(Untitled)

[simon_doctor]

Kaylee's out for the evening, having stayed just long enough to say hello to Jordie when he arrived. (She's going to Milliways, Simon knows; she'll be back late.)

They're on their own for dinner.

Comments

[walk_ins]

"I'm hoping you'll forgive me for saying so, but Simon -- "

Jordie doesn't look away. "He works for the feds now. He is the feds. Are you sure it doesn't matter?"

[simon_doctor]

He nods heavily. "It was repeated."

Long pause.

"And not just on River."

[walk_ins]

"No."

Very quiet. It's agreement.

"And all those other people wouldn't listen. So. River's the only one who got out? And the rest of them -- what? Are they still there?"

[simon_doctor]

Pause.

"Not anymore. And ... this is the part that can't ever be made public. For a lot of reasons."

Simon reaches for his drink and takes a swallow to clear his throat.

"You remember the Saranac Event."

[walk_ins]

"With the power outages and the riots?" Jordie's nodding.

Simon will make the connection; it's beyond Jordie what it could possibly be.

[simon_doctor]

"The facility where they were keeping the kids was an orbital space station," he says. "During the Event it underwent catastrophic system failure. The official line is that there weren't any survivors."

[walk_ins]

"And the unofficial line?"

[simon_doctor]

Another drink.

"We got there first."

He looks Jordie directly in the face again. "We had help. And some of it I can't tell you anything more about. But we found the place, and we got the rest of the kids out. And we burned it down behind us."

The note in his voice is almost too grim to be called satisfaction.

Almost.

[walk_ins]

Jordie is quiet for a moment.

Then, thoughtful:

"Simon."

"You're saying you used the Saranac Event for cover."

[simon_doctor]

"We didn't plan on that. We didn't know it was coming."

It's close enough to the truth. They'd had no idea precisely when the splintering of the Beam was coming, or what would happen when it did.

"But it was effective as cover, in the end. It meant nobody was looking for any further explanation of why one particular station had exploded. And ... it also meant nobody had any reason to think the kids weren't still there when it happened."

[walk_ins]

There are a lot of questions he has. A lot.

"You can see all the holes in that story," he says, still thoughtful. "Without further detail, it's a little difficult to believe. But. You can't give me -- or anybody -- any of that detail, can you."

[simon_doctor]

Simon shakes his head. "I don't think I can tell you much more than I already have. Or anybody," he repeats, acknowledging that point.

A pause, and he adds "There's ... one piece of further evidence. I was able to get the complete files on the project -- the entire project, start to finish -- from the man who was running it."

(The man. He won't say the doctor.)

[walk_ins]

"And did they clarify why they'd engaged in medical experimentation without consent on minors?" Flat, again.

[simon_doctor]

"Oh yes." Just as flat. "The purpose of the project was optimization of human potential. Trying to make people better."

He can still see Sergio Lin's face: countless times in the files, once in the chaos of the Academy assault itself.

"Somehow in their minds that justified it all."

[walk_ins]

"How -- how is psychic in any way better?"

There are some things you don't want to know.

[simon_doctor]

"The question might be, better at what. Or for what." Still flat, and desert-dry. "His initial concept was that making the entire human race psychic would bring about perfect mutual understanding, and thus eliminate conflict. Somehow I don't think he thought that one through."

He shakes his head. "It hardly matters, given that the project was almost immediately co-opted to a different end. And that has to do with why they wanted River back badly enough to chase us across the known 'verse."