"Are you sure you saw what you thought you saw?" asked Captain Daniels when Duffy told him what had happened.

  "They tore the man to pieces," the physicist replied. "They were acting purposefully. Intelligently. I know what I saw."

  "Then how do you explain that?" The Captain pointed to where two of the creatures were wandering aimlessly beside the wagon left by the first expedition. A small group of soldiers were amusing themselves by slashing at them with their sabres. The creatures didn't seem to either notice or care.

  "They're clearly mindless," said the Captain. "Do you agree? If they're still under intelligent control, why aren't they attacking us? There must be thousands of them still out there."

  "They've given up, for the time being at least. They know we can defeat them easily. They're counting on their Plan B now."

  "Plan B?"

  "Me!" said Duffy impatiently. "I'm their Plan B. They're hoping that your government will persuade me to build another Furnace for them, which I won't."

  "And why would the government want you to do something so dangerous?"

  "Because the Furnace is a proven source of free, clean energy," said Bergman, coming over to join them. "It was powering itself after the power went out in the rest of the city. It only needs a little more work to fix the side effects like the anomaly."

  "You think the oil industry will allow that?" said Duffy, though. "A global industry worth trillions will stop at nothing to protect their profits. You even whisper the words 'free, clean energy' and they'll move Heaven and Earth to stop you."

  Even Bergman was forced to nod, accepting the truth of his words. "Well, there are other treasure beyond imagination on the other side of the portal. Something that can make your political masters wealthy beyond imagination."

  "He's mad," said Duffy desperately. "You mustn't listen to him."

  "Tell me Captain," said Bergman with a gleeful grin. "What do you know about superconductors?"

  At that moment, though, the deep sound of powerful helicopter engines came to them from the hot, Arizona sky. They all looked up and saw a Black Hawk coming in from the north, a black silhouette against the bright sky. It circled above them while the pilots scouted the ground, and then it descended, its downdraught creating a storm of debris that made Duffy and the soldiers shield their eyes with their hands. It lowered itself slowly and carefully, looking huge as the wagon gave it a sense of scale, and when it touched the ground it settled gently on its wheels as they accepted its weight. The rotor blades began to slow as the pilot powered down the engines and the door in the side slid open.

  General Bromley and Malcolm Starr stepped out, followed by a third man that Duffy recognised as Roger Cartman, the Governor of Arizona, wearing a smart suit with cufflinks that gleamed in the hot Arizona sun. He was followed by a pair of reporters carrying shoulder-mounted cameras. Captain Daniels went over to meet them and Bergman tried to follow but the soldiers guarding him held him back. When Duffy tried to move forward the soldiers stopped him as well and the physicist simmered helplessly as the military men met a short distance away from the helicopter. He looked at Bergman beside him to see him grinning with pleasure and anticipation.

  "They'll want to talk to me sooner or later," he said, "and I'll tell them everything I know. The superconductors. How to build a Furnace. I'll tell them I've given all this information to the Chinese as well. The Americans will have no choice but to create a portal to the other world, to keep the Chinese from having a monopoly on the superconductor."

  "If they believe you," Duffy replied, choosing his words for the benefit of the guard soldiers who could hear everything they said. In front of them, the General and the Governor were shaking Daniels' hand and grinning all over their faces, with everything being filmed by the two cameramen. The scene would be all over the news later that day, Duffy knew. Not only in the USA but all over the world. The Governor should have no trouble getting re-elected this year, he thought.

  He returned his attention to Bergman. "Why should they believe a word from someone driven mad by the anomaly?" he said. "They'll dismiss everything you say and bury Furnace technology so deep it'll be a thousand years before anyone builds another one. There will never be another anomaly and I think you know it, even in your madness. Best thing you can do is resign yourself to a lifetime in prison with as much grace as you can."

  The grin on Bergman's face faded as if he feared that what Duffy said might be true, but then a sly smile returned. "We'll see," he said. "I won't be working alone. The Crystal Entity is here now, on our world. You've seen the proof for yourself. It will help me. Between us we'll find a way. The plague that is mankind will be cleared away and the world will be made beautiful. It is inevitable."

  Duffy was pleased and relieved to see looks of amusement on the faces of the soldiers guarding them. They clearly thought he was mad, and if the Generals and politicians thought the same then the world was safe. Let the Intelligence plot and scheme with its godlike intellect. It was limited to the area beneath Maricopa and now had no way of spreading its influence further. It was even possible that, now that the anomaly was gone, the bedrocks under the city would de-crystallise and the copy of the Intelligence that had come to Earth would die. Maybe it was dying already. A fish out of water, unable to survive in a, to it, alien environment.

