Gilbert's face darkened. 'Mr. Stonebraker is no longer a threat. If he appears, he will be dealt with. Everything is under control in terms of security here at ParaSyn.'
'Uh huh.' Orchid looked at him. 'If you believe that, Gilly, I've got a nice bridge in the Western Islands I can sell to you.'
'Shut up,' Gilbert hissed. 'Shut up this instant. And don't ever call me Gilly again. I have had enough of your scorn and disrespect. You don't know what you're up against.'
'You're no different now than you were three years ago, Gilly. You're still envious of people who have more psychic power than you do, aren't you? You're well and truly wacko if you think that alien relic is going to help you increase your talent.'
'Damn you. I will show you what this relic can do.' Gilbert tightened his grip on the artifact. 'Link.'
'Fat chance, Gilly.'
Gilbert lifted his chin. Very methodically he put the clipboard down on the lab bench, reached into his pocket, and brought out a small pistol.
'Link, you stupid little ice-prism, or I will kill Mrs. Culverthorpe. You have until the count of three to make up your mind.'
'Orchid?' Briana struggled to sit up on the edge of the gurney. Fear twisted her face. 'Orchid, I think he means it.'
'One,' Gilbert hissed.
Selby stared at the slumped form of the guard who had just dropped to the ground with a dull thud. 'Did you kill him?'
'No. But he'll be out for a while.' Rafe went down on one knee beside the ParaSyn guard.
Working swiftly, he stripped off the snappy black uniform and boots. He removed the plastic restraint cuffs from the black leather belt and clipped them around the guard's wrists. Then he retrieved the two-way radio.
Thus far things had been easy. Too easy, perhaps.
The layout of the ParaSyn physical plant that he had retrieved from his computer had been accurate. He hoped the data on the security system was also.
Rafe and Selby had left the leer parked on a side street and simply walked up to the front gate. Selby had distracted the guard with a string of questions about a friend who worked at ParaSyn. Rafe had taken care of the rest.
He got to his feet and tugged on the ParaSyn uniform. He attached the small radio to his belt.
'Where'd you learn how to do that?' Selby sounded both awed and shocked.
'Operate a two-way radio? It's not all that tricky. They're used a lot in Stonebraker warehouses and on the docks.'
'I wasn't talking about the damned radio. Anyone can work a two-way. I meant what you did to the guard just now. The way you crept up behind him and put your arm around his throat. He didn't even make a sound. He just collapsed.'
'It's no big deal, Selby. I just cut off the flow of blood to his brain for a few seconds. He sort of fainted.'
'Fainted? Is that what you call it?'
'Actually, it's a meta-zen-syn exercise taken to its logical conclusion.'
'I thought that meta-zen-syn stuff was all peace and harmony and synergistic balance.'
'Balance is not always achieved with peace and harmony. Sometimes you have to give things a little push.' Rafe started to turn toward a stand of trees.
'Wait a second. We're inside the grounds, but what's the plan here?'
'We find Orchid and Briana and we get them out.'
'Just like that, huh?'
Rafe tapped the small radio. 'With any luck, this will make things a little easier. Come on, let's get moving. We don't have much time. The guard has to check in periodically. When he misses his next call from headquarters, someone will come looking.'
Rafe led the way into the trees that darkened the parklike grounds of the ParaSyn campus. Moonlight splattered on the ground like so much spilled milk.
'Lucky they don't have any guard wolf-hounds,' Selby muttered.
'According to the security data, Dr. Bracewell doesn't like animals around except the ones used in the labs. Too dirty.'
'I still don't understand why this Bracewell character would want to kidnap your friend Orchid.'
'It's a long story.' Rafe quickened his pace. He was almost loping through the trees now. His senses were jacked up as far as they could go without the aid of a prism. Periodically he used a burst of psychic energy to widen his awareness for a few brief seconds and to make a sweep of the psychic plane in a search for Orchid. Thus far he had gotten no response to his questing probe but he was certain she was here somewhere.
The headquarters of ParaSyn functioned as Dr. Gilbert Bracewell's lair. According to the map in the Synergy Fund files, Bracewell actually lived on site. He had a small apartment in the main building.
Bracewell would feel safe here, surrounded by his guards and his unassailable prestige, Rafe thought. He would feel in control here. A man who was slipping over the edge would cling to a sense of control the way a drowning man clung to a rope.
'Not so fast.' Selby's breath quickened as he strained to keep up with Rafe. 'I can barely see you, let alone where I'm going. It won't help matters if I run into a tree.'
Selby had a point. Rafe knew he could not afford to risk leaving his cousin to wander aimlessly around the darkened grounds. Reluctantly he slowed his pace.
A few minutes later he halted at the edge of the woods. The main building of ParaSyn, Lab A, was so well lit with outdoor floodlights that it almost glowed. The annual report claimed that it operated around the dock but tonight it looked as if it had been shut down for a holiday weekend.
Rafe studied the two other, smaller labs. Both appeared equally quiet.
He could feel the trap. The only question was, who had set it? The Synergy Fund biographical data on Dr. Gilbert Bracewell had not painted a picture of a man who was a great strategic thinker. Yet Bracewell had to be involved in this somehow.
Selby stumbled to a halt beside Rafe and gazed at the brilliantly lit building in despair. 'We'll never be able to get inside.'
'Sure we will. All we need is another uniform.'
'How the hell are we supposed to get one? Take out another guard?'
Rafe glanced across the service road. He watched a man in a blue work uniform walk out the side door of Lab B. The man headed toward a van parked in the lot behind the building. The sign on the side of the van read 'ParaSyn Janitorial Dept.' 'I think I see an easier way,' Rafe said.
Chapter 20
Orchid saw the wild glitter in Gilbert's eyes. He had already killed more than once. There was no reason to think he would hesitate to shoot Briana.
She felt the probing tendril of a low-range psychic power.
'Two ...' Gilbert tightened his grip on the pistol.
She answered the probe with a brilliant, crystal clear prism.
'Ah, yes.' Gilbert's face relaxed into an expression of approval. 'I knew you would be reasonable about this, my dear.'
Unwholesome waves of power began to flow through the prism. Orchid fought the instinctive impulse to dissolve the focus. The only thing that made the experience tolerable was the fact that Gilbert Bracewell was not a strong talent.
'Okay, you've got your focus link, Two-Watt. Now, what?'
'Now, this, my dear.' Gilbert tightened his grip on the relic. His face grew taut as though he strained to lift a great weight. 'Now, you will understand—'
