“It’s as if we’re standing inside a hologram,” Alice whispered.

“A video hologram,” Rachel added. “The images are moving.”

“It’s a dreamscape,” Drake said, very certain now. “A waking dream that was constructed specifically to transmit information via dreamlight. In this case, the data being transmitted is about dust bunnies.”

There were moving images of dust bunnies everywhere. Houdini and Darwina were thrilled. They seemed to understand that the dust bunnies were not real, but that did not stop them from chasing each other through the dreamscape.

The scenes depicted dust bunnies in the wild, dust bunnies at play, dust bunnies on the hunt. But it was the scenes of dust bunnies dashing around a green quartz room furnished with what looked like high-tech lab equipment that made Alice and Rachel cry out simultaneously.

“No,” Alice said.

“Please don’t tell me the Aliens used dust bunnies for experimental purposes,” Rachel whispered. “I don’t care if it did happen a couple of thousand years ago. It would be just too horrible.”

Houdini and Darwina appeared oblivious to the menacing scenes around them. They continued to dash around the pyramid in a mad game of hide-and-seek.

Drake pulled harder on the dreamscape lab images, making them sharper and crisper. As he did so, understanding flooded his senses.

“The dust bunnies are native to Harmony,” he said. “And, yes, initially they were used in experiments involving paranormal forces. The Aliens’ goal was to find a way to adapt to the poisonous environment here.”

“Poisonous to them,” Alice said.

“They came from a world where the paranormal forces were much stronger,” Drake said. “A world lit by a sun that gave off that kind of energy. For the Aliens, the paranormal was normal. They were well adapted to their home world. Colonizing Harmony proved more difficult than they had anticipated.”

“It would be like humans attempting to adapt to a planet that had a much lower level of oxygen or normal sunlight,” Harry said. “The only way to survive would be to synthesize more of what was lacking in the environment.”

Drake studied the myriad crystals of the Chamber, willing the information he wanted to come to the surface.

A small triangular crystal in one corner brightened. Dreamlight whispered in the atmosphere. Information came to Drake the way it did in a dream—a deep sense of knowing that required no words.

“When they realized that they would be forever trapped underground unless they found a way to bioengineer themselves, they established Rainshadow Island as a research center,” he said. “But for the most part the experiments proved unsuccessful. The majority of the creatures that resulted from the research could only survive in a heavy-psi environment. If they were removed from Rainshadow, they died very quickly. There was only one viable exception.”

“Dust bunnies two-point-oh,” Charlotte said.

“That experiment worked. The dust bunnies thrived both underground and aboveground.”

“Just like humans,” Harry said. “True, we’re not quite as nimble at crossing through low-psi and high-psi environments. But then, the dust bunnies have been adapting to this environment ever since they came out of the Alien labs. We humans are catching up fast, however.”

“The experts have been telling us for years that something in the environment here on Harmony is encouraging the evolution of our latent psychic senses,” Charlotte said.

Alice crossed her arms. “I’m very glad dust bunnies survived, but I hate knowing that the Aliens were experimenting on them.”

Drake summoned more information with his thoughts. Another crystal glowed in the far corner. Once again information was transmitted via dreamlight.

“There are experiments and then there are experiments,” he said, sorting through the dream data. “The Aliens were lonely.”

Alice frowned. “Weren’t there plenty of other Aliens around?”

“Yes,” Drake said. “But there were no creatures of another species on Harmony that were capable of bonding with the Aliens.”

Understanding lit Alice’s face. She smiled. So did Rachel.

“It would be like moving to a world without cats or dogs or other animal companions,” Harry said. “Damn lonely when you think about it.”

“They probably didn’t realize how badly intelligent life needs to connect with other species,” Rachel said. “It’s one of the ways that we define ourselves as human. We need to know on some level that we’re a part of the ecosystem, not separate from it.”

“Here on harmony the Aliens discovered that they were psychically isolated from all the other creatures on the planet,” Drake said. “You’re right, Harry. It would have been a very strange and disturbing kind of loneliness.”

“They missed their connection to the animal world,” Alice said. “So they set out to bioengineer a species capable of bonding with them.”

Drake searched for more information. “But in the end they abandoned Harmony and the dust bunnies, too. The Aliens never figured out how to adapt.”

“It’s weird,” Alice said. “But I’m getting the hang of this place. You just sort of think about the information you need and it comes to you in the form of a waking dream.”

“Dreamlight is probably a universal language for intelligent life,” Drake said. “At least it’s effective for communicating information between the Aliens and us. Evidently the Aliens dreamed just like we do.”

“Huh.” Harry studied the crystals around them. “So this pyramid is a kind of information storage and retrieval device?”

A dazzling excitement flashed through Drake. “It’s the most spectacular find ever made on Harmony. An ancient computer housing a database loaded with the secrets of the Aliens. The researchers back at Foundation headquarters are going to go wild.”

“Zara Tucker was right about one thing,” Harry said. “In the long run, this thing will be worth a fortune. No telling what technological and medical breakthroughs may come from it.”

Pride sparked in Alice. “And it was my great-grandfather, Nicholas North, who not only discovered it but also the tunnels that make it possible to navigate the territory inside the fence.”

Charlotte laughed. “Don’t forget the best part: that, thanks to your great-grandfather being a very clever pirate, you own half of whatever this computer turns out to be worth.”

Drake looked at Alice, his silvery eyes heating. “As well as half of everything else that remains to be discovered on Rainshadow.”

“The money will be nice,” Alice said.

Drake smiled. “But it’s not the best part about your inheritance here on Rainshadow.”

“No,” Alice said. She tightened her grip on the diary and looked around at the others. “The best part was being involved in this discovery. Just knowing that I have some history here on the island and now some history with you three and Jasper and Fletcher and some of the others in Shadow Bay—that’s the best part.”

“Welcome to the family,” Rachel said.

Chapter 46

“YOU CAN’T BLAME ME FOR MY CONCLUSIONS, MS. NORTH.” Ethel Whitcomb removed her reading glasses and closed the folder Drake had given her. She looked at Alice across the width of a First Generation antique desk. “I had every reason to believe that you were involved in the murder of my son. Frankly I’m not inclined to change my mind. Aldwin Hampstead and Zara Tucker may have confessed to the actual act, but as far as I’m concerned you bear a great deal of the responsibility.”

“How can you say that?” Alice demanded.

They were in Ethel Whitcomb’s study. Alice was seated in a chair near the window. Houdini was huddled on her shoulder, fully fluffed but watchful. She knew that he had picked up on her tension. The Whitcomb butler had tried to insist that dust bunnies were not allowed inside the mansion, but Drake had fixed the man with a single look, saying nothing. The butler had mumbled something about making an exception for helper animals and hastily showed them all into the study.