"How much does the good Reverend know?" asked Alvarson grimly.
"He knows some of us read minds," said Usagi. "He does not know we are senshi."
"What about his daughter?"
Sarah piped up: "He doesn't know yet."
"But he will," said Alvarson, more to himself than to the others. He twisted his beard as he thought, a habit most of his women and all of his barbers had never been able to break him of.
"The Reverend may well figure it out himself," said Stephanie Watanabe. "He is very intelligent, something he hides well. And he probably can sense the flow of time. I haven't met that many precognates, Doctor, but he feels like one to me. Put that together with what we know from his daughter--"
"He foresees the Silence," said Usagi. "He does not understand it. But he senses that Tammy and Philip will lead him closer to an answer."
Alvarson nodded, slowly.
Haruka said, "He will not stop even if he gets the children back. He is still pressuring my family to reveal their connection to Professor Tomoe and the cult of Pharoah Ninety."
"I'm afraid I don't understand that," said Alvarson. "He must know your family would never make that public."
"He is not demanding public disclosure," said Haruka. "What he wants is to know for himself."
"Or so he says," said Michiru. "He cannot be that foolish, to think the head of any kairetsu would give him even more blackmail material."
"It must be more than blackmail," said Alvarson. "He knows we can blackmail him, now."
"We know, but we cannot reveal it," said Rei.
"Now that we know what to look for, we can find a way to use it to destroy him," said Alvarson. "He knows that. But he is not giving up, not even playing at giving up."
"It is as Betty-san told us," said Usagi. "He is sure he is doing right to do this."
"Then he is more dangerous than I thought," said Alvarson. After doing considerable disservice to his beard, he said, "I know you don't want to harm this man because of his daughter. Put that out of your minds for the moment. Should we remove him? Mars, Neptune, you must have looked forward with this in mind."
"I see difficulties," said Michiru, "But I am not sure they will be worse than what will happen if we let this 'holy man' go on."
"With my talent, I see disaster," said Rei. "We won't kill him, Doctor. And if he disappears, he will return, and it will be worse."
Setsuma spoke. "He is fated. We cannot stop that. You have Talent for Time, Doctor. You must have sensed that."
"I have," said the Founder. "I hoped I was wrong." Alvarson turned back to Usagi. "Your instinct was correct, Sovereign. Tell your President how dangerous the Reverend is, and how he took over his church."
"I'm sure she won't charge the 'holy man,'" said Rei. "It would tear her party apart. Anyway, it's a matter for states under American law, and his church has much influence there. Even people who are not his followers will not want to believe he could do such a thing."
"That's a fine political judgement worthy of your father, Counsellor. Or is it your father's? Does he know now?"
"Not from me," said Rei. "Perhaps from Kaidou, but . . . I think I know my father well enough to know. And I can make my own political judgements, Alvarson-sama."
"I didn't say you couldn't," said Alvarson, smiling thinly for a moment. "If we can't stop him, we can at least pull some of his teeth. He'll grow them back like any other shark, but it will take him some time. And it is a thing worth doing for itself."
"Before we begin," said Dr. Watanabe, "I will remind you that anything your daughter told me in therapy is confidential."
"Even from me, Doc?" said Johnny Lee Swainson.
"Especially from you," said Watanabe. "Even if you are paying the bill."
"All right, all right," said Swainson, holding palms up. "I like a man who sticks to what he thinks is right, even if he ain't right."
"Thank you. Now that we understand the ground rules, what do you want to talk about?"
"This 'n' that," drawled Swainson. "You started out as a police shrink, din' you?"
"I was involved in forensic psychiatry, yes," said Watanabe.
"Whah'dya quit?"
"I decided to become a therapist instead," said Watanabe.
"You mean, your woman decided for you, don'cha, son?"
"That's--" <None of his business, but the bastard is right.> Harold Watanabe reconsidered his response. "Essentially, yes. My wife asked me to choose between changing my job or keeping her, and I chose."
"Are you happy with that choice now, Doc?"
"I am not unhappy," said Watanabe. "And we stayed together nearly twenty years."
"Not a bad run these days," said the Reverend. "Not bad 'tall for a secular humanist."
Watanabe was becoming irritated, but like any decent therapist, he did not show it. Much. "Reverend, you must have had me investigated. You wouldn't have trusted me with your daughter if you weren't sure I was competent and reliable. What do you really want from me today? If you want therapy yourself, I can recommend--"
"No, that ain't it," said Swainson. "I got my own shrink. I guess my Benny din' tell you that."
"No, actually." What was he up to?
"You got any problem pickin' through someone else's brain for me?"
"If you mean evaluating or treating someone else, no," said Watanabe. "May I ask who?"
"Alvin Yount. He's the father of those kids I've been tryin' to get back from an illegal adoption. Been on the news some, I understan'. I can get you in touch with other people who've looked at him. I want you to check him out, tell me if you think you can help him and how much, and especially when and if he'll be ready to stand up in court or in front of a live camera."
Dr. Watanabe considered his answer. "I have a heavy schedule. If you want me to see him before the end of the holidays, you'll have to bring him here."
Unexpectedly, the Reverend agreed immediately. "I'll find a place to put him up, and you can see him as soon as you want. Now, tell me how you really think my Benny is holding up."
Watanabe thought about returning to the matter of Alvin Yount, but decided the Reverend wasn't going to tell him any more. Instead he spoke plainly about the girl. "She's been having disturbing dreams. She's also holding back. Maybe one is related to the other. I've seen some improvement, but I think it's placebo effect. She won't make real progress in therapy until she trusts her therapist enough to open up completely. I could give her a simulcrum of better adjustment with medication, but it wouldn't last. She doesn't have a chemical imbalance. She has an issue she must face up to and resolve. I can't help her do that if she won't let me." He shrugged. "Perhaps another therapist could do better."
"You got any idea what that 'issue' might be, Doc?"
"I might ask you the same question, Reverend."
"You might," said Swainson, sounding satisfied. He rose. "Don't sell yourself short, Doc, you're helping my Benny. I trust you. Can't really say that about a whole lot of folks." He put out his hand to be shaken, and once it was, he started to leave. But he stopped just at the door, turned around, and said, "You didn't have any kids with that ex-wife of yours, did you, Doc?"
"No."
"Any without her?"
"None that I know of, Reverend," replied Watanabe as slowly and politely as he could manage.
Swainson nodded. "I don't see you as a man who would hide out from his children." Then the Reverend did leave.
Harold Watanabe sat by himself for a long time in his office thinking about the Reverend, what he had said, and what he had not said.