Brother to Dragons, Companion to Owls - Jane Lindskold [68]
“Why?” Between asks, stretching his neck toward a nice succulent plant growing next to my chair.
Jersey pulls at his ear. “Did you say something?”
“No, Between did,” I answer, puzzled that he cannot tell—the little dragon’s voice is definitely masculine.
“Between?”
“Between”—I point—“Betwixt. They’re quite different people—from the neck up, that is.”
“Oh, boy.” Jersey grabs for his glass. “Sarey, I won’t say if you don’t, but I’ve got bad feelings about this.”
“Say?” I laugh. “To whom? And what? Are Dr. Haas and Dr. Aldrich watching us?”
“No.” Jersey relaxes some. “No way unless they link up with us and they don’t do that too often. There are potential…side effects.”
I ignore his discomfort, enjoying this new freedom. Noticing a bowl of fruit on the table, I set Betwixt and Between down and they trundle forward and start decimating Bartlett pears. Athena seems content to sit on my shoulder for now.
“We aren’t seeing exactly the same thing, are we?” I hazard.
“Probably not, not on minor details, but part of what the computer is doing is picking up what is most—important—to you and to me and creating a consensus reality from them. Self-image is really important, so that holds, same with what we’re talking about, but the color of the walls or the style of furnishings wouldn’t be shared unless it was important that it was—like with the Van Gogh or that mirror.”
“I understand,” I say, restraining myself from trying to make it important for him to see Betwixt and Between gobbling fresh fruit on his coffee table. “Somehow, I doubt all of this is to let me have a try at the spoken word. You started to explain before—it has something to do with magical thinking.”
“Right.” Jersey looks unhappy for a moment. “You got the basics from Dr. Haas, I know. What you didn’t get is that the Institute has been supporting its ‘research’ through controlled use of magical thinking. It is almost too-potent stuff. I didn’t know Dylan until—after—but he was something else even then.”
“After.” I lean forward. “After what?”
“Dylan had an…accident.” Jersey flushes. “Damn, Sarey, I can’t tell you. Don’t ask me about him—ask anything else.”
I am shocked; for a brief instant his image had flickered and he had become the overweight madman I knew. By the time he has control again, he also has my pity.
“Okay,” I promise, “I won’t ask, but don’t forget that I want to know. He was my brother and I loved him even if I was a kid when we were separated.”
“Family isn’t all it’s made out to be, Sarey,” Jersey answers. “Let’s get off this. You asked about why the Institute wanted you so bad. Simple. Magical thinking seems to break the rules most of us live by. Things talk to you—right?”
“Right. Yes.” I smile. “You bet. Ten-four, good buddy.”
Jersey chuckles. “Okay. Now, most of this world is based around the simple concept that things don’t talk. Security systems assume that codes and ciphers are safely hidden between our ears. Conferences assume that the places they are held can be made secure. There’s an old story about how a guy told a secret he couldn’t bear to keep to a hole in the ground and it would have been safe except that the reeds growing there picked up the words and whispered them to the world. You get the picture?”
“Yes.” I nod, remembering a code pad happily chanting, I got a secret! “I understand. They’re using us to steal secrets.”
“Yeah.” Jersey smiles sadly. “You catch on fast. Street-smarts, but what can I expect with what you’ve been doing?”
I almost think he is going to say more, but he picks up his drink and sips the frosty thing. The level of ice never drops.
“So, Sarey, Dr. Aldrich had taken money to learn some things for some—powerful—people. Hell, dangerous people. And then Dylan—died—and he was up a creek without a paddle. Then Aldrich remembered you and when he sent for you, you had been discharged. There was sixteen kinds of bitchiness until you were found. Now I’ve got to get you acclimated and they’ll pay off their debts and all.”
“And I stay here?” I ask bluntly. “Forever.”
“Yeah,” he nods.