For Love of Mother-Not by Alan Dean Foster Read Free Book Online Page B

to full flower in its experimental children.
    Still, Number Twelve at least exhibited a possible something.
    “Well, this one certainly shows more promise than the last dozen or so,” Haithness had to admit. “It’s been so long since we had contact with him, I’d nearly forgotten those activity readings. We need to get to this one as quickly as possible. Where’s he situated?”
    Nyassa-lee tapped keys below the readout, bringing forth answers. “Where in the Commonwealth is that?” Haithness grumbled.
    “Trading world,” Cruachan put in, thinking hard. “Centrally located but unimportant in and of itself. A stopover world, low in native population.”
    “You won’t mind going there once you’ve seen this,” Nyassa-lee assured them both. Her fingers moved delicately over the keyboard a second time, and fresh information glowed on screen. “This is recent, from the local operative who relocated the subject. It appears that the child has definitely displayed one Talent, possibly two. Furthermore, he has done so in public and apparently without any specialized training.”
    “Without training,” Cruachan whispered. “Remarkable, if true.”
    Nyassa-lee tapped the screen. “This operative has been reliable in the past and particularly noteworthy for the accuracy of his observations. The Talent in question is a telepathicvariant of some sort. The operative is not a scientifically trained observer, of course, and he is even less certain of the second one, though its potential value may be even greater.”
    “What is it?” Haithness asked.
    “I’ve been hard put to find a name for it. Basically, it seems that the child may be an emolterator.”
    The other woman looked confused. “I don’t remember that on the list of possible Talents.”
    “It wasn’t there. It’s an original. Original with this child, it seems,” Cruachan said. Nyassa-lee nodded. “It means that he may be able to influence the actions of others. Not mind control, nothing as strong as that. It would be more subtle. One possessing such an ability would have to utilize it very carefully. If this report is true …” His voice and thoughts drifted for a moment as he studied the readout.
    “It seems the child’s Talents have gone unnoticed by the authorities and that he has developed naturally. All without even the most rudimentary training. The signs certainly point to powerful potentials waiting to be unlocked.”
    “Either the child has grown up unaware of these Talents,” Nyassa-lee said, studying new information as it appeared on the screen, “or else he is precociously clever.”
    “It may be just natural caution,” Haithness put in. “It will be interesting to find out which is the case.”
    “Which we will do,” Cruachan said firmly. “It’s been a long time since we’ve had a subject as promising as this one come back to us. He could be the one we’ve searched for all these years.”
    “It had better not be a repeat of the last time we located a subject with these figures,” Haithness cautioned, then indicated the new figures materializing on the screen. “Look at those neurological potentials. Remember the only other child who showed numbers like that?”
    “Of course, I remember,” Cruachan said irritably. “We won’t lose this one the way we lost that girl—what the devil was the little monster’s name?”
    “Mahnahmi,” Nyassa-lee reminded him. “Yes, if this boy’sanything like that one, we’re going to have to be extremely careful. I couldn’t take a repeat of that experience.”
    “Neither could I, frankly,” Cruachan admitted. “Our mistake was in trying to regain control over her directly. End result: the girl vanishes again, and two more of the Society go to a premature end. And we’re still not sure how she accomplished it.”
    “We’ll run across her again someday, when our methods are improved,” Haithness said coolly. “Then we’ll deal with her properly.”
    “I’m not sure