Magnificent Folly

  "Perfectly okay." Lily sat down on the side of the bed. "But I'd be even better if! had a hug."

  Cassie got up oh her knees and enveloped Lily in a fierce bear hug. "Andrew said you were fine. He said it over and over. ..."

  Yet Lily had heard no voice in the bedroom. No sounds had come from the room at aH until the melody of the music box.

  "Andrew is quite right. I never felt better than at this moment." She glanced over Cassie's head at Andrew. "I think I owe you—" She broke off, stiffening in shock.

  Andrew looked ten years older. The skin was pulled tight over his cheekbones, the flesh be­neath his eyes Imprinted with ink-black shadows. "Are you all right?"

  He smiled at her. "A little tired." He stood up, his movements jerky and uncoordinated. "I think

  111 go get some air and then find somewhere to crash for a while."

  "A tough one?" Quenby asked from the doorway.

  Andrew nodded as he moved toward the door. "Lord, she's stubborn. She wouldn't be budged."

  "Andrew!" Cassie pulled away from Lily, a touch of panic crossing her face. "Don't go. Ill be alone again."

  Andrew turned to look at her. "You forgot what I told you." A smile lit his face, momentarily ban­ishing the haggardness. "You'll never be alone again. Ill always be there when you want me."

  The anxiety left Cassie's face, and she nestled back against Lily. "That's nice to know."

  Lily tried to smother the twinge of hurt she felt as her arms tightened around Cassie.

  "It's not the same, Lily." Andrew said, his gaze shifting to Llfy's face. "I haven't taken her from you."

  "Haven't you? I'm not so petty that I'd begrudge you Cassie's affection, after what you Ve done to help her." She smiled crookedly. 'Though God knows how you did it."

  "I told you how he did it," Quenby said.

  Andrew stiffened. "You shouldn't have done that, Quenby. She's had enough to—"

  "For Pete's sake, she's not made of glass," Quenby interrupted. "And she'll need time to assimilate it."

  "Maybe." Andrew's hand rubbed wearily at the muscles at the nape of his neck. "I can't judge. I'm not thinking clearly at the moment." He turned to go.

  "Andrew," Lily called impulsively.

  He glanced back over his shoulder.

  "Why did you play the music box?"

  "Bach."

  "What?"

  "She identifies Bach very closely with you. You have character traits that remind her of his mu­sic. I thought it would be a comfort to her."

  Lily's eyes widened. "How did you know that? Did Cassie tell you?"

  Andrew gazed at her a moment without speak­ing. "Why don't you ask Cassie?"

  He turned and left the room, with Quenby fol­lowing close behind.

  Seven

  "He's sad."

  Lily turned back to look at Cassie. The child's brow was wrinkled in a frown of concern as she gazed at the doorway through which Andrew had disappeared. "He's sad about you." Her gaze shifted back to Lily's face. "He's hurting, but you can help him."

  "Right now I'm more concerned about helping you to a cheeseburger," Lily said lightly as she gave Cassie another hug and then released her. "Andrew appears to be tough enough to handle his own problems."

  "He is tough, but he still needs people to like him." Cassie's gaze searched Lily's face. "You're afraid of him."

  "Nonsense. I'm not afraid of any man."

  "You're afraid of Andrew. Why?"

  "I'm not—" Lily stopped. She wasn't being truth­ful with either herself or Cassie, and their rela-

  tionship had always been founded on honesty. "He knows too much. I guess it makes me uneasy."

  "But what he knows is realty neat," Cassie pro­tested. "He makes me feel"—she hesitated!—"like the music. He understands the music, Mom."

  "Cassie..." Lily reached up and tucked a strand of sandy hair behind Cassie's left ear as she tried to form the question she needed to ask. "You were sick, and Andrew helped you get well. How did—"

  "I wasn't sick," Cassie Interrupted. "I was just hiding out. Then Andrew came in and made me realize what a jerk I was being."

  "And how did he do that?"

  "I don't know," Cassie said, puzzled. "He was just there. At first, I couldn't hear him but I could feel him. He was kind of warm and cozy. You know, like drinking hot chocolate after being out on a cold, rainy day. Then the music came, and after that I heard him talking to me."

  "And you weren't afraid?"

  "Of Andrew?" Cassie looked at her in astonish­ment. "Andrew brought me the music. I couldn't hear it before he came, and it was getting darker and colder and very scary."

