by Jayne Castle
Alice frowned. “What contract?”
“The one we signed with the company,” Karen whispered. She pointed to the logo on her green uniform shirt. “I know that the Dream Chamber Project here on the island is supposed to be top secret. But I just couldn’t take it anymore.”
Drake was looking at the logo on Karen’s shirt. Alice followed his gaze. Clearly embroidered was a familiar company name: Sebastian, Inc., Rainshadow Foundation.
“Looks like we are going to have an interesting conversation on the hike to Shadow Bay,” Drake said.
Chapter 14
THEY SET OFF IN A SINGLE FILE, DRAKE AND HOUDINI in the lead. Karen fell in behind Drake. Alice brought up the rear. The walking was difficult in places but not impossible. The sky remained leaden. The dark fog crouched just offshore, waiting for the energy of the night to summon it. The ominous sensation in the atmosphere did not fade, even though they were putting distance between themselves and the cove.
“All right, Karen, let’s start at the beginning,” Drake said. “Tell me about the Dream Chamber Project.”
“I don’t know where to begin,” Karen said. “It’s all been such a nightmare.”
“You said you were working for the Rainshadow Foundation arm of Sebastian, Inc.”
“That’s right. I was hired as a research assistant a few months ago. I’ve got the paperwork to prove it.”
“And you were employed here on the island,” Drake said.
“Until I couldn’t take the stress any longer. We tried to quit.”
“Who is we?” Drake asked.
“The other research assistant, Pete Banks. Like I said, we tried to quit but she wouldn’t let us. When we tried to leave she had the security people lock us up. I managed to escape this morning but—”
Drake stopped and looked back at Karen. “Who had the security people lock you up?”
“Dr. Tucker,” Karen said.
“Dr. Zara Tucker,” Drake said, repeating the name very precisely, making sure.
“Yes,” Karen said.
“Damn,” Drake said. “Well, that certainly answers a few questions.” He looked at Alice. “I knew she wasn’t dead.”
“But what has she been doing for the past three years?” Alice asked.
“Isn’t it obvious? Zara Tucker spent the last three years plotting her revenge against me and my family.”
Chapter 15
DRAKE LOOKED AT KAREN. “LET’S START WITH A BASIC fact. Neither Sebastian, Inc. nor the Rainshadow Foundation has authorized any research projects here on the island.”
“I don’t understand,” Karen said. “Dr. Tucker made it clear that we were signing up as research assistants at a Foundation-approved excavation project.”
“Dr. Tucker is not affiliated with the Foundation,” Drake said. He started walking again. “Officially she isn’t even alive. She was declared dead three years ago.”
“I don’t know what to tell you,” Karen said. “A woman named Dr. Tucker is running the project here on Rainshadow. She’s got lab equipment that carries the Foundation logo. Her security people wear Foundation uniforms.” She glanced down at her shirt. “Pete and I were issued Foundation gear.”
“Zara Tucker is a brilliant but mentally unstable scientist,” Drake said. “She spent a full year working in the Sebastian labs. She also has a way of convincing others, usually males, to do what she wants them to do.”
“You’re telling me,” Karen said grimly. “I’ve seen the way men respond to her. Even Pete thought he was in love with her for a time. He wanted to be her hero. They all do.” Karen glanced at Alice. “You know how some women just seem to have a talent for making men fall all over themselves to please them?”
Alice hid a rueful smile. “Oh, yeah.”
Drake’s jaw hardened. “Keep talking, Karen.”
“Well, the good news/bad news is that after a while Tucker’s charm seems to wear off,” Karen said.
Out of the corner of her eye Alice saw a pained expression come and go across Drake’s face. But he said nothing.
Karen did not appear to notice.
“Personally, I knew there was something a little weird about her from the start,” Karen said. “But, hey, she’s some giant-brained scientific type, right? They’re probably all a little weird. I figured she was really, really focused on her research project. In any event, it wasn’t like I could just walk away from the excavation ruins.”
