Guardian of the Stone

by Amity Grays

  Colonel Martin was Lead Security Advisor for the base. According to General Matthews, the man was a genius.

  “While looking through security tapes, Martin found a glitch so small I’m certain none of us would have even noticed it. A door, only slightly ajar in one sector, was shut solid in one scene and then barely ajar again in the next. It was a miracle he spotted it, and thank goodness he did. It led us to the tunnels.”

  General Corbin filled in the rest. “The cameras inside the tunnels were all rigged. With a simple flip of a switch, they’d show an empty passageway, regardless of what was actually there.”

  “Switch?”

  “Well, in this case, a remote signal. The trigger and the bypass were brilliantly wired into the power cords—power cords we had put in as replacements throughout the tunnels nearly a year ago. They could literally switch the screen as they moved from one sector into the next, producing a near flawless vision of inactivity on our monitors.”

  “The men who supplied the cords as well as the enlisted we used to service them, have all disappeared,” the general said. “Most likely they’re all dead. They were the labor not the brains of the operation. The people behind this had more knowledge of this base and its operations than any mere service crew. They were able to skip right by our security and censors by using our own technology. That takes some high-level clearance.”

  “Not to mention intelligence,” added the professor. “It was genius, really. If Federic hadn’t been so certain and the portal so weak, they’d have been successful.”

  The general sighed, finally sitting down in his chair. “I hate to even think what could have been the outcome. It was nothing more than dumb luck that we were able to figure it out and thankfully reverse the damage. I doubt we’d be so lucky again. The professor is right. I’m not willing to take any risk with anybody. From here on out, all information is on a need to know basis.”

  “It’s necessary,” the professor agreed. “The success of their mission was reliant upon one thing—the element of surprise. Unfortunately for them, surprise has a short shelf life and can be dealt as well as played. If we work this right, Graham may very well be our ace in the hole. I say we leave this amongst those of us here.”

  “Agreed,” the general said in the form of an order.

  “So that’s how they did it,” General Corbin said. “What we don’t know for sure is how they got into the tunnels, accessed the stone and managed to work the lab.”

  “Well, we have a pretty good idea on the latter and a likely scenario on the first,” General Thompson replied. “They probably had a great deal of help getting in. And most likely they stormed the lab and took hostages to accomplish the rest, though we may never know for sure.”

  General Matthews reached across the table to take the file from in front of Dane. “And now we know how they planned to maneuver the past. All that’s left is to figure out who they are and what they’ll do next.”

  Chapter Fifteen

  “IT’S A ROCK,” EDELINE SAID. Lifting the simple brown stone from around her neck, she glared at its plainness. It was hard to believe the military had kept the thing locked in a vault for twenty-two years, even harder to believe that somewhere in the would-have-been-future men had actually risked their lives to steal it. Then again, it was equally hard to believe they’d taken her along.

  She nearly snorted out loud. A treasure—this rock? It was as stupid a notion as her being somehow magical.

  “I don’t understand,” the general said, staring at the not-so-extraordinary stone. “Maybe it needs to sit directly against your skin. Perhaps you should try rubbing it?”

  She laughed. “Oh…you’re serious,” she said, seeing his somber expression.

  “It’s worth a try,” he explained.

  Pulling the necklace off, she placed the stone between her hands and rubbed vigorously.

  Footsteps came to a stop outside the lab’s open door. Cleaned and freshly shaven, her so-called hero stood there looking anything but haggard. He looked hot, so hot the word nearly flew right out of her mouth.

  She couldn’t believe she’d actually spent time alone with him. Lucky her!

  Arresting dark eyes stared her way. Confident enough not to care how his boldness would be perceived, he didn’t bother to look away when her eyes met his.

  “Edeline.” Her father’s impatient voice brought her back to her task.

  “Sorry,” she said, looking apologetically around the room. She uncovered the stone to find it every bit as dull and unimpressive as before. “Nope, nothing,” she said, lifting the stone for all to see.

  “It can’t be,” Federic said, looking toward Father Tom, who had been asked to join them along with Colonel Martin. “I saw it with my own eyes, right here in this room. It wasn’t quite what I had expected, granted, but it did glow.”

  Edeline shook the chain. Nothing happened.

  “Perhaps it was a fluke,” the general suggested, looking toward the professor. “Some weird twist of science which made the stone react to heat, maybe it only appeared to shine?”

  “We all three held it,” Federic reminded, glancing from the general to the professor. “It only lit when Edeline put it on.”

  “True.” The general bent his head, tapping his joined fingers back and forth against his chin before stopping to address the priest. “Could it be the loss of innocence?”

  “Hey!” Glaring at the general, Edeline felt her face heat with embarrassment. “I’m still…innocent.”

  Father Tom took her arm and patted it reassuringly. “No one’s questioning your virtue, Edeline. He’s speaking of a different sort of innocence, and the answer is no. Once the power has been passed, it belongs to the recipient until death, or that’s the legend anyway.”

  The handsome young soldier looked toward the priest as if about to dispute the rumor, but then he seemed to think better of it and looked away.

