Chapter 9
RAINSHADOW MATERIALIZED OUT OF THE STRANGE MIST like a ghostly afterimage appearing after the real image has ceased to exist. A ring of dark fog encircled the island. The mist was crouched just offshore.
The island was always a forbidding sight with its sheer granite cliffs, darkly wooded interior, and craggy volcanic peak. To Drake it resembled some artist’s vision of an Alien fortress. But in the early and unnatural twilight that had swept over the island and the surrounding sea, it looked more surreal than ever, a landscape that could only exist in a dream.
“We’ve got a problem,” Drake said. He raised his voice to be heard above the roar of the cruiser’s engines and the mounting fury of a storm that had not existed until five minutes ago when it had erupted out of nowhere.
He was at the helm of the small, fast boat that they had picked up in Thursday Harbor a couple of hours earlier. He and Alice were both wearing life jackets. Alice stood beside him, holding her wind-whipped hair away from her face. Her expressive eyes were shielded by a pair of standard-issue sunglasses. She had put them on in Thursday Harbor to deal with the glare off the sea.
Houdini was perched on the ledge above the instrument panel, chortling gleefully as the craft rode up and over the crest of the raging waves.
“What’s going on?” Alice asked. She watched the island through the windshield. “Why does Rainshadow look so unreal? It’s like it’s in another dimension or something.”
Drake studied the bank of high-tech electronic navigation equipment in front of him. All of the displays were flat-lined.
“Or something,” he said. “Remember the mirage effect that I told you about? The optical illusions that make it impossible to get to the island by floatplane these days?”
“Yes, what about them?”
“Looks like the distortion has gotten worse since I last talked to Harry. There’s a lot of paranormal energy in the atmosphere. It’s knocked out my instruments. That fog must be the mist that Harry mentioned. It’s darker and thicker than he described it.”
Alice gave him an uneasy look. “The boat feels like it’s going faster.”
“It is. We’re caught in a current that is carrying us toward the island.”
“I understand now what you meant when you said there was some force stirring up the weather. I didn’t have a real fun time on Rainshadow the last time I was here, but it wasn’t this scary, at least not outside the Preserve.”
“The situation has obviously deteriorated significantly since I spoke with Harry four days ago. No wonder they told us in Thursday Harbor that the ferry service had been cancelled.”
He tried to ease the cruiser out of the surging current. The boat responded only minimally, making it clear they were not going to escape. He could feel the powerful energy of the water beneath the hull, forcing them toward the rocky cliffs. His job now was to keep the boat from capsizing before he could get close to a safe place to beach it.
“There’s no way we’re going to make it around the island to Shadow Bay,” he said. He kept one hand on the helm and used the other to open a leather-bound volume he had brought with him.
Alice peered at the book. “What’s that?”
“Nav charts of this area. Harry and I have both spent a lot of time exploring the shoreline around the island. In addition, the Foundation has a big collection of the old seafarers’ charts in the archives.” He flipped through the pages until he found the one he wanted. “Here we go. There’s a small natural harbor not far from here. Deception Cove. I’m going to try to get into it.”
“Then what?” Alice asked.
“We’ll go ashore. Can’t risk taking the boat back out into the open sea until things settle down. We’ll spend the night on the beach. Tomorrow morning, if conditions are still this unpredictable, we’ll have to walk around the shoreline to Shadow Bay.”
“That’s going to be a very long walk,” Alice observed.
“Given the rough terrain it will probably take a full day. The energy fence that protects the Preserve is set back several yards from the shore around this sector of the island though, so we won’t have to deal with the force field.”
He did not take his attention off the wild sea, but out of the corner of his eyes he could see the determined expression on Alice’s face. She was scared but he knew she would not panic. That was good to know. He did not have time to deal with panic.
Houdini was no longer chortling with glee. He seemed to sense that the situation had shifted from being a dust bunny thrill ride to something far more treacherous. When Alice reached out to scoop him up, he did not try to evade her grasp. He found his favorite perch on her shoulder and opened all four eyes.
Drake glanced at Alice. “Tell me that you can swim.”
“I know the basics but I’m no expert,” Alice admitted. “All of my swimming has been done in pools.”
“What about Houdini?”
“I’ve seen him swim in a bathtub but I doubt that he’s ever been in the ocean.”
“Get one of the life preservers ready for him,” Drake said. “Attach it to my vest with that cord. Maybe he’ll figure out what to do if we end up in the water.”
Alice took the round preserver down from a nearby hook and connected it to Drake’s vest.
“Are we going into the water?” she asked quietly.
“Not if I can help it.”
The fierce current was growing stronger. The boat was hurtling toward the wall of fog that ringed the island. He searched for the major landmarks that indicated the entrance to Deception Cove, twin pillars of stone that formed a natural gate to the cove. He spotted them at last, rising out of the fog bank, but the narrow entrance was hidden by the thick, dark mist.
He knew he would have only one chance to break free of the underwater river that was sweeping them toward the island. If he miscalculated they would either go under or slam into the rocks.
He powered up the big flash-rock engines and leaned into the wheel, turning to port, searching for the very edge of the fierce current.
The water fought back but he was able to slip the cruiser to the side.
“Hang on,” he said.
“Already doing that,” Alice said. She clutched Houdini and the life preserver in one arm and gripped the nearest handhold.
He could feel the slight disruption caused by the cove current. He took advantage of it, pushing for one last burst of power from the laboring engines.
He hauled hard over on the wheel. The cruiser responded by popping out of the rip and into the cove current. The momentum took the boat straight into the fog bank.
A sudden darkness descended. The dark fog seethed with energy. An eerie calm enveloped the cruiser. The current slackened. A strange, muffled silence fell.
“It’s like we stepped into another dimension,” Alice whispered.
Drake throttled back until the boat was gliding slowly through the fog, skimming over the glassy, smooth surface of the water.
“I can’t see a thing,” Alice said, her voice tight with tension.
Cautiously, Drake took off his glasses and looked at the darkly illuminated world around them.
“I can,” he said quietly.
It was a realm lit by all the colors of midnight. The mist still enveloped them, but when viewed through his other vision it was no longer impenetrable. Instead the stuff was thin and wispy. If it weren’t for the currents of hot energy, it would have been like any other light fog. He could make out the rocky pillars that guarded the entrance to the cove.
Alice turned her head very quickly, searching his face. “It’s dark light energy, isn’t it? I can sense it.”
