Billy tumbled face first into icy darkness and bumped his head. Twisting his body out of its pretzel shape, he managed to roll to his back, but as he tried to catch his breath, he gagged on the terrible smell. The taunting voice of the dark knight penetrated the stillness. “You’d better not try any fire-breathing, boy! I put four plastic jugs of gasoline in there to keep you company!”
Ashley took her place at the master control panel while Dr. Conner positioned Derrick at the center of the anchor dome. Derrick smiled as the glass shield lowered, and Ashley caught herself staring at him. His courage was amazing, definitely something to admire, but she had work to do.
Dr. Conner stepped to the panel next to the anchor dome, one with fewer controls and displays than on the master board. He flipped a switch, rotated two dials to their maximum settings, and hurried toward the safe on the wall.
Ashley stretched a headset to fit over her ears and spoke into the microphone, a tiny transmitter on the end of a flexible stem. “Derrick, can you hear me?”
“Yes.” Derrick’s smile widened.
“Bonnie? You there?”
Bonnie nodded, her eyes partially closed and her head tilted toward the ceiling.
“Go ahead and answer, Bonnie. I want to make sure the sound works both ways.”
“Yes,” she replied softly. “I can hear you.”
“Good. Okay, Derrick knows the drill, so I’m going to talk through this for your sake, Bonnie. I know I explained everything in detail last night, but it won’t hurt to remind you as we go.” She pushed a slider bar up a couple of notches, and a low hum emanated from under the domes. “The vibration you’re now feeling is just the magneto that creates part of our power grid. The real action will start in a minute when Doc brings out the candlestone.”
Ashley slowly turned a small dial on the upper left corner of the panel. “I’m dimming the lights now.” Dr. Conner soft-stepped across the floor, opening the box as she darkened the huge room. “Bonnie,” Ashley continued, a grin breaking out on her face, “your father is bringing your mother to the pedestal. Are you ready to go in and see her?”
Bonnie’s lips rounded into a faint smile, and she gave the thumbs-up signal.
Ashley drummed the panel with her fingers. Bonnie’s confidence in the face of uncertainty was unnerving, enough to make Ashley worry. She had to make this work. Devin or no Devin, she wouldn’t let Bonnie fall into a trap. She would bring her home one way or another.
Ashley raised the panel’s covering to block out the display lights, but she could still see over its top edge to monitor the domes. When Dr. Conner placed the candlestone in the center of the room, Bonnie lifted the hood of her robe to cover her hair, and her lips began moving. Ashley strained to hear. The whisper-soft words came to her ears like a lilting voice singing in a faraway land.
“The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want.”
Ashley turned up the volume and stared at the peaceful figure inside the dome.
“He maketh me to lie down in green pastures. He leadeth me beside the still waters.”
Ashley didn’t want to interrupt. The words sang to her heart like a sacred aria, a moving tribute of spirit, but she knew she had to get back to work. With her hands shaking and her voice trembling, she slid another bar up. “It . . . It’s time, Bonnie. I’m turning on the transluminating beam.”
“He restoreth my soul. He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.”
Ashley wiped away a tear. “Five . . . ahem . . . five seconds, Bonnie. You’ll see a flash, and . . . and grab Derrick’s hand when he comes through.”
“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.”
A blaze of sparkling light engulfed Bonnie’s lower half. Her hood slipped down as the sparks advanced upward, consuming her body until her glowing face disappeared, swallowed in the blinding display.
Bonnie heard Derrick’s gentle voice. “Take my hand, Bonnie.” In a strange vision she saw bursts of light and felt a firm tug. Was that his hand? She felt it latch on, and somehow she was able to will herself to return a firm grasp. As though she were listening to a sound that came from beyond the stars, she heard another voice, sizzling and warped amid a host of eerie, humming sounds.
“Attachment successful. She’s going in.”
Bonnie felt herself being painlessly stretched, her body unraveling like a spool of thread tumbling down in a rushing river of light, hurtling into a deep, dark canyon. As she fell, the outside noises blurred, fading away in the distance. Although she couldn’t feel the g-forces she had expected, she sensed speed and a rapid dimming of her strange new world.