  “Dane?” Professor Blaine queried, having apparently caught the motion.

  “I heard it told a little differently,” the soldier explained.

  Martin’s head swung his way. “By whom?”

  “His name was Father Michael. He was a very wise man, trusted by the Knights Templar and one of the few loyal to them at the end.”

  Martin seemed more than a little taken aback. “You met this man during your travels to the past? You actually spoke to him?”

  “I did.” Dane looked once more toward Edeline. “Actually, we both did.”

  Intrigued beyond words, she instinctively smiled and took a step toward him. “We met them—those of the past? We actually spoke to them?”

  Martin scowled, his gaze running the room. “Isn’t that against the rules?”

  “Rules lost priority on this mission relatively fast,” Dane said, never looking away from her.

  Quickly stepping forward and clearing his throat, the general intervened. “Their interactions with those of the past have been determined to be non-detrimental.”

  “But interesting,” Martin said, obviously hesitant to let it slide.

  Edeline lifted the necklace once again for all to see. “Did they tell us the stone was bogus? Because I have to say, I’ve seen marbles with more personality.”

  The soldier’s mesmerizing eyes moved to the stone.

  “You say it lit?” he asked, turning back to her father. “That sounds much less extraordinary than the way I heard it described.”

  Oh no, certainly he isn’t a believer!

  Lowering the chain, Edeline placed it and the stone back into her fist. She had an uncomfortable feeling all hopes of a reasonable voice were about to get blown. “How was it described, Lieutenant Colonel?”

  “They said it turned into a gem that glowed like a star from the heavens.”

  “They?” Federic, Martin, and Father Tom all chorused.

  “The knights—Knight Templars. They had actually seen it with their own eyes.”

  “Were they sober eyes?” Edeline s
norted, now more convinced than ever the whole thing was the result of overactive imaginations…or inebriation.

  Yeah, it could definitely be a drunkard’s tale.

  “You spoke with the Knights Templar?” Martin asked.

  Her father moved toward Dane. “Where did you see these knights?”

  General Matthews hung his head. “Gentleman, please, we need to focus on the stone for now. Dane brings up a valid point. Though it definitely glowed, the knights’ description does seem a bit…off. And if the stone’s radiance was overstated, maybe a lot of things were.”

  “Perhaps it was merely flamboyant speech?” Martin suggested. “I’m not a real history buff, but wasn’t speech rather exaggerated back in the day?”

  Federic snorted.

  Dane shook his head. “That wouldn’t describe the men I met.”

  “I’d like to hear about the men you met,” she mumbled.

  Dark, tired eyes looked her way. “I promise you, Edeline, soon.”

  Looking once more toward the lifeless stone, she sighed. “Am I alone in thinking it’s all a bunch of embellished folklore? I realize men believe it, but it certainly wouldn’t be the first time men have been led astray. For goodness’ sake, they’re still chasing Big Foot and the Loch Ness Monster.” With a shrug of her shoulders, she handed the necklace back to the general. “I think the stone says it all: it’s not real.”

  Holding up the stone, the general studied it against the light. “I have to admit, I’ve always found it a bit farfetched. But real or not real, I do remember the stone having a distinctive glow.”

  Her father rubbed at his temples. “I find it hard to believe so many men, so many remarkable men, could have been so wrong.”

  Father Tom took Edeline’s hand in his and patted it gently. “Real or not, Edeline, the belief alone holds its own set of dangers.”

  “The biggest danger has just closed its doors,” Martin said. “They’ll never get close to the portal again. Believe me, I’ll see to it.”

  “I doubt it would matter if they did,” the Professor replied. “The walls have weakened substantially. It’s unlikely the transporter will ever again make contact with the portal and even less likely, if it did, that the portal would transport anyone anywhere. It’s probably less than a matter of days. The portal is closing. We won’t even have to shut her down. I believe she’s going to ‘logoff’ all on her own.”

  “Portal or no portal, we still have a threat.” General Matthews held the necklace up by its chain. “Perhaps it has lost its shine, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s lost its spark. If there’s any truth to the tales, this could still be a very powerful tool. There isn’t anything they went back for that isn’t still here. Granted, they’ll have a harder time getting to it, but still…” He dropped the stone and chain into his free hand and then squeezed it within a tight fist. “Father Tom is right. The threat’s real even if the tale isn’t. The stone will remain in the safe.”

  “Mountains of treasure, walls of prophesy? I’m with Edeline. I just don’t buy it,” Martin said. He laughed and shook his head. “It’s a lot of ado about nothing, is my opinion.”

  “We don’t know that yet,” Federic warned.

  “And more importantly,” Dane added, “neither do they. You didn’t see what I saw on the other side of the portal. Those men, the ones that protected us as well as those who followed, they believed the stone was real. They believed Edeline had the power to make it work. And there were men there, men I have great faith in, who had actually seen the cavern.”

  “They saw a cavern with treasures on its floors and stories upon its walls,” the professor said. “No one denies the Knights Templar had their treasures, and as for the drawings on its walls…well, cavemen drew on walls. It’s impossible to say what they saw. They may have described it as a final war between good and evil, but it could have been nothing more than a story.

