Chapter 34 | Part 5 | The Interruption

Szoravel began the first calibration session at dawn.

The Null lay on a dark metal disc between them. Szoravel arranged thin rods around it and aligned their marks with those on the disc.

“Hold it against the disc,” Szoravel said. “No activation. Keep your hands in place for the reading.”

The Null was cold beneath his palms. Szoravel adjusted a rod, and a pulse crossed the disc. Drusniel’s fingers went numb. He had to watch them to keep his grip steady.

“Hold position. No further pressure.”

Each pulse from the disc reached his wrists. His arms began to tremble. The Null remained inert, but the marks on the nearest rod brightened at every pulse.

The pulses were coming closer together. He looked at Szoravel, who was still adjusting the second rod.

“The window will be—” he started.

The door opened.

Nyxara crossed the chamber and stopped beside the workbench, clear of the low beams.

Szoravel stopped adjusting the rod. His black eyes fixed on her. Drusniel’s hands still trembled against the disc.

“We don’t have three weeks.”

She stayed on her feet.

“My agents have reported.” Nyxara pointed to the rod. “The acceleration has doubled since your last calibration.”

“Outside the projected range.” Szoravel took up the measuring rod. “Repeat measurement.” The marks pulsed faster.

“Under external pressure, it can.”

“What external pressure?”

Nyxara pointed at the rod.

“The system is being used. From the other side. Something is testing the barrier’s integrity, probing for the renewal window. Your three-week timeline was built on natural degradation rates. The rates are no longer natural.”

Szoravel set the rod beside the disc and compared the marks.

Drusniel tried to loosen his grip. He could barely feel his fingertips.

“Prior information withheld,” Szoravel said. “State when your sources confirmed it.”

“My agents confirmed the rate this morning. Their report is current.”

“Your agents.”

“My sources. Beyond this outpost. Beyond your instruments.”

“You’re overriding me.”

“I am correcting your timeline.”

“Calibration requires—”

“Your timeline assumed I would wait and the barrier would follow your model. Neither holds.”

Szoravel put down the rod.

His gaze moved to Drusniel’s shaking hands.

“How long?” Drusniel asked.

They both looked at him.

“How long.”

“Days,” Nyxara said. “Not weeks.”

“How many days?”

She met his eyes. “Prepare for three. Four is the outer limit in the report. The probing will force the window open early. You will be there.”

Szoravel gripped the table edge. The Null remained cold beneath Drusniel’s hands.

“Insufficient calibration,” Szoravel said. “Approach incomplete. Activation unapproved.”

“Then make him ready faster,” Nyxara said. “Or I will.”

Drusniel pulled his hands away from the disc. The pulse stopped. His fingers kept shaking.

Srietz spoke from the corridor.

“They’re arguing about when to use it,” Srietz said. “Srietz hasn’t heard anyone ask if you will.”

Drusniel took the Null off the disc.

“I agreed to measurements,” he said. “I haven’t agreed to activation.”

Nyxara turned toward him. He kept the artifact in his hands.

End of Chapter 34.5 —> 35.1: The Map That Bleeds: The Alignment