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Dannian shook his head. "If the casing ruptures, the algae discharges."

Corian looked at me. "How much?"

"Enough to drop someone standing in wet ground."

"Kill?"

"Possibly, if it crosses the chest for long enough."

Corian's jaw tightened. "Shield first."

He extended one hand.

A translucent barrier formed around the power unit, curving down through the surrounding vegetation until the entire casing sat inside a sealed pocket.

"Alex, can you pull the water out of the soil inside the shield?"

Alex stepped closer. "Yes."

Air and Water responded together.

Moisture lifted from the mud in shining streams, twisting upward until the ground surrounding the power unit darkened from saturated black to merely damp. The algae inside the casing brightened as the movement disturbed it.

"That's impressive," one of the researchers murmured.

Once Alex had removed as much water as possible, Nykos lifted the cables several inches from the ground.

Corian looked toward Dannian. "Now?"

Dannian examined the unit. "Break the connection at the casing. Not the wires."

Alex looked delighted. "Finally."

"Controlled."

His delight decreased.

Alex compressed Air into a narrow edge and struck the first connector. The casing flashed, and blue-white current exploded across Corian's shield, making everyone flinch except Corian, whose arm barely moved. A second strike severed the remaining cable, and the algae erupted with light bright enough to throw shadows across the trees before everything went dark. The change in the pups was immediate. Their locked muscles released, and the smallest sucked in a full breath.

"The current is gone," I said.

I started forward and stopped myself, looking at Corian.

"Wait for Dannian."

Dannian checked every line with an insulated probe from his field kit. One restraint had a secondary tension trigger connected to a spring-loaded spike hidden beneath the leaves. I looked at it while Corian said nothing, because he didn't need to. His silence was enough to deepen the shame already twisting in my chest.

"Clear," Dannian finally said.

The first animal became visible when Nykos lifted the restraint frame with telekinesis.

It was a Kelvarin pup.

I knew the species from Menagerie records, but the drawings had made them look much less ridiculous. The pup had an otter-like body with a broad chest, short powerful legs and a long tapering tail designed for swimming. Dark blue-black fur covered most of it, slick with mud and water, while tiny scale-like plates ran over its shoulders and along the upper legs. Thin cyan lines glowed beneath the wet fur, pulsing faintly around the neck and flanks. Its ears were small and rounded and it had enormous whiskers.

"Oh."

Alex crouched beside me. "You made that noise at Halver."