Free The Twisting by Laurel Wanrow Page A

possibility.’ Farms are designed,” he said, the words pumping out with each step. “Buildings are designed. Equipment and engines are designed. Is it possible animals could be designed?”
    A rustle sounded behind them. Daeryn had changed to polecat by the time he hit the ground. The black pest scampered toward them, but he caught and killed it a yard off. He raced after Rivley, gaining his feet again.
    Rivley put up his hands in surrender. “Look, you’re right. I’m a fool and my head’s not here. It’s back in my workshop because I realized something important about these animals. Can you walk with me while I deliver these goggles?”
    “No,” Daeryn snapped. “I’ll protect your fool ass until you’re clear of the field and then deliver them myself. Talk.” He yanked Rivley’s arm, and they broke into a trot.
    “Dae, I saw enough that I have an idea about those gobblers. They’re not only from Outside, they’re not natural.”
    His huff was mostly a growl. “Tell me something I don’t know.”
    “Bear with me, all right? They’ve got to be designed. Designed to cut down plants efficiently with those oversized incisors and to defend themselves with the second set of jaws. Master Brightwell has talked about animal experiments. Genetics, he called it.”
    “Animal experiments? Like they make up something?”
    “Exactly,” Rivley said. “Someone has designed these animals to evade predators and destroy crops.”
    That just didn’t seem possible. “I’m trying hard to stay with you on this theory, but who? And why?”
    “Someone who wants to take over a farm. Doesn’t matter right now. Right now we have to acknowledge that stopping them by all the normal means isn’t going to work. It’ll take a different kind of predator.”
    Daeryn pulled him to a stop. “Not more ropens.”
    “I didn’t suggest that. But think about what’s not working. The day guards don’t see them because they only sneak in at night. The night guards can’t find them because there’s no smell. Then they are ferocious about protecting each other. But they are still simple enough that Mistress Gere’s brand of protections didn’t stop them from entering the property.”
    “Are you saying they’re machines?” No, please, Daeryn thought, that’s too much.
    “Not sure. You mammals said their smell isn’t right.”
    “Zar still maintains their odor matches his granny’s clean floor.”
    Rivley snapped his fingers. “Cleanliness! Master Brightwell told me genetic experiments take place in a laboratory to avoid contamination.”
    That did fit. “Fine, you might be on to something here.”
    “More keep coming, because more can be made. Chasing them is pointless. We’ve got to devise a different barrier for the property.” Rivley waved his arms as he thought. “Or lure them into a trap, or develop an automated method of picking them off. Something.”
    “I like the automated picker idea,” Jac said from behind them.
    Rivley whirled, but immediately dropped his gaze to the ground. “Hang it. These Luci-viewers must work better than your night vision.”
    Daeryn chuckled. “Certainly better than your day vision, but I’m used to it.”
    “So am I.” Jac crossed her arms over her chest. “Talk, Rivley. If you have a machine to kill them, I’m all for it.”
    Rivley pulled off the goggles. “How close can a machine get? It takes a certain proximity before they notice you, doesn’t it? That first I saw didn’t move until I got within, what? Six feet?”
    Daeryn and Jac laughed. “We’ve never walked up to one,” she said.
    “That first night, the attack was so sudden,” said Daeryn, “we now spend every second jumping at every movement.”
    “Joking aside, I have noticed they don’t seem to be afraid of the machines the growers leave in the fields.” Jac rubbed her elbow. “I’ve crashed into more than one of those spindly engines when a gobbler escaped under it.”
    “How about equipment