Last Bridge Home (11 page)

“Andrew is a fine, healthy boy, and he’s going to stay that way. Now put him back to bed, and let him take his nap.”

“All right. Just as soon as he’s had his bath. Will you be coming up?”

“I’ll have to pass. There’s something else I have to do.”

She tried to mask the twinge of disappointment she felt at the tiny rejection. She had grown accustomed to having Jon around constantly, and she knew he enjoyed Andrew’s bath time as much as she did. She forced her self to smile. “Whatever you say, but Andrew will be most insulted at the slight.”

“I’ll make it up to him.”

He watched until she reached the top of the stairs, and then turned on his heel and walked swiftly toward the library.

Andrew was sound asleep in her arms by the time Elizabeth reached the nursery. Lord, he
was beautiful. She stood looking at him in blissful admiration for a few moments after she had put him in the heavily padded drawer that served as his makeshift crib. She was so lucky to have him. She gently caressed his soft cheek with her finger. She couldn’t bear to wake him, the bath could wait. Perhaps Jon would be free later to enjoy it with her.

“Get me Barnett.” Jon’s voice was savage as he strode into the library. “We’re going to get out of here. I’ll be damned if I’ll stay here and lie to her any longer. I feel worse than a Judas.”

Gunner looked up from the book he was reading and rose to his feet. He moved quickly toward the radio on the long, modern table against the wall. “I was wondering when you were going to break. I’ll be glad to have it finished, too, but it may take a few days. Ben Raschid insists on his man, Clancy Donahue, handling the security arrangements. It’s going to be a very delicate transaction moving Elizabeth and Andrew from U.S. soil without a ripple of suspicion. Barnett tried to convince him it would be no problem for us, but the sheik is a very determined man.”

“That’s why he was chosen.” Jon should have expected this holdup, but it was annoying
nevertheless. He wanted it
over.
His temperament wasn’t suited to deceit, particularly when that deceit involved Elizabeth. “Dona hue better be damn quick or I’ll give orders for us to handle the transfer ourselves.”

Gunner pursed his lips in a soundless whistle. He had been aware of Jon’s growing frustration, but he hadn’t thought it had reached such an explosive level. “Do you think she’s ready to hear it?”

“No.” Jon’s lips tightened. “But we’re going to tell her anyway. She may never be ready to accept the truth, but we’ve got to try. It’s better than continuing to manipulate her.”

“All right, it’s your decision.” Gunner turned and clicked on the radio. “And I’m glad as hell I didn’t have to make it.”

The two men were in the middle of transmitting a message on the radio, when Elizabeth walked into the library.

“Oh, you managed to fix it,” she said eagerly as she came toward them. A relieved smile lit her face. “That’s wonderful. Now you can call a doctor and—”

“Sign off, Gunner.” Jon’s words cut through her sentence with the sharpness of a razor. “And then you’d better leave us alone.”

“Great idea.” Gunner turned back and spoke into the receiver. “We’ll get back to you later, Barnett.” He clicked off the unit, pushed
back his chair, and stood up. “I’il go up and keep an eye on Andrew.”

“He’s sleeping,” Elizabeth said, her gaze on Jon’s face. His expression was more grim than she’d ever seen it. Her smile vanished. “What’s wrong? What’s happened, Jon?”

“Nothing has happened. Everything is exactly the same. It’s just that the situation isn’t what you thought it was.”

Gunner paused beside her, his gaze warmly sympathetic. He murmured in an undertone, “Don’t be too hard on him. He hated like hell to handle things this way. He didn’t see any other solution.” The door closed behind him.

“I don’t understand,” Elizabeth said haltingly. She tried to laugh. “I wish you’d explain, you’re frightening me.”

“I don’t mean to frighten you. Damn, I hope you won’t be frightened.”

“Well, you’re not succeeding. You’re scaring the daylights out of me. Now
tell
me. Is it something you heard on the radio?”

He was silent for a moment. “The radio was never out of order,” he finally said quietly. “The roads weren’t closed more than a few hours during the entire time we’ve been here. There’s nothing wrong with Andrew. His appetite is flourishing, according to Gunner.”

