Marcase didn't cry at Erhart Boem's funeral, not even when Kimberly began to sob softly next to him. He held her hand tightly, feeling her soft fingers inside his own. Cassian, who rarely showed emotion, seemed choked up at the service as well. Even Hailey's mask of stone was somewhat softened as the service ended and the team left the church. It was amazing how the old man had made such an impact on their lives in just a few days. Boem's only wish had been that he would not die with the mysterious cylinder inside of him. The cylinder, which had contained the mythical Eyes of Odin gemstones, had been surgically implanted into his body by Heinrich Himmler when Boem was just a boy. When combined with an electronic device, the gemstones gave the user unknown powers.
    The gemstones had been burned out by Boem's clever trick that had saved all of their lives a couple days ago. Marcase still wondered why the neo-Nazis thought the device would return the Nazis to power. When he had used the device, it had indeed given him a rush of adrenaline; however, he was merely able to see energy patterns of people. Through the Eyes of Odin, "normal" people appeared to glow red, while the Nazis, such as the late Mr. Stennis, gave off a black negative energy pattern. The ability to identify Nazis would certainly be useful in law enforcement but hardly seemed to be a powerful weapon. Still, the gemstones should be examined again. And he had nothing else to do on a Sunday afternoon.
    As Marcase drove up to the house, he saw what appeared to be a body in the middle of the street. As he got closer, he saw that it was a shabbily dressed young woman, possible alive but clearly unconscious. Slamming on his brakes and getting out of the car, Marcase ran to see if he could help. The woman was quite dead, apparently strangled.
    "My God, who would do this?" He muttered under his breath. Seeing how close he was to the guard station, he decided to ask the security guards for assistance in bringing the woman into the lab. After moving the body to the side of the road, Marcase got back into his car.
    "Do as I say or I'll blow your head off." A man in the back seat forced a gun into Marcase's side.  Marcase cursed himself for falling for such a ploy.  He began to wonder where he had heard that voice before. He turned slightly to see his assailant, but the intruder wore a ski mask. Still, the eyes were unmistakably that of . . .
    "Drive through the gate and arouse no suspicion or I'll shoot you."
    "What the hell do you want?"
    "The Eyes and the device. You are keeping them in the lab?"
    Marcase identified the voice silently, but it just couldn't be possible. "You're wasting your time, whoever you are. The device was destroyed and the eyes are being studied somewhere very far from here."
    "You're lying, Doctor. I know for a fact you have them. Now drive!"
    "Did you kill that woman so you could carjack me?" Marcase asked as he began to drive slowly.
    "One hooker's life is a small price to pay for the interests of the master race."
    Marcase pulled up to the gate and stopped the car. "People like you make me sick," he growled.
    The security guard came out and the ski-masked man slid down into the back seat. The gun was no longer digging into Marcase's side, but he knew it couldn't be far away.
    "Hand on the form, sir."
    Marcase put his hand on the security clearance pad, then flipped his palm over and extended his middle finger to the guard.
    "What the hell . . ." The guard's expression changed from businesslike neutrality to simmering anger. "Out of the car, sir." The guard drew his gun. Something was obviously wrong.
    Marcase exited the car immediately. "Don't point that at me. There's a guy in the back seat!"
    Before the sentry could react, the intruder jumped into the front seat of the car. Keeping his head down, he threw the car into reverse and pulled away.
    "Stop him! He's stealing the car!"
    The guard was able to shoot out the windshield, but he couldn't stop the car.
    "Wonderful," Marcase muttered, "Just wonderful."

    Cassian reminisced about Boem's funeral as he sipped his strawberry daiquiri. Well, actually it wasn't his daiquiri; it belonged to the person who had been sitting at the bar. She had left her drink there, so he drank it. If he caught anything, Shiroma would be able to cure it in a few minutes or so. Cassian wondered why the woman he had been talking to left so abruptly. It was right after Cassian told her about how he worked with dangerous viruses all the time and how he had recently been infected with the deadly Mayan bacteria. Women, he pondered as he shook his head.
    He looked at his watch. 6:37 p.m.. It was time to get back to work, or to whatever work he had when his team wasn't facing a dire emergency. As he debated whether to meet up with Marcase at the lab, his cellular phone rang.
    "Cassian."
    "Yeah, Cassian. It's Marcase. You won't believe what just happened."
    "What is it, Edward?"
    "I think you'd better come up to the house. Kimberly and Michael are coming too."
    "What's going on, Dr. Marcase?"
    "It's Stennis. He's alive and he wants the Eyes."

