man.”
“So that room you were in reconnected with the main route we had followed the whole time?”
“Well, no.”
“But if not, how did you get out? Were you able to follow some air currents?”
“No.” He rubbed his nose, looked perplexed, more uncertain than she had ever seen him.
“Well, what then?”
“The watercourse had a nice, sandy beach in that big chamber. It looked so inviting. Near drowning can beat you up. I basically passed out.”
“And?”
“And I had the strangest dream.” She stared.
“What kind of dream?”
“There was nothing in it but light. As if I had been awake, seeing this incredible light. Nothing else. Just light.” He shook his head, continued. “By my watch, I slept for a couple of hours.”
“When I woke up, I knew how to get out of the cave.”
She stared, open-mouthed.
“Why are you looking at me like that? I know it sounds crazy, but… I got out. So something happened.” He glanced over his shoulder to make sure the door was still closed. She could see that he was disturbed by the way she was staring at him, as if afraid that she suspected him of lying to cover up for DARPA—or for some other, unsuspected reason. He backtracked: “Look, I’m sorry I said anything. But you have to promise me you won’t mention this to
She was laughing by then. He frowned. She held up her good hand. “I’m not laughing at you, Wil.” And then she told him: “I got lost. I still don’t know how, but completely lost. I was going to try to relocate the route, but it would have been impossible, really. I needed to rest, first. So I curled up and slept. And I had the same dream. As though I were floating in a cloud of light. And when I woke up… I knew how to get out.”
He stared at her as she had been staring at him a moment earlier. “What in God’s name?”
“I think it was in Chi Con Gui-Jao’s name.”
“Arguello’s cave spirit.” Disdain in his voice, disbelief on his face. “No. There must have been some moving air we followed. Or…” His words trailed off. Out of ideas.
“You said, ‘I knew how to get out of the cave.’ When you woke up. It wasn’t moving air, Wil.”
“It was like there was a map in my brain.”
“Exactly.” She thought of something. “Is it still there?”
He concentrated for a moment. “No. Gone. You?”
“No.”
“But… you believe me?”
“Yes.” She nodded, squeezed his hand. “Absolutely.”
“And I believe you. I think I do, anyway. But I also think we might be better off keeping it between ourselves. People who haven’t experienced something like this…”
“Exactly right. We know the truth. That’s enough for me.”
“Me, too.”
She had one more question. “How did you manage to find me and those
“I didn’t come out of the cave at the main entrance. Another, a mile or so west. I made it back to the meadow just as they were marching you away. Watched the big one for a while and then dealt with him. You know the rest.”
“I know you saved my life.”
“And you saved mine. We’re even there.” He paused, smiled. “I have never met anyone like you, Hallie.”
She dropped off, came back. “Know wha’?” She was starting to mumble, heard herself, but the best she could do.
“What?”
“I like the way you smell.”
He laughed. “I’m glad you do. It’d be a hell of a thing if you didn’t.”
“Do you like the way I smell?” She giggled, the sleep pulling her.
“That and a whole lot more.”
“Like what?”
“I’ll tell you all of them, every single one, and that will take a long time. But you need to sleep now.”
He leaned down and kissed her softly on the unbruised cheek, then on her forehead, careful, tender, then on the lips, his touch soft as light. He straightened up, still holding her hand, and the last thing she remembered before dropping off was him standing there, towering over her, looking down from what appeared to be a great height, the air around him seeming to glow, and her feeling not only safe, but saved.
FORTY-NINE
SPENDING SO LONG IN THE CAVE HAD DISRUPTED HALLIE’S biorhythms, which would take days to restabilize. She slept for twelve hours after Bowman left and awoke in the middle of the night. The floor was dark. Somewhere down the hall a patient was snoring softly, but that was the only sound.
She tossed and turned and tried to go back to sleep, but her body was still in midday mode. At three A.M. she was still awake, trying to make her mind stop revisiting the things that had happened, when a nurse padded in silently with a stethoscope, digital thermometer, and sphygmomanometer.
“Hey. I’m awake. You don’t need to tiptoe. But if you could leave the light off, I’d appreciate it. Still hurts my eyes.”
“Of course. The night-light is plenty. I’m really sorry to disturb you, Dr. Leland.” The nurse was a short, plump woman in her thirties wearing white pants and a floral-patterned hospital top. Her name tag said, “Placida Dominguez, RN.”
“I can get you something to help you sleep if you like.” She had a slight Latin accent and a velvet-soft voice. Hallie wanted no more befuddling pain meds.
“Thanks. I’ll count sheep or something.”
“Warm milk? That really does work. Tryptophan, you know.”
“No, but I appreciate your concern.”
Hallie sat up and had to be quiet for ten seconds while the nurse took her temperature with the digital thermometer, read it, and said, “Ninety-eight point four.” She took Hallie’s blood pressure, listened to her lungs.
“It’s quiet here tonight,” Hallie said.
“Here, yes. Not so much in other wards, though.”
“No?”
“No. They have activated the Biosecurity Isolation Area. Down in Sublevel Two. We have not been told what is there.” She paused, frowned. “People are thinking maybe smallpox. It’s all soldiers from Afghanistan. You know, germ warfare maybe.”
The nurse shrugged. “No. It’s just what people are saying. Nobody knows, really.”
Hallie nodded, but did not add anything.
