“The man is likely a teacher I know, Charles Hamilton. He is brilliant and cunning, but he is, as you say, an old man. Bannister, on the other hand, may be more trouble than you’ve bargained for. His breath can kill you with one puff.”
“I’ve heard,” Dr. Conner replied, trying not to sound agitated. “But don’t worry. Palin will be there.”
“Good. He’ll know what to do. We’ve battled dragons with more fire than that mongrel could ever blow.”
Dr. Conner pushed a hand into his pocket and felt for his keys. “Are you planning to kill him?”
“What I decide should be of no consequence to you, Doctor. Remember our deal. I’ll spare the girl and leave her with you, but I get the boy, no questions asked. Understood?”
Dr. Conner gulped as quietly as he could. “Understood. But I’m keeping the DNA markings encoded, just to make sure you keep your end of the deal.”
“I understand completely. There’s no honor among liars, is there Doctor? But you have nothing to worry about. Your daughter cannot fulfill the prophecy without the boy, so I can leave her in your protective custody.”
Silence descended over the dark lab, and the red light ceased its flickering dance on the wall of the candlestone. Dr. Conner glanced at the Alpha exit door and then at the door leading to the girls’ dorm.
The sparks exiting the candlestone flashed to life once more. “Tell Palin to kill the others and bring the mongrel to me.”
Bonnie opened the door to her room and peered through the crack. No one was in the hall. She stepped out, careful to set her shoes quietly on the floor and tiptoe to Karen’s room on the opposite side of the corridor. The label on her door said in multicolored strokes of wide ink, “Red and Pebbles.” Bonnie didn’t want to risk knocking, so she cautiously turned the knob and pushed the door open just a bit. She whispered, “Can I come in?”
Bonnie heard rustling and a thump. The door flew open, and Karen’s bright, welcoming eyes appeared. She grabbed Bonnie’s hand and pulled her inside before she had time to contract her wings. They bumped painfully against the doorframe as she entered.
Karen peeked out the door before closing it behind her and then bounced back into the room. “Sit down,” she said, pointing to one of the beds. “Pebbles won’t mind.”
Bonnie perched on the edge of the bed and watched the sleeping Asian girl. “Evening nap?”
“Yep. She has nightmares, so she catches a catnap once in a while.” Karen plopped on her own bed, bouncing lightly, as if in time with music only she could hear. “So why’d you come to see me?”
Bonnie caught Karen’s gaze straying toward her wings, but she pretended not to notice. “I just wanted to get to know you better. You know, to get an idea of what’s going on here. You don’t get to see an underground laboratory complete with a girls’ dorm very often.”
Karen laughed and winked. “No. I guess this isn’t the traditional American home, is it?”
Karen’s joyful laugh made Bonnie feel warm inside. “No, not exactly traditional,” she replied. “Do you get to go outside? Do you have school? What do you do all day?”
Karen shifted her gaze toward the ceiling. “We don’t go outside much,” she said, regaining eye contact with Bonnie, “at least not lately. There used to be an easier way out than that long tunnel and those awful stairs. It’s a little door that leads to a cave and then another tunnel. They called it the Omega exit, but I never found out why. It comes out at about the same level we’re at, sort of like in a valley. There’s a real cool place to play there, a creek and a grassy field, but I never went out much after the wildflowers sprouted. I’m real allergic to bee stings.” She let out a sigh. “Anyway, I suppose it’s covered by snow this time of year, and Doc says there’s a monster in the cave now, so we can’t go through there anymore to get to the valley.”
“A monster?” Bonnie tried not to sound too doubtful. “Do you believe him?”
Karen nodded her head, her eyes bulging. “I’ve heard it growl; we all have. I imagine it’s too dark in there to see it, but it’s there all right. I thought at first that it might be a grizzly bear, but it doesn’t sound like any bear I’ve ever heard. It’s more like a Mercedes diesel engine without a muffler.”
Bonnie dragged her teeth across her bottom lip. A monster? Was it a ruse to keep them in line? With all the equipment her father had, it would be easy to fool the girls into thinking something weird was in that cave. “What do you do here all day if you can’t go outside?”
