Sinister Paradise

It was like a mirage in reverse, this strange island off the California coast--it couldn't always be seen, but it was there—in Time.


excerpt

"There's the island, Parker!" Retch called.


Bill Parker shifted the controls of the 'copter and the big craft swung in the direction Retch was pointing. Squinting his eyes against the sun glare rising from the Pacific, Parker clearly saw the island. It was miles away as yet but it swam like a mirage suspended just above the surface of the sea.


The island was not large--Parker guessed it as probably being less than two miles in circumference--but he could make out a fringe of trees along the shore and a central peak rising like a cliff in the center.


"I've found it again!" Retch spoke with fierce satisfaction—clenched fists. Parker heard the indrawn hiss of breath following the words; a hiss that seemed to hold a promise for the future. Revenge, vengeance, triumph, or something else? Parker could not determine what emotional overtone had found expression in Retch's words. But the emotional overtone was there. Out of the corner of his eyes, Parker glanced at the man sitting in the seat next to him. What he saw did not please him.