“According to Gunner,” she repeated dazedly. She was trying to comprehend something,
anything, and clutched desperately at the last fact he had thrown out at her.

“Gunner’s taken over Andrew’s night and afternoon feedings. He’s been bottle-feeding him before bringing him to you for the last week. I decided it was necessary for both your sakes that he be gradually switched to bottled formula.”

“
You
decided.” She stared at him in disbelief. “What right have you to make decisions concerning my son?” A smoldering anger began to simmer inside her. “Dammit, what right?”

“I took the right.”

“I can’t believe it. I can’t believe any of this. You lied to me.”

“Yes.”

She shook her head in confusion. “From the beginning, everything has been a lie.”

A flicker of pain crossed his face. “Not everything. I love you. I’ll do everything in my power to watch over you and protect you. I wasn’t lying about that.”

“How can I believe you? How can I believe anything you do or say? You not only lied to me, you robbed me of something very important. You knew how I felt about breast-feeding Andrew. And that’s the craziest thing of all. What possible reason could you have for doing that?”

“There may be periods when you and An drew will have to be separated to ensure your safety. It wasn’t practical for you to continue to breast-feed. I gave you as long as I could.”

“Gave me?” Her eyes were blazing. “How tolerant! I’ve never met anyone so arrogant in my life. No one gives me permission to care for my son. I’ll do as I see fit.” Her hands clenched into fists at her sides. “And now I’m wondering how many more lies you’ve told me. I’m wondering about the charming Mr. Bardot. Was he the real thing or another lie to panic me into running into your arms?”’ She laughed harshly. “And I did run into your arms, didn’t I? I was so grateful for your kind ness. So
damn
grateful.”

“Bardot is the genuine article. I wish to hell he wasn’t. He’s been causing us a great many problems. I would have waited until the child was born before I approached you, if he hadn’t been on the scene.” Jon’s lips twisted. “As long as the birth was simple and uncomplicated, we could risk it. We didn’t want to isolate you like this.”

“Then why did you? Why did you force me to have my child here instead of in a hospital? Why did you make me a prisoner? Why did you lie and cheat?”

He flinched. “Because you would have been too vulnerable, dammit. Bardot isn’t fool
enough to neglect having the hospitals watched.” He paused. “And if there had been complications, the hospital might have run tests on Andrew. We couldn’t permit that to happen. They might have discovered there were certain … differences.”

She turned pale with fear. “What do you mean? There’s nothing wrong with Andrew. He’s healthy, you said so yourself.”

“No, nothing’s wrong. He’s far healthier than you could possibly realize. That wasn’t the difference I was referring to. There are bound to be certain anomalies in his brain waves considering that Mark was his father.”

“Brain waves. Why should the fact Mark was his father have anything to do—” She broke off. “Mark didn’t have a brain tumor or any thing, did he?”

“No, but he wasn’t like other men.” Jon’s voice was very gentle. “He had an expanded mental capacity, Beth. If he had lived another ten years he would have far surpassed Einstein in intelligence. Given another twenty years there would have been no limit, no comparison to any intelligence known.”

She stared at him in shock. “You’re insane,” she whispered. “Mark was intelligent, but there was nothing unusual about him.”

“I suppose I should have expected you to react this way. I assure you, I’m not even a
little unbalanced. My genetic structure completely rules out any possibility of a mental disorder, according to the Clanad’s genetic committee. Unfortunately, I have a few other genetic qualities they find less admirable.”

“Clanad?” she asked faintly.

“The group to which Mark belonged.” He paused. “The group to which Gunner and I also belong.”

“You’re claiming Mark was some sort of … superbrain? How would that make him a danger to anyone?”

“He
wouldn’t
have been a danger, but men like Bardot refuse to believe that. They equate being different with being a threat. And, be cause Mark was a Garvanian, they automatically assumed that threat was directed against the United States.”

“Mark wasn’t American?”

Jon shook his head. “No, none of us are. We were all born in Garvania.” His lips twisted. “I guess you could call us illegal aliens. We came here when we escaped from an institute in Said Ababa two years ago. It seemed the safest place for us to hide out and take stock of our situation. We didn’t count on the NIB picking up our trail quite so quickly.”

