Forbidden (The Seeker Saga, #2) (30 page)

 I looked around at the others.  We had already talked about this, and agreed what to do.  Arthur was the only one with answers. If he asked, we would not keep secrets from him.  Ashley and Madison gave me a little nod of encouragement.  “Well…” I began, and told Arthur the entire story, unadulterated, about how we got here.  The other girls’ discovery of the crystals, about the way they brought me into it. About the night attack in my room, and all the aftermath.  The man who tried to kidnap Liz on the mainland.  The only thing I left out was the night in the caves with Chris, and the battle we fought there for Liz’s life.  The entire time I spoke, Arthur’s eye shone with a knowing intensity. His gaze did not deviate an inch from me.  The story, it seemed, held his rapt attention.  When I finally finished, he leaned back in his chair with satisfaction.

“I believe you,” he announced.  And he waited, as if expecting us to suddenly clamor all over him.  When that failed to happen, he jerked forward and leaned close to the table.  “Parts of your story might well be more fiction than fact, but on the whole, it is believable.  Very well.  You have been honest with me, and I have decided… I have decided that I
will
assist you.”  Again, he paused, as if expecting us to whoop and dance at the declaration.  Nobody said a word.  “Yes, well…” he cleared his throat, “…I will tell you what I know.  Admittedly, it is not much – not as much as my father. But, I think the knowledge will help you on your quest for peace.” 

He took a deep breath and began.  “You see, a very long time ago, there was a group of researchers at Harvard who were studying different types of mind-matter stuff.  The things that you now think of as bunk and phony.  Telekinesis, ESP, psychokinesis—”

“ESP?” Madison asked.

“Extra-sensory perception,” Eve told her.

“Oh.”

“Yes, well, if I may continue…?” Arthur said, appearing unpleased at being interrupted.  “The professors were doing research on all things of that nature.  Things typically restricted to the pseudoscientific domains.  Except, the difference was: This group knew that some of what they were researching was true.  The research was being done in… oh, around the ‘60s… and some years before that, one of the professors stumbled, entirely by chance, upon the crystals.  He convinced some of his colleagues to pursue these fascinating rocks further, and they did. 

“It was a very interdisciplinary group, which was particularly impressive for the time.  There were professors and graduate students coming together with backgrounds in geology, philosophy, maths, the hard sciences, and everything else in between.  What they uncovered was the ability of the crystals to unlock the
true capacity of the mind
.  Now, this was hugely impressive for the day. It still is, of course.  The way they described it, part of which can be found in the paper you brought, was that the crystals acted like a type of catalyst for the brain—like the key to a lock that nobody even knew existed. 

“Now, the fascinating thing is that everything that is now thought of as bunk and phony – things like ESP, and the rest – has actually been hinted at throughout human history.  In different cultures, in different time periods… there was constant reference to feats of the supernatural.  I’m sure a part of that was simply a desire for people to feel like there exists something greater than themselves in this world.  But some of that
had
to be grounded in truth, no?  Otherwise, how could groups of people who were never in contact, who
lived in different time periods
, always have their philosophical thought converge into that one subject?  The answer, of course, is: The
universality
 of it.  People, I believe, are more in tune with their surroundings than traditional science gives credit.  There exists an instinctive longing inside us that guides us towards things like that.  And, with the discovery of the crystals, well… some of it was proven true.

“Now, I know I’ve been speaking abstractly.  What I really meant when I mentioned philosophical thought converging was the references that have been made throughout history to the
four elements
of the universe:  Water, earth, air, and fire.  Some cultures, of course, called them different things, while others added a fifth one altogether – the mystical
ether
. But, the presence of these elements in philosophical thought is undeniable.  What this research group thought of, then, was even more fascinating.  They hypothesized that the crystals they had discovered actually
corresponded
to these four elements.  I’ll get back to that later, but I know at least one person in this room who has direct experience with this.  Tracy?”

I jumped.  “Yes?”

“The crystal I showed you is not like any of the ones you’ve used so far, is it?”

“No.”

“No!  Of course not,” Arthur said.  “It’s red. It corresponds with fire.  You
felt
it, didn’t you?  You felt the power of it pulse through you?”

“…yes,” I answered.  Had
I
really been the one responsible for the fire?  That was crazy!  “I’ve never experienced anything like that before.”

“You were the first to ever do so,” Arthur said.  “The researchers
suspected
that different crystals existed that corresponded to the elements, but they were never able to ever prove it.”

“How did you get it, then?” I asked.

“A gift from my father, of course,” Arthur said.  “If you haven’t made the connection yet, he was one of the original researchers working on the project.”

“Can I see the red crystal?” Eve asked.  Her eyes shone.

“I think not,” Arthur said curtly.  “We all know what happened last time.  But back to what I was saying.  The researchers made some progress—enough so that they could
prove
that there was more to the supposed
supernatural
than just mystical voodoo.  The group got more money – funding to continue their work. They made some of the first discoveries about the crystals.  Word quickly spread through the elite academic circles.  Remember now, this was the 1960s, and we were in the height of the cold war.  Academia had strong connections to the government, and it wasn’t long before word of this research got out.  Military interest in the project peaked.  The researchers and scientists were taken away from Harvard and brought to different facilities around the US, where they could keep going without fear of losing funding or inadequate resources.”

