Dark Summer

'Chad Lincoln, British Intelligence. I've had to use him from time to time when I needed help, but he wants control, and I have-'

'British Intelligence. Why not the FBI or some other U.S. agency?' She shook her head. 'For that matter, why bring the government in anyway? If Danner is a criminal, it should be a civil-'

'Devon.' Marrok wasn't looking at her. 'I can't deal with explanations right now. You've found out as much as I have time to give you. I've got to think of a way to keep Lincoln from trying to take over. I'll answer questions as soon as I can.'

'You bet you will.' He had left her hanging, and she was frustrated and annoyed. She wanted to know more, dammit. 'Okay, tell me one more thing. What did Paco give the dogs? This shii… Dammit, I can't even pronounce it.'

'Apache is a difficult language. Try shi'i'go. It's how Paco usually referred to it when he was talking about his potion.'

'That's not much better.' But at least she could get her tongue around it. 'So what is it?'

'What does Paco's shi'i'go mean?' His gaze was searching the sky for the plane. 'Summer.'

CHAPTER 9

'OH, NO. YOU WAIT JUST ONE minute.' Devon caught up with him and stood before him, blocking his way. 'I'm not letting you hand out a damn teaser like that and just walk away.'

'We have to meet Walt.'

'Then you can talk to me while we're walking down to the plateau. You're not leaving me hanging like this.'

He gazed down at her with impatience that suddenly turned to amusement. 'What would you do if I did?'

'You don't want to know.'

'Oh, but I do. I'm finding that you're a constant surprise to me.'

She wanted to sock him. He was standing there, smiling, every muscle of his body radiating male power and an innate arrogance of which he was probably not even aware.

'I'm tired of having you dribble out information. Lay it out on the table. Talk to me, dammit.'

He lifted his shoulders in a half shrug. 'You're right, I'm not being fair. Maybe I was avoiding telling you about Ned and the others. It's not exactly the easiest thing to explain or make anyone believe.'

'Nothing about this has been easy.' She stared him in the eye and repeated, 'Shi'i'go.'

'I told you, it means summer.' He went around her and continued down the slope. 'In everyone's life there's a changing cycle of spring, summer, fall, and winter. But what if we could just stop the cycle and live in summer?'

'I don't know what the hell you're talking about.'

'What if our immune systems could be altered to make us strong enough to delay the deterioration of cells that eventually kill us?'

'And what could do that?'

'I've no idea. But Paco evidently knew. When I went to the hiding place in that far bluff where Paco always kept his book of spells, I found out he'd been playing with a formula to make that happen. There was no formula in the book, but he wrote about experimenting, then destroying it.'

'And he didn't tell you about it?'

'I told you before that Paco believed in sharing only his minor 'magic.' I think he wanted an audience, not an apprentice.' He paused. 'And maybe company to hold the loneliness at bay. We both needed that.'

Loneliness. Yes, she could imagine the old man and the reckless young boy bound together in that strange companionship. 'And he said he destroyed the formula? Why would he do that?'

'You've got to understand that old man. Paco didn't want money or power. He was just interested in the way things worked and the way he could change the way they worked. The shi'i'go was just another of his medicines to do with as he liked. If it was going to cause him trouble, then it wasn't worth bothering with. He could see already where shi'i'go could lead. Danner was hovering like a shark.' His lips twisted. 'And then he stopped hovering and attacked. He beat that old man to death trying to get the formula for the panacea. I don't think they meant him to die so soon. It would make sense that they'd keep him alive to try to reproduce the formula he'd destroyed. One of Danner's men must have been a little too enthusiastic and killed Paco before they could get all they needed out of him. That's why they tore the cave apart trying to find answers.' He paused. 'But Paco was forced to tell him about the dogs.'

'What did the dogs have to do with this? He was giving the dogs this shi'i'go?'

'Yes. The smoke and magic that night was just a bit of sleight of hand to mask the administering of the potion. I found out later that he'd been giving it to them for years. I don't know how many. Perhaps he'd come to the point where he even wanted to share with me, and this was the only way he could force himself to do it.'

'And he experimented on the dogs?'

'Don't say it as if it was a crime,' he said sharply. The muscles of his body were suddenly corded and tense, as if ready for battle. 'He would never hurt them. Paco liked dogs. He told me once he wondered what they would become if we helped them along a little. He didn't like people nearly as well. He used to say there were few great souls on earth, and so it was best the rest of us weren't around that long to spoil it.'

'But you said he'd given people this medicine and healed them.'

'I thought he had.'

She stared at him in bewilderment.

'It was the dogs. The medicine he gave the patients was a placebo. I told you that he brought me and Ned along on several of the visits. He'd have me take Ned over to the bed and let the patient touch, even pet him if he was able. No one thought much about it. Everyone knows that dogs are taken to hospitals to visit all the time, and they make patients feel better. Purely psychological.' He paused. 'Or is it?'

'Of course, it is.'

'But they're very empathetic, they want desperately to help, to share. If they possessed the power to heal, to share their own health, wouldn't they do it?'

'Hypothetical question. They don't have it.'

He was silent a moment. 'Ned does. So do Nika, Wiley, and Addie. Paco destroyed the formula and the panacea itself, but it still lived on in the dogs. The dogs are the shi'i'go.'

'I can't believe that.'

'I told you it wouldn't be easy.'

'You're damn right it's not. You're saying that Ned is some kind of superdog?'

'No, he's very normal.' He paused. 'Except that he's extremely healthy in every way. He heals with a speed that's remarkable. Something goes wrong within his body, and it manages to overcome and develop instant defenses against it.'

Devon couldn't argue with that reality. She had seen it for herself after the shooting. 'There are fast healers and slow healers in the normal course of recovery.'

'Not like Ned.' He shook his head. 'Okay, let's go down another path. How old do you think Ned is?'

'Five or six.'

'He was four when I started apprenticing with Paco. I was twelve years old. I'm thirty-four now. Do the math.'

'You're kidding. That would make him twenty-six years old. Labs almost always die in their early or mid teens.' Yet there had been that weird date on that microchip that she had dismissed as a bizarre error.

'Twenty-six and going strong. There's no telling how long Ned could live. There have been no signs of disease in any of the dogs over the years. They show a distinct increase in intelligence and understanding.' He added, 'And they appear to radiate… an aura… something… that transmits that same health and vitality they possess to those