HERO

55 / Droning On

Bren settled down on the smooth rock and released Thomas, retracting into herself once more.

Both took a few steps forward, looking around at the vast space. Nothing but disappointment covered it. There was not even a blemish, crack or crease in the unbroken surface. Thomas looked back, reeling a little from the realisation of how high they were. He could see vehicles approaching, kicking up dust clouds in their wake. They were still a way off, and they'd have to reach the top o the cliff too, but he knew that he and Bren needed to make a move of some sort.

"I thought you said Womack was up here," he commented. She had. How could she be wrong?

"I did," Bren answered quietly. "He... he was."

"Well, he's not now."

Bren shot Thomas an angry look, which he ignored. Not only were they in completely the wrong place, but they'd be targets again very soon. She had no right to be angry with him.

"I don't understand it," Bren said. "There was a big building here. It was like... like... an igloo! Yeah. Like an igloo, only made out of concrete."

"An igloo?!

"Yeah. An igloo, but massive, and with loads of windows."

"And you saw him? You saw Womack?"

Bren paused. She had seen Womack and had thought he hadn't seen her. The disappearance of the scientist's base make it clear she was mistaken about that.

Plus...

"Yes," she said cautiously. "I saw Womack. I don't get how it could all be gone. It's not like you could just lift it up and carry it away. This place was big!"

"Well, it's gone now."

The sentence sounded only half finished, the final word trailing off as if it wasn't sure it was meant to be actually spoken. Bren looked around.

"What are you doing?"

Thomas was crouching, looking at something, but his body, small though it was, obscured whatever it might be. Bren moved to bend close to him. Thomas pointed.

"See that?" he asked without looking up.

"I see it."

In wide open spaces, particularly those where foliage has been suppressed by the weather and the elements to grip only in fiercely held little groups of resistance, the air is king. Aided by the rain, it slowly eats away at the hardiest of obstacles, dining on an eon long feast of whatever delights it chooses to consume. Like the crumbs of a particularly dry biscuit, the air, excited to be called wind, leaves behind dust.

A line of dust was drawn across a small section of the ground. It almost blended in enough to be invisible, but a scattering was slightly higher, off the ground and hanging in mid air. Thomas reached out to touch the spot.

It was hard. Cold. Nothing was there, visually, but there was definitely something causing the dust to find minimal purchase against the wind. He ran his palm higher and, adding his other hand, wider. Bren joined in, spreading herself thin to reach a broader area.

"Impressive," Bren commented when she pulled back.

"What is it?" Thomas asked, though he thought he knew.

"A wall. More than that," she said, "it's an enclosure."

"Is it a power keeping it invisible or... tech or something?"

"Pretty sure it's not a power. I'd be able to tell. This is some sort of enhanced Blocker that's keeping everything including the light out."

"How can you tell?"