A lion? Some alien critter. A Hunter being a born for Hunting? Hard to say, but it certainly was pretty much as Evanston had described it, at least so far.

"There's a whole wing over there," whispered Attila, discreetly pointing toward the north, "devoted to cages, many of them empty so far."

"The beasts to be set free and hunted."

"Precisely."

"Nothing here to cause alarm to my perspective," she said as they went to a drink dispenser and pretended to fish for credit vouchers.

"That's just it. According to my data catalog, these vast rooms have got everything they need for a fully functioning biolab factory."

"So?"

"So much of the operations of such are patented secrets and usually kept secreted away. However, they're out here for all to see."

"Which means-?"

"Think about it." It didn't take long.

"Which means what the h.e.l.l have they got locked away, if they're allowing most people to see all of this?"

"Exactly."

She looked around again. She heard the murmurings and burblings of bubbling beakers, the slurpings and drippings of liquid, the tapping of retreating footsteps. It all smelled mysterious and acrid, like the entranceway to some chemical amus.e.m.e.nt-park ride.

Only they had no ticket for the next part.

"So, what now?"

"Down this hallway here."

They waited until there was no one around.

This time there was no pretense of who was leading and who was following.

Attila went first.

They moved down a corridor that eventually bent to the south. Doors lined either side.

"Storage rooms," Attila explained.

"Open and innocuous."

"As far as I can tell." The hallway was totally deserted. "This, though, was what I was telling you about-down here at the end of the hall."

Another slant to the hall, and they were there.

Machiko was taken aback.

At the end of the hall was a round, vaultlike door of hard, s.h.i.+ny alloy. It was more than apparently extremely locked.

"What is this the gold supply here?"

"Looks like it, doesn't it?"

"What do your sensors perceive?"

"It's an alloy they can't get past."

"Hmmm. But you think we can pick this lock?"

"Oh, yes. It's an electronic locking device, and I made sure to bring a probe." He held up a long metal device.

"Looks like a coat hanger."

"I'm sure it could be used as such. In any case, by inserting it into this aperture here"-he did just that "I can change polarities and reroute electrical flows in such a way as to cancel out the necessity for codes and thus gain access."

"In other words, we can get through." "Precisely."

She looked around. "n.o.body coming?"

"No."

"Problem is, there could be someone inside."

"True-however, s.h.i.+fts are changing, and an entry would be presumed to be authorized. We can take a quick look. I can store data through visual and auditory means, as well as my usual sensory panoply. Thus we can nip in and then duck out, without causing undue notice."

"Sounds good to me."

She was happy there wasn't much security there; but then again, why should there be? It wasn't as though an intelligence agency was necessary in Livermoreland; it was much too far removed from anything. The security forces seemed more interested in their war re-creations than in actually patrolling the colony. Evanston's people must have reasoned that these simple precautions would do.

For Machiko they would have done quite nicely.

However, they hadn't reckoned on having a talented android picking their locks.

Attila did his stuff, slipping his device in. Machiko heard a few clicks and whirs and then watched Attila's concerned expression change to one of relief.

"There we go. That should be it."

He stood and pulled a latch.

The door opened.

Machiko leaped to action, helping Attila pull the hatchway open with the minimum of noise. It eased back as though it had just been oiled. .

Machiko peered into the next room.

It was a large chamber that stretched off into the distance. Along its upper sides were catwalks and pulleys and waldos. Racks of laboratory equipment hung below these. The lighting was quite low, the dominant colors being deep reds and lambent yellows.

Burblings.

The acrid smell was even heavier here, and there was a new scent to the air: something dreadful, something familiar, and yet Machiko could not precisely place it.

In the distance was the quiet sound of voices, yet this part of the long chamber seemed absolutely deserted.

Ahead of them were the familiar tanks, only these seemed noticeably larger.

From the two intruders' angle, however, there seemed to be no viewports into the contents.

Machiko quietly pointed this out. "Could be that what they're brewing in there, they don't want us to know about." "I was thinking the exact same thing. Just a moment here." Attila placed a small piece of metal between door and doorjamb. "This way we can exit quickly, I think, which may prove most fortuitous."

Machiko was in a hurry, but she took the precaution of moving as quietly and warily as possible, as they made their way around the tank.

There was a porthole on the other side, and she was able to peer through the murky liquid, and into the contents.

"Oh, my G.o.d," Machiko said, and though she was not particularly religious, it was as close to a prayer as she ever got.

Chapter 18.

Back in Boring-World, with so much time on her hands, Machiko Noguchi had done a great deal of reading. Fortunately, the Company had been considerate enough to vest its mining world with an excellent library of varied files on their Comp-Access.

One of the books she'd read was a large picture book concerning the history of human freaks, and there had been some horrifying anomalies indeed, from Siamese twins and pinheads, to geeks and other abnormalities of human and b.e.s.t.i.a.l natures.

However, nothing in the book could match the horror of what Machiko stared at now through the gla.s.s, through the milky nutrient bath.

At first it just seemed another beast, some hapless . genetic code from some far-flung alien clime that had been appropriated for hunting purposes by Evanston's henchmen.

Claws.

Teeth.

Mandibles.

However, as she looked closer, she saw other things in the brew.

A sh.e.l.l that would become chitin.

Legs.

Arms.

And at the ends of those arms, digits.

Digits with opposable thumbs.

The result was obscene beyond belief. A combination with aesthetics from h.e.l.l, but doubtless incredibly deadly.

Machiko took a sharp intake of breath.

"What is it?" asked Attila. "Besides really, really ugly."

"You can't tell?"

Of course he couldn't, she immediately told herself.

He hadn't had experience of the things. He hadn't gone through what she'dgone through. He wouldn't appreciate either species, much less the juxtaposition.

And then the realization hit her, so hard that she was stunned.

She would have invoked a deity's name again, only something had stopped her vocal cords.

"Well? Communication would be helpful," he said sharply.

"It's ... it's the most incredible warrior ever designed . . . and Jesus, Attila . . ." She pointed. "Look . . . behind the neck there. Is that what I think it is?"

He peered closer. "My goodness. It does look like some sort of electrical neurotransmitter link-ups."

"As in cyborgs . . ."

"As in cyborgs, precisely."

She tapped the window, pointing. "Attila. What you're looking at is . . .

well, apparently, and I don't know how-but these crazies have been able to warp the genetic code of the bugs . . . and add their own twists."

"What-to create some kind of ultimate target for guests to hunt?"

She shook her head vehemently. "No, that couldn't be. One of these . . .

linked up to Buddha knows what . . . could tear apart a bunch of hunters. It could outhunt, outkill anything .... Hard Meat with brains and weapons!"

"Some sort of bug ugly yautja hybrid?"

"Thank G.o.d, no. Just an improvement on the bugs." She snapped her fingers.

"What's the root of any army, Attila?"

"Warriors, of course. Soldiers."

"Smart bugs. Incredible, resilient . . . well, put some of these down and breed them on a world and you'd-"

"Why, you'd dominate the world!"