"Do you understand your mission, Special Agent Spittoon?"

Gary Weinerspiegel stood before the monitor, glaring at the stupid expression on Agent Spittoon's rugged face. That slack jaw, eyes darting left and right, Gary observed. Is he any more intelligent than the Creatures he hunts?

"I repeat, Agent Spittoon: The Creature has gone rogue. We don't have a total body count yet, but it looks bad. Creature Dynamics has released classified tracking intel on Jelli Blount's Creature. But we're keeping this one off the books, Agent. Bring it in alive. No witnesses, in and out, nice and quiet. Is that understood?"

"Yes!" Agent Spittoon finally said. "Yes, sir!"

Gary Weinerspiegel turned off the video monitor and turned to face Agent "Buddy" Bishop. The rookie's "aw shucks" demeanor had been replaced by an expressionless mask of cool indifference.

"Good old Buddy," said Gary.

"Mm," said Agent Buddy.

"The old ace up the sleeve."

"Mm hm."

"Buddy, I need this operation to turn lethal. Understand? We start out non-lethal, keep things off the record - then an accident happens. One dead Creature, one problem solved."

Buddy raised an eyebrow. "You used your admin access to initiate the tracking sequence on Jelli's Creature's beacon. That'll raise flags. Your name will be all over this."

"I know. But if you can, make it look like Spittoon screwed up. Convince him the Creature's blood is on his hands, so he'll keep the whole thing under wraps, at least on his end. Think your acting skills can handle that?"

"Mmmm hm."

Without another word, Buddy rose and made his way out of the office. Gary Weinerspiegel sat back. Though he felt no fear, no excitement, nor anything at all, he noticed that his heart rate was elevated. It was a very strange sensation.