BOOK 2: COMMUNITY / CH. 5: GEORGE'S FAMILY

MONDAY LUNCHTIME

Karen focussed on peace. She needed to cool down for the second time in one day. She also needed to think. As she contemplated the vast overwhelming peace, she considered George. Once you got past his so-called ‘paranoia,’ he was a nice person and they got on OK.

In the culture here, giving friends hugs was normal. Karen herself had had to learn it, since she wasn't that used to so much contact, and while it was a bit awkward feeling, she'd got used to it. But George'd been born here, so his avoidance of physical contact stood out as weird, and she'd considered him a bit aloof and over-formal. And of course, it was difficult to get over that attitude that said everything needed to be verified and triple checked, just in case. With those two factors, she'd certainly never considered him romantically. Of course, now that she had the power, she'd probably be joining him in avoiding contact, and since she'd almost died because of not taking enough precautions and his had been fuelled by the prophesy, maybe they'd be able to meet somewhere in the middle. In which case? He wasn't such a bad prospect, she decided. Here, surrounded by the peace, she wasn't going to be worried about the idea anyway. Sarah's concern about the inequality of gifting wasn't going to apply as strongly at least, but perhaps she'd pray that he would receive the gift too. It occurred to her then that maybe he did have it, just without knowing it. It depended on how much he knew and had tried. The heat was receding, but she waited until it had fully gone before leaving this wonderful place, ready for whatever the world would throw at her next.

What it threw at her was George, giving her a totally uncharacteristic hug. He didn't quite knock her off her chair, but almost.

[Karen, thank you, thank you, thank you for checking up on me. Thank you that we can share our thoughts, I know I like you a lot, but we need to talk, I think.]

[That's OK, George. I checked up on everyone I know. There's someone scary out there. And yes, I agree. We need to talk, but let me introduce everyone first.]

Once introductions were complete, Maria (who'd been introduced simply as ‘My Mummy, who you can call Maria') asked, ‘So young man, we'll talk about prophesies later on, but first, could you tell everyone what you told the driver?’

“Urm, I guess so. Won't he report it to the proper authorities, anyway?”

Karen laughed. “George, how do you think Mummy knows you told the driver anything? Oh Mummy, have they got Arnold's interrogators?”

“Yes, Karen. Safely under guard, and their clearly fake badges are causing some embarrassment at that base I can tell you.”

“Wrong font?” George asked.

“Exactly. We chose a specific one and it seems that whoever's been making those forgeries just used whatever they had which was closest.”

“And to think ‘Times New Roman’ used to be ubiquitous,” George commented, raising an eyebrow from Maria.

“You're someone who notices details, I see. I like that in people, George. It avoids problems, so tell us the details. Here are your pictures,” and she tapped her unit and the computer displayed the picture.

“Well, this man, he was on the roof opposite. I'd noticed him before the fake agents knocked. He'd been pretending to be doing some maintenance, but not doing anything really. Then, after they'd started to attack the door and I'd hit one of my panic buttons, I saw he was sort of hiding behind the balustrade there. I took this photo through the curtains. Then I made a show of looking around for observers, and he ducked down and used this little periscope thing to watch me. I saw him raise his hand like someone calling on a wrist unit, then the hammering stopped and the guys outside talked to him. Urm, I told the driver they weren't being careful. They weren't, but they possibly thought they were. They were leaning on the hinges and they'd knocked the paint off. So there was electrical contact and I heard their thoughts, not their voices. They said ‘Yes, boss, we'll make sure he dies nice and slowly.’ Then they said, ‘Yes boss, you told us before, just like the girl, just like the girl. Tell her mum she mustn't let them spill the beans, or the cat will have more companions, like ten years ago.’ Then they hammered some more. Who's the girl?”

Ten years ago meant one thing to Sarah and John, who went white and held onto each other. Kate took on a determined expression and asked, “What happened to the cat, Maria?”

“When he was a kid, he put the neighbour's cat in a box with some explosive, I don't know where he got that from, and detonated it.”

“I suspected something like that. And what upset him ten years ago?”

“I don't know. The Clear Sky mall attack might have been unrelated to him, though we'll have to check of course. He might just be trying to scare us. But he's just got himself to be the first person put on the terrorist threat list for half a century, and his arrested accomplices will face terrorism-related charges, I think. Ronald's not going to be able to move very far without being surrounded by police, or finding his transport is delivering him to jail of course.”

