“Easy. First, the mind thingy. Second, he’s evolving his mind, and capabilities quickly from within. Third, Adam has a large, no, a huge family. His father is the patriarch, but no longer controls events. Adam does.”
“So?”
“So, though the family is huge, none or only a few are actually related. His family is mankind; no clans or packs, no political agenda, no country he needs to belong to. His paradigm has shifted; he no longer thinks like a human. He’s changing and evolving – from inside. That’s the key. He isn’t reading ‘how to books’; it’s something else, some other kind of knowledge that only he has and only he can access.
“Finally, he can now share that information with others, mind to mind. Soon the others will learn to share their knowledge and, in time, those who are capable and willing will be able to acquire that knowledge too. They will be able to share it, teach it and, more importantly, have their offspring acquire it genetically. They’ll be born with the knowledge and grow into it.”
Bella was somewhat unsettled, remained cautious, and was more than a wee bit skeptical. Even though it was she who first brought up the possibility that Adam could be the Chosen One, the awesome power of the Chosen One was both hopeful and frightening.
“Now what?”
“We must do the tests, and if he passes, we must then go to them, and tell them what we know. For that we will need Edward’s help. Then, Adam will go to Germany. Probably with Octavio as his second. Sorry sis.”
***
Marcus walked back to his apartment in the Loft looking forward to a couple more hours of sleep. Message delivered, he returned to bed and didn’t give it another thought. Around ten o’clock, Bella heard the elevator doors pulling apart, and the unmistakeable footsteps of two men walking in their general direction. Helena was in another part of the Tech Lab, re-reading some arcane treatise on the grammar, and sentence structure of the English language. Another book lay open nearby and was the identical book by a different author about the vagaries of the German language. She was deeply engrossed in the books, hearing nothing in the background as the door to the Lab opened.
“Hello, Bella. It’s been far too long,” said Adam, smiling his best, and friendliest smile.
“Or not long enough. Depends on who’s out in the lobby. Is it your Dad lurking out there again snooping around for evidence of malfeasance?”
“Well, you do have his proclivities down properly, but gladly, no. Besides I think he’s retired from his old job as a professional snoop. Today it’s just me and Dr. Norman Drake.”
Adam looked around, and not spotting his new friend went back out to the lobby. “Norman? You lost, professor?”
“Nope, just answering a text from your wife. Reminders. Like I’m a child or worse. An absent-minded professor. A man-child unable to cope with grocery shopping or holding a proper conversation with an age appropriate woman.”
“You annoyed with the Mistress?”
“Misti? Heaven’s no. I feel fortunate that she even knows I breathe.”
All arranged, and his shirt smoothed out, Norman stepped into the Tech Lab just as Helena came out of the stacks, her reading glasses lodged on the end of her nose and peering up to see who was there. She was expecting Adam, who she had come to enjoy, but not this other one. The scientist or professor, or whatever he was. She was expecting short, red-faced old man, seriously lacking a bushy head of hair she found so erotic on human males.
Dr. Dork didn’t look that way at all. Helena took no time to begin undressing him in her mind. For his part, Norman Drake, Ph.D., was doing precisely the same thing in his own mind. Helena walked straight past Adam and Bella and said, “And who might you be Mr. …”
“Norman. Uh, Dr. Norman Drake. Sorry if I was staring; that was terribly rude. I’m here with Dr. St. James …”
“Adam. You’re here with Adam. Yeah, I put that together already. You’re not at all what I was expecting. I thought you’d be, you know …”
“Taller? Thinner? Better looking?” he said smiling. “Sorry if I disappointed you.”
“Oh, no. No, no, no. You’ve got it all wrong. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. Until this very moment, I thought that Greek gods were only mythical. Now I can see I was wrong.”
“Wow,” said Norman. “What is your name, are you single, and what, are you doing tonight for dinner?”
