Both arcs were completely contained within a network of scaffolding that was filled by a milling workforce attending to various tasks on them. Most of the effort seemed to be concentrated near the very top, where materials were being continually raised up on long platforms by block and tackle pulley systems. They saw sparks falling and flashes of light from up near where the points of the arcs were about to converge.
As they watched, one of the workers tumbled off the highest scaffold and hit the concrete pad below with a sickening thud. Not one of the other workers around it paid the slightest attention, walking right past the body where it landed and lay motionless.
“Geez Louise,” said Nick.
“So much for a worker’s comp claim,” said Jericho.
“What is that thing?” asked Elise plainly. “What are they building?”
“It’s so obvious. I know exactly what this is,” said Nick, squinting at it. “They’re building a huge honking big gargantuan…circle.”
“It’s a lot more than just a circle,” said Ajay, staring at it intently.
Will noticed another workstation off the right of the concrete slab, under a bank of bright lights. There were a couple of large tents in the area, and inside one of them a group of workers huddled around a large hunk of round metallic housing, attending to some kind of finer, more precise work.
“They’re building a Carver,” said Will.
“I believe you’re quite right, Will,” said Ajay.
“That’s ridonkulous,” said Nick. “You said you had the only one.”
“I said I had the only one that we knew about.”
“And you also said that Franklin told you that was the only one.”
“Franklin probably doesn’t know about this one,” said Elise.
“But they…they can’t hold that one in their hand, so how does…” Nick was staring up at the arcs, dismayed. “How could they build one that…? How could they…?”
“It’s quite a simple plan, Nick. First they built an army,” said Ajay, gesturing back toward the valley. “Now they’re building its delivery system.”
“But how is this thing supposed to work?” asked Nick.
“Look closely at both sides and you’ll notice they’re installing a metallic track around the inside edge of the circle,” said Ajay, pointing to the arc.
“Yeah?” said Nick.
Will looked closer and noticed the metal tracks for the first time. Then Ajay pointed toward the workers inside the tents.
“Over here they’re assembling a sophisticated motorized unit designed to revolve or ride around that track. I believe that within it will be contained the same cutting or carving element yours possesses, and as it travels around the circumference of the circle, it will carve the portal.”
“And open the gates of hell,” said Will softly.
“And hundreds of thousands of these things show up without warning,” said Elise. “All over the planet.”
“Blitzkrieg,” said Jericho. “Surprise attack.”
“Hold on, this bunch of skeevy creepos versus the full might of the U.S. military? Sorry, I’m just not that freaked out about it.”
“They don’t have only brute force on their side,” said Will. “As we’ve seen, they can go stealth mode, and we’re not just talking about our country; the attack could be worldwide. There’s a whole lot of damage they could do.”
“Destroy communications, take down power grids,” said Ajay. “They would undoubtedly go after leadership targets. Influence and control their minds from a distance. The result could be total chaos.”
“So you’re saying like a battalion of invisible armed yetis could show up on the White House lawn,” said Nick, thinking it through. “I guess that wouldn’t be good.”
“Franklin also said they’ve got a bunch of units already in place,” said Will. “Hidden away. He called them sleepers, ready to be awakened once they start the invasion.”
“We also don’t know how deeply the Knights have infiltrated political and military infrastructures,” said Elise.
“After three generations?” said Ajay. “They may have their hands on the levers of power already. Give the word and they could destroy our ability to defend against them before it even starts.”
“In other words, Nick,” said Jericho, “once that door’s open, all bets are off.”
“Okay, okay, you convinced me,” said Nick. “Giant Carver bad. Let’s take it out.”
“How close are they to finishing this thing?” asked Jericho, looking up at the arcs.
“Difficult to determine that precisely without closer examination,” said Ajay, his eyes scanning all around the site. “But given their bountiful access to resources and unlimited labor pool, I would estimate that they’re no more than a day or two away from completing the assembly and bringing the system online.”
“Finally some good news,” said Nick.
“That’s good news?” asked Elise.
“He said a day or two,” said Nick.
“On the other hand, time is strangely elusive here,” said Ajay. “So who knows what any reference to it ultimately means.”
“So why don’t we just put the hammer to this thing, right now?” asked Nick. “Bring it down on their freakin’ heads.”
“I’d like to ask Dave about that first,” said Will. “Since we might need his help doing it.”
“If we can find him,” said Jericho.
“But that’s why we’re here. First things first. We still have enough time to locate him. Unless anybody else feels otherwise—”
Before anyone could answer, they heard the oncoming stomp of many marching boots. They turned back behind the cover of the sheds and dismounted as a column of black-armored soldiers came into view to their right, marching along the main road toward the site. Hobbes, the only figure on horseback, was at the head of the column, and he barked orders at the soldiers as they drew close to the construction. All the work in the area came to a halt, and the workers on the ground scurried out of their way. At a final order from Hobbes, the soldiers broke ranks and lined up on either side of the arc as they reached the concrete base of the platform.
