Mind Switch (52 page)

Dodd said, “But I will be fired for this!”

Exasperated, Fred said, “Better fired than spending the rest of your days in prison. Now who did you give the damn chip to?”

“It was Mr. Schultz,” Dodd sighed.

Fred said, “Thanks, I suspected as much. Now, Miss Black, I need to see Mr. Schultz alone. I promise I will provide you with all the information you need, as well as the guilty party, within a few hours.”

Miss Black said, “Lieutenant, we now know the guilty party is Mr. Schultz; and we don’t have any time to waste.”

“You promised that you would trust me on this,” Fred replied. “Believe me, I will have your guilty party by tonight.”

Miss Black fell silent, but her silence communicated tacit concurrence.

Chapter 78

Fred went directly to the Schultz house without following his normal protocol of calling first.

The maid opened the door and upon seeing Fred, she grimaced. “I’m not sure Mr. Schultz will see anyone right now, sir.”

“I’m afraid you have no choice. Where is he?”

“In the upstairs bedroom, sir, but . . . .”

Fred ignored the admonition and bounded up the stairs to Schultz’ bedroom.

Schultz was propped up in bed with two pillows behind him, reading a scientific journal. “Well, Fred, I hadn’t expected you. What’s going on?”

“I’m afraid it’s not a pleasure call, George. I know you have an extra copy of the ESP chip developed by your Science Division. Where is it?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Fred. We were only authorized to produce one of those, and that single chip is in the hands of the CIA. Now, if one of my employees indicated something else, I need to—”

At that moment Mrs. Schultz entered the room. “Lieutenant, what in the world are you doing here?! I told you Mr. Schultz was not to be disturbed anymore. If I have to contact your superiors, that is precisely what I will do.”

Fred ignored her threat. “Mrs. Schultz, actually I’m glad you’re here. You saved me time to visit you next. I was asking Mr. Schultz what he did with the missing ESP chip. But you know where it is, don’t you?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, now please leave.”

“It’s too late, Mrs. Schultz, I know you provided it to the Chinese. I also suspect it was a type of gift to them; I’m sure you weren’t paid for it. Now we don’t want to involve your husband in this, do we?”

Mr. Schultz said, “Fred, don’t blame my wife. The chip is in my safe.”

“No, I think not,” Fred replied, “Right, Mrs. Schultz?”

Mrs. Schultz responded with a meek, “No, it’s not there. I’m sorry, George.”

Mr. Schultz had no idea what was going on.

Fred directed his statement to Mrs. Schultz. “You hate war, don’t you, Mrs. Schultz? And you believe that the only way we can prevent it is by having parity in weapon systems across the globe. You believe that if any single nation holds a military advantage, it will use that advantage in a premeditated venture. By giving the chip to the Chinese, you felt it would help equalize the military playing field, didn’t you?”

For a few seconds Mrs. Schultz did not speak. Finally she said, “Yes, but how did you know?”

“I read some of your commendations,” said Fred. “Your personal history is one of advocating peace and attempting to prevent wars. You were the logical recipient of the chip. I also know you would not have asked for money for the chip.”

“What happens to me now, Lieutenant?”

“I really don’t know. I’ll place you in the hands of a CIA agent. What happens then is up to her.”

He turned to Mr. Schultz, “I’m truly sorry this had to happen, you have over the past few weeks become my friend. But it’s in my nature to continue an investigation until it is complete, regardless of the consequences.”

* * *

The next morning the chief, Jim and Fred sat in the conference room. The chief said, “You deserve a lot of credit, Fred. Not only did you find the guilty party behind the bank and theater killings, but you also nabbed a spy. I am amazed how you put the dots together to identify Donna as the guilty person; and I’m even more amazed that you figured out Mrs. Schultz was the spy.”

“Chief, I can usually tell when someone is lying based on their facial reactions, and I picked up on that in Donna’s case long before I recognized distortions in her statements. As far as my ability to determine Mrs. Schultz’s guilt, I believe that being around all those talented people in AU, I may have gained some of their unique abilities. When I was in the den with Mrs. Schultz, I got a strong vibe how intensely she felt about the issue of peace and the impact of future wars as a function of the increasing strength our military. It was a natural step to conclude that she was the likely spy trying to stem the military buildup.”

The chief said, “I don’t know how the DA is going to be able to structure his case on the basis of a perpetrator using mind control to commit murders, but that’s his problem. He did tell me that he was going to take steps to insure that Slivers and Shepard would ultimately be released. By the way, what do you think will happen to Mrs. Schultz? Even with all of their wealth, she won’t be able to fight the charges against her.”

Fred said, “I know, but in a way I’m sorry for her. After all, a contemporary president attempted to do the same thing, and it certainly wasn’t considered unpatriotic or wrong at the time.”

The chief asked, “Who and what do you mean?”

“President Reagan. When he indicated that he was going to pursue Star Wars, or in military circles, the Strategic Defense Initiative, he stated that once it was developed he would give all the information to the Russians, so they in turn could develop the same system. He firmly believed that by both superpowers having a parity of military capability, there would no longer be a nuclear threat in the world.

“You see, Chief, I truly believe Reagan was unbelievably lucky with respect to the end of the cold war. After all, the Russian economy was about to implode, maintaining their large military had become unaffordable, and their leader was, for once in a Russian lifetime, a highly educated and entirely reasonable man. The culmination of all of these fortunate factors led to the end of the cold war. It was a classic example of multiple causations which led to a monumental solution of a complex problem.

