Walter hit the button, and Betsy scrambled down on all fours.
Ashley clapped her hands. “C’mere, Betsy!” The chimp dashed across the floor and jumped into her mistress’s arms, and Ashley let out a sigh. “If they send out all the animals, we’re in for a long night.”
Billy wrestled a young chimp off his back and released him into the river. “You think that’s the last one, Sir Newman?”
“By my count Master William, yes.”
“Then let’s start sending your men. Who do you think should go first?”
Newman looked his fellow knights over, each one now standing at attention. “Since our leader is already out there, he can assemble the men when they arrive. I volunteer to go last. The next to go should be—”
Ploof!
Billy jerked his head around. “What was that?” The remnants of an electric splash rose from the river, leaving an effervescent fizz. Two seconds later, another splash plumed in a surge of spritzing static, then another.
“The conspirators!” Newman shouted.
“Get your men in there now!” Billy yelled. “We can’t have them outnumbering our people out in the lab!”
Newman waved his glowing arms toward the river. “Edward! Fly to the exit! Fiske! You follow him! Standish! Woodrow! Go! Now!”
The four phantoms dashed into the current, allowing it to hurtle their bodies into the river. Their splashes combined with those of the remaining conspirators as they all flushed through the candlestone’s wash.
Newman faced Billy and bowed. “You next, lad.”
“No,” Billy replied, shaking his head. “You go. I . . . I have something to do.”
Newman straightened and folded his hands behind his back. “I am at your service, William. With that fiend lurking in the shadows, I stand as your ready guard.”
“Thank you Newman, but they need you out there.” He gripped Newman’s shoulder. “Trust me. This is something I have to do alone.”
Newman bowed. “William, you are a brave knight indeed. I will look forward to seeing you on the other side.”
Without another word, Newman stepped toward the river, his body elongating as the current pulled him into its flow. His noble smile stretched with his thinning face, and he vanished into a vapor of streaming light.
Now alone in the chasm, Billy scanned the upper rim.
Where is he? He fooled me last time, so I guess my danger sensing doesn’t work in here.
He turned to continue his search.
I guess I
—
“Going somewhere, mongrel?” A flashing storm of light blocked his path. An electric hand throttled his neck, jolting him like a thousand stinging wasps. “This party is just getting started.”
Get Bobo away from that machine!” Ashley yelled. “If she turns it on, this show’s over for good!”
“I’m trying to catch the rabbit!” Walter called back. “It’s chewing the cables!”
Ashley groaned. “The chimp first, then the rabbit!”
Bonnie flew across the lab, swooping low and snatching Bobo into her arms. She carried the chimp through the air toward the girls’ dorm. With a sweep of her arm, she slid Bobo inside and closed the door.
“Bonnie!” Ashley shouted. “Get Betsy, too! She’s trying to fiddle with the lights. We need them to stay dim.” She slapped the imp’s hairy hand away from the dial.
Airborne again, Bonnie zipped to the control panel and grabbed Betsy, holding the struggling ape away from the controls.
Ashley let out a loud relieved sigh, but immediately tensed. “Oh no! There’re four, no, five in the diver’s dome! There’s no way the professor can grab them all before the candlestone reabsorbs them!”
Ashley’s brow bent toward her nose. “The candlestone’s not affecting them at all! Could it be because their light isn’t agitated anymore?” She began shouting again. “Now there are six! Seven! What are we going to do? The receptors will never last!”
“Bonnie!” Walter yelled. “I’ve got the rabbit, but now one of the chimps is trying to mess with the shield’s switch!”
“I’m on my way!” Bonnie took Ashley’s hand and softly patted her knuckles. “If anyone can figure out what to do, you can!”
“But how? There’re eight! No, nine!”
Bonnie zoomed toward the recovery dome with Betsy in one arm and scooped Walter’s miscreant chimp into her other. As she flew by, she saw Sir Barlow wrestling for the sword with a larger chimp while an overzealous Scottish terrier nipped at his stockings. She sighed. “Those two will just have to wait.”
Waves of pain shot through Billy’s body, rippling through his energy field like lightning bolts. The stinging current drove into his brain, like hot needles zapping him over and over again. The slayer’s grip tightened around Billy’s throat until he felt woozy, every light dimming and spinning. The slayer lifted him until his feet floated above the chasm floor.
