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obviously startled. An instant later a slow, wicked smile curved her mouth. Laughter gleamed in her eyes. For a heartbeat he allowed himself a few more memories from three months back. He saw Lyra smiling as she demonstrated the full potential of the incredible artifact of amethyst amber that she had tuned especially for him. He had kept the relic close all these months. He’d lost track of how many times he had taken it out of its leather case and held it, savoring the strange beauty of the alien artwork.
    “Define closed ,” Lyra said.
    “There’s a small energy storm filling the opening. No one can get in or out.”
    “Interesting,” she said.
    “Any idea how it was closed?” he asked.
    She raised one shoulder in a tiny shrug. “There are a couple of possibilities. There may have been some stray currents from a ghost river or even a storm in the vicinity.”
    “None were detected.”
    “Then it was probably triggered accidentally by someone who can work one of the exotic ambers like silver or diamond.”
    “Or amethyst?” he asked quietly.
    She stilled.
    “Or someone who can work amethyst,” she agreed without inflection.
    “The ruin was open when the AI lab team began work at the site,” he said.
    She raised a finger. “Point of semantics here. The ruin was open when it was stolen from me in the course of a hostile takeover, the legality of which is highly questionable.”
    “I think we’ll leave semantics out of this for now.”
    She looked at him with wide-eyed innocence. “Why would we want to do that?”
    “Because there’s too much at stake,” he said.
    “Not for me.” She smiled. “To quote Nancy, I don’t have a dust bunny in this fight.”
    He ignored that. “The ruin was closed when you discovered the amethyst chamber, wasn’t it?”
    She grinned. “Yep.”
    “You opened it.”
    “Sure did. I take it none of your cretins can get the job done now that it’s closed again?”
    “No,” he said. “The lab guys have tried everything. So have I, for that matter, and I’m pretty good when it comes to tuned amber. The energy in that amethyst is unlike anything anyone in the lab has ever dealt with before. We haven’t even been able to rez or activate any of the artifacts that have been recovered so far. All the pieces are just sitting in the lab vault like so much purple rock.”
    “I did get that impression,” she said lightly. “I’ve had a number of phone calls from your head cretin demanding my help. Someone named Webber.”
    “Dr. Felix Webber. He’s in charge of the lab.”
    “I haven’t returned any of his calls, naturally.”
    “He mentioned that you had been less than cooperative,” Cruz said dryly.
    “Call me petty, but it gives me so much pleasure to decline to assist Amber Inc. in every possible way, shape, and form.” She tilted her head slightly. “So that’s why you’re here. You want me to open up the ruin for you.”
    This was not going well, he thought.
    “Yes,” he said.
    “I assume you intend to offer me lots and lots of money?”
    “Name your price.”
    “Forget it,” she said softly. She put down the glass and folded her arms on the counter. “You can’t afford me, Sweetwater.”
    “Something else you should know.”
    “Mmm?”
    “When the ruin closed, there were five people inside the chamber: two lab techs and the head of the lab’s security team. There were also two Guild men in there. We can’t make contact. We don’t even know if they’re alive.”
    She sighed, closed her eyes, and dropped her forehead onto her folded arms. “I’m going to have to have a chat with my Harmonic Meditation instructor. There must be something really screwed up with my karma. I don’t even get to enjoy a little innocent revenge. Instead, I have to go rescue three cretins who work for Amber Inc. and a couple of Guild thugs.”
    He had known that she would agree to help. Their time together had been brief, but it had been long enough to be sure of