Ghost Hunter

Chapter 6

ELLY REZZED IN THE CODE OF THE HIGH-TECH LOCK THAT Bertha had installed on the concealed steel door. There was a faint snick of sound as it released.

"I'll get it." Cooper shifted the flashlight to his left hand, grasped the heavy handle with his right, and pulled the door inward. The hinges groaned. "This thing is old. Looks like it might be Early Colonial."

"My rat hole dates from Colonial days, too," she said. "All the buildings on Ruin Lane were put up around the same time."

They went through the steel door and down another long flight of steps. At the bottom a familiar green glow rimmed a jagged opening in the green quartz wall of the tunnel.

Elly knew that nothing human had created the rips and tears in the nearly indestructible green quartz. Some experts assumed that the openings had been made by the aliens themselves, using the same machines that they had used to construct the catacombs. The other theory was that at some point in the planet's past, massive earthquakes had done the damage.

An invisible current of psi energy flowed out of the opening. It whispered across all of her senses. On her shoulder, Rose stiffened with anticipation.

Cooper examined her curiously in the emerald light. "You can feel it, too?" he asked. He sounded surprised.

"Of course. I can sense psi power when there's a lot of it around," she said briskly. "Most people can. Why do you think the Old Quarters of the cities have all the most popular nightclubs, casinos, and restaurants? Tourists love the little buzz they get from psi energy."

"Is that how it feels to you? Like a little buzz?"

"No," she said, reaching into her tote for an amber compass. "If you want to know the truth, it feels like I'm looking through a dark mirror. I can sense shapes and shadows moving on the other side, but I can't quite see them. It's frustrating. That's one of the reasons I haven't used my own hole-in-the-wall very much. I've gone into the tunnels a few times with my friend, Doreen, but that's about it."

"You never talked about what it was like not having the same kind of strong para-psych profile that everyone else in your family has."

"There were a lot of things you and I never discussed, Cooper." She started toward the rip in the wall.

"I'll go first." Cooper eased her aside and moved through the opening ahead of her.

Typical hunter, she mused. Get one underground, and he immediately took charge. Then again, that's what they were all trained to do, she reflected. The safety of the exploration and excavation teams depended on the strong-willed hunters who, in an emergency, could deal with the impressive egos and the research fever that often overtook the academics they were hired to protect.

She followed Cooper into the dimly lit green hallway.

Cooper contemplated the seemingly endless corridor that stretched out in front of them, assessing the multitude of vaulted openings and branching passageways.

"Let me see that frequency number that your friend gave you," he said, drawing a small, palm-sized amber-rez locator out of his pocket.

No hunter worth his amber went anywhere without an amber compass and an amber-rez locator, Elly thought wryly. Her father and brothers even carried them when they dressed for formal occasions.

She handed the slip of paper to him and waited while he coded the frequency of Bertha's utility sled into the device.

"I'm not getting anything," he said, frowning. "Are you sure about the frequency?"

"Yes. But maybe the sled's locator was disabled for some reason." She rummaged in her tote. "Bertha also gave me the code for her personal amber."

"Let's try that."

She read the second frequency number to him.

He entered it and nodded once, looking satisfied.

"Got a fix," he said. "Not too far away."

"Thank goodness."

"Let's go."

He went forward, all business now, moving so quickly that Elly had to hurry to catch up with him.

The jagged opening in the wall behind them vanished after they made the first turn. Elly looked back over her shoulder, startled, as she always was when she went underground, to realize how quickly the catacombs became a disorienting maze. The softly glowing labyrinth distorted all sense of direction. Even though they had only traveled a short distance, the odds were good that, without amber, they would never be able to find their way back to Bertha's cellar or any other exit for that matter.

In spite of the stimulation of the psi energy that emanated from the tunnel walls, a shiver tightened the skin along her spine.

"Whenever I get a chance to come down here, the experience always makes me think about that children's book, The Adventures of Alice in Amberland," she confided.

Cooper checked his compass and turned a corner. "Never read it."

"You're kidding. It's a classic. It's supposed to be based on an old Earth story. It's about a little girl who falls down a dust bunny hole and winds up having lots of adventures in the catacombs. Didn't your mother read the book to you when you were a boy?"

He turned another corner. "Maybe that was the year she read me Nishikawa's A History of the Closing of the Curtain."