She slammed into a thick, pliable barrier and passed through what seemed like a supple membrane, as though her body were traveling through a wall of black Jell-O. The river of light she was riding vanished, somehow blocked by the viscous wall and diverted somewhere she couldn’t see. Finally, she stopped in a totally dark realm, not bumping into anything solid, just coming out of the membrane and into a floating existence of absolute gloom.
She could still feel a slight pull from above, her attachment to Derrick and the world outside, and she had a detached sense that she had to hold to it, though her hands no longer felt like hands at all. Every input seemed different —seeing, hearing, smelling, even her sense of being came to her through new impulses, more spiritual than earthly, as though she had passed from one life to another. But heaven could never feel like this. The whole place weighed down on her, a stifling, heavy burden of impending doom, like watching a best friend slowly die.
Trying to orient herself, she took in her dark surroundings. She could see her own form, a pulsing mass of disturbed light, but for some reason, her body, if you could call it that, had no effect on the black nebulous hole she had entered. She didn’t light up the area at all. But that didn’t matter. In this tiny house of glass there probably wasn’t anything to see, anyway.
Looking up, she noticed a faint trail of light, thin and taut, stretching into an empty expanse—her lifeline to Derrick—but there was nothing else, no sounds and no other bright pulses besides her own. She knew her mother should appear somewhere as another mass of light, but was this a place she could explore? She forgot to ask Ashley about that. She had no map to guide her way, but since she only had a short time, she couldn’t just sit and wait.
Trying to figure out how to move was a trick in itself. There was no ground, no walls, nothing she could use to propel her new body. In total blackness, there was no way to tell if she was moving even if she tried. With her “hand” still clutching Derrick’s, she decided that if she pulled against the force he exerted, and if his pull increased, that would mean she was traveling somewhere.
Movement seemed an act of the will rather than physical flexing of muscles. Pushing her shimmering body was like resisting the darkness in front of her. The black space split apart and fled as she guided her mind into its void, searching through it like a beacon in a black fog.
After a few seconds, she sensed something, another light, just a glimmer, but it was definitely there. As she adjusted to her newly discovered locomotion, she figured out how to accelerate and turn, guiding herself toward the spark of energy. As she approached, the other light grew as it moved in her direction.
Was this her mother, at last? Bonnie could hardly wait. Just a few more seconds and they would be together. She could tell that her own body brightened, pulsating more rapidly. The other light grew, sparkling, radiant, vibrating with excitement. It took shape, a human form, without detail or sharp features, but definitely human. As it drew closer, the feminine shape of a woman became clear, sharpening with each step, a radiant torso, long gleaming arms and legs, and finally her mother’s sweet gentle face. Bonnie felt it communicating—an excited voice in her mind, no, a stream of ecstatic thoughts, calling to her, “Bonnie! At last, you’re here!”
An arm of light stretched out to Bonnie, and she tried to reach out her own to meet it, but, in a brilliant flash, their embrace was suddenly blocked. A huge wall of radiance, more dazzling than any earthly blaze, rushed between them and completely encircled Bonnie. It became a ring of magnificent, dancing fire, white and shimmering.
Bonnie retreated to the center of the ring. For some reason she felt no fear, just surprise and amazement. The hedge of light seemed almost to laugh, not with sinister contempt, but with joy, like a proud father in the midst of a playful encounter with a child. Bonnie could only sit still and stare at the sight, awestruck wonder mixing with dazed disappointment.
What’s going on? Why is this thing stopping me from meeting Mama?
Ashley pushed her microphone stem away from her lips and watched a digital timer on her panel. “Ninety seconds to go, Doc, and I see data for two human images on B frequency very clearly.”
“Have they seen each other?”
“I think so. They seem to be in the same phase, but there’s been no attachment yet.” She reached for a dial on the upper right corner of the panel. “Let’s check A to make sure Devin’s still there.”
