Final Solstice by David Sakmyster Page A

other symbols of repeated triple spirals. He had seen them in some of the artwork in the halls, alongside the abundance of nature paintings and prints of forests and seas, of animals in the wild and hawks in the clouds.…
    Questions? Of course he had questions, like who developed that cure, and how was it synthesized? Might as well ask about that one, he thought.
    “Where are the labs?”
    “Labs?”
    “Yeah, for medical research. Solomon said they found a cure for my daughter’s hearing loss by working with a rare South American plant. I was just wondering.…”
    Hespera looked down. “Oh, there are some areas we won’t be getting to. A few levels even I don’t visit. Special clearance, hazardous chemicals and all that.” She offered a recovering smile. “You understand. But that’s likely where that branch of research gets done.”
    “Sure, but …”
    She set down her mug, apparently to come and collect it later. “Now, prepare to visit the heart of Solstice, where if I know you at all, you’re about to be floored. I know Gabriel was when he first saw it.”
    Mason followed her through the circle of stone blocks, yet another one of many, at least one on each floor. And as he passed through this one, he felt a slight chill, then a trembling in his ribs. He paused for a moment, looking out at Hespera and the suddenly out-of-focus room.
    “Are you ok?” she asked.
    Another breath and it passed, sight cleared and his body felt completely fine. “Yeah, just a little head rush from rising too fast I guess.” Weird, I just felt like I was a kid again, still hurting from the pain of losing both parents, and finding myself somewhere new.…
    Hespera nodded. “Or the altitude change. We are pretty far below ground now, you know.”
    “I’m not sure it works the same when you’re below.…”
    “In any case, follow me, almost there!” Her excitement was back, a spring in her boots as she walked.
    Mason tried to keep up, feeling better with every step after they left the circle and entered a long corridor, this one brighter and with paintings hung every twenty yards or so, primarily scenes of animals: deer, buffalo, falcons, wolves.…
    Hespera suddenly stopping short. “Do you have a totem?”
    Mason almost ran into her. “A what?”
    “A totem!” She fumbled behind her scarf and withdrew a gold chain and what looked like a rabbit’s foot attached to it. “And before you ask, no it’s not a bunny leg; it’s a desiccated goat hoof.”
    “Um … why?” Mason’s opinion of her kept dropping, and now he wasn’t sure it could come back from this. He suddenly hoped Shelby wasn’t heading down this same totem road; he couldn’t imagine her showing up with something like a frog carcass around her neck.
    “Goats, especially females like this one was, are symbols of nourishment. I wear it and it keeps me content with what I have.”
    Mason smiled at her. “Okay, sounds like I should get one.”
    “Oh you should,” her eyes flashed. “But really give some thought to it. And you may think about advancing it to a staff or another personal item as you become stronger. Like Gabriel did with his.”
    Mason nearly choked on a cough. “I’m sorry, my son …? Is he back yet from … wherever he went?”
    Hespera shrugged. “Don’t think so. He and Annabelle, Malissa, Frederic and a few others had to go somewhere down south and take some readings.”
    “Readings?”
    She led him to a door, then put a finger to her lips. “Shhh, in here. You’re going to be amazed!”
    It was no simple boast. Like a kid in a candy store, he found himself pushing past her, moving into the center of a rounded chamber that gave off the impression of a triple-sized planetarium. Two bisecting corridors supported desks and workstations where some fifty workers sat analyzing the data from the dozens of wall screens supported on the opposing sections of the domed ceiling.
    Mason felt his eyes tugged in every direction: an