IT HAD COME TO THIS.

Dr. Catalyst piloted the boat silently through the Aerojet Canal outside of Florida City. It was nearing midnight, and the sky was full of rain clouds. He was moving through the water on low power with no lights. Though capture was unlikely, he was still a wanted fugitive and took every precaution.

His advance planning and well-reasoned strategies had led him to this moment. A few weeks ago, his latest efforts at combating the invasive species infesting South Florida had been thwarted again by Emmet Doyle and Calvin Geaux. Dr. Catalyst glanced down at his mangled right hand, something else he had Emmet and Calvin to thank for. In the Everglades, Emmet had induced a Pterogator to attack him, and its bite had nearly severed his arm. Now he had lost access to his Pterogators and Muraecudas. And not only that, Emmet’s stupid dog had bitten him. Repeatedly. He was tired, aching, and angry.

Dr. Catalyst was through with subtlety. He was finished with taking a measured approach. Those in power did not see the value of his methods. Man had introduced vile, destructive creatures into the fragile ecosystem and the only way to heal it was to create a new level of predators to eliminate them. All he was asking was to be left alone to save the environment.

The boat slowed to a stop, floating gently in the middle of the canal. A few weeks ago, he had come to this very spot to kidnap Emmet Doyle’s dog, Apollo. The Doyle home backed up to the canal and was close to the Everglades. Remembering that night made his bitten calf muscle ache, reminding him of his failure.

On the boat’s rear deck was a large Plexiglas construct, roughly the size of a phone booth. Small holes were drilled in the sides to allow in oxygen for the creatures inside. Dr. Catalyst put on a helmet with a clear plastic face shield. He was wearing thick gloves and canvas coveralls. As he approached the container, the animals within it flapped leathery wings and a chittering rose from inside.

He placed his gloved hands on the clear plastic, and the captured creatures swarmed at them, thumping against the side. Loud screeching sounds replaced the chittering. Dr. Catalyst could make out one of the creatures in the din, flapping wings with long, pointed claws at their end. Its face was a horror of small, sharp teeth and huge, dark eyes, plus a pair of insectlike antennae. The creature’s wings tucked in as it stretched toward him, revealing not four spindly limbs, but six. There were hundreds just like it in the container. They were small in size, but very belligerent. Each one weighed only a few ounces, and their wingspans were less than a foot long when fully extended. A swarming, squirming, buzzing mass of hungry terror.

Unbelievably hungry.

Once again he had combined two separate species. Each was aggressive in its own right. The vampire bat was a nocturnal hunter that required drinking over 60 percent of its body weight in mammalian blood each night in order to survive. The baldfaced hornet was among the most aggressive members of the yellow-jacket family. They could bite as well as sting, and protected their nests with the utmost ferocity. With his revolutionary gene-splicing, growth hormones, and his technique for recombining DNA from divergent species, Dr. Catalyst had created the ideal invasive species.

Yes.

An invasive species.

He was releasing his own nonnative animals into South Florida. His Pterogators and Muraecudas had served a specific purpose: to rid the Everglades and the ocean of snakes and lionfish.

But his newest creations — he was going to call them Blood Jackets — were here for only one reason: to create havoc.

If no one would willingly accept his methods, he would show them the negative impact of an invasive species firsthand. And before long his latest creations would find sustenance from the most prevalent warm-blooded mammals in Florida.

Humans.

Dr. Catalyst stepped inside the cabin of the boat. He had rigged a cable release, attached to a pulley system, which allowed the creatures to be set free from inside, where it was safe. Still, he wore the helmet and thick coveralls as a precaution.

Taking a breath, he pushed a lever forward, and through a hole drilled in the cabin wall, the cable pulled open the top of the cage. For a moment, nothing happened. Then, with a rush of wings and loud piercing squeals, they exploded into the night sky. Dozens of the creatures threw themselves at the cabin window, then more followed, trying to reach him through the glass. Their savageness caused Dr. Catalyst to draw back from the sight of them. Unable to breach the cabin, they finally gave up and flew upward, joining hundreds of their brethren in the sky.

From here they would spread out and begin nesting. Colonies would form and they would terrorize the population of Florida City.

They would own the night.