  Then the Governor finished congratulating the Captain, though, and began to circulate among the soldiers, followed by General Bromley and the reporters. Starr and Daniels hurried back to the two physicists. "Take him away," said the Captain, indicating Bergman. "We don't need his madness all over the evening news."

  The two soldiers nodded and took the physicist by the arm. "You can't stop what's coming," said Bergman as they dragged him away. "You're fools even to try. Better to accept the inevitable and prepare yourselves for the end as best you can."

  "Take him to one of the Rhinos," Daniels told the soldiers. "Somewhere you can keep him quiet so he doesn't embarrass us in front of the whole world."

  "Yes, Sir," said one of the soldiers. "Come along, Sir. Let's not make a scene."

  Bergman gave the Captain a look of fury but then went with the soldiers quietly. Duffy guessed that he didn't want to look like a madman in front of the Governor. If he was going to have any chance of success he had to look calm and composed. Rational. There would be plenty of interrogations and debriefs. He would have his chance. Making a scene now would do him more harm than good.

  "The Governor wants to talk to you," Starr said to Duffy. "He glanced around to make sure the reporters weren't near enough to overhear him. "He wants to hear a tale of courage and triumph in the face of adversity. Don't disappointed him."

  "Wouldn't dream of it," Duffy replied. "The world needs to know just how dangerous this technology is. There must never be another Furnace built. We escaped by the skin of our teeth this time. Next time we may not be so lucky."

  The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

  "Try not to sermonise," said Starr, though. "This isn't the time for that. There will be many, many inquires into this incident over the years to come. Preach your message then. Right now, we're celebrating the salvation of the world, and if what you say makes the Governor look good to the voters he'll be sure to express his gratitude. I expect you'll be looking for a research grant for whatever you choose to work on next."

  "I hadn't really looked that far ahead yet," Duffy admitted.

  "Well, think about it while you decide what you're going to say it front of the reporters. Here he comes now."

  Duffy turned and saw the Governor making a beeline in his direction, his cufflinks glinting in the sun like diamonds. He was grinning broadly while swapping words of praise to the soldiers he passed on the way, every word and gesture recorded by the two reporters who accompanied him. Duffy took a deep breath as he braced himself, choosing the words that he hoped would have the right effect. He felt himself sweating nervously as he realised that the fate of the world might depend on what he and the Governor said to each other over the next few seconds.

  ☆☆☆

  About an hour later, with plenty of footage in the cameras of the two reporters to make him look like a natural born candidate for the Presidency in another few years, Roger Cartman returned to the Black Hawk with Malcolm Starr. Duffy was delighted when the Governor invited him to fly back with them. "I expect you're eager to get back to your normal life," he said.

  "You have no idea," Duffy replied. "I can't wait to get back to Canada. After all this excitement, by which I mean outright terror, I desperately need a dose of normality. My friends. My family. My house in Ontario."

  He watched the Governor carefully as he said this, watching for the slightest hint that he wouldn't be allowed to go home just yet, or ever. Not that he would be going home even if allowed. He had business in the USA first. The Governor couldn't be allowed to know that, though.

  To his relief, Cartman smiled pleasantly. "I'm sure," he said. "Well, you have my best wishes for a happy and prosperous life. I'm aware that we were a little brusque in our recruitment of you and that we knowingly violated quire a few of your rights by impressing you into this mission against your will. You now know, even better than us, just how urgent the situation was, though, and I think you'll find that I can be quite generous in expressing our gratitude to you."

  "Just returning to my normal life will be reward enough for me," Duffy replied.

  "Nevertheless there will be compensation," the Governor promised him. "And I'm pretty sure you'll be making quite a bit of money on your own account too. Just imagine the book deals you can make from your adventures. Television interviews. Selling your story to the newspapers. I would imagine you could pretty much name your price."

  "I would imagine there're some things you won't want me revealing to the world," said Duffy, though.

  The Governor shook his head. "I don't think so," he said. "You weren't privy to any great military secrets or any political scandals. I'm pretty sure no-one would object to you revealing whatever you wanted to reveal about this incident. You will probably never need to work again."

  "That would be nice," said Duffy with a smile.

  Cartman smiled back. "But, unless I miss my guess, I think you're one of those men who needs to work. You have a driving curiosity. A need to understand the universe and communicate it with the rest of the world. Am I right?"

  "Possibly," Duffy conceded.

  "Because it you are, you might consider working for me. I have a project is the works that would profit greatly from the input from a man of your talents and experience. To tell the truth it's right up your alley."

  "Sounds intriguing," Duffy replied.

  "But we can talk about that later. Right now is a time of celebration and I think we should celebrate the salvation of the world with a drink."

