Page 82 of Rarely Pure and Never Simple
"Extended life and eternal youth."
"Exactly, Damien." She took a careful sip. "They were searching for eternity."
He shivered. Life was hard and brutal enough. Why would anyone want an eternity of it? The terrible, hopeless days stretching forever…
She patted his hand gently, one of the few people who could. "Funding becomes a bit murky and even more disturbing. Yes, there was private money involved. Wealthy people looking for answers. But the Fredamine Project was officially listed on the State Department's budget, under the arm of the Bureau of Sustainable Resources. Yes, as budget items go, it was a single line item with an annual budget that would raise few questions, but someone in the Department put it there."
"So those who said it was government conspiracy were right."
"I suppose the answer would be yes and no." She shot him a wry smile. "Yes, there are people in the government involved. Is it likely that knowledge of the project reached people in the highest echelons? Maybe one or two. Can it really be called a government conspiracy when it's more of a small-scale cabal? Probably not."
"There's more. I can tell."
She nodded, apparently gathering herself. "Apparently, there's Guild involvement."
Damien put his cup down with shaking hands. "That can't be. I know Hippocrata was there, but beyond that?"
"Not something I have an answer for yet. But the guards named several as visitors to the lab site. Hippocrata and two of her boys, yes. But she wasn't the only one."
"Oh." His voice came out as little more than a squeak. "But why did she—in the hospital—that's what I don't understand."
"She and one of her assistants have been arrested. She refuses to speak, but her young man has been more than willing. Apparently, while her visit to the hospital was Guild mandated, her hope was that by making the healing as painful as possible for Blaze he would need a day or two to recover. You, being who you are, would grow impatient and would leave on your own."
Anger bubbled up next to despair. "She purposefully hurt him more than she had to. To sabotage me."
"That seems to have been the intent. The Guild is, as you might imagine, in an uproar. Trust is in short supply. Members are calling for action, but I'm not certain what can be done."
"What are you going to do?"
"Wait. Until things settle to a more reasonable level, there's nothing else I can do. No one's ready to listen now. I don't know how to ferret out the bad seeds yet, but that will come."
He nodded. She knew the Guild best and understood all the political wrangling he never could. She did need to answer one question for him, though. "How did you know? Or guess?"
"Know what?"
"That Blaze would be a buffer for me."
She watched his face for a long moment, searching for something or fighting with a decision. Finally, she spoke, her words soft and careful. "Because I know."
"Yes, but how?" Damien put his cup down, scrubbing both hands back through his hair. "I'd assumed it was a personality sort of thing—with you, with Agent Cummings. You're both calm and patient. But that makes no sense with Bla—" Damien broke off when the realization slammed into him. "Dr. Parma. You're a variant."
"I am."
"Do people…" Damien hesitated in confusion. She had always been the nonvariant science director for the Guild. The link between the variant and nonvariant worlds. "Knowabout this?"
"My wife knew, but she died so many years ago." Dr. Parma inclined her head toward him. "And now you. I trust your discretion. Your unwillingness to give up other people's secrets. It's a small gift and a subtle one, which is why it was never picked up in testing. If I have a person in front of me, I can think of someone else I know and tell how their personal fields—I'm sorry, I don't have a better name for it—will interact."
"How long have you known about him? About Blaze?"
"The last time I gave him a contract in person, I happened to think of you. A few months ago. No more than that." She took a deliberate sip of tea. "Damien, dear, why isn't Blaze with you?"
"He's taking the wilding home. The one who helped us."
"Yes." She smiled into her cup. "This wilding. Did you know some of the guards are claiming they saw Shudder McKenzie during your takeover of the site?"
"Interesting."
"I thought so. Oh, I have no interest in seeing Shudder caught. It's just the sort of thing he lives for, rescuing imprisoned variant children. I don't agree with his methods, but I understand his passion and his vision. I understand he was seriously injured as well, which would explain someone needing to see him home. But the question still stands."
