Ron was standing atop a trellis, and he did not understand how he got here. He could hear plants swaying in the breeze around him. He tried to gather his thoughts.

His last memory before passing out was of the men—those damned mercenaries. They’d stolen his life’s work, and killed all those people. Why? Ron shifted as the trellis moved. Ron looked down and saw that he was at least thirty feet above the ground. A drop from this high up would be life-threatening. Vines shifted below his feet. He looked behind him. A tree branch was just out of arm’s reach. Ron turned to face it.

I need to jump!

He dug his feet into the vines just above the trellis and sprung off.

His next thought was: What happened?

Ron had expected to propel himself onto the tree branch. Instead, he found that he couldn’t move his feet. He tried moving his legs, but they wouldn’t budge. Ron thought. Looking down, he saw several vines were wrapped tightly around his ankles, holding him in place. The wind was picking up now, and he shivered in the cool breeze.

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I wish I had a coat.

The bright, sunny sky above began to fill with dark clouds. He felt thick blotches of rain land on his skin; they burned like acid. Then he heard a scream.

“Ronnnald—”

Is that Rozelyn?

Ron looked down below the trellis and saw his wife entangled in vines, her arms and legs bound. Red stains covered the white dress she was wearing, and pieces of the dress hung like remnants of paper torn out of a book.

“Ron,” she cried, “don’t let them take her—”

Who is she talking about?

Rozelyn screamed as the vines tightened, and blood squirted into the air as the vines sawed her in half.

“Noooo!” Ron screamed as he was awakened.

He was in a rectangular room. Men dressed in body armor were standing at attention near the door. His colleague, Dr. Elizabeth Ash, was trying to say something to him. He couldn’t hear.

“He’s going into arrest. Get me those damn panels—now!”

Another doctor pressed a button on a device that appeared to be a large battery charger.

“Charging . . . hit me!” Dr. Ash said.

A lab technician pressed a button on the battery charger. The doctors and staff heard a high-pitched squealing noise, but not Ron.