The door eased open on silent hinges, and Vicki readied herself. As soon as she saw enough of the guy coming to check on her, she whispered the lightning-fast incantation of the charm spell. The guy stopped and weaved on his feet for a moment, then brought his hands to his face… flashlight and all. When he pulled his hands away, he turned to look directly at her and started to speak.
Vicki held up her hand in a gesture to stop him and crossed the short distance to stand close. “Only speak at a whisper. Where are we?”
“An abandoned mine in the southern Cascades, Mistress. It’s the Gamma-Eight site for this region.”
“Gamma-Eight? Explain that.”
“We have a whole host of sites. Alpha is the primary list, and they run up through Epsilon. Then, under each letter, there are ten groups of sit
