The Fourth K (40 page)

Until he began serving in Washington, Dr. Annaccone had not truly realized the awful gap between science and society in general. It was scandalous that while the human brain had made such a great leap forward in the sciences, the political and sociological disciplines had remained almost stationary.

He found it incredible that mankind still waged war, at enormous cost and to no advantage. That individual men and women still killed each other, when there were treatments that could dissipate the murderous tendencies in human beings. He found it contemptible that the science of genetic splicing was attacked by politicians and the news media as if tampering with biology were a corruption of some holy spirit. Especially when it was obvious that the human race as now genetically constituted was doomed.

Dr. Annaccone had been briefed on what the meeting would be about. There was still some doubt as to whether the exploding of the atom bomb had been part of the terrorist plot to destabilize American influence in the world—that is, whether there was a link between the two young physics professors, Gresse and Tibbot, and the terrorist leader Yabril. He would be asked whether they should use the PET brain scan to question the prisoners and determine the truth.

Which made Dr. Annaccone irritable. Why hadn’t they asked him to run the PET before the atom bomb exploded? Christian Klee claimed that he had been tied up in the
hijacking crisis and that the bomb threat had not seemed that serious. Typical asshole reasoning. And President Kennedy had refused Klee’s request for the PET brain scan for humanitarian reasons. Yes, if the two young men were innocent and damage was done to their brains during the scan it would be an inhuman act. But Annaccone knew that this was a politician covering his ass. He had briefed Kennedy thoroughly on the procedure, and Kennedy understood that the PET scan was almost completely safe, and would make the subject answer truthfully. They could have located the bomb and disarmed it. There would have been time.

It was regrettable, to say the least, that so many people had been killed or injured. But Annaccone felt a sneaking admiration for the two young scientists. He wished he had their balls, for they had made a real point, a lunatic one, true, but a point. That as man in general became more knowledgeable, the probability that individuals would cause an atomic disaster increased. It was also true that the greed of the individual entrepreneur or the megalomania of a political leader could do the same. But these two kids were obviously thinking of sociological controls, not scientific ones. They were thinking of repressing science, halting its march forward. The real answer, of course, was to change the genetic structure of man so that violence would become an impossible act. To put brakes in the genes and in the brain as you put brakes on a locomotive. It was that simple.

While waiting in the Cabinet Room of the White House for the President to arrive, Annaccone dissociated himself from the rest of the people there by reading his stack of memoranda and articles. He always felt himself resistant to the President’s staff. Christian Klee kept track of the National Brain Research Institute and sometimes slapped a
secrecy order on his research. Annaccone didn’t like that and used diversionary tactics when he could. He was often surprised that Klee could outwit him in such matters. The other staff members, Eugene Dazzy, Oddblood Gray and Arthur Wix, were primitives with no understanding of science who immersed themselves in the comparatively unimportant matters of sociology and statecraft.

He noted that Vice President Helen Du Pray was present, as was Theodore Tappey, the CIA chief. He was always surprised that a woman was Vice President of the United States. He felt that science ruled against something like this. In his researches on the brain he always felt he would someday come upon a fundamental difference between the male and female brains and was amused that he did not. Amused because if he found a discrepancy the fur would fly in a delightful way.

Theodore Tappey he always regarded as Neanderthal. Indulging in those futile machinations for a slight degree of advantage in foreign affairs against fellow members of the human race. So futile an endeavor in the long run.

Dr. Annaccone took some papers out of his briefcase. There was an interesting article on the hypothetical particle called the tachyon. Not one person in this room had ever heard of the word, he thought. Though his field of expertise was the brain, Dr. Annaccone had a vast knowledge of all the sciences.

So now he studied the paper on tachyons. Did tachyons really exist? Physicists had been quarreling about that for the last twenty years. Tachyons, if they existed, would fracture Einstein’s theories; tachyons would travel faster than the speed of light, which Einstein had said was impossible. Sure, there was the apology that tachyons were already moving faster than light from the beginning, but what the hell was
that? Also the mass of a tachyon is a negative number. Which supposedly was impossible. But the impossible in real life could be possible in the spooky world of mathematics. And then what could happen? Who knew? Who cared? Certainly nobody in this room, which held some of the most powerful men on the planet. An irony in itself. Tachyons might change human life more than anything these men could conceive.

