Rudy's eyes bulged when he saw what he was up against. He turned, ran, tripped over a log. We had him surrounded in a couple seconds.

The man raised his hands in surrender. "Please don't hurt me."

I helped him to his feet. "Where's this boat you told me about?"

Rudy swallowed. "I'll show you the place, but it's not going to be easy. There are guards."

"I'm sure we can handle them."

The look on Rudy's face told me he wasn't so sure. He didn't explain, or voice those concerns, so I couldn't tell if this were a real danger, or just the man getting jitters. "It's a little hard for me to see in the dark."

One of the kids handed him a flashlight, allowing him to march ahead of us, through the rambling woods.

He seemed to know where he was going. He checked for nicks on certain trees, scratches on irregularly shaped rocks, exposed roots...

We scrambled along an escarpment, clinging to weeds, pathetic little trees with exposed roots, vines that were probably poison ivy.

Rudy proved to be a lot more spry than I expected, his inner Boy Scout keeping his hiking feet steady and on course the whole time.

Mark and Lacethanny had little difficulty with the shifting terrain. Their claw arm dug deep into the soil, providing much needed traction. We tried to make use of this asset a couple times by grabbing onto them, but it only resulted in dislodging them from their stable footing.

Taking a cue from this, I, at times, employed the use of my claw whenever the ground beneath my feet gave way.

On one point of our journey, a plant broke off in Caitlyn's hands as we struggled for purchase. She slid down the loose soil, rolling to the bottom of the hill, but I caught her, dragged her back up and we continued on.

The ground leveled out, crossed through a weed choked copse, then we climbed a mound of rock, entering a small, narrow cave.

The cave was a slick, muddy thing, with low ceilings and openings so narrow that we all had to go single file. It smelled of rank earth.

The cave ended abruptly in a grassy clearing on the edge of a rocky beach. Seeing lights, I ordered everyone to shut off their own.

The moon, a quarter full, reflected off the surface of the water, giving us all some feeble illumination to see with. A yacht, one that could almost be classified as a house boat, had been tied to a pier, with two tough looking Marine types patrolling its planks. The windows on the boat shined with a cozy golden glow, hinting at more people inside.

I also spotted a small cabin on the rise of a nearby hill, lit up all around with flood lamps and fluorescents. Unlike the boat, the cabin appeared to be unguarded.

Also unlike the boat, the cabin happened to be framed in camouflaging walls and hedges, the landscaping crews apparently not noticing, or caring that this put the owners at a strategic disadvantage.

Sensing that we needed to regroup and find more weapons before doing a full frontal assault, we crept along the outer wall of the cavern, behind the bushes, getting a closer look at the cabin.

Two story window. Large glass windows. It otherwise resembled a barracks, stairs on the outside, plain asbestos siding painted an ugly army green.

A life sized replica of a Civil War Parrott rifle stood out in front of the structure. The massive cannon should have been placed on concrete to prevent it from moving around, but the owners appeared to be relying entirely on weight and soft soil to do the job, or maybe they were just keeping it there temporarily.

Realistic, but purely decorative. Not designed to be fired. You'd have to drill a hole to put in the cannon fuse. "Let's check out the building. I have an idea."

We crept around the cabin, peering in the windows to see if anyone was home.

Nothing. Through the venetian blinds, you could see everything, as if someone didn't know they had to be slanted up from ground level to conceal the interior.

It looked like a general lived there. Neat as a pin, a study filled with military books, a couple flags behind the desk (a green one with a snake logo and the United States), a den with a scale model of the Battle of Gettysburg (someone had way too much time on their hands), a kitchen, and a storage room.

In the category of weapons, I saw a couple museum pieces, a blunderbuss, a flintlock, nothing obvious that I could equip my army with. I assumed the real weapons had been carefully tucked away somewhere. A safe, perhaps.

The storage room interested me the most, for on one of the back shelves I saw a package of M80's and bottles of vodka that appeared to be strong enough to strip paint.

I broke through the window with my bug hand, climbing through the frame.

No alarms sounded. That didn't necessarily mean one hadn't been triggered. I hurried to the shelf, snatching up the items, along with a fireplace lighter.

