The man turned slightly red.
"And he hates us. He thinks we're poor and that it's disgusting to have so many children."
"That is not true," said Sillain.
Father ignored him. "We are poor, John Paul."
"Only because of the Hegemony," said John Paul.
"Don't preach my own sermons back at me," said Father. But he switched to Polish to say it. "If you don't do what they want, then they can punish your mother and me."
Father sometimes knew exactly the right words to say, too.
John Paul turned back to Sillain. "I don't want to be alone with you. I want her to be here for the test."
"Part of the test," said Sillain, "is seeing how well you obey orders."
"Then I fail," said John Paul.
Both the woman and Father laughed.
Sillain did not. "It's obvious that this child has been trained to be noncooperative, Captain Rudolf. Let's go."
"He has not been trained," said Father.
John Paul could see that he looked worried.
"Nobody trained me," said John Paul.
"The mother didn't even know he could read at college level," said the woman softly.
College level? John Paul thought that was ridiculous. Once you knew the letters, reading was reading. How could there be levels?
"She wanted you to think she didn't know," said Sillain.
"My mother doesn't lie," said John Paul.
"No, no, of course not," said Sillain. "I didn't mean to imply--"
Now he was revealing the truth: That he was frightened. Afraid that John Paul might not take his test. His fear meant that John Paul had power in this situation. Even more than he had thought.
"I'll answer your questions," said John Paul, "if the lady stays here."
This time, he knew, Sillain would say yes.
They gathered with a dozen experts and military leaders in a conference room in Berlin. Everyone had already seen Col. Sillain's and Helena's reports. They had seen John Paul's test scores. They had watched the vid of Sillain's conversation with John Paul Wieczorek before, during, and after the test.
H
elena enjoyed how much Sillain hated having to watch this six-year-old Polish boy manipulate him. It hadn't been so obvious at the time, of course, but after you watched the vid over and over, it became painfully obvious. And, while everyone at the table was polite, there were a few raised eyebrows, a nod, a couple of half-smiles when John Paul said, "Then I fail."
At the end of the vid, a Russian general from the office of the Strategos said, "Was he bluffing?"
"He's six," said the young Indian representing the Polemarch.
"That's what's so terrifying," said the teacher who was there for the Battle School. "About all the children at Battle School, actually. Most people live their whole lives without ever meeting a single child like this one."
"So, Captain Graff," said the Indian, "are you saying he's nothing special?"