"No offense, but that's one of the biggest, dullest books ever written. Not exactly childhood reading material."

"I liked it." He led the way into a long, curving corridor. "But then I'm a Guild librarian, remember? History is my thing."

"Once upon a time you were a librarian," she said coolly. "Now you are a Guild boss. And I'd sure like to know how you made that jump, by the way."

"You know how I got the job. Your father and the other members of the Council elected me to the position."

"I've never, ever heard of a Guild librarian getting promoted into the executive office."

"First time for everything. If you had such a big problem with my promotion, why did you agree to become engaged to me?"

"Because we had already started dating, and I thought I knew you well enough to take the risk."

He turned his head to look at her. "Are you sure it wasn't because your parents and everyone else in your clan pressured you into agreeing?"

She was temporarily shocked speechless. It took her nearly three full seconds to find her tongue.

"Don't be ridiculous," she snapped.

He shrugged. "You said, yourself, that high-ranking Guild marriages are usually arranged for reasons of politics and connections. Having a daughter enter into a Covenant Marriage with a Guild boss would be considered a good move by most clans."

"I'm not saying my family wasn't wildly enthusiastic about the idea of the two of us marrying, but if all they cared about was having an alliance with the head of the Guild, they would have pushed me to accept a date with your predecessor."

That got his sudden and complete attention. "Haggerty wanted to date you?"

"I think he was angling for a Covenant Marriage, if you want to know the truth. After his last Marriage of Convenience expired he made it clear that he was looking for a permanent replacement and that he considered me an excellent option."

"Your father didn't go for it?"

"No, and neither did anyone else in the family. But most of all, I wasn't interested."

"Mind if I ask why? Haggerty was the right age. Old Guild family. Strong para-rez. Well educated. Polished." He hesitated. "I was under the impression that women liked him."

She grimaced. "And he liked women."

"That's a bad thing?"

"It wouldn't have been if he'd had anything resembling a moral compass. But it was no secret that Haggerty was a dreadful womanizer. In the five years that he was in charge of the Guild, he contracted three Marriages of Convenience, each with a different woman. Heaven only knows how many mistresses and lovers he had on the side." She shuddered. "He was definitely not what my family or I considered good husband material."

"Huh."

"You seem to be having a small problem processing that data," she observed. "Did you really think that the only reason I agreed to get engaged to you was because my family was putting pressure on me?"

"After you left town," he said quietly, "I wondered."

"Well, stop wondering. I agreed to the engagement because, for a while, I thought we were meant for each other."

"But you changed your mind."

"Only after I realized that the Guild would always come first for you."

"Tell me," he said, "does it ever occur to you that you might have gotten the wrong impression about me?"

"You clarified whatever false impression I might have had the day you told me why you fought that duel with Palmer Frazier."

"About that duel-"

"Forget it. Old history. Let's change the subject. Speaking of dedicated Guild men, do you ever wonder what really happened to Haggerty?"

He glanced at her, frowning. "What do you mean? Everyone knows that he went down into the catacombs, had a heart attack, and died."

"Oh, sure, that's the official story." She gave a dainty little snort. "But between you and me, I've got another theory."

"Yeah? What do you think happened to him?"

"It occurred to me at the time that he might have been done in by one of his mistresses or an ex-wife," she said, warming to her personal conspiracy theory. "That possibility makes a lot more sense, if you ask me. Because up until then, Haggerty appeared to be in excellent health."

"They say that the first warning of heart trouble is often a heart attack."

"I know, but I'm still convinced that Haggerty didn't die of natural causes."

"Where in green hell did you get the notion that he was murdered by an ex-wife or a mistress?"

"Came up with it all on my own," she said, not without some pride.

He stopped in the middle of the glowing hallway, caught her by the arm, and turned her so that she had to meet his eyes.

"Just how well did you know Haggerty?"

"I told you, he tried to put some pressure on my family to contract a Covenant Marriage."

"That doesn't answer my question."

She shrugged. "We met at several Guild functions. Talked a few times. He thought he could charm me the way he did all of his other female conquests. He made a pass. I told him in no uncertain terms to keep his hands to himself and that I was definitely not interested in marrying him. That was the end of the matter."

"Haggerty made a pass?"

"Yes. I never mentioned the incident to Dad because I was afraid he might confront Haggerty about it. Besides, as I keep pointing out to everyone who will listen, I'm quite capable of dealing with men who only want to marry me because of my Guild connections."