George asked Maria, “You know that man?”

“Yes, George, and I'm quite surprised to see you got him on camera. He must be running out of trusted underlings or something. That's my little brother, and you've never seen a nastier piece of humanity.”

“And the bit about the beans? I didn't understand that.”

“Old equivalent of ‘spill the soup,’ George,” Karen enlightened him. “The Institute here is planning to go public with scientific papers on mind reading.”

“We've already told our clients, but we don't know how he found that out.” Kate added.

“Oh. But why would he not want that known about?”

“He used to be one, but otherwise I don't know.” Maria said.

“Used to be one? People can lose their power? I didn't know that. How?”

“All things are possible to God,” John replied. “Three people held hands round him and prayed for him to be stripped of his corrupt power.”

“But he'd have felt their intention, surely?”

“They knew how to hide their thoughts,” Sarah said.

“I think I need a long talk with you too. My great grandma died when I was still young, and about all she said was to make sure I used it for good, and not let people know I had it. She's the one that gave me the prophesy too. Well, she wrote it down to be given to me on my fourteenth birthday.”

“That's fine, George, I think we've got time.”

“So, Maria,” John summarised, “scores for today are a wounded Pris and a scared George on the negative side, and on the plus side we've caught Arnold, the two hit men who were after Arnold, the two fake agents who went to interview Arnold, and the two others leaving George's flat. That leaves Roland, Harry, and possibly the driver at large if he wasn't one of the others. Is that right?”

“Yes. The two climbing down George's rope almost got to the bottom before they were dropped, so they have bruising but no breakages. They didn't put up much of a struggle though.”

“And the four detained at the barracks?”

“They're in separate cells, and from what I understand, they might be told that since two of them opened fire against soldiers of the crown, they could be charged with all sorts of exciting things including treason.”

Teresa responded, “Firing on soldiers isn't quite the same as taking up arms against the crown, and its certainly not seeking to affect the succession.”

“I know that and you know that, but don't tell them that, please,” Maria explained. “We'd prefer they talked quickly, after all.”

“Oh, I see.”

“In fact, I'll just make some calls. I think we might have enough to call all his known associates in for a little chat. Kate, is there somewhere I could use that's a little less public?”

“Yes, of course. Should Karen check her friends again?”

“Yes, do, Karen. It can't hurt."

Once more, Karen checked the health of her friends and people that she'd spent time with. “Praise God! Everyone seems to be OK this time round.”

“That's how you found I was in trouble?” George looked in awe at Karen, then wistful. “Can someone explain to me how?”

John and Sarah explained the basics: that there seemed to be two distinct aspects — the power and the gift, and what they'd learned about the dangers inherent in hiding too long, but when it was useful, and how it could protect against someone like uncle Roland. They taught George how to do it, and what to do if he became stuck. “Thank you. Now, I have to ask. How do I know if I have the gift as well?”

“We don't know any way of testing it except trying,” John said. “But Mama Ng seemed able to see it in people. She didn't tell us how.”

“George?” Karen asked. “I have a question to ask you. Firstly, would you mind if I scanned you? Secondly, do you actually want the gift? If so, why? Might it be envy? Do you understand the terrible risk and temptation you're asking about?”

“I'm sorry, I'm not sure I understand the risk or temptation aspects. I guess I want it because I've seen the good it can do, and if I have it then I could do that too. Is that envy? And why do you want to scan me?”

“I want to scan you because without even the slightest bit of discussion about it, you've publicly declared me to be your future wife. I'll forgive you the public bit, since you didn't know it was a public line, but I'd really like to get into your skull and find out how you feel about this right now. And I could do it and you wouldn't notice a thing and I want to, so it's taking a lot of self control not to. And that's just a small part of the temptation this gift brings. Talk to John about how many extra limits he and Sarah have to put on themselves because of the feedback they suffer if they get too close to each other this side of their wedding. Think about how addictive it could be to plunge yourself into someone's brain and follow their every thought and knowing that you could, but if you do it for too long then it'll kill you. Do you want those temptations, George?”

“No, Karen, I don't. And I'm really sorry for telling you about that prophesy. I should have kept it a secret, or at least made sure it was private. And yes, you can scan me, Karen. I think I know how I feel.”

“Karen,” Sarah said, “I'm not sure it's wise. Like you say, it's a great temptation, but that doesn't make it a great idea.”