Moe looked a bit puzzled. "Early Fourth of July festivities?"

Instead of replying, I rushed to the Parrott gun, cramming it full of M80's and an open bottle of 90 proof.

With a mighty push, I pivoted the Parrott gun on one wheel, aiming it at the cabin.

I made a Molotov cocktail with a second bottle, its fuse a long vodka soaked nylon clothesline I dangled from the mouth of the cannon.

Clearing everyone out of the area, I lit the fuse and ran behind a bush, watching the fuse to make sure it didn't puff out.

The wind blew it down to a red ember, but the coating of alcohol made it flare back up, and soon a flash flame shot inside the cannon's barrel.

The Parrott gun erupted with a terrific amount of noise, shattering the front windows. Nothing too spectacular (the walls still stood - I couldn't figure out how to launch a cannonball) but it made the guys in the boat ready guns and storm the hill.

I signaled to my commando unit, creeping down the dock as quickly as we could.

The yacht looked like something the Toyota company would make as a bath toy. Tan, white and golden brown. Cheesecake colors. Even the swollen outline of the boat suggested cake, or Brie cheese.

Damn, I was hungry.

The walls of the deck were a thick, sturdy plastic, wider than the cross section of an industrial refrigerator door, the material, padding and seals oddly reminding me of those roller coaster-like `log rides' they have at water parks. The fore part had spacious flooring, with room enough for deck chairs and equipment expensive enough to fish for a small shark, if so wished. You could see the bridge compartment through a set of large glass windows.

Nobody appeared to be home. The motor was off, of course.

I didn't know anything about steering a boat. To me, it was as mystifying as driving a diesel. Even if I didn't bother trying to figure out the sonar, the weather system, depth finder, GPS, and the various other gauges, I still had to figure out the throttle, the clutch and the shifter.

I decided to let Big Bird take care of it, at least until I studied the manual.

"I'm going to check downstairs and see if anyone's hiding," Rudy said.

I stared. "Wow. What happened to that fraidy cat I met a couple hours ago?"

"I'm not afraid. I'm just cautious."

"Yeah. Cautious enough to stumble over a tree root."

Without a word, he opened a hatch in the rear of the compartment, climbing down a hidden staircase.

"Rudy!" I called after him. "What the hell are you doing!"

"She's here," I heard him muttering.

A few steps down into the narrow passage, I found a gun pointing in my face. Charon appeared to be moving quite well for a woman with an injured leg.

Even if she didn't have a brace on her bad leg, and if she didn't shoot me in the head the moment I decided to push her down the stairs, she had backup.

Behind her, clad in a black and white halter top and matching capris, stood Ippi Snarken, armed with a Yaotija blaster weapon.

She advanced up the stairs, and I retreated, arms raised.

"Shit," Moe muttered behind me. "I knew I should've gone first."

"You'd be nothing but a blood splatter on the staircase," Ippi said. "These things are quite powerful."

"You were in town," I said. "How did you get here?"

"I walked," Charon answered.

Moe laughed. "Yeah. Right into a tunnel tram."

"Okay, so my leg couldn't take it. So what? Are you going to insult the handicapped?"

I sighed. "No..."

I backed toward the controls, intending to start up the boat as a distraction, but the moment I got near them, the muzzle of an assault rifle poked me in the spine.

One of the children. From Golic's cult.

The doors on both sides of the bridge came open, and two more children came in, also pointing guns at me and my companions.

More kids stood outside the window, ready to shoot through the glass if we tried anything. Even Tido a pistol aimed at us.

Moe, Sharad and Big Bird joined me in surrender.

"Regrettably," said the android. "I did not have the security access necessary to detect this ambush."

I gave her a look that said, `I know you tried.'

"What's this about?" I asked. "With the exception of you, Charon, I thought we were all on the same team!"

"It's a little more complicated than that," Ippi said.

The door to the bridge came open, and in came Purple Rat, accompanied by the two darkly clothed men that had been guarding the boat.

"The White Monkey wishes to see you."

Rudy stepped up behind Charon and Ippi, acting like he belonged there.

I always suspected there was something sketchy about him.

"`Trapper John' is a good name for the bastard," Moe muttered. "Traps. I'd like to knock a few teeth out of his!"

