The sight no longer surprised Michael Barnes, who was then only a part-time independent contractor for Harmony House. He watched emotionlessly as Victor Parks drove away from his one and only child. Barnes had already witnessed this scene a dozen times.
What did surprise him was that none of the parents had a clue what was really going on here. These kids were brought here to save the government money while protecting our national interests. It was more cost effective to house potential security threats like Eddie in facilities like Harmony House than it was to monitor them out in the real world, where they were so ill-equipped to survive, much less protect themselves.
The brain drain from Nazi Germany and the rest of Europe had been what gave the United States the bomb and killed any chance of the Aryan Dream. Well, that and the kidnapping of several high-ranking German rocket scientists who were forced to complete their work for the mongrels and not the Master Race. Robert Oppenheimer once said during the Manhattan Project that the greatest threat to national security was the secrets kept inside the brains of his employees when they went home at night.
If that was the case, Dr. Marcus Fenton had told Ronald Reagan one fateful Sunday afternoon in the Oval Office, the brains of the little professors were the greatest threat in the modern world. While most were too far gone to be useful to anyone, the needle in the haystack was out there somewhere, and the nation couldn’t risk any other entity ever acquiring it. On that spring day in 1987, Reagan committed to a decade of funding in a matter of thirteen minutes.
CHAPTER 15
Eddie’s Room, Harmony House, May 22, 11:47 a.m.
Eddie clutched the weathered brochure in his hands as he sat on his bed. His cheek was still red where he had slapped himself earlier in the recreation room. Listening to the footsteps approaching, he knew it was Skylar before she KNOCKED, which she did three times. She opened the door slowly and sat down next to him on his Batman sheets, which reminded her of the sheets her brother used to sleep on, except that Christopher’s had featured rocket ships. Skylar didn’t say a word for over a minute, something she had learned to do when her brother was very young. She would sit with him for hours, not saying anything. She was the only one in the world who just wanted to be with him. Eventually, he seemed to understand that, and he opened up to her. She could only hope the same would be true with Eddie.
It worked in surprisingly short order, because it made Eddie curious. Usually, the doctors who came into his room started talking right away, asking him all kinds of questions. Eddie didn’t like this, particularly the ones whose voices were not very pleasant to listen to. But Skylar wasn’t in this category. She was different. “Dr. Drummond, why are you just sitting there?”
She did not attempt to look at him. She simply stared at the floor, much like he was. Her hands were clasped in her lap. “I’m actually doing far more than just sitting here.”
“What else are you doing?” He turned to look at her, which Skylar knew was a victory in and of itself. Eddie studied her from head to toe. As far as he could tell, she wasn’t doing anything else, which was why he looked puzzled.
“For one thing, I am nonverbally communicating with you.”
“What are you communicating nonverbally?”
“That I care about you and want you to know I’m here for you.”
“How are you communicating that?”
“By not saying anything.” She smiled ever so slightly, like when a cat owner first holds a ball of yarn just out of a new pet’s reach.
Eddie looked confused. “I don’t understand.”
“I’m trying to reassure you without using words. Have you ever heard the expression, ‘Actions speak louder than—’”
He interrupted her. “Does everyone who sits down next to me want to reassure me?”
“Most definitely not.”
“Then how do I know what someone is communicating nonverbally when they sit down next to me?”
“That is something I’m going to teach you.”
Eddie blinked several times, trying to process the information. “Dr. Drummond, why didn’t you just use words to say that you wanted to reassure me? That would have been simpler.”
“It also would have been less memorable. Tell me, how many people have told you that they wanted to reassure you?”
“I don’t know the exact number, but I would have to say at least twenty-seven.”
“I didn’t want to be just the twenty-eighth person. I wanted to be different. To stand out from everyone else.”
Eddie digested this for a moment. “So you wanted to reassure me, and you wanted me to know that you were different from everyone else.”
“Yes.”
“You are right. That is a lot more than just sitting next to me.”
Skylar smiled again, enjoying the incredible silence in room 237. “It sure is quiet in here.”
“I don’t like noise.” He stared out the windows, looking at the empty tree branches. There wasn’t a bird in sight.
“Are you okay, Eddie?”
He continued looking out the window. He wasn’t sure how to properly answer the question, so he didn’t.
“I mean, about what happened earlier, during your lecture.”
He nodded, now pretending to understand what she was asking. He showed no emotion as he tried to decide which of his memorized responses to give. “Yes, I’m fine.” He scribbled something in his Book of Questions.
She mimicked his BUZZER sound, which immediately made him stop writing and look up with surprise.
“Why did you do that?”
“It’s the sound you make when you don’t think someone is telling the truth, isn’t it?”
“Yes, but I’m not supposed to. Dr. Fenton said so.”
She paused for effect. “I think it’s okay.”
He seemed genuinely surprised. “You do?”
“Each of us has some unique way of communicating that is part of who we are. Me, sometimes I just like to sit next to someone and not say a word. You, sometimes you buzz when you think someone isn’t telling the truth.”
Eddie nodded, glad that he had something in common with his new doctor. At least, she said he did. “Why did you think I wasn’t telling the truth?”
“It’s not that I thought you were being dishonest. What I think is that you gave me the answer you thought would make me stop asking you questions about what happened.”
He finished making his notation in the notebook, and immediately felt uncomfortable.
Studying him closely, she decided she had pushed him far enough for an initial foray. “If you don’t want to talk about it, Eddie, that’s okay. But whenever you’re ready to talk, I’m ready to listen. I like listening to you.”
He watched her as she moved toward the door. “Skylar, you are different from everyone else.” His voice was monotone. Without emotion. But then he smiled ever so briefly. It was more of a flicker, really, but, just for a moment, it was there. And it told Skylar everything she needed to know.
“So are you, Eddie.” And with that, she left. If there was a breakthrough lurking somewhere within Eddie, she was now certain she would be able to bring it out of him.
CHAPTER 16
Russell Senate Building, Washington, DC, May 22, 3:53 p.m.