by Jayne Castle
But the lights were on and phones and computers were functioning. Communications with the mainland had been restored. Ferry service was scheduled to resume in the morning, conditions permitting. The proprietor of the service had promised to bring supplies, including toilet paper and groceries, on the early run.
Alice studied the two crystal slabs on the table. “So much trouble for such dumb-looking stones.”
“Not very impressive, are they?” Charlotte observed.
The crystals no longer glowed. Shortly after being removed from the pyramid they had reverted to a murky, unremarkable gray.
Rachel looked at Drake. “What are you going to do with them?”
“I’m tempted to drop them offshore into a deep-sea ravine but I’m not sure that would neutralize them,” Drake said. “It might have the opposite effect. These damn rocks have an affinity for geothermal energy. Be my luck they’d land in an undersea volcano and cause an eruption. For now they’ll be safer in a mag-steel-and-glass strongbox where the energy levels can be monitored.”
“In hindsight, it’s a wonder that the crystals were dormant for decades, sitting in a box in a cave here on the island,” Rachel mused. “Rainshadow is a nexus, a real hot spot where geothermal psi-forces intersect.”
“That’s probably why the Aliens chose it to set up their bio-research labs in the first place,” Alice said.
“According to the Old Earth records, the crystals have never caused any problem as long as they were properly stored aboveground in a strongbox,” Drake said. “But taking them underground into a hot psi environment was a hell of a mistake.”
Charlotte folded her arms on the table. “I assume you’ll store them in one of the Foundation labs?”
“Right,” Drake said. “We’ve got special vaults for the volatile specimens.”
Jasper looked thoughtful. “Think there’s any way to destroy them?”
“I don’t know,” Drake said. “It might be possible to pulverize them and scatter the bits and pieces over a large stretch of the ocean. Theoretically that would limit the resonating power of each individual shard. But I’m not even certain that would work.”
“Something else to consider here,” Fletcher said. “We humans have only been around on Harmony for a couple of hundred years. No more than a fraction of the planet and the Alien underworld has been explored. Got a hunch there are a lot of surprises waiting for us in the oceans and the catacombs and the rain forest. We might need some real firepower someday. Could be a good idea to have these stones in our hip pocket, so to speak.”
“Kind of like having spare tuned amber when you go into the tunnels,” Jasper added.
“My family has been guarding these rocks for a few hundred years, first on Earth and now here on Harmony,” Drake said. “Guess we’ll have to keep on doing that for a while. But once we get these back to the lab we can do some serious research on them. We need to know what we’ve got here.”
Drake started to say something, but a faint, muffled sound stopped him. Alice heard it, too. Chanting.
“. . . The Ancients will return, the Ancients will return.
Glorious dawn, glorious dawn, glorious dawn.
The Ancients will return, the Ancients will return.
Bringing wonders, bringing wonders, bringing wonders to behold . . .”
Burt came out of the kitchen, wiping his hands on his apron. “Sounds like Harry and Slade found that bunch of Glorious Dawners who went missing.”
“Not sure that’s a good thing,” Fletcher said.
“Look at it this way,” Drake said. “Tomorrow morning we can put them on the first ferry off the island and send them home.”
“Good idea,” Jasper said.
The door of the tavern opened, bringing in the fresh air of a fog-free night. Two men walked into the room. Energy whispered in the atmosphere around them. Men of talent, Alice thought. Slade Attridge and Harry Sebastian had returned.
Chairs scraped on the floorboards. Rachel and Charlotte leaped to their feet. Both women were glowing with relief and delight. They rushed forward, each hurtling into the arms of one of the men.
Three dust bunnies scurried into the tavern and began chattering enthusiastically.
A small gaggle of ragged-looking people in green robes paraded into the room. They had evidently lost their signs along the way but that had not diminished their enthusiasm.
“Glorious dawn, glorious dawn, glorious dawn.”
Burt planted his hands on his hips and eyed the newcomers. “Anyone who wants to eat had better shut up and stop chanting now.”
A sudden hush descended.
The tall, dark-haired man, who had one arm wrapped around Rachel, looked at Burt.
“Thank you,” he said. “I know I speak for Slade as well when I tell you that we are forever in your debt.”
“That damn chanting was enough to make us seriously consider leaving these dudes behind in the Preserve,” Slade added.
Houdini dashed toward Alice and bounced up onto the table. He made enthusiastic greeting sounds. Alice patted him affectionately.
“So that’s where you and Darwina went tonight,” she said. “You knew they were on the way back, didn’t you? You went out to meet them.”
One of the Glorious Dawners spotted the small group at the table. He lifted a hand, palm out.
“The nightmare fog is gone,” he intoned. “It’s a sign that the return is near.”
“You know something? I’m starting to think that I’d rather see the Aliens return than these guys,” Fletcher said in low tones.
The Dawner was not deterred. “Glorious dawn, glorious dawn—”
The other five took up the chant.
“Glorious dawn, glorious dawn—”
Back in the kitchen, Burt banged a frying pan loudly.
The Dawners hastily went silent again and sat down at the nearest tables.
