"Super soldier," Shalimar repeated doubtfully. "Right."

"Genomex almost succeeded," Adam told her sternly. "Benji is an example of how close they came to reality. Think of it, Shalimar: Benji outweighs you three to one, is taller than you by more than eighteen inches, and is as quick as any feral. Tell me that he wouldn't be a formidable opponent to go up against."

"Right," Brennan grunted, comfortable on the lounger, leaning on one elbow. His lanky form was draped across the long fabric covered piece of furniture, the picture of a tiger at ease. "Everything except brains. All you have to do is walk behind him, and he'll never know where you went."

"Brennan," Emma reproved, "be nice. It wasn't his fault."

But Adam nodded ruefully. "I wouldn't put it that way, but Brennan's right and so is Emma. It's not Benji's fault that he was born that way, but as he is, he's useless to everyone. Genomex recognized that six months into the pregnancy and refused to continue the experiment, which is why Beatrice Sutter walked out. It was a great loss; Dr. Sutter is a brilliant geneticist."

"Wait a minute." Shalimar sat up straight. "Are you telling me that she simply walked away from Genomex? And they let her?"

Adam shrugged. "It wasn't quite that easy, even back then before Genomex had the power that they do today. She must have had help; she was seven months along by that time she disappeared, and rapid walking was not on the agenda." The corners of his mouth quirked up. "I've never had the nerve to ask her who the co-conspirators were, and by now it really doesn't matter."

"Who was the father?" Jesse wanted to know. "Maybe he was the one who helped."

Another shrug. "Another item shrouded in mystery," Adam admitted. "Anyway, Bea contacted me to ask for my help. She's been working for all of Benji's life to find a way to restore his mind, to give him the intelligence he should have had simply to lead as normal a life as possible. So far she hasn't had any luck."

"And she thinks that you have the answer?" Jesse asked. "Why would she think that? You work with mutants, not necessarily brain power."

Adam went into lecture mode. "Benji's own DNA is based on the mutant genome. It isn't clear to me if he's truly a mutant or not, but all the traditional methods she's tried haven't succeeded. She's been able to raise his intelligence to normal for a couple of weeks, then the effect dissipates and fades to his usual state of a four year old's level of intelligence."

Jesse caught on at once. "So Dr. Sutter is on the right track, but missing the key element to make it stick. She thinks you have that key?"

"Right. As I said, it's not clear if Benji is a mutant but the indicators suggest that using mutant proteins as a base for the serum that Dr. Sutter has developed may be the answer. So she looked me up."

Brennan scowled. "That's it? She just 'looked you up'? Adam, you don't exactly put out an ad in the yellow pages. How did she find you?"

Adam allowed a brief smile to ghost across his face. "A note here, a whisper there. You know that I still keep some connections to the scientific community, Brennan."

"Yeah, Brennan." Shalimar punched him playfully in the shoulder. "Don't be so paranoid."

Brennan glowered back. "Don't knock it. It's kept me alive."