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 acros
s 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!”
Dr. Conner burst back into the room. “The Alpha exit’s caved in, too! The whole side of the mountain is giving way!” Barlow and his men reentered, carrying Ashley’s grandfather, wheelchair and all, and leading Derrick by the hand. Doc waved his arm. “Everyone to the center of the lab!”
While Barlow and his knights rushed toward the central pedestal with Derrick and the wheelchair, Bonnie dragged Billy’s limp body forward. He felt like a thousand-pound sack of sand. Lifting Edward and all those rocks had sapped her strength.
Barlow ran to her side and deftly lifted Billy over his shoulder. “I’ll take him, Miss.”
The crowd clustered around the pedestal while larger rocks crashed to the floor, piling in front of the Alpha exit and raising a thick wall of dust. Ceiling panels, along with their twisted frames and support beams, tumbled all around. Barlow deflected two panels with one of his massive arms, while Fiske, Standish, and Woodrow arched their bodies over Ashley’s grandfather and Derrick. Edward and Newman stood like shade trees over Bonnie while she sat cross-legged on the floor. Barlow placed Billy in her arms. She laid her cheek against his and silently prayed.
Walter stayed at his post and kept his eyes trained on the restoration dome.
Ashley’s voice crackled through the speakers. “They’re both in there.” Lights flickered and loud pops sounded all around. Ashley threw off the headphones and pushed three sliders fully to the right. “Power’s going down on generator number one. Going max on restoration while the second generator lasts. Get ready, Walter! As soon as you can recognize him, count to three and pull him out!” Ashley left the panel to join the huddled group.
Walter placed his hand over the switch. Bulbs exploded, and every light went black, but the dome still buzzed with activity. One second later, the professor’s familiar form appeared, standing erect on the platform. “No time to wait for that glass to rise,” Walter muttered. He grabbed Excalibur from the floor, counted to three, and with a mighty swing, smashed the glass cylinder with the glowing sword. Glass flew everywhere, pelting the professor and scattering across the floor.
The professor brushed the glass from his robe and stepped down to floor level. With sharp, piercing eyes, he turned slowly and took in the battered lab—the ceiling debris on the cracked tiles, the mound of rocks blocking the Alpha door, and the huddled group in the center of the cavern. A mangled frame and a few panels remained in the ceiling above. The sword in Walter’s hands and a row of LED’s still flickering on the control panel provided only scant light in the dim room. The professor’s body shone against the blackness as if somehow he had retained some of his transluminated form.
All was still. He reached out his hand, and his voice echoed in the darkness. “The sword, please, Walter.”
Walter flipped the sword around and extended the hilt. The professor grasped it and limped toward the central pedestal.
He knelt at Bonnie’s side and placed the sword in Billy’s hands, wrapping his own fingers on top and elevating the blade. Billy opened his eyes and tightened his grasp on the hilt.
“William,” the professor said, softly, “what now is your weapon?”
Bonnie could see Billy’s eyes reflecting the professor’s shining face, enhanced by Excalibur’s glow. She held her breath, waiting for Billy’s reply.
“Truth,” he whispered, his voice rasping. He cleared his throat. “Truth is my sword.”
The professor nodded, his eyes now flashing, and his voice erupted in deep, echoing tones as if Billy’s answer strengthened him. “And what now is your defense?”
Color returned to Billy’s face, and his jaw tightened. His voice surged with emotion. “Faith . . . faith is my shield.”
Excalibur flashed. Its glow exploded in dazzling brilliance, sending out a sparkling corona and bathing the lab in a spectacular halo. A dozen shafts of light shot out from the sword’s tip, angling in all directions and then bouncing back, combining into one huge bolt of lightning that plunged into Billy’s chest.
His body lurched at the impact, and his skin shimmered like the sun on a perfectly polished suit of armor, his entire frame flashing like a human strobe light. He let out a long, loud yell, a warrior’s battle cry that echoed across the littered cavern floor.
As the professor released his grip, the bright light faded, and Billy sat up, clutchi
ng the glowing sword. He took Bonnie’s hand in his and stared at the union, soft fingers interlocked and two rings touching, creating a glow of their own.
He smiled at her, then whispered, “I have work to do.”
Bonnie squeezed his hand and withdrew her fingers from their clutch, smiling. “Then you’d better get to it.”
A strange noise buzzed across the chamber. The cap of the broken restoration dome, now dangling from a bent frame by a mangled wire, sent a feeble beam toward the platform below. A new phantom appeared in the ray, taking shape like a radiant ghost, his yellow-green eyes glowing like copper laser beams shooting through a night sky.
The professor reached for Billy’s hand and pulled him to his feet. “Your work is beginning, William. The captives await their final liberation.”
Billy raised the flashing sword high as though it weighed no more than a child’s toy. “First thing’s first. Where’s the candlestone?”
Ashley pointed. “In the diver’s dome!”
Billy shouted, “No more prisoners!”
He rushed to the diver’s dome and smashed the glass cylinder with one blow of the sword. He swung again, this time driving the blade directly into the stone, slicing through it cleanly. A tiny explosion of sparks erupted, and the two halves fell dark.
Billy spun around to face the slayer, shuddering at the apparition on the recovery platform. Devin’s body, not yet fully restored, pulsated between light and darkness, between man and glowing beast as the restoration ray continued to bathe his phantom form.
Billy raced to the control panel and ripped the metal surface with Excalibur’s blade, sending a wave of sparks flying high into the air. The constant hum died, and every blinking light faded to black, leaving Excalibur’s glow and the slayer’s throbbing body the only lights in the room.
Devin remained on the platform, a glowing mass of electric plasma that seemed to float in place. “Addison!” he growled. “I know you’re out there somewhere. Assemble our men!”
The nearly naked Addison ran to Devin’s side, trembling like a chilled pup, and four fierce men followed him. Devin turned to the huddled group near the pedestal. “Conner, open the weapons cache for my soldiers. It’s time to get rid of the mongrel blight.”