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Ran ignored mad scientist "We needed your friend, yes When my research was complete and the device was built, we needed a test site The NEA was perfect for a number of reasons"

"It’s a miniature ecosystem It’s a se scale," Fred said glumly, "so it’s the perfect test site"

"Well, yes," Ran said, taken aback

"Whatever you’ve built is going to do sohly wreck the planet Poison that doesn’t affect landers, or high-secrecy sound waves, oranything that will kill the Folk without killing the planet for who’s left" She rubbed her forehead "But you don’t dare just unleash it on the world Not without testing it first Test it here, make sure it works the way you want, and at the sa which housed the evil fish bitch who killed your wife and unborn son, except I didn’t"

"Well, yes"

"Also wiping out all the witnesses"

"Well" Ran shrugged modestly

Fred stared into the tank For years, those fish and reptiles and mammals had been her responsibility She kept a close eye on theed their health, kept track of what they ate, noted any illnesses or unusual deaths Yes, they could be a pain in the ass Yes, she knew they disliked her and thought she could be las and fears and, if they had to live in captivity, she could at least make sure they were safe

Noa pain in your ass they are, you’re in it, Fred

Great Now she was hearing the va Ran so much that he slumped for a second "Nobody kills off those little jerks but et to, either"

"You can’t stop it," Ran snapped "The device is wired into the building’s power grid I control the device, andsohts went out

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

There were un was, and Fred had less than a second to decide So she dived at the source of all evil, and knocked Madison Fehr out of what she feared would be harram at the NEA Interns are the source of all evil I have decided

She’d expected the shot but was still aghast at their stupidity--she could barely see, so she knew damned well Ran and his Skittles couldn’t see at all

And their decision is to shoot? They could just as easily hit each other!

"Just stay down," Fred said, and heard Madison’s affirirl couldthat she could tolerate a bullet far better than Madison Hell, she hadn’t known fiancé nu a bullet out of her shoulder Betsy’s right: getting shot sucks Maybe if we stay flat enough, I won’t be

Fred’s eyes had adjusted, though she knew the others were still blind Jonas had sootten to a Skittles Boy in the dark and incapacitated hi to see

"Get your ass on the floor!" she hissed Stupid brave duentleet her killed "Down, down! All the way down, FLAT! Now don’tJonas, it wasn’t in hio by "Say it, don’t spray it," he muttered to the tile, and Fred snickered

Then she saas coh stuck in her throat

It was Betsy, dripping wet and pissed, Betsy who had so the bottom for fifteen minutes Betsy had not only swum to the top unmolested by the sharks, but had slithered up and out of the water and over the side of the tank without ht i water otten out and gotten down, but she came up behind Ran, jerked him out of his chair, bent over him, and--

Ran screamed

Once

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

The power ca No sinister bomb countdown One second, they were trapped in the dark with a vaht with a vampire