Chapter 6

10

Julia laughed, realizing that she had indeed started to gape a bit, overwhelmed by the sheer number of questions that she needed and wanted to ask. She wanted more information on the professor's discovery, but something else bothered her far more. Turning her attention back to the head of the table, Julia asked abruptly, "Professor, do you have some sort of split-personality? I mean, one minute you are charming, gregarious, and funny, and the next you are cold, mean, and patronizing. I don't understand why that is."

The professor laid his hand atop Julia's, sighing deeply. "I do apologize for that, but it is important that Sarah and I test the mettle of those who come here in order to see into their future. You passed your first test in the library when we first met, simply by agreeing to study the Dune books and be questioned about them; that showed that you were serious. By answering the question so well, you passed another test, showing not only your intelligence but your ability to adapt to an uncertain circumstance. However, the most important test you passed is sitting right here." He reached over to pat the back of his wife's right hand. "There aren't very many people who get by Sarah. You may have noticed how easily she was able to put you at ease, and you are certainly not the first person she's helped in that way. But Sarah is able to read people in ways I simply cannot fathom, and if she isn't convinced of the quality of a person's character, then they go no further than this table." The professor leaned toward Julia, saying, "You passed that test with flying colors, by the way. I actually think Sarah enjoyed seeing me fail to rile you or intimidate you into silence."

Hearing this, Sarah quickly cut in. "Julia, I know you hated the way Leland talked to you in such a patronizing way, but it was necessary to see how you would react. The fact that you were able to absorb the gist of Leland's story and cut right to the heart of it simply amazed me, and believe you me, I've seen some very smart people sit right where you are and have no clue as to what he was talking about. More than that though, I can tell what a good person you are: forthright, dedicated, caring, with a good sense of humor. However..." Sarah looked back at her husband, prompting him with a glance and a slight nod.

The professor turned his attention to Julia again. "In a bit, you will need to make a decision as to whether you are going to go any further with us. We feel that you meet every qualification we could ask for, but one. And, unless you tell us the truth now, we cannot allow you to know anything else about us or the process.

"Julia, we need you tell us why you are here... because Sarah and I are both sure that it has nothing at all to do with seeing the future."

Julia looked down at her plate, not wanting to meet their eyes. What had started as a quest to find what she assumed would be a charlatan had quite quickly become something much more meaningful. Even though she had arrived at their door under false pretenses, revealing the truth now seemed even more damaging. It was hard to imagine having to tell these two people, both of whom had gone out of their way to treat her with kindness and consideration, her thought that something they had done to her brother might have driven him to suicide.

She had barely known her brother, had not spoken to him in years, and yet she had somehow gotten it into her head that he couldn't have simply been mentally unstable or drug-addled. She had to assume he'd been damaged by someone else, and so she'd followed the trail here, hoping perhaps to expose those responsible. Instead, she'd found two very nice people who were probably going to tell her to leave once she told them the truth. And what hurt the most was that they had revealed so much, and she yearned to learn the rest. Ultimately, they had been much more truthful with her than she had been with them.