“Aline,” I whispered softly, guiding her away so that Burke’s bodyguard (and Hurd) could recover.
I didn’t feel what she gave them but it could only have been unpleasant. A message was sent and they understood at last how effortless it really is for her. Burke’s smarm was gone, too, and yet he did nothing to interfere; was it his way of convincing Hurd? Aline suspected the haughty politician wasn’t fully on board with Burke’s mandate, and his dismissive posture did nothing to disprove her theory. We waited another minute or two until Burke motioned for us to sit. Aline shook her head “no” but he pulled a chair for her anyway and said, “Please?”
When things had settled Hurd kept a respectful distance. In a contradiction to Burke’s slightly bald and slouching presence, the powerful politician looked more a manufactured talking head on the television. Gleaming titanium cuff links peeked out conspicuously from the sleeves of an expensive tailored suit covering a frame that was fit and lean from jogging or squash matches beneath a precise, drawn-back hairstyle you can’t get at an ordinary barber shop. Tanned skin betrayed a vacation home in places where the sun always shines (somewhere on the Mediterranean, I guessed), but none of it mattered to Aline; government power broker or otherwise, Hurd was noticeably rattled, and Burke continued without hesitation.
“The purpose of this meeting, Miss Lloyd, is merely to establish a dialogue in anticipation of further talks. As I mentioned before, we have seen Inspector Renard’s documentation but also a lengthy, interesting collection of records from Scottish police and more than a few doctors.”
“We’ve been through this before, Mr. Burke,” I said quickly.
“Indeed, but you must see by now our interest has become…well, enhanced shall we say?”
“Enhanced?”
“Our own staff has reviewed internally, and their assessment of Miss Lloyd’s condition was bound to be somewhat different from those at hospital, wouldn’t you agree?”
“How is it different?” I said with a deliberate sneer. “She was attacked! What would you do in her place?”
“The physicians in Glasgow had no idea what sorts of things Aline can do, whereas our laboratory chaps do; I would say that is a significant difference.”
Instead of blurting it out directly, Burke laid hard truth on the table by a mere detail so that no more time would be wasted pretending they were no closer to it than the cops in Glasgow or psychiatrists who looked and saw an emotional malady to be isolated and treated.
“We understand their conclusions,” he continued, “and they can hardly be blamed for diagnosing the condition because she simply gave them precisely what they expected to find. In their position, one would be hard-pressed to conclude otherwise.”
“But you know better,” Aline said abruptly and with a deliberate, unnerving smile.
“I hoped you might help us with that,” Burke replied. “We know enough to press on but not to the specific degree necessary.”
“Am I to be your latest experiment?” Aline asked. “A cooperative rat to be run through one of your mazes or to drool whenever you ring the bell?”
Before Burke could answer, Hurd regained enough composure to take control.
“Alan is acting on my direction, Miss Lloyd.”
It was the first time we heard him speak, and I think he believed pushing his weight around earlier rather than later might pay dividends when Aline realized how important he was.
It didn’t work.
She let him move closer in the mistaken belief our discussion was now his to lead until a single glance stopped him cold. Hurd’s head was turned a little, and he regarded her like a carnival sideshow spectator expecting her to say “boo” at any moment. I knew he worried she might open that invisible valve and release the dull pain again but worse than what she’d aimed at poor Kevin. Aline faced him squarely as she spoke.
“Are you in charge here, Mr. Hurd?”
“I am the senior authority, yes,” he replied with as much confidence as he could muster, but the perspiration was gathering at his temples and his face wore the sheen of a man walking quickly on a hot day.
I was sure he was going to get a second dose, but Aline turned suddenly and her eyes fell instead on Halliwell. The air became charged as she reached out with those first thin fingers of thought—exploring and probing—until the landscape of his mind was opened for her to inspect. A momentary pause and then it resumed, but this time the familiar tone came alive in my ears and with it, an abrupt and disturbing realization she wasn’t concerned with collateral effect. At once, Halliwell’s jaw tightened and his mouth formed a screwed-up frown the way people do when anger and frustration take them to their limit. He fought it bravely until she increased the pressure and pain to remind him there was no place to hide.
Like a timid person flinching from the sound of a loud and unexpected bang, Halliwell’s eyes flickered and his shoulders hunched when tiny unseen knives stabbed from within. He moaned out loud in reflex, and I think it made things worse for Hurd watching in frozen silence until Burke stepped forward with an outstretched hand.
“We don’t need this, Aline; you have our attention most certainly!”
She looked at him, and I wondered if the power inside would shift his way, but instead she exhaled a deep breath and it was clear her entire body tensed as her invasion of Halliwell’s brain gained momentum. When she was finished, the colonel tried hard to mask the terrible effect, but it seemed juvenile and stupid. I smirked with a slow shake of my head; I know Hurd noticed but it was unlikely Halliwell had any clue how mild and easy his moment of discovery had been when compared with the rough boys at a Glasgow bus stop.
Aline maneuvered suddenly between Hurd and Halliwell, leaning against the table like a loafer on a stoop waiting for something interesting to happen. The move was so brazen—fearless and deliberate—I knew it had to be disturbing for them until she looked finally at Hurd.
