“This morning a few folks who live out near the fence reported hearing what may have been some very large critters deep inside the Preserve last night,” Slade Attridge said. “The sound was described as a muffled roar. Could have been thunder, but given that we’ve found a couple of large carcasses in the past few weeks, I think we’d better assume there was another kill last night.”
“I’ll put a Foundation team together this morning and see if we can find the new carcass.” Harry Sebastian looked up from the maps. “I’ve got to tell you that our research people are loving this stuff. They’re like kids with big bags of Halloween candy.”
“I know,” Cyrus said. “I had a chat with Dr. Knutson this morning. He says the two carcasses you’ve found thus far match descriptions of fossils that date back a few million years. He’s beyond thrilled with the possibility that the Aliens may have managed to reverse-engineer some living dinosaurs.”
“Knutson isn’t the one in charge of containing those critters,” Harry said.
“Or the one in charge of making sure they don’t decide to stampede down the Main Street of Shadow Bay,” Slade added.
“No,” Cyrus said. “That would be us.”
The three of them were in the makeshift office that had been set up for Guild operations. The furnishings were spare. They consisted of a battered desk and a couple of folding chairs. Maps of the island and charts of the surrounding seas—some dating back to the Colonial Era—were stacked on the top of the desk.
The most prominent feature on each map of Rainshadow was the large swath of the island that was designated as the Rainshadow Preserve. The powerful psi-fence that surrounded the mysterious region was indicated with a forbidding red line on the newer maps. The thickly wooded interior behind the fence was labeled UNCHARTED, and Cyrus figured that it was likely to remain that way for some time. The heavy paranormal forces that swirled like the tides and currents of an invisible ocean inside the fence rendered even the most basic navigation and charting equipment useless. Aerial photographs were always wildly distorted by the clouds of psi that covered the interior of the island.
HERE THERE BE MONSTERS was clearly printed in large, bold letters on all of the historic maps of Rainshadow. The newer maps took the legal approach to discourage trespassers: PRIVATE PROPERTY. DANGER. KEEP OUT.
Maybe they should add TRESPASSERS WILL BE EATEN, Cyrus thought.
He was well aware that he had lucked out when it came to his counterparts among the local authorities. He had recognized kindred spirits in Slade and Harry. It wasn’t just the auras of strong talent that whispered in the atmosphere around them. He had met a lot of high-rez talents in his time—some of them very dangerous.
He knew that Slade and Harry could be dangerous, too. He was good with that. When you went monster hunting, you needed folks who could deal with monsters. As soon as he had shaken hands with Sebastian and Attridge, he had understood that he could not only work well with them—he could also rely on them to have his back if there was real trouble. You didn’t meet a lot of people like that in a lifetime, he thought. He was fortunate to find two of them on Rainshadow.
He put down the pen he had been using to make notes. “The monsters may be the big problem but the more immediate concerns are treasure hunters and thrill seekers. Saw a couple of them come out of the graveyard entrance site last night. I’m going to station a guard there starting this evening.”
Harry shook his head. “We installed the latest in security fencing but no barrier is perfect.”
“Keep Out signs are magnets,” Cyrus said. He leaned back in the chair. “You know, other new Guild bosses get territories that contain lucrative amber mining operations and Alien ruins,” he observed. “Their clients are big government agencies, corporate R-and-D divisions, and academic exploration teams with unlimited budgets. I get a territory with dinosaurs and one client—the Foundation.”
“Don’t forget the crystal pyramid down below,” Harry said. “My brother, Drake, says it’s some kind of ancient Alien storehouse of knowledge—a paranormal library. The value is incalculable.”
“Right,” Cyrus said. “And it’s already been claimed by your family firm.”
“Look on the bright side,” Harry said. “The research teams we send into the pyramid will be paying high fees for Guild protection.”
Cyrus smiled. “We like to think our services are worth every penny.”
Slade looked amused. “No one ever said that Guild bosses don’t have a talent for making the most of the business opportunities that come their way.”
“It’s a job requirement,” Cyrus admitted. “But at the moment no one is going to be making any money down below in the catacombs—not until we get those tunnels cleared and charted.”
“All right, looks like we’ve got something resembling a plan,” Harry said. “You’ll oversee the Underworld operations, Cyrus. I’ll control activities inside the Preserve. Slade will handle his usual police duties in Shadow Bay and try to control the thrill seekers who have been trickling into town ever since the rumors about the weirdness on the island started to leak out awhile back.”
“I’ll take a dinosaur trotting down Main Street any day over a dumbass thrill seeker,” Slade said. “And things aren’t going to be easy this week, what with the Halloween tourism promotion the new mayor has been running. Every time a ferry docks, another bunch of strangers walks off.”
“Which brings me to the problem that Sedona encountered last night,” Cyrus said.
Both men looked at him with speculative expressions and some amusement.
“There was a problem last night?” Slade asked rather blandly.
“We had the impression that things had gotten quite cozy between you and Sedona,” Harry said.
Cyrus ignored the innuendoes. He gave them a quick rundown of the psi-trap episode. By the time he had finished all of the male humor in the room had dissipated.
Slade walked over to the window and looked out onto Main Street with its crowds of tourists and garish decorations.
“A few weeks ago, after Sedona arrived on the island, she told Rachel and my wife, Charlotte, that she was afraid Blankenship might try to track her down,” he said. “I’ve had someone at the dock every time the ferry arrives. But so far we haven’t spotted anyone matching the descriptions of Blankenship or the two assistants.”
“Rachel is watching for unstable or dangerous auras, but when you’ve got this many strangers on the island, it’s impossible to check out everyone,” Harry added.
Cyrus looked at him and then he switched his attention to Slade. “You believed Sedona’s story from the start?”
“This is Rainshadow,” Slade said. “No one ends up here without a really good story. In my experience, most of those stories turn out to be true.”
“Sedona is one of us now,” Harry said. “It’s a small town. We look out for each other.”
“Thanks,” Cyrus said.