Finally the President made his entrance and the people in the room stood up. Dr. Annaccone put away his papers. He might enjoy this meeting if he kept alert and counted the eye blinks in the room. Research showed that eye blinks could reveal whether a person was lying or not. There was going to be a lot of blinking.

Francis Kennedy came to the meeting dressed comfortably in slacks and a white shirt covered by a sleeveless blue cashmere sweater, and with a good humor extraordinary in a man beset by so many difficulties.

After greeting them he said, “We have Dr. Annaccone with us today so that we can settle the problem of whether the terrorist Yabril was in any way connected with the atom bomb explosion. Also to respond to the charges that have been made in the newspapers and on television that we in the administration could have found the bomb before it exploded.”

Helen Du Pray felt she must ask the question. “Mr. President, in your speech to Congress you said Yabril was part of the atom bomb conspiracy. You were emphatic. Was that based on hard evidence?”

Kennedy was prepared for this question and answered with calm precision. “I believed it was true then, I believe it is true now.”

“But on what hard evidence?” Oddblood Gray pressed.

Kennedy’s eyes met Klee’s for an instant before he turned to Annaccone and broke into a friendly grin. “That’s why we’re here. To find out. Dr. Annaccone, what are your thoughts on this subject? Maybe you can help us. And as a favor to me, stop figuring out the secrets of the universe on that pad of yours. You’ve discovered enough to get us into trouble.”

Dr. Annaccone had been scribbling mathematical equations on the memo pad in front of him. He realized that this was a rebuke in the guise of a compliment. He said, “I still don’t understand why you didn’t sign the order for the PET scan before the nuclear device exploded. You already had the two young men in custody. You had the authority under the Atomic Weapons Control Act.”

Christian said quickly, “We were in the middle of what we thought was a far more important crisis, if you remember. I thought it could wait another day. Gresse and Tibbot claimed they were innocent and we had only enough evidence to grab them. We didn’t have enough to indict. Then Tibbot’s father got tipped off and we had a bunch of very expensive lawyers threatening a lot of trouble. So we figured we’d wait until the other crisis was over and maybe we had a little more evidence.”

Vice President Du Pray said, “Christian, do you have any idea how Tibbot Senior was tipped off?”

Christian said, “We are going over all the telephone company records in Boston to check the origin of calls received by Tibbot Senior. So far no luck.”

The head of the CIA, Theodore Tappey, said, “With all your high-tech equipment, you should have found out.”

“Helen, you’ve got them off on a tangent,” Kennedy said. “Let’s stick to the main point. Dr. Annaccone, let me answer
your question. Christian is trying to take some heat off me, which is why a President has a staff. But I made the decision not to authorize the brain probe. According to the protocols, there is some danger of damaging the brain and I didn’t want to risk it. The two young men denied everything, and there was no evidence that a bomb existed except for the warning letter. What we have here is really a scurrilous attack by the news media supported by the members of Congress. I want to pose a specific question. Do we eliminate any collusion between Yabril and Professors Tibbot and Gresse by having the PET brain scan done on all of them? Would that solve the problem?”

Dr. Annaccone said crisply, “Yes. But now you have a different circumstance. You are using the Atomic Weapons Control Act to gather evidence in a criminal trial, not to discover the whereabouts of a nuclear device. The act does not authorize PET scanning under those circumstances.”

“Besides,” Dazzy added, “with their legal defense we’ll never get anywhere near those kids.”

President Kennedy gave Dazzy a cold smile. “Doctor,” he said, “we still have Yabril. I want Yabril to undergo the brain probe. The question he will be asked is this: Was there a conspiracy? And was the atom bomb explosion part of his plan? Now, if the answer is yes, the implications are enormous. There may still be a conspiracy going on. And it may involve much more than New York City. Other members of the terrorist First Hundred could plant other nuclear devices. Now do you understand?”

