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"Reading grendel minds is a full-time hobby," Cadma
Greg shrugged. Cadma
For now, the grendels had little incentive to try to break through the i
His tour of the fence completed, Cadma
A groggy, full-bellied grendel walked up to the wire. The tower searchlight slid across the minefield and touched them, joined human and grendel in its bright yellow oval.
The monster stared at Cadma
Cadma
The grendel waddled closer and brushed against the fence. It shied back, whipped its spiked tail at Cadma
Then silence once again. Another searchlight slid over Cadma
Cadma
"Cad?"
"Right here, lady. Your signal's a little weak."
"How are you holding up?'
"So far, so good. Evacuating the main camp. A few injuries, no casualties."
"None? You're wonderful."
"Lucky at any rate."
Grendels wandered around outside the fences, gorged on meat, their bellies heavy. They watched one another suspiciously. Something happened—Cadma
Sylvia said, "Get out of there fast. You're going to be up to your hips in rain. It's a major storm. You can't electrify the fences in the rain, can you?"
"No. How long have we got?"
"An hour. Then it'll last for days."
"Rain! You won't need me!" Marty's voice broke in.
"Right. We won't need you," Cadma
"Marty—" Sylvia's voice was horror held under rigid control.
"Hey, look," he said. "Dammit, I'll do my duly! But bloody hell,
Cadma
"I know, and it's hardly a surprise. We're already sending people out.
You want anything else?"
"No."
"Then shut the fuck up for a while. Sylvia, you have any good news?"
"Actually, yes." Even through the static, her excitement was plain.
"Cad, this ‘superhemoglobin' in the sacs above their lungs is what gives them their speed. The speed is attack mode—for hunting and for defense against other grendels."
"Right."
"Jerry seconds my assumption. We know that they trigger on the smell of blood. In the water they undoubtedly trigger on the smell of superhemoglobin metabolites as well. Almost certainly it's an involuntary response."
Her voice dissolved into static for a moment, and Cadma
The static died down.
"Can you hear me now?"
"Better. Go ahead."
"Collect grendel corpses. Cut out the sacs, liquefy in water and feed it through one of the Skeeter crop-spraying attachments. Spray it over a mass of grendels. It should drive them berserk. "
Despite his fatigue, Cadma
"My pleasure. Cadma
"He's all right. Already up at the Bluff."
The floodlights flickered, dimmed, then strengthened again. "That's all the talk, Sylvie. We're losing the lights."
"How many of you are left?"
Cadma
"Seventeen. Another three loads. We should be all right for that long. These grendels are feeling lazy. I'll talk to you later. Jerry? Are you there?"
"Nowhere else."
"Good. Get someone digging through the miscellaneous equipment up there. We need a blender, food processor, something like that. And the crop-spraying attachment for the Skeeters. Have both ready in an hour."
"Got it."
Skeeter Two was fully charged. In an orderly fashion, the men retired from their positions and retreated to the makeshift landing pad. Two climbed up into the cabin. Three crammed into the cargo hoist beneath.
Skeeter Two swooped back out. Skeeter One was coming in. He'd want to put a full charge on it for what he had in mind. Cadma
"Rick," Cadma
Cadma
"Can do. What do you have in mind?"
"Butchery. I need one man to stand guard with a flame thrower. Someone to cut the fence and monitor the current. A man to drag them through. I'll do the rest. That's four of us. Two more at the north and south corners of the camp to give warning. Right now, I don't think we have much to worry about. You choose the crew, and make it fast."
Rick scrambled from man to man, whispering to them. One at a time they left their posts, and joined Cadma
The fog drifted in quickly as the air lost heat. Its mist cloaked them as they worked.
Rick whispered, "Now,"" and shut down the power. The camp lights brightened as the overworked batteries were unburdened. Two men, working quietly and swiftly, ran a cable from one fence post to the next, severed the electric leads, and spliced. They nodded, and Rick threw the switch. The camp lights dimmed and then strengthened.
They tested the fence section: not a flicker from the voltmeter.
Cadma
A grendel head popped through the hole, inverted, looking up at them with fixed, milky, dead eyes. Cadma
Rick said quietly, "You wouldn't want to do that to a live and curious grendel. Whack the tail with a stick first and see if it wiggles."
"Hell, Ricky, there isn't any back end to this one." Cadma
The mass of grendels outside the fence were only vaguely interested in the butchery. One at a time, corpses were pulled through and hacked apart with a machete. Cadma