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They were greeted by the blinding glare of white light Before their eyes could adjust, a Scottish-accented voice said, “Hey, who are you? What are you—”

Hand held before his eyes, Sam jerked the Glock up and pointed it toward the voice “Hands up!”

“Okay, okay, for God’s sake, don’t shoot me”

Their eyes adjusted They were in a laboratory clean room, painted all white save the floor, which was covered in white antistatic, antimicrobial rubber tiles In the center of the space was a twelve-by-six-foot worktable surrounded by rolling stools On the shelves and tables was, Sam estimated, a quarter- autoclaves, glass-fronted refrigeration units, two Zeiss stereomicroscopes, a polarized fluorescence microscope, and a handheld XRF (X-ray fluorescence) device On the table’s Formica surface rested what looked like pieces from Bondaruk’s war collection—a broken spear handle, a double-sided ax head, a tarnished and bent Civil War cavalry sword A triangle of articulated stainless steel halogen la

The e of orange hair above his ears He was dressed in a knee-length white lab coat Frolasses his eyes were conified

“Well, that’s a fa

Projected on one of the rid of symbols

“Eureka,” Sam m

uttered Then he said to the man, “Who are—”

Even as the words left Sa toward the far wall—heading for, Sam realized, the red mushroom-shaped panic button mounted there

“Stop!” Sam shouted, to no effect “Damn it!”

Behind hi She leaped forward, snatched the spear handle froh the air in a flat arc and smacked the man behind the knees Arrunted and pitched forward His head slammed into the ith a dull thud just below the button He slid face-first to the floor, unconscious

Saun still raised, stared at her She looked back at hirin “I used to toss a baton when I was a kid”

“It shows Bet you’re hell in a horseshoe pit”

“Hope I didn’t kill him Oh, God, I didn’t kill him, did I?”