Karen tapped a stack of books on her nightstand. “When Ashley’s here, she teaches us for a couple of hours a day and gives us assignments, and sometimes Doc calls one of us out to the lab to help him.”
Bonnie clenched her hands in her lap. Karen had given the perfect opening to the subject she most wanted to know about, but she didn’t want to seem too eager. “Help him? What do you do?”
Karen hesitated, her lips trembling as her smile faded. “Well,” she said, glancing toward Pebbles, who was squirming under her bed sheet, “I . . . I’m not sure what I can tell you.”
Bonnie tiptoed over to Karen’s bed and sat down. She took Karen’s hand in hers. “You might as well tell me everything. I think we’re in this together now.”
Karen sniffed, and a tear trickled down her cheek. “Okay. I guess it’s all right.” She nodded toward the hall. “We—that is, Beck and Stacey and me—we’re part of Doc’s experiment. He’s trying to figure out a way to get people to live longer.”
“Oh? What does he do?”
Karen rubbed her right index finger along the needle marks on her left arm, starting at the crook and ending a few inches before her wrist. “Well, he used to take our blood and then . . . and then put it back in after he did something to it. He said he’s trying to make our blood work better.”
Bonnie caressed Karen’s tiny scars with her fingers. “Used to take it? What does he do now?”
Karen settled down somewhat and her voice became less fragile. “It changed all of a sudden. I guess you’ve seen the lab out there. It was a lot different a few weeks ago. A couple of guys came in, and they worked with Ashley to build those glass things and all those instruments. That’s about the same time they wouldn’t let us use the tunnel anymore. Anyway, now we do some really weird and scary stuff.”
Karen’s eyes welled up, and she clutched Bonnie’s hand tightly, rubbing her knuckles with her thumb. “It doesn’t hurt or anything, but it’s real scary. He doesn’t explain what’s going on, except a little at a time.”
Bonnie placed her other hand on top of Karen’s. “Go ahead and tell me. Maybe I can figure out what’s going on.”
Karen pursed her lips, and when she continued, her voice trembled again. “Well, I stand in one of those glass things, and Derrick—he’s a seventeen-year-old over in the guys’ dorm—he stands in another. Then Ashley turns on Derrick’s glass, and he disappears, and all I can see is a bunch of jumping light where he used to be.”
She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. “Then, I see the light from his glass thing coming toward mine through something like a transparent vacuum cleaner hose, and then Ashley turns my glass thing on. All of a sudden, I see everything differently, but it’s not like seeing at all. I can’t really describe it. You sort of feel it, but you understand everything around you just like you’re seeing it, only even stronger. Anyway, Derrick’s light reaches through the tube and grabs hold of me, and I can hear him say, ‘Hang on!’ Then I’m sucked through a chute, flying down real fast like a big dip on a roller coaster. And it gets real dark, darker than anywhere I’ve ever been, sort of like floating in the middle of the universe, with nothing to sit or walk on. I feel like a ghost, but I can’t see anything, except the last few times they did it, I could see flashes of light, like night lightning far away.”
Karen opened her eyes and relaxed her grip on Bonnie’s hand. “It only lasts a little while, at least I think it’s only a little while, and then I get sucked right back,
back into my glass thing. I can open my eyes, and everything’s back to normal, except—”
She stopped and covered her mouth, letting out an embarrassed laugh.
Bonnie laughed with her. “Except for what?”
“Well, the first time, when it was over, I ended up wearing just my underwear. But it was all right; I had on long johns, ’cause I get cold in that lab.” She held up her left hand, displaying a thin gold ring. “And this ring was on the floor next to my clothes. So was an ankle bracelet I used to wear. Every time after that, though, they gave me a long white robe to put on, sort of like a church choir robe, and I didn’t end up in my underwear anymore.”
“And what happened to Derrick?”
Karen pulled her hand from Bonnie’s lap and gave a wave of dismissal. “Oh, he was fine. I don’t remember what happened to his clothes ’cause I was worried about my own.”
“Do Beck and Stacey ever do anything?”