“You didn’t believe Mr. Burke’s description,” she said softly, but she turned again, only inches from Halliwell. “You needed to see and feel—to know that it’s real after all.”
She waited another moment, likely to maximize the effect, and then she returned to take my hand in hers. It was chilling to see the metamorphosis of her personality into something else, and as she looked deep into Halliwell’s eyes, Aline finished the point.
“Now you do.”
Hurd had been mostly irrelevant to the moment, and it took me a second or two before realizing Halliwell was her primary target all along. I wondered what she knew that hadn’t been said; what secrets glowed like a scorpion under a black light, suddenly exposed to her and torn from the colonel’s mind?
Burke stood out the moment to let Hurd and Halliwell recover, but Aline’s power, and a demonstration she wanted so desperately to avoid, left no doubt in their minds. Hurd’s casual, disaffected pose when we arrived was gone as he struggled to gather himself. With Halliwell and the reliable Kevin in tow, he aimed a glare at Burke on his way to the door.
“I’ll expect a briefing and situation report on this by end of day,” he said (deliberately avoiding eye contact with Aline, I noticed), and then he was gone.
We heard car doors slam outside and a revved engine that signaled a hurried man in need of distance between the world he knew and another frightening place where the impossible kicked down the door to his life of surety and tradition along the corridors of Whitehall. In an odd sort of way, I almost felt sorry for him, having been there myself, pulled into a harsh light where nothing escapes Aline’s attention.
Burke held up a hand at a profoundly nervous William to assure him the show was ended and that he wouldn’t be next.
“May we continue?” Burke asked.
“Please do,” Aline said, smiling.
With calm and order returned, Burke positioned himself on the other side of a table from us and clasped his hands together in what seemed a show that neither he nor William would appear the slightest bit threatening.
“Since you possess such extraordinary skills,” he began, “I’m sure you can see enough in my thoughts to know we operate for the purpose of investigation of subjects who are similar to you in many ways.”
“I know what you are, Mr. Burke,” Aline replied evenly.
“Then you also know our desire to understand your unique nature is supported by a larger authority and not merely by way of scientific interest.”
“Hurd?” I asked.
Burke nodded and inspected his nails while he decided how best to tell us of his group and what they do.
“Only a handful know anything at all about our organization,” he continued, “and fewer still have any idea people like Aline even exist. There is no point in advertising because the common person wouldn’t know what to do with the information if we presented it to them prime time on BBC; it is simply a reality they cannot see.”
“Which,” I noted with clear sarcasm, “keeps you safely in the shadows and free from inspection by British taxpayers or the accountability they might demand.”
“I suppose that’s true, Mr. Morgan, but in the end, their safety is the reason and goal; we don’t look into these cases as though we have nothing better to do.”
Burke spoke to me but his eyes never left Aline. There was a tone of resentment in his voice, and it came from a thin suggestion in my words his nearly invisible department was somehow immoral or wrongheaded. In truth, Burke walked between two opposing interests, holding the impossibility of the supernatural in one hand while carrying the weight of his position and a responsibility to the people of the United Kingdom in the other. I had enough sympathy for his tight spot to recognize why they chose him for the job and at least a measure of respect that he maintained it without disaster. If sufficiently provoked, people like Aline could unravel the threads holding modern society in place, and Burke’s task is learning how and why they exist but also to keep them willingly in a box where they can do no harm. The Glasgow bus stop incident threatened that tenuous equilibrium, and it was Burke’s obligation to ensure it went no further.
“What is it you want her to do, Alan?” I asked at last.
“We want her to teach us,” he answered, “and that is all. Our facility is configured for studies of this nature, and we merely wish to have an honest conversation.”
“Honest?” I snorted. “I find it difficult to believe a nice chat will satisfy your curiosity. What’s the real game?”
“Our understanding of telekinesis and thought projection is growing, but investigations have been conducted on the fly and rarely in a controlled environment properly equipped and staffed. Gregory’s sponsorship and funding has changed that, but he expects results, you see.”
I wasn’t sure if Burke’s explanation was good news or bad. On the one hand, it meant there was enough serious attention given to studying weird paranormal events so that hard-to-justify taxpayer money was spent to equip and staff his group. On the other, there was a nagging possibility bureaucratic interference would expect of him a tangible product and one not necessarily to the favor of those being studied, including Aline. I thought about it for a moment and in my mind a picture emerged: a politician like Hurd fancies himself a man of action—a results getter—who faces a never-ending requirement to qualify his position. For us, he is something altogether different, and a government official is the secondary image that can’t be overlooked or underestimated.
“What kind of process did you have in mind?” I asked.
“Our section’s facility,” he continued, “is tenant to a Royal Air Force installation and functions as a base of operations. Resident laboratory, research, and administrative staff conduct affairs apart from the military. We are obliged to suffer the noise of jets flitting about, but it is private and quite secure.”
“Go on.”