Adam and Bella were laughing. Finally, Adam said, “Whoa their kitty cats, before we set a date, let’s talk. You know, about work?”
“Oh, right, work. Yes, we should’ve a chat about that. I mean that’s why we’re here.”
“Right, Norman. Work.”
Norman turned to Helena as if no one else was in the room. “You know, they call me Dr. Dork out at the Manor. I have no idea why, but I assure you I am not. A dork, I mean.”
“And I can assure you that I don’t care one whit about that or why they call you that silly name. But I do want to know everything about you. And I do mean everything. Maybe later, we can have lunch. Just the two of us. After we talk over all this boring stuff that Adam and my sister seem so interested in.”
“It’s a date.”
Adam’s cell buzzed, and he saw it was a text from Misti. All it said was “yes/no.”
‘Yes’ was his single word text reply. A few seconds later, Helena’s cell jingled, and she picked up a text, also from Misti.
It said, “Please see attached photo album. Dr. Dork is actually Dr. Hunk. See my slide show.”
Helena said, “Just a sec. Emergency item from Misti. Be right with you.”
The other three stood a few feet away for privacy but said nothing. Bella looked at Adam like “What’s up?” Adam shrugged his shoulders, signalling “I’ve no clue.”
Helena was busily flicking through one pic after another then she abruptly clicked off her phone, and said, “OK, let’s get down to business. We have work to do.”
Bella started to say something, but Helena interrupted. “Sorry sis, but I just remembered that you, and Octavio, and Adam were going to take the kids to Hyde Park for lunch. You do remember that, don’t you? And you too Adam?”
Bella looked at Adam, then said, “That’s right. Organic fish & chips at the health food store, right?”
“Exactly,” said Helena. “Now you two shan’t be more than two or three hours this time. No lollygagging with the kids at Harrod’s like last time.”
Adam looked at Bella, winked at her and said, “Nope not again, I remember how cross you were with us … last time. OK, three hours, then back here to the grindstone. We promise.”
“You’re both dears, and I think three hours will be quite enough for the children. Now, what are we talking about this morning?
***
“The bottleneck we’re experiencing at present stems from the lack of coordinated knowledge between Norman as a linguistic anthropologist and me, as a software developer. I kinda know what Normie does, just as he knows kinda what I do. Of course, the bigger issue is the complete lack of understanding we both have about the Gens Common Tongue. At first, I thought the solution was to add Misti to our group due to her expertise in linguistic anthropology and maybe Hannah Parker who probably is best in these kinds of situations. Unfortunately, none of the additional ‘help’ solved the ‘what we don’t know about the Common Tongue’ dilemma.
“I’m sorry to say that I hadn’t kept up much on the background resources you ladies were doing, so I completely missed the obvious answer: include you both by aligning what you are doing with what Norman and I am doing along linguistic lines. When I took a deeper look at your output, I knew this was the right way to go. Norman and I talked about it and we came up with a solution. Actually, I think more of an approach than a solution.”
Helena asked, “Which is?”
“Which is as follows: Bella and I will focus on vocabulary, development of a functioning dictionary, understanding the alphabet, rules of inflection, spoken language, and a million other things relatin
g to how the Gens understand and use language.”
Helena asked, “Does that mean Norman and I will be doing something else?”
“Yes. You, and Norman will continue your work, Helena with Common Tongue grammar, syntax, diction, rules of construction, verb conjugation, and sentence structure. Of course, that’s a cursory overview since, truthfully, I have no idea what any of what I just said means. Norman had to write it down for me.”
Adam and Norman turned to the ladies, and Norman asked, “So, what do you think? Genius?”
Helena, and Bella looked at each other, and started laughing.
“We said something funny?”
Bella recovered quickest. “No, certainly not. It’s just that we don’t know whether what Helena, and I are actually doing matches what you think we’re doing. Maybe it does, but we just don’t know. Since childhood we have spoken Common Tongue, and German, not English. I don’t think either one of us understands a single thing you just said. Helena does what she does in German, then writes down what she thinks it is in English. We both call Misti all the time, since she speaks German and English.”
