But she and Dathan didn’t move. They just held each other tight.
All of a sudden, there was a huge blast of air and energy around them. They were knocked off their feet, and Dathan rolled until she was under him.
But sharp teeth didn’t tear into their flesh.
Blinking, they both sat up. The surrounding air shimmered blue, distorting everything, like they were looking through old glass.What the?—?
The hairs on her arms stood up from the energy she felt pulsing around them. Through the shimmer, she made out theInfinitasabove them.
The sand monster gave an ear-splitting shriek and dived back into the sand.
“You two okay?” Niklas’ voice came through both their Syncs.
Dathan pulled Eos closer and drew his Sync out. “Fine. Nice timing, bro.”
“How did you scare it off?” Eos pressed a palm to her chest and prayed her racing heart would slow.
Niklas’ face filled the small screen. “We scanned it. Like the sand, it has a high concentration of xalica.”
Dathan laughed. “You reversed the polarity on the mag-lift.”
“Yep. The magnetic field repels them.”
“We’re going to lower the setting.” Zayn’s lazy voice came through. “We’ll keep the mag-lift going, so we shouldn’t have any more visitors. At least of the scaly variety.”
Seconds later, theInfinitasmoved away and the blue shimmer died. There was still a faint charge in the air. Dathan dusted sand out of his hair, then reached out to dust off Eos’. “How about we grab your kit and then go and get a drink? A large one.”
She leaned into him. “A drink sounds good.”
Hand in hand, they headed back to where she’d been working. She hated to admit it, but she kept scanning the ground for any movement.
She came to an abrupt halt. A large, deep gouge in the sand cut across her worksite where the creature had torn through the area. “We’ll have to go around.”
Dathan didn’t answer. Instead, he moved to the edge of the ripped-up ground and crouched down. “Look.”
Moving closer, she peered over the edge.
Some sort of structure was uncovered, partially buried by the sand. Four large spires speared upward. No, not spires…
“Antenna.” Excitement leaked into her voice. “It’s some sort of communications center.”
Dathan glanced up. “Want to take a look?”
“We should run some more scans, then—” She broke off on a gasp as he leaped over the edge.
He jumped down into the crevasse and landed beside a doorway that had lost its door. It gaped like an open mouth, daring them to enter.
“Come on, Doc. This is one of those times you just have to leap.” He held up a hand.
Eos ignored the prim voice in her head telling her to wait and plan. She jumped down, and Dathan caught her in strong arms.
They entered the doorway. He flicked on an ion flashlight and clipped it to his forearm. The corridor was narrow and partially filled with sand. At the end, it opened up into a larger room.
He moved to the center of the room and studied the remains of what could have been an old-fashioned computer system. The desert sands hadn’t been kind, eroding away much of the metal and wiring. He fingered a red wire. “Might be for communications, but it could have been anything. Environmental controls, food processors…”
Eos scanned the room and spotted something. “Take a look at this.”
He crouched down where she indicated. “A long-range transmitter. So maybe the communications idea is right.”