Dr. Conner swiped her hand away. “No. We’ll see him come into B if he makes a move.”
Ashley rolled her hand into a loose fist.
That was weird. Why so rough?
She followed the numbers and graph lines as they flashed across the screen. Suddenly, she gasped and pointed. “What’s that?”
Dr. Conner stared at the monitor. “It can’t be!”
“It is! It’s another presence in B!”
“Impossible!”
Ashley glared at him. “Impossible? Why is it impossible? It has to be Devin. You said we’d see him if he moved over!”
Dr. Conner returned her combative stare. “I tell you, it’s not possible!”
Ashley stamped her foot. “There’s something going on! What are you keeping from me?”
Dr. Conner broke away from her icy gaze. “Well, it’s too late for you to stop us now.” He pointed at the glimmering gem on the pedestal. “Bonnie’s mother isn’t in the candlestone. She never has been. Devin’s been able to move to B all along, and he answers for Irene when we call to talk to her.”
Ashley shot up from her seat. “What? You’ve been lying to me all this time? Why?”
“It was the only way,” he shouted back. “You wouldn’t have helped me if you knew the truth.”
Ashley’s eyes burned. In her fury, the mass of dials and displays seemed to mix into a soup of boiling upheaval. “But I can’t—”
“No time to argue,” he snapped, pushing her back into her seat. “Just listen. If Devin stays in the candlestone, your grandfather will die. If you want to save him and Bonnie, you’d better get back to work. I don’t know what that third presence is, but let’s hope it doesn’t get in the way.”
Ashley shook her head and drew in a deep breath, trying to concentrate on the data again. She managed a businesslike tone but clipped her words to punctuate her turmoil. “The third one’s different. Its phase isn’t human; its signal is much stronger. But there’s been no attachment among the three.”
“How’s Derrick holding out?”
Ashley read another meter. “Oh, no! He’s stretching thin, like something’s pulling harder than usual.” She turned a dial and jerked the microphone up to her lips. “Derrick, hang on!”
Dr. Conner put his finger on the main display. “We’re at minus twenty seconds. When does our restoration confidence go below fifty percent?”
Ashley glanced his way. “At plus fifteen, but we can’t go past zero. We’re only at eighty percent, even then.”
“We’ll go past if we have to. Plus fifteen is our new drop dead point.”
“But Derrick can’t make that. Maybe plus five. He’s stretching to the breaking point. He’ll have to let go or one of them will be dismembered.”
“No choice. Ten seconds to zero now.”
“He’s down to less than a millimeter. He’ll never make it! We have to reverse!”
“No! Look! Attachment is close! He can do it.”
“He’s under a hundred microns!” Ashley said, fear stripping her voice. “We can’t even measure his attachment anymore! If he let’s go, Bonnie will be trapped! We have to get her out now!”
Dr. Conner shouted. “We’re at zero!” He raised his arm like a starter at a race. “Prepare to reverse at my command! Twelve seconds to the drop dead point.”
Ashley’s fingers flew across a separate portion of the panel, setting the dials based on what her darting eyes read on the displays. “I’m putting the reverse power on ninety-five. It has to go quick!”
“Right. There’s no choice. We’re at plus eleven.”
Ashley shouted, nearly jumping from her seat. “We have attachment!”
Dr. Conner threw down his arm. “Hit it!”
Chapter 13
Walter dashed down the stairs and raced toward the exit. With a mighty shove, he banged open the double doors and bolted into the nearly empty parking lot. Swiveling his head back and forth, he searched for Billy’s kidnapper.
There he is! He just slammed that trunk closed!
Walter burst into a sprint. Keeping his eyes riveted on the kidnapper, he leaped over a snow mound and hurdled a tipped-over garbage can. Billy’s captor slammed the car door just as Walter made a lunge for the handle. Walter grabbed hold, wrenching the door open a crack. As Palin yanked in the opposite direction, Walter slid his hands inside and clutched the doorframe.
The car started and lurched forward. Walter hung on, his shoes dragging against the pavement as the car swerved back and forth. His scraped fingers slipped on the frame.
