Page 88 of It takes a Psychic

Screams and panic-stricken shouts interrupted Leona before she could defend herself. She turned to look over her shoulder and saw a gaggle of frantic people scrambling through the doorway.

The intensity of the glow at the entrance of the Vortex chamber was stronger now.

The explosion sounded as if it came from the depths of the sea, but the light show and fireworks cascading through the entrance were dazzling. Roxy chortled approval and bounced up and down on Oliver’s shoulder.

Oliver halted, dragging Leona to a stop. They turned to survey the disaster. The stampeding crowd swept toward them, intent on escape. They flattened themselves against the tunnel wall to avoid getting trampled. Roxy chortled again, evidently cheering on the runners.

When the last of the stampeding herd had passed, they turned back to look at the entrance of the chamber. The explosion was slowly diminishing, but a nerve-rattling energy continued to illuminate the entrance.

They watched in silence until the doorway abruptly went dark. Well, not technicallydark, Leona thought. The energy emanating from inside the chamber was once again the familiar acid green of Alien quartz.

Silently they walked back to the doorway and contemplated what was left of Vortex.

The machine had melted down into a huge lump of molten metal.

“The body—” Leona said. She stopped.

“Incinerated by the explosion,” Oliver said.

Jagged shards of crystals littered the floor. None of the pieces glowed with energy. What was left of the pyramid stones had not been simply flatlined, Leona thought; they had been shattered.

She released Oliver’s hand to bend down and pick up a chunk of crystal. It felt like a piece of glass in her hand.

“Dead,” she said quietly. She chucked it back down onto the floor. “No one could tune it, not even my sister.”

Oliver looked satisfied. “Good.”

She glanced at him. “You knew this would happen when you tossed the pyramid crystal into the machine, didn’t you?”

“There was no guarantee,” he said. “But it was obvious the energy inside was unstable. Figured it wouldn’t take much to push it over the edge.”

“Don’t get me wrong, I’m very glad we escaped that mob, but now you don’t have a machine to study.”

“It would have been interesting to examine it, and I would give a great deal to know the identity of the body inside. But the end goal was always to render the damn thing inoperable.”

She looked at the small mountain of still-molten steel that had once been Vortex. “In that case, mission accomplished.”

“Definitely. Now, we can only hope that Starkey came through on his promise to fix the bridge. If so, we’re getting the hell out of this burg. The FBPI and the Guild will take charge of the scene. That’s their job.”

“Fine by me, but we need to pick up our things at the inn and then we have to make one stop before we leave town.”

“I know where this is going and it’s a bad idea.”

“You came here on a mission and you’ve been successful,” she said. “I came here for a purpose, too. I’m not leaving until I accomplish my goal. One thing is clear: a man named Willard kidnapped my sister, and we know he was involved with the yellow crystals. I need to get a look at thedocument Thacker mentioned, the one he said was linked to someone named Willard.”

“I was afraid you were going to say that.”

“I just thought of a potential problem.”

“Only one?”

She ignored that. “What if Burt and the others try to stop us? Maybe they will sabotage your car or something.”

“The Slider has good onboard security. I doubt if they can damage it. But if necessary we’ll steal a car. Burt’s truck will work fine.”

“Have you ever actually stolen a car?”

“No, but I’ve got you, and you’re pretty good with locks.”

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