Page 90 of It takes a Psychic

“Roxy,no.”

Roxy was already inside the canoe. She waved a paw and chortled.

Leona was almost at the steps. There was no handrail, so she flattened one palm against the wall to steady herself as she climbed toward the platform.

“Roxy, we don’t have time for this. Please, sweetie. Get out of the boat.”

A faint hum sounded from inside the wall. The platform with the crystal canoe and Roxy began to move.

“Shit,” Leona yelped. “Stupid talent.”

She yanked her hand off the wall but she knew it was too late. She had accidentally activated a mechanism concealed in the quartz.

The platform glided downward and lowered the canoe into the water.

She tried to grab Roxy out of the vessel but she missed. The canoe settled gently into the artificial river, where it was immediately carried gently away by the current.

“I’ve got a bad feeling about this,” she said.

“She’ll be okay,” Oliver said. “She’s probably just going to get wet again.”

“Do something,” Leona said, scrambling back down the steps.

“Yes, ma’am.”

Oliver walked toward the far end of the river.

The slow current was carrying the canoe toward the opposite end of the chamber and the serene pool.

“Jump off, Roxy,” Leona shouted. She ran alongside the river, but she knew she would not be able to catch the canoe.

Roxy chortled, buzzed, and ducked as the vessel floated under first one footbridge and then three more. There was only a single bridge left before the river flowed out of sight into the unknown.

Without warning, a section of the quartz wall on the far side of the pool dissolved. As if a dam had been breached, the once-calm water abruptly rushed through the opening.

Leona glimpsed a nightmarish blue energy storm on the other side. Lightning flashed in the depths of the wild currents. Paranormal fire flared and roared.

The canoe was headed straight into the hellish furnace. Roxy would not survive the terrifying flames. Even if she jumped overboard now it would be too late. The once gently flowing river had become a fast-moving torrent.

For the first time Roxy seemed to realize that she might be in trouble. She was no longer chortling. Her fur stood on end and all four of her eyes snapped open.

Oliver walked out onto the middle of the last footbridge, crouched, and deftly plucked her out of the canoe just before it passed underneath.

Roxy chortled ecstatically, thrilled with the conclusion to the game. Oliver turned to watch the crystal canoe glide into the fiery blue energy storm. The gate closed, once again becoming a solid quartz wall.

For a moment Leona stared at the blank wall where the canoe had just disappeared. Then she took a deep breath.

“So, I’m going to take a big leap here and go way out on a professional limb,” she said. “The first rule of para-archaeology is, don’t assume anything, and I absolutely agree that we have no way of knowing how the Aliens used this chamber. Nevertheless, I don’t think that what we just witnessed was a theme park ride.”

Oliver walked off the little footbridge, Roxy on his shoulder. “Speaking as one professional para-archaeologist to another, I’m inclined to agree. Got a feeling we’re in an Alien funeral parlor.”

Leona swallowed hard. “That crystal canoe?”

“A coffin.”

“And the blue firestorm?”

“The crematorium.”

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