Will felt a peculiar pressure in his head, not painful but a kind of sensory overload; it sounded as if ten thousand voices were whispering inside his brain all at once. He looked around and saw that the others—with the exception of Jericho—were putting their hands near their ears and reacting in a similar way.
The whispering gave way to a swooshing wind, or Will thought maybe it was more like the sound of waves washing onshore, a hundred of them, all at once. He saw that the line of soldiers was wavering, many of them swaying as if fighting to stay upright. Even Hobbes, who had dismounted near the platform supporting the giant arcs, appeared to be under some kind of extreme duress, bracing himself against its metallic base. Then the source of all this interference traveled into view from right to left along the road, passing between the lined-up soldiers.
The thing stood at least twenty feet tall, like a spike, more thin than thick but still substantial. A long cloak of some shimmering silvery black material completely covered it from its neck to the ground, where it swept along, unsupported by any legs or limbs that Will could see. If it had arms, or even a torso for that matter, those, too, were contained within the cloak. Its head, or where its head should have been, was covered by a drooping cowl that arched up and over from its shoulders, concealing whatever was within in a deep black emptiness.
The sight of the thing filled Will with overwhelming dread and revulsion, jamming his mind with signals he couldn’t even sort out. He had to force himself to keep looking at it, and he sensed that the others around him were reacting the same way.
The creature’s movements were strange, rhythmic and more than mesmerizing, and it appeared to be floating just above the ground rather than walking on it. The oscillating vibrations they were all hearing and reacting to seemed to be emanating from its center, and as disruptive
as it felt to them, it seemed to be far worse for the soldiers and Hobbes, who were much closer to it. A few of the ones on the line keeled over as it passed.
The shrouded figure stopped when it reached Hobbes, just below the arcs, where it appeared to hover rather than stand. Will couldn’t hear any of what passed between them from this distance, but the creature definitely seemed to be communicating with Hobbes.
Will gritted his teeth against the mental interference and whispered to Ajay, “Can you see anything?”
Ajay leaned forward, blinking repeatedly to fight off the static, studying the two of them.
“It’s an inspection,” he whispered. “It’s come to check on the progress. Hobbes looks harried. This thing frightens him. He doesn’t like being near it.”
They finished their brief conversation and the figure floated slowly away from Hobbes. As they watched, it took a slow turn around the entire base of the circle, apparently examining it up and down. Another worker fell off the scaffolding about halfway to the top and fell to the ground near the creature; it never even reacted, floating right over the corpse.
During which, Will noticed that Jericho didn’t seem to be suffering any of the same debilitating effects the rest of them were feeling.
“You don’t feel what we’re feeling from this thing?” Will asked him softly.
Jericho shook his head. “I don’t know if that’s good or bad,” he said.
“That’s one of them,” said Will. “One of the Makers.”
“I kind of figured that,” said Jericho.
“Why are we feeling it and you’re not?” asked Elise.
Jericho turned to Will. “I think you know the answer to that.”
Elise turned to Will. “What?”
“We’re connected to it,” said Will reluctantly. “Coach isn’t.”
“Connected to it how?”
Will looked at them; they were all turned to him now. He didn’t see any way to avoid telling them and, at this point, couldn’t think of a valid reason not to.
“These things, the Makers…they’re the source for the genetic material that Franklin…used for the Paladin Prophecy,” said Will.
The other three roommates stared at him, blank and uncomprehending.
“The DNA that the Knights used when they messed with us…or depending on what you believe, what these creatures compelled the Knights to do.”
“You’re saying that the Makers gave the Knights some of their own genetic code?” asked Ajay.
“Exactly right.”
“And that that’s what the Knights used for those in vitro procedures, long ago in Hobbes’s and Nepsted’s day and again when they revived the program?”
“Yes.”
“Are you sure about that?” asked Elise.
“No question about it,” said Will. “We didn’t get all this stuff we can do from random animals or other people. It came from them.”
“Shut your mouth,” said Nick.
“I’m not making this up, Nick,” said Will. “Franklin told me so himself.”
They were each managing the shock in their own ways. Ajay seemed to take it in stride, processing it so quickly and logically that the information seemed to bypass his emotions. Nick just kept shaking his head, his jaw set, refusing to believe it. Elise looked like she accepted it, and it wound her up into a cold fury.
“Like we needed another reason to hate him,” she said.
“So now we know how and why this has happened to us,” said Ajay, taking it in stride.
Nick stood rigidly, shaking his head, every muscle in his body tensed and straining. Tears flowed down his cheeks. “You shoulda told us. You shoulda told us, Will.”
“Why? What good would it have done?”
“At least we would have known…what kind of freaks we are. Like those poor bastards in the tanks we saw down in the hospital…”
Elise put her arms around him and said something softly into his ear. He shook his head, resisting, and then finally let her comfort him.
“It doesn’t change anything, really,” said Ajay, looking at Will, his eyes shining. “And given the inherent difficulty of what we’re here to accomplish and who we’re up against, one might actually interpret it as good news—”
“Will,” said Jericho.
