Meanwhile, half a world away, the war of manumission found the Nefilim Project staff. They had not gone looking for it, but it found them nonetheless.
Forcas, Hovard and Inna were on the seacoast in the extreme south of SWE-2. They were preparing to infect four nefilim adults with the RNA viruses when a Serefim shuttlecraft landed four hundred metres down the beach. The soldiers did not storm out as if assaulting the clan. They exited the craft with their weapons slung across their shoulders, carrying bowls of fruit and raw meat.
Hovard said, “Now that’s new.”
“Yeah,” Inna agreed. “We’ve never seen slavers in coaxing mode before.”
Forcas wrinkled her freckled nose. “And it stinks.”
Hovard turned a puzzled look on the team leader.
“Whether they coax with kindness or bully with batons,