“Temporary quarters will be provided, as this will likely require a week or two of your time,” Burke said, “but the process itself is merely a series of discussions or ‘interviews,’ if you like.”
“What is the purpose of a medical annex?” Aline asked abruptly.
Burke smiled at what he knew was another of Aline’s forays inside his thoughts and an involuntary image of the group’s headquarters she could see clearly, but something Burke hadn’t bothered to mention.
“There are physiological aspects,” he answered, “which made it necessary to install a thoroughly equipped infirmary and biosciences lab. We hoped you might agree to provide minor blood and tissue samples, in addition to specialized tests such as MRI and CAT scanning, but also experimental routines to establish parameters and take the full measure of the more…direct of your abilities.”
“You were right,” I said as I turned to Aline. “A lab rat experience.”
“Do not be alarmed,” Burke said quickly. “Other than the occasional pinprick of a needle, it’s mostly a series of physical examinations and a simple test regimen to study Aline’s distinctive talents.”
“In Scotland,” she replied, “I endured more medical tests than anyone I know, and it didn’t reveal anything to their expensive machines; why do you believe it would be any different with yours?”
Burke’s automatic smile returned.
“Perhaps the tests you speak of weren’t looking for the proper indicators.”
“Or maybe,” I interjected quickly, “there’s nothing to see and you’re jerking her around because you can’t find an answer, or a tidy math equation, to explain it for assholes like Hurd.”
“You may be quite right, Mr. Morgan,” Burke said, “but we are left with an obligation to try, aren’t we?”
Our perception of Burke’s determined, unrelenting persistence was confirmed and it became clear Aline had to decide one way or another. If she agreed, and Burke’s words weren’t hollow, it would mean time spent inside another secluded military base where questions would be asked and tests administered. If, on the other hand, she said “no” it was unlikely to end the process, and just as Burke had done ten minutes before, I wanted to push the border and see how he would react.
“What happens if she opts out of your intrusive little sweepstakes, Mr. Burke? Maybe we just wish you a pleasant day and walk out right now.”
I didn’t want to speak for Aline, but I wasn’t certain she would and the pivotal question needed to be asked. I suppose she already knew what I was going to say because I thought about how I would word it, and the conversation with myself would surely have been wide open to her thoughts, but she only smiled and raised her eyebrows as if to say, “Well?” when the ball was returned to Burke’s court.
“As I said before,” he answered coolly, “you are always free to go any time you wish but doing so will only invite more scrutiny from Mr. Hurd and his associates, none of whom as interested in your welfare as we.”
I felt the hair go up on the back of my neck, and I’m sure the anger made my face run red.
“Is that another threat, Alan?” I demanded.
“Not at all; I simply want you to understand this engagement has now progressed to a point at which a civil and mutually beneficial solution can be reached without further intrusions. If you choose to delay, our superiors are likely to take a different, less cooperative course.”
“It sounds like a threat to me,” Aline said, but Burke assured us otherwise.
I watched him in the silence of that room, and it was clear he’d arrived at a break point: a place where false cordiality was no longer required and plain English became the best way out.
“Mr. Hurd is a man who wants to be somebody,” he said. “Family connections may have influenced his acceptance into a very powerful fraternity, but it is a temporary condition; Gregory has eyes on a much larger chair.”
“His politics don’t mean a damn to me,” I replied.
“Regardless, the problem remains, and he expects a return on his investment. A lot of money is spent maintaining our quiet enterprise, but there are limits to what the government will acc
ept, and Gregory’s word alone keeps the funding in place; if he doesn’t get what he thinks he needs in a timely fashion, he will react.”
“Which means the cash is shut off and you’re out of business.”
“It means, Mr. Morgan, Aline’s privacy will become compromised and that is something we would all prefer to avoid.”
Burke’s description was deliberate, and the endgame was clear: cooperate or those beyond his control would demand action. It occurred to me his goal to keep Hurd and the Whitehall crowd at a distance was as much for his own professional benefit as it was for our safety. When Aline motioned for me to stand down, I understood her position was shifting and likely because she could feel Burke’s sincerity and a genuine desire to prevent an escalation.
“I want to consider it with Evan a while longer,” she said. “I’m inclined to go along with this but I won’t be pushed or prodded, do you understand? If and when I decide to agree, it will happen on our schedule and not Mr. Hurd’s.”
Burke’s expression changed again, and it returned to one of relief.
“I understand,” he said simply. “I do hope it won’t be too long, but you have my number and we look forward to meeting with you again.”
Always anticipating, William had called for their car and we went back to the gate in silence. I’m sure Burke knew Aline was still searching and listening, but you wouldn’t know it to look at him. Instead, he just shook hands with us, smiled, and said, “Until next time?”
THE RIDE HOME began in silence, but after our first stop for a break and some fuel for the car, Aline smiled at me from her seat.
“Burke is getting nervous,” she began.
“He’s afraid you’re going to bail on him?” I asked, but that wasn’t it.
“The people above are pushing him.”
“Hurd?”
“Yes, but there is another—a high-level Minister who has deep reservations about paying for a project like this.”
The Seventh Life of Aline Lloyd Page 30