    The team met in the conference room. Shiroma and Hailey had changed into more practical clothes, but Marcase had remained in the dark suit that he had worn to Boem's funeral.
Shiroma started. "Edward, we all saw Stennis and the other Nazis get electrocuted by the device."
    "That's right," Hailey responded, "I drove their bodies to the coroner myself."
    "Yes, but were they really dead?" Marcase questioned. "How do we know they were dead? That mysterious force might not have killed them; it could have put them in some sort of stasis or coma."
    "Edward, that mysterious force was nothing more than electricity. Plain and simple." That was classic Shiroma reasoning.
    Cassian cleared his throat. "Dr. Marcase, I can assure you that I have seen enough dead bodies in my career to be able to recognize one when it's a few feet away from me."
    "Look Cassian. I know what I saw! It was Stennis and he took my car! I obtained some skin samples that I found under the dead woman's fingernails. All you have to do is compare that DNA to Stennis's and you'll see that I'm not full of crap."
    "Edward," Shiroma looked uncomfortable. As she spoke, she looked to the others for support. "It's not that we don't believe you. The past couple days have been hard on all of us. Maybe you just need some rest."
    "Dammit, Kim! I'm not hallucinating! Stennis attacked me and he killed that woman!"
    "Perhaps you're not hallucinating, Edward. Maybe the device affected you in other ways." Cassian glanced at Hailey.
    "You're saying it drove me crazy? I am not crazy!"
    "There has got to be something going on." Hailey spoke softly, avoiding Cassian's eyes. "One thing that's clear is an unknown woman was murdered and her body left outside the gates. I think that is too much of a coincidence."
    "Michael might be right, but people do not come back from the dead." Kimberly was not about to consider the possibility of ghosts, no matter what Marcase thought he saw.
    "Well, we had better begin a DNA analysis and find out just who our ghost is." Cassian replied.
    "I'll go with Kimberly to get a sample of Stennis's DNA from his body at the morgue," Hailey said.
    "That won't be necessary." Cassian pulled out a pile of rags and placed it on the table.
    "What the hell is this? It stinks!" Marcase opened the rags and uncovered a slightly decomposed human foot. Shiroma gasped and Hailey's eyes bugged.
    "As you may or may not know, I have been retaining a foot from every adversary we have encountered so far. I normally store them at the secret Human Genome Project laboratory in New York City. However, I happen to still have this one."
    "What secret Human Genome lab?" Kimberly asked, trying to compose herself.
    "Ah, never mind. Edward, please go with Dr. Shiroma to analyze the DNA and determine if there is a match between your assailant and the late Mr. Stennis. Michael, wait here just a moment . . ."

    As Shiroma and Marcase worked to analyze the DNA samples, Marcase wished he had changed out of his suit.
    "I knew Cassian was weird, but I didn't realize how sick he really is until today."
    "Well, it's fortunate that he would just happen to have taken one of Mr. Stennis's feet. Of course, this undermines your theory that he was the one who attacked you."
    "Well, I never saw his feet. He was in the car the whole time, reember?"
    "And how could a crippled man have gotten into the back seat of your car in broad daylight without you noticing?"
    "I don't know, Kimberly. Maybe the same way that the Wheelchair Man left Luge's jail cell?"
    "What are you talking about? What Wheelchair Man?"
    "Oh, forget it. I don't know where that came from. Must be a full moon or something. Oops! I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that." Shiroma was still sensitive about being captured by the Werewolf Killer in New York City and nearly murdered during a full moon.
    "Never mind. What's your point, Edward?"
    "The point I'm trying to make is that not everything that happens has a logical explanation."
    "That's fine talk for a scientist."
    "Why are you so damn narrow-minded all the time?"
    "Because I can't accept your mystical speculation to every scientific problem that we encounter!"
    Marcase avoided her eyes. For some reason, he wanted to touch her, to run his hands through her hair. But that was out of the question. Although Kimberly had absolved him of any guilt for Allen's death, there was still an unmistakable tension between them. The frustration made Edward want her even more.
    "There's a definite match."
    "What?" Shiroma peered over Marcase at the computer screen. He was right; the samples did match. "That's impossible."
    "What, impossible that I was right? Thanks a lot, Kim."
    "You know what I mean."
    "I know. So now what?"
    "Well, we had better inform Cassian."

