She pulled her Guardians of the Glades cap low over her eyes, leaned back against the warm metal of the boat, and let the afternoon sun dry the rest of the mud on her skin. The bikini had survived. The pythons were caught. And the Everglades, for one more day, had its guardians.

Crockett’s gruff voice crackled back. “Twenty minutes out. Don’t be a hero.”

The problem was the route. The only way in was a two-mile paddle through a series of tight, shallow creeks too narrow for their airboat. And in the brutal, shimmering heat of a Florida July, that meant one thing: she was going in the water.

Then she heard it. A deep, ominous hiss followed by the thrash of heavy coils.

She pulled the kayak alongside a mud bank and stepped out, the cool muck squelching between her toes. Her python hook was in her hand. Ten feet away, half-hidden in the roots of a giant strangler fig, was a mass of scales. It wasn't one python. It was three. A large female, easily fourteen feet, and two smaller males, all tangled in a breeding ball.

For ten long seconds, it was just Brittany, the bikini, and the beast. Mud splattered across her stomach and shoulders. A strand of her braid came loose, sticking to her cheek. Her muscles screamed as she kept the giant snake’s head down while its powerful body coiled around a submerged log.

Brittany peeled off her usual field gear—the thick gloves, the heavy cargo pants, the reinforced boots. She tucked a compact satellite phone, a multi-tool, and a small first-aid kit into a dry bag. For clothing, she opted for a high-SPF rash guard and a pair of durable, quick-drying shorts. But as she looked at her reflection in the side mirror of the truck, she paused. Her typical swimsuit was back at the base. The only thing clean in her go-bag was a bright turquoise bikini she’d thrown in for a rare day off. She shrugged. Function over fashion—or in this case, function with a side of tropical flair.

Brittany laughed, wiping a smear of mud from her cheek. “And most folks would have turned around at the first alligator.” She looked back at the dark, silent glades. “We’re not most folks.”