3 Dark Energy by John O'Riley Read Free Book Online

the same except the groove that marked the edge of the top glowed with a subtle, blue light. A circle of six stone columns measuring approximately ten feet in height surrounded it.
    An elated smile curved Virginia’s lips. “You did it! The artifact is restored!”
    “It looks the same to me,” Dustin said.
    Virginia completely ignored his snide remark as she stepped inside the ring of stones. Mark retrieved his wands that he’d dropped on the ground and followed her inside. He saw that runes had been carved into the stone columns and sensed power thrumming beneath their surface as well as from the table.
    “It’s incredible. I wonder what it does.” Virginia reached out with her hand towards one of the standing stones and pulsed a little energy at it. Some of the runes lit with green or blue illumination. She turned and threw Mark a questioning look. “Do you have any idea what the purpose of this device is?”
    “This place is a recreational facility,” Mark explained. “The devices are programmed to respond to commands that they would broadcast with magic.”
    “Fascinating.”
    Virginia closed her eyes and issued another pulse of energy at the stone. Mark approached the table and opened his awareness to the psychometric energy swirling around him. He couldn’t sense the same things as Josephine because his range of perception was limited mostly to reflections of light energy such as joy, happiness, and passion. This ability was very new to him but he was curious what he could discover about this place. Information trickled into his mind as he stood in front of the table continuing to flow source energy to it. A moment later, he sensed a broadcasting of source energy directed at him from one of the standing stones to his left. A male voice spoke in his mind in a melodious language that reminded him of Italian.
    Mark’s brown eyes registered surprise. “The computer is trying to make contact with me.”
    “It’s talking to me as well,” Virginia said.
    “Maybe you guys should wait until we get a team over to secure this site. And maybe you should send Mark home,” Dustin suggested.
    Virginia dropped her arm to her side and turned to face Mark. “He’s right. I’m supposed to keep this under wraps. MADA has its own research team. I’m going to have to send you on your way. I have a flight scheduled to head back for Sarasota in a few hours.”
    “The plane may not be necessary,” Mark advised.
    “And why is that?” Virginia cocked a questioning brow at him.
    Mark strode to the table and stepped onto it. Virginia made a sound of protest.
    “It’s meant to be used this way. I somehow restored the power source to this device,” he said.
    “How does it draw power?” she asked.
    “I don’t know but this is a teleportation device programmed to send you anywhere in the world that you’ve ever been.”
    “So I was right. It wasn’t made for human sacrifices.”
    “If you need my services again, feel free to contact me,” Mark said.
    “You can count on it.” Virginia’s lips formed a pleasant smile.
    Mark vanished in a flash of blue light as the device teleported him to the living room of his house. He stood still for several seconds as he realized it had been a tad risky to use an alien enchantment like that. However, it had worked perfectly and since Mark had demonstrated its use, if the MADA research team encountered difficulties seeking the answers they wanted, they may turn to him for more information which is precisely what he hoped for.

 
     
    Chapter 5
    Alice and Helen had just arrived at Josephine’s house and were helping themselves to some coffee in the kitchen when Helen stopped and took stock of her surroundings with curiosity. She saw the dirty dishes soaking in the sink and shot Josephine a questioning look.
    “Have you been baking this morning? It smells wonderful in here.”
    Josephine smiled with delight. “I have a surprise for you in the dining room.”
    Helen and