“Yes, well, Aurora didn’t have time to tweak the serum,” Eloisa said. “Some fool back in DC shut down the whole Bluestone Project just as she made her final breakthrough.”

“What happened to Aurora Winston?” Olivia asked.

“She died in an asylum for the insane,” Gwendolyn said. “At least, that’s the official story. After we learned about the Bluestone Project, Eloisa and I wondered if she had been murdered by whoever erased almost everyone else associated with Vortex. I guess we’ll never know.”

“Spode said his father was the assassin assigned to track down and murder the Vortex staff,” Olivia said.

“That explains a lot,” Eloisa muttered. “Spode and his father knew where Vortex was all along. They kept its secret until things started to go wrong. Then Spode had to go out into the world and start looking for the camera and the oracle.”

“He’s the one responsible for firing up the recent rumors in the artifacts market,” Gwendolyn said.

“You two were also looking for Vortex,” Olivia pointed out.

“True,” Eloisa admitted.

They reached the entrance, stopped and contemplated the vault-like steel door.

“I don’t suppose there’s another exit,” Olivia said.

“No,” Gwendolyn said. “Trust me, we looked. If there was another way out of here, it was blocked when they detonated the explosives that were supposed to destroy Vortex.”

“Spode’s bound to open the door soon, because he’ll realize the machine has been shut down,” Olivia said.

“You’re right,” Eloisa said. “The energy level is dropping rapidly. He’ll sense that.”

“I’m afraid he’s going to be very unhappy when he finds out what happened to the crystal,” Olivia said.

Eloisa glanced at her. “What did happen to it?”

“Shattered,” Olivia said. “Literally. A gazillion pieces.”

“Shit,” Gwendolyn said. “Once he discovers that, he’ll kill all of us.”

“He can’t just shoot us,” Olivia said. “Guns won’t work in that maze or in here. Too much heat.”

“All he has to do is leave us in the maze,” Eloisa said. “We’ll never find our way out.”

“Spode has a compass that he uses to navigate the maze,” Olivia said. “We have to get it. We need weapons.”

“There’s an old supply closet around the corner,” Gwendolyn said. “There may be some things inside we can use.”

The closet yielded a treasure trove of janitorial supplies and equipment. A short time later, armed with a rusty metal bucket, a couple of sturdy broomsticks and a vintage wrench, they went back to the entrance.

“You do realize that any one of these things would be worth a fortune to a collector?” Gwendolyn muttered.

Olivia and Eloisa ignored her because the door was open. For a moment the three of them stared out into the maze, uncertain what to do next.