They arrived at the valley floor and cantered over to where the man was working the field, a powerful sweat on him as he drove a deep furrow through the earth with the plow. Cast in heavy iron, it looked intended to be drawn by a horse, but the man was pushing it along unaided, as though he knew no better. The two men on horseback exchanged a look of amusement. Farmhands were not renowned for their intellect, but one that did not even know how to work a basic tool of his trade? Wonders never ceased.

Buster turns away and holds it close to his face, examining it with simian curiosity, sniffing it as if it might be edible. Specko springs across the room and lowers his shoulder into Buster’s chest. Buster hits the wall with a smack and falls to the floor, grabbing the back of his head. The package skitters away.

Specko pulls out a perfect little gold cube. He holds it up on the palm of his hand, then flips it into the air, like a diamond dealer casually flipping some mega-faceted beauty in the air to emphasize his disregard for its great value.

Specko pulls out a perfect little gold cube. He holds it up on the palm of his hand, then flips it into the air, like a diamond dealer casually flipping some mega-faceted beauty in the air to emphasize his disregard for its great value.

In another work space, lab workers are injecting fat little mice one at a time with lethal-looking hypodermics and turning them loose in a cage. There are treadmills in the cage and climbing structures and a bathing pond with stepping stones -- a tabletop amusement park for mice. A dozen of them frolic through the amenities.

In another work space, lab workers are injecting fat little mice one at a time with lethal-looking hypodermics and turning them loose in a cage. There are treadmills in the cage and climbing structures and a bathing pond with stepping stones -- a tabletop amusement park for mice. A dozen of them frolic through the amenities.

In another work space, lab workers are injecting fat little mice one at a time with lethal-looking hypodermics and turning them loose in a cage. There are treadmills in the cage and climbing structures and a bathing pond with stepping stones -- a tabletop amusement park for mice. A dozen of them frolic through the amenities.

In another work space, lab workers are injecting fat little mice one at a time with lethal-looking hypodermics and turning them loose in a cage. There are treadmills in the cage and climbing structures and a bathing pond with stepping stones -- a tabletop amusement park for mice. A dozen of them frolic through the amenities.

In another work space, lab workers are injecting fat little mice one at a time with lethal-looking hypodermics and turning them loose in a cage. There are treadmills in the cage and climbing structures and a bathing pond with stepping stones -- a tabletop amusement park for mice. A dozen of them frolic through the amenities.