Confabulation (14 page)

CHAPTER
39

Jackson stared out the edge of the blacked out window, waiting for the pedestrian traffic to dwindle. He continued to rub his hands with the moist, disinfectant towlette. Behind him, he could feel the warmth rising into the conditioned air. He hoped an ideal opportunity to leave would arise before the smell began to fill the room.

Jackson had planned his actions. Was committed to their execution. But he hated what he had to do. He’d maintained distance from the men in the operation intentionally. He felt it would make his decisions more clear, make it easier for him to issue his orders without prejudice. He was wrong.

After his meeting with Danton, Jackson knew that he needed to act quickly to make sure that everything was clear. That nothing got back to compliance. And that there wasn’t any pressure to follow ideas as insidious as Danton’s. He wanted the company to change, not fall apart to be replaced by runner chaos.

After that meeting, he called the two agents who he had trusted with surveillance. Only they knew all the subjects. Only they were a weak point if compliance came around. He’d take care of the subjects, but the agents had to be secured. They’d come at his request, to a secure location he promised was safe.

“Come in. We need to discuss what’s happened.”

He asked them both to sit. Donaldson sat in the chair nearest the door. Franks, a woman Jackson had trained, took the other chair. Neither spoke.

“It seems this program has gotten away from us. Through no fault of yours, those responsible for executing the plan have erred.”

Jackson walked behind them. Reached out his mind to fill the room. Slowly bringing his thoughts in on the two before him.

“However, we have lost contact with them both. Are you currently aware of the location of any of the targets?” He opened his mind to the emotions of their response. He felt them yield to the request. They’d been trained to do so. Ensure honesty.

Donaldson spoke first. “No, sir. I don’t know the current location of any of them.”

The truth, Jackson knew.

“No, sir.” Franks didn’t elaborate.

The truth as well.

Jackson took a deep breath. Pushed deeper. They’d let him in, now he would do what was needed. He pushed against their minds, their defenses useless against him. He shoved open the small door they had created and crashed through their psyche.

In his mind, he was squeezing with all his might. His hands were balled into fists, his nails digging into his hands.

The two sat transfixed. Motionless. Blood flowing from their ears and noses. The corner of Franks’ mouth release a bubble of blood and saliva. Her eyes rolled back into her head and she fell to the floor.

Donaldson resisted. He pushed back, but it was no use. Jackson engulfed the man’s mind and assaulted his thoughts. He hammered away. Jackson’s body ached as his muscles responded to the effort of his mind. Blows rang through the ether.

Donaldson wavered. His head shaking. He gritted his teeth. Broken them under the strain. Blood blew out his nose. Brain and blood from the ears.

It was over.

Jackson staggered back.

Wiped the sweat from his forehead and tried to catch his breath. He knew they deserved better, but he had to tie up loose ends. With the deed done, he cleaned up and made his way to the windows.

Finally clear.

He shut the door behind him. He was almost done. Just a few more things.

The subjects. He had to take them out.

Next, the woman from compliance. Couldn’t let that get back.

But first was Peter.

Jackson swallowed and prepared himself for a fight.

CHAPTER
40

Henry’s eyes darted as charts and papers emerged from the binder in Hap’s lap. He watched Hap place the charts quickly, but change their position often. He seemed to be operating under the influence of enough of the house coffee to counteract the visible lack of sleep.

"Okay, let’s start at the beginning. First, you’re not the first or the only person this is happening to. I don’t know how many are being tested, but I’ve talked to others before. It’s always a little different, I think they’re getting better, but you can tell it’s the same stuff."

"Slow down, Hap. Tell me what’s going on."

"Okay, sorry. You see, they have these devices that can transmit to your skull. It makes your brain hear, see, and feel stuff. It’s all here in the charts."

Henry reached down to stead Hap’s hand. He felt odd calming the person who was trying to alleviate his fears, but he needed to understand what the information was, and he needed Hap to calm down so he could explain it to Henry. "Hap, you need to calm down. Why don’t you tell me the story from the beginning? Things like who these people are and how they can do these things."