I can’t let go! Gotta hang on!
With a tight donut turn, the car spun him away, sending his body tumbling across the lot. Still turning, the car careened in his direction. Walter jerked his body up and lunged to the side, barely avoiding the squealing tires as the car sped toward the exit.
Lying on his stomach, Walter peered through the gray plume of exhaust to read the Montana license plate. The first digit on the sky blue background was a seven, followed by a dot and the characters “A1.” The other three digits looked like either fives or sixes, but he wasn’t sure. He rolled to his seat, spitting, coughing, and rubbing his aching eyes. After gathering his wits, he scrambled to his feet and hustled back toward the building.
When he jerked the outer door open, he nearly collided with Mrs. Bannister. She held her head with both hands, and her eyes seemed wild with fear. “Did you see Billy? What happened?”
Breathless and weak, Walter bent over, propping himself on his knees. “I think that guy . . . threw him . . . in the trunk. Couldn’t stop him. He got away. But I got part of the plate.” He hooked his arm in hers and started toward the elevator. “Let’s check on the professor and call the cops!”
When they reached the office, they hobbled straight to the kitchen where they found the professor sitting on the floor against the back wall. His eyes were open, and he held Excalibur on his lap, the blade glowing, covering his thighs with iridescent white.
“Prof!” Walter shouted, sliding on his knees to his teacher’s side. “Are you okay?”
The professor, his face contorted and a tear streaming down one cheek, tried to shift his body and sit upright. “I have been better, Walter, but it seems that I have been shot in the heel of my left foot. I regret that I was not able to come to William’s aid.”
Walter grimaced at the wounded foot. The pant leg had already been turned up, and a trickle of blood oozed through the exposed heel of the sock. The back third of his shoe had been ripped off, part of the leather still hanging on one side. Mrs. Bannister scooted up and began carefully untying the laces.
Using his shoe, Walter nudged a handgun that lay on the kitchen floor. “What happened to the other guy and that old hag?”
“I am happy to report —” Professor Hamilton paused and winced as the front of the shoe slipped off. “I am happy to report that Excalibur works quite well. The two fiends are now scattered light. It was quite a display, actually. Yet, although it seems I had no choice in the matter, I am distressed with having to dispatch two human beings. After I pulled the man inside, I confronted him face-to-face, so my integrity is intact. Yet, death always seems a tragedy to me, no matter how vile the victims.” He sighed, shaking his head and speaking more softly. “Wasted lives, wasted souls.”
Walter glanced around toward the walls and ceiling, trying to find any trace of sparkling debris. “Shouldn’t it have zapped you, too? Isn’t that what happened to Merlin?”
“Yes, Walter. One moment, please.”
The professor turned to Billy’s mother, who was trying to fashion his sock into a bandage. “I think the bleeding has subsided, Marilyn. The wound is painful, but the bullet passed through, so I don’t think it’s dangerous.”
He handed Walter the sword and lifted his arms. “If you wouldn’t mind lending me assistance.” Mrs. Bannister and Walter obliged, each putting a shoulder under an arm.
“Walter,” the professor said, now standing with his weight on his good foot, “in my efforts to dispose of the two aggressors, I did not think about what the sword might do to me. I was, however, concerned about you. That’s why I shoved you out of the room.”
Walter smiled from under the professor’s arm. “Yeah. I guessed that.”
“As soon as I raised the sword, an extraordinary beam emanated from its end. Although it startled me, I believe it terrified the other chap even more. He stumbled and fired his weapon at me, missing with his first shot and striking my foot with the second. Then, in an amazing flash of light, the beam consumed him along with the—ahem—lady on the floor.”
Walter dragged his shoe along the floor where the woman had fallen, letting his toe sort through the various items the bad guys had left behind—a watch, a bracelet, a set of keys, and a gray wig lying beside two guns and a brown jacket.
“I suspect,” the professor continued, “that Excalibur’s bearer has more control over its power than we expected. Bonnie was not affected when she used it, nor was I, and I was able to guide it toward my targets. It makes me wonder if Merlin intended to bring about his own disintegration.”