“You have no idea who you’re dealing with, Dragon Boy,” the slayer growled. “I am the Minister of The New Table. I am Arthur’s Bane. I am the Wandering Spirit who cannot die.”
Billy could barely think. The slayer’s words were surreal, a wave of strange ideas.
The New Table? Arthur’s bane? What’s he talking about?
Devin’s arm drew back. He threw a raging punch at Billy’s face, like a blacksmith’s mighty hammer crushing molten steel. Billy flew against one of the chasm’s walls, splattering his body against the crystal and creating a splash of sizzling electrons.
The slayer stalked toward him again, his arms reaching forward as if he were a demonic mantis. His evil voice sounded like an echo from the pit of hell. “It’s time to end this for good, you whelp of a jackal!”
A blinding flash of light surged through the gap between the demon and his prey. In a split second the light gathered into the tall stately form of a man, robed, with flowing silver hair. His arms spread wide, and light beams shot out from his hands to form a glowing shield, an oblong bubble that enveloped Billy and his defender.
The slayer burst into enraged flames, and his fiery red finger shook with dripping sparks. “Begone, you old sorcerer. Your black magic won’t keep me from slaying this foul son of the devil!”
Billy’s ghostly friend replied in a soft but firm tone. “It is not young William who springs from Satan’s loins, Devin. It is the liar who finds his home in the devil’s house of worship. Darkness breeds there, and you are its offspring, the minister of the darkest of lies.”
“Oh, so eloquent!” Devin sneered. “Is that what you’ve been doing for a thousand years, making up oral gems like that one? It makes me feel better knowing that you were in here conjuring up your trite little sayings while I was taking care of your dragon friends. Would you like an accounting of how many now remain in your draconic collection?”
The defender’s voice remained calm. “I am aware of your deeds, but the prophecy is still intact.”
“And so is mine,” Devin replied, flame still rippling across his fierce body. “Is your little lamb aware of the prophecies about me? I’ll bet you haven’t told him, have you?”
“No. It is not necessary to drink poison in order to understand its harm. He has seen enough of evil to know its character. A stinking pool need not be waded to learn that it is foul.”
“Well, perhaps the mongrel would like to know more about my power in his world. Has he ever asked why I was able to become a school principal, how I could manipulate the Castlewood police, how I was able to stow away in his father’s guarded airplane? Have you told him the truth about me?”
Billy pulled himself up to his knees. Devin’s questions were his questions—ones he had asked himself a hundred times.
“He will learn the truth,” the defender replied. “But it will not come through your twisted words. I will not allow it.” The silver-haired man lifted Billy to his feet, keeping a flashing hand on his back.
Billy stared into the face of the radiant defender. “Professor?” he whispered. “How did you get in here?”
“It is time for you to go, brave lad.”
“But it’s not over. I have to face Devin.”
“Not here and not now. You have to face him, but you have not yet taken hold of your greatest weapons.”
The defender lifted Billy into the air and threw him into the dark currents. Billy sailed toward the stream of light, pulled through the swirling blackness without the strength to fight it. A flash surrounded him as he plunged into the electrostatic river. Millions of tiny sparks pecked away at his body, and the pulsing lights dimmed to black.
“Edward!” Sir Barlow cried as the glass rose. “You made it!”
The knight, dressed only in loose-fitting silk breeches and shirt, stepped down to the floor. “Yes,” he replied breathlessly, “but our enemies may soon follow. I am the first, it seems, but the others are floating back in that glass case. I cannot tell who will be taken next.”
Bonnie peered into the diver’s dome. “What about Billy? Is he floating in there?”
Edward bowed. “The lad is still in the stone, as far as I know. He is a valiant one, to be sure. My guess is that he wanted to oversee everyone’s escape.”
Ashley called from the control panel. “The receptors are dying! If the professor brings anyone else over, I won’t be able to restore them! I might have to—”
A shout filled the lab. “She’s gone!”
Ashley spun her head toward the sound. “Who’s gone?”
Dr. Conner appeared in the dim light, leading Derrick and pushing Ashley’s grandfather in his wheelchair.
“Daddy!” Ashley cried, rushing toward them. Her grandfather’s head lolled to one side, and he shivered violently, his eyes tightly shut and his hands clenched into fists. Bonnie followed close behind Ashley and took Derrick’s hand from Doc.
Dirty tears streamed down Dr. Conner’s earth-caked cheeks, and he put a trembling hand on Ashley’s shoulder. “Karen’s gone!”
