"What the fuck?" the deputy sheriff said when he saw the beast.

Pan sees the Geega female turn and drag the male out through the broken place. Out to the wet place where water shimmers.

Pan knows he must stop the Geegas before they get there. If Geegas get to the wet place he will not be able to follow. He will fail.

Pan is almost on them, reaching out with the knife, slashing, but getting nothing but Geega clothing. Pan screams in fear and anger, almost falls, teetering on the edge of the wet, but finally regains his balance. The Alpha Geega Dave is yelling in Pan's earpiece.

"Kill them! Get them!" Pan wants to do what Dave commands. He can imagine the Geega bodies in his grip, ripping, shredding. Pan wants to use the PB-99, but the Alpha Geega says no, not unless he is being captured.

Pan runs around the pool, stopping at some steps where the water looks shallow. He runs down, feeling the warm wet against his fur. He goes deeper, almost to his waist.

"Pan! No! Don't get the vest wet!" Dave is yelling at him. "You'll short it out."

Pan hears the vest popping, but he ignores it. He is a warrior. He has come from a faraway place to shred and kill. He will not fail.

Pan backs out of the water and runs to the wood plank hanging out over the other side. He creeps out to the end and can now almost reach the male Geega. He grabs the underside of the wood that is hanging over the water and stretches out as far as he can, reaching for the big Geega, but he is still too far away. The Geega begins moving toward him… maybe close enough to grab.

Pan hears something behind him, turns, and sees another Geega jumping up on the wall. This Geega wears a cap and has silver on his shirt. The Geega jumps down off the wall.

"What the fuck?" the Geega says. Pan screams his warrior scream. He runs at the new Geega standing by the gate. He grabs him and jerks him forward. Using the knife, Pan rips him open. Blood spews. Pan keeps jabbing and cutting. The Geega's screams are gurgles now as he chokes on his own blood. Pan has no mercy.

The Geega falls forward. Blood spills from the huge wound in his neck. Pan jumps up and down on the ground, then snarls at his dead enemy.

Maybe this will make Dave happy. Pan knows he must go. He turns and easily leaps over the wall, landing on the other side, then runs toward the van. But as he does he hears two loud bangs. He knows that these are from a Geega fire-stick. Then a third bang. Something hits him hard in the back. Pan flies forward, feeling nothing but the impact that turns him in the air as he falls. Pan lands on his back and sees a second Geega wearing the same uniform with silver pinned on his shirt. He is standing off the walkway pointing his fire-stick. The man shoots again.

"No!" Dave Silver said, watching on the monitor as his chimera lay bleeding in the street.

"Abort destruct," Norm Pettis ordered, but Silver's face was twisted with indecision. Pettis reached out and pushed a radio detonator. The vest Pan was wearing would react to the radio command by injecting the chimera with an explosive chemical that would travel quickly to five areas in Pan's body, drawn by electromagnets located in the vest. Pettis pushed a second button, which sent a radio wave to the DARPA satellite in space, then bounced it back to the detonator on Pan's body computer.

Nothing happened. The vest had shorted out.

Dave Silver knew Pan was mortally wounded. Pettis grabbed the mike. "Pan! You must go. You must hide!"

They watched on the monitor as the deputy approached Pan, gazing down in wonder.

"Pan, run! Run!" Pettis ordered angrily.

Surprisingly, Pan rolled to his feet and shoved the deputy aside.

"Son of a bitch," Pettis said softly. "These little fuckers are tough."

As Dave Silver watched in awe, Pan started to run. Leaking blood, the chimera limped up the beach road, crossed into the brush by the hillside, then disappeared.

Jack and Susan were halfway to Malibu in the stolen XKE when Herman's cell phone rang. Susan dug it out of her purse and answered.

"It's me." Herman's tired voice seemed to come from far away. "We gotta meet, but I'm pretty sure these calls are being intercepted."

"Hang on a minute, Dad," she said and turned to Jack. "He wants to meet."

"Pick some place you both know, but don't mention the name."

"Dad, without saying it, remember where you took me for my birthday?"

"Yeah."

"Meet us there. It'll take us less than an hour."

"Right." Herman hung up.

The separate structures that made up the Malibu Beach Inn clung to the rocky crevices like brightly painted barnacles. Some units were wedged into the hillside, others perched on granite pads high above the ocean, with views that looked down on spectacular rock formations. The entire ocean side of the inn was wrapped by a meandering patio that contained six tables for the tiny gourmet restaurant.

Susan and Jack walked into the lobby and stopped at the front desk. Herman had registered, taking two rooms under his own name.

Great, Herm… why don't you just take out an ad? Jack thought.

Herman had left a note for Susan that read: We're on the veranda.

They made their way out onto the rambling, narrow cliff-side patio and found Herman and Sandy seated at a table overlooking the ocean. The crashing waves spewed foam that glistened in half a dozen powerful Xenon spotlights.

Herman was in his lawyer mode, half-glasses perched on the end of his nose and yellow pad open, scribbling hieroglyphic notes as they approached.

When Susan hugged her father he felt her damp clothing. "You're wet," he said, looking at her with concern.

"So are you," Susan said. Jack turned to the Asian woman seated with him. "You must be Sandy."

Herman introduced them. After Jack and Susan were seated, it took about fifteen minutes for them to bring each other up to date.

Herman listened to the account of Jack's speargunning of the DARPA commando on Lido Island and their close escape. His basset jowls were pulled tight, and he frowned when Jack told him about the stolen Jaguar. "Where's the car now?"

"In the parking lot, but I switched the plate with another car parked there." Jack smiled. "That oughta keep the ride cool for a few hours."

"Maybe you should ditch it and get a rental."

"Except the Wirta Agency is ever vigilant as it watches over your expense sheet." If Jack was expecting some kind of praise for his courage and frugality, he was disappointed. What he got were strained looks all around. It seemed the spear gun caper and car theft had turned his karma brown.

Sandy and Herman recounted their ordeal with the chimera in Streisand's guesthouse. Jack thought it was by far the better story.

"You actually saw one?" Susan asked, amazed.

"Honey, not only did I see it, but it wanted us to help it."

Susan frowned. "I thought you said it tried to kill you."

"The more I think back… I'm not sure. Sandy doesn't agree, but I think it was reaching out to us, with a pleading look all over its face… in its eyes."

Sandy looked over at Jack. "Herm wants to believe it was pleading for help, but I can tell you, the only way we got away was by jumping into the pool. They can't swim." They all sat awkwardly at the small table searching for something to say. Finally it was Herman who continued. "We grabbed my things, then went out through the side gate and escaped up the beach. We had to leave the cars. Since the chimera killed the deputy, there're enough cops standing around at Barbra's to open a donut franchise. We walked the two miles to get here." Then Herman announced his legal strategy. He was going to file a TRO against DARPA on behalf of "Charles Chimera, a being." He was going to use this case to change the rules on standing. Then, as they sat in stunned slence, he detailed the rest of his plan.