relaxed than she would have expected, and for a long moment she closed her eyes and imagined she was anywhere else.
What Peter was saying brought her back to reality: “… and I think I’ve got a handle on a really rigorous mathematical description of why the Power can’t affect some materials-”
“I wouldn’t, if I were you,” Fiona said softly.
Peter blinked at her. “Why not? That’s what I’m supposed to do.”
“Indeed you are,” Adrienne said, and reached around Ellen for a forkful of the potato salad on her plate.
Eeeeek!
Ellen fought not to spill her food for an instant. The talk didn’t die at the Do?a’s presence, though it did drop several octaves. Ellen noticed a number of older people glance nervously at their teenage or young-adult children. Some of those were giving Adrienne the sort of glances usually reserved for the extremely cool; others looked a little apprehensive themselves. The Shadowspawn was wearing a loose caftan-like robe; it looked comfortable but not the sort of wear for stealth.
How did she sneak up on me like that? Did she- “No Wreaking needed. I just move very quietly when I want to, and you humans have the most terrible hearing,” Adrienne said to her.
I wonder how far away she can read thoughts? “That’s for me to know and you to worry about, ch?rie.”
And now I’ll never be sure if she’s standing behind me! “No, you won’t. Ah, that was a very nice shiver up the spine you had just then; it gave me this almost irresistible impulse to pounce on you. You’re such a flirt, Ellen!”
“Not intentional,” Ellen said tightly.
“As if that mattered, you teasing minx!” Adrienne snapped teeth at her playfully, then went on to Peter: “Though the good doctor has a point too. It’s occurred to me from time to time that my enthusiasm for things modern may be misleading me. That understanding the Power could have disadvantages. After all, we don’t really need to understand it to use it, and if other people understood it better than we did… that could be unfortunate.”
“Ummm…” Peter frowned. “Well, you could use it better if you could understand it.”
“Yes, but… you’re thinking about your work right now, aren’t you?”
“Of course.”
“And it might as well be in Swahili. I can read your thoughts but they’re meaningless to me, even the bits of what’s apparently English interspersed, and… is that some sort of graphic notation? Worse, because I could learn Swahili in a couple of weeks without particular effort. I couldn’t follow the mathematics and theory in your head without years of very hard work. It’s odd. I can decipher computer code easily enough.”
“I think that’s a different order of representation,” Peter said judiciously. “It’s not just knowing a language, it’s knowing a lot of facts in the language and understanding their relationships. Knowing English doesn’t make you an expert on Shakespeare. You could do physics, with enough time and work, I think. You pick up concepts well.”
“But the number of Shadowspawn who could is quite limited, while we can all use the Power. It’s the difference between being able to walk and being able to learn ballet.”
“Why… oh, yes, limited talent pool,” Peter said. “Bell curves.”
“You get the most fascinating spike of intellectual pleasure when you realize something, Peter. It’s part of what makes you interesting. Like one of those minimalist-cuisine dishes, with a little dab of ahi and a single artfully arranged French bean and a thin calligraphic drizzle of some sharp-tasting sauce. Ascetic, but a pleasure nonetheless.”
Ellen looked between them, puzzled. She’s not the only one listening to a strange language.
Adrienne turned to her for a second: “It doesn’t matter if only one human in ten thousand has a natural talent for physics. That’s still millions in total. For us one in ten thousand means one or two individuals in the entire race.”
“Oh,” Ellen said. She smiled. “Guess that shows why I’m cuisine bourgeois and not minimalist.”
“You’re very good of your kind, my sweet. Just as Monica and Jose are two varieties of honest American comfort food, like this potato salad or the carne al pastor.”
Peter nodded enthusiastically, sticking to the original thread: “And science requires a community of trained minds. Which is why I’ve been so slow here.”
Ellen winced; even on short acquaintance she’d noticed how he would follow a line of argument anywhere, once he had his teeth in it. And looking at Adrienne’s smile…
That’s an unfortunate metaphor.
The Shadowspawn nodded. “The last time we did anything like that was back in the nineteenth century, when Br?z? adepts researched how to bring back Mhabrogast from the fragments we had.”
“How?” Duggan said, obviously taking mental notes.
“Using reconstructive philology boosted by the Power… If you cut the possible answers down to a reasonable number, then the Power can tell which is most likely right, which gives you more information for the next deduction. That was scholarship, not real science, though.”
“Do you want me to stop the work?” Peter said anxiously.
“No,” Adrienne said slowly. “Not for now. It’s all in your head, after all.”
Then she smiled. “We can talk later, but I had some other topics in mind. Ellen has given me some interesting ideas on how we could pass the time agreeably. Drop by the casa in an hour or so and don’t plan anything but rest tomorrow. Dr. Duggan, a word with you. There’s a bit of an extra load for your clinic coming up, I’m afraid.”
The two moved off into a corner of the yard; Adrienne ate a tortilla wrapped around some of the pork loin as they spoke with their heads close together.
“Interesting ideas?” Peter said, looking at Ellen with his eyebrows raised.
What… Oh, God! “Ah… Peter, it’s not my fault-it’s really not my fault. I’m sorry!”
“What isn’t your fault, Ellen?”
She took a deep breath, closed her eyes and then opened them again despite the heat she felt in her cheeks.
“Ah… OK, there’s no way to say this without being embarrassed, at least not for me. I’m… well, I sort of like some kink stuff, some of the time. Fairly often. Nothing extreme! Not edgeplay.”
“Like?” he said curiously, and took a swig of his beer. “Really, it’s all right, Ellen. I’m not easily shocked either.”
“Ah… I’m a bottom. Ropes and chains. I like being tied up. Tied up and beaten with whips. Symbolic whips! Well, partly symbolic, they sting, but… It’s a game, Peter. All consensual, safe-words, that sort of thing. When Adrienne found my… my gear in my apartment, she thought it was hilarious. She ordered a duplicate set in San Francisco. God, we went in this shop and… I got all mine on the Internet before. I thought she was just going to use it on me, Peter. As a joke.”
“Oh,” he said quietly. “Well, whatever happens, it’s not your fault, Ellen.”
His mouth quirked. “Compared to direct Power jolts in your pain centers or sensitive parts, it’s probably not bad. See you later.”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
“Oh, Jesus wept, now what?” Harvey asked, panting as they toiled up the last, almost vertical stretch of the dune. “You auditionin’ for a remake of Rocky now, boy?”
“I’ve gotten soft,” Adrian said.
He pushed himself to the top and stopped, feeling the burn in his thighs, and the way the cool wind off the Pacific flushed the wet warmth of his soaked T-shirt to instant chill. He paused for a moment, testing his leg for any twinges from the healed wound. There was nothing but the clean strain of hard effort. Then he pulled the practice blades out of his rucksack.
“Not so much in body, as in mind. I have to be a warrior again if I’m to free Ellen and kill my sister.”
“I haven’t gotten soft. I’ve just gotten goddamned old, Adrian! Hold up!”
Seabirds wheeled overhead, or skittered long-legged through the low waves below. The air smelled wet, salt,