“Yes, they take my place sometimes, but it’s usually me, ’cause I’m older, I guess. It’s always Derrick in the other one, though.”
Bonnie thought for a minute, trying to fit the pieces of the puzzle together. She put a finger to her lips and spoke slowly. “I saw three glass domes out there. Did they ever use the third one?”
Karen shook her head. “They never told us what it’s for.”
Bonnie took a deep breath and blew it out in short, thoughtful puffs. “I can’t figure out what’s going on, at least not yet, but I’m going to have a look around tonight. Do you want to come with me?”
Karen shook her head again. “Ashley always checks on us and locks the hall door when she goes to bed. She’s almost like a jail warden. But she and Doc are good to us. We have good food and TV and computers and lots of nice clothes.”
“Hmmm.” Bonnie rubbed her chin as she looked around the room. Each girl had a computer system, and there was an assortment of dolls, board games, and stereo equipment either pushed against the walls or stored neatly on various shelves. Karen also had a collection of model cars on her side of the room, along with a short stack of automobile magazines.
“You like cars?” Bonnie asked.
Karen blushed and folded her hands in her lap. “Yeah. I like to read about them, and I have some videos. I want to be a mechanic someday, maybe even in a pit crew for NASCAR races.”
Bonnie then noted an encyclopedia set, an antique music box, and a huge collection of computer games. She let out a low whistle. “All this stuff makes me wonder where they get the money to finance this operation.”
“I asked that a long time ago. There’s lots of old rich guys who want to live forever, so it’s easy to get money.”
“Don’t they have to prove that what they’re doing works?”
Karen’s eyebrows raised, her eyes widening like glowing emeralds. “Oh, they have proof, all right. Ashley’s grandfather lives in the boys’ dorm, and he got healthier every day. He was in a coma for a while, but the last time I saw him he was walking around. His muscles were getting stronger all the time.”
“Were getting stronger?”
“Well, he sort of leveled out, I guess. I don’t think he’s getting any worse, though.”
Bonnie tapped her foot on the braided rug, then dug her toes into a groove. “I wonder if Ashley would let me see him. Maybe he would give me more information.”
Karen shrugged her shoulders. “Who knows? Ashley’s real nice, but she keeps a lot of secrets. She likes to say, ‘Too much information can make your brain choke.’”
Bonnie laughed and got up from the bed. She used both hands to help Karen to her feet and wrapped her arms around her new friend. “Yes, Ashley is secretive, but I’ll bet I can find the keys and get us out tonight. I think you and I had better figure out what’s really going on around here.” She pulled away and looked into Karen’s bright eyes. “Are you with me?”
Karen’s head drooped. She drew her hands into fists, making her knuckles crack. “I . . . I guess so.”
Bonnie hugged her again, this time wrapping her up with her arms and wings. “Don’t let your heart be troubled, Karen. Someone is watching, and He’s on our side.”
CHAPTER 9
THE TRANSLUMINARY TRIANGLE
Bonnie spent the remainder of the evening in her room with only a desk lamp illuminating the area near her bed. She rested on her pillow with her eyes closed, sometimes dozing, sometimes praying. Normally she would have taken the time to jot some of her thoughts down in her journal, but she knew the old notebook still lay where she left it, out on one of the lab chairs. She wanted it back. She had spent too many hours recording her amazing adventures, her lonely wanderings, and her heartfelt prayers to have them exposed to an unauthorized reader or accidentally thrown away.
One of her prayers had been that someday her writing might help someone, maybe even change someone’s life. Her own story had been one of heartrending loss changed into great gain—sorrowful valleys that had transformed into exhilarating heights of love and joy. Maybe other troubled souls could be encouraged in the valleys of their own lives.
Bonnie awoke from one of her short naps to find a dinner tray next to her bed. A huge sub sandwich perched on a stoneware plate next to a pile of rippled potato chips. The sandwich was stuffed with shaved turkey breast, a dark green lettuce leaf, and sliced black olives. Her stomach growled its approval. As she leaned over and squeezed the roll to fit her mouth, honey mustard oozed out the sides and dripped onto her plate. Oooh! That’s so good! How did Ashley know what I like on a sandwich?