Adam said, “This was really her idea you know. I thought she was just being nosey and showing off when she was really on top of this from the start. Now what?”
Bella said, “Why don’t we slow down, take some time for us all to get on the same page. We may need more of Misti’s time to smooth everything into the English, but I’m confidant that we can do this. Sis?”
“Ditto what she said, but we need to be clear that we will definitely need some intense Misti time in the beginning, then when the training wheels come off, we should be cooking on all burners.”
Everyone stared at Helena. Adam said, “Good use of mixed English metaphors.”
“That’s James. He has taught me some other very naughty English words and phrases. Vera’s no slouch either.”
Adam said, “Then it’s settled. We start tomorrow.”
Bella said, “You mean today. After lunch.”
“I stand corrected.”
Bella, and Adam sat at one of the tables, and talked organization, while Helena, and Norman sat on one of the couches, and looked at a laptop.
“That’s you?” she asked.
“Yup. High School Varsity middle linebacker.”
“And this?”
“College.”
“And this?”
“When I graduated from college I wasn’t big enough, fast enough or, quite frankly, good enough to go Pro. Professional. I switched to ‘Cross Fit’.”
“Cross what?”
“Different exercises and physical tasks, like running, weight lifting, swimming, and all kinds of other disciplines that test all around physical fitness. Not a sport that gets a lot of attention, but the athletes are amazing.”
“And you do this?”
“Next page.”
“Oh my, this is how you look doing this ‘Cross Fit’ sport?”
“Next page. Misti took this yesterday.”
Helena turned off the tablet and walked briskly over to Bella and Adam.
“I’m hungry right now. Please collect the children and come back later. Maybe five o’clock. I may need much more time with Norman in the foreseeable future. His oral skills in Common Tongue aren’t yet well developed. I shall help him fix that, right now.”
She waited.
“Now! Please get a move on; the children will be crushed if you dilly dally.”
Chapter 5
Marcus Thierry was nothing if not prompt, and spot on time. He had been invited to visit the apartments occupied by the sisters, and their brood along with Octavio when he was in town. Edward had asked Octavio if it was time for him to leave the field and stay close to home.
Octavio’s answer was not definitive and conflicted. The thrill of the adrenalin rush was now replaced by the thrill of two little girls who thought their entire universe was incomplete without ‘daddy’ at home or close by. Bella had mentioned to him that the girls were moody when he was absent and cried at bedtime.
“They love you bud. Just thought you should know what you mean to them, to me and to us.”
When Edward saw that things had changed for Octavio, his first thought was to make the decision for him. Then he thought better of that, and asked him if he thought it was time to come in. For good.
“Uncle Edward, I don’t think I can decide. What I’d like is your advice, and I want you to be honest. Where do you need me the most? Here in London or out in the field? Then give me some time to think about it, talk to Bella, and my girls, and give you an answer. Fair enough?”
“It’s more than fair Octavio, but to me the answer is not even up for debate. You’ve been in the field longer than anyone, done everything I ever asked you to do and more. But field work isn’t your future. It never was; it was the short stairway to something else, something more. It’s time to come inside now. Take some time, talk to your family and decide. But my vote, and those of Adam and Misti, and Rod and Cindy, is you’ve done enough for your country, and your family. It’s time to build your future and move on to new challenges. I’d like you to take some time off, then report for new duties in the Ops Centre with Cindy, and her wunderkid, Francois Armand.”
“If you think that’s best, then I’ll speak to Bella and the girls. And Uncle?”
“Yes, Octavio?”
“Thanks.”
“For what?”
“Just thanks. We’re all better off in this creation we call a family because you’re the patron. I appreciate everything you’ve done for me, for my family back home, and for all of us in Seattle.”