  “And if it really was a prophesy they saw, then you might want to consider you’ve just described World War One and Two as well as several other notable skirmishes. Those men didn’t know our world. They wouldn’t recognize the warfare of today. In their eyes, it could easily look like black magic.”

  Martin threw his hands up in frustration. “He’s right, gentlemen, we can’t keep pointing fingers at some unknown bogeyman. For all we know, we are the bogeyman. It could have been us they saw on those walls.”

  “Valid points,” the general agreed. “With those in mind and with all that’s happened, I believe it’s time we take another look at the situation as well as what direction we will take. If the portal closes down, and it looks as though it will and soon, our choices will be few. With the doors closed and the past safely tucked on the other side, this national threat becomes obsolete and so, I assure you, will the funding.”

  Sitting inside a large rectangular conference room amongst a large group of scientists and military brass, Edeline looked toward her father. Lines of worry etched his forehead as he listened attentively to those around him. As her gaze moved down the table, she saw the same look of concern sitting heavy on the face of Lieutenant Colonel Dane Walker.

  He was a striking man, her so-called hero. Not for the first time, she wondered exactly what had transpired during their travels into the past. The way he looked at her made her think there had been a particularly strong bond…an intimate bond. Without question she would have found him attractive. What role would that have played?

  They weren’t there long, and a portion of the time she would have been held by her captives—a truly alarming thought. As eager as she was to know what happened in France, there was a part of her which feared what she would find. Would he tell her everything, or would he continue to play her protector?

  He looked her way. Yes, there it was again—affection, warmth, and maybe something more? Too quickly his attention was pulled away when General Thompson asked him another question.

  She continued to watch him. His dark hair, not too short but definitely military, went perfect with his regal good looks—squared jaw, an average but perfectly symmetrical nose, nicely shadowed cheekbones, and wonderfully masculine lips.

  Had she kissed those lips? Surely she would have wanted to. It would be hard to resist their perfectly bowed form and the way one side tended to raise slightly higher than the other. They were truly mesmerizing just like his eyes. No one, at least no woman, could ignore those dark, penetrating eyes. Surrounded by thick black lashes and incredibly arresting brows, they would have intrigued her.

  Yes, she would have found the Lieutenant Colonel quite hard to resist.

  Her inspection moved to his hands. Had they touched her? And if so, how had they touched her? A vision of those hands against her flesh flashed into her mind. She could almost feel their warmth caressing her, so very masculine, powerful…deadly.

  She looked away.

  It was hard to reconcile the breathtaking male with such a fearsome act. Of course he was trained to kill; he was a soldier and quite obviously a good one. She looked back his way, and he was looking right back at her.

  Her breath caught. She literally trembled. The vision of those powerful hands holding her tight rushed back into her head. But this time it wasn’t only his hands touching her flesh, but his lips taking hers. Her heart pounded back to life with deep heavy thuds. Her face warmed as she shifted uncomfortably.

  In profound embarrassment, she took a sharp breath and looked away, cursing her inability to hide her attraction. And she couldn’t, not for her life. It was too strong. Was it because he looked at her so that her thoughts were so shocking?

  Determined to stop her runaway musings, she turned back to safety.

  “It’s an odd feeling,” her father was saying. “I know I’ve lived in this world for nearly as many years as the other, but there’s definitely a part of me which feels the loss. As long as the portal was open, I still had a connection. To know it will likely vanish by the morrow…” He bowed his head and shrugged
his shoulders. “I find myself mourning.”

  Dr. Hatcher nodded with understanding. “It’s only natural, Federic. Your past, though plagued by the hardships of its time, was still your foundation. The closing of the portal won’t change that fact. The past is still very much alive and living in your memory, in your ideals and in your heart. It’s all right to mourn it. But while you do, also take the time to embrace and cherish the world that is now yours.”

  Federic’s gaze landed on Edeline. “God knows I do.” He looked around the room at the many high ranking officials. “I pray these men understand how fragile this world is. By underestimating my world, they could easily put theirs at enormous risk.”

  “There may be little they can do.” Dr. Hatcher looked apologetically toward Edeline then back to her father. “General Matthews is right. It was never the stone or Edeline the military was protecting. It was the past. Now with the past tucked securely in its realm, there will be little funding, if any, to guard and protect.”

  The conference room door opened and the general and Professor Blaine walked in.

  “Gentleman. Edeline,” the general greeted them as he took his place at the head of the table. “I have news.”

  The room grew quiet.

  “At six thirty-seven this evening, all readings surrounding the portal failed to register activity.”

  “Which means what exactly? Has it closed?” Martin asked.

  Looking around the room, the professor nodded. “The window to the past is now officially closed.”

  All around the table, conversations broke out. Laughter, sadness and relief filled the air.

  Closed.

  It was exactly what she’d wanted to hear and still it hit her hard. It was just like her father had described it. “Closed” broke the link—a link which still held her past, a past she couldn’t remember and now would never know. She looked Federic’s way, wondering if it had hit him equally as hard, but all she saw on his face was worry.