Juliana did her best not to blush at his smile.
The older man poured the illegal drink into three very old, handmade glasses. He placed a cigar box on Barrett’s desk, gave the man a cigar, and lit it for him with a match.
“Cuban tobacco.” Barrett smiled as the smoke curled out of his lips. “At least they still allow us some indulgences. Have one.” Barrett nodded at Sebastian, who reached for a cigar, then sat awkwardly as the servant lit it for him. He coughed miserably at the smoke. Barrett smiled at Juliana again. “Does the lady smoke cigars, too?”
“She does not,” Juliana replied, giving him a coy smile she did not actually intend. She didn’t know where it came from. Sebastian regarded her over his smoldering cigar—he’d clearly seen it.
Barrett made a slight gesture with his cigar, and his servant left the study, closing the door behind him.
“To the future,” Barrett said, raising the glass. Juliana and Sebastian joined the toast, though they weren’t sure exactly what he meant by it, and then they drank. The Canadian whiskey had bite, but was much smoother than most of the liquor she’d tasted, like moonshine and bathtub gin. She tried not to let the men see her shudder as the whiskey kicked her in the stomach.
“Mr. Barrett, what is it that you do?” Sebastian asked, looking around the office, which was an odd mix of bland accounting décor and African safari.
“For work? Just tedious things. Farming, banking, shipping. The grunt work of civilization, really, but it must be done. I won’t bore valued guests with such talk.” He puffed his cigar and stood, looking out over the sill of one of the room’s high windows, which left the lower half of the room in shadow. “Egyptology is not my only avocation, nor is it my primary one. I do share with the pharaohs an interest in legacy, a desire to leave a sizable mark on the world before I pass on. My own little piece of immortality.
“That town down the hill is my playground. My family has been here since the beginning. Soon, we’ll have paved roads and a modern water system. We’re even digging a reservoir, with a little pocket money from the Roosevelt administration. The town will grow into a city. It’s well-positioned, right at the crossing of two of the busiest roads in the area. People have been meeting and trading here for two centuries. Now the telegraph line from Charleston runs right through Fallen Oak and on to Columbia, where it hooks into the main New York-New Orleans line. Add that to our railroad spur and our cotton exchange, and we’re looking at a prosperous future.”
He sat down, facing them again, and had more whiskey. “But that’s small-time, isn’t it? Just a little personal project of mine, this town. I’m involved in much larger things. Have you ever heard of the International Human Evolution Congress?”
Juliana and Sebastian shook their heads.
“I have the quarterly newsletter here somewhere,” Barrett said, but he made no move to find it among the stacks of papers on his desk. “It’s an organization of men influential in academia and the sciences, as well as simple business folk like me. We are committed to improvement of the human species. Already, our research has led to public health policies implemented by states like Virginia and California. The recently elected government in Germany has embraced our work enthusiastically, and is committed to funding and advancing our research.”
Juliana just nodded. She and Sebastian had little idea of what was happening in a place as exotic and distant as Europe. Or even California, for that matter.
“What kind of policies?” Sebastian asked. “In Virginia and California?”
“Most of our work focuses on identifying and combating genetic disorders,” Barrett told them. “For the benefit of posterity. On the other end of the spectrum, though, is the truly interesting work, and that’s where the two of you fit in. We are constantly searching for those who possess, not disorders, but supernormal DNA. Those at the forward edge of human evolution. We want to encourage the progress of humanity.”
“Encourage how?” Juliana asked. She sipped the whiskey again. Her head was starting to grow cloudy with the rum and whiskey, but the liquor also emboldened her to talk and ask questions.
“First, through research. We must understand how humanity is evolving and what new abilities might be emerging. The many talented scientists in our organization would be eager to study the two of you...provided that your powers are genuine, and my detective has not simply been fooled by your carnival tricks.”
“You want to know if we’re genuine?” Juliana smirked drunkenly and stripped the ratty cotton glove from her left hand. The open air felt cool on her sweaty fingers. “Watch me.”