Drake glanced back over his shoulder. “Why not?”
Karen waved a hand to indicate the dark woods. “It’s somewhere out there in the frickin’ Preserve. Ten steps outside the ruins and you’re lost. The only people who can come and go on a regular basis are the security guards. Besides, Pete and I had signed those contracts and the money was really good. We planned to get married and buy a house when the project was finished. Anyhow, a few weeks ago Dr. Tucker really started losing it.”
“Define losing it,” Drake said.
“She was temperamental from the beginning, but when it became obvious that the Chamber was overheating, she became full-on whacko,” Karen said. “That’s when two of the security guys took off. That made her crazy for a time.”
“What happened to the security guards?” Drake asked.
“Pete and I heard them talking just before they left. They knew the situation inside the Chamber was deteriorating. We heard them making plans to take the boat that they kept in Deception Cove. They used it to bring in supplies.”
“There’s no boat back there except the one we arrived in,” Drake said.
“I’m assuming they got off the island.”
“How many guards are left?” Drake asked.
“Only one, the boss of the security team. His name is Quinton. Pete and I are pretty sure that he and Dr. Tucker are lovers. Well, he thinks he’s in love with her, at any rate. I doubt if Dr. Tucker has ever loved anyone but herself in her entire life. Quinton is definitely under Tucker’s spell, though. I think he’d do anything for her. He pretty much proved it by sticking around after the other two guards took off. Now he’s trapped here on the island, same as everyone else.”
Drake looked back at Karen again. “How did you get away?”
“With this.” Karen took a small crystal flute out of her pocket. “Pete managed to steal it. Dr. Tucker found a few of them when she excavated the underground ruins. The two guards used them to bring in supplies. They used one to get away the other day.”
Alice took a closer look at the flute. “What is it?”
“Alien technology,” Drake explained briefly. “Harry told me that they turned up a few of these in the aquarium. The flutes can be used to navigate the Preserve to some extent, but their usefulness is limited because they have to be tuned to specific locations.”
“In other words, if you don’t know where you’re going, you can’t get there using a flute, is that it?” Alice said.
“Something like that,” Drake said.
“This one was tuned to the cove,” Karen said. “This morning when I escaped I was able to follow the frequencies.”
“Will it work in reverse?” Alice asked. “Can we use it to find this ruin you’re talking about?”
“No,” Karen said. “Not any longer.” She looked at the flute, despair in her eyes. “I barely made it out of the Preserve. The psi levels are too high inside the fence now. They interfered with the tuning. I made it as far as the fence, but the flute gave out entirely when I went through the barrier. Now it’s gone flat. Listen.”
She blew gently on the crystal flute. There were a few faint jarringly discordant notes and then nothing at all.
Drake stopped and took the flute from her. He turned it in his hand, examining it carefully. “Chief Attridge’s wife, Charlotte, might be able to retune it. There’s another man on the island who has a talent for tuning, as well. Calvin Dillard. We may have some options.” He put the flute in his shirt pocket and started walking again. “Tell me about the research project
that Tucker is running.”
“All I know is that Dr. Tucker is excavating an underground Alien ruin right here on Rainshadow,” Karen said. “There’s this big crystal pyramid down there. Lot of energy inside, at least there is now.”
Drake pushed through some low-hanging branches. “What’s going on down there?”
“When Dr. Tucker found the Chamber, it was shut down. There was energy inside but it was locked in the crystals that form the walls of the pyramid. Dr. Tucker used two other crystals she called the Keys to release the power.”
Alice glanced at Drake. “Sounds like the two missing crystals.”
“Got to be those damn stones.” Drake led the way through a tumble of boulders. “She stuck the two crystals inside the ruin to kick-start it, and now she’s got a slow-rolling chain reaction going, one that is so strong it’s affecting the entire island. Idiot. How do people like that get PhDs?”
Alice cleared her throat. “I suppose one might ask how people like that get past human resources departments, pass background checks, and manage to obtain security clearances at companies like Sebastian, Inc.”