Harry looked at Burt through the opening. “Feed ’em and send the bill to the Foundation.”
“Okay,” Burt said. He narrowed his eyes. “But they’re all leaving in the morning, right?”
“Oh, yeah,” Slade said. “They’re all leaving on the first available ferry.”
“What about you and Harry?” Burt looked from one man to the other. “I’ve been saving a couple of cans of tuna fish.”
“Sounds good,” Slade said. “But I think we could both use a couple of whiskeys with that tuna fish.”
Burt chuckled. “Help yourself.”
Slade went behind the bar and took down a bottle. He found two glasses and started pouring generous quantities of whiskey.
Keeping Rachel close to his side, Harry walked to the table where Alice sat with Drake, Fletcher, and Jasper. He glanced at the two crystals and smiled, looking satisfied.
“You must be Alice North,” he said.
She started to respond, but Drake spoke first.
“Alice, I’d like you to meet my brother, Harry,” he said. “Harry, this is Alice, my wife.”
“Your wife,” Harry said, perfectly neutral.
“Yes,” Drake said.
“Congratulations,” Harry said in the same very even tone.
“Thanks,” Drake said.
“Just an MC,” Alice said quickly.
“Is that right?” Harry said. He turned back to Drake, his eyes gleaming with an unholy amusement. “In our family, a marriage is a marriage. Isn’t that right, Drake?”
“Yes,” Drake said. “So, what took you so long to show up here in town?”
“We were trapped by the fog. Couldn’t get the Dawners through it. We knew when the mist lifted this evening that something had changed. Where did you find the crystals?”
“Long story,” Drake said.
“Can’t wait to hear it,” Harry said, smiling. “I knew you’d make it here to the island.”
Drake nodded. “Knew you’d make it out of the Preserve.”
Slade brought the whiskeys to the table and sat down. He eyed
the Glorious Dawn crowd.
“Idiots,” he growled. “I should lock ’em up until I can put them on the ferry.”
Alice smiled. “It might be hard to stuff all those Glorious Dawners into your little jail. It’s sort of full at the moment.”
Slade’s brows rose. “My jail is full?”
“Kirk and Myrna are taking turns keeping an eye on the new residents,” Drake said.
“Is that so?” Slade nodded once and downed some whiskey. He lowered the glass. “Then I’m with Harry. Can’t wait to hear the story.”
Chapter 42
ALICE AWOKE ALONE IN THE BED. SHE OPENED HER EYES and glanced at the clock on the table. Dawn was still an hour away. The room was dark because the amber lamp had not been lit. For the first time since they had arrived on Rainshadow, the space was flooded with moonlight.
She had not expected to sleep at all that night, but after reading several pages of Nicholas North’s bad handwriting she had fallen asleep.
Alice could see Drake standing at the window, his broad shoulders silhouetted against the silver glow. He was naked except for his briefs. Houdini was with him, perched on the ledge. Man and dust bunny gazed pensively out into the night.
Alice levered herself up on her elbows. “Everything okay?”
“Everything is fine,” Drake said. He turned to look at her. She saw that he was not wearing his glasses. “What about you? Catch up on your sleep?”
“Yep.” She studied him. “You don’t mind moonlight?”
“I can tolerate it but it’s the equivalent of high noon for me.”
She pulled the covers aside, stood, and reached for the robe that Rachel had loaned her. She crossed the room to the window. Drake put an arm around her waist and drew her close. She allowed herself to settle into his warmth and strength.
“What did you see today?” she asked after a while.
“When I walked into the Dream Chamber?”
“Yes,” she said.
“The inside of a pyramid made with hot crystal.”
“No nightmares?”
“No,” Drake said. “No nightmares. But there is something important locked in the stones of that Chamber. We need to find out what it is.”
“How do we do that? You’re the only one who can actually see inside that place. Even with the energy levels lowered it’s still filled with dark light.”
“We’ll go back tomorrow and I’ll take a look around,” Drake said. “I think I can handle the energy in that Chamber.”
“Do you think that whatever is concealed in the pyramid crystals is dangerous?”
Drake hesitated. “What I sensed was something powerful and important. Powerful, important forces are always dangerous to some degree. But it did not feel destructive.”
“Should be interesting. Well, congratulations to us, huh? We found the missing crystals. Mission accomplished.”
Drake tightened his arm around her, pinning her close. “This thing isn’t over yet. We still have to deal with your ex-mother-in-law and Aldwin Hampstead.”
“Hampstead shouldn’t be a problem. Zara Tucker has already implicated him. You heard her this afternoon. After she stopped blaming me for everything that went wrong, she started in on him. Slade said it won’t be hard for the Federal Bureau of Psi Investigation people to tie him to the conspiracy. Zara turned on Egan Quinton, too.”
“And he turned on her. Took him long enough to realize what she really is,” Drake said. “That leaves Ethel Whitcomb.”
“Once she’s confronted with the facts, she’ll have to accept the truth,” Alice said. “I didn’t murder her son.”
“Obsessed people don’t usually pay much attention to facts. Exhibit A would be Dr. Zara Tucker.”
“Good point. So, have you got a plan to convince Ethel to leave me alone?”
