Sam drove fast.
They were heading into Palma to find a veterinarian clinic to help Caliburn.
By the time they had reached the animal hospital, the retriever had vomited twice, and then became lethargic, before drifting into unconsciousness.
Guinevere said, “Sam! This won’t work.”
“It will work!” Sam said, his voice hard and emphatic. “Tom’s found a place that’s open. We’ll be there in a few minutes!”
“No,” Guinevere said. “I’m saying what do we do if he needs an operation?”
Sam said, “Then we pay for the operation. We’re not going to let him die!”
“Can he be operated on?”
“Sure he can. Why not?”
Guinevere pursed her lips. “Because Caliburn shares the same defensive system as Excalibur.”
Sam thought back to the time the vet at Cannon Beach drew blood from the dog. “His defensive system only engages when he’s threatened.”
“What does that mean if he’s unconscious?” she asked.
Sam said, “I have no idea.”
He pulled up in front of the vet clinic. A doctor was just closing up. Sam shifted the car into park, got out, and picked up Caliburn in his arms.
“Wait!” he shouted to the doctor.
The doctor took the dog in with a glance. He grimaced and unlocked the door again. “All right, let’s get him inside.”
Sam carried Caliburn through the door.
The vet asked, “What happened?”
“I don’t know. He was well a few hours ago, then he just started to get sick. He vomited a couple times, became lethargic, and has now been unconscious for about ten minutes.”
The doctor frowned. “Has he eaten anything strange today?”
Sam thought about the saltwater that Caliburn was interested in. The lines on his face deepened. He said, “He drank from the Dragon Caves. I stopped him, but he’d already had a good drink.”
The vet bit his lower lip. “Look. There’s a lot of bacteria in that water, as well as plenty of fungal runoff from the limestone stalactites.”
“That’s bad?” Sam asked.
“It isn’t good,” the doctor said. He started tapping the dog using downward pressure on his fingers, and listening to the corresponding resonance. Organs that are hollow make a different sound then those that are solid. If something’s inflamed, it will make a different sound. The vet stopped and met Sam’s eye. “This dog’s appendix is inflamed.”
Sam said, “Can you fix it?”
“Maybe. Probably not though. If he’s already unconscious it means his appendix has most likely burst, and he’s now become septic. We’ll need to start him on intravenous antibiotics immediately, and operate. Is that what you want?”
Sam didn’t hesitate. “Yes. Do whatever it takes.”
The doctor looked like he was going to discuss his fees and risk, but one glance at Sam’s hardened face, and he simply said, “I’ll call one of the clinic nurses to come in immediately to assist with the operation.”
They all waited until the nurse arrived and Caliburn was under anesthetic before they left. Sam gave his cell phone number to the doctor and asked to be called as soon as they knew anything.
Sam stepped out of the vet clinic.
He felt the full force of fatigue grip his body.
Guinevere said, “Are you okay?”
Sam shook his head. “I don’t know. I will be when Caliburn pulls through.”
Tom handed him his cell phone. “Sorry, Sam, Elise says she’s been trying to call you for the last hour.”
Sam took the phone. “What have you got?”
Without preamble, Elise said, “I found the last person on Excalibur’s kill list.”
Sam was still dazed by the events with Caliburn. “Sorry, what, Elise?”
“You found a list of names on board the Hoshi Maru. You dubbed them Excalibur’s kill list because each name represented one of the seven initial members of the King Arthur research team, who went on to work for Camelot Weapons Industries. There were only two members who were potentially still alive on that list. The first was Dexter Cunningham, who you met in Glastonbury, and the second was Jason Faulkner.”
“That’s right. We assumed he was dead?” Sam’s heart jumped. “Tell me he’s still alive!”
“He’s alive. And what’s more, he’s currently living in a villa in Porto Cristo.”
Sam said, “That’s close.”
“Yeah, maybe too close.”
“How did you find him?”
“He used his credit card to buy dinner.”
“And that worries you?”
“Yeah.” Elise said, “Here’s a man who’s managed to stay completely under the radar for more than seven years and now he slips up?”
“After seven years, maybe he’s entitled to make a few mistakes?”
“No. It’s not that. I mean, if he was smart enough to reveal no digital trace in all that time, why all of a sudden use an old bankcard to access money.”
“Maybe he thought after all this time, Excalibur had finally stopped pursuing him?”
Elise shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe you’re right. I have an address where he’s staying. Do you want to go speak to him?”
“Yes. Definitely. I can be there in under an hour.”
Elise said, “Just be careful, okay?”
Sam grinned. “Thanks Elise. I will.”
Chapter Seventy-Six
Sam knocked on the door of the small red bricked Spanish villa.
A big man opened the door with a warm and gregarious smile on his face. The man spoke in perfect Spanish, and asked, “Hello, may I help you?”
Sam frowned. “No hablo mucho espanol.”
The man smiled. “You’re American?”
“That’s right,” Sam replied, happy to at least be passed the first hurdle of language.
The man’s eyes narrowed, and he gave a cursory glance outside the front yard, as though searching for others. “What can I do for you, sir?”
“This is going to sound strange, but is your name, Jason Faulkner?”
The man’s jaw stiffened. His eyes hooded over. “Who are you?”
“My name’s Sam Reilly.”
“Should I know who you are?”
“No.”
The man frowned. “Then why do you know who I am?”
Sam said, “Because, I believe we’re both being hunted by Excalibur.”
Jason waited for a long time, before taking another glance outside his house. Satisfied they were alone, he opened his front door, and said, “You’d better come inside and tell me what you know about that abomination.”
Sam quickly brought Jason up to speed about the death list they’d found on board the Hoshi Maru and about the history of the King Arthur program.
When he was finished, Sam asked, “Will you join us?”
Faulkner crossed his arms. “To do what?”
“We want to destroy Excalibur once and for all.”
“I don’t know if Excalibur can be destroyed. According to the scientists who made him, they utilized some sort of stone that alters a person’s strength and toughness at a cellular level.”
“That’s why we’re putting Caliburn back together.”
“You’ve located Caliburn?”
“Yes.”
“Both shards?”
“Both shards. But we still have to find the twin stones that belong in its hilt, known as the…”
“Serpent’s eyes!”
“You’ve heard about them?”
“What’s more… I know where to find them!”
Sam asked, “Where?”
“Inside the Dragon Caves.”
Sam frowned. “We’ve already searched the cave. There wasn’t anything to be found. Maybe after all these years, it’s been destroyed?”
Jason shook his head. “Of course not. Merlin was too smart for that. He wouldn’t let strangers accidentally walk into his magical grotto. He put a near magical lock on his grotto. You know it was where he mined the rare element used to imbue his weapons with SPELLS, don’t you?”