"I have to say I'm a little disappointed, Rudy," I said. "But I can't say I'm surprised. I'd watch my back around these cult guys if I were you. I don't approve of killing heretics, but, as you can see, there's a lot I don't approve of."

The color drained from his ordinarily reddish face.

Mark pounced on one of the children that got too close, but they tased him until he lay squirming on the floor.

"Don't fight them," I said. "We're outnumbered."

I shot Tido a pleading look. "Since when are you working with her?"

I thought I saw his mask of resoluteness cracking a little. "Our Lord Shasharmazorb could destroy them at any time. Shasharmazorb can see into a man's soul, weigh his heart. If they have lied, Shasharmazorb would have seen through the untruth and not have permitted them to live."

"You have more faith in her than I. Unfortunately your god is simple minded, and your actions are going to imprison us forever on this island."

"The simplemindedness of Shasharmazorb is more complex than the greatest of human minds," Tido said. "You are badly mistaken."

"She praises your faith!" a girl from the cult cried in reverent awe. "It is better than her own!"

"Indeed," said Tido. "Shasharmazorb sojnezro. Great is Shasharmazorb."

"Wait. If you knew about all of this, why did you let Rudy live?"

"We were told to leave the human cow as he was, to bring the Mediator to the Appointed Place."

"We could not locate the boat on our own," a boy said.

"So. Just so I can understand, you're actually willing to rot here on this island."

"We must make great sacrifices for our god," the man said.

I raised my claw. "What about this? Doesn't that count for something?"

"Milady forgets the great commandment: Worship Shasharmazorb above all others, and fear her only, for in her belly lay both the everlasting death and life eternal."

"Shasharmazorb sojnezro," the children answered. "Great is Shasharmazorb."

"Shasharmazorb will protect her children, and not allow them to fall into harm."

"Shasharmazorb sojnezro."

"You just fought a war," I argued. "Your own people died fighting this brat and her army!"

"Shasharmazorb made earth to train the faithful," Tido said.

"If your god knew what I was trying to do, you'd put those weapons down."

"If our god knew!" Tido scoffed. "There is nothing Shasharmazorb does not know. We have seen the queen with our own eyes, and know this is her will for us!"

I glared. "Why didn't you tell me you saw her? You could have saved me a lot of trouble!"

"We have been commanded by our Lord Shasharmazorb not to divulge that information until the time was right. Lord Shasharmazorb speaks to us through the medium of sound and video. She deigns to use lowly human cattle to communicate her messages. The human cattle have been promised an audience with our Lord..." he made genuflecting gestures. "Face to face, in the flesh, if we cooperate, and bring you to the Designated Place."

In a skeptical tone, I said, "And you believed these...human cattle."

"Shasharmazorb sojnezro."

I sighed. There was just no getting through to this guy.

"We should eat them," Julia said in Ss'sik'chtokiwij.

But Lacethanny muttered, "Do you think mother actually agreed to this?"

"I do not know."

"I could sneak around and kill them, one by one," Lacethanny said to me in the same tongue. "What do you think?"

"My Lord," Tido said. "Have mercy on us."

"Damn. I forgot they could speak my language."

I stared at her uncomfortably. "You seem...unusually bloodthirsty."

"I did not have the luxury of being birthed in a womb."

I looked to Big Bird with desperate hopefulness. "Any suggestions about how we can get out of this mess?"

The android slowly shook her head. "Cooperation appears to be the most productive course of action."

"And they say your programming is defective," Charon said with a smile.

"Gikib jilateb jagopune bea badexan secujore," Sharad said to Ippi. "Ticoh althax piefeca coz chik. Yunk chik kulwadik?"

"Iutodu, foqipi," Ippi growled. "Hib qafetebik gosa rua human kavorkteb remabe!"

Sharad's eyes widened on their stalks, her mouth dropping open in apparent surprise.

"Wagfum nehlar," Ippi said. "Chik yifaneso jiqibe keucam."

Sharad clenched her fists, looking angry.

"Get any of that?" Moe muttered to me.

"I didn't understand a word."

To Ippi, I said, "I thought you wanted to get off this planet."

She shrugged. "It's growing on me."