"Okay, sorry. Half of it started back in Viet Nam, like so many other horrible things the government does to us. Anyway, the army thought they needed a better way to communicate to troops. They found that soldiers who worked on radar could hear a buzzing from the train of microwave pulses coming from the equipment. They kept researching that and found that they could get it down to individual pops and clicks. By managing the microwaves, making them jump around a specified band. With a receiver, the subjects could hear what was being broadcast, even though there was no audible sound."

"But, I don’t have a receiver, Hap."

"I know man, and the government understood that was a limitation. They couldn’t go around putting receivers in people’s heads, and not because of the people either, the bastards would do anything, no they just didn’t want someone to get captured and then have the whole plan shot because one receiver was stolen. No, they needed something else, so they looked at ultrasound, high frequencies instead of microwaves."

"Hap, I don’t understand all this."

"Look, man, I don’t get it all either. I learn some of this stuff as best I can, but if I could understand it all, I’d have made something to stop it. I’m just telling you what I know."

"Sorry, it’s just a lot."

"You ain’t heard nothing yet. Anyways, yeah, unltrasound. You see, eventually they found that they could get microwaves to talk to people with no receiver, but it changed depending on who the person was. They’d pick a subject and keep testing until that one person could hear. Well, in the meantime they started with this other plan. They used these high frequency waves to talk to people, but they found that the people knew what they were saying even though they couldn’t hear anything."

The rambling of Hap now captivated Henry. The information, though fanciful, seemed to flow out of him. Henry gave his full attention, and focused on understanding what he was hearing. "What do you mean?"

"It was like the brain heard it directly. Like they just knew what was wanted. The army didn’t think this was that helpful, mainly because they were never really convinced that it would work as well as voice. What happened then was, the army dropped ultrasound, but CIA’s MKULTRA, their mind control guys, latched onto it. They though they could use it for their operatives. If they could transmit the location of something and have the agent just know it, they would be set."

"Hap, I could hear the voice. It wasn’t like that."

"Hold on man, you’ll see where I’m going. See, the CIA wanted to use it on their own agents, but they found out something else. Since the brain heard the words, but the ears didn’t, they could use the technology for some great hypnosis. Just as good as voice, but they didn’t have to have the attention of the subject. That’s when it became a weapon. They got all kinds of excited then. They thought they were about to do some major damage to some terrorist groups by making them all start thinking a new way."

Henry’s mind was racing as the story started to come together. The agitation he felt could have been put there. His reactions to simple things Kelly started doing could have been triggers. Kelly’s reaction to him could have been triggered. "Oh, God. Kelly."

"What was that man?"

"I wonder if they used the hypnosis thing on my wife."

"Why would you think that?"

"I think they were trying to drive me crazy by wrecking my life. Looking back on it, I think Kelly may have been programmed to respond with more anger than natural."

"That makes sense, man. Listen to this. When they started talking about terrorist, the FBI started thinking about our turf. You know, Oklahoma City, Waco stuff. They started thinking about what they could do to some internal groups with this new tech. That’s about when the reports start appearing."

"Reports?"

"Yeah. That’s about when I started hearing about people like you. Regular people who started hearing voices, seeing shadows, going blind off and on. It all started up when the timeline says they started thinking about using this stuff on us. Not on some terrorist out there, but on us. Wanting to keep us in line."

"Shit. How can they get away with this?"

"I don’t think there’s that many of them. I think a small group travels around and does it to test if it works on normal people. If they can make a regular guy like you turn into a gun wielding idiot, then they know it works."

Henry held his head in his hands. There was just too much information. He needed time, but how much time did he have. Someone else had found him, and would be able to find him again. He wanted his life back, but how could trust anything he felt anymore. "Hap, what can I do?"

"Man, if I knew how to stop these guys, I’d have done it. Me and some others just tell people about it when we can. We’ve even been on TV but no one listens. They think we’re all just a bunch of alien spotters or nutcases. All I can tell you is you got to get away from here. They’ll find you, dude they already did."

