The village of Cresta di Ferro was little more than a collection of stone skeletons clinging to a vertical cliff in the northernmost reaches of the Italian Alps. It was a place where time had frozen along with the permafrost—no high-speed rail, no fiber-optic cables, only the howling of the wind and the rhythmic tolling of a chapel bell that had rung for five centuries.
Albert and Riana occupied a small shepherd’s hut at the edge of the tree line. The four thousand euros were dwindling, spent on heavy wool coats, canisters of kerosene, and enough dried food to last a month.
Albert sat by the hearth, his hands bandaged from the laboratory fire. He watched Riana, his brows furrowed in a way that had become permanent. "The frequency weapon did more damage than I thought. My equilibrium is s