I crossed my arms in disgust. "What did they offer you?"

"A pretty sizable nest egg."

"A nest egg," I repeated with a roll of my eyes. "Has everyone gone mad? Surely someone is sick of this planet and wants to leave."

"I want to go, mommy," said Caitlyn.

I gave her an apologetic smile, frowned at Charon. "For the record, not happy about what you did to my daughter, but I'm trying my best to forgive you."

The woman swallowed. "I didn't intend for it to go that way. You did what the bitch told you. What she did was completely inexcusable."

"But who gave her the shears?"

Charon sighed. "I don't see why you even bother trying to forgive me. You know I'm going to hell."

I swallowed. "I wouldn't say that..."

"Careful," Ippi warned. "She loves to proselytize."

Charon didn't appear to be persuaded by that statement. "We like to dredge up the ghosts of the Inquisition, but who's cutting off children's fingers?"

"So you're letting us leave?" I asked.

I was answered by a chorus of "No!"

A moment later, Josh and Kamara came marching up the stairs.

Josh only looked me in the eyes once. The rest of the time he kept stony silent, making deliberate efforts to avoid my gaze. He sniffed and wiped his eyes.

"You shouldn't have melted her fingers," Kamara said. "We could have fixed them."

"Likely story," I answered. "She could have bled to death first."

The look on Charon's face seemed almost...hopeful. "We can still do reconstructive surgery. Can't we? I mean, if you can cut off a man's penis and put it back on, and he becomes a porn star..."

I said, "You are aware that kids are in the room."

Charon let out a soft chuckle. "You'd make a good mother."

"She is a good mother," Caitlyn argued.

"All right. My point is, there's still hope. Medicine has become a lot better at reattaching things."

"I'm sorry things turned out the way they did," Kamara said.

Josh balled his hands into fists, looking like he disagreed, at least partly, but he didn't speak.

"Still, Black Goose. Killing Josh's mother for cutting off a girl's fingers is hardly eye for an eye."

"You think that was my idea?" I cried. "I was strapped to a chair!"

"No, you just trained your little bundle of joy to do it for you," Josh snarled.

"That's the problem, Josh. Mark has no training. At all. He just heard me screaming and tried to help."

"Then he should have died along with his mother!"

I didn't respond, because part of me thought he was right...though the other part was grateful to Mark for saving my life.

"I'm sorry," Mark said.

I gawked at him. "You can talk?"

The hybrid nodded. "I've been able to talk for some time. I just kept quiet because I didn't want to be dissected."

Purple Rat pulled out a Bluetooth-like earpiece, making a gesture with her hand to activate the appropriate Afexun channel. "Purple Rat to Purple Dog. The targets have been acquired."

She paused, listening to the voice at the other end. "This is taking way too long. We're already days beyond schedule, and we're taking them to a place which will only delay the process further. Not to question the decisions of senior management, but do you actually want your project to be completed by the end of next month as planned, or should we shoot the time table out to the end of next century?"

The voice in her earpiece spoke, but I couldn't understand it too well.

"Look. I'm not ungrateful about the extra work. I appreciate the position you've given me in this company. I really do. But understand that this little project is putting all your other ones far behind schedule..."I only slept four hours last night, and you expect consistent results? I'm not a fucking droid!"

She suddenly paled. "Yes, ma'am. I understand. Please do not terminate my employment or withdraw your funding. I was only venting. I understand that the multitude of assignments means success for our company. the last thing I'd want is less work! It's just..." she fumbled, trailed off. "...Yes ma'am. From now on I will submit my complaints formally, in text...Yes, ma'am. I agree that they should not be sent to you directly. I do apologize...No, ma'am. I was being sincere. I only meant I was sorry."

She removed the earpiece, gesturing for us to leave the boat.

"Perhaps you should get some rest, Purple Rat," Kamara said. "You don't seem to be running on all four cylinders."

"Shut up," the girl snapped.

Kamara clenched her fists. "Make me."

"One day I will, bitch."

"Talk is cheap."

Charon, Josh and Kamara stayed behind with Rudy on the boat. The rest of us made our departure, marching back across the pier by gun and blaster point.

