The computer voice said, "Testing begins in...twenty seconds."
She climbed the stairs and crouched beside Kenner. The whine had now built to a shriek, and the chugging was rapid, almost a continuous sound. Kenner pointed to the jet engine, and whispered, "They're testing airplane parts." He explained quickly that airplanes were frequently struck by lightning, and all their components had to be lightning proof. He said something else, too, but she couldn't really hear him over the increasing noise.
Inside the center room, the lights went off, leaving just a faint blue glow over the jet engine and its smoothly curved cowling. The computer voice was counting backward from ten.
"Testing begins...now."
There was asnap! so loud it sounded like a gunshot, and a bolt of lightning snaked out from the wall and struck the engine. It was immediately followed by more bolts from the other walls, striking the engine from all sides. The lightning crackled over the cowling in jagged white-hot fingers, then abruptly shot down to the floor, where Sarah saw a dome-shaped piece of metal about a foot in diameter.
She noticed a few of the lightning bolts seemed to shoot directly to this dome, missing the engine entirely.
As the test continued, the lightning bolts grew thicker, brighter. They made a longcrack! as they shot through the air, and etched black streaks over the metal cowl. The fan blades were struck by one bolt, causing the fan to spin silently.
As Sarah watched, it seemed as if more and more of the bolts did not strike the engine, but instead struck the small dome on the floor until finally there was a white spiderweb of lightning strikes, coming from all sides, going directly to the dome.
And then, abruptly, the test ended. The whining sound stopped, and the room lights came on. Faint, hazy smoke rose from the engine cowling. Sarah looked over at the console, and saw Brewster and Bolden standing behind the seated technician. All three men walked into the central room, where they crouched beneath the engine and inspected the metal dome.
"What is it?" Sarah whispered.
Kenner put a finger to his lips, and shook his head. He looked unhappy.
Inside the room, the men upended the dome, and Sarah had a glimpse of its complexity--green circuit boards and shiny metal attachments. But the men were clustered around it, talking excitedly, and it was hard for her to see. Then they put the dome back down on the floor again, and walked out of the room.
They were laughing and slapping each other on the back, apparently very pleased with the test. She heard one of them say something about buying a round of beer, and there was more laughter, and they walked out through the front door. The test area was silent.
They heard the outer door slam shut.
She and Kenner waited.
She looked at Kenner. He waited, motionless for a full minute, just listening. Then, when they still heard nothing, he said, "Let's have a look at that thing."
They climbed down from the catwalk.
On the ground level, they saw and heard nothing. The facility was apparently deserted. Kenner pointed to the inner chamber. They opened the door, and went inside.
The interior of the chamber was bright. There was a sharp smell in the air.
"Ozone," Kenner said. "From the strikes."
He walked directly to the dome on the floor.
"What do you think it is?" Sarah said.
"I don't know, but it must be a portable charge generator." He crouched, turned the dome over. "You see, if you can generate a strong enough negative charge--"
He broke off. The dome was empty. Its electronic innards had been removed.
With aclang, the door behind them slammed shut.
Sarah whirled. Bolden was on the other side of the door, calmly locking it with a padlock.
"Oh shit," she said. Over at the console she saw Brewster, turning knobs, flipping switches. He flicked an intercom.
"There's no trespassing in this facility, folks. It's clearly marked. Guess you didn't read the signs..."
Brewster stepped away from the console. The room lights went dark blue. Sarah heard the start of the whine, beginning to build. The screen flashed clear area now. And she heard a computer voice say, "Please clear the test area. Testing begins in...thirty seconds."
Brewster and Bolden walked out, without looking back.
Sarah heard Bolden say, "I hate the smell of burning flesh."
And they were gone, slamming the door.
The computer voice said, "Testing begins in...fifteen seconds."
Sarah turned to Kenner. "What do we do?"
Outside the facility, Bolden and Brewster got into their car. Bolden started the engine. Brewster put a hand on the other man's shoulder.
"Let's just wait a minute."
They watched the door. A red light began to flash, slowly at first, then faster and faster.
"Test has started," Brewster said.
"Damn shame," Bolden said. "How long you figure they can survive?"
"One bolt, maybe two. But by the third one, they're definitely dead. And probably on fire."
"Damn shame," Bolden said again. He put the car in gear, and drove toward the waiting airplane.
IV
FLASH