“However, I believe more importantly, that history will judge Reagan most positively as a man of peace who wanted to curtail war at all costs and not as he is currently classified, as an American leader who built up our military to new heights. So when you look at it in that light, was Mrs. Schultz so bad in what she was trying to do? After all, she never had either the platform or the prestige of a United States president.”

The chief said, “I guess as far as Reagan is concerned, he will be the subject for future historians to evaluate. But as for Mrs. Schultz, that will be a case for the U.S. government and the federal court system to decide what should be done.”

“For an abrupt change of subject,” the chief smiled, “I have a great idea, why don’t all three of us take the rest of the day off and go deep sea fishing?”

Fred said, “Dan, I can’t really believe you proposed that!”

Jim, chimed in, “Nor can I, boss.”

“Life is short, guys, we need to enjoy it to the fullest; and the best time to start is now. Besides that, I really want to get to know you guys better. I’ll pay for the boat rental; now, who is going to buy the beers?

“And Fred, by the way, never again call me Dan!”

Chapter 79

A week had passed and Fred was back to police work, but at a much more leisurely and controllable pace. He heard a tap on his office door and in came Marv Atwell. He pulled out a small leather pouch and handed it to Fred. “I believe this is yours.”

It was a miniaturized electronic device of some type that Fred had never seen before. Numerous tiny wires were extending in all directions from tiny holes in its plastic cage.

“What is this, a hearing device of some type?” Fred asked.

“Hardly. You remember in the warehouse you stated that you were not sure that I would show up?”

“Yes, I was very grateful.”

“Well, that’s not my point. I really wasn’t taking any chances. I knew from the start that I would be in control of the situation.”

“How could you possibly have known that?”

“Simple, what you have in your hands is a copy of the electronic device that was sold to the Chinese.”

“I don’t understand; one unit went to the CIA and one to the Chinese. How come there are three?”

Atwell continued, “One was a prototype which was attached to Miss Lang’s brain by Dr. Anderson. She was going to be the company’s test case. You see, Miss Lang had no God-given extraordinary ability at all. All she had was what this device provided to her—nothing more.”

“So Dodd lied to me about the number of the devices,” Fred responded.

Atwell said, “Don’t blame Dodd, he never knew.”

Fred asked, “So that device was the sole basis for all the power she displayed?”

‘Yes.”

Fred asked, “So why hadn’t Donna’s device been removed before now?”

“Before I answer that, let me give you some background. The operation was officially never supposed to have taken place, not because there was a high chance of her dying during the procedure, but because we didn’t know about the potential impact on her psyche. Think about it, all types of new mental processes are suddenly unleashed in this person; and we don’t even know if her psychological defensive mechanisms are adequate to deal with them. For all anyone knew, she could have become stark-raving mad.

“Dr. Anderson’s idea was to place it in her and then put her through a series of complex operational tests to evaluate her new capabilities. Because of the extreme secrecy of the operation, only the three of us knew about it. All of our tests were conducted after normal business hours. The tests indicated that our experiment was only partly successful. She had gained powers as a result of the device’s insertion, but to our understanding those powers were at best minimal. Still, they proved a major breakthrough in our field and they even exceeded the contractual standard insisted upon by the CIA. Her basic personality did not seem to have been altered as a result of her new skills. All the news was positive. Of course, Miss Lang received an exceptional monetary bonus as a result of her contribution.

“There was one problem—a major one. Miss Lang refused to have the second operation to remove the device. She said she would broadcast to the world what was done to her. Dr. Anderson didn’t know what to do; he was in perpetual fear of losing his medical license. So in the end, he did nothing.

“Dr. Anderson felt that her new powers were minimal, and assumed that the retention of the device in her brain would not cause any significant psychological problems, so he decided to let it remain in. One thing he did not know at the time, nor did I recognize, was that Miss Lang seemingly had received abilities from the device beyond what she let on. She, in effect, cooked the results of our tests to drastically understate her real ability.”

Fred asked, “I still don’t understand, with all her powers how you could have assumed, when we were in the warehouse, that you were superior to her?”

“That’s simple, Lieutenant, who do you think the device was prototyped from?”

“You?”

“Of course, I only provided a small fraction of my innate abilities, so I knew she would never come close to equaling the full extent of my powers. You see, I really wasn’t that much of a hero after all.”

“Well, your talents are certainly beyond that of any person I have ever known.”

“You really think so?”

“Of course.”

“Do you remember the pen that rolled off the conference room table when you were interviewing me?”

“How could I forget it?”

“Well, it wasn’t me that did it.”

“You mean I did it?” Fred said disbelievingly.

Atwell smiled.

Fred had trouble processing this new unsettling information. He shifted back to the subject at hand.

“Sounds to me like Dr. Anderson will have to be prosecuted, I am not sure of the charge but—”

“—Ah, Lieutenant, you forget—he had authority to conduct the operation.”

“Who gave him the authority, I thought you said he did it without the backing of anybody.”

“That was the first operation, when he introduced the paranormal device in Donna’s brain. But I’m talking about the removal operation, for which you at gave at least tacit approval for him to perform.”

Fred did not know what to say.
 

Atwell continued, “I believe, Lieutenant, that you are now thinking that sometimes the end justifies the means. Besides, you have something of untold value in your hand; wouldn’t it be great to have all those great powers introduced into a basically good person such as yourself?
 

“Atwell continued, “Think about it. With the embryonic power you already enjoy, you might even exceed my talents.” 
Marv Atwell walked out of Fred’s office and, Fred was certain, out of his life. Meanwhile Fred would be thinking about it for a long time.