"Damn," he said very softly. "I never heard about that."

"There's no reason you would have heard about it. You weren't even living in Aurora Springs at the time. You didn't move there until a month or so before Haggerty died." She frowned. "Try to stay focused here, Cooper. We're looking for Bertha."

He exhaled deeply. She got the feeling he was exerting himself to exercise some serious self-control. He started forward again with long, impatient strides.

"One more thing about Haggerty before we leave the subject," he added.

She had to jog a little to catch up with him. "What about him?"

"That theory of yours? About how he might have been murdered?"

"What of it?"

"Keep it to yourself," he said.

The mag-steel that resonated in the words startled her. It wasn't a suggestion, she thought. Mr. Guild Boss had just issued an order.

Hmm. Now this was an interesting development.

She was trying to mink of a clever way to question him further when she heard a low rumble of warning in her left ear.

"Rose?" She turned her head quickly to look at the dust bunny.

Rose was no longer a ragged ball of dryer lint. She had gone sleek and wiry again, showing all four eyes, six paws, and wickedly sharp teeth. Her attention was fixed on the upcoming intersection.

Elly opened her mouth to warn Cooper but saw that he had already halted in midstride. He, too, was focused on whatever lay around the corner. The prowling tension in him was unsettlingly akin to what she sensed emanating from Rose.

A couple of battle-ready predators, she thought.

She studied the intersection. It was similar to several they had already passed through. The entrances to five glowing green corridors branched off from a circular point.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Ghost energy." Cooper said. "A lot of it. Stay behind me."

She sighed. "Here we go again with the unnecessary orders. Don't worry. I know the drill. I won't do anything stupid."

"Good plan."

Without warning Rose sprang from her shoulder onto Cooper's.

"What the-?" Cooper began, then he smiled, showing a few teeth of his own. "Okay, gorgeous, I don't mind having backup for this one."

Cooper went forward, Rose on his shoulder.

"Be careful, you two," Elly called.

She trailed a respectful distance behind the pair, but she wasn't unduly concerned for their safety. If anyone could handle a catacomb ghost, it was the very powerful chief of the Aurora Springs Guild. Her real worry was that the UDEM up ahead would turn out to be the reason why Bertha had not made it back out of the tunnels.

When he reached the point where the five other corridors came together, Cooper turned into the nearest without any hesitation. She followed with appropriate caution.

Cooper stopped so suddenly that Rose had to use all six paws to keep her perch.

"What is it?" Elly asked.

"Got a problem," Cooper said softly, looking into the tunnel.

She reached the circular intersection and turned to see whatever it was that had riveted him.

She sensed the new psi energy before she saw the source.

For a few seconds the only thing that registered was the wrongness of the light flooding the passageway. Cooper and Rose were bathed in the odd, pulsating glow. It wasn't the familiar acid green that she associated with ghost energy and the quartz walls. Instead it was an eerie, unnatural blue that produced a deeply disturbing effect on her senses.

Was this what vertigo felt like? she wondered.

She was looking into a whirling vortex of energy. It was like gazing into the heart of a tornado or a water spout.

The vortex appeared to have opened in the floor. It spiraled downward to an invisible vanishing point. Lightning sparked. The angry, seething light swirled in a wide pool of dissonance energy waves that completely covered the floor of the wide tunnel, wall to wall.

Aside from the occasional crackle of the miniature lightning strikes, the blue tornado made no audible sound. But Elly's psi senses were rattling and shaking like win-dowpanes in a violent storm.

"What's wrong with the floor?" she asked, dumbfounded.

"Blue ghost," Cooper said.

"No." She shook her head, uncomprehending. "It can't be. There is no such thing. Blue ghosts are just old hunters' tales. Everyone knows that."

But it was definitely a form of dissonance energy, she thought. There was no mistaking the wild, flaring power.

"Is that your friend's sled?" Cooper asked.

She managed to jerk her gaze off the vortex and spotted the familiar shape of Bertha's aging utility sled. It was perched on the far rim of the pulsing, rippling vortex. The energy storm lapped at one rear wheel, as though trying to suck it down into the heart of the whirlwind.

There was no sign of Bertha.

"Dear heaven," Elly whispered. Horror threatened to close her throat. "That ghost got her. No one could survive a close brush with that thing. But where's the body? There's no body."