Incarceron Part 78

"You're right."

He was silent; she wanted him to speak so much, she could have screamed. It seemed an age before he went back to the chair and sat and said calmly,

"I'm afraid the real reason is a secret you will never learn from me."

Seeing her astonishment, he raised his hand.

"I know you despise me, Claudia. I'm sure you and your Sapient think me a monster. But you are my daughter and I have always acted in your interests. Besides, Giles's imprisonment was the Queen's plan, not mine. She forced me to agree."

She snorted in scorn. "Forced! She has power over you!"

He whipped his head up and hissed, "Yes. And so do you."

For a second the venom in his voice stung her.

"Me?"

His hands were fists on the wooden armrests. He said, "Let it go, Claudia. Let it be. Don't ask, because the answer may destroy you. That's all I'm going to say."

He stood, tall and dark, and his voice was bleak.

"Now, about the Key. Nothing you have done with it has escaped me. I know about your search for Bartlett, about your communication with Incarceron. I know about this Prisoner you believe is Giles."

She stared in amazement and he laughed his dry laugh.

"There are a thousand million Prisoners in Incarceron, Claudia, and you believe you've found the right one? Time and s.p.a.ce are different there. This boy could be anyone."

"He has a birthmark."

"Does he now! Let me tell you something about the Prison."

His voice cruel now, he came up to her and stared down at her.

"It's a closed system. Nothing enters. Nothing leaves. When Prisoners die their atoms are reused, their skin, their organs.They are made from each other. Repaired, recycled, and when the organic tissues are not available, they are patched with metal and plastic. Finn's eagle means nothing. It may not even be his. The memories he thinks he sees may not be his."

Horrified, she wanted to stop him, but no words would come.

"The boy is a thief and a liar."

He went on, remorseless.

"One of a gang of cutthroats that preyed on others. I suppose he's told you that?"

"Yes," she snapped.

"How very honest. Has he told you that in order to get his copy of the Key an innocent woman was thrown to her death down a precipice?After he had promised her she was safe?"

She was silent.

"No," he said. "I thought not."

He stood back.

"I want all this nonsense to cease. I want the Key. Now."

She shook her head.

"Now, Claudia."

"I haven't got it," she whispered.

"Then Jared-"

"Leave Jared out of this!"

He caught hold of her. His hand was cold and he gripped her wrist like iron.

"I want the Key or you will regret defying me."

She tried to shake him off, but he held tight. She glared at him through her tumbling hair.

"You can't hurt me. I'm all you've got to make your plan work and you know it!"

For a moment they stared at each other.