Pandora's Daughter

want those last two pages. And I want to know about these Pandoras.'

'You'll get the pages. But I wanted to be here to answer questions. The Tribunal's description of Pandoras is colorful but hardly unbiased.' He stepped aside. 'Come in. I'll give you a cup of coffee and we'll talk about it.'

'I don't want to talk-Yes, I do.' She moved past him and sat down in the easy chair by the window. 'Give me that coffee.'

He poured a cup from the carafe on the end table and handed it to her. 'I'm at your service. Start your questions.'

'The priest is talking about a dual 'curse' that's inflicted on women who are Listeners. I know I'm not listening to demons, so that's bullshit. What other hat am I supposed to be wearing? What else is a Listener supposed to be able to do?'

'Not all Listeners.'

'Don't quibble. Ricardo says most listeners are also this… Pandora thing. What do they do?'

He was silent a moment, choosing his words. 'According to the Tribunal's interpretation of Ricardo's confession, a Pandora is a demon who kills or drives mad.'

She stiffened. 'And that's obviously bullshit too.'

'Not entirely.' He added, 'But the priest also quoted Ricardo's exact words as well as his own interpretation. Ricardo said that a Pandora was no demon, that she just opened doors.'

'What?'

'Pandoras are facilitators. They have the power to release dormant psychic powers in those around them. If a person has even the smallest psychic ability, a Pandora is supposed to be able to trigger that talent.'

She stared at him incredulously. 'How?'

He shrugged. 'Ricardo didn't know. Believe me, the priests spent a long time trying to make him talk about it. They thought they'd found an archdemon in Rosa Devanez. All they could get out of him was that he thought she had to touch them.' He paused. 'And sometimes it went wrong. Sometimes the person she tried to help break through the barriers went mad. One man was later found dead after she visited him.'

Megan frowned. 'But why would that happen?'

'Michael and I have discussed it and we think there's a possibility that some minds just can't handle it. There's no picking and choosing which psychic ability. You only get what's inherently there. And even if the subject thinks he wants the power, when it comes, it sometimes completely blows them away. It's too much, too soon. It's like giving a massive dose of heroin to someone who's never had it before.'

She shivered. 'And why would Rosa want to prance merrily along tossing out psychic powers like Johnny Appleseed did his seeds?'

'Evidently the subjects volunteered and there were some successes. Ricardo said that Rosa was able to help her cousin, Maria, become a great Finder. And her uncle, Franco, suddenly acquired the same gift of prediction Jose possessed after he spent a few days with her.'

'Then if there's good and bad, why did they call her a Pandora? According to mythology, wasn't Pandora supposed to have opened a box and released all the troubles into the world?'

'It depends on how deeply you probe into the myth,' Grady said. 'According to the writings of Hesiod, Pandora was given gifts from all the gods and that's why her name was Pandora, which means all gifts. Hermes gave her cunning, boldness, and charm, Aphrodite gave her beauty, Apollo gave her musical ability and the power of healing, Hera gave her curiosity. Then Zeus threw in mischief and foolishness.' He smiled. 'But there are feminist scholars who argue that according to earlier myths Pandora was the great goddess who made life and culture possible. They say that accusing Pandora of being responsible for letting loose all the wickedness that made men miserable was just another ploy to make women shoulder the blame for everything that went wrong. There are several comparisons to Eve in the Garden of Eden.' He paused. 'But everyone agrees that there was hope in that box she opened. If hope was present, then why wouldn't there have been other good spirits as well as evil?'

'Because it's a myth and written by a man.' Her lips tightened. 'And it was easy to compare that poor Rosa Devanez to Pandora and her release of evil powers into the world, even though Rosa was asked to try to help those people.'

'Good point. But Rosa wasn't the first Pandora in the family. According to Ricardo, at the time of the Inquisition the talent had already been passed down through the family for at least a hundred years. A facilitator didn't appear in every generation; it sometimes skipped three, even four. But it was always a woman and she was often a Listener.'

'Ricardo told the priests all of those details?'

'I told you, the priests thought they had discovered an archfoe in Rosa Devanez. They wanted to know how to fight the demon when they hunted her down. They spent a long time questioning Ricardo about all the characteristics common to a Pandora.'

'And what were they?'

'High energy, extreme empathy, intelligence, deep emotional responses.' He paused. 'Very strong sensuality. The last characteristic clenched her condemnation in Torquemada's eyes. Ricardo said the family forgave Pandoras for that fault since deep emotion would generate it, but it wasn't acceptable to the Tribunal.'

'Is that all? Was there anything else in the report?'

'Only a final condemnation of the Devanez family and a resolution to search out and destroy the demons and heretics among them.'

'Then why didn't you give those pages to me with the rest of the transcript? Why did you want to tell me about it yourself?'

'I think you know.' He repeated softly, 'High energy, extreme empathy, intelligence, deep emotional responses, sensuality. Sound familiar?'

Of course, it sounded familiar. 'You're saying that I'm one of those Pandoras.' She shook her head. 'Even if I believed in this Pandora concept, that doesn't mean I'm one. Don't Listeners have similar characteristics?'

'Yes. On a lesser scale.'

'And who knows if that part of Ricardo's confession isn't fabrication? Facilitation is even less believable than other psychic abilities.'

'And frightening. The responsibility could be awesome. Touch someone and you create a Frankenstein.' He smiled. 'Or a Mother Theresa.'

'I'm a doctor. I've handled a lot of people in my life and not one has turned into a monster or angel. So I think this so-called gift has passed me by.'

'Perhaps. Even the family wasn't entirely sure how the talent worked. Ricardo did say it didn't manifest itself until a woman was in her mid-twenties. It could be that you haven't reached the right stage of development yet. Or maybe certain circumstances have to be present to trigger it.'

She shook her head. 'You're reaching. It's enough for me to accept being a Listener. I'm not going to let you throw this at me when there's no evidence. I'm not a Pandora.'

'That's what your mother said,' he said quietly. 'It was the last thing she said to me. She was fighting admitting it until the end.'

Not Pandora. Not Pandora. Not Pandora.

'And you knew it.' His gaze was narrowed on her face. 'I thought you did. That's why I didn't want you to read this part of the report when you were alone.'

'She was dying. Why would she-'

'Because she was a Pandora, but she didn't want to admit it. If she accepted that she was a Pandora, then she'd have to accept that you'd probably become one. A Listener was bad enough, but a Pandora was big trouble. It had already destroyed her life.'

'How?'

'Molino. She killed his son.'

Megan shook her head. 'No.'

'She did it, Megan. She didn't stab him or shoot him, but she did kill him.' He held her gaze. 'No one deserved it more. I told you she was raped when she was held captive. It was Molino's son who did it, many, many times and with great brutality. That last night he brought her out by the campfire and started to rape her in full view of Molino and the rest of his men.'

'You've already told me this,' she said shakily. 'I don't want to hear the details. It… hurts me.'