the currents are so strong that they register on human senses. Not everyone who comes to town is consciously aware of the confluence of forces here, but I think most pick up on it on some deep level. It bothers a lot of folks.”
“Probably explains our low tourism numbers,” Vera said dryly.
“Yes,” Fallon agreed. He watched her very steadily. “The thing is, some people are attracted to nexus points, even if they aren’t aware of the pull of the place.”
“People like us?” Vera asked quietly.
“Yes,” Fallon said. “People like us.”
He noticed that Isabella was smiling a little again.
“That’s right,” she said. “People like us.”
Henry’s expression sharpened. “You say you think this nexus theory explains why the black-ops people set up the lab here? They wanted to tap in to some currents of power in the area?”
Fallon got the little buzz of adrenaline that he always experienced when the answers started coming. Out on the grid more sectors brightened.
“Tell me about this black-ops lab,” he said.
12
Vera and Henry looked at each other. Walker rocked on in silence.
Vera took a deep breath. “Something very weird happened here twenty-two years ago.”
“That would have been during the period when J&J was operating out of L.A.,” Fallon said.
“There was no Jones & Jones in the Cove in those days,” Henry said. “That’s for sure. Wasn’t much of anything, come to that. But for about a month someone ran a secret weapons research program here, at least that’s what we all assumed was going on. If the weapons were paranormal in nature, it would certainly explain a few things.”
“Certainly wouldn’t be the first time the government has conducted secret paranormal experiments,” Isabella said.
Henry snorted. “Might just be the first time they were successful, though. Don’t think they liked the results. After the accident they left in one hell of a hurry, at least the survivors did. No one ever came back for the weapons.”
Fallon heightened his senses a little. “Tell me what you know, Henry. It’s important.”
“Yeah, I can see that,” Henry said.
He settled back in one of the big armchairs near the fireplace. “Might as well start at the beginning. Twenty-two years ago when Vera and I and Walker and the others arrived, Scargill Cove was a boarded-up ghost town. The whole damn place had been abandoned, including this lodge. There were twenty-five of us at the start.” He glanced at Walker for confirmation. “Twenty-five in the beginning, right, Walker?”
“Twenty-five,” Walker said urgently. He rocked harder.
Henry nodded. “We called ourselves the Seekers. We fell under the spell of a real asshole of a guru named Gordon Lasher. Don’t ask me why we thought he was so smart and so enlightened. To give the man his due, he was incredibly charismatic.”
“He was the perfect con man and we were young and dumb,” Vera said. “We fell for his pitch. Gave him every dime we had. A few of the Seekers had some real money. Trust funds and inheritances. He took it all.”
“Several people wised up or got bored and split after the first couple of months,” Henry added. “Lost a couple of others the hard way.”
“The hard way?” Isabella asked.
“Sam took his own life,” Vera said. Her eyes were shadowed. “Lucy got stoned and drove her car off the Point.”
Isabella took a sip of tea. “You were all members of a commune?”
Henry chuckled. “I believe the politically correct term is intentional community. What can I say? We were young and determined to find an enlightened path.”
“America has a long tradition of intentional communities,” Fallon said. “Goes all the way back to those folks who got off the boat in Plymouth.”
“True,” Henry agreed. “Well, here in the Cove we were into meditation, self-sufficient eco-living, serious philosophical inquiry and, oh, yeah, free love.”
Vera rolled her eyes. “In hindsight I think it is safe to say that as far as the Asshole and the other men were concerned, it was the free love that was the big attraction.”
“Which was probably what destroyed your community,” Fallon said.
Everyone except Walker stared at him as if he had just spoken in tongues.
He shrugged. “Sex is the most powerful force in any social group. It has to be controlled and regulated in some manner or else it tears the fabric of the community apart. It’s a fact that when a commune or intentional community disintegrates, it’s invariably because of the sexual dynamics.”
“Sure was fun while it lasted, though,” Henry said somewhat wistfully. He winked at Vera.