“You’re a good man, Octavio. That’s what makes me proudest of you. Now go home and kiss your girls. They love you.”
***
Marcus did not need to relate that story to Bella; everyone including Helena and the whole crew at the Manor were aware of what Edward had done. The loss of Octavio in the field would be felt, but Octavio was too valuable for Edward to lose in some rote field engagement.
The only hold-outs would now be Marcus and Athena, so he planned weekends for the twins, with or without parents, to see if they still loved London as much as they had. They could still stay at the school they attended, and go into London whenever they wanted, but where did they really, really want to be?
On a warm Spring day on a Saturday morning, the twins made a guest appearance at breakfast with Edward and Bethy.
“Uncle Edward, we’ve decided something, but we want your advice before we say so. You want Daddy out here at the Manor, right? You always have. For his work with you, and everyone. Is that so?”
“Yes, that’s so. Your father is not only a good friend to me, and mentor for Adam, he is also a good friend and colleague for everyone here. So, yes, my preference, and everyone else residing here, is that we would feel better if you, your Mom, and Dad would come to join us out here in the sticks. The ladies really want to get to know you better, and talk about how wonderful, grown up, and smart you are. They want you to be here and be with all of us at the Manor together.”
“When could we come out? If Mom and Dad say yes?”
“Tomorrow too early?”
The girls smiled, and then added, “And we’ll talk to Tawney about Adam. We think she, and we, were all wrong about him. He’s, well, a little bit odd, but not around us. Or any of the children or even the gardeners. Mom and Dad say he’s a good Christian boy, and is tough as nails. The boys back home say the same; they like him even if he is a Catholic. They say he could run with them anytime, even the kids who Papa doesn’t approve of. Mama says he’s Godly and touched by the Lord. Don’t know what she means, and she won’t say, but Papa says the same. Maybe one day you’ll tell us.”
Edward smiled. “I promise to tell you everything, the whole story about Adam, and what we do here just as soon as I am able. Not now, but soon. Deal?”
“Deal”, they said in unison and started to leave. As they walked toward the doo
r, Macie turned and said “Papa says we can call you Uncle Edward if we want. Can we?”
“Of course, you’re not just family now; you’ve always been family ever since your Dad saved our lives.”
The girls walked over and gave Edward a kiss on each cheek and left. “You’re our first white uncle you know.”
“I do. But that’s how love grows, changing hearts one at a time. Mr. Obama said that. And he and Adam are friends. Just thought you should know that.”
***
When the girls left, Bethy said, “You have a way with kids. You should’ve had more, had a bigger brood to father.”
“Not hardly. What you mean is I’m a terrific grandfather or uncle. But I was a terrible Dad. Adam was fortunate to have a great Mom.”
“Still, I wonder what might have been different if things had not gone the way they did.”
“We have each other now. What more can we ask?”
***
Marcus had thought about what he wanted to say to Bella and Helena about both the St. James men, but he wanted to get through to Bella the most. The Bella/Edward dynamic wasn’t healing, at least not in any measurable amount. He decided stories were better than extolling virtues. Deeds do speak louder than words, something he knew from Octavio were the cornerstones of Gens thinking.
For Bella it was the only test that mattered.
Bella said, “I see you brought bribes. That new coffee from Ecuador, and those sinful croissants from that bakery in London. Chocolate no doubt; the bribe must be important.
“Why ladies, I’m shocked you even think of me that way. I’m hurt. A little, not a lot. It’s worse when you catch me red handed like today. But today is important, that’s a fact. And I want you to know who the St. James men are, and I mean who they really are inside. They bear you no ill; they never have.”
“I disagree,” said Bella flatly.
“No, you’re wrong. Edward bore ill will to the Gens he thought you were apart of. He was wrong in that assessment about you and your sister; now things have changed. We all thought the same thing about the Gens and who you and your sister were given who your mates were. I want you to hear me out; not just the story, but the real meaning.”
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