"I can’t run forever, Hap. I want my life back."

"Man, they have your life. You can’t have it back. You either need to get a new life, or lose your life. That’s the only choices I see."

Henry shook his head and thanked Hap for his time. He twitched and nodded. Went back out the small door, and vanished into the stacks of books. Henry left the office and walked ot the front door. He wasn’t sure what his next step should be. Quitting wasn’t an option, but how did he fight something like that? Did he even believe what Hap told him? It sounded absurd, but in his gut, he knew it was true.

He passed a tall, stern man on the way out. They exchanged a terse nod, a requirement of having met eyes rather than a friendly gesture. Henry felt cold as they crossed. Tried to shake off the feeling, dismissed it as nerves.

As he exited the store, he looked back, but the man was gone. He left the door shut behind him. Hopped into his car where his cell phone stared at his from the passenger seat. It had been turned on, and a number had been dialed. It sat, waiting for a call.

Henry looked around. Saw no one. He looked back at the door and thought of the man. Shook his head. His heart pounded. He looked back and forth, hoping to catch a glimpse of someone looking at him. He wanted to be away. Away from it all.

No. Running wasn’t an option. He had decided that when he came back to town. He had no idea what he was dealing with, but he knew that he had to reclaim his life, and his life was here.

Despite Hap’s warning, Henry knew what had to be done.

He picked up his phone, and punched in the number.

Stared at the screen. Fear and confusion from the first call came rushing back.

His heart was beating faster and his palms were moist with fear. He took a deep breath and sent the call. It was difficult to breathe and he couldn’t really understand what he was doing, but he had to take that step. He tried to steady his breathing while the phone rang.

"Hello, Henry."

Henry hated the various tactics people used to establish superiority in a conversation. The salutation used by the man was the verbal equivalent of men who tried to place their hand on top during a handshake. He decided to take control of the conversation. "We need to meet."

"Really, that’s wonderful. I’ll contact you shortly regarding a safe location."

Nice try, Henry thought. "No. I’ll call you soon. Get the details ready, and I call and let you know when I can meet."

"Henry, I really think we should meet as soon as I can arrange a safe place."

"I understand that, but I have to take certain precautions of my own. Whether you agree with this or not, we’ll meet when I’m ready, or not at all." The assertions pleased Henry even though he assumed the man at the other end could apprehend him if he needed. Henry assumed the man needed Henry’s trust, and he intended to use that to his advantage.

"Very well, call me tomorrow and I’ll pass on what information I have."

"I’ll see how things are, but it may not be tomorrow. I’ll get back as soon as I can."

"Please hurry, Henry. I don’t have to tell you how important this is."

"No, you don’t. I’ll call you soon." Henry ended the call and laughed to himself. The little control he exercised in that call made him feel that he was inching closer to the life he used to have, slowly but surely.

He started the car, and drove away from the bookstore.

Amid the fear and gamesmanship that accompanied the call, Henry had yet to process what he had been told by Hap. He wasn’t sure how much he believed, though the story did the fit the facts of his experience. He wanted to believe the story, just to know what was happening, but could he?

Could he accept the idea that his own government was experimenting on him to further their ability to control the thoughts and actions of its citizens?

Could he accept that unseen people could plant words and even thoughts into his mind?

He drove for hours, and found that he could neither accept nor reject the ideas. He decided that it didn’t matter. He had no choice but to assume that the implications of the discussion were true, and to be wary of anything he thought, heard or saw. He also knew that he needed to progress with his plan to confront the person who offered help. He was certain about one thing—the person offering help was involved with whatever was happening. He couldn’t believe that the people who destroyed his life would be unable to find him, while some other person could.

He no longer feared abduction, having been found already. That comfort, and the lack of comfort his back felt at the moment, made it clear he needed a bed. He decided to treat himself, partly out of a morbid feeling that these might be his last days, and he drove to a cleaner and more comfortable hotel than he had seen in a while. As soon as he was in his room, he collapsed onto the bed and enjoyed a wonderful period of sleep.