I opened my eyes. ‘What’s what?’ I asked him. Blue afterglows danced before my vision. I blinked. They didn’t go away. ‘That. Isn’t that light? Shut the box. See if it’s still there or if it’s some sort of reflection.’ It was hard to get the box to shut. My fingers were cold, and my one un-booted foot was a cold aching lump at the end of my leg. But when the box was closed, a blue shard of light still beckoned to us. It was irregularly shaped and oddly edgeless. I squinted at it, trying to make it assume some familiar aspect.
