Magnificent Folly - Iris Johansen [42]
“Andrew.” Quenby smiled. “I told you he knew his job.”
“I need to talk to him.”
“He thought you would. He said—”
Andrew opened the door and walked into the room. He stopped short, stiffening with wariness as he caught sight of Lily. His greeting sounded curiously formal. “Hello. Did you sleep well?”
He still looked tired, Lily thought, but that terrible haggardness was gone. “Well enough. Cassie’s still sleeping.”
“Good. She needs it.”
“How did it go?” Quenby asked.
“Rotten. Baharas is okay, but there’s no response at all from Kalom.”
“Well, don’t worry. They’ll take care of him at the compound.” Quenby moved quickly toward the front door. “I think I’ll go for a walk in the garden. Did Gunner come back with you?”
Andrew nodded, his gaze still on Lily’s face. “He’s at the lodge. He wanted to clean up some loose ends before we left.”
“Then I’ll go find him and make him buy me a cup of coffee.” The door closed behind Quenby.
Her departure left the room echoing with a strained silence, which Lily hurried to fill. “Would those loose ends have anything to do with this telepathy business?”
Andrew nodded. “A few memory erasures to cover what happened here.”
“You speak of it so casually.” Lily crossed her arms across her chest to still their trembling. “Just a few erasures. And Quenby is so damn matter-of-fact too.”
“We live with it every day.”
Lily laughed shakily. “Gunner said the exotic becomes commonplace when you’ve grown accustomed to it. I don’t think I’m that adaptable.”
“At least you’re not rejecting the concept.”
“I can’t. I was here. I saw those men. I talked to Cassie.” She met his gaze. “As outrageous as I find the idea, I have to accept the fact that you and Gunner are telepaths. Believe me, I wrestled for a long time with that particular bogeyman last night.” She straightened her shoulders. “Okay, you’re telepaths. Now I have a few questions.”
“Only a few?”
“First, why did those men want Cassie?” She held up her hand as he started to speak. “Oh, I know you said they wanted her because she was your daughter, but why?”
“They wanted to study her,” Andrew said. “They wanted to run tests and do some brain scans on her to see what makes her tick.”
“Why?”
“Because she’s the first quarter-breed the Clanad’s ever produced, and they thought it possible she could be controlled and directed as they wished.”
“Wait a minute. Quarter-breed? Quenby was saying something about half-breeds and the Clanad. Just what is the Clanad? It’s no corporation, right?”
“Well, we do maintain several corporations.” Andrew shrugged. “The Clanad actually refers to a group of refugees who escaped from Said Ababa a good many years ago. They were Garvanians who had submitted to chemical injections to induce mind expansion right before Said Ababa invaded their country. The chemical was derived from a rare plant found only in Garvania that became extinct shortly after the experiments began. This irritated the Said Ababans no end, and when Garvania was defeated, the group was transferred to a place called the Institute in Said Ababa and forced to undergo certain tests.” Andrew’s lips tightened grimly. “Everyone in the group was treated very harshly. My mother told me my own father’s heart was fatally weakened by the treatment he received at the Institute, and Gunner has horror stories that don’t bear repeating.”
“And they were going to take Cassie there?” Lily whispered.
“She would have been safe until she reached the Institute,” Andrew added bitterly. “They wouldn’t think of damaging the laboratory animals.”
“And they want you for the same reason?”
“They realized the original members of the Clanad were too strong for them to touch, but they thought the strength might have been diluted in the second and third generations.”
“And is it?”
“No, but the younger generations have a greater sensitivity, which makes unskilled tampering very dangerous.” He paused. “Cassie couldn’t have survived the Institute, Lily. She would have locked herself