Next to her plate a ripe Anjou pear held down a folded note. Bonnie pulled it out and read the handwritten words. “I hope you enjoy your meal. We normally eat together in the kitchen, but I didn’t want to wake you. I’ll come by later this evening. By the way, I found your backpack and journal. I put them and your coat in your closet next to your shoes.”
My journal! Maybe Ashley really can read minds!
Bonnie took another big bite just as the door swung open. “Wake up, Bonnie!” Ashley called as she walked in. Ashley’s cheery tone made the room seem brighter even before she flicked on the ceiling light. “Oh, you are awake. How do you like your supper?”
Bonnie set the sandwich on the plate, chewing, then licking the drips of mustard. She laughed, her mouth half full. “It’s perfect! Thank you!”
“Do you want to finish it, or can it wait? It’s time to talk to your mother.”
Bonnie pushed the tray to the side and grabbed her shoes from the floor, chewing and swallowing quickly. “Does she know I’m here? Will she be surprised?”
Ashley withdrew a pair of dark brown hiking boots from Bonnie’s closet. “Here,” she said, setting the boots at Bonnie’s feet. “Your shoes still look wet.”
“They are.” Bonnie eyed the boots with a smile. She slipped off the shoe she had put on and pushed her foot into one of the boots. It fit perfectly.
Ashley watched Bonnie loop the laces through the hooks. “We told your mother you were coming, but we haven’t contacted her since you got here.” She rocked from her toes to her heels, carrying some kind of clothing over her left arm. “It’s all set up, though. We’re just waiting for you.”
Bonnie leaped to her feet and headed for the door. “Let’s go, then!”
The two stepped quickly through the hall and out into the lab, Ashley pausing only to relock the hall door. The ceiling lights in the chamber were dim, but Bonnie could see well enough to make her way toward the center where the candlestone sat on the pedestal, glowing crimson in the laser’s steady beam. She felt a wave of nausea as she approached, so she walked more slowly toward the control panel, trying to fight off the sickness.
“Bonnie, wait!” Ashley caught up and handed her a white robe. “Here. Put this over your clothes.”
Bonnie took the robe and slid it over her head while Ashley adjusted her wings underneath the material. When everything was smoothed out, Ashley pulled the robe’s hood up. “Good,” Ashley said.
“It’s big enough to cover everything.”
Bonnie untwisted the long sleeves that wrapped her arms. She remembered what Karen had said about wearing a robe but wondered if there was another reason for it. “Is this some kind of protection?”
“Yes. It prevents light absorption. I don’t think it will be perfect, but it should keep you from getting too sick.”
“You knew about that? But how?”
“It stands to reason.” Ashley fussed with Bonnie’s robe, smoothing out a bunched place on one side so the hem would reach the floor. “But don’t worry about that now. It’s showtime.”
Ashley led the way toward the control panel where Bonnie’s father sat peering at the various displays and lights all over the board. Bonnie kept close behind, using Ashley as sort of a shield, though not to protect herself from the candlestone. The robe seemed to be working, but she felt nervous about seeing her father again.
Static filled the area with an irritating hum that nearly drowned Bonnie’s thoughts. Ashley cupped her hands around her mouth and shouted. “Bonnie’s here. Are you going to talk first?”
Dr. Conner kept his eyes fixed on the monitor as he picked up the microphone and spread the hood over the control panel. “Yes. I’ll do the introductions.” He turned a dial, and the lights dimmed further until they went completely out. He licked his lips before pressing a button on the mike’s throat. The static went silent. He spoke slowly into the microphone while Bonnie stepped closer, staring at the flaming red candlestone as it greedily drank from the glowing scarlet laser beam, spilling and spitting it out in red sparks on the other side. “Irene? Irene, are you there?”
He released the button and adjusted a knob on the panel, trying to smooth out the returning static. “Beta frequency is not as stable,” he said, turning to Ashley.
She reached to push a slider bar. “Try raising the distortion allowance. That’s worked before. I think beta’s a little off from what we guessed when we first calibrated the settings.”