“The Tabula have brainwashed you.”

“No, Gabe. It’s the other way around. I’m the only one in the family who ever saw things clearly.”

“Not this time.”

Michael placed his hand on the handle of the gold sword. The two Travelers looked in each other’s eyes. “I protected you when we were growing up,” Michael said. “Guess I have to do it again.” He turned on his heels and hurried from the room.

Gabriel stood between the tables. “Come back here!” he shouted. “Michael!” He waited for a few seconds, and then ran out into the hallway. Empty. No one there. The door squeaked faintly as it closed behind him.

Michael sat on the surgical table in the middle of the Tomb. Dr. Richardson and the anesthesiologist stood back and stared at him while Miss Yang removed the sensors from his body. When the nurse was done, she took a fleece-lined sweatshirt from the tray and held it on the open palms of her hands. Michael took the shirt and slowly pulled it on. He felt exhausted and very cold.

“Maybe you should tell us what happened.” Dr. Richardson sounded worried.

“Where’s General Nash?”

“We called him immediately,” Dr. Lau said. “He was over in the administration center.”

Michael picked up the sheathed sword lying on the table beside him. Like a guardian spirit it had traveled with him through the barriers. The gleaming sword blade and the gold handle were exactly the same in the Second Realm.

The door opened and a thin shaft of light appeared on the dark floor. Michael returned the sword to the table as Kennard Nash hurried across the room.

“Is everything okay, Michael? They said you wanted to see me.”

“Get rid of these people.”

Nash nodded his head. Richardson, Lau, and Miss Yang retreated through the lab door underneath the northern gallery. The computer technicians were still peering down from the gallery windows.

“That’s all!” Nash said loudly. “And please switch off the microphones! Thank you very much!”

The technicians reacted like schoolboys caught peeking into the teacher’s room. Immediately, they moved away from the windows and returned to the glowing light of their monitors.

“So where did you go, Michael? A new realm?”

“I’ll describe that later. There’s a more important issue. I met my brother.”

General Nash stepped closer to the table. “That’s wonderful! Were you able to speak to each other?”

Michael swiveled so that he was sitting on the edge of the table. When he and Gabriel were traveling around the country together, Michael had spent hours staring out the windshield at the passing scenery. Sometimes he would concentrate on one particular object beside the road and hold that vision in his mind for several seconds until it disappeared. Now that same sensation had returned to him with an increased power. Images lingered in his mind and he could analyze the smallest details.

“When we were growing up, Gabriel never looked ahead or made any plans. I was the one who always figured out what to do.”

“Of course, Michael. I understand.” Nash’s voice was soft and soothing. “You’re the older brother.”

“Gabe gets a lot of crazy ideas. I need to be objective. Make the right choice.”

“I’m sure the Harlequins have told your brother all their foolish legends. He doesn’t see the big picture. Not like you.”

It felt as if time had slowed down. Without effort, Michael could see the split-second changes in the expression on Nash’s face. Normally, everything happened quickly during a conversation. One person was talking and the other was waiting to respond. There was noise, movement, confusion, and all these factors helped people conceal their true emotions. Now everything was clear.

He remembered how his father had acted with strangers, watching them carefully while they spoke. That’s how you did it, Michael thought. You didn’t read their minds-just their faces.

“Are you all right?” Nash asked.

“After we talked, I left my brother and found the passageway back. Gabriel is still in the Second Realm, but his body is lying in a church camp in the Malibu hills.”

“That’s wonderful news. I’ll send a team there right away.”

“That doesn’t mean you have to hurt him. Just get him under control.”

Nash glanced down as if he was getting ready to conceal the truth. His head shifted slightly and he showed his teeth with a terse smile. Michael blinked and then the world was normal again. Time continued to move forward, each new moment falling into the future like a line of dominoes.

“Don’t worry. We’ll do everything we can to protect your brother. Thank you, Michael. You did the right thing.”

General Nash turned and hurried through the shadows to the exit. The heels of his dress shoes made a sharp noise on the polished concrete floor. Click-click. Click-click. The sound echoed off the walls of the Tomb.

Michael picked up the gold sword and held the scabbard tightly.

It was close to five o’clock in the afternoon, but Hollis and Maya still hadn’t returned. Vicki felt like a Harlequin, protecting the Traveler who lay on the cot in front of her. Every few minutes, she touched Gabriel’s neck with her fingers. His skin was warm, but there was no sign of a pulse.

Vicki sat a few feet away from him and read some fashion magazines she found in the closet. The magazines were about clothes and makeup and finding men and losing men and being knowledgeable about sex. It embarrassed Vicki to read some of the articles, so she skimmed through them quickly. She wondered if she would feel uncomfortable wearing tight clothes that displayed her body. Hollis would find her more attractive, but then she might become one of the girls who received a duplicate toothbrush and a ride home the next morning. Reverend Morganfield was always talking about shameless modern women and the harlot by the side of the road. “Shameless,” she whispered. “Shameless.” The word could sound like a feather or a slithery snake.

Vicki tossed the magazines into a trash can, went outside, and looked down the hill. When she returned to the dormitory, Gabriel’s skin was pale and felt cold. Perhaps the Traveler had entered a dangerous realm. He could have been killed by demons or the hungry ghosts. Fear came to her like a soft voice growing louder and more powerful. Gabriel was losing strength. Dying. And she couldn’t save him.

She unbuttoned Gabriel’s shirt, leaned over his body, and pressed her ear against his chest. Vicki listened for a heartbeat. Suddenly, there was a thumping noise, but Vicki realized it came from outside the building.

Abandoning the body, she ran out the door and saw a helicopter descend to the flat area of land beside the empty swimming pool. Men jumped out wearing helmets with bulletproof face shields and body armor that made them look like robots.

Vicki ran back into the dormitory. She put her arms around Gabriel’s chest and pulled him, but he was too heavy for her to carry. The cot fell on its side and she had to lower the body onto the floor. She was still holding the Traveler when a tall man wearing body armor ran into the room.

“Let go of him!” he shouted and pointed his assault rifle.

Vicki didn’t move.

“Step back and put your hands on your head!”

The man’s finger began to squeeze the trigger and Vicki waited for the bullet. She would die beside the Traveler, just like the Lion of the Temple had died for Isaac Jones. After all these years, debt paid.

A moment later, Shepherd strolled into the room. He looked as stylish as ever, with his spiky blond hair and tailored suit. “That’s enough,” he said. “No need for that.”

The tall man lowered the rifle. Shepherd nodded his approval, and then approached Vicki as if he was late for a party. “Hello, Vicki. We’ve been looking for you.” He leaned over the Traveler’s body, took the sword away, and pressed his fingers against Gabriel’s carotid artery. “Looks like Mr. Corrigan has gone off to another realm. That’s all right. Sooner or later, he has to come home.”