Chapter 21
Ashley enfolded her grandfather’s stiff, wrinkled hands and held them against her cheeks. “He’s freezing!” She searched all around his wheelchair. “Where’s his blanket?”
“It was gone when I got there!” Dr. Conner pointed toward the Omega door. “There’s deep snow where the cave comes out into the valley, but I couldn’t see any human tracks, just depressions and scratches in the snow. I saw blood next to the boulder that must have hit Karen, but there wasn’t any trail.” He dropped his medical bag and raised his hands. “It’s like she just vanished into thin air. And the cave collapsed behind me on my way back in. There’s no escaping that way now.”
Ashley stroked Derrick’s forearm. “Derrick. Did you hear anything? Can you even guess what happened?”
Derrick, his ebony skin streaked with tear tracks through gray dust, spoke slowly. “I heard weird noises, like wind . . . wind whipping a blanket on a clothes line.” He wiped his face with his sleeve. “And there was a smell, a smell like plowed soil, and I felt a warm breeze for just a second or two.”
Bonnie took Derrick in her arms and held his quivering face against her shoulder. Ashley grabbed the coat the professor had shed and laid it over her grandfather’s shaking body, tucking it around his sides. “I . . . I can’t do much more for Daddy now, Doc. And I can’t go looking for Karen.” She waved her arm toward the diver’s dome. “There are a bunch of people floating over there, and the professor left one in the restoration dome. I can’t restore any of them until I get more photoreceptors. If we don’t hurry, the people will disperse and die.”
“But where can we get receptors?” Dr. Conner asked. He fumbled through his pocket and drew out his ring of keys. “You know our source is gone.”
Bonnie extended her arms, exposing their scarred undersides. “Don’t I have photoreceptors? Can’t we use mine?”
“Yes, Bonnie,” Ashley replied, “you have them, but after getting transluminated and restored, your receptors could be weak or useless. Instead of letting the machine restore you, the receptors tried to do the work and drained themselves. And, besides, since you’ll have a low receptor density right now, it would take a lot of blood. We need you to stay strong to help search for Karen from the air.”
Walter stepped in close to the wheelchair. “Search, smearch! If Bonnie’s got photo-whatitz, then let’s try to use them. Weak ones are better than none at all. Billy and Prof are going to die if we don’t! And we’ll find Karen one way or another.”
Dr. Conner popped open his medical bag and produced a syringe. “I promised myself I’d never draw another drop of Bonnie’s blood, but I don’t think we have any choice.”
Ashley let out a deep sigh, rolled up a sleeve on her robe, and extended her arm toward Doc. “Take them from me.”
Dr. Conner stared at Ashley’s bare forearm. “Take what from you? What are you talking about?”
She nodded toward her arm. “I have photoreceptors in my blood. We can use them in the engine.”
Bonnie placed her hand on Ashley’s exposed skin. “You have them? How?”
She jerked her arm back and raised her voice. “I can’t explain now! We’ve wasted too much time already. Doc, just get the needle and do it!”
Dr. Conner rummaged through the medical bag and pulled out a plastic tube. “We’ll have to attach you directly to the equipment to be sure we get enough.”
Ashley marched toward a machine near the lab’s edge. “Can you run the board, Doc? It’s programmed to isolate the professor’s coding and analyze only who he brings with him. The code loop has already worked several times, so just keep the system tuned where I have it, experimental project eleven B. If everything keeps working, we could have a big search party in just a few minutes.” She wheeled up a chair and held out her arm.
“I can run the board. Just be ready to answer any questions I have.” Dr. Conner stooped and pushed one end of the plastic tube into an adapter on the machine. With a quick twist, he fastened a sharp needle on the other end of the tube and pressed the point into the crook of Ashley’s arm. A dark stream of red seeped through the plastic and ran toward a collection tank on the machine. Doc jumped up and hustled to the control panel.
“Everyone back to your posts!” Ashley barked. “Doc, signal Walter when each restoration is complete. Barlow, have the sword ready. Bonnie, see if you can keep my grandfather warm.”
“You were right!” Dr. Conner called. “The system is showing functional receptors!” He turned a dial clockwise. “Here we go!”
Leading Derrick by the hand, Bonnie pushed the wheelchair closer to the dome near Walter and Sir Barlow. Barlow leaned over and whispered to Walter. “I can already identify who is in there. It is one of the conspirators, Addison by name. He is not very bright.” Barlow lifted Excalibur to an attack position.
