Read Online Midnight Crystal by Jayne Castle - Free Book Online Page B

case, I sensed the maze energy and went looking for it. Found it several miles away in another sector.”
    She was watching him very closely now. “Any idea why you might have sensed it?”
    “Probably because the energy being generated in that maze is from the ultradark end of the spectrum.”
    “Dreamlight. Hmm. Your talent emanates from that zone.”
    “I’ve got an affinity for that kind of psi, yes. So do you.”
    “True,” she agreed. “But even those of us with a lot of talent can’t sense it beyond a radius of fifteen or twenty feet at most. You said you found the maze about a month ago?”
    “Yes.”
    “Right around the time you started suffering the nightmares and hallucinations?”
    He hesitated. “Yes.”
    “And this was at some considerable distance?”
    He exhaled slowly. “Like I said, it was miles away in an uncharted sector. That region of the jungle isn’t even on the map. Where are you going with this?”
    “I can’t help but wonder if whatever is happening to you made you more sensitive to the energy in those mirrors.”
    “That possibility crossed my mind,” he admitted. “As I was saying, I reported my findings to Elliott Fortner, my boss at the Bureau. He notified the Chamber. In the end, it was decided to put the operation under my command. I’ve locked down the entire project. There’s a research team on site working around the clock trying to find out what is happening inside those ruins.”
    “Why are you so concerned?”
    “Because I sensed some instability deep in the maze.”
    “What’s the Burning Lamp got to do with this?”
    “Not all of the old family records concerning the lamp got lost during the Era of Discord. I’ve got John Cabot Winters’s journal. He did a lot of research on the lamp. Based on what he concluded and what I experienced within that ruin, I think I might be able to use the lamp to stop whatever is happening in those mirrors.”
    “If you think the maze is dangerous, just make sure everyone is kept away from it,” she said. “Anyone foolish enough to go inside will do so at his or her own risk. It won’t be the first time the Guilds have declared certain ruins and sectors of the jungle off-limits for safety reasons.”
    “I’m not worried about losing a few thrill seekers and indie prospectors, Marlowe. It’s the fact that the energy in those mirrors is slowly but surely starting to warp that has me concerned. The resonating pattern is becoming increasingly unstable. The trouble has probably been going on for decades, centuries maybe, but I think the deterioration is accelerating.”
    “What’s the worst that can happen? An explosion?”
    “Maybe. Or maybe the maze will just shut down. Either way, I think it’s going to be a problem.”
    “Why?”
    “My gut tells me that if that maze goes, it will take the entire underworld—rain forest and catacombs included—with it.”
    She stopped very suddenly, turning to face him. “What are you saying?”
    He stopped, too. “Ever since we discovered the underworld, we’ve been trying to figure out what powers it.”
    “Good grief.” She waved a hand to indicate the vast stretch of catacombs around them. “You think that maze is the source of the energy that keeps this place going?”
    “Yes. What’s more, if those mirrors blow, it may take out a lot more than just the underworld. That maze is probably the source of the energy in green quartz aboveground, as well.”
    “Do you think the Dead Cities and other ruins will just suddenly go dark?”
    “That would be the best-case scenario. But this is alien energy we’re talking about. Who knows what will happen if the power grid shuts down in an unstable manner? If the energy in the surface ruins suddenly becomes uncontrolled or erratic, there might be massive explosions aboveground as well.”
    “Frequency and the other big cities like Cadence and Resonance are all built around ruins. So are a lot of the smaller, outlying towns and