David sat back in the pale green armchair, drinking the remainder of his gin and tonic, and obviously pondering the plan.

“You realize of course that I cannot execute the little devil,” he said. “Gun or no gun.”

“Well, you can’t do it on board, that’s for certain,” I said. “The shot would be heard.”

“And what if he realizes it? What if he goes for the weapon?”

“Then he finds himself in the same predicament. Surely he’s smart enough to know that.”

“I’ll shoot him if I have to. That’s the thought he can read from me with all his psychic skill. I will do it if I have to. Then I’ll make the appropriate accusations. He was trying to rob your cabin. I was waiting for you when he came in.”

“Look, suppose we make this switch soon enough before sunrise for me to hurl him over the side.”

“No good. There are officers and passengers everywhere. He’s sure to be seen by someone and it will be ‘Man overboard’ and mayhem all around.”

“Of course I could crush his skull.”

“Then I would have to conceal the body. No, let’s hope the little monster realizes his good luck and cheerfully goes ashore. I don’t want to have to … I don’t like the thought of … ”

“I know, I know, but you could simply shove him into that trunk. Nobody would find him.”

“Lestat, I don’t want to frighten you, but there are excellent reasons why we mustn’t try to kill him! He told you those reasons himself. Don’t you recall? Threaten that body and he’ll rise out of it and make another assault. In fact, we’d be giving him no choice. And we’d be prolonging the psychic battle at the worst possible moment. It isn’t inconceivable that he could follow you on your path to Five Deck, and try to get in again. Of course he’d be foolish to do it with no hiding place. But suppose he does have an alternative hiding place. Think on that.”

“You’re probably right on that.”

“And we don’t know the extent of his psychic power,” he said. “And we must remember that this is his specialty—switching and possession! No. Don’t try to drown him or crush him. Let him climb back into that mortal body. I’ll keep the gun on him until you’ve had time to vanish from the scene altogether, and he and I shall have a round of conversation about what lies ahead.”

“I see your point.”

“Then if I do have to shoot him, very well. I’ll do it. I’ll put him into the trunk, and hope the sound of the shot goes unnoticed. Who knows? It might.”

“God, I’m leaving you with this monster, you realize it? David, why don’t we move on him as soon as the sun sets.”

“No. Absolutely not. That means an all-out psychic battle! And he can hold the body sufficiently to take flight and simply leave us on board this ship, which will be at sea for the entire night. Lestat, I’ve thought all this through. Every part of the plan is crucial. We want him at his weakest, just before dawn, with the ship about to dock so that once he is in his mortal body, he can cheerfully and gratefully disembark. Now, you must trust that I’ll handle this fellow. You don’t know how much I despise him! If you did, perhaps you wouldn’t worry at all.”