North got to his feet and crossed to a wall where a badly yellowed lab coat dangled from a hook. He took down the coat and returned to the skeletal remains of his grandfather. He arranged the coat as a makeshift shroud to cover Griffin Chastain.
“I’ll be back for you, Granddad,” he vowed. “But first I have to save Dad and recover those weapons.”
He rose again and surveyed the old lab, aware that Sierra was waiting for him to decide how to proceed. The rush he had experienced a short time ago when he defeated the abyss was fading fast. The overpowering need to keep moving was back in full force.
“We need to find the other tuning crystal, the one that was made for Crocker Rancourt,” he said. “It’s got to be here. It’s the only explanation that fits. With luck it will still be live.”
Sierra walked slowly down an aisle formed by two long stainless steel workbenches. She looked across the room and saw the door of a vault.
“Maybe it’s in there,” she suggested.
North went to the door of the vault, prepared to pull out his lockpick. But when he tugged on the handle the heavy steel door swung open on rusty hinges.
The interior of the vault was lined with glass and steel shelving. There were no artifacts.
“Empty,” he said. “Looks like Rancourt managed to grab all the prototype weapons. That’s probably what triggered the final confrontation. Give me a minute to see if I can figure out exactly what went down in here.”
Sierra stopped at the far end of the two workbenches and looked back at him. “You can work out what happened at the scene of the crime?”
“It’s what I do as a cleaner. No one except you and me has been in here since my grandfather sealed the entrance. I should be able to read the psychic prints.”
He went back to the door of the chamber and heightened his senses. Immediately old footprints began to glow on the floor of the chamber. He sorted through them, separating Griffin Chastain’s tracks from those of the other person who had entered the room.
Even after so many years both sets of prints still seethed with violence, rage and panic.
“It went down hard and fast,” North said. “The killer was standing where I am now when he fired the gun. I can see the heat of his excitement. He’s about to get exactly what he wants but he’s taking a terrible risk and he knows it. He’s nervous. That energy changes at the entrance.”
“Meaning?” Sierra asked.
North concentrated, trying to piece together the story told by the hot prints.
“The killer wasn’t able to get more than a few steps into the chamber after pulling the trigger,” North said. “He’s shocked. There’s a lot of rage and frustration out here in this hallway. He realizes he’s not going to get what he wants after all. He panics and runs.”
“Your grandfather must have generated the abyss and sealed the doorway even as he was dying.”
“Yes.”
“To protect the second tuning crystal?” Sierra asked.
“As far as I can tell, there is nothing else left in here to protect.” North walked slowly through the laboratory, opening doors and closets. He stopped in front of the vault and contemplated the empty shelves inside. “Rancourt had already stolen the weapons and, probably, the tuning crystal he thought was his. Later he must have realized he had grabbed Griffin’s crystal instead. He returned to get the one that was made for him. That’s when Griffin confronted him. But this is your area of expertise. Picking up any artifact heat?”
Sierra moved slowly through the space and shook her head. “This whole place is infused with energy. Everything in this lab is an artifact.”
“Keep looking. Griffin concealed this chamber for a reason.”
Sierra stopped halfway along a workbench and studied what looked like a vintage radio.
“Hmm,” she said.
North watched her strip off one leather glove and gingerly reach out to touch the radio.
“Damn.” She gasped and jerked her fingers off the radio as if it were red-hot. “If this isn’t your tuning crystal I’d be happy to take it off your hands. Whatever it is, it’s worth a fortune on the underground market.”
“Everything in here is technically the property of the Foundation, remember?”
“Yeah, right. It was just a thought.” Sierra pulled on her glove. “I’m trying to run a business, you know.”
“Don’t worry, you’ll be well paid for this job.”
“Remind Victor Arganbright of that when he complains that I padded my invoice by adding the cost of a brand-new SUV.”
“I will.”
North went down the aisle and stopped at the radio. He could feel the power trapped inside before he touched it. It spoke to him in a thousand shades of darkness.
He took the screwdriver out of his small tool kit and went to work on the back plate of the radio.
A moment later he lifted it off and set it aside. A gray crystal the size of a fist occupied most of the interior space. But unlike the crystal in Loring’s machine, this one was hot. Very, very hot.
“This is what my grandfather died trying to protect,” North said. “The second tuning crystal.”
Sierra shivered. “I can sense the energy in it. Is it tuned to your grandfather’s signature?”
“No,” North said. “This crystal was originally designed for someone else to use.”
“Crocker Rancourt.”
“Most likely.” Gently, North inserted the crystal back into the radio. “It’s obvious that when Griffin began to get suspicious of Rancourt he switched out the crystals. Rancourt ended up with the one that was engineered for Griffin to use.”
“That’s the one we found in Loring’s lab. The crystal that was shattered.”
“Because Loring tried to make it work on the Puppets,” North said. “But that attempt was doomed to fail eventually. This is the crystal he needs, the one tuned to Rancourt’s signature.”
“Now what?”
“Now we do a deal.”
Sierra eyed him warily. “What deal?”
North’s eyes heated. “I’ve finally got something that Loring wants. I’m going to offer him this live crystal in exchange for the weapon that was used on my dad.”
“And just how do you propose to do that?”
North smiled an ice-cold smile. “The usual way. I’ll hire a go-between.”
Sierra groaned. “I was afraid you were going to say that. Okay, I can try asking Mr. Jones to set up a deal, but there’s no guarantee that Loring will go for it.”
“He will. I told you, he’s obsessed with this thing. Let’s get out of here.”
Sierra looked around. “What about your grandfather’s body and the stuff in this chamber?”
“I’ll reset the abyss gate on our way out.”
“Wow. You can do that?”
“Sure. Griffin has waited this long for a proper burial. He can wait a little longer.”