Sixty miles east of the dome a mining facility is hard at work. The entire place is lit up, almost like a mini city. A large air bubble miles in diameter covers the place as dozens of small submarines ferry in and out. A massive hole dug straight into the ground uncovers a vein of white metal where machines of all kinds dig and section it out.

  "How's our yield looking?" A large muscular man with broad shoulders and a massive beard asks. His dark eyes twinkle with life and his blue coveralls are dotted with white powder. Beside him, a tall slim man with blond hair and glasses responds quickly.

  "Acceptable. The silicon mine is doing well, we should have another year or two on our contract. As for the Marnite..." The man's eyebrows scrunch together, his blue eyes worried, "I'm afraid what you see here is what's left. Unless we find another source, our contract with the city is over."

  The burly man curses under his breath, "The closest deposit found is over a hundred miles from the dome. Setting up a facility there is going to be a nightmare." He stands quietly, looking up at the fake projected night sky, arms crossed.

  The blond-haired man puts a hand on his shoulder, his touch gentle, "I know you don't want to be too far from the city, but we are running out of options. If we don't, someone else will."

  He sighs, "I know, I know. It's just hard Arelias. These men are out here six, seven months at a time, and the ride home is already two days of travel with no food. Going further will just demoralize them even more."

  Arelias shrugs, "Sacrifices have to be made. Besides, none of them seem to mind. I mean do you hear that, Garson?" The sounds of merry singing can be heard as men and machines do hard labor around the mine, "They couldn't care less."

  Garson shakes his head, "We both know there's something wrong with the city folk. I have never seen one of them unhappy before. Even when things go wrong. All we're doing is taking advantage of them for our own gain."

  He shrugs, "As I said, if we don't someone else will. Someone who cares far less than you."

  The man sighs, "Fine. Send out a recon team. If they can establish a pathway then I will inform the city council." Arelias smiles before walking toward the large collection of buildings on the edge of the mine.

  Garson shakes his head at the businessman's lack of empathy. His watch dings and an earpiece crackles to life, "Boss, I have some urgent news."

  "Go ahead, Freedman."

  "That silt storm will be here in a few hours." A hint of panic creeps into the person's voice.

  "What of it? We've known it's been brewing for days. Why the sudden panic?"

  "Sir, there's something in the storm. And it's massive."

  Garson goes to dismiss the report but stops himself, "You said something was in the storm? As in a creature?"

  The line is quiet for several seconds before a shaky response answers back, "Yessir. Our trackers can't seem to get a read on what it is, but it's the cause of the storm. And it's headed straight for us."

  Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.

  Creatures in the ocean are nothing new to Garson. He was born outside the city and has spent years mapping the surrounding areas even if it is a dead zone, but one that can create a silt storm? That is something new to him.

  "Wait how long did you say till it hits?"

  "Maybe an hour or two. At most, we have three hours."

  He sighs deeply. I suppose I have no choice. "Lock down all the mines. No one comes in or out. Also, send a message to the city about our new development. Patch me through to Emerson."

  "Copy." The earpiece buzzes as the line transfers. Garson heads toward a large watchtower a couple hundred yards away, five small buildings surrounding it.

  "Sir, you called?"

  "Emerson, make sure all cargo subs are halted and have men stationed near the density shield generators. Seems this storm will be one of the biggest in our history. We can't have them overheat."

  "Understood." The line clicks

  The mine tycoon sighs, troubled as he approaches the tower. Five metal cargo containers are situated in a circle around it that acts as a conduit for the density shield. A creature in the silt storm? Could it be the cause of it? He shakes his head. No, that isn't possible. It takes more than a large creature to make one of those. The currents have to be just right as well.

  Garson stops just before one of the containers. Somethings wrong. Why is it so quiet? Garson flings open the door to one of the generator buildings. The machine is silent. He clicks on his flashlight, running across it. It is a smooth metal box as large as a small car. Typically there would be a blue light emitting from the center, with the top half hovering just above the bottom half and a loud hum vibrating the very air itself, but all is quiet and dark.

  He clicks his tongue in annoyance. It'll take days to get this back online. He pulls a nearby chair over and climbs it to look on top. A small cylinder sticks up, the place where the energy is released and then collected by the tower. He reaches over and pulls out a wad of cloth.

  "Dammit. So that's why it stopped. Damn thing imploded in on itself." Garson throws the rag into the wall with a growl. This was sabotaged. The only weakness these machines have is that exhaust port. If it's blocked the energy has nowhere to go. I'm lucky there wasn't a meltdown.

  Worry worms its way into his gut. He runs out, moving from generator to generator, but every single one is shut down, a wad of cloth stuck into the exhaust.

  He approaches the final one, the hum clear as day. Inside the blue light of the core illuminates the room, the top metal half floating just above the core. A woman stands there, staring.

  Garson's heart pounds and the heat in the room makes him sweat more than he already has. "Mary?" The woman turns to him, her eyes as black as the abyss, not a single bit of white remaining.

  Shit, the levy? I thought dome techs were immune. But that would explain the generators.

  He breathes out a shaky breath, the gravity of the situation dawning on him. If she turns that off, we all die. Even if she doesn't we only have a few hours till the generator blows. I need to solve this fast.

  "Hey, Mary. Why are you here? I wasn't told about any maintenance scheduled."

  She turns back to the core, "I am running a test."

  "A test, huh? How's it going?" Slowly he creeps forward. Just another foot.

  "Satisfactory. I do believe I have found the most efficient way to destroy them, though it does require a delicate touch."

  He nods, not paying attention to her words. "Well, surely you have satisfied your curiosity, yes? Taking that one offline will kill us all, so why don't you just back away?"

  She shakes her head, "No, I do not believe I will. After all, this is the most important part." Without warning she shoves her hand into the core, grabbing it and ripping it out of the machine. There's a small blip sound as the woman's arm disintegrates into nothing. With a thunk the floating top slams into the bottom and then crumbles into scrap metal.

  Garson only had a second to react, a scream tearing from his throat, "NO-," and all was silent.

  A few hours later the silt storm rolls over the mine, no lights, no sounds, and not a person in sight.