  He reached across to the drinks cabinet sitting by the side of his seat, and as he did so a shaft of sunlight shone through the window onto his cufflinks, in which small pieces of polished stone were set. White stone, or at least almost white. A very light shade of green in which tiny specks of darker green were sprinkled like currents in a bun...

  Duffy must have gone white with shock because the Governor stared at him before following his gaze to his cufflinks. "Oh dear," he said. "This isn't how I wanted you to find out. How careless of me. I was a fool, perhaps, to have these cufflinks made, but it amused me to wear the most precious substance of the planet as jewellery."

  "You know about..." began Duffy in a suddenly dry throat. The passenger lounge of the helicopter swam around him as if he was about to faint.

  "The superconductor," said the Governor. "Yes. A colleague of yours, Professor Goldwin, received a package from Professor Bergman and, when he realised the significance of what he'd been sent he got in touch with me. Apparently Bergman sent a similar package to the Chinese but I'm guessing you already knew that."

  Duffy ran a hand across his suddenly sweaty brow. "Mister Governor, you cannot be thinking of... Of..."

  "If the Chinese are going after the Superconductor then we have to as well," said the Governor calmly. "We simply have no choice. We cannot allow them to get that kind of technological lead over us. They would replace us as the world's dominant superpower in less than ten years. We would spend the next century living in their shadow."

  "But the danger..."

  Starr's hand was reaching towards the inside pocket of his jacket but Cartman waved a hand to stop him. "I don't think there's any need for that," he said. "Mister Duffy's not going to do anything stupid, are you, Mister Duffy?" Starr withdrew his hand, empty, but his eyes were a still fixed on the physicist, full of threat and warning.

  "If you create another anomaly, next time there might be no stopping it," said Duffy. He could feel his heart pounding in his ears.

  "Professor Bergman told Goldwin in his letter that he's confident that the Mark 2 Furnace won't create an anomaly," said the Governor. "Goldwin tells me that he sees no reason why the improvements won't work."

  "Goldwin knows nothing about the Furnace," said Duffy. He struggled to keep his voice from rising with hysteria. "He's never seen a functioning Furnace."

  "But you have," said Cartman. "You were able to study it up close for several days and you had Bergman tutoring you personally on the subject."

  "Bergman's mad," said Duffy. "He wants to create an anomaly. Any improvements he makes to the Furnace will make it create a more powerful anomaly."

  "Which is why he won't be allowed within a thousand miles of the project. This will be Goldwin's project. And yours, I hope. This is the project I told you about. The one I'd like to recruit you for."

  "Never! I won't lift a finger to help you. I'll do everything in my power to stop you."

  'Mister Duffy, the project is going to proceed, with or without you. With your help we have a much greater chance of creating a safe Furnace, and when we succeed we can share the technology with the Chinese so they can make their Furnace safe too. This is a case where it's in everyone's interest that we both succeed. If the Chinese succeed first, they will share the technology with us so that we don't create an anomaly that will swallow up the whole world, including China. We might even collaborate with them in the attempt."

  Duffy stared at the Governor, searching his face for any sign that he might be able to talk the man out of the idea. He didn't see any. "You remind me of an old saying," he said. "Against stupidity the gods themselves contend in vain."

  "Not stupidity, Mister Duffy. Necessity. We simply have no choice."

  "Mister Governor, the Intelligence that engineered the living creatures in the anomaly is now here, in this world. It will find a way to sabotage your efforts, create a new anomaly."

  The Governor didn't seem bothered by Duffy's words. "If that's true we'll find a way of dealing with it. The pressing question right now, though, is this. Will you help us? A new Furnace is going to be built. We might even realise Bergman's original dream of producing unlimited, clean energy. Your help will increase the chances of our doing so safely." He leaned forward in his chair, his eyes fixed intently on those of the physicist. "For the safety and security of the world, Mister Duffy, will you help us?"

  Duffy sat trembling in his seat as the world seemed to close in around him. So many people had died, and died horribly. Surely only a madman would even think about risking a repetition. But, of course, the world had been mad for a long time. Mad with the lust for money and power. Maybe the world had always been mad. He suddenly knew that trying to stop the Furnace from being built would be impossible. He'd been crazy to think otherwise. That being the case, wasn't it his duty to make sure it was made as safe as possible? What if he refused, returned to Canada, and a few years later another anomaly appeared, swallowing up the world slowly but relentlessly? Would he be able to live with himself knowing that he might have been able to stop it?

  He swallowed and put his hand over his face as if he was trying to hide from the terrible situation the Governor had put him in. He knew what he was going to say, but it still took all his willpower to lift his face from his hand and look at the other man. The words didn't want to come from his mouth, but he knew that if he didn't say them now he would have to say them later and it would be no easier then than it was now. He took a deep breath, therefore, and forced them out.

  "Alright," he said. "I'll help you.

  The End.