“But what if something happened?” Kachinka switched to alarm-with-mild-accusation. “What if they got out? Their breeding capacity is enormous. That’s what eventually destroyed them; they outran their food sources and their culture collapsed.” Chirr’s mandibles trembled at the very thought.
“No fear of that either. I assure you we’ve taken every precaution. The inhabitants of Thoracic Park are incapable of breeding. We’ve made sure of that.”
“But how?” demanded Chirr. “Those two we saw on the way in. Didn’t you say they were of different sexes?”
“Yes. But we’ve biologically altered them to prevent breeding. The humans were very much visually oriented in their sexual habits, you see, so we’ve made certain that they’re all very ugly.”
They met one more member of Nakrok’s staff at the park headquarters, a surly, overweight individual named Frell whose every posture included at least a hint of impatience-with-trifles.
“Frell is unhappy with me,” Nakrok admitted later. “He’s a contract botanist I hired to oversee the thornfire planting, and I’m afraid he underestimated the acidity of the soil. But a contract is a contract. He’s spun his web and now he’ll have to sleep in it.”
“You said you had some kind of automated tour set up for us?”
“Yes, indeed. We’re just waiting for the others. Alih, here they are now!” Chirr shifted to growing-unease-and-anticipation-of-distress when he saw the broodlings emerge from a nearby building. Fully six score of them, all exuding the same clan pheromone as did Nakrok himself.
“This is my most recent brood. They’ll be accompanying you on the tour.”
Chirr felt his posture shifting more definitely toward distress but Kachinka touched her antennae to his. “Steady. You can put up with them for a short time.”
He supposed she was right, but he didn’t have to like it.
The tour was not a great success. The real estate agents were too busy drawing lines in the soil and arguing with each other to pay attention to the tour van. The night watchmen were nocturnal and currently asleep, the accountant sat with his back to them, slowly moving stones from one pile to another, and the hairdresser was sick and sedated.
Then they reached the exterminator’s compound. Chirr and Kachinka peered through the ropes of thornfire bush but the dreaded creature, a monster whose name was used by brood-masters to frighten broodlings into behaving themselves, was nowhere to be seen. Chirr would have welcomed its presence for more than professional reasons. Nakrok’s broodlings were full of nervous energy, kept running across the ceiling of the van as well as the aisles, and were generally making nuisances of themselves. A little scare might help keep them in line.
If he’d known what was happening back at park headquarters, he might have altered his wish.
Frell assumed acceptance-under-protest and ended his interview with Nakrok, even though the posture had not reflected his true feelings. It was clear that the broodmaster would not agree to compensate him for the extra expenses he had incurred, and that in the ordinary course of events he would be compelled to dismember himself to appease his creditors. But Frell had a contingency plan.
He returned to his workroom and retrieved the vial concealed in an innocent bottle of mandibular cream, then filled a syringe and walked out onto the grounds. The nearest thorn-fire bush was only a few meters away. With a quick look around to make certain he was unobserved, Frell injected a contagious virus into the largest strand of thornbush within reach.
Within an hour, the entire thornfire containment system would be rendered temporarily inert. Frell already had samples of various strains of moti-gen concealed in his egg sacs. Once he reached the mainland, he’d sell them to one of Nakrok’s rivals.
Unfortunately, Frell didn’t know that his virus also affected the centi-vans. He would learn the truth shortly, when his stolen vehicle fell into a coma and left him at the mercy of a hungry laundromat attendant.
Chirr was too preoccupied to notice the first irregularity in the centi-van’s movement, but Kachinka picked it up right away.
“Something’s wrong with our vehicle,” she said quietly.
Sure enough, they were jolted almost immediately as a half dozen legs folded and collapsed on one side. The remaining ones thrashed for a few more seconds before falling silent as well. The broodlings began to screech, some annoyed, some frightened.
“Is it dead?”
“I don’t think so.” Kachinka inclined her antennae toward a set of exposed ventricles. “It’s still breathing.”
“What do you suppose happened?”
She curled into the posture of confusion-and-mild-concern. “I suppose it might be sick.”
Chirr was about to make an intemperate remark when one of the broodlings swarmed up his body and clamored for attention, gesturing with one arm toward the containment line.
Something was struggling to emerge from the thornfire bush. “That’s impossible!” Chirr’s whispered protest was loud enough to send the broodlings into another furious race up and down the inner walls of their vehicle.
But there was no question that the human exterminator was making its way steadily forward through the barrier, brushing the thornfire barbs aside with frightening ease.
“We can’t wait for this thing to wake up,” he said quietly. “We’re going to have to make a run for it.”
Kachinka glanced meaningfully at the horde of broodlings swarming around them.
“Yes, I know. But we don’t have any choice.”
“All of them?” Nakrok glared at the biotechnician. “Are you saying they’re all inactive?”
“Yes, sir.” The technician didn’t look happy. “Somehow they’ve been contaminated with a contagious neuro-agent. There are several strains of virus that would have this effect. Frell’s an expert on viruses. I’m sure he can find a counteragent as soon as we’ve located him.”
Grackl entered the room at that moment, assumed the posture of frustrated-lack-of-success. “He’s nowhere within the headquarters area, and one of the centivans is missing.”
Nakrok’s mandibles clenched with anger. “Well, we’ll have to make do without him then. You!” He pointed directly at the technician. “Isn’t there a general serum we can use to get the thornfires back on line?”
But before he could answer, one of Grackl’s staff burst into the room with more bad news. “The lawyers have broken out of their pen!”
Grackl twisted into extreme-rage-with-overtones-of fear. “If they escape into the main park, we’ll never catch them. They’re the cleverest of the lot.”
“They’re not headed for the park. Noctor saw them breaking into the library.”
“The library?” Grackl turned to Nakrok, who slowly curled into admitted-lack-of-answer.
Chirr and Kachinka led the broodlings into a small cavern for the night. “Don’t worry,” she reassured the young ones. “They’re modified tree dwellers and won’t come down after us.” She felt less confident than she sounded.
“What do you suppose happened?” Chirr was still shaking from the exertions of the day. They’d evaded the exterminator with some difficulty, encountered what appeared to be an immature butler dusting the leaves in a fern grove, and were briefly chased by a pair of letter carriers before eluding them in a swamp.
“I have no idea. The park security system must have malfunctioned. I’m sure they have parties out looking for us, but the park is so big, I think we’ll have to make our way back on our own.”