The interior of the big cave made her think of the ruins of some ancient cathedral. A river of crystal-clear water flowed out of the rocks on one side, twisted its way through a deep channel and vanished into the mouth of a side tunnel. They had been warned not to get near the edge of the river. The currents were deceptive and powerful.

Once safely out of sight of the crowd at the entrance, North stopped and surveyed the interior of the cavern.

“Lot of energy in here,” he said.

“You can say that again.” Sierra looked around at the rocky walls and floor. Unlike the black glass tunnel where they had spent the night, this cave appeared natural. “According to the team, it’s nothing compared to what we’ll encounter when we go deeper inside the cave system.”

Paranormal currents of energy issued from the side tunnels, creating a mildly disorienting but exciting sensation that aroused all of Sierra’s senses. Dexter had told them that when they entered one of the narrower passageways, the effects of the paranormal radiation would grow stronger. The deeper they went into the cave system, the more likely they were to encounter extremely disturbing hallucinations.

North moved to the center of the cavern, raised the dowsing rod and turned in a slow circle. Sierra was standing close enough to feel the raw power of his aura when he heightened his senses.

The metal rod began to glow, a deep, dark, paranormal blue.

“Got a fix,” North said. “That tunnel over there.”

Without any hesitation, he headed for a shadowed side cave. Sierra followed quickly, automatically sorting through the rippling crosscurrents of energy, watching for the heat that indicated the most dangerous riptides and storms. It was obvious that North was focusing exclusively on the sensations he was receiving via Griffin Chastain’s locator device.

Once they were in the side tunnel the rod glowed more intensely. So did the walls of the cave. Dexter had been right about the paranormal radiance infused into the rocks. The flashlights were not needed.

The Foundation team leader had also been right about the power of the currents that pulsed and seethed in the tunnels. The deeper they went, the hotter the energy became. At every juncture North waited briefly for the locator to point to the right tunnel.

Twenty minutes later they found themselves in the ruins of what had clearly been an engineered corridor. Broken tiles of black glass still clung to the walls. The paranormal heat levels rose rapidly. The evidence of disaster was everywhere. They had to wade through the wreckage of vintage metal desks, old telephones, lamps, chairs and smashed glassware that littered the floor. It looked like the aftermath of a hurricane or a tornado.

“The explosion that took place here must have been very powerful,” Sierra said.

“So powerful that it changed the lives of everyone in Fogg Lake,” North said. “Not to mention their DNA.”

“I wonder if the researchers who were working here at the time made it out alive or if one of these days the Foundation team is going to find a huge pile of bodies, like the archaeologists did when they excavated Herculaneum and Pompeii.”