The form in the recovery dome congealed, creating a thin, shaking little man dressed only in a gray, girded loincloth.
Walter dropped to his knees. “Is he ready?”
Dr. Conner waved his hand. “Yes, go ahead.”
Walter hit the switch, and as soon as the glass rose to his chest, Addison fell to his knees, his eyes wide. He pointed at Bonnie and squeaked. “An angel! Am I in heaven?”
Sir Barlow lunged toward the conspirator with Excalibur. “Death to all who dare enter heaven naked!” Addison shrieked and dashed into the darkness. With a hearty laugh, Barlow returned to his post. “The fool never did learn to wear proper garments under his mail. Serves him right.”
A sudden jolt knocked Walter to his seat. “What was that?”
The ground trembled, then shook. “Another tremor!” Ashley yelled.
The tile floor buckled and cracked, swallowing a loop of cables into a shallow depression. Dr. Conner gripped the sides of the control panel. “Will the equipment hold out?”
Ashley pressed her hand on the needle in her arm to keep it steady. “Your guess is as good as mine.” She twisted her head toward the wheelchair. “Bonnie! Does your professor know Morse code?”
“Probably.”
“Go to the wall switches. We need to send him an SOS.”
Three ceiling panels gave way under a small landslide. Rocks and dirt crashed into the anchor dome, shattering the glass and sending fragments crunching to the floor. Bonnie hopped over the shards and dashed to the wall near the Alpha door. “Okay! Ready!”
“Find the switch on the far left and flip it on,” Ashley called.
“Got it!”
“Now you’ve got control of the lights. Use the middle switch and flip it three times—quick, short bursts. Follow that with three longer ones.” Ashley counted the flashes above her head. “Now repeat the short ones.”
She held the tube against her arm and stood up. “Doc, turn on both generators. Local power is bound to go out.”
Dr. Conner opened a small plastic flap over a red switch. “I already fired up the first one.” He flicked the switch and closed the flap. “Second one’s up!”
Ashley leaned over the machine and yelled at Barlow. “I need Edward to go with Bonnie! When she’s done with her signal, she’ll fly him over the ceiling to shore it up.” She spun around. “Bonnie, can you do that?”
“I think so. He’s no bigger than Billy, and I’ve carried him—”
“Good. Leave the lights on. Everyone should be out of the stone by now.” She turned to Dr. Conner. “Doc, move slider C14 to max. That should speed up the restorations. We’ll have to risk a power sag.”
“To max? It’ll drain the receptors!” Another hard shake jolted the lab. Black dirt poured onto the control panel, and Dr. Conner threw his body over it.
“I’m mainlining the supply, Doc! They’ll last!”
He straightened, letting a pile of debris slide down his back. He pushed the buffer control to the top. “But will you last?”
Excited shrieks rose within the dorm halls. “It’s the chimps,” Ashley yelled amidst the growing clamor. “Local power must be out, or else the dorms are caving in!”
“The professor’s moving faster,” Doc shouted back. “He must have gotten the signal. We have a new body in the dome. The professor’s clear. Restoring now!”
“It’s Standish!” Barlow yelled. “A very good knight. A bit eccentric, however.”
“Get him out, Walter!” Doc called. “The professor’s already waiting.”
Walter slapped the switch and reached under the glass, dragging Standish off the platform. As soon as the knight was clear, Walter hit the switch again.
Dr. Conner brushed dirt from one of the panel’s meters. “Good job, Walter.” He rotated a dial with one hand and wiped his forehead with the other. “Get ready. We’ll have another one in a few seconds.”
Loose dirt pelted the ceiling, and Dr. Conner glanced up. “Bonnie, the panel above the dome is sagging!”
The shadow of enormous wings passed across the lab floor, and Bonnie scooped Edward up from behind.
“Aaaah!” The knight’s feet flailed in the air as he glided across the lab.
Bonnie zoomed to the outer wall and shot up into the upper reaches of the cavern. She flew Edward over the ceiling, and they landed on top of one of the horizontal beams that held the ceiling panels’ support wires. Tiny stones and dirt pelted both maiden and knight as Bonnie strained to examine the ceiling below while bracing herself against a vertical beam. Shafts of light illuminated the area, pouring through gaps in the drop ceiling.
Bonnie pointed to a spot several feet away. “That’s the one. I think that pile of stuff is right over the diver’s dome. Let’s try to move the bigger stones away.”
