Asimov's Science Fiction by Penny Publications Page A

created by beings from the stars.
    Isobel exploded into view from the other side of the truck. "Oh, good, you're awake, we have to go now! Right this minute, before the battle!"
    Battle? Zed saw no signs of battle, heard nothing but the first morning birds, warning everybody away from their territory, their mates, their insects. Isobel grabbed his hand and pulled him into a run alongside the alien wall. It made an abrupt, sharp turn—whoever had called this a "dome" was crazy—and there stood a serious camp. Large olive-green tents, open-sided lean-tos with wood stoves, an American flag on a tall pole in the middle, guards with guns.
    "Earthers," Isobel whispered. "To prevent anyone going in. Be very quiet. We only paid off the night guards. Shhh!"
    Three men with guns stood between the camp and the wall. There was no one else in sight. The breeze shifted, carrying to Zed's nostrils a thick, coppery odor.
    Gary, Luke, and Dave nodded at the guards. Unsmiling, they stepped aside. Isobel tugged on Zed's hand.
    "Wait," he whispered. "Isobel—wait. What's happening?"
    "We're going inside!"
    "But how... who...
wait.
"
    Gary said, "Hey, this isn't really the time to discuss logistics, you know?"
    They were hurrying him along, body and mind. Zed didn't like it. He planted his feet apart and talked directly at Isobel. "Who goes inside? All of us?"
    "No, no, they're too old—I thought you
knew.
Everybody knows!"
    Zed didn't flinch at her tone. Not this time. "You have to be young to go in?"
    "Yes, yes—Zed, let me by, I have to stand by the gate!"
    All her self-assurance had fled; she was frantic. Zed caught her shoulders and held her. "How do you know what to do?"
    "Do you think we're the first? Zed, come on, we have to hurry, before the camp wakes up and stops us!"
    "That's what they're here for? To stop us?" He looked over her shoulder at the quiet camp, the guards who had been bribed to break the rules. Birds shrilled. The wind picked up and he caught again the coppery odor.
    Gary said, "Shit—they're waking up!"
    Zed hadn't seen anything but he let Gary dart past him and lean into the black wall. Isobel yanked Zed around to face the dome. Low to the ground, a square hole opened, no more than three feet tall and three wide. In it, mist swirled. Isobel tore herself from his grasp and dropped to the ground.
    Zed caught at her hair. "No, me first—it might be dangerous!"
    Isobel hesitated but then said, "Okay."
    Zed got down on all fours, still holding his rifle. He couldn't see anything through the mist. Fear blossomed in him like a lily, chalky white, but not as vibrant as his excitement. He was going into an alien dome. He was going with Isobel, whom he would protect. It was really happening.
    The mist felt like nothing at all, not even droplets of moisture. He emerged into a perfectly featureless cube of a room, maybe ten feet square. No windows or doors. Nothing. His.22 was gone.
    "Hey! My gun!"
    All at once he thought he was the stupidest person alive. The aliens had vaporized his rifle. They had vaporized entire
cities.
What was he doing? He had to get out!
    Zed bolted back toward the mist, but somehow it had become impassable. Zed beat his fists against it, which was like beating on stone. On the other side of the mist, Isobel screamed.
    He thought first that the aliens were hurting her. Then, that the Earther soldiers had grabbed her and her cousins. Finally he realized that her screams were not pain or fear, but fury.
    "Let me in too! Let me in, you fucking bastards! I go with Zed! Let me in!"
    "Isobel!"
    The sound ceased. Zed cried at the ceiling, "Don't hurt her! Don't you dare hurt her!"
    "No," the ceiling said back.
    A mechanical voice, but it startled Zed so much that for a moment he thought it was the voice of God, answering the prayers his father always directed at the cabin ceiling.
    "She is not hurt. But she cannot enter. You may enter."
    The far wall dissolved.
    Zed blinked. He was on the other side of the