“Actually, Sarah, I disagree,” George said. “The prophesy didn't say when we'd marry, just that we would. Maybe Karen having a look will help her decide if that should be in months or decades.”

“You could still give yourselves time to get used to the idea,” Sarah reminded them.

“Come and look, Karen, I don't mind,” George said.

Karen looked. George's life and thinking had been dominated by the prophesy ever since he'd been handed it. Preparing to run had been part of it, but he'd also refused to act on his emotions about girls he knew because of it. If he was to know his future wife because she'd be talking to him as he ran, then what was the merit in dating? It would only lead to heartbreak. He hadn't wanted to hurt anyone that way. Especially not Karen. But he'd been really really struggling with his decision in her case. He didn't want her to be hurt, he certainly didn't want to hurt her. He didn't want to let her get away either. She was special. Then, realising she was going to talk to him during his escape, it was hard not to gabble everything. He'd resisted a bit, then she'd asked why he'd thought about her and he couldn't hold it back. He was thinking about her now, how beautiful she was, how the light fell on her hair...

[Karen, break off. You're looking too long!] Sarah's voice, full of concern. [Focus on peace, silly.]

Karen, chastened, obeyed and saw how great a heat had built up. She sensed Sarah's presence. [Found something fascinating, I take it?]

[Urm, yes. He's been fighting against his feelings for me a long time. I had no idea.]

[Ah. And he was fighting because of the prophesy?]

[Yes.]

[You were looking for about five seconds, Karen. You should limit yourself to one or two, you know. You could have got most of what you saw in that time, and then savoured it in safety.]

[Sorry.]

[No great harm done, but be careful. I expect George is more than a bit worried. I'll tell him what happened in general terms.] She checked George's health, as well as his face. Sure enough, he was concerned. “George, you know Karen was speaking of temptation?”

“Yes, is she OK? Has she hurt herself, she's gone all limp!”

“She's fine, she just got rather too fascinated by what she was seeing, and I told her to rest. She turned what should have been a quick glance into a trip to the movies, I think.”

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“A dangerous movie, from what she's said. And you're sure she's OK?”

Thinking about what she'd seen when she checked his health, Sarah thought she'd recognized something in him.

“Yes, George, I'm sure. And if you can't take my word for it then you might be able to find reassurance if you think of peace while you do this {image}.”

[I'll try.]

George thought of peace, and tried to do what Sarah had shown him. He wasn't sure what he was relaxing but he managed to do it, and found his awareness filled by the same deep peace that the others had found before him. A peace that washed away his fears and strengthened his resolve. A confident peace that was as beyond understanding as its source. He became aware of another, contemplating the peace also. [Karen?]

[George! You have the gift!]

[This is part of the gift? Sarah didn't say. I was concerned about you and Sarah said to try this.]

[Here is where we find healing and peace and strength in the Lord. Here, He washes away our concerns. Here, we can rest in mental safety and cool down our brains if we fry them like I just did. Sorry, I was foolish.]

[What happened?]

[{embarrassed} I liked what I saw and wanted to see more, stupid vain thing that I am.]

[I never thought you were vain.]

[Shows how little you know me then, and how vain I am for liking compliments from someone who hardly knows me!]

[I do like the idea of getting to know you much better, Karen.]

[Same to you, George. We've got time.]

[Yes. No need to decide on things yet.]

[Except one thing, George.]

[What's that?]

[That we'll be careful with this gift, and we'll help each other, hold each other to account, I mean.]

[Yes. That's a good decision.]

[This is too holy a place to talk much, I think. Let's meditate on the greatness of God for a bit.]

After a while, when she judged that the heat was mostly gone, Karen suggested they withdraw to the mundane world. They found themselves alone.

[Another question, George. I think it's a bit too soon to talk of engagement. Is that OK?]

[I'll give you time, Karen, I care for you too much to rush you.]

[Anyway, you'll need to save up for a ring.]

[Urm, not so, actually.]

[Oh?]

[My great gran again, I'm afraid.]

[Left you hers?]

[Yes, said I might need one before I started earning much.]

[Oh.]

[But there's no rush, it's not that she said I would.]

[True.]

[So, Karen, will you allow me the privilege of spending lots of time with you, getting to know you better?]

[Of course, George, that'd be lovely, as long as you don't mind going on dates with my leg in a cast.]

[How did that happen, by the way?]