“I’m working on it. Meanwhile, we stay married.”
“You really think that’s the best way to deal with the Ethel problem?”
“For now.”
Alice took a deep breath. It wasn’t the answer she wanted to hear, but it was a good plan for the near term. She’d never had much luck with long-range planning, anyway, she reminded herself.
“Okay,” she said.
“Okay?” He turned to face her, his hands closing around her shoulders. “That’s all you can say about staying married to me? Okay?”
The low-burning fires of anger in his words and the heat in his eyes startled her. Bewildered, she flattened her palms on his chest.
“I said okay as in, I’m okay with going along with your plan,” she whispered.
“And as in you’re okay with staying in an affair with me?”
“Well, yes, I guess so.”
“You guess so?”
Her bewilderment flashed into anger. “Stop throwing my words back at me. Why are you trying to start a fight here? It’s been a really long day. If you want to argue, could we save it until some other time?”
“Okay.”
“Okay?” She was suddenly incensed. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“You tell me. You’re the one who started this argument.”
“Don’t you dare blame me,” she snapped.
Drake’s eyes got hotter. “You’re right. We’ll save the argument until some other time.”
His mouth came down on hers, silencing her before she could figure out where to go next.
The kiss acted like a catalyst, transmuting the smoldering flames of the incipient quarrel into the hot fires of passion. Energy flashed in the atmosphere. Alice felt the heat arcing through her blood, arousing all her senses.
The next thing she knew the room was spinning around her. Instinctively she clutched at Drake’s shoulders to steady herself. It took her a heartbeat to realize that he had scooped her up and was carrying her to the bed. He dropped her onto the tumbled sheets and blankets. For a few seconds he loomed over her, his broad chest and shoulders blotting out the moonlight.
An urgent chortle and a scratching noise interrupted the scene.
Drake turned away from the bed long enough to open the door. Houdini disappeared out into the illuminated hallway.
“Damn,” Drake said. There was irritation and pain in the single word. He closed the door very quickly and locked it.
“Your eyes.” Alice sat up. “Are you okay?”
“I will be in a minute.” He remained where he was near the door, gripping the knob. “Forgot the lights were back on out there in the hallway.”
“Can I get you anything? A cold washcloth to put over your eyes?”
“No. I said I’ll be okay. Takes a few seconds for my senses to calm down, that’s all.”
“I’m just trying to help,” Alice said.
“I know. Stop.”
“Okay.”
“Do me a favor,” Drake said.
“What?”
“Don’t use that word again until tomorrow at the earliest, preferably never.”
“What word? Oh. Okay. Oops. Sorry.”
Drake just looked at her with silvery heat in his eyes.
She started to giggle. She rolled onto her stomach and tried to smother the laughter with a pillow, but it was hopeless.
“You know,” Drake said in ominous tones, “this isn’t going quite the way I had planned.”
“Sorry about that,” she mumbled into the pillow.
“But if there’s one thing I’ve learned in the past few days, it’s that things rarely do go according to plan—not when you’re involved.”
She never heard him cross the room, but the bed suddenly gave beneath his weight. He put her on her back and came down on top of her, his eyes fierce with energy. She realized he had stripped off his briefs.
“Turns out I like that in a woman,” he said.
“Really?”
“Really.”
He anchored her wrists to the bed and kissed her until she stopped laughing; until she was hot and wet and excited; until all of her senses were thrilled;
until a deep, demanding, aching need built inside her. When she started to struggle and twist beneath him, he freed her wrists and pulled her nightgown off over her head.
She put her hands around him and pulled him back down to her, sinking her nails into his shoulders.
He groaned and rolled onto his back, taking her with him. She kissed his mouth, his throat, and then his bare chest. She could feel the rigid length of him pressing against her inner thigh. She sat up slowly until she was resting on her knees astride him. She wrapped one hand around his erection and guided him into her heat. The pressure at first was almost unbearable, but then he was inside her and the intense fullness was exactly what she needed.
She climaxed on the third thrust.
He gripped her hips with both hands and watched her with his molten eyes.
“Alice,” he said. “Alice.”
Her name was a plea, a command, a claim.
He thrust again and again and then found his own release. Once again she experienced the sense of a deep intimacy for which there were no words.
Such magic could not last forever, she thought. But Alice knew she would remember and cherish the sensation for the rest of her life.
* * *
DRAKE AWOKE TO THE NEW DAY. AUTOMATICALLY, HE groped for his glasses and put them on before he opened his eyes. He saw that Alice had left the shades down to protect him against the daylight. She was gone, however. So was the diary.
He got to his feet and headed toward the bath.
Fifteen minutes later he made the trek downstairs. Alice was in a booth at the rear of the tavern. Burt looked out through the kitchen pass-through and called out a greeting.
“Help yourself to the coffee, Drake.”
“Thanks.”
Drake poured a mug full of coffee and carried it to Alice’s table. She looked up. He saw that she had the diary open in front of her. Houdini was perched on the table, finishing the last of a peanut butter cracker. He chortled a cheery greeting.
Drake gave him a pat and sat down. He looked at the diary.