I glanced back and saw Charon limping out on the aft deck with a tackle box and a rod, baiting a hook.

"I didn't know she fished," Moe muttered.

"That's not exactly fishing attire."

"I thought I smelled tuna. You think she washes that getup?"

The kids prodded us to keep moving, marching us up the hill, around the cabin and down a dirt and gravel road, skirting a lower hill. We passed a little hunting shack with aluminum siding.

"I may have given away our position inadvertently," Big Bird said as we walked together. "My brain contains a location marker. Plus you and your companions have Afexun chips. I applied a scrambling signal, but it may have been bypassed by MM7."

Lowering my tone to a half whisper, I asked, "Do you know how we can disable or remove these things?"

"Yes."

"Good. We can do that later. When I'm certain we're not being watched."

We marched on.

Tido pointed his gun at me. "You spoke blasphemy against our Lord Shasharmazorb. I should destroy you for being a heretic, yet you bear the sacred marks of our Lord, so I am hesitant. Has Shasharmazorb sent you as a demon to test the faithful?"

"No, I'm just a science experiment. I want to free Shasharmazorb from her prison, reunite her with her family, and take her to a better place. She is technically my mother, after all. If that makes me a heretic, fine, whatever. But I know what will make her truly happy. Freedom. Kill me if you want, but your god isn't going be free without my help."

"Shasharmazorb needs no one. She can create one like you out of the very rocks we walk upon. You will go to the Appointed Place, and free her there, if she so wills it."

"Okay, fine," I groaned. "Whatever."

Our path took us by a small recycling center. I supposed there was some merit to conserving metals and plastics, even on an island of your own governing. Of course, I wasn't so sure I wanted to know where the used those materials.

"I'm tired, mommy," Caitlyn said, refusing to go another step.

I picked her up, and we continued on.

"I'm hungry," she said.

"I know, sweetie. I know. So am I. Tell you what. If we don't find something soon, I'll kill a squirrel or something and cook it for you."

"Don't do that, mommy. You might kill Buster Knutts before he can finally find a bitch to get it on with."

"Caitlyn," I scolded. "Language."

"What? It's what he always says on the show. He only got lucky once, and then Peter Cottoncock beat Buster up while he was humping her."

"We need to find you something more family friendly to watch," I groaned.

"Like Victoria's Secret Story Hour?"

I rolled my eyes. "Forget the programs, then. I'll find you a nice picture book. I always like The Trollusk and the Hat."

"What's a Trollusk?"

"It's a cute monster. You'll like it. There's also one about an orangutan that gets into trouble, and one about Sir Lancelot having tea with a dragon."

"Does the dragon teach him the sayings of Buddha?"

"...No."

"I'd like to see those books."

"I'll show you, if I can find them again."

As we marched, I described a few more books to her. She fell asleep on my shoulder.

Oaks and cedars fringed the road. I couldn't imagine how they'd been transplanted there, but some of them had to have been, on account of their size and apparent age. Unless Weyland's people had owned the island for hundreds of years.

"Why would you need to cook it?" Mark asked. "The squirrel, I mean."

"Mark, honey, Caitlyn's not like us. It would make her sick."

"Oh. Will you also read to me?"

"Sure," I said.

"Why do you carry her? Why not carry me?"

"You're stronger than Caitlyn. You don't tire as easy. Like me."

He accepted this answer, quietly trailing me.

There wasn't much in the way of scenery, especially in the dark. Just wooded areas as far as the eye could see. I heard owls, the chittering of squirrels in the dark. I could see the little red flashes of heat as the animals moved around in the shadows. I also could hear monkeys, which apparently had made themselves quite a pest on the island, sneaking aboard ships and the like as they sailed in. Big Bird told me about this, and the island's policy of shooting them on sight. I would have felt a little sad about this, but these monkeys were the vicious sort that could rip a person's face off.

"Gee," Moe said to me about a quarter of a mile down the road. "Look at you, carrying that munchkin all that way without even breaking a sweat!"

"Hey, no big deal. She's not a car."

"You're real good with kids. Ever think of having one of your own?"

