Lord Malkor stood on the dry cracked rock of the blasted lands, his black robe fluttering in the wind. His face was lost in the shadows of his raised hood. Pale hands hung from loose sleeves, and his fingers were little more than rough skin stretched over twisted bone. He ignored the sand that dashed against his robe, and stood watching the familiar surface of the Dome Shield. In his right hand he held a long black spear with its base planted firmly on the ground. Gold symbols glowed along its length, leaving a soft brown afterglow. His robe faded from black to grey and finally turned to the colour of sand. Even his shadow grew pale until it was lost amongst the swirling sands that gathered around his feet. Malkor waited in silence.
Helen arrived at the Dome Shield. She still didn't understand why Jacob had sent her to do the test again. Was he angry with her for celebrating? She had already shown him the successful results. Repeating the test would prove nothing. Jacob had always been intense, but lately he had been no fun at all. Helen had considered pretending to do the test again. She could tell Jacob that the test was complete and hope he didn't notice. She remembered how Jacob had doubted her results after the second test. He had asked Nickbot to confirm whether the test had been successful. No doubt he would ask the droid for confirmation again. Nickbot wouldn't lie for her. Helen sighed. Jacob had so little faith in her abilities even though he knew she was the best in her field.
Sometimes she wondered whether he blamed her for some of her sister's mistakes. Helen had experienced such displaced resentment before. She loved Gail very much but she had never been the easiest of sisters. People often assumed that the two of them would be alike. Helen was no angel, but Gail was in a league of her own when it came to duplicity and lies. It had been a long time since Helen had seen her sister, but if she could find a way to help her sibling she would.
The technicians rode together on the back of a Roach. They hung onto their equipment stacks as the Roach scrambled across uneven ground. They had piled their equipment too high. The overloaded Roach had to work hard to maintain its footing as it trudged through deep sand on thin legs. It lurched from side to side and the technicians hung onto the front rail for balance.
Helen had asked Nickbot to carry some of the equipment, but he had been reluctant to act as a porter. She wondered why he was being more difficult lately. She didn't have time for droids with attitudes. She knew that Nick Chambers had been a commander for Central Command before he had been captured and used as part of a research programme. Nick's brain and spinal cord had been integrated into the new TS86 chassis. Jacob had told her that Nick wouldn't remember any part of his previous life, but the droid still considered itself too posh to carry the technicians' equipment. It didn't make any sense at all. Helen had never known a droid to behave in such an odd way. She would have to talk to Jacob about it later.
At first, she had found Jacob attractive. She had toyed with the idea of using him to make a career change for herself. She could become an officer in the Kamari. It might be fun to be in charge of people who didn't complain every time they had to go outside. Lately she had gone off the idea. Jacob was too moody to work with. He was constantly angry about one thing or another. He wasn't interested in anything except when the Refractor Orb would be ready. He was basically no fun at all.
Helen stood a little way back from the Dome Shield with her hands on her hips. She studied her sand-covered shoes with a glum expression before turning to face the others.
'Okay,' she said. 'Let's get this over with as soon as possible. I'm not coming out here again.'
The Roach had come to a halt with its legs sprawled across the ground like an exhausted dog. The technicians unloaded their equipment, and arranged it into separate stacks. Helen tapped her foot and hummed an old song while she waited for them to configure their scanners. None of the equipment would make any difference if things went wrong. The flashback had happened so fast during their initial test. Nickbot's arm had been blown off before any of the instruments had detected the power surge. Thankfully, the second test had been more successful. Helen had studied the results carefully. She understood what had gone wrong the first time. She was confident that it wouldn't happen again.
'We're ready,' the lead technician said.
Helen looked up with a frown. 'Are you ready Nickbot?'
'I am ready,' the bulky droid said in a low synthesized voice.
'Okay, let's do this right the first time. The sooner this is over, the sooner we can all go home.'
Nickbot strode towards the Dome Shield. The double forearms of his right arm reached over his head and lifted the Refractor Orb from a black case on his back. The Orb looked like black metal on the outside, but that was only a temporary state used to protect the swirling purple liquid inside. As Nickbot extended his arm towards the Dome Shield, the Orb began to glow with a lurid blue light.
'What's that?' one of the technicians said.
Helen followed the direction of his outstretched finger and gazed out through the Dome Shield. She could see nothing but black cracked ground interspersed with an increasing number of sand dunes.
