Dr. Mohr points. Coming into view—the two soldiers, still clad in their respective white and black body armor. They are double-timing it, approaching the crater lake from the east, the man in white now wielding a double-edged sword.

The center of the lake begins bubbling as they approach.

Immanuel grips the cool iron guardrail in his sweaty palms, unable to move … unable to breathe.

Something large is rising from the depths of the lake. Thick globs of silvery ooze drip away … revealing a tall alien biped.

Lead gray silicon-like skin. Two arms and legs, heavily segmented, as if adorned in body armor. The anvil-shaped skull is disproportionately large, like that of a monstrous fire ant. Instead of being positioned above its three-humped shoulder, the skull extends horizontally in front of the chest like a turtle’s neck, giving the creature an upright yet squat appearance. There are no facial features other than a slit of a mouth and two pupilless eyes, which blaze a burned yellow against the dark skin covering.

The eight-and-a-half-foot being continues to rise out of the silvery lake, its tall, grotesque, angular body devoid of hair or clothing. The thorax is V-shaped and powerful, the abdomen slender, connecting to a pair of squat legs—humanoid in design—except they are twice as thick below the knee as above.

The upper arms are dense and powerful, and hang stiffly from the wide shoulder girdle. The elbows are ball joint in design, allowing the heavy forearms to rotate 360 degrees.

Most frightening of all are the being’s hands. Huge and clawlike in appearance, they support four slender, scalpel-sharp fingers. The digits are three times as long as the palm and spaced wide, giving each hand an almost spiderlike appearance.

Fully exposed, the being walk-glides across the lake’s mirrorlike surface, sloshing toward the eastern shore.

The two soldiers race to reach the alabaster tree before the alien.

Ten seconds until Nexus. The computerized voice startles Manny.

Nine … eight … seven …

Dr. Mohr moves closer to the glass, his expression suddenly all business. ‘Come on, come on, you can do it this time.’

The alien approaches the thickly rooted tree, reaching for the skull.

Three … two … one—

Twin streaks of ice-blue lightning … a blinding flash of crimson … then nothingness.

The violet lights return.

The lake is gone, as is the alien, the tree, and the entire hellish underworld. In its place—the sterile gray emptiness of an immense holographic suite.

Down on one knee, holding his cloaked head in his hands, is the warrior in white. His companion in black is gone.

Dr. Mohr waits a moment, then touches the comm link on his shirt collar. ‘Are you all right?’

The soldier nods weakly.

‘Success?’

The man in white shakes his head—no.

Mohr pinches his brow, obviously disappointed. ‘Dominique is here. She brought her son.’

The man in white stands. Limps toward the glass wall and looks up. Reaches for the hidden latches of his body armor. Slowly removes his hood.