Unsaid: A Novel by Neil Abramson Page A

put on this earth to help redeem us,” she says. “That must be hard work, but they never give up on us. It would make sense to me that, when it’s all over, they finally get to just enjoy the fruits of that labor. Don’t you think?”
    Ms. Pendle squeezes her eyes shut and nods gratefully. When she opens them again, she mouths a silent
thank you
to Sally and backs out of the room, leaving Sally alone with her son and his now completed drawing.
    Clifford’s picture is so finely detailed that it looks like a black-and-white photograph.
    In the drawing, Archie and an old man without a cane walk side by side through an ancient grove of trees.
    In the CAPS lab, Jaycee runs Cindy through her finger-spelling exercises. I’ve seen them do this before. Jaycee first speaks and signs a word, then waits for Cindy to copy her gestures with her gloved fingers. Jaycee confirms that Cindy has matched the sign correctly by checking that the word appears on her computer screen.
    In the five minutes I’ve watched them so far today, Cindy got almost all the words correct. When the computer reflected an error, however, Jaycee gently molded Cindy’s fingers until the correct word appeared. Every correct response elicited Jaycee’s excited praise and a squeal from Cindy.
    They are just finishing the word
apple
when a man with thinning gray hair that matches the color of his suit thunders into the lab.
    “You had no right!” he shouts at Jaycee.
    “Nice to see you too, Scott,” Jaycee says as she quickly returns Cindy to the Cube. Cindy curls her lips back against her teeth, a sign that she does not like either this man or his tone.
    “You could’ve at least given me the common courtesy of telling me that Congressman Wolfe was coming,” he says, his voice only slightly less booming.
    “Why? So you could convince him not to come?”
    “No, because I am the director of this facility and I make those decisions.”
    “His committee is the only shot I’ve got for an extension of funding, and you won’t help me. I did what I had to. Sorry if it doesn’t fit within your little political protocol.”
    “I’m attempting to save NIS and yourself from what will be a terrible embarrassment. You’ve no idea the situation—”
    “—just because you don’t trust my work, doesn’t mean it’s not valid.”
    “Actually, as far as the funding for this project goes, that’s exactly what it means.”
    “Professional jealousy is not an attractive quality on you.”
    “Jealousy? That’s what you think this is about?”
    “I don’t see a lot of other reasons.”
    “How about the fact that you can’t replicate your results? Those gloves and this computer program only seem to work for you. She won’t converse with anyone else. Why is that?”
    “That’s not true. I’m not the only one she’s responded to.”
    “Who else, then? I know she won’t do it with Frank. Show me just one other person. Bring him here and show me.”
    Jaycee doesn’t take the offer.
    “That’s what I thought,” he barks. “No one but you. That’s prima facie evidence that she’s not responding to language at all; she’s responding to your cues—whether they are intentional or not. Congratulations—you’ve turned her into Pavlov’s dog! That’s why no respected peer-review journal will accept your work. And if you weren’t so close to this and”—he points to Cindy—“to her, you’d see that I’m right.”
    Cindy becomes more agitated as the argument continues. She paces the length of the Cube, whimpering every few moments.
    “I don’t think Wolfe will see it that way,” Jaycee says. “And we both know that’s really what you’re afraid of, isn’t it, Jannick?”
    Jannick throws his hands up and heads toward the door. He turns to Jaycee one final time. “You’ve really lost yourself in this, Dr. Cassidy. It’s sad that we’ve gotten here, but it convinces me that my initial decision was absolutely correct. If you can’t