My face reddened at the less than subtle flirtation, but I could only sigh in response. "Counting Matthew and Luke, I've already got four children. I've been forced to grow up and be a mother before I even had a chance at a normal romantic life. I'm just not ready for that kind of responsibility." I chuckled a little. "Look at my arm! I'm pretty sure they don't have a Sex Ed for people like me."

"Dogs and cats don't take Sex Ed," Moe muttered. "They seem to do all right without it."

"So do black widow spiders," I argued.

"Ouch."

"Yeah, that's what the male spiders say when their heads come off."

In the dim light, I could see him unconsciously touching a hand to his neck.

A small covered army truck came rolling down the gravel. We all moved to the side of the road to let it pass.

Considering that nothing lay behind us, aside from a cabin and a pier, they must have been doing a supply run...or replacing windows.

Julia padded up next to me. "Host Mommy put a special meat filled balloon in her private place. Perhaps you can make something similar for your larva."

I wrinkled my face in disgust. "Wait, what?"

"Why are you surprised? I shared minds with you."

"There are certain things I don't want to remember," I groaned. "Besides, that's not exactly helpful."

"It is if you lay eggs."

I frowned at her. "Do you know something I don't?"

"No, not really. I understand it is impolite to examine a human's genitalia while they are unconscious. While you are not completely human, I-"

"I get it," I said.

Mark crawled up on my back, nuzzling against me. "We could have killed them, mother. They are many, but weak."

I absently rubbed his spines with my claw hand. "I know, but my friends would have died. Caitlyn would have died."

"I see...are you my mommy, mother?"

"Yes, Mark," I sighed. "Your other mother died, so I guess I'm it."

"That means Caitlyn is my sister, doesn't it?"

"Yes, I guess that does."

"Who do you love more?"

"Don't ask me that, Mark. Just know that I love you, and I'm going to take care of you."

He purred. "Okay, mommy."

"Hurry up," Purple Rat snapped. "It's getting late. Unless you want to sleep on gravel tonight."

"I'm game if you are," I said. "It's better than sleeping in one of those death camps."

My comment made her angry enough to strike me with her gun.

Her attack didn't hurt that much, but it woke up Caitlyn. The girl moaned and squirmed in my arms, so I let her down to walk beside me again.

Sharad dropped back in line, walking close to Ippi. The two conversed in their shared tongue for a bit.

Lacethanny scampered off into the woods, returning with a bloody squirrel in her claws.

"Control your pets," Purple Rat ordered.

"She's not a pet," I said. "She does what she wants."

"Would you like me to start shooting your friends? That would be something I want!"

I sighed. "Lacethanny...You heard her. Stay with the group."

The alien obeyed.

"So you're friends with David," Sharad said as she marched next to me.

I frowned. "Yeah. I was one of the few that actually believed he had an alien wife. It's too bad he's such a weenie."

"I know. But I still love him. If you ever get us out of here, promise you'll take him along. He's the only dad I have."

"I thought you were getting used to Mr. Weyland, or Bishop, or whatever you call him."

Sharad winced, her tail flopping limp. "I thought he was a nice guy. Until that fight."

"I'll do what I can. I can't make any promises, but I can try."

The gravel road cut through a field full of tall weeds and hay bales, lowing cows and a stagnant pond buzzing with horseflies, crossed a hill.

The sudden appearance of floodlamps momentarily blinded me. When my eyes focused, I found myself being marched to the gate of what seemed to be another Learning Town.

Purple Rat made her Afexun gestures and the gate groaned open, revealing a large arena.

It reminded me of something from Gladiator. A big concrete amphitheater lined with metal portcullis, bleachers above, a sandy pit below.

Powerful flood lights illuminated the arena, preventing anyone from hiding in the shadows.

Purple Rat marched us all in, closing the gate behind us.

The arena contained five pillars, with a human being chained to each one.

Willie hung from one of them, hands shackled high above his head.

The one across from him held Lovelace.

The other poles held Rudy, a short, curly haired woman with nearsightedness glasses poking out of a blouse pocket, and a young African American woman with aquiline features.

I glanced up and saw Josh, Kamara, Ippi and Charon taking their places in box seats behind what appeared to be one of those Plexiglas walls they use in hockey and baseball games. A group of strangers in pastel colored outfits joined them in the bleachers, the size of the group comparable to that of a horse race.