[Long story. Short version is I got suckered into talking to an A.I. hacked by my evil uncle, which convinced me into going down into the railway tunnels. I'd checked up on the A.I. using my wrist unit, which of course showed me the same hacked data as I had from the med computer. I got lost in the tunnels, panicked and broke my leg. Screamed for help, asking God that someone would hear me. Kate heard and sent help. That's how God gave me the gift.]

[Wow. And this was very recently?]

[Friday.]

[And somehow that triggered the attack on me?]

[This morning they put my friend Priscilla into a booby trapped freezer, they set Arnold (Teresa's brother) up to break into my house, telling him I was a witch, then tried to kill him, then they started after you.]

[Wow. Busy day. Is Priscilla OK?]

[Severe frostbite. They're probably going to have to grow her some new fingers, but she's alive.]

[Ouch.]

[It's been a stressful morning.]

[And no lunch yet either.]

[No. I wonder if John and Sarah are making us some more pizza. I also wonder when we'll be able to leave here. You know this place is a very secure facility, don't you?]

[I spotted some security cameras.]

[What about the forcefield glass?]

[No! And you work here? Nice to know you're safe. I thought you were going to be a cleaner?]

[First day here today. Couldn't keep the cleaning job with crutches, and Kate offered me a job doing research here. Fascinating people. What about your summer job?]

[It fell apart at the last minute. Turned out not to be quite the job they'd advertised.]

[How so? It sounded just like you. ‘Advising people on their security preparedness,’ wasn't it?]

[Well yes, but it turned out to be a marketing scheme for inferior quality security doors. When I found out that I was supposed to tell people that they couldn't get better for the price, well, I just couldn't do it. Oh, it was technically true, but I knew the competition was a far superior product, and the price difference was less than you'd pay for a can of drink.]

[And let me guess, sales commission was most of the pay?]

[Most? It was all sales commission except that they provided meals if you were at the office at just the right time.]

[Urm, I thought there were laws against that sort of thing.]

[I'm not sure it's law or just standard practice. Unless it's actual law then I don't think they cared. I asked them how they felt about selling substandard products at more than twice the reasonable price. They just laughed.]

“Not the sort of people you want to work with then. Oh, have a look at the code of ethics they've put together for using this gift. Any thoughts?”

Karen brought up the code on the computer screen.

“That's quite a harsh penalty clause. You've agreed to it?”

“Yes, I have. I've also come close to breaching it, checking up on you and other friends. I think we need to expand the section about what constitutes immediate threat to life, and add something about being able to check to see if someone is actually in danger if we have reason to suspect they might be.”

“Yes, you're probably right. But I'm a little surprised. Why is there nothing about proactive investigation of crimes in this? Surely that's security's job.”

“Exactly. Oh, you think this place is part of security?”

“It isn't?”

“No, it isn’t. It's an independent centre of excellence specializing in all things to do with the mind. Brain scanner research to psycho-counselling, and now, after two hundred years of pointless advertisements looking for the power, or anything else unusual, the organization has four members of staff with the gift.”

“So why the high tech defensive stuff?”

“Because they have clients who might need it. Say you're a head of state who needs a brain scan, or a general who needs someone to talk things through with, or even some high official's daughter who gets afraid in the dark, this is the right place to bring your problems to. All the staff are security cleared up to an impressively high level.”

“Oh. What does security clearance involve?”

“Fairly involved form filling, then someone checks into your history and makes sure you're reliable, have no links to criminals and so on. You'll see soon enough, I'm afraid.”

“Why will I see?”

“Urm, I'm afraid Mummy will insist.”

“Because she works with security, I need to be checked out?”

“Not quite, George. But I won't tell you why else until you're cleared. And George, if you're tempted to scan me about this, don't. You break that ethics code over this and you don't see me again for a decade at least.”

“Karen! Your mum can't stop us from seeing each other, you're an adult.”

“Not Mummy, George. Me. You had a prophesy to worry about, and you did very well. I've got my uncle and other threats too, and my laxness almost killed me on Friday. My I.D.'s been duplicated and I need to get my iris scan altered. I intend to learn my lesson.”

“But Karen!” she heard the pain in his voice. “I'm not sure I'm going to meet your clearance criteria. Then what?”

“Why ever not?”

“Just have a look, Karen, it'll be faster. Just don't watch for long, eh?”

