There was another guard station on the Rhyacian side of the crossover passageway, and Dragos wanted to inspect that one as well.

This time, when Pia accompanied him, she had questions. “Why is this station designed differently than the other one?”

Instead of answering, he asked her a question. “What are the potential capabilities of any enemies who attack the Earth-side station?”

“That’s easy. They are on Earth so they can attack with both technology and magic.” She frowned. “And even though they can come at the crossover passageway from several different directions, they have only a small entryway, because if you don’t hit a crossover passageway just right you don’t actually enter the passage.”

“Correct. And what about here?”

“This is the exact opposite. They can only come out of the exit of the passage, which is one narrowly defined area.”

“Also correct,” he said. “And if you know you can only have a few people coming through that narrow space at any given time, who would you put first?”

Her gaze narrowed. “I would put the nastiest magic users I could find through first. Because technology won’t work on this end, so guns have no use here. And they have to be mobile, so they can’t use heavier war machines like trebuchets. They need to move as quickly as possible, with as much missile capability as they can throw.” She glanced sidelong at him. “Flaming arrows?”

“Absolutely flaming arrows. And morningstar spells, and panic spells, and some of those bastards will try cloaking themselves to go undetected. So, on this side of the passage, we load up on magic users, and we keep the newcomers contained. When they come in—not that they are ever going to get this far—they have to learn the terrain fast, but we don’t want to give them any clues. My magic users can be stationed at several different levels behind these high concrete walls. They are protected, while they can throw spells and shoot arrows through the slits there, and there.” He pointed.

“You’ve created a kill box,” she said, staring at the giant oval wall that surrounded the land of the passageway. There was only one set of metal reinforced doors. The only two ways out of the kill box were to go back through the passageway to Earth, or to take wing and fly.

He paused. “First off, I’m rather impressed that you know the term kill box.”

“I used to watch TV, you know,” she confided. “I looove Jack Ryan.”

He laughed. “I know you do. Yes, this is a kill box. The chances of it ever being needed are probably one in a million, but if that one chance happens, we’ll be ready.”

“Remind me to never piss you off.”

He kissed her swiftly. “You could never piss me off that much. Do you want to see the rest of the station?”