“Do you feel that?” Edward asked, holding out his hand.
Bonnie looked up. “Snow!” She held out her own hand and an icy flake settled on her palm.
How could snow get in here?
Bonnie pulled on Edward’s sleeve. “Hang on. I’ll be right back.” She leaped into the dimness, dodging a protruding rock formation, and found a gaping hole in the ceiling. Shooting through the gap, she cleared the rim of a volcano-like cone and flew into cold, snow-filled sky. After surveying the area, she made a sharp U-turn, zipped back through the gap, and landed softly next to Edward, who was busily clearing debris from the sagging panel.
“We’d better hurry. The mountain looks like its splitting open.”
“Almost done, Miss.” Edward lifted a cannonball-sized stone, slid across the snow-slicked beam, and heaved it toward the far side of the cavern. “That should do it.”
“Are you ready to fly back down?”
“Not to insult your skills, m’lady, but if you don’t mind, I will take a more direct route.” Edward leaped toward a hole in the ceiling, caught the frame, and swung down to the floor, landing with a graceful bend of his knees. Bonnie flew across the tops of the panels, then back down the side of the cavern, landing in a run at the edge of the lab.
Ashley sat quietly beside the blood receptacle, gaunt and pale. Barlow stood next to five other men who were similarly clad in dark breeches and loose cotton shirts. Walter squatted at his post waiting for the next signal.
Bonnie felt her throat catch.
Where’s Billy? He must not be out yet. But there’s no time to worry about that; I have to warn everyone about the mountain!
She cleared her throat. “We have a major problem! The mountain is opening up. There’s a . . . a gap, like it’s splitting apart.”
Ashley jumped to her feet and yanked the needle from her arm. Applying pressure to her wound and walking like a determined drunkard, she staggered toward the panel, her voice small and feeble. “That must be Billy coming in now. We should have enough receptors. Restore him and then the professor, and let’s get out of here!”
Dr. Conner gave way and let Ashley step up to control the panel. She pulled on her headphones, adjusted the microphone, and flipped a switch. Her voice boomed through hidden speakers. “Barlow, get your men and carry my grandfather up the stairs in the Alpha exit. Bonnie will show you the way. Walter, as soon as Billy appears, help him out quickly. He might not recognize you or even understand what’s going on.”
“But the other males are fine,” Bonnie said, wiping a smudge from her forehead. “Won’t Billy be okay?”
Ashley took a deep breath. Her pale skin regained a hint of color. “I can’t be sure, but I have a theory. I think the longer a male’s been in the candlestone, the better for his brain. Men are natural warriors, and they go in more agitated. Remember what I told you about ripples and a reflection in a pond?” Her eyes refocused on the recovery cylinder. “But there’s no time to explain any further. Just pray that he’s all right.”
A male body materialized in the dome, but he sat crumpled, his head between his knees and his arms draped over his legs.
Walter punched the switch. “It’s Billy!” He gripped the lower rim of the glass to make it rise faster.
Bonnie jumped toward the dome, but Barlow pushed the wheelchair into her path and put his hand on her elbow. “Show me the way out, lass. The conspirators have fled to the shadows, and we will allow the cowards to perish in God’s wrath, but we must save the old man and the blind youth.”
Bonnie looked at his kind, serious face and the solemn expressions of his men who stood close by. She spun back around to see Walter pulling Billy’s limp body out of the dome and onto the floor while small stones and dirt rained all around.
Dr. Conner dashed over and grabbed the wheelchair handles. “I’ll take them, Bonnie! Go to Billy!”
Bonnie flapped her wings and half walked, half flew to Billy’s side. Walter hit the switch again and shouted. “Now we just need to get the prof!”
Ashley’s voice boomed through the speakers again. “The professor’s already grabbed someone else, and they’re passing through the tube!”
“But there isn’t anyone else,” Walter countered, “except—”
“Devin?” Bonnie knelt on the floor. She cradled Billy’s head in her arms and shielded his body from the debris that rained on his translumination robe.
Ashley murmured. “No, it’s not Devin, but it’s real strange. The pre-analyzer says it has the same data coding as the professor. Since I have the professor’s coding blocked, the computer assumes it
is
the professor and won’t complete the restoration. I’ll have to turn off the block and let it analyze them together.” She began typing madly on a keyboard, reprogramming the computer with her flying fingers. “I don’t know if this will work, but here goes!”