Copper Beach

stainless steel and thick green-tinted glass. Instruments and high-tech equipment, including lasers that were clearly state–of–the-art and beyond, were arrayed on the workbenches. Computer screens glowed on every desk. Technicians in white coats hovered over chunks of raw ore and specimens of crystals and rocks.
    There was a lot of heat in the room, Abby thought, and it wasn’t all coming from the specimens. She was fairly certain that most, if not all, of the researchers and technicians were talents of one kind or another.

    One of the techs looked up when Sam escorted Abby into the windowless room. He yanked his safety goggles away from his eyes and got to his feet.

    “Mr. Coppersmith,” he said. “Sorry, sir, didn’t see you come in. It’s been a while since you dropped by.”

    Several other members of the staff noticed Sam and greeted him with a mixture of surprise and friendly respect. They looked at Abby with veiled speculation.

    “I know I haven’t been around as often as usual in the past few months,” Sam said to the technician. “But I’ve been keeping tabs on things from my private lab. Abby, this is David Estrada. David, Abby Radwell.”

    David nodded at Abby. “Nice to meet you, Miss Radwell.”

    “Abby, please,” she said. “A pleasure to meet you, too.” She looked around. “I’ve never seen anything like this place.”

    “Not a lot of labs like this one around,” David said. He did not bother to conceal his pride. “Rumor has it that our competition, Helicon Stone, operates a decent version of their own Black Box, but I doubt if they’ve got anything we don’t have.”

    “If you ever find out that the Helicon lab does have something we don’t have, let me know,” Sam said. “We’ll get it for you.”

    David laughed. “That’s what I like about working here. I get every toy I want.”

    “How are things going?” Sam asked.

    “Humming along,” David said. “I’m working on a very interesting piece of amber today. Definitely charged. Would you like to see it?”

    “I would, but I don’t have the time. We’re on the way to the library. I just stopped by to say hello. Where’s Dr. Frye?”

    “I think you’ll find him in the library,” David said. He smiled, as if at some secret joke. “With Miss O’Connell.”

    There were a few scattered snickers around the room.

    Sam took Abby’s arm. “I’ll catch up with him there. See you all at the tech summit next week.”

    “Wouldn’t miss it for the world,” David said. “My kids can’t wait to go kayaking again. They’re still talking about the experience last summer.”

    Sam guided Abby back through the automatic steel doors and down a hall. She studied the stone- and steel- and glass-clad walls, floor and ceiling.

    Sam guessed her thoughts. “Stone, steel and glass are the three materials that do the best job of stopping psi-radiation and ultralight.”

    “Stone and steel I understand. But glass?”

    “Glass is still something of a mystery, and it has a history of being unpredictable when it comes to paranormal energy, because it possesses the properties of both a solid and a crystal. But here in the Box we use a special type of glass that we designed ourselves. It doesn’t always block psi or ultralight, but it does disrupt the oscillating pattern of the currents in many of the specimens. That works just as well as a solid barrier, in most cases.”

    He stopped in front of another set of steel doors and entered a code into the security system. The doors made almost no sound when they slid open, which, Abby decided, was why the two people at the far end of the room did not realize that they were no longer alone. The pair stood very close, their body language signaling an intimate relationship.

    Abby looked around with a sense of spiraling excitement, her senses dancing to the beat of the hot energy in the room. Unlike the crystal-based heat in the lab, this was her kind of psi.

    The Coppersmith Inc. technical library resembled the rare books and manuscripts room of a large academic library. The atmosphere was hushed and Old World. Leather-bound volumes graced the shelves. Some were quite ancient. Many of the hottest books were housed in glass cases. There were no windows, and the artificial lighting was kept to a minimum. Green glass shades covered the lamps on the reading tables. The difference was that many of the books in this library were hot.

    Sam coughed discreetly. “Dr.