Drake shot her an annoyed look. At least she assumed he was annoyed. The wraparound glasses made it impossible to read his eyes.
Karen was oblivious to the byplay. She continued with her tale.
“A chain reaction is exactly how Dr. Tucker described the situation,” Karen said. “She’s getting panicky, I think. She says the only way to shut down the Chamber is to remove the two crystals.”
“So?” Alice said. “Why doesn’t she do that?”
“She can’t,” Karen said. “No one can go into the Chamber for more than a minute or two at most now. She’s been sending Pete and me into that light furnace every day for the past couple of weeks. She puts a rope around us and pushes us through the gate. But it’s so dark in there you can’t see anything, and the energy is a full-blown storm. We can only take it for about a minute and then we go unconscious. The bitch drags us out, gives us a few hours’ rest, and sends us in again.”
“I’m surprised she didn’t leave the island while it was still possible to get off,” Alice said.
“She waited too long,” Drake said. He led the way through some scrubby bushes. “She was so obsessed with her revenge that she couldn’t bring herself to cut her losses. Now she’s trapped here on Rainshadow.”
“Just like us,” Alice observed.
“Don’t forget Pete,” Karen added anxiously. “I promised him that if I got out, I’d try to get help.”
Drake automatically glanced at his watch. He appeared irritated again when he realized it was still stopped. He looked up at the sky. Alice did the same. The cloud cover was heavier and darker than ever.
“We need to move faster,” Drake said. “We have to make it to Shadow Bay by sundown.”
No one argued.
Chapter 16
FEAR OF BEING CAUGHT OUT IN THE OPEN AFTER DARK proved to be an excellent motivator. They made good time, walking into the tiny community of Shadow Bay shortly before sunset. Relief flashed through Alice when she saw the first buildings and other trappings of civilization.
It had been an arduous trek. Drake had not allowed many rest breaks. Alice was exhausted and she knew that Karen was, also. But the realization that they would not be spending another night outdoors made the physical effort more than worthwhile.
Her initial elation faded quickly. At first glance, Shadow Bay appeared deserted.
“They all left,” she whispered, her spirits plunging.
“Oh, no,” Karen wailed.
There were no passengers waiting at the ferry dock. A small sign announced that the run to Thursday Harbor had been cancelled until further notice. The shops on the short main street were closed and, for the most part, dark. One nearby shop window was illuminated, but the glow came from the unique light of an old-fashioned amber lantern. After a moment, Alice realized that more amber lanterns lit the tavern and a couple of rooms in the small motel above the row of marina shops. Aside from the handful of lamps, however, the town looked empty. It was as if the last person to leave had forgotten to de-rez a few lights.
She reached up to touch Houdini, who was perched on her shoulder. “Does this place remind anyone of that horror movie Ghost Cove?”
Karen looked around with growing panic. “Yes, it does.”
“Never saw that one,” Drake said. He stopped in the middle of the street and surveyed the ominously quiet surroundings. “Did it end well?”
“No,” Alice said. “Probably better not to go into the details. What happened here? Do you think your brother managed to evacuate the entire island and then decided to leave, as well? I have to tell you, the thought of being the only people remaining on Rainshadow besides Zara Tucker and her security guard is a little scary.”
“And Pete,” Karen said anxiously.
“And Pete,” Alice added.
“Take it easy,” Drake said. “There are people here. But the power is off. That’s probably why the shops are closed and the street is empty. Well, that and the incoming fog.”
“Where is everyone?” Karen whispered.
As if on cue, a man with long, unkempt hair, a scraggly beard, and fierce eyes appeared from the shadowed space between two weather-beaten buildings. He was dressed in flowing green robes bound at the waist by a leather belt. The belt buckle was set with an amber stone. The leather boots on his feet looked well worn, as if they had seen a great deal of hard wear.
He held a large, hand-lettered sign attached to a narrow wooden post. The sign read, PREPARE FOR THE GLORIOUS DAWN. ARE YOU READY FOR THE RETURN OF THE ANCIENT ONES?
