Chương 198: CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND NINETY-EIGHT: THE NINTH OF MAY

The message came down the eastern relay at the fourth hour of the afternoon on the ninth of May. It came from the northern station, not the eastern, and it came out of sequence, and Sennet sent for Marcus before she had finished decoding it, which she had never once done in five years. He got there while she was still writing. She did not hand it to him. She kept writing and said, "It's Confluix. It's still coming."

"How long has it been running?"

"Eleven minutes." Confluix's transmissions ran two minutes. Three if the boundary report was complex. Marcus stood at the window and watched the northern relay flash and did not read over her shoulder. At nineteen minutes it stopped. Sennet finished the last group, checked it twice, and gave him the sheet. BOUNDARY EVENT. NOT MAINTENANCE. BEGAN 0340 THIS MORNING. Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. THE FIRST ONES HAVE OPENED THE BOUNDARY.

NOT A BREACH — AN OPENING. IT IS DELIBERATE AND IT IS HELD OPEN AND IT HAS BEEN HELD OPEN FOR TWELVE HOURS. I HAVE BEEN AT ALTITUDE OVER IT SINCE THE SIXTH HOUR. THE OPENING IS APPROXIMATELY FOUR HUNDRED YARDS ACROSS. NOTHING HAS COME THROUGH IT. AT THE ELEVENTH HOUR A STRUCTURE WAS PLACED ON THE SOUTHERN SIDE OF THE OPENING. IT WAS NOT THERE AT DAWN. IT IS STONE, IT IS RECENT, AND IT IS THE SAME WORK AS THE CONSTRUCTIONS IN THE INTERIOR. IT IS A SINGLE STANDING STONE.

IT IS SET IN THE CENTRE OF THE OPENING ON OUR SIDE OF THE LINE. IT IS UNMARKED. I HAVE EXAMINED IT FOR FOUR HOURS. THERE IS NO INSCRIPTION, NO ORIENTATION, NO ASTRONOMICAL FUNCTION. IT IS DRESSED STONE WITH NOTHING ON IT AT ALL. I ASSESS THE FOLLOWING AND I WISH TO BE CLEAR THAT IT IS AN ASSESSMENT AND NOT AN OBSERVATION. EVERY OTHER STONE THEY HAVE MADE IN EIGHT HUNDRED YEARS CARRIES A RECORD. THIS ONE IS BLANK AND IT HAS BEEN PLACED ON OUR SIDE. I BELIEVE THEY ARE ASKING US TO WRITE ON IT. I DO NOT KNOW WHAT.

I DO NOT KNOW IN WHAT LANGUAGE. I DO NOT KNOW WHETHER A WRONG ANSWER CLOSES IT. THE OPENING IS STILL HELD. I WILL REMAIN OVER IT. SEND WHOEVER YOU ARE SENDING. C. Marcus read it twice. Then he said, "Get me Danny, Mensah, Okafor, Vance, Hargrove. Old Stone if the boundary relay can reach him tonight." Sennet was already turning to the mirror.

"And Sennet."

"My lord."

"Don't send it as urgent," Marcus said.

"Send it as come to the study. If it goes out urgent, half the town knows by the seventh hour and I want a night to think before the town has an opinion."