'I don't see anything,' she said.
The technician adjusted his thick black goggles. 'There was something out there.'
Helen shook her head and put on her own goggles. 'There's nothing out there. Just get on with the test.'
'I'm telling you I saw something,' the technician said. 'A shadow moved across the ground. I don't know what it was.'
'Did I ask for your opinion?' Helen said. 'There's nothing but desert out there. Everything is dead. Stop worrying about sand dunes and get on with the test.'
The technician leant his head towards one of his colleagues and spoke in words too quiet for Helen to hear. Helen folded her arms and scowled at them both until they stopped whispering and resumed their duties.
'Shall I proceed?' Nickbot said.
'Go ahead.'
The droid extended its arm, pushing the Refractor Orb towards the surface of the Dome Shield.
Helen took several steps backwards, raising one arm to cover her face. The technicians glanced in her direction with concern as they adjusted their equipment.
The Dome Shield changed colour around the Refractor Orb, turning from its usual transparent self to a swirling white cloud of wriggling white shapes that surged towards the Refractor Orb. Helen's shoulders itched. A spasm ran down both of her arms. She didn't like being so close to such things, especially when she still didn't know what they were.
When the Orb turned from blue to a deep purple, and finally a vivid red, the wriggling shapes darted away from it. The sand dunes were now clearly visible through a window a couple of metres wide. The droid's arm shimmered with a thin covering of twinkling white lights.
'Okay, shut it off,' Helen said, raising her voice above a sudden wind. A chill ran down her spine and she wrapped her arms around herself for warmth. Why was it suddenly so cold?
The technicians stared at the Dome Shield before glancing back at their instruments, their faces full of concern.
The clear opening had turned black. A howling scream tore through the air all around them. Helen took another step backwards, turning to run in the opposite direction. After a dozen long strides, she forced herself to turn around to see what was happening behind her. The technicians were tapping frantically on small consoles that were attached to the top of their equipment stacks. Nickbot looked as though he was trying to step away from the Dome Shield but something was pulling him back in. His thick legs bent and his wide metal feet dug deep into the sand before he finally staggered backwards. He was still holding the Refractor Orb between the dual forearms of his right arm.
Helen flinched. Something darted past her like a shadow on the ground. A smell of rotten flesh lingered in the air. She exhaled sharply and turned her head to one side. A shape sped across the ground. She tried to focus on it, but she quickly lost sight of whatever it had been as it darted into the wheat fields behind her.
'That's what I saw outside,' the technician said, jogging towards her with wide eyes. 'It came through the shield.'
Helen shook her head. This could ruin everything, all the careful testing, and the countless years of work. Jacob would not tolerate failure now. He would blame her for everything. She knew it. If she told him what had happened, he would throw her off the project. So far he had put up with her because of her unique skill set, but now that he had the full schematics of the Refractor Orb, and a working prototype, maybe he could find someone else to replace her. There weren't many high-energy engineers in the Orange Zone. None of them had her level of experience, but she couldn't take the risk that Jacob might replace her.
'What was that thing?' the other technician said as he walked towards them. His face was paler than before. 'We need to warn the guilds about this.'
'Warn the guilds?' Helen spat. 'Are you bloody insane? We will tell nobody about this.'
'We have to tell Jacob. We don't know what it was. It could be dangerous. It came through the Dome Shield. It came from outside. Who knows what it could be. We can't keep this to ourselves.'
'You know that's impossible,' Helen said. 'Who would believe such madness. There's nothing out there. The Dome Shield is impenetrable. What could you have seen? A shadow on the ground? A creature from a child's bedtime story? Who would believe you?'
'But you saw it too.'
'I saw nothing,' Helen said. 'And neither did any of you. This operation is classified. None of us were here. None of us saw anything. Make sure you don't mistake your imagination for anything that really exists.
The technician stared at Helen with incredulity. 'This is insane,' he said.
'The test was successful,' Helen said. 'We're finished here. If any of you speak a word about this, I will have Nickbot rip your arms off. Is that understood?'
The technicians glanced at each other uncertainly, muttering complaints under their breath.
'Is that understood? Helen said with her hands on her hips. 'Jacob must know nothing about this. You report to me. If anyone talks to Jacob, I'll make sure they are held fully responsible for everything that happened here. You won't receive any leniency from him or me. Is that understood?'
'Understood,' the technicians mumbled in unison.