The Lost Night (30 page)

“Outside,” Harry said. “Into the Umbrella Tree. If that aquarium goes, the whole complex will flood and the water is going to pour out of this entrance. Getting into the branches of the tree is our best bet.”

They ran toward the entrance of the cave, dodging the brilliant natural jewels in their path.

Outside, Rachel led the way to the tiers of branches that offered a ladder up into the huge, sprawling tree. Calvin, Harry, and the two teens followed.

Nathan Grant, however, fled straight ahead and disappeared from sight in the undergrowth.

“I knew going back for him was a waste of time,” Harry said.

A muffled explosion
reverberated deep inside the cave complex.

“The vault,” said Calvin, clambering up onto a massive branch beside Rachel and the guards. “It just blew. I think that the aquarium walls will give way any second now. Some of the water will flow into the side tunnels, but Sebastian is right, a lot of it will take the path of least resistance and come out the same way we did.”

Rachel studied the cave entrance. The roof of the opening was a few feet below their perch.

“This branch should be high enough off the ground to keep us all safe,” she said.

“This tree has withstood a lot of major storms,” Harry said. “And this section is not in the direct path of the water. But we’re going to feel the impact.” He reached out and took Rachel’s hand. “Hang on tight, everyone.”

There was another muffled explosion.

“The aquarium,” Calvin said softly.

The gushing wave of water sounded like rolling thunder as it swept through the cave. The ground shook. A moment later the deluge surged furiously through the entrance. Rachel thought she saw some dark forms twitching and twisting in the crashing waves.

The Umbrella Tree shuddered. Several of the smaller, newer root systems tore free of their moorings, but the ancient pillars that supported the section in which she and the others crouched held fast.

Darwina clung to Rachel’s shoulder and chortled with excitement.

“Little adrenaline junkie,” Rachel said.

After clearing
the narrow entrance of the cave system, the water spread out across the jungle floor, its energy dissipating rapidly.

The rushing waters surged for what seemed an eternity before gradually slowing to a river, a stream, and finally, a small creek.

An eerie silence fell.

Then the screaming started.

“Grant,” Harry said. “Sounds like he made it, after all.”

They found nathan a short time later. he was alive but he was pinned against one of the root pillars by the weight of a dying sea monster. The creature’s tentacles were wrapped tightly around him.

He continued to scream until Harry and Calvin and the two teens hacked away the last of the tentacles.

“So you’re the
one who erased my memories of getting kidnapped and waking up inside the aquarium complex,” Rachel said.

“You probably won’t believe this,” Calvin said, “but I was trying to protect you.”

“I believe you,” she said gently.

They were sitting in Rachel’s kitchen. She had prepared a tisane to harmonize her inner energies and special brews for Harry and Calvin as well. She figured they could all do with some therapeutic aura balancing.

Darwina showed no ill effects from the adventure. She was perched on the refrigerator, munching pretzels. She had Amberella at her side. The doll, amazingly, looked only a little the worse for wear. A tribute to modern plastics and synthetics and her mother’s sewing skills, Rachel thought.

“Grant planned to kill
you after you opened the vault room for him,” Calvin explained. “When you escaped, he was furious but he thought his secret was safe because he was sure that you would never survive the Preserve.”

Harry drank some of his tisane and lowered the cup. “He didn’t know that you had given Rachel one of the crystal flutes and told her how to use it.”

“Not at first,” Calvin said. “I was fairly certain that anyone with as much talent as you possess, Rachel, could use the flute. But if you did get out, I had to make sure that I got to you before Nathan did.”

“He would have tried to murder me to keep me quiet,” Rachel said.

“Without a moment’s hesitation. The flute was tuned to the location of my cottage,” Calvin said. “I knew that if you did find your way out of the Preserve, you would emerge there. I was waiting for you. I slipped some of my hypno-drug into that tea I served you and told you to forget the whole damn night and most especially Nathan Grant’s aura. I told you that if you saw Grant again, you would not be able to get a clear fix on his aura.”

“Which was why his aura was murky when I did see him at the tea-tasting.”

“I also planted the suggestion that it would be a really good idea to head back to Frequency City as soon as possible. Later I explained to Grant that you were not a threat.”

“He was content with that because he didn’t want to have to kill Rachel until he could figure out how to replace her or get her back to the island to open the vault,” Harry said.

Rachel winced. “I’m that
easy to hypnotize, Calvin? And here I thought I was immune.”

“You probably are immune to psychic hypnosis,” Calvin said. “But the stuff I developed is a powerful drug. No one is immune. I made the mistake of demonstrating it to Grant. He and Marcus Lancaster saw the possibilities immediately and started experimenting with the stuff on the street kids that were filtering through Second Chance House.”

Harry looked at him. “When did you develop the drug?”

“Years ago in another life I was Doctor Calvin Dillard, director of research at a high-flying pharmaceutical lab in Resonance City. My specialty was marine biology. I derived the hypnotic drug from the glands of a certain species of fish.”

“What happened?” Rachel asked. “How did you end up on Rainshadow?”

“I succeeded in destroying my own career,” Calvin said. “Pharmaceutical research is tremendously competitive. In my rush to beat the competition, I released the results of some research done in my lab that was later proven to have been falsified by two of my assistants.”

“But you were in charge, so you took the hit,” Harry said.

“It was my fault. I knew there was something a little too good to be true about the results, but getting the edge on the competition was the top priority. In the end the scandal made a train wreck out of my career. I lost the respect of my peers, my friends turned against me, and my wife ended our MC. There was
nothing left but my music. So I moved to Rainshadow.”

“Where did you find the flutes?” Rachel asked.

