Crowbones

CHAPTER 3

Them

Windsday, Grau 31

His adversary was here! In Sproing!

They had an agreement not to work in the same place at the same time because the results of one research project might give authorities some concern, but two projects, given the nature of their research, were bound to draw too much attention to themselves. He’d been planning this for weeks, preparing the ground, so to speak, and bringing in all the pieces for the project. Carefully. So carefully, because this was far more dangerous than research that dealt with just humans.

The terra indigene were not without weaknesses, not without flaws of personality, and he had a knack for finding those weaknesses and exploiting those flaws, regardless of species. Sometimes it was as simple as telling someone over and over that their malignant thoughts were good and true, and they were justified in inflicting evil upon others of their own kind as well as anyone else. Sometimes, bringing about the desired result took a little more convincing.

Everything was ready. There was no other place suitable for this particular experiment, so he didn’t have a choice. He had to go ahead with his plans for this evening—and he would deal with any potential interference in an appropriate manner.

Adversary. No. That sounded like someone of equal strength and skill, and that wasn’t true. This rivalry had been going on for years, and he had never been bested. Never.

And he wouldn’t be bested now.