Karen looked, keeping it to a quick glance this time. George's top level thoughts were his nascent love for Karen surrounded by hurt and confusion and fear. Why was Karen doing this? Would he pass this security check? Was his past going to destroy his future? What about the prophecy? Beneath, Karen could see the parts of his past that most worried him: he'd been born into a family of criminals. His father had been in and out of jail almost all his life. His mother had used his pram to hide stolen goods. She'd been finally caught and been jailed when he was three years old, at which point his great grandmother had been given permanent custody. She, the lone Christian in the family, had cared for him as long as she lived, and taught him the difference between right and wrong. She'd also seen his power and had warned him to only use it for good. After she'd passed away when he was 10, George had been passed from family member to family member, and then he'd been put into foster care, just before his fourteenth birthday. The foster care had been wonderful, but Karen saw in that brief glimpse that those previous three years had been terrible. He'd had a reputation of being lucky, so they'd wanted to take him as a watchman when they were breaking into parked goods vehicles, and as a courier on other crimes. She saw that the explanation for his ‘luck’ was that his power had let him avoid many of the punches and slaps others had aimed at him. Karen saw that he'd hated doing it, but that he'd seen no alternative than to obey.

“You had a tough childhood,” she said. “You became a Christian in foster care?”

“Yes, Mum and Dad are great.”

“So, George, why do you think you won't pass? You're not still smuggling stuff for that gang, surely?”

“Of course not! But Karen, I'm still in contact with some cousins. I don't think they're involved in anything, the whole gang of us were taken into care at the same time, you know. But not all of them ended up with foster parents like mine, and with that upbringing... I don't know, there's not much that would surprise me.”

“OK, George. About the check: they're going to find all this out and more. If you hide stuff, they're going to think you're still involved, so answer all questions fully. Clearance will take a long time with such a history. But I think you should be able to pass if you've been true to the Lord. Let's talk to Mummy, OK? She'll want to quiz you anyway, I'm sure.”

“Karen, what do you think? Do you want me to pass this? Why do I need to?”

“George, I don't know what I'd do if you don't pass. I want you to. I really do. You need to pass because if you don't then I'd need to choose between you and my family and my past. If you don't pass then I can't tell you about things that make me who I am.”

“Then let's talk to your mother.”

[Kate, is Mummy still busy?]

[Hi, Karen, no, she's just watching the pizzas.]

[Oooh great. Where?]

[Small conference room.]

[OK, I'll go and find her.]

[Careful, there are watch-list clients about.]

[OK. I'll talk to the computer.]

“Computer, I intend to go to the small conference room. Is the route clear?”

“35 percent risk of intersect. Please delay approximately 1 minute.”

“Advise when 1 percent risk or below,” Karen instructed.

“What was that about?” George asked.

“There are clients in this building who shouldn't know I'm here, George. Best if they don't see me.”

“Karen, who are you?”

“I'm just me. Get clearance and I can tell you more. It's not paranoia if the risk is real.”

“No wonder you seemed special. You are!”

“Naahh, I'm not special, I just need to be careful.”

“So how come you could go about freely at university?”

“I wasn't quite mixing in the same circles as they get here, George.”

“Oh, you mean I'm beneath you?” George asked, half serious.

“George, you know class distinctions haven't mattered for more than a century. We serve the same God, and there is neither barbarian nor Greek. But I didn't notice any foreign dignitaries in my lectures. Did you have any?”

“Sorry, Karen. I'm just over sensitive, I guess.”

“It's OK, George, let's just blame it on a tiring day.”

“Intercept probability now below 1 percent,” the computer announced.

“Coming, George?” Karen asked, and led the way.

----------------------------------------

Karen briefly explained George's fears to Maria. “I trust him, Mummy, it's just the question of am I allowed to, will I be allowed to?”

“Karen, don't you think I might just have thought of this before you?”

“Pardon?”

“George, I'm afraid my daughter has a naïve attitude to her own safety. If you were in my position, which of course I can't tell you, but assuming that a threat to my only child here would potentially put national security at risk, and that gaining authorisation for pretty much anything legal is not a problem, what would you do?”

“Urm, given unlimited access, I'd probably make sure that the people she was hanging round with at university were safe, and when you found that one of them was connected to a group of undesirables like my birth family then you'd check up on that person very thoroughly indeed, possibly even planting the three bugs I've found in my flat.”

“And the four you didn't.”

“Well, the little note on one that said, ‘If found, please return to Internal Security Service’ did go a long way to reduce my fears. I'd thought it might have something to do with my having had high security doors fitted and the emergency bailout device.”

