on to download the proceedings. If Spider had done his job…“During the old regime’s last days, it was Jill Stanton’s courageous stand at another Academy Awards presentation-”

Rakkim heard Richard Aaron Goldberg’s voice.

“I bet the old man just spilled his tea in his lap.” Darwin frowned. “Get back.”

Rakkim didn’t move. He just needed another step. “I bet there was a time, not too long ago either…I bet there was a time when I couldn’t have gotten this close.”

“Oh, you’re not nearly close enough.” Darwin pushed the chair to the edge of the table, Stevens’s head flopping. “Stand down, Rikki. You wouldn’t want me to forget my manners. You’ve seen what I can do. If I wasn’t on my best behavior, I would have butchered the whole crew and put their heads in the window like jack-o’-lanterns for you.”

Karla sobbed, covered her mouth.

“R We Having Fun Yet, Darwin?” Rakkim waited for him to blink.

Darwin smiled. “I don’t like repeating myself.”

“You repeat yourself all the time. That’s your problem. It’s all the same for you. Just death and more death. No wonder you’re bored.”

“You’re not maintaining pupil consistency. It doesn’t matter if they’re slightly dilated or not, what matters is consistency. It’s the change in size that denotes a lie.”

Banks of monitors showed the crowd outside the auditorium growing silent as they stared up at the JumboTron.

“I’d love to talk some more with you, but I’ve got plans for the evening,” said Darwin. “You’ll have plenty of time to come after me when all this settles down, but here’s the good part. Next time you’re going to have a sliver of doubt about me. Now, I’m a monster, but next time you’re going to remember me as Darwin, who did some outlandish things, but let you live-”

“Outlandish? Is that what you call it?”

Live video feeds flashed on mobs forming in Chicago and Denver…Oscar parties turned ugly…cars burning, horns blaring…

“Look what we’ve done. Isn’t it beautiful?” said Darwin. “I could have killed you but I didn’t. I could have killed Jeri Lynn and the kiddies, but I didn’t. Knowing that about me, it’s going to change things between us. Deepen them.”

“Why don’t you stay?” Looking into Darwin’s eyes was like falling forever into darkness, but Rakkim didn’t turn away. “Stay and we’ll find out.”

Darwin shook his head. “I don’t want to rush it. This is the best time I’ve had in years. Come on, admit it, you’re enjoying yourself too. Say hello to the little woman for me. Tell her I can’t wait to see her again.”

“My name is Richard Aaron Goldberg. My team and I are part of a secret unit of the Mossad.” Clapping. “Better. I particularly liked the sweat bead. Now, do it again.”

…wobbly footage of looting in Rio and Lagos, rage accelerating…a newsman hit by a brick in the middle of a live remote…the Eiffel Tower obscured by smoke.