"Stay behind me, Turtle."

"Then move faster, you crumbling old men," Turtle shoved at her uncle's protective arm. "We have to get to the Chris before anything happens."

"Too late for that," muttered Ngarong, and in a louder voice. "Lieutenant Rinsin, your situation?"

"Captain Ngarong," the soldier saluted, "we are containing the monster."

Turtle could just make out the elongated form of the Chris behind the men's upraised hands. A cavorting devil in an ...