    Hailey knew why Cassian wanted to speak with him. There was apparently more going on than Cassian wanted Shiroma and Marcase to know.
    "Michael, I need you to have your friends available as soon as possible."
    "Are you going to let me know what's going on here?" Hailey looked hard at Cassian.
    Cassian sighed, glancing at the conference room's soundproof door.  "I received a phone call from the White House last night, asking for confirmation of the death of Stennis and his cohorts. I found it to be a rather strange request." Hailey nodded knowingly and Cassian continued. "This caller also asked me to oversee the destruction of the Eyes of Odin. When I responded that my team was researching the device's properties, the caller urged me to have the research finished and the Eyes incinerated by noon tomorrow."
    "Wow. I don't suppose you'll tell me who this caller was?"
    Cassian smiled coldly. "You're suspicions are on point, Michael."
    "The top, huh?"
    "It appears that the Eyes have more power than Dr. Marcase realizes . . ."
    "But we're not supposed to find out what the power is, right? You knew about this ultimatum last night but didn't say anything to us today?"
    "Ah, yes. Bring your friends here immediately. Five or six men should be fine. I intend to use our remaining time to discover the secret behind that device, but we will need to leave the house to do it. I don't want any more uninvited guests interfering with our research."
    "Which will be finished by noon tomorrow?" Hailey asked innocently.
Cassian merely smiled.

    "You want us to do what? Cassian, the last time that I wore that thing, I went blind."
    "Edward's right," Shiroma agreed. "That device is far too dangerous for any of us to wear. Edward and I have developed a cautious plan for studying the gemstones over the next several weeks."
    "Kimberly, we have until noon tomorrow to find out the secret of the Eyes of Odin. I have been instructed to destroy the device and the stones at that time."
    "Oh?" Marcase asked, his voice full of obvious suspicion. "By whom?"
    "My superiors called while you were testing Stennis's DNA."
    "How convenient considering that it only took twenty minutes." Shiroma did not look convinced. Marcase looked disgusted as well.
    "Cassian, I thought we were a team. If you know what's going on, I wish you would tell us instead of playing your little games."
    "As soon as Mr. Hailey returns, we'll do as I just said. Dr. Marcase, you may wish to change your clothes before we begin. I doubt you'll be comfortable in that suit for another day."
    "You just ignored my question, Cassian."
    "Well, Edward, you did say that one of these days I'm not going to have an answer. Guess what?"
    Marcase shook his head in frustration and Shiroma stared hard at Cassian.
    "We're going to travel together to downtown DC.. Dr. Shiroma, you and I will wait outside for Michael to return. Edward will meet us out front after he's changed into something more practical. And Edward, bring the device with you."
    "It's broken. Remember, it burned out?"
    "Not everything that appears dead really is, I suppose. Don't worry, I've already made arrangements with a very good electrician."
    "Let me guess, while we were testing the DNA samples?" Marcase stormed off in search of some extra clothes.

