Linda stirred slightly, to Max’s relief. For a moment he thought he might have killed her despite the fact that his rifle had been set to pause. He slipped her weapon out of her hand and placed it behind him so that it would be out of her reach should she come around suddenly. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Spencer take a tentative step forward. “Against the wall,” he said firmly. Spencer backed up and readjusted his glasses. Listen to the Chapter 32 podcast with roboreader Sangeeta. Max rolled Linda onto her back and unhooked the latch on the chain of her pendant. As he wrapped the necklace around his fist he saw a subtle ripple approaching in the grass a few yards off. He leapt to his feet. “Call them off Spencer.” “Them? Them who?” Max flicked the setting on his rifle to kill and fired a shot into the wall a few feet to Spencer’s left. Chips erupted from the stone, leaving a ragged divot behind. “Call them off.” “Oh them,” Spencer yelped. “Eddie! Bob! Back away.” The ripple halted, and then reversed direction for a few meters. It began to grow, like a bubble of turf rising out of the ground. It transformed into a humanoid shape and lifted one foot after the other with moist pops as they separated from the grass. A shifty glance from Spencer caused Max to look over his shoulder to see another human shape separating itself from one of the trees behind him. “Over there,” said Max, waving his rifle in Spencer’s direction. The tree man blinked his little knothole eyes and plodded over to take his place. “You too,” Max said to the turf man, who was inspecting his torso and occasionally picking out what appeared to be bits of dandelion weeds on his chest. “Hmm? Oh sure,” said the turf man before obediently taking his place with Spencer and the tree man. Max took a deep breath. It was good to have the upper hand over Spencer for a change. He wanted to take a few moments to enjoy it, but he wasn’t sure how long it would last. He’d have to get the deal done fast, before reinforcements arrived or Linda came to her senses. He didn’t want to hit her again in the event that it might do permanent damage. “Are you surprised to see me?” he asked Spencer. “A bit, at least under these circumstances. Frankly, we had planned to get you back one way or another.” Max nodded. “I thought as much.” “Nice of you to save us the trouble. What brings you here?” “I’ve got something for you. It’s not what you’re after, but it’s the best I can do.” Max held up his hand and let the iridescent pendant dangle. “There's no such thing as a doomsday device you know.” Spencer shrugged. “So some people say.” “Everyone who isn’t a paranoid nut bag,” said Max. “This is pretty effective though, at least at short range. It’s yours, under a few conditions.” Spencer raised an eyebrow. “Such as?” “First, you set Linda here free. She doesn’t know the way out on her own so she’ll need some help.” Spencer nodded thoughtfully. “Bob,” he said to the turf man, “is that something you can handle?” “Yes,” replied the tree man curtly, apparently miffed at the misidentification. “It shouldn’t be a problem.” “What's second?” asked Spencer. “I want to see Perske.” “Now that’s a bit trickier. She has a pretty full calendar.” Max aimed the rifle at Spencer’s belly. Spencer swallowed hard. “I imagine we can squeeze you in.” “Great,” said Max. Linda groaned and Max realized it wouldn’t be long before she was fully alert, and likely very peeved. “Bob?” he said to the tree man, who raised a wooden hand in acknowledgment. “You’d better get her now or we’ll have some trouble.” Bob made his lumbering way to Linda, gently lifted her from the ground like a wooden Frankenstein monster carrying off the maiden in an old horror film, and headed toward the courtyard gates. “That way is blocked,” said Max. “Denial of service.” “Not a problem,” said Bob over his shoulder. “Those don’t last long.” Max turned back to Spencer. “So, I guess we better go talk to Perske and explain the deal.” Spencer