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Chapter 40

"THIS PLACE IS INCREDIBLE." KAY WHISPERED, HER VOICE hushed to the point of reverence. "I've never seen anything like it."

"No one else has either," Runtley declared triumphantly. "Not unless you count the gang that was bottling and selling the juice and the guards the Guild has posted here now."

They were gathered around the amazing fountains in the glowing jungle ruin. The psi levels were so high Sierra could feel the buzz across all of her senses. She could only imagine how it affected Fontana and the other hunters in the vicinity.

The trek through the rain forest had taken less than three hours. Fontana and his team had brought Sierra and the staff of the Curtain into the jungle through the previously uncharted gate that Troy Patterson and the drug runners had used. It was much closer to the ruin than the official gate where Fontana and Ray had entered when they went in to rescue the missing hunters.

"As far as the general public is concerned, the very first pictures of this place will be on the cover of the Curtain tomorrow morning," Phil said, rezzing off a few more shots. "These pics are gonna make me famous. Man, I am gonna be up for the News Photographer of the Year award. And the cool thing is, these fountains are real. I didn't have to build them out of doughnuts and discarded Curtain Cola cans the way I did the alien Temple of Love."

"All of the slick dailies and the rest of the media are going to be begging me for permission to use the shots," Runtley said, dazzled by the prospect. "This is the scoop to end all scoops, and the Curtain has the story."

Fontana studied him across one of the sparkling green pools. "Just make sure the Guild comes out looking good. Remember, we have a deal here."

"Absolutely," Runtley assured him hastily. "Don't worry, what with taking down that gang of juice dealers, rescuing the hunters who were abducted by aliens, and opening this place up for the para-archaeologists, the Guild will look downright noble and heroic in tomorrow's edition. Guaranteed."

Fontana nodded, satisfied. "Noble and heroic works. My PR people like noble and heroic."

Kay walked to the nearest fountain and looked into the effervescent green pool. "I wonder if the aliens came here to get drunk or stoned out of their weird little minds?"

"No way to know," Matt said, jotting down some notes. "The energy in those waters may have affected them a lot differently than it does humans. For all we know, this place could have been some sort of fancy, high-end health spa."

"A psychic health spa," Runtley said. "I like it."

A familiar whisper of shimmering awareness sparkled through Sierra. She left Fontana's side and circled the nearest fountain, contemplating its airy, otherworldly beauty.

"It doesn't feel like a spa," she said quietly. "And I doubt that they came here to get drunk or stoned, at least not for recreational purposes."

Fontana watched her, intrigued.

"What do you think went on here?" he asked.

She gazed down into the psi-green waters. Although the fountain pool did not appeal' deep, she could not see the bottom. The restless little tides, eddies, and waves sparkled and flashed and swirled in endlessly shifting patterns.

"There is an Old Earth legend," she said slowly, "about a place known to the ancients as the Oracle of Delphi. Supposedly strange vapors emanated from the ground beneath the Oracle. The fumes caused the chosen priestess to prophesy. The prophesies came in the form of strange riddles that had to be interpreted."

"You think this ruin was sacred ground to the aliens?" Fontana asked.

She looked up from the mesmerizing waters of the fountain pool. "It makes them seem more human, doesn't it?"