    The lights of the city glittered softly in the nighttime air.  Few people were out in the streets at that time. The few that were seemed unaware that they were being used for a government experiment.
    "The new power supply seems to be working. Good thing you got a hold of your electrician friend in such a hurry," Kimberly commented.
    "Tom Thorn's a good electrician and he'll keep this quiet. He's a friend from my church."
    "You certainly have some interesting people in your parish, Dr. Cassian"
    "Yes, I do, don't I? Edward, let me know if you either see anyone unusual or if you begin to experience any discomfort at all. Do you understand?"
    "Yeah. I notice yours and Kimberly's patterns are a little darker than Michael's and his friends'."
    Marcase watched Cassian for a few more minutes, wondering why his energy pattern seemed to be getting darker. Glancing at his watch, he saw that it was already after midnight. Twelve hours to go and they had discovered nothing yet. Cassian's plan had been for Marcase to use the device to locate a neo-Nazi, whose heat pattern would presumably be very dark, consisting of negative energy. The team could then attempt to discover from the Nazi how the device functioned and what the source of the negative energy was. They could also find out a little more about the mysterious Mr. Stennis, since his white supremacist group was apparently well-networked. Cassian had mentioned that Hailey's friends were there for the team's security, but Marcase was not naive. He knew, from past experience with intelligence operatives, precisely what would happen if he located a Nazi with the device.
    Marcase wondered about Stennis. How could the man be alive? If he had been unconscious, shouldn't Cassian have been able to tell when he cut off the man's foot? It didn't make much sense.
    "Haven't you found anyone yet, Edward? Are you sure you're using that correctly?" Cassian sounded very annoyed.
    "Maybe you'd like to try it yourself." Marcase didn't like the older man's attitude sometimes. What did Cassian really expect, anyway? What were the odds of a neo-Nazi agent just happening to walk by at? It might work that way in science fiction television, but this was reality.
    "No. Continue to look." Cassian's voice was hard and his eyes were flat. Marcase looked at him through the device again. His pattern was definitely darker. Something was wrong.
    "What's going on, Cassian? Your heat pattern is beginning to radiate negative energy."
    "I think you've used that device enough, Dr. Marcase. Your eyesight is apparently failing again."
    "No! I'm seeing your energy field and it's getting darker. Cassian, what's happening to you?"
    "Dr. Marcase, hand me the device now." Cassian made a gesture to Hailey who responded by running over with two of his associates.
    "Mr. Hailey, Edward seems to be succumbing to some power of the device.  Please remove it from him and give it to me."
   "No, Michael! I'm fine. It's Cassian who's not all right."
     "Give it to me, Edward." Hailey was worried about the situation but not confused about who to believe. The device was clearly dangerous and he was not about to let it injure his friend again. Marcase began to back away, his shielded eyes never leaving Cassian.
    "Mr. Hailey, please remove the device before it causes permanent damage to Edward." Hailey's associates had the device in Cassian's hands in one fluid motion. Marcase was another matter.
    "Listen to me, Michael. The Eyes of Odin allow the wearer to see the energy patterns of other people. Normal people have red glows. As I was watching Cassian tonight, his field gradually changed to dark -- the same as Stennis's and the other Nazis."
    "We've been going about this all wrong." Cassian began.  "You were right, Kimberly.  This device is too dangerous to be worn by any of us. I have another plan which will enable us to discover both the secret of this device and the mystery of Stennis."
    "Edward, are you okay?" Shiroma looked into Marcase's eyes. They seemed to be all right, but Marcase was saying strange things about Cassian that couldn't be true. The device must have somehow affected his mind, she thought.
    "So, what's the new game plan?" Hailey looked expectantly at Cassian.
    "When Mr. Stennis had me in his custody, he took me to an abandoned warehouse a few miles from here. It appeared to be a base for Stennis and his associates. I think that if we check it out, it may provide us with some clues."
    "Oh yeah? How come you never mentioned this before, Casssian?"
    "Edward does have a point." Shiroma's face briefly reflected Marcase's suspicion.
    "Kimberly, the fact that we work together as a team does not mean that I must disclose everything to you all the time. We operate on a need-to-know basis and until now you did not need to know of my experiences when I was kidnapped. Mr. Hailey, I'll meet the rest of you in the truck in a few minutes. I need to make a private phone call." Cassian pulled out his cellular phone and dialed a number but waited until the team had left before speaking into the mouthpiece.

