Dream Eyes

world did he plan to do that?”
    “He had a weapon. It was crystal-based technology. Looked like a flashlight. He said it was a gift from the CEO who had hired him. Next thing I know, he’s aiming the device at me. I felt a jolt of icy energy. I thought it would freeze my heart, literally.”
    “Like the wind chime storm at Louise’s house?”
    “No, that energy was chaotic and discordant—unfocused. The radiation from Spalding’s little crystal gun was very focused and very powerful.”
    “What did you do?”
    Judson touched his ring. “That was when I found out what I could do with this crystal. I used it instinctively, intuitively. I pushed energy through the ring. The wavelengths somehow neutralized the forces of Spalding’s weapon. But that wasn’t the end of it. The currents of the flashlight gun were reversed. Sam says the effect would have been similar to a wave of water hitting a swimming pool wall and rebounding back in the opposite direction.”
    “The reversed currents overwhelmed Spalding’s aura,” Gwen said. “That’s what killed him.”
    “Yes. I wasn’t thinking about the science at the time because that was when I realized I’d maxed out whatever luck I’d been running on up to that point.”
    “For heaven’s sake, what else could go wrong?” Gwen asked.
    “On that last job? Everything. Energy started building fast inside the cave. I got a few seconds’ warning because I could feel the rising psi levels. A weird aura formed. I grabbed my gear and went into the cave pool to ride out the blast. But when I surfaced a short time later, I saw that there had been a massive fall of rock. The cave entrance was sealed by several tons of stone. The explosion had released some toxic gasses. There was only one way out.”
    “Oh, my,” Gwen whispered. Her eyes were stark. “You swam out through the underwater cave?”
    Judson crossed the room and lowered himself into one of the wingback chairs. “I’d talked to some of the locals about that particular cave system because I knew I was going to have to dive it to look for the body. I was told that there were indications that there was an exit to the sea. But the system had never been fully explored or mapped. There were no cave lines from previous dives.”
    Gwen shuddered. “Trapped in an underwater cave system would be my worst nightmare.”
    “No,” he said. He met her eyes. “Your worst nightmare—my worst nightmare—would have been spending what was left of my life buried alive, inhaling toxic fumes and knowing that no one knew where I was.”
    She took a deep breath and nodded once. “Okay, I stand corrected. Being buried alive might be a tad worse than getting trapped in an underwater cave. But still.”
    “But still. I sure as hell wouldn’t want to repeat the experience on my next vacation. I survived thanks to the dead analyst. He’ll never know it, but I owe him my life.”
    “What do you mean?”
    “Burns and Elland didn’t bother to drain his tank after they killed him. They left the flashlight on the body, too. They wanted to make the accident look real just in case someone did come looking.”
    “No wonder you have nightmares,” Gwen whispered.
    “Sometimes I dream about that swim through the cave system, but the bad dream, the one you found me in last night, takes place just before I went into the water to try to swim out to the sea. I catch a glimpse of something small out of the corner of my eye. At the time I don’t think about it. I’ve got other priorities.” He tightened one hand into a fist. “But later, in my dreams, I relive that moment, and I know that whatever I saw or thought I saw is important.”
    “Do you have any idea what you’re looking for in the dream?”
    “No.” He shook his head. “Believe me, I’ve thought about it a million times.”
    He leaned forward and rested his forearms on his knees, his fingers lightly linked. “Do you really think you can help me find whatever it is I’m searching for in that damn dream?”
    “I can help you look for it,” she said. “But there’s no guarantee that there is anything to find. Your nightly search might be merely a manifestation of the stress of what happened to you that day. One way or another, I should be able to help you break the endless dreamscape loop, though. That should give you some closure to the dream.”
    “Do it,” he said. “Now.”

Thirty-eight
    S he walked toward him through the seething fog of