Black Sun Rising

Prologue

Descending from a clear blue sky, the AgustaWestland AW119 sent waves of sand scudding across the ground below. The woman sitting by the window gazed out over the desert, lost in thought. The end of the Grand Canyon spread out in the distance, but it had long since lost its ability to impress her. Too many years of traveling the world had taken their toll. Now the world's geographical wonders were little more than an inconvenience, standing between her and her latest destination.

The chopper touched down. The woman uncrossed her legs, smoothed down her flowing linen trousers, and stood. A man with long, ash blond hair was approaching, ready to offer her a steadying hand as she alighted. "Hey," he called, over the noise of the propeller. "How was your flight?"

The woman replied with a one-shouldered shrug and allowed herself to be helped down onto the sand. "Is everything ready?" she asked.

Her lack of niceties and small talk did not offend the man. "You know it!" He followed as she strode purposefully away from the helicopter. "I knew you'd want everything to be perfect, so I've been keeping a super close watch on every detail. How are you feeling about it, anyway? I'm kinda invigorated, myself. If we pull this off, it's going to be bigger than anything we've ever done before."

She stopped abruptly and turned to shoot him an icy glare. "If?"

He raised his hands apologetically. "When."

"Exactly. When. Now, I know that we're setting up the surface area the same way as usual, and the entrance to the medical compound will be the same. I saw the developments over at the cinder cone a couple of weeks ago. All I need you to show me is the new installations here."

"Sure thing, S. It's all in place. The screening facility won't be fully functional until tomorrow, though. Some problem with the—"

She cut him off with an abrupt gesture. "Tomorrow? We agreed it would all be ready by today."

"I know, I know, and I'm sorry. It was working this morning and now it's glitching. I've got some people working on it right now. Tomorrow, I promise you — hey, where are you going?"

The woman had turned and was walking swiftly back toward the helicopter. The man ran after her, diving in front of her so that she had to stop. She sighed. "Don't get in my way, Cody," she said. "It's not ready. You have one more chance. I will come back tomorrow, and it will be ready then."

"It will, S, I promise." Perhaps it was the desert heat, but a thin film of sweat was beginning to form on the young man's brow.

"I'm sure it will." She stepped up into the chopper. As she turned to look at the man, her stony expression suddenly melted into a smile. "You know that I require nothing less than total commitment. I know you understand."

With no further conversation, she was gone. The man watched as the helicopter took off, shielding his eyes from the sand it churned up. He did not seem comforted in the slightest by her words.