  A chill went through Lily. Where would that dark­ness have led if Andrew hadn't forced Cassie out of her hiding place? "Quenby says it's telepathy."

  "Is it?" Cassie was unimpressed. "No wonder you were a little freaked out. Don't worry, Mom, it's nothing like those stupid movies you see about telepathy. Like I said, it's kind of cozy." She swung her feet to the floor, got off the bed, and looked at the door on the far side of the bed. "I have to go to the bathroom. Is that it?"

  Lily nodded as she rose to her feet. "Ill order you a cheeseburger from room service."

  "With potato chips." Cassle grinned over her shoulder with impish humor. "And no vegetables."

  Lily chuckled. In this bewildering world of kid­nappings, foreign agents, and telepathy there were some things that never changed, thank heavens. "Ill settle for a dill pickle on the side."

  "Done."

  Cassle disappeared into the bathroom.

  Lily's smile faded as the door closed behind her daughter. Cassle was definitely back to her old self, but that didn't mean the threat to her was over. Why had Cassie, who had always been bless­edly emotionally stable, gone into shock in the first place? And why did those men so desperately want Cassie and Andrew?

  Cassie had accepted the idea that Andrew was a telepath, but could Lily? The evidence seemed ir­refutable, but it went against the grain for her to believe anything so outlandish. Yet, in some mys­terious fashion, Andrew had brought Cassie back to her, and she felt passionately grateful no mat­ter how the act had been accomplished.

  There was no doubt she would have to think long and hard about what had transpired in the last twenty-four hours, and some decisions would have to be made. But any soul-searching could wait until Cassie had gone to sleep that night. Just now Lily wanted only to enjoy having Cassie safe and well again. She sat down on the bed, picked up the receiver of the phone, and dialed room service for Cassie's cheeseburger.

  "Where's Andrew?" Lily asked Quenby as soon as she walked into the living room the next morning.

  Quenby looked up from the newspaper she was reading. "He went to the airport with Gunner to check out the condition of Hamid Kalom and Baharas before they're flown to Sedikhan. He should be back soon." Quenby's frown was trou­bled, "Kalom is still in bad shape."

  "Bad shape?" Lily shivered. "I thought they were both dead. What happened to them?"

  "Gunner," Quenby said simply. "He's not usu­ally so ruthless, but he likes Cassie. He was mad as hell, and Andrew sanctioned it."

  "Sanctioned what?"

  "Pain. They're locked in pain. They'll stay that way until the lock is lifted."

  "Gunner can do that?" Lily grimaced. "That's not telepathy; that's mind control."

  "Some of the stronger telepaths of the Clanad are capable of mind control, but it's strictly for­bidden." Quenby paused. "Except for someone like Gunner, who acts as a policeman, or Andrew, who uses it to heal."

  "But you said Andrew sanctioned their pain."

  "He was angry," Quenby repeated. 'Tve never seen Andrew so angry as when he knew how they'd hurt you. He had second thoughts this morning, and went out to the airport to remove the lock before the plane took off." She wrinkled her nose. "My Gunner isn't nearly as tenderhearted. He thought they should suffer at least until they reached Sedikhan."

  "Mind control," Lily repea
ted, dismayed. "I thought I'd come to terms with what you told me last night, but this is different."

  "Just another outcropping of the iceberg."

  "The Titantic sank because of one of those out-croppings. I can already feel the water pouring into my boiler decks."

  Quenby chuckled. "I guarantee that you won't sink. Well just have to keep the influx to a mini­mum until you have time to repair your hull. How's Cassie?"

  "Fine. Still sleeping." Lily shook her head in wonder. "It's as if all this had never happened to her. She's neither worried nor afraid."

  "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. Cas-sie'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 111 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 111 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 youVe 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 grimty. "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 away as she did last night, and been dead in a few days."

  "Dead?" Lify's eyes widened in horror. "She was in that much danger?"

  "It's only a matter of time after the mind shuts down before the bodily functions follow."

  "You didn't tell me."

  "I knew I.could bring her back, and it would only have terrified you."

  "Yes." She was terrified now at the mere thought of how close Cassie had come. "Quenby said half-breeds were prone to this kind of trauma. It's like a time bomb. It could have happened any time." Her voice rose in panic, "it could happen tomorrow."

  "Easy," Andrew said quietly. "It took a gigantic shock to send her into a tailspin."