    "There it is. That building on the left."
    "Are you sure? It looks lifeless to me." Hailey looked skeptical.
    Shiroma sat in back with Marcase, examining his eyes with a miniature flashlight. "Michael, maybe your friends should go in first?"
    "Yes, I agree." Hailey began speaking into his walky-talky, but Cassian quickly interrupted him.
    "No, Michael. We will need to be as inconspicuous as possible." He licked his lips and looked at his watch. "You, Kimberly, and I will go in first. I will lead since I know where Stennis and the rest of the cause will most likely be. Dr. Marcase, you will stay here and warn us if anyone approaches. If you don't hear from us in ten minutes, send in Mr. Hailey's friends."
    "I don't like this. I think I should go in with my team and . . ."
    "That's an order, Mr. Hailey."
    "Fine. Let's go."
    "Kimberly, Michael, listen to me!" Marcase half-shouted. "Why did Cassian just say 'Stennis and the rest of the cause'?"
    "Edward, this is no time for word riddles. We're on a tight schedule. Michael, don't forget the device."
    As Marcase watched them enter the darken warehouse, he wondered how he could save his friends from an almost-certain trap. Why didn't Shiroma and Hailey listen to me? he wondered in frustration. He knew Michael's back-up unit was about a block away, but he hesitated in contacting them. They would probably not believe him if he told them that the cool-minded Cassian has been possessed by the crystal eyes of some mythological Norse god. No, Marcase knew that he had to outthink Cassian quickly if he was to save the team. But what was he going to do?

    The warehouse was dark with only a faint light far down the hallway. Hailey led the way, gun drawn. He had given the device to Cassian while they walked.
    "Wait a second."
    Cassian was impatient. "Kimberly, keep up with us please."
    "Sorry." Shiroma replied simply. "I thought I saw some blood on the ground back there."
    "Maybe it's Stennis's?" Hailey whispered loudly.
    "Or mine. I wasn't in good shape last time I was here," Cassian replied with a smile that never reached his eyes.
    They approached a closed door. Behind it, they heard movement and saw light.
    "This is the room, Michael."
    "This door won't budge. I can force it if you cover me."
    "Oh yes, I'll hold your gun for you," Cassian answered. "Be very careful. I doubt they are expecting us, but extra caution never hurts."
    Hailey nodded and handed his gun to Cassian, who was smiling softly.

    Marcase searched through Hailey's trunk, not knowing what he was looking for. He grabbed a tear gas canister and a rifle, then put them down foolishly. He was a virologist, not a commando like Hailey. But the tear gas gave him an idea . . .

    Hailey's body slammed into the old wooden door, which broke apart and sent him flying into the empty room. "Well, no Nazis in here."
    "Don't be so sure, Michael."
    Kimberly entered, followed closely by Cassian. He covered her with Hailey's gun.
    "Hands in the air, Mr. Hailey. Now!"
    "Marcase was right. Something is wrong with you!" Michael exclaimed, raising his hands.
    "No, nothing is wrong with him." Stennis stood in the doorway, supported by an elegantly carved cane. Two younger men slid past him into the room, automatic weapons drawn.
    "I have the Eyes. Now we can convert each member of my team to our cause."
    "One question first." Shiroma stepped silently away from Cassian. "We all saw you die, Stennis. How did you come back to life?"
    "The Eyes didn't kill me," Stennis boasted. "It merely made me dormant for a day or so. A fact which your former leader obviously didn't realize." He indicated his missing foot.
    "You haven't changed your clothes since then, I see." Kimberly wrinkled her nose is disgust.
    "Well, now that we've gotten all that cleared up, shall we proceed?" Cassian looked impatient.

    "You're saying they want us to gas the place and then storm it?" asked one of the hooded men.
    "That's right. Cassian is expecting us to raid the place in three minutes," Marcase answered.
    "Hailey hasn't informed us of this plan."
    "Look, he might be in trouble if there's Nazis in there. We've got to get in there now."
    "Hailey told us to wait ten minutes and it's only been four. We'll wait."
    "Fine, you wait. I'm going in."
    "Negative, sir.  Cassian ordered you to stay here."
    "Look, maybe you guys can stand out here like nothing's wrong, but my friends are in there!"
    "Doctor, I grew up with Mike in Detroit, and I'd sooner cut off my arm than see him get hurt. With all due respect, sir, we are trained to deal with situations like this."
    "Look, what's the difference in a few minutes?"
    "I'll make a deal with you, Dr. Marcase. We'll do it the way you said, with the tear gas, but we're waiting four more minutes."
    "I knew you couldn't pass up the chance to use tear gas," Marcase muttered sarcastically. The hooded men did not look amused.

