Page 54 (1/2)

A pair of corpses lay in an infinite embrace in the one bedroom Two skeletons under a blanket, their ar Ana had wept at the sight and broke into quiet sobs a fewHe’d tried to hold her in the darkness that night, but she’d turned away, said it didn’t see became deep and even, he reached out and held her hand The elderly couple in that room affected him only a little He’d come across siht he realized the scene ht have reminded her of the first time they’d seen each other The courtyard in Belém, where she’d danced with total abandon for the world around her, in front of an audience of two skeletons locked in an e in the shadows

She’d tried to shoot him for that In the dark Skyler took his earlobe between two fingers and rubbed it where the bullet’s wake had tickled the skin A fewwould be different now

When Skyler stepped outside he saw the flicker of firelight co from the barn Pablo waved at him when he entered and handed hirilled with a heavy dust of garlic powder Before Skyler could say thanks, aof coffee was shoved into his hand and he raised it in cheers Pablo nodded and returned to the portable stove

Vanessa e asked she went into the house and woke Ana Skyler had been caught between his desire to let the girl sleep and his burning interest in the alien do he ever looked forward to doing, and when the toave Vanessa a quick wink

As if so Fed and caffeinated, Skyler stood first and went to the aircraft The others trailed in behind hiht, corenade launcher, a Sonton pistol, and a light backpack stocked with a medical kit and one day’s water and food

The others took their cues from him and equipped similarly

Ana powered up the cockpit and tried the co It had become one of her daily tasks to try to raise the colony as Karl had requested As of yet, they’d heard nothing, and assumed their transmissions fell on deaf ears in turn Still, she rattled off a , the presence of the purple bubble, and the fact that the creas setting off to investigate it now

"If we run into any of those armored subs," Skyler said as the team set out, "we retreat Understood? We couns with us next tiat the purple hemisphere on the horizon

Up close, the presence of the object made Skyler’s breath catch in his throat

It defied description He’d look at part of it and iined it as a diamond-hard mass, as if some alien moon had suddenly winked into existence on this field in Ireland Then he’d glance at another portion and iernail

The four immunes stood side by side on the path carved by the purple-lit aura towers, perhaps a hundred meters from the dome

"What now?" Vanessa asked

"Let’s just," Skyler said, "watch, for a bit"

Pablo took a long draw from his canteen The pleasant warmth of the day had worn out its welcoear Skyler took a swig of his own and poured a little on his head

"That thing," Ana said, with a nod toward the do at, "it’s so simple Beautiful It terrifiesin Beléreean to notice flecks of slightly darker areas in the dome’s coloration He leaned to one side and then the other, and decided it wasn’t an illusion The small dark patches were inside the dome, not on its surface

"Someone else has been here," Pablo said suddenly, in his deadpan way

Everyone looked at hiround in front of him He pointed "Campfire"

Skyler crouched next to it and studied the charred wood The blackened reed, and cruers "It’s old," he said "But not that old Months old, a yearhis ar watched

"Okay," Skyler said "Let’s walk around the peri"

A bird called overhead Skyler looked up in tiht into the side of the do it to crulassInstead the purple surface dented inward like a balloon The pearlescent sheen formed a rainboirl around the indent

The indent warped and, with a sudden pop, returned to its original shape Skyler caught a faint ripple of rainbow light along the surface of the do as it radiated outward

The bird vanished inside

The whole thing had lasted a fraction of a second Skyler glanced at his companions, only to find them all still focused on the campfire "Did you see that?" he asked them

Ana looked up first, a puzzled expression on her face

"A bird," Skyler said He chuckled "It was a h and went inside"