Contest

utilise and enhance their other senses: increased auditory acuity, sensitive ampullae for detecting the distressed heartbeat of frightened or wounded prey, and, most of all, a highly evolved scent detection mechanism. In fact, I would say that her sense of smell is her most well-developed hunting tool.'

'Wait a second,' Swain said, alarmed, 'she can smell us?

'Not now. Reese's sense of smell has a very limited range. No farther than, say, a couple of feet.'

Swain breathed in relief. Hawkins did, too.

'But within that range,' Selexin went on, 'her sense of smell is incredibly astute.'

'What do you mean?'

'I mean,' Selexin said, 'that the manner by which she detected him,' -- Selexin pointed roughly to Hawkins -- 'was by his scent.'

'But I thought you said her range wasn't that good. How could--'

Swain cut himself off. Selexin was waiting for him again, giving him an expectant 'are-you-finished?' look.

'That is correct,' Selexin said, 'in a way. You see, Reese didn't smell him. What she smelled was the scent he left behind. Do you remember when Reese first came into our view in the stairwell? She bent low and sniffed the floor?'

Swain frowned. 'Yeah...'

'Footprints,' Selexin said. 'A trail not long cold. With any fresh trail like that, Reese doesn't need to smell anything beyond two feet, because she just follows the scent of the trail itself

'Oh,' Swain said.

And then it hit him.

'Oh, shit!'

He shot up to look out through the glass partition above him--

And found himself staring at Reese's menacing four-pronged jaws -- wide open, foully salivating -- pressed up against the other side of the glass, only inches away.

Swain fell backwards, stumbled away from the glass.

Hawkins leapt to his feet, mouth agape.

Reese slammed against the partition, smearing saliva everywhere.

'Eyes down!' Swain yelled, snatching Holly up in his arms. Reese rammed the partition again -- hard -- and the whole office shook. 'Keep your eyes away from the antennae! Go for the door!'

There were three glass doors to this square-shaped office -- one west, one south and one east. Reese was banging on the western wall of the room.

Swain ran for the eastern door, threw it open and charged into the next office, Selexin and Hawkins close behind him.

With Holly in the crook of his arm, he slid smoothly over a desk in the centre of the office, opened the next door.

'Close the doors behind you!' he yelled back.

'Already doing it!' Hawkins called forward.

And then, from behind them, there came a loud crashing sound -- the sound of breaking glass.

Up ahead, Swain continued to run. Over desks, through doorways, dodging filing cabinets, sending paper flying everywhere. Then he came out of the last office and was suddenly faced with something different.

A heavy blue door set into a solid concrete wall.

Hawkins was yelling, 'She's coming! And she seems really pissed off!'

Swain looked at the heavy blue door. It looked strong, with a hydraulic opening mechanism. At the end of the short corridor to his right, he saw another option -- a glassed-in elevator bay. He glanced back at Hawkins racing through the offices behind him.

Better do something...

With Holly still in his arms, Swain turned the knob on the hydraulic door. It opened.

Three concrete stairs. Going down.

He stepped through the doorway, pulled Selexin with him and waited for Hawkins. Hawkins was running hard, through the last glass-walled office.

Beyond Hawkins, Swain could see nothing but offices divided by glass partitions.

And then he saw it. Saw the long pointed tail flashing up above the waist-high wood panelling. It was barging through anything that lay in its path -- like a great white shark's fin slicing through water -- launching desks and filing cabinets and swivel chairs high into the air.

Two offices away and heading directly toward them.

Moving fast.

Closing in.

Hawkins ran past Swain, through the doorway, and Swain shut the big hydraulic door behind him. It closed with a dull thud.

Strong door. Good. It would give them some time.

Holding Holly, Swain took the lead again, heading down the three concrete stairs. White fluorescent lights lit a modern grey-painted corridor. Black piping snaked its way along the ceiling.

The four of them followed the winding corridor for about twenty yards before, suddenly, they burst into open space.

Swain stopped and took in the scene before him.

An underground parking lot.

It looked new -- almost brand new, in fact. Glistening newly paved concrete, white-painted floor markings, shiny yellow wheel clamps on the ground, pristine white fluorescent lights. It was quite a contrast to the old dusty library they had seen so far.

Swain scanned the parking lot.

No cars.

Damn.

There was a Down ramp in the centre of the lot, about twenty yards in front of them. Swain figured that

the Exit ramp going up to the street must be on the other side of the Down ramp.

There came a sudden, loud bang from somewhere behind them.

Swain spun.

Reese was through the door.

He quickly led the others to the Down ramp. It was wide -- wide enough for two cars to pass each other side-by-side. They had just reached the top of the ramp when he heard a hissing sound from behind them.

Swain turned around slowly.

Reese was standing at the entrance to the parking lot, her guide positioned silently behind her.

Swain swallowed--

--and then, suddenly, he heard another sound.

Clop...

Clop...

Clop...

Footsteps. Slow footsteps. Echoing loudly in the deserted parking lot.

Swain, Holly, Selexin and Hawkins all spun at the same time and they saw him instantly.

Coming up the Down ramp.

Walking slowly, purposefully.

A six-foot bearded man, dressed in a broad-shouldered animal-skin jacket, dark pants and knee-high black boots that clip-clopped loudly on the concrete ramp.

And behind him, yet another guide, dressed completely in white.

As the big bearded man stepped onto level ground and stopped, Swain instinctively pushed Holly behind him.

At the sight of the new contestant, Reese became visibly agitated. She hissed even louder.