    "Dr. Shiroma, just be calm and relax." Cassian fingered the device.
    "I most certainly will not!" Shiroma pulled out her own device: a hand-held detonator. "Dr. Cassian, you might recall that I lingered a bit when we walked down the hallway? I placed two explosive devices out there. You see, I trust Edward more than you might have realized. If I depress this button, this whole place, including your precious Eyes of Odin, will be blown apart."
    "What is it with you guys wiring every building to explode? This is ridiculous." Stennis still looked nervous.
    "Don't worry, Mr. Stennis. If you don't all drop your weapons right now, you won't ever have to worry about anything again." Shiroma's heart was pounding. It was always Cassian or Hailey that did this sort of thing. She just hoped that her hands weren't shaking too badly.
    "Very impressive, Kimberly." Cassian still looked smug. "I, for one, surrender." He handed the mysterious device to Hailey. "Take a look, Michael."
    Stennis looked confused. "What are you doing? You're not giving in to her, are you?"
    Cassian smiled strangely. He almost looked like his old self. "Of course not. Just playing along for a moment. Relax, Mr. Stennis, and watch the show."
    "Michael, don't put that on," Shiroma began slowly walking toward the door. Stennis' two men covered her with their guns, their cold faces uncertain.
    "What's the big fuss with this thing?" As if compelled by some strange force, Hailey raised the device to his eyes and looked through it. He saw Shiroma with a bright red aura around her. He saw Stennis and his two goons, their auras black and lifeless. He saw Cassian's aura . . .
    "This thing hurts my eyes." Hailey removed the device and walked toward Cassian.
    "Drop your weapons. I mean it!" Shiroma was unimpressed by the display between Hailey and Cassian. "I'll blow this place up to keep that device from ruining anyone else."
     "I doubt that, Kimberly. Give me that. I'll show you how to handle the good doctor." Cassian smirked as he took the weapon away from one of the guards. Hailey moved slightly toward the other guard.
    "What's going on here?" Stennis looked around in confusion.
    "Well, death hasn't made you brighter, has it? Now, Mr. Hailey!"
    Hailey threw the device to the ground, shattering it. Things happened rapidly after that. Shiroma ran as thick clouds of tear gas began to fill the room. Hailey disarmed the other guard and Cassian knocked a surprised Stennis to the ground. Marcase grabbed Shiroma and ran down the hall, followed by Hailey's masked friends carrying a gasping Cassian. Hailey ran after them, mouth covered. Shiroma stumbled to reach the exit and accidentally depressed the detonator. The warehouse erupted into flames. . .

    "Well, we destroyed the Eyes, as according to plan." Hailey allowed himself a wry smile. They were all burned, but Michael had gotten the worst of it, being the last one to exit the warehouse. As the others gathered around his hospital bed to cheer him up, Marcase asked the question that had puzzled Shiroma as well.
    "So Michael, how did you know that the device's effect had worn off on Cassian?"
    Hailey smiled broadly. "I remembered what you said about the Eyes. When I saw that Cassian's aura was the same as Kimberly's, I knew he was okay again. After that, it was a matter of teamwork."
    "The two of you sure surprised me." Shiroma mused. "I thought I would have to save the day."
    "But you did, Kimberly." Cassian answered quietly. "Had you not thought beforehand to plant those explosives, things would have been quite different."
    "I didn't think you guys believed me." Marcase laughed as he secretly squeezed Shiroma's hand.
    "Of course we did. We're a team, Edward." Cassian looked at the three of them, proud of the bond that had developed amongst them over the past several months.
    "Yes," Shiroma agreed. "However, we much prefer your natural personality."
    "Ah, well," Cassian stared fixedly at a point beyond Shiroma and Marcase. "Too bad it won't last."