“The forces that will be unleashed may trigger an earthquake and a tsunami massive enough to inundate Seattle and every other city, town and island in the region. And then there’s the volcano.”

She tried to read his aura to see if he had slipped from unstable into full-on insanity. It wasn’t easy because of the rivers of paranormal currents in the atmosphere, but she saw enough to be fairly certain he was telling the truth, or at least what he was convinced was the truth. Delusional people, by definition, believed in their visions.

“Why will there be so much damage?” she asked.

“Because this island sits at the center of a major geographical vortex,” Spode said. “It’s the reason for the code name of the old lab. The site was chosen because of the powerful forces in this area. There’s an ancient undersea volcano nearby. A major tectonic plate fault line runs through here. Add to that the heavy currents of the waters of Puget Sound and you’ve got all the ingredients you need to generate an explosion of energy across the spectrum. If the machine melts down, there is a chance it will light the fuse of a very big bomb.”

She took a deep breath. “You’re sure of that?”

“Technically it’s still a theory, but I don’t think it would be a good idea to put it to the test, do you?”

“Vortex was supposed to have been destroyed when the Bluestone Project was halted.”

“Here’s the dirty little secret of Vortex: Aurora Winston could not bear to see her life’s work destroyed. Instead, she shut it down—she didn’t destroy it. She was sure that in the future researchers would want to restart the machine and explore its potential to change the destiny of humanity. Scientists have surprisingly large egos.”

Olivia eyed the foot-long needles of a nearby plant. “Even if I’m able to stop the meltdown, that won’t help with the serum problem.”

“I have an answer for that, but it won’t do me any good unless you reboot the lightning crystal.”

“What is that?”

“The heart of Vortex. Trust me, you’ll know it when you see it.” Spode came to a halt in front of a looming topiary structure.

“This is the center of the maze,” he said. “The door to the Vortex machine is inside.”

He pushed her through the shadowed entrance, reached into the foliage and pressed a series of buttons. Crystals glowed amid the leaves. Olivia heard the sound of gears moving inside a steel wall. A door slid aside to reveal an entryway lined in glowing green tiles.

Psi-hot currents of paranormal energy wafted out of the opening.

“Do your job, Oracle,” Spode said. “Stop the meltdown. Bring me the lightning crystal. Once I have it I can escape this damned island forever.”