In the system of security tunnels, she could move only while lying down. This was done to conserve energy, most of which was used to keep the complex's monitoring equipment running.
The alert came as usual, calmly but insistently. A projection of a visual image appeared before her mind's eye. The guard glanced at it for a second. Then she opened her eyes.
She gave a command mentally, and her body floated out of the capsule and flew through the horizontal tunnel.
The Observation Hall was located in another part of the complex inside the mountain. It was protected by defensive and invisibility fields, but after the Dark Ones destroyed one of the complexes and its guards with missiles in the past, the cryosleep capsules began to be placed at a safe distance.
In the Observation Hall, the main monitors turned on. In the calm twilight of the room, they and several indicators on the panels were the only sources of light.
One of the monitors showed an area with a forest of giant ice crystals and tall, grim figures with long black scythes in their hands. They stood amid the bloody remains and bones of a large army. No one was left alive. An ominous silence hung in the air, and an icy wind stirred individual strands of the terrifying sorceresses' long white hair.
On another monitor, the current block of information was displayed in white characters.
Carrier of Object M245 was destroyed unexpectedly.
** Murder weapon: Object S22.**
** Method of killing: cut in two.**
** Mission to cleanse Territory 45-64 aborted.**
This block of information would be entered into the protocol for the report. And at the appropriate time, transmitted to the space station.
"I put the chapter on hold and temporarily deactivated and diverted the energy flows," the firm voice of the Second came from the operator's chair. "What do you order us to do? Wait for the emergence of the next carrier? According to the projections, that could take 50-70 years."
"Yes, we will have to wait," replied the First. "We have Eternity ahead of us."
At that moment, on the screen, one of the sorceresses bent down, tore a strange medallion from one of the bodies, and raised it in her hand. The medallion was pulsing with white light. Horror slowly and inexorably spread across the faces of the First and the Second at the sight of this scene. A feeling they had rarely experienced deep in the ages that had passed. The tall sorceress tore her gaze away from the pulsing medallion and turned her pale face toward them. It was as if she had seen them and was now ready to devour them without hesitation. The wild gaze of the burning blue lights pierced the guards.
"Code red!" the First raised her voice. "Activate the time rollback immediately. Destination: Territory 77!"
The Second touched several panels on the control console with her fingers. They lit up one after another.
After that, a bright flash appeared on the monitor screens.
The sorceresses disappeared. And with them, the horror disappeared from the faces of the First and the Second.