He strode rapidly toward Alice, Drake, and Karen, a man on a mission.
“Welcome, travelers,” he intoned. “Do you bring news of the Aliens? Have they returned?”
“Haven’t seen any Aliens,” Drake said.
“Good.” The bearded man nodded solemnly. “You still have time to prepare. You must seek the third level of psychic enlightenment before it is too late. Only those who arrive at the third level will be able to accept the Glorious Dawn that is coming.”
“Who are you?” Alice asked.
“My name is Egan. I was sent here with the others to warn the people of Rainshadow that the Glorious Dawn will arrive here first. Many fled. But those who remain will not listen to me. If we are not prepared, the Aliens will take back this world and destroy us in the process. There is very little time left.”
“Do you have a plan to reach the third level?” Drake asked.
“The answer lies in dreams,” Egan said. He swept out a hand to indicate the dark fog hanging at the edge of the harbor. “Those who cannot or will not achieve the third level will meet their doom in the nightmare fog.”
“How do you know all this, Egan?” Alice asked gently.
“The dreams,” Egan whispered. He stared at the psi-fog. “I see it all in my dreams. Soon you will know the truth, too.”
“Where are the other people in this town?” Karen asked.
Egan frowned, briefly confused by the change of topic. “Those who did not flee are making preparations for the night. With darkness comes the fog, you see.” He pointed down the street to the door of one of the shops. “Some of the unenlightened are gathered there. They said that soon others would arrive to join them. You must be the ones they’re waiting for. They feared that you wouldn’t be able to get to the island in time because of the fog.”
Alice realized that he was pointing to a shop illuminated with the light of an amber lantern. The sign over the door read: SHADOW BAY BOOKS.
“Where will you sleep tonight, Egan?” she asked.
“In the marina warehouse,” Egan said. “I have a lantern to protect me.”
The door of Shadow Bay Books opened. A big, bearded bear of a man came out onto the sidewalk.
“Thought I heard someone out here,” he said. He looked at Drake. “I’m Jasper Gilbert. You must be Drake Sebastian. Abou
t time you got here. Don’t mind telling you that we were starting to get a little worried.”
“I’m Drake,” Drake said. “This is my wife, Alice. And this is someone we picked up along the way, Karen Rosser.”
It was, Alice realized, the second time that day that Drake had introduced her as his wife, first to Karen and now to a stranger. For some reason she found it unsettling. She was almost overcome with the urge to explain. I’m not his real wife. It’s just an MC and not even a real MC, at that. Except that it was a real MC.
“Pleased to meet you, ladies,” Jasper said. “Good thing you got in ahead of the fog.” He glanced back through the doorway. “They’re here, Fletch.”
An elegant, silver-haired man appeared on the doorstep. The wedding ring he wore matched the ring that Jasper had on his hand.
“Name’s Fletcher Kane. I can’t tell you how relieved we are to see you.” He turned his head to call back into the shop. “Drake Sebastian is here. He’s got a couple of friends with him.”
“A new friend and my wife,” Drake corrected.
Alice glanced at him, wondering why he was putting so much emphasis on her legal status. He gave a small, almost imperceptible shake of his head, making it clear he wanted her to keep quiet about the MC.
A handful of other people rushed out onto the sidewalk. Introductions went quickly.
“Charlotte Attridge now.” An attractive, dark-haired woman with fashionable glasses smiled. “My husband is the chief of police here in Shadow Bay.”
A red-haired woman stepped forward. “I’m Rachel Blake. I own this bookstore.” She gave Drake an apologetic look. “I’m Harry’s fiancée, Drake. Sorry we had to meet like this.”
“A pleasure,” Drake said.
Rachel gave Alice a quizzical look. “We didn’t know that Drake was married. Congratulations.”
“Thanks,” Alice said, “but it’s a little complicated—”
She broke off because Drake was giving her another hard look. She couldn’t see his eyes, but it didn’t take any psychic talent to know that he wanted her to shut up.