“Well, yes, that sort of thing does trigger more attention than the typical student would get. The multiple panic alarms helped convince the team that it was more that you were a cautious person than actively planning anything. I must say that Karen's rotten memory for addresses caused some confusion, since number 56 doesn't have an apartment 17.”

Karen was looking in horror at her mother. “Mummy, I thought you said that I was going to have to look after myself now!”

“Yes, you are, you have been, but since when does that mean I don't want to make sure you're actually doing it?”

“So, does George have clearance?”

“Not yet, but if he'd fill in the forms straight after lunch then as long as what he admits to is what we know about, it shouldn't take very long at all. It might take ‘till tea-time if I need to grill him.”

Karen gave her a hug and said, “Thank you, Mummy, I love you.”

“George, why do you think you want to marry my daughter?” Maria asked.

“I've spent enough time near her in the last two years to realise that she's a very special person. I haven't dated anyone or let myself fall in love with anyone because of that prophesy, but I've been struggling to keep my emotions under control around Karen for this last term. To be honest, I've probably been in love with her that long if not longer, just refusing to let myself acknowledge it.”

“And what are your prospects, young man? Are you going to be able to keep a roof above her head and food in front of her? What job are you heading towards? You know her dream of spending her life studying geology? That doesn't pay well, I assure you.”

“Um, I've been taking computer systems courses, A.I. design, that sort of thing. I've done some work in the past, I get some licensing royalties — that's how I was able to afford the security modifications for my flat.”

“A.I. design is a pretty broad field. Specify."

“Urm, I've earnt most for some work on connection making algorithms, helping the computer to make inferences more efficiently.”

“That's interesting. Very interesting. It would be too much of a coincidence, but could we find out if your algorithm has been helping this computer come up with connections I didn't expect.”

“Urm, it's possible. Karen, could you ask it to check the algorithm list for author tag ‘MrCareful'?”

“Computer, list algorithms with author tag MrCareful.”

[Mr. Careful?]

[Not paranoia if the risk is real!]

The computer displayed several algorithms, one of which surprised George.

“What's that doing there? Who installed this system, Karen?”

“I don't know. Which one? Why?”

“That last one on the list. I wrote it last summer. When I offered it to my existing customers they first tried to haggle down the price to peanuts and then said they weren't interested after all.”

“Teresa's the Institute's legal expert, George, you might like to talk to her,” Karen offered.

“Yes, I think I might. If they've been deploying my code without permission then they owe me quite a lot of money. I wonder how much it'll cost to make them pay up.”

“I've got another idea, George,” Maria said. “How about you sell say a fifty percent share in the rights to someone for a suitable fee, for instance to Security, who I can assure you are interested, and then we could just happen to notice that someone has been using our property without permission, which I expect they'll be very very sorry about really quickly, and give us a very good deal on our next few purchases. Karen witnessed me saying that we should be employing whoever wrote this A.I. So, subject to clearance, you might like to consider coming to work for us part time at least.”

“But I can't claim to have written the whole A.I.!”

“No, but I think you've written the bits which interested me in the first place.”

“Thank you, Maria. I think I'd like that, subject to clearance and discussions with my financial advisor of course.”

[That's you, Karen.]

[Me? Why me?]

[How much can I ask for? I don't want to price myself out of the market, but I think I asked too little for my earlier code.]

[Let's ask Kate, I don't know what original code is worth, or programming pay-scales, either.]

[Good idea.]

“From the expression of surprise on my daughter's face just now, you've just suggested she be your financial advisor. Personally I'd recommend my husband instead. He's not with Security any more, is a pretty good negotiator and has a more than passing familiarity with computer programming.”

Karen burst out laughing at that last bit.

[Insider joke?] George asked.

[Absolutely insider. I wonder how high you'll get clearance.]

“Mummy, how does this work? Will I need to keep secrets from George forever, and if so, how, given he can read my mind?”

“Wait until he's family before you share family things, Karen. If something leaks, well, it leaks and goes no further. If you didn't trust him to be ethical about his gift, then you'd not be considering marriage to him, would you?”

“Of course not, Mummy, and of course, he's got to have clearance from God to have the gift anyway, hasn't he?”

“I hadn't thought of phrasing it like that, Karen,” Maria said, “but His ways are not ours.”

“You mean our standards are higher?” Karen asked.

“No, we just need more paperwork.”

“Ah. Those pizzas smell good.”

“I think they're ready, too.”

“I'll call the others.”

[Pizza is ready!]