The Child Goddess Read Online Free

the Sikassa were there.”
    “No one did!” This was from Markham, and it had the indignant ring of truth.
    Boreson interrupted. “Unfortunately, some who oversee the charters think the Sikassa should be treated as indigenous. I don’t agree, and I was hoping you wouldn’t, either.”
    Isabel drew a deliberate breath. Penance, she reminded herself. But she hated being manipulated. She rose and went to the window, looking out past the striations of rain to the glass and steel towers of the city. “Administrator,” she said mildly. “Think of it. The Sikassa have lived on Virimund for three hundred years. More than ten generations.”
    The flyers had landed. Suited men and women climbed out, and Port Force longshoremen set to work around the aircraft. Isabel thought she recognized the stocky figure of the one who had met her own plane, the one with the long, heavy-lidded eyes. It had been a pleasant face. It had been the only friendly face she had seen today. She put one finger against the cool glass, and a damp spot formed where she touched it. She turned abruptly to Gretchen Boreson and Cole Markham.
    “What is it you expect me to do?” she asked. “And why in heaven’s name did ExtraSolar take this child from her home? Surely your people could see that their action compounded the offense already committed.”
    “Dr. Adetti did what he thought was best.” Boreson’s voice was tight. “Remember, there is fault on both sides.”
    “We don’t know enough to judge that. The study should have come first.”
    “Look, Mother Burke.” The administrator stood up, and came around the desk with quick, short steps that gave the impression she was about to fall down. She stopped beside Isabel, bracing herself with one hand on the wall. The muscle jumped again beside her mouth, rippling the thin skin of her cheek. “We secured an extraordinary empowerment provision from the charter governments to allow us to study this child and her people,” Boreson said. “Your guardianship of her is stipulated by that provision. By helping us, you will be helping the girl. We need to understand what’s happening on Virimund. What has already happened.” She waved her hand at the towers and domes and spires of the city beyond the Multiplex. A narrow beam of sunshine lanced through the cloud cover to brighten the rooftops. “We didn’t know the Sikassa were there, we truly didn’t. And there’s still no sign of anyone else except this group of children. But ExtraSolar needs what Virimund has to offer.”
    “It’s a lot to ask of one person.”
    Boreson nodded and, to Isabel’s relief, stepped away from her. “If you need an assistant, you have only to ask.”
    “Have you spoken to this child yourself?”
    Boreson’s shake of the head was dismissive. “No. I understand she doesn’t speak much English. And I’m afraid I’m not good with children.”
    “What made you think of the Magdalenes, Administrator?”
    Boreson’s delicately tinted lips curved slightly. “I believe the Magdalenes are still trying to establish themselves. We thought you might need us as much as we need you. And your Mother General told me you would be perfect. She was quite eager for you to accept.”
    Marian Alexander, of course, had her own agenda. Isabel knew very well how ambitious she was for her order, how much she wanted to prove its worthiness to Holy See. And Isabel, returning from Oceania with a stain on her soul, had provided Marian with the ideal answer to ExtraSolar’s request.
    “I’d like to see the girl now,” Isabel said.
    Boreson, with the same quick, falling steps, moved back to her desk and fitted the transmission wand into its receptor. She spoke into it briefly, and then turned her chilly smile on Isabel. “They’re expecting you in the infirmary,” she said.
    “The infirmary?” Isabel asked. “Is the child ill?”
    Boreson’s features froze, just for an instant, but the moment of stillness made Isabel’s neck