Dr. Annaccone said, “Mr. President, do you think that is really a possibility?”

Kennedy said, “We have to erase any doubt. I will rule that this medical interrogation of the brain is justified under the Atomic Weapons Control Act.”

Arthur Wix said, “There will be one hell of an uproar. They’ll claim we’re performing a lobotomy.”

Eugene Dazzy said dryly, “Aren’t we?”

Dr. Annaccone was suddenly as angry as anyone was allowed to be in the presence of the President of the United States. “It is not a lobotomy,” he said. “It is a brain scan with chemical intervention. The patient is completely the same after the interrogation is completed.”

“Unless there’s a little slipup,” Dazzy said.

The press secretary, Matthew Gladyce, said, “Mr. President, the outcome of the test will dictate what kind of announcement we make. We have to be very careful. If the test proves there was conspiracy linking Yabril, Gresse and Tibbot, we’ll be in the clear. If the probe proves there is no collusion, you’re going to have a lot of explaining to do.”

Kennedy said curtly, “Let’s go on to other things.”

Eugene Dazzy read from the memo in front of him. “The Congress wants to haul Christian up in front of one of their investigating committees. Senator Lambertino and Congressman Jintz want to take a crack at him. They are claiming, and they planted it all over in the media, that Attorney General Christian Klee is the key to any funny work that went on.”

“Invoke executive privilege,” Kennedy said. “As President, I order him not to appear before any congressional committee.”

Dr. Annaccone, bored with the political discussions, said jokingly, “Christian, why don’t you volunteer for our PET scan? You can establish your innocence unequivocally. And endorse the morality of the procedure.”

“Doc,” Christian said, “I’m not interested in establishing my innocence, as you call it. Innocence is the one fucking thing your science will never be able to establish. And I’m
not interested in the morality of a brain probe that will determine the veracity of another human being. We are not discussing innocence or morals here. We are discussing the employment of power to further the functioning of society. Another area in which your science is useless. As you’ve often said to me, don’t dabble in something in which you are not expert. So go fuck yourself.”

It was rare at these staff meetings that emotions were allowed to be unrestrained. It was even rarer for vulgar language to be used when Vice President Du Pray was attending staff meetings—not that the Vice President was a prudish woman. Yet the people in the Cabinet Room were surprised at Christian Klee’s outburst.

Dr. Annaccone was taken aback. He had just made a little joke. He liked Klee, as most people did. The man was urbane and civilized, and he seemed more intelligent than most lawyers. Dr. Annaccone, as a great scientist, prided himself on his understanding of practically everything in the universe. He now suffered the regrettable petty human vulnerability of having his feelings hurt. So without thinking he said, “You used to be in the CIA, Mr. Klee. The CIA headquarters building has a marble tablet that reads, ‘Know the truth and the truth shall set you free.’ ”

Christian had regained his good humor. “I didn’t write it,” he said. “And I doubt it.”

Dr. Annaccone had also recovered. And he had started analyzing. Why the furious response to his jocular question? Did the Attorney General, the highest law official in the land, really have something to hide? He’d dearly love to have the man on the probe’s test table.

Francis Kennedy had been watching this byplay with a grave yet amused eye. Now he said gently, “Zed, when you
have the brain lie-detector test perfected, so it can be done without side effects, we may have to bury it. There’s not a politician in this country who could live with that.”

Dr. Annaccone interrupted. “All these questions are irrelevant. The process has been discovered. Science has begun its exploration of the human brain. You can never halt a process once it has begun. Luddites proved that when they tried to halt the Industrial Revolution. You couldn’t outlaw the use of gunpowder, as the Japanese learned when they banned firearms for hundreds of years and were overwhelmed by the Western world. Once the atom was discovered you could no longer stop the bomb. The brain lie-detector test is here to stay, I assure you all.”

Klee said, “It violates the Constitution.”

President Kennedy said briskly, “We may have to change the Constitution.”