Calvin smiled faintly. “You could say they found me. My talent for music extends into the paranormal range. I can hear notes generated beyond the normal spectrum. About a year ago I noticed that during severe storms I could hear music coming from somewhere inside the Preserve. I thought at first that my loneliness combined with the energy leaking out of the fence was creating audio hallucinations.”

“The music called to you,” Rachel said gently.

“Like a siren song. Once, during a violent thunderstorm, I decided I had nothing left to lose. I managed to get through the fence and into the Preserve. Once inside, I just kept walking, following the paranormal music. I swear, at the time, I didn’t care if I ever got back out.”

Harry watched him with cold interest. “The music led you to the cave system that housed the Alien aquarium and the associated labs.”

“It was, to put it mildly, the discovery of a lifetime,” Calvin said.

“Wait, I don’t understand,” Rachel interrupted. “Who was playing the music?”

Calvin grimaced. “Not Alien ghosts, I can assure you of that. I found the flutes in that crystal tunnel that ran through the aquarium. There were seven of them. They were stacked very neatly in a triangle-shaped container. I’m sure they had been there for centuries. I suppose that it was the energy of the storms that occasionally stirred up the latent
power in the flutes and caused them to resonate in a harmonic fashion. With my talent and my proximity to the Preserve, I was able to hear the music occasionally.”

Harry looked at the chunk of murky crystal sitting on the kitchen table. “Over the years people have occasionally claimed to hear ghostly music coming from inside the Preserve during heavy storms. But you’ve lived near the fence for nearly a decade and you didn’t hear the music until last year?”

“Sometimes I picked up a note or two during very violent storms,” Calvin said, “But never any sustained music that was clear and strong enough to follow—not until last year.”

“Then some new factor was involved,” Harry said.

They all looked at the crystal that he had retrieved from the vault.

“You think the energy of that stone ignited the flutes?” Calvin asked.

“We don’t know much about the three crystals that my ancestors brought with them from Earth,” Harry said, “but what little we do know indicates that under certain circumstances they can resonate strongly with the natural geothermal currents generated at nexus and vortex points. The Sebastians kept the rocks stored in a kind of high-tech obsidian chest. The obsidian dampened the natural energy of the crystals. But sometime in the past eighteen months the crystals were removed from the storage container.”

Calvin’s eyes
heated with comprehension. “You found one of them inside that crystal vault.”

“I think it’s probably been sitting in there for a while, gradually heating up the atmosphere and the other artifacts, including those flutes,” Harry said.

Rachel turned back to Calvin. “I understand how important the discovery of the aquarium was to you, but how in the world did you get involved with a couple of criminals like Nathan Grant and Marcus Lancaster?”

Calvin exhaled wearily. “You haven’t figured out that part yet?”

“For pete’s sake, you’re not the criminal type. You’re a
scientist
,” Rachel said.

Harry regarded Calvin with a knowing expression. “A scientist who had made an incredible find and knew that he was going to need cash in order to pursue his research, a lot of cash.”

“Yes,” Calvin said.

Rachel winced. “Oh, I see.”

Calvin looked at her. “Marcus Lancaster’s obsession with you pales in comparison to my obsession with the secrets locked in that lab complex. I was afraid to tell anyone about what I had found because I knew the Foundation would step in and take control.”

“True,” Harry said.

Calvin turned back to him. “Your family not only commands enormous resources, it owns the Preserve and would have a proprietary interest in reaping the profits of any discoveries made inside. Given my past, I wouldn’t have been
invited to step foot inside the aquarium, let alone conduct any research there.”

“But you needed money to outfit a proper marine biology lab,” Harry said. “You knew that some of the Alien relics scattered around the complex would be worth a fortune on the black market. So you decided to try to sell them.”

“It was a world I knew nothing about.” Calvin picked up his cup. “I went to Frequency City and started asking around at the various antiquities shops. The next thing I knew, Grant and Lancaster came around offering a partnership. It seemed like the answer to my dreams. But all they cared about were the relics. And when they discovered that vault, they could not rest until they had figured out how to open it.”

“The only reason you’re still alive,” Harry said, “is because the flutes are similar to most crystal and amber-based technology. They have to be retuned frequently.”

“And you were the only one with the kind of psychic talent required to do the tuning,” Rachel said.

“I’m sorry,” Calvin said. “I know that’s not enough, but I am truly sorry. I almost got you killed.”

“You know,” Rachel said, “this sad tale about doing a deal with the devil—or devils, in this case—in exchange for knowledge has a familiar ring to it.”

Harry and Calvin looked at her.

“What?” she said. “Haven’t either of you ever heard of the story of Dr. Faustus?”

“No,” Harry said.

Calvin’s brow furrowed
in a puzzled expression. “Is he a biologist?”

Rachel smiled. “It’s an Old World legend about a guy who trades his soul to Lucifer in exchange for all the secrets of science, which he never gets, of course, because the devil can’t be trusted. It was one of my favorite bedtime stories.”

“Huh,” Harry said. “I used to read
Creature from the Obsidian Lagoon
comics under the covers at night.”

“I had a subscription to the
Journal of Paranormal Biology
,” Calvin said. “I usually took the latest issue to bed with me every night. Still do, come to think of it.”

“Moving right along,” Rachel said crisply. “Upon reflection, my analogy to the Faust legend does not apply here because, unlike the doc in that story, you redeemed yourself, Calvin. You risked your own life to save mine the night I was kidnapped and you did your best to keep me safe by blanking my memory.”

Calvin grimaced. “I doubt that will matter a whole lot to the powers that be at the Foundation or the FBPI. What with being sort of an accessory to kidnapping and dealing in illegal Alien artifacts I expect I’ll be spending the next few years in prison. I wonder if they’ll let me have my violin?”