The Sound of Seas Read Online Free PDF Page A

together. In Galderkhaan.”
    Ben was a little rocked by that—not just the fact that someone else knew about the place, but obviously knew more than he did. Then his mind returned to what he had just been thinking about, what he knew of the postapocalyptic trek of the Galderkhaani up through Asia to points north, including Scandinavia.
    â€œYou say you ‘once’ lived together,” Ben remarked. “That, plus the fact that you didn’t go up to the mansion and knock on the door tells me that you are no longer very sociable.”
    â€œTheir ideas are different from mine.”
    â€œAre you some kind of rogue scholar?” he asked.
    â€œNot exactly,” the man replied.
    â€œ ‘Not exactly?’ That’s all I get?”
    â€œFor now.”
    â€œUh huh,” Ben said, and moved to go around the man. “Sorry, Eilifir. I have a lot to—”
    â€œNot yet,” the man said with a hint of menace now. He moved closer.
    Ben hesitated. He had been around enough diplomats to know when polite insistence was about to shade into a threat.
    â€œDo the doctors know what is wrong with Dr. O’Hara?” Eilifir asked.
    â€œHow do you know anything’s wrong with her?”
    â€œI have a man outside the hospital,” the man replied. “You departed. She did not. Must we do this dance, Mr. Moss?”
    â€œCaitlin is unconscious but it isn’t a coma,” Ben answered. “They don’t know what it is. You probably know that, if you’ve been watching her.”
    â€œNo, I only suspected,” the man said. “We make it a policy not tocrowd people. The others—they do that. Empathetic souls like Dr. O’Hara pick up on it.” He turned his face toward the brownstone. “The man and woman who are upstairs, why are they here?”
    â€œI don’t know that either,” Ben said. “How do you know about them ?”
    â€œSomeone was here, watching, until I could relieve her.”
    â€œThat’s at least three people,” Ben said. “You have a curious definition of ‘alone.’ ”
    â€œAs you know, words have nuance.”
    â€œRight, but I don’t have time for subtleties. So that there are no more surprises—how many helpers do you have here?”
    â€œToo few,” Eilifir replied. “Do you know Casey Skett?”
    Hell, couldn’t the man answer a question directly? “No,” Ben said to move this along. “Who is he ? Or is it a waste of breath to ask?”
    â€œI guess you would call him our general,” the man said. “He and I are the leaders of a handful of other field personnel who want to help you save Dr. O’Hara.”
    â€œFrom?”
    â€œBecoming lost in the past,” the man said.
    â€œHow do you know . . . what do you know?” Ben asked.
    â€œThat any form of cazh or the lesser mergings is tricky, dangerous, as I’m sure you well know.”
    â€œIs that what happened here?” Ben asked with alarm.
    â€œI’m honestly not sure,” Eilifir replied. “That’s what we’re trying to determine. If it has, then she is in great danger.”
    Ben did not tell the man that it was the second time that morning he’d heard that sentiment.
    Eilifir drew his hand from his pocket, handed Ben a card. “Call me when you learn anything, when you need something.”
    â€œYou seem certain that I will.”
    â€œNo one can face these forces alone,” he said, “the more so when he or she doesn’t know what they are.”
    â€œDo you?”
    The man was quiet for a moment—contemplative. “Not entirely, no. But we have tools you lack, tools you may need. And before you ask what they are, I can only say this: Caitlin O’Hara has forged an energetic relationship with just two Galderkhaani tiles. That was enough to send her soul through time and wreak havoc across several