Killer Watts

The Army recruits convicted murderer Elizu Roote into General Chesterfield’s secret Shock Troops program and alters his body to store and discharge electricity. Roote escapes containment; the narrative attributes multiple deaths at Fort Joy and in nearby communities to him. CURE sends Remo to investigate, but Roote’s attack leaves Remo critically injured; Chiun helps revive him while Smith uncovers Chesterfield’s unauthorized program. Roote attacks Fort Joy, where Smith drains his charge with a neck-contact cable. Arthur Ford carries the unconscious Roote to Camp Earth and supplies batteries; Beta RAM and followers interpret events through their beliefs about Salvion and the Squiltas, and arm themselves against a perceived invasion.

Roote recharges, drains vehicles and shoots down an Army helicopter. Chiun fights Camp Earth’s armed followers as Remo reaches Roote. During the final confrontation, Roote’s targeting system reacts to Ford’s raised rifle and the discharge kills Ford. Remo strikes Roote into the Rio Grande; the body drifts away, but Remo felt incomplete contact and Smith later voices doubt about his own conclusion that Roote died. Chiun survives Roote’s attack on the hut by burrowing into soft ground. Chiun later kills Chesterfield, who had planned to revive the program and take credit for it. The embedded epilogue follows Beta RAM into a storm, where a bolt strikes a buzzard; the source does not identify its cause or establish Roote’s fate.