Elizabeth rubbed her temple dazedly. “I’ve never even heard of the existence of a country called Garvania.”

“Not many people have heard of it. It was a tiny country lying between Said Ababa and Tamrovia.” His tone became bitter. “You notice I use the past tense. Right after Said Ababa’s revolution, the military decided to ‘annex’ Garvania. During all the turmoil, the invasion was scarcely noticed by anyone outside of our country. We definitely noticed, however. Those bastards made damn sure we did. They knew just what they wanted when they marched into Garvania and, when they found they couldn’t get it, they decided to take the Clanad back to Said Ababa instead.”

“What did they want?”

“Mirandite. It was a chemical substance found in certain plants in the Samarian jungle. The Garvanian scientists had discovered its properties five years before and were experimenting with a group of volunteers at the time of the invasion. The plant was extremely rare, and the substance almost impossible to extract even in minute quantities. The invaders were most annoyed to find the plant extinct by the time they arrived on the scene. However, they were delighted to learn the effect the chemical had on the volunteers was a permanent one.”

She was shaking so badly, she could scarcely stand. As she turned blindly toward the door, she said, “I don’t know what you think you’ve accomplished by telling me this
wild tale. Maybe I was pretty gullible to believe all your other lies, but I’m not stupid.”

His hand was on her shoulder, and he whirled her around to face him. “You
will
listen. Do you think this is easy for me? The only thing keeping me going is knowing I won’t have to tell you any more lies. I hated that. You’re going to hear it all. You may not believe me, but you won’t be able to accuse me of not being honest with you.” His other hand gripped her shoulder and he looked directly into her eyes. “The substance caused certain changes which enabled us to make an enormous breakthrough. You know that humans use only ten percent of their brains. Well, Mirandite permitted access to an additional thirty percent, perhaps more. Only time will tell. Not only was it effective, but it caused no cellular damage. However, it did alter our DNA, that is, it created genetic changes. The military junta in Said Ababa had dreams of increasing their own intelligence potential, but when they realized that was out of the question, they decided to see if they could make use of the Clanad. They treated us like animals, putting us through stress tests that almost destroyed us.” He drew a shuddering breath. “After three years we managed to escape and come to the United States. There are fifty-three of us in the Clanad now that Mark is dead.”

Elizabeth struggled wildly to free herself. Her mind was a chaos of pain, confusion, and rejection. “Let me go.”

“In a moment. There’s not much more to tell you. Mark left the group when he met and married you. There was nothing wrong with his leaving in the eyes of the Clanad. However, since there was a chance you might conceive a child, our genetic research committee did a thorough study on you. There were reasons why it was essential you have no hint of instability in your makeup. Our report on you was completely reassuring to us.”

“How nice,” Elizabeth said caustically.

“I know it sounds arrogant, but you’d understand if—” He stopped. “Look, I’m not saying there’s anything special about us. We’re like everyone else. It’s just that we have the potential for more. When you became pregnant, Mark knew you’d need protection and resumed contact with us.”

“Have you finished? May I go now?”

“No, you haven’t heard about Andrew.”

She stiffened. “What about Andrew?”

“He’s the first child born of a member of the Clanad and an outsider.”

“And?”

“We have reason to believe the mind expansion capability can be inherited. It’s only a chance, but our scientists think it’s a promising
one. If what they believe is true, it means we’d no longer be an elite group and, in time, the ability could spread throughout the general population. Dear God, how we want that to happen.”

She laughed. “You’re saying Andrew is some kind of superbaby, and I’m just a glorified brood mare? Your story becomes wilder by the moment. You can’t expect me to believe you.”

“Not right now.” He drew an uneven breath. “But you’ll come to believe me in time, be cause I give you my promise, every word is true. I’ll never lie to you again, Beth.”

“It’s too late. How can I ever trust you?” She closed her eyes. “Just listen to me. I’m talking to you as if you were a rational human being.”

“I am rational and very, very human.”

Her lids lifted to reveal eyes brimming with tears. “Please don’t go on. I don’t think I can take anymore.”

He released her shoulders and stepped back. “All right. I’ll give you some breathing space, but you’re not going to get away from me. We belong together.”

Her laugh was almost a sob. “Your precious committee told you so?”