“But this was
Harvard
,” John said.  “One of the richest institutions in the world!  How could they have limited funding
here
?”

“Exactly,” Arthur smiled.  “The truth was, the government wanted to keep track of what these researchers were doing.  What better place for that than in their own facilities?  The potential of what they could discover was huge. Think!  The Americans feared a nuclear attack from Russia. The Russians feared one from the States.  What if they could combat, diminish, or even completely mitigate such a threat through the use of these seemingly magical crystals? 
Of course
the government wasn’t about to let them carry on without intervention.”

“The crystals, though,” Madison said.  “
Are
they magic?”

“Magic is just science that hasn’t been discovered yet,” Arthur smiled.  “Anyway, shortly after the government stepped in, the project was shut down.  The official word is that progress could not be made. The truth, I think, is that they made
too much
progress.  Somebody decided it was too dangerous, and disbanded the group.  But for a nation with a stockpile of nukes, what could possibly be
too
dangerous?  That, I think, is the crux of what we’re dealing with.

“Also – and again, this was never confirmed – I think that the power the researchers unlocked could simply not be controlled.  This was the 60s, remember. It meant that all the people working on the project were men—”

“But men can’t access the crystals?” Liz asked.

“Again, you’re right,” Arthur said.  “At least, not in the traditional way that you can.  The truth, I think, lies somewhere in the middle.  I believe
all
of us have some capacity for the crystals. Men have not discovered their place in it yet.”  He winked at Rob and John.  “At least, that is my hope.  But that’s not all.  The next part is where your intriguing group comes in.  One of the places that this research took place?  In the underground caverns of Traven Island.”

I gasped.  I knew the island secrets, but… “Wasn’t the school already there in the 60s?” I asked.

“Yes,” Arthur said.  “I think they were looking for young minds susceptible to the crystals’ pull.  But before they could manage any of it, the research was abandoned.  The research group was broken up.  All of the researchers were forbidden to speak of what they had done, under penalty of death – or worse.  This is part of the reason you haven’t been able to find anything about my father’s research paper online.”

“Then how do
you
know about it?” Liz asked.

“Well, a father can trust his son, can he not?” Arthur smiled.  “If I kept my mouth shut, he was not in any danger.  He spoke frequently to me about it.  But it was always in a very abstract way that made me doubt its validity.  It was only tonight, after seeing what Tracy did, that my belief was confirmed.”

“Wait a minute,” I said.  “If you claim you didn’t know whether the crystals were real or not, how did you know who I was when I came up to you in the Owl for the first time?”

“That’s easy,” Arthur smiled.  He reached into his pocket and pulled out the red crystal.  “This crystal was a parting gift from my father when he left.  But it is not an ordinary crystal, you see.”  He flipped it over, and for the first time I realized that it was engraved into a larger red ruby, swirled with tiny threads of black.  “It’s an amalgamate.  I was told, when my father placed it in my hands, that this back part warms up when someone with innate power comes near.  Someone with the capacity to use the crystals.  I’ve held it on my person ever since, hoping to someday stumble upon that special someone.”

“Chris had something similar!” Liz exclaimed.  “That’s how he knew about us.”

“I remember,” Ashley confirmed.  “He said it was… a ruby, or something.  He held it around his neck, and it sucked in the power of the crystal.”

“Yes, yes!
Exactly
!” Arthur said.  “And so, today, I finally came upon that someone. Everything my father told me was revealed to be real.  But, I haven’t told you the conclusion to my story.  When the research group was disbanded, the government began a fierce propaganda campaign against all domains of the supernatural.  This is what everybody knows today.  But the truth, of course, was that some of those things were
real. 
The crystals were
real
.  The power they unlocked was
real
.  It was not some ludicrous fantasy. 
That
is what my father knew, and
that
is what I discovered today.

 “Wow,” John exhaled heavily.  “This goes much, much deeper than what I thought possible.”

“Do you think Chris’s dad is connected to the government?” Rob wondered.

“The professor in whose office you found the research paper at your school?” Arthur asked.  “Although I can see why you might think that, I don’t think that’s the case.”

“You don’t?” Liz asked.  “Why not?”

“He does not seem the type.  Not from the description you’ve given me.  If he knew more about the crystals, it would be unlikely he’d focus his attention on you.  At least, not in such a clumsy way.  My suspicion is that he was working alone, and simply uncovered parts of what the research group found decades ago.”

“What else do you know about the crystals?” Madison asked.  “What else can you tell us?  Are they… dangerous?  What happens if we overuse them?  Are any of us ever going to be able to do what Tracy does?”

“You know, I wish I could give you the answers,” he replied. “But, the simple truth is that I don’t know.  All I know is the history that I just told you.  As I’ve said before, I’ve never had any direct experience with the crystals.”

“Oh,” Madison said dejectedly.  I reached over and placed my hand over hers.  She looked at me and smiled weakly. I could tell she was disappointed.

“Is there anyone who
can
tell us that?” I asked.

“Hmm…” Arthur pursed his lips.  “I hadn’t considered this before, but maybe…”

“What?” Ashley exclaimed.

“Well, all of the professors who worked on the project are long gone.  My father is the only one alive today.  At least, I believe he still is.  I haven’t seen or heard from him in ten years. 
He
might be able to give you your answers.”