Isandlwana. The rocky outcrop near the border of Zulu territory was so named because its outline resembled a wrist and clenched fist. It was a place of little interest to the Zulu except that it lay along the main route from the center of their nation to neighboring Transvaal.
It was, however, of interest to others.
Three miles below the rocky outcrop was one of the world’s largest concentrations of pure diamonds. They were suspended in rock in a curious latticework formation, present nowhere else on the planet except on a large scale at the very center.
While Dingane was going to visit his brother for the last time, a storm was raging over the Isandlwana area. Dark clouds covered the moon and stars. And bolts of lightning streaked across the sky. At the highest point of Isandlwana, a small dark circle appeared. The circle grew wider until it elongated to eight feet high by three in width.
A figure shielded in a pure white suit of some kind of armor appeared, stepping out of the gate. Two more followed it, taking up flanking positions with strange spears at the ready.
The center Valkyrie, as they had been named so long ago by the first Vikings to see the creatures, was not armed with a spear, but with a gold, glowing tube five feet long and six inches in diameter. It placed one end of the tube against the stony ground. On the other end was a small display, and the creature watched the display as it sent a pulse of subatomic particles called muons into the planet. The muons reached the diamond field and confirmed its presence and arrangement — as expected.
Satisfied, the creature made an adjustment on the buttons along the top side of the tube. Then it fired another pulse, a stronger one into the rock, penetrating the planet to the lattice field. The tube went dead, all its energy having been sent out in that pulse.
The thousands of diamonds that made up the lattice field began to glow ever so slightly.
The Valkyries turned and disappeared back into the gate, which snapped out of existence.
In the lattice field not only were the diamonds now · charged but ever so slightly the charge was extending from one to another. The process was so slow, it would take decades, but the Shadow was patient. It could wait decades to reap the crop it had just sown here.
Colonel Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain IV knelt next to the fledgling plant, marveling at it, not daring to touch it with his armor-gloved hand. He had not seen green outside of the hydro farms for over twenty years. He was, of course, in full battle kit. One could not be on the surface Without it. Standing orders that had been drilled into Chamberlain since he was seven and taken from his parents to live in the agoge, the barracks where he had lived ever since.
The suit he Wore was painted flat black, the external material a ceramic polymer that provided protection against both weapons and weather. Beneath the armor, the suit was cutting edge technology, the result of decades of work. Battery-powered strips of ionic polymer metal composites added power, magnifying the wearer’s own strength when activated by movement.
The inner layer was airtight, fitting against the skin. The suit was designed to be used in all terrain, even under water. A backpack contained both the computer that operated the various systems and a sophisticated rebreather that could sustain oxygen for over twelve hours when operating on total seal. If operating in a safe environment, a valve in the back of the helmet could be opened to allow outside air in.
The helmet was the most advanced part of the outfit. It had a visor to the outside world, but when the visor was shut to block either outside light or for protection, flat screens on the inner front portrayed whatever direction · the wearer ordered. Numerous minicams were on the external armor, from the two on the side of the helmet pointing forward to give a normal front view with depth, to ones pointing straight up, down, and back. They were necessary because the helmet fit onto the body of the suit tightly, allowing no movement. The display Dot only relayed the view from the cameras but also could have an · overlay display with various tactical and technical information.
The suit was moved by the person inside moving. The suit’s special qualities were voice activated by the wearer, who gave commands out loud, which were picked up by the computer.
The only time Chamberlain had been on the surface without full battle kit was for two weeks when he had been sent out of the city naked for survival training. Hiding during the day from the fierce rays of a sun unblocked by ozone, freezing at night here at the bottom of the world, despite the ice cap having melted, the temperature still dipped below zero at times.
One out of three sent on survival training never returned. Only one of twenty who entered the agoge graduated it with the tiny flaming sword tattoo on each temple, a sign of being one of the First Earth Battalion.
Chamberlain had come back from his two weeks of surface survival training covered in dried blood from a seal carcass he stole from underneath the less than observant nose of a mutated polar bear, one of the few creatures that still walked the surface of the planet. Its white fur reflected the rays of the sun, but its eyes were blinded by the solar radiation and thus it relied on the sense of smell to hunt.
Chamberlain stood, the articulated micro motors of the full-body suit fighting the effort. He had the suit set to train, which meant instead of amplifying his movements, the suit’s inner gears worked against him, forcing his muscles to fight their action and develop. He put the suit in combat mode only during full-force training maneuvers and then only because he knew he had to keep his nerves attuned to the suit’s capabilities for the day he, and his men, would actually be in combat.
A day that many said would never come.
He leaned, looking down through the clear blast-glass · face shield built into the helmet that covered his head. It was indeed a plant. Could the seed have been brought by a bird? No one had seen a bird in over ten years, but it was possible, wasn’t it? Could life be coming back to a planet the scientists, and every observable piece of evidence, insisted was dying?
But here was life where there should be none.
A glow on the horizon warned him that the sun was coming. Reflexively he dropped the outer face shield over the blast-glass, sealing him from the outside world. Projected on the reflective layer on the inside of the shield, his external cameras relayed the various views of his external world.
“Thermal,” Chamberlain whispered and the display changed to a spectrum of colors. The plant was cold and Chamberlain frowned. He reached down with armor-plated fingers and dug, pulling out the plastic facsimile of a plant. He felt no disappointment as he had lived almost his entire life on a dying planet and hope was a concept neither taught nor encouraged.
How long had it lain here? Fallen from some resupply to a research station years ago, perhaps. Decoration for an underground base most likely.
There was no life coming back on the surface of the planet.
“Day mode,” Chamberlain ordered. The thermal imaging stopped and the screen displayed the outside view with the dangerous rays of the sun filtered out. The terrain around Chamberlain was desolate, black sand with numerous rocks tumbled about as if a giant had let loose a barrage onto the surface. Over two miles of ice had covered this land as recently as fifty years ago. The melting of both ice caps had been swift and dramatic after the Shadow sphere had stripped the planet of its ozone layer. The sea level rose over three hundred feet in less than a · year, inundating coastal areas around the world.