Page 83 of Guild Boss

When everyone was seated, a hush fell over the crowd. Gabriel remained on his feet, subtly showing respect for his audience and at the same time conveying an aura of authority and power.

“I asked you to come here today because the Guild is on the brink of closing a case that I believe started out in the Underworld,” he said. “Most of you will recall the three-day disappearance of Lucy Bell, a professional weather channeler. Ms. Bell is with us today.”

Everyone in the room except Gabriel turned to look at Lucy. She nodded politely.

Aware that he suddenly had an audience, Otis chortled and waved his toy dust bunny. There were a few scattered chuckles, but the audience quickly turned its attention back to Gabriel.

“When Ms. Bell was located, she told a story no one believed,” Gabriel continued, “including me. She claimed she had been drugged, kidnapped, and taken down into the Underworld. When I got her back to the surface, I made the mistake of leaving her in the hands of a clinic. She wasonce again drugged. Knowing no one would buy her version of events, she kept a low profile for the next two months. She had one solid piece of evidence: a pendant made of a rare gray amber that glowed blue when it was in the vicinity of another chunk of amber that had been tuned to resonate with it.”

Gabriel picked up the pendant he had taken off one of the men who had attacked in the Ghost City.

“You will notice it’s hot at the moment because it’s resonating with another, similar pendant. Lucy?”

She opened her jacket to reveal the pendant she wore around her neck. There were murmurs of curiosity and interest.

Hopton, the chief of police, frowned. “Looks like an ID stone,” he said. “Biker gangs use them. So do the members of certain clubs. Works like a tattoo. Signals the wearer’s affiliation with a certain group.”

“Yes.” Gabriel put the pendant down. “In this case, a gang of ex-hunters gone rogue, I’m sorry to say.”

Mr. Smith moved a hand in a graceful gesture that implied understanding. “These things happen, even in the best-run organizations.”

Gabriel looked at him. “Don’t worry, the rogues will be dealt with. But in the meantime, we have a bigger problem. That power outage on the Strip was not an accident or the result of an engineering failure. It was deliberate, and it will happen again unless we arrest the people responsible.”

There were sharp gasps and murmurs of deep concern.

“Explain yourself, Mr. Jones,” the mayor said.

“I will,” Gabriel said. “But I think it’s important that you all know how I came to my conclusion. I was able to track down the tuner who created the pendants. It turns out there were thirteen in all.”

Chief Hopton spoke up. “Where is the tuner?”

“Dead,” Gabriel said. “His name was Pitney. He was murdered, and his shop was destroyed in a suspicious fire. I found his vault in the tunnels. He was worried that he was in danger. He left a second trackingdevice that can be used to locate the other pendants and a video message. I will give you the video, Chief. It contains more evidence.”

A middle-aged woman in the front row frowned. Lucy recognized her. Millicent Mitchell was the CEO of one of the largest casinos on the Strip.

“Is there something on that video that connects the pendants to the power outage?” she demanded.

“Yes,” Gabriel said. “I have been able to determine that there is an illegal weapons lab operating in the Shadow Zone. A short time ago I took a rogue hunter named Tuck into custody. We had a long conversation. He gave me a lot of information, including the location of the body of an inventor named Preston Trenchard. More about that later. The important thing to know is that the people running the lab are working with crystal-based technology that can deactivate rez amber.”

That news elicited a sharp gasp from the audience.

“The power outage we witnessed was, in effect, a test or a demonstration,” Gabriel continued. “I think you will agree that the situation calls for the cooperation of the police and the Guild.”

“Absolutely,” Chief Hopton said. He glanced at Lucy. “What does Ms. Bell’s kidnapping have to do with any of this?”

Gabriel folded his arms. “I can’t be certain yet, but logic indicates they grabbed her because they need her talent. As I’m sure you’re aware, she is one of the best channelers in the region. The weapon uses a rare liquid crystal that I think comes from the Ghost City. We can assume that whoever is running the operation is having trouble with the weather at the site of the crystal.”

Mr. Smith studied Lucy with a sharp, intent expression. She felt a whisper of energy and knew he had just heightened his talent. She inclined her head slightly in recognition. He nodded in acknowledgment. Satisfied with whatever his intuition had told him, he switched his attention back to Gabriel.

“Obviously, the priority here is to take down the lab, arrest everyone connected to it, and then locate that deposit of liquid crystal,” he said.

“Yes,” Gabriel said. “The weapon is just the beginning. The goal of the developers is obvious. Whoever controls a power source that can shut down several blocks of casinos as well as every mag-rez gun in the vicinity will own this town.”

Hopton looked uneasy. “If this gang has a working prototype and fuel, how do you propose busting the operation? Sounds like they could neutralize our communications and weapons before we can get close.”

“At this point we still have the element of surprise on our side,” Gabriel said. “If we coordinate and move fast, we can shut down the lab and take possession of the weapon. Once we have it in our hands, we can arrest the individual in charge.”

“You know who that is?” Smith asked.

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