“Merlin zapped himself on purpose?”
Mrs. Bannister took a step forward and pushed the professor along. “We can make our guesses later. Right now we have to call the police and an ambulance. Walter got part of the license plate. And you, Professor, have to go to the hospital.”
The professor hobbled along with his two helpers toward the reception area. He grimaced at every step but managed to keep his voice calm. “I beg your pardon, Marilyn, but I think going to the hospital would not be wise. Our delay would be unpredictable, and my wound is not life threatening. I also think involving the police would hamper our efforts. We would not be able to answer all their questions, and based on Devin’s record of keeping his affairs untraceable, my guess is that the license plate would lead to a dead end even if we had the entire number. We have no real obligation to involve the authorities, since there are no bodies here.”
When they reached the chairs, Mrs. Bannister pulled the professor’s arm from around her neck and slowly released him. She ran her hand through her tousled hair and took a deep breath. “But what about your foot? It needs treatment. And what about Billy? Who’s going to find him?”
The professor lowered his tall frame down to the loveseat, letting out a lengthy sigh. He gazed up at her with sad eyes. “Trust me, Marilyn. This crude villain cannot harm your son. I am sure of that. You may wish to pray about a later battle, but for now, William is safe. As for me, I suggest we purchase a bandage and crutches, perhaps a topical antibiotic as well. More thorough treatment can wait.” The professor pointed toward Walter. “Walter, however, may need attention.”
Mrs. Bannister’s eyes widened, and she reached for his shoulder. “Walter! You’re bleeding!”
Walter wrinkled his nose and stepped back. “It’s nothing. Just a scratch from that creep’s knife.”
She cupped his chin in her hand and tilted his face toward the light. “And your eyes, they’re swollen half shut!”
“Mrs. B,” Walter said, pulling away from her hand, “I don’t mean any disrespect, but Prof and I don’t need a mother right now.” He tightened his grip on Excalibur. “We need to go skewer a slayer.”
She glanced at the professor and then at Walter. New determination flashed in her eyes. “Right!” She clenched her fist. “Where do we start?”
The professor’s gaze seemed far away, as though he were staring straight through the wall. “Walter,” he said slowly, “do you remember the assailant’s words? We were listening from the kitchen. He said that he was going to take William somewhere.”
“Yeah, I heard him. He said to Flathead.”
His eyes narrowed to two slits. “Flathead? Are you sure?”
“Yeah. It was a weird name, so I picked up on it.”
The professor lowered his gaze as if to study the gray carpet at his feet. “I perused our map of Montana during our flight. I’m sure there’s a Flathead Lake, but I believe there is also Flathead County and Flathead Forest. I’m afraid with all those options, our search region is far too large.” With a brighter expression he looked up at the others and tried to stand. “I don’t think we can risk asking questions around the campus. We’ll just drive into Flathead County and ask in that area if anyone knows Dr. Conner. Perhaps someone will be able to provide inform—”
A loud ring interrupted the professor. He bent forward to reach for his phone but lost his balance, and Walter and Mrs. Bannister caught him by the shoulder. The professor pointed toward his hip. “Walter, would you please answer my cell phone. It’s on my belt.”
Walter grabbed the phone and flipped it open. “Hello. . . . Yeah, Dad. What’s up? . . . From Bonnie? Cool! What’s it say?” Walter was quiet for almost half a minute, nodding as he listened. “The address? Sure. Hold on.” He held a pretend pencil and wrote in the air. “Hey, Prof. You got anything to write with?”
The professor shook his head. “Have your father send his information to my e-mail address. I can bring it up on my phone.”