Will looked at Jericho, then turned to see what he was staring at so intently.
The Maker had moved to the edge of the concrete pad closest to them. Standing upright and alert, it was even taller than it had looked before, swaying in midair.
And it was looking in their direction.
Will blinked on the Grid and saw a plume of energy erupt from the Maker’s cowl and fly right toward them. He didn’t have time to determine the nature or intent of the burst.
“It knows we’re here,” he said, pulling everyone back around the corner of the nearest shed. “Get the horses.”
As they scrambled away, Will turned back and instinctively threw out a thought-form shield before turning the corner. A second later, the energy from the Maker slammed into his shield, and the pile of supplies they’d been hiding behind exploded with a flash, debris raining down on the shed’s roof.
Will followed the others around the corner as the horses came up to meet them and they all quickly jumped into the saddle.
“We’re making straight for that dome,” he said. “Follow me. Don’t stop for anything.”
“I know the way,” said Ajay.
Will spurred his horse and galloped away and the others followed. He didn’t understand what Ajay had meant, until an image appeared in his mind:
An overhead map of the Citadel.
Will recognized it as a composite assembled from all the photographs taken by the drone.
I memorized the grid, naturally, and thought it might be useful to send to you, Ajay sent.
You have no idea.
Will blinked, turning on the Grid again, and then he just seemed to know how to integrate Ajay’s image into a kind of transparent heads-up display that appeared in front of his line of sight.
I’ve even taken the liberty of plotting a course to the dome from our current location.
A bright point of light appeared in Will’s display, and it moved with them, charting their progress along a glowing line that flowed around and between the many buildings ahead of them until it reached the dome.
Ajay, you’re better than GPS.
Using Ajay’s system to guide them, Will led them out of the construction area, never slowing, the four horses’ hooves hammering down narrow alleys and careening around corners. The few workers they encountered jumped out of their way or were sent flying. It was darker in this convoluted nest of structures; what little light was left in the sky barely slipped past the tall buildings surrounding them. Will stole a glance back and didn’t yet see any signs of pursuit from the construction site. Elise and Jericho moved up to flank him, riding just behind him, with Nick bringing up the rear, arms flailing and elbows flapping as he spurred his mount along.
Elise, take out anything that comes at us. A lot of side streets coming up. No telling how quickly they’ll spread the alarm.
I’m on it.
Following the route Ajay had plotted, they turned a corner that took them out of the haphazardly plotted warren of side streets, down a long stretch of empty road between high buildings, and under and through an archway into an entirely different section of the Citadel. Will recognized it immediately as the classical section of buildings they’d seen in the photographs.
The roads broadened into an orderly plan of smooth, brick-paved avenues, where the architectural style arrayed around them looked like a college campus built on a gargantuan scale. Most of the buildings sported immense columns across portico entrances, fashioned from the same shade of gray granite. Every inch of it was constructed with a cold, calculated symmetrical perfection, immaculate and completely devoid of any signs of life.
Will wondered if anything went on inside those buildings,
any life at all, or if it was all for show. The shape of it seemed vaguely familiar in a strange way, until he realized that it reminded him of the ruined city they’d found under the Crag. That made perfect sense: The same creatures had built both places; why wouldn’t they duplicate the layout if this was their idea of home? But would the Makers look like the skeletons they’d seen down there? The creature they’d just encountered at the arcs didn’t conform to those dimensions. Maybe after ages in this strange place they’d evolved into something else entirely?
Will followed Ajay’s map onto one of four diagonal avenues that branched off from a large circle with a dry lifeless fountain in its center. Still no sights or sounds of anyone pursuing them, which troubled Will almost more than an actual pursuit would have. What were they waiting for? He didn’t see any chance that they could’ve gotten away clean. The Citadel was only so big and there were only so many places to run.
The avenue led them into a massive rectangular plaza, surrounded on three sides by variations on the rows of columned buildings they’d seen throughout the district. On the side of the plaza farthest from them, set atop a plateau at the end of a tall set of broad flat stairs, stood the round domed building from the photograph. A large covered porch projected out in front of its entrance, with a row of columns supporting either side.
“There it is,” said Will, urging them forward.
He blinked away Ajay’s map overlay but kept the Grid on, scanning for signs of life as they thundered across the plaza, the horses’ hooves echoing spookily around the vast empty space. Will kept scanning; at least five other equally large avenues emptied into the plaza and not one of them yielded a single heat signature.
Do you see anything? he sent to Ajay.
I’m afraid I’m too busy clinging on to Coach for dear life at the moment.
“Don’t stop!” shouted Will to the others. “Ride right up the stairs!”
Will spurred on his mount, snapping at the reins and urging it up onto the stairs. The risers were broad and flat, altering the horses’ gait but hardly slowing their speed. The stairs seemed to go on forever—there had to be well over a hundred of them—but Will didn’t slow until he reached the top, and then raced across a wide, flat patio to the edge of the porch.