  "And what if it had happened before?" Lily asked fiercely. "What if you hadn't been on the scene?"

  "I would have been notified. You don't think the Clanad would let one of its own go wandering around without being monitored. We care about one another, Lily. The Clanad wouldn't let my daughter suffer."

  "Just one big happy family." Her hands tight­ened into fists. "Well, I don't know anything about this Clanad of yours, but—"

  'The Clanad isn't only mine; It's Cassie's." An­drew smiled faintly, "And you belong to it now too."

  "No!"

  He nodded. "A rather perilous honor, I agree. The only place where we're safe is Sedikhan, be­cause we're under the protection of the reigning sheik, Alex Ben Raschid. Anywhere else In the world, discovery of what and who we are means we're fair game."

  "Even here in America?"

  "There are witch hunts everywhere. What was your reaction when Quenby told you?"

  "Revulsion," she said honestly. "Fear."

  "Exactly." He smiled sadly. "And you're an intel­ligent, civilized woman, who knows I care very much for her. There are a hell of a lot of people who are on the lower end of the scale whose reac­tion would be a good deal more violent. I was almost murdered when I was a child younger than Cassie, by someone who discovered what the Clanad was."

  "Murdered." She swallowed to try to ease a sud­den queasiness in her stomach. 'They'd murder a child?"

  "As you told Cassie, there are lots of weirdos running around."

  Death. Andrew could have died, and she never would have known him. He never would have grown up, never given her Cassie. She dried her

  suddenly moist palms on the denim of her shorts. "I don't understand how anyone could—" She stopped as a thought occurred to her. "This in­semination business. Was that the Clanad's way to spread its powers?"

  He nodded. "We were encouraged to be donors, but it wasn't mandatory. Each parent was investi­gated for genetic and mental stability, and the children were monitored from birth for any sign of acute sensitivity." He grimaced. "I wanted no part of it. Until I saw you."

  She laughed shakily. "Well, your investigation went off the track when it came to me. I'd just committed the most incredibly stupid act in the history of the human race, and I was on the verge of a breakdown."

  "But you were a survivor, and struggling damn hard to come back to life. You're very strong, Lily. You'd have been chosen by the Clanad even if I hadn't wanted you to belong to me."

  She repeated his words: "A perilous honor. When you consider you gave me a daughter who can go into shock and die at any moment."

  He flinched, and she felt a stab of remorse. The words had
tumbled out unthinkingly, born of be­wilderment and frustration. "I didn't mean—"

  He interrupted quietly. "No, you have every right to resent it. Our scientists thought the sensitivity would have vanished by the third generation, but you had no choice, and no information on which to base a decision. My only defense is that I thought I was giving you sufficient gifts to balance the bad points. Be fair: If you had the decision to make today, would you choose not to have Cassie?"

  Refuse Cassie. with her sunny nature and lov­ing heart? "No," Lily said instantly. "I'd do it again in a minute."

  Andrew smiled. "Thank God."

  "But that doesn't mean I hold you any the less culpable for not coming to me and telling me what I'd gotten myself into by bearing Cassie." She walked over to the chair and sat down. "Still, later is better than not at all. Let's get down to brass tacks. How can we keep this from happening to Cassie again? I assume this Institute will be send­ing other agents after Cassie when they find out youVe have disposed of those two."

  He looked at her in surprise. "I told you that you were a survivor." He smiled and nodded. "Gun­ner said they were an obstinate bunch at the Institute."

  "Then Cassie's still in danger." Lily's hands tight­ened on the arms of her chair. "It hasn't ended yet?"

  "No." x

  "Well, don't just stand there. Tell me how we're going to protect her."

  "I was waiting for you to tell me." Andrew moved across the room to stand before her. "I think youVe already figured it out, haven't you?"

  "You told the pilot of the helicopter we could never go back, only go forward."

  "Yes."

  "You meant that the old life wouldn't be safe for Cassie."

  "Yes."

  She drew a deep breath and lifted her gaze to

  his. "You meant Cassie would have to go to Sedikhan."

  He nodded. "You'll both have to go. The Insti­tute has no qualms about taking hostages, Lily."

  "Of course I'd go. Do you think I'd let Cassie go alone?" Lify asked fiercely. "That is, if I decide she should go."

  Andrew was silent, waiting.

  "Suppose she doesn't like it there."