A pair of portcullis gates opened along the walls, and two self driving cars rumbled out, their hoods adorned, ironically enough, with long horns, like we were the matadors in a bull fight.

Their steel belted radials churned dirt, throwing up huge clouds of dust. Four children died beneath their fenders.

"Hug the poles!" I cried. "Slow them down!"

The children heard, but I wasn't sure if they wanted to obey. Our little army seemed to have its own ideas on what to do in combat.

Moe snatched a gun away from one of the kids, firing it at the Purple Rat. The girl flinched, but it bounced of the glass. "Figures," he growled in disgust.

"Watch Caitlyn," I told him. "Keep her safe."

The big guy hefted the girl up on his shoulders.

I ran and jumped on the hood of the nearest bull, smashing the window.

When I dropped inside, I was in for a shock.

The walls, ceiling and floor were covered in glowing plastic playing cards.

My feet had landed on a two of spades and a joker. The cards glowed red, like they were buttons for some demented person's computer.

I found out exactly how demented when all the other deuce cards in the cabin flipped open, and a bunch of rattlesnakes wiggled out.

"Hey. No fair." I muttered. "You don't even get snake eyes in poker."

I tried to ignore the snakes, tried to avoid getting close to them or stepping on them. The car had no control panel. When I tore open the wall of cards where the controls were normally kept, I found only a rabbit hutch. "You have got to be kidding!"

No engine in the front engine compartment. Like an old Volkswagen. And there were snakes.

A rattler came at me, but my claw hand flashed out and grabbed it before I realized what I was doing.

I shoved the snake into the hutch, then two more when they tried to gang up on me. The rabbits let out weird strangled cries as the snakes got them.

Sorry, bunnies. It was either you or me.

A tuxedo hung from a clothing hook on the rear wall of the compartment. A yellow tuxedo covered in playing cards.

Focused on the snakes, I noticed this item only when the car scraped against a wall, running over a child, and only because the tux flopped against me.

Suits. Tee hee.

What was this? I thought. Did Zack betray me? Did he do this under duress? Or did Josh do this out of revenge for killing his mother? If so, how did he find the time?...Or did someone else set this up to make me think all that happened? Whatever it was, I couldn't help but feel hurt.

As an experiment, I pushed down four aces.

The other ace panels opened, flooding the compartment with a rotting garbage smell.

"Oh. I get it. That's rank." Tee hee.

As quick as I could, I slammed my fist down on an ace, a queen, a king, a jack and a ten, all diamonds.

A set of sprayers popped out from behind all the face cards, blasting me with jets of cold water.

And then, before I could move away from it, a trapdoor opened beneath my feet. I tumbled out on the sand beneath the vehicle.

A second later, the car exploded.

That would have been great, but now we had rattlesnakes on the playing field.

"Watch out for snakes!" I shouted. "They're poisonous!"

Instead of being careful, Tido picked up two of them, allowing them both to bury their venomous fangs into his forearms. He actually looked pleased with himself.

I smacked my forehead. "(Idiot!) It's been nice knowing you!"

He gave me a cheerful salute.

The other car gored Rudy with its horns. It had been trying to kill a little girl, but she had run away from the pole at the last moment. The horn broke off in the man's body, but the car kept going.

"The engine isn't under the hood," Moe panted as he jogged up to me with Caitlyn on his shoulders. "It's like an old Beetle."

"I know. Did you try hitting the back?"

"The moment I aim, it swings around and tries to flatten me."

"Shoot its tires out."

"I'm out of ammo."

"Get the tires!" I barked to the others in Ss'sik'chtokiwij.

Tido's army (what was left of it, at least) obeyed the order, opening fire on the treads.

The front wheels flattened after a couple shots, but the vehicle appeared to do just fine on its rims, crushing two children to death before its fender at last ate sand.

The children punctured its rear tires, but then a flame thrower popped out of a door panel and burned them alive.

Five children left standing, plus my crew.

I rushed over to Rudy, to check the damage.

The man looked like a side of beef hanging in a meat locker.

"It's too late," he said in a breath gurgling with blood. "Don't...send...the file. It's a Fundie trap."

He died.