“Gotcha!” He turned back to the cell phone. “Hey, Dad. Send it to Prof’s e-mail. We’ll get it. . . . Here? Oh, not much. We’ve been reading prophetic poems in a diary written by Merlin, and we found a real fire-breathing dragon in a cave, and after we got waylaid by a couple of gun-toting goons and an ugly old witch, Billy got kidnapped at knifepoint and thrown into a trunk. The kidnapper sped off just before I could get to him, and he tried to squash my head with his tires, but he missed. I’m okay, and it didn’t hurt much when he stabbed me. Oh yeah, the professor’s been shot. Other than that, it’s been pretty quiet. See ya later.” Walter pressed the disconnect button and snapped the phone back on the professor’s belt.
“Walter!” Mrs. Bannister cried. “Shouldn’t you explain it to your father a little better than that?”
He squinted with one eye and waved his hand. “Nah. It would take too long. He probably thinks I was kidding, anyway.”
The professor pointed toward their coats piled on the end of the sofa and wobbled to his feet. “What information is he sending, Walter?”
Walter picked up the professor’s coat and handed it to him. “Looks like Bonnie knew something was up. She gave a lady at some convenience store a postcard to send, and the lady happened to be the owner of the place. Anyway, she got worried about Bonnie and sent it overnight express with a note explaining what she saw.”
The professor wriggled on his parka and limped heavily toward the door. Mrs. Bannister stayed close to his side and placed a hand on Walter’s shoulder. “What did the card say?”
Walter zipped his coat, then held the door open. “It had the name of the store on it, and Bonnie wrote something like, ‘My father’s taking me to a place he said was about thirty minutes from here. He said it’s a lab near Flathead Lake, and the lab must be a pretty big place, because people live there. I hope you can find it. I don’t trust him. Something’s definitely wrong.’”
The professor stopped in the hallway and raised a finger. “Aha! Flathead Lake! Was there any other information?”
“Not from Bonnie,” Walter continued. “The lady wrote that Bonnie was traveling with a man and another teenaged girl. They were riding in an SUV. She wasn’t sure what kind, but it was sort of a maroon color, and new.”
The professor held out his arms. “I see now that my foot is too badly damaged for walking. If you will assist me to the car, I can retrieve my e-mail there. After we procure a pair of crutches, our first stop will be this lady’s store. Perhaps our eyewitness will be able to tell us a bit more. Walter, please fetch the box for the sword. We may have more transluminating to do.”
The magneto engines whined, and Ashley’s hands and fingers flew across the control panel. She half-sat and half-stood while she watched the display, rocking her body and peeking around the light-deflecting hood every couple of seconds to see what was going on in the diver’s dome. With a gasp, she fell back to her seat and cried out. “Noooo!”
Dr. Conner ran out to the triangle. Two of the glass cylinders remained empty, while the anchor dome filled with sparkling light. Ashley, her face hot and her fingers trembling, turned a knob fully counterclockwise.
Within seconds, the dancing light solidified, re-creating Derrick’s slender body. He collapsed to his knees, his thin dark hands covering his weeping face. Ashley heard his mournful words through her headphones. “She let go! I tried to hold on, but she let go!”
Ashley threw off the headphones, flipped a switch to raise the glass, and ran to Derrick. Dr. Conner took one hand while Ashley gently held the other, and they led him down to floor level.
“Ashley, get back and monitor the activity. I’ll take care of Derrick.” He picked up the trembling youth, cradling him in both arms, and carried him to the dorm while Ashley stood alone in the midst of her trinity of glass domes. She gazed at the diver’s platform, the last place she had seen Bonnie’s shining face. As she dragged her feet toward it, her shoulders slumped. A million thoughts zipped through her mind, clogging even her powerful brain. The thoughts hurt, each one like a pricking needle, reminding her of her vows.
I know you want your mother back. We need to get her out of that candlestone, and I’m not going to let you down.
She sniffed, trying to keep the tears back, but they broke through. She wiped the first few, and then gave up, letting them flow. When she reached the diver’s platform, she stooped and pressed the button on the base. With a low hum, the glass slowly ascended, and the sight of the exposed platform reminded her of Bonnie’s request. She dropped to her knees, searching the floor of the platform carefully. A single tear splashed where Bonnie’s feet had recently stood.
Her ring should be around here somewhere. But where? It couldn’t have gone far.