The Devil's Triangle (34 page)

‘And does that work?’ Callum asked.

‘Sometimes . . . for a while,’ she answered. ‘But the Imperium are always quick to cut off our broadcasts and repair any damage we manage to do. Our efforts to date appear to have had limited impact. We have agents working in several Imperium departments. Today, for example, we knew you had been taken prisoner within minutes – long before the Imperium began broadcasting their ridiculous demands. I arranged for your two raptor friends to infiltrate the building and they agreed to bring you to our ambush point.’

‘So that’s how you managed to be waiting for us!’ Callum exclaimed. ‘Neat.’

‘So what else have you tried?’ Sam asked. ‘What about getting word through to our world? If what the raptors are doing here is going to have a long-term effect on Earth, surely one of the top priorities of your organisation should be to let the people there know what is happening. The Devil’s Triangle, as Dad insists on calling it, still has a reputation as an unsolved mystery. You’ve got the answers. The Devil has a face – the face of a raptor.’

His mother shook her head. ‘We don’t have enough people to expend lives on a one-way trip into the middle of one of those storms,’ she said firmly. ‘It’s a nice idea, but what would it achieve?’

‘Getting our family back together,’ Sam suggested pointedly. ‘Dad and Niamh will be frantic by now. We should at least try, Mum.’

Claire turned and took his cheeks in her hands. She looked directly into his eyes as she answered. ‘Sam, the most likely way our family is going to be reunited is if your father and sister cross to this world, do you hear me? Attempting to go back will only get us killed.’

‘But how do you know that for sure?’ Sam insisted. ‘There are times when I can sense Niamh, Mum. And she can sense me. We have a sort of invisible link between our minds. It must be something to do with us being twins. She’s more sensitive than I am. I’m fairly sure she knows I’ve found you and I’m sure she’ll tell Dad.’

Sam stared into her eyes. He didn’t like what he saw there.

‘He kept looking for you for nine years, Mum,’ he continued. ‘Once Dad knows we’re both alive, there’s no way he’ll ever give up. Think about it. If they cross, they won’t know to expect a storm. Dad and Niamh could both die trying to reach shore. Don’t you think we should do something about that? We need to reach them before they make the mistake of coming here. Maybe we can use the link somehow.’

‘How?’ his mother asked.

‘I don’t know,’ Sam admitted. ‘But there must be some way we can use it.’

Claire sighed and shook her head. ‘I’d love to think there was a way,’ she breathed. ‘But I can’t see it. We would still need to get to the eye of a powerful storm on a hostile sea. Without a sturdy ship, our chances of survival would be minuscule, mental link or no mental link. No. The logical thing to do is to stop the raptors in this world from making matters any worse.’

‘But . . .’

‘No buts!’ she said firmly. ‘Think. Assuming for a moment we did succeed in getting back to our world – what then? There would be nothing we, or any government in our world, could do to stop the effects of what is happening here. Unless we can stop the raptors from making things worse in this world, more and more people will end up crossing here. That means more families will be split and more people will die, Sam. It’s down to us to do something. And even if, by some miracle, we do manage to stop the raptors from pumping any more nuclear waste into the core, it’s likely to take centuries to reverse the effects of what they’ve done.’

‘That sounds like Claire Cutler the scientist talking,’ Sam grumbled angrily. ‘What about my mum? What does she think?’

‘That’s harsh, Sam,’ Callum commented, frowning. He made a subtle calming gesture with his hands.

‘No, it’s OK, Callum,’ Claire said quickly. ‘Sam has a right to say what he thinks. It’s better to have these thoughts out in the open. I don’t want to put any of my family into unnecessary danger, Sam. You say that Matt has searched for nine years, but he’s not stumbled into a rift in that time. I think it’s safe to assume it’s unlikely that he’s going to change that record in the next few days. Let’s all take some time to think things through before we make any firm plans or promises, shall we?’

‘OK. I suppose that’s fair,’ Sam conceded grudgingly. He leaned across and hugged her again. As he did so, he closed his eyes. In that special corner of his mind’s eye he momentarily sensed Niamh. The sense of her presence was fading. She was hurt. He concentrated harder. He could feel her pain pulsing through his ankle, side and up his back. But from what he could tell, she was remarkably calm.

I’ll get home, Niamh
, he thought, trying with all his might to direct the words at her.
I’m with Mum now
, he added, forming a picture of Claire Cutler in his mind and concentrating hard on keeping it firm as the sense of contact weakened to a whisper.
I’ll find a way home and I’ll bring Mum and Callum with me
.

As she approached the police car, Niamh reached inside her mind to where Sam’s presence had been so strong earlier. It was still there, but it was as if the static was building again, obscuring her view. A fuzzy image entered the space in her mind. It was faint, but unmistakable. ‘Mum!’ she breathed. ‘You found Mum!’

‘What was that? Are you OK?’ the policeman asked.

Niamh shook her head and smiled. Sam had found their mother! Niamh realised there must be substance to the stories surrounding the Devil’s Triangle. Sam must be somewhere that was difficult to return from: somewhere so remote that their mother had been trapped there and not managed to escape in over nine years.

She had to talk to her father. Perhaps it was a good thing that the police were planning to return her to England. If Sam and her Mum were trapped somewhere that remote, what hope had she got of finding them alone? Matthew Cutler knew just about everything there was to know about the legends surrounding the Devil’s Triangle. If anyone could make sense of the strange things Niamh had sensed from her brother, it was her father. He was their best hope now of getting Sam and their mum back where they belonged and finally ending the heartache that had started nine years ago.

Niamh tried hard to focus on the connection with Sam.
It’s going to be all right. Dad and I will find you – both of you!

She looked up at the policemen. ‘I’ll be fine,’ she replied. ‘It’s all going to be fine.’

She just hoped she was right.

A
CKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This book has been enriched by the input of many people. In particular I would like to thank: Cheryl Smith and Mark Howell, reporters at the Key West Citizen, Mr James E. Brooks, Public Affairs Officer at Naval Air Station Key West, LTJG Matthew Meinhold of the United States Coast Guard, Mr David E. Vaughan, PH.D., Executive Director of MOTE Marine Laboratory on Summerland Key, Mr John Hunt, Captain Patrick Langley and Officer Robert Dube, from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Marsha Martin at Schmitt Real Estate, Marathon, and Thomas L. Hambright, Monroe County Historian at the Key West Public Library.

A special thank you also goes to fellow author, Ian Watson, for the idea on how to make the earth’s magnetic field stronger, and to pilot, Simon Ludlow, for his knowledge and insights on flying the Piper Cherokee (which is one aeroplane I’ve never flown!).

Although there is a ‘Monkey Island’ in the Florida Keys, my geography of it in this story is totally fictional, as I did not get the chance to visit it during my research trip.