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'I already have someone on the way,' said Abrams smugly. 'And the third?' asked Coogan. 'Well, now, Dr Coogan. This one is the most interesting.' 'Why is that, Abrams?' Judd asked. 'Well, this one has studied three of the computers you mentioned, Dr Coogan. You know, the advanced, complicated stuff. He took a lot of the seminars at M.I.T. and 219 went into a doctoral programme there, but didn't complete it.' 'Ha !' said Coogan. 'And he's into computers enough to have a KB-CRT terminal in his apartment.' 'Perfect,' .Judd said. 'Now,. as for parasensory research, he volunteered as a subject for the University of Northern California Biomedical Research Centre and apparently demonstrated several consistent paranormal abilities. U.N.C. published three papers on the work done ~with him. Here, I have them for you.' 'Well done, Abrams,' said Judd, taking the folders. 'What about his records from U.N.C., Abrams?' asked Coogan. 'We'll need the psychological profiles they must have done on him and complete records of his work.' 'Well, the administrative office at U.N.C. tells me that those records were inadvertently misplaced.' 'Goddamn !' Judd grated. 'I pressed them on it, sir, and finally talked with one of the experimenters. Apparently, the records were stolen at about the time this guy refused to work with them any longer.' 'Refused?' Coogan asked. 'Seems so, ma'am. There, uh, it's not too clear. I have asked that researcher to come here to Washington. The psychic seems to have had a lot of original ideas about research, and there seems to have been several arguments about in what direction the experimentation should proceed.' 'What happened then?' Judd asked. 'Well, apparently he left the laboratories and refused all invitations to come back.' 'Have someone pick him up wherever he is,' stated Judd promptly. 'I'll get the necessary warrants if he doesn't come voluntarily.' 'That's going to be tough, sir,' Abrams said solemnly. 'Why? Has he vanished?' 220 'So to speak, sir.' 'Goddamn it, Abrams! Out with it.' 'Well, sir, his name was Dan Merriweather,' Abrarns said, giving special emphasis to the name. Judd looked at him blankly. 'Who?' he asked. 'Is that name supposed to mean something?' 'Harrah, do you spend all your time here in the bowels of your office? Dan Merriweather! That marvellous rock star, the one who composed so many great songs!' 'Oh,' Judd said, a faint look of impatience crossing his face. 'I don't like rock music.' 'Well, Harrah, Dan Merriweather was hit by a taxi in New York about - wasn't it about two weeks ago, Abrams?' 'Yes, ma'am, it was. And he was killed. It made headlines all over.' Without exhibiting the respect that both Abrams and Coogan seemed to think the name of Dan Merriweather warranted, Judd thoughtfully resumed his seat. 'Thanks a lot, Abrams. You give me what looks like a hot lead, then tell me he's dead. There's no one else? No one alive, that is?' 'Not so far, sir. But we are still canvassing computer training schools and comparing names with those we have managed to reconstruct in Dr Coogan's files.' 'Let's also check known revolutionaries and all the usual categories against the same names. Look also for close relatives of psychics or psychic subjects who are on the radical fringes.' 'Yes, sir. We've been working on that for two weeks, almost ever since the yellow-folder sequence.' 'Nothing?' 'No, sir. Nothing.' 221 AUGUST 22 WASHINGTON 10.00 A.M. DISARM AND RECALL TONOPAH AND TOLKIEN SATELLITES. INTERCEPT DESTRUCT COMMAND PROCEDURES IN EFFECT TWELVE MIDNIGHT EST AUGUST 22. TARGETS TONOPAH TOLKIEN DEVELOPMENT CENTRES OMAHA AND NOVOSIBIRSK. The new message was brief, unlike the other complex telex communication that had been pages long, revealing the plans and specifications of the two novel forms of weaponry being developed by the United States and the Soviet Union. The repercussions to date had been confused in their nature, mainly sporadic rioting and United Nations scare-conferences, but the threatened destruction of two cities within the borders of the world's two most powerful nations changed everything. A suppressed, unbelieving pandemonium raged in the capital of the United States. At the Pentagon, most employees, mystified about the nature of the events, clung magnetically to their stations, and no one went home at the close of work. Congress, recessed for the summer, was regrouping itself through heavy rain in Washington for an extraordinary session to discuss no one knew exactly what. At the White House, butlers were hard put to it merely to keep ashtrays empty and to mop up after legions of consultants who brought floods of dripping rainwater with 222 * them, soaking the American Indian rugs. The chief butler, worn to a frazzle, finally ordered them rolled up and brought out hundreds of yards of rubber matting to keep the worried conferees from slipping on the white marble floors. The chief usher, himself harried after two sleepless days and nights, [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ] |