Leonard. Subliminals sell hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of goods every year, a substantial percentage of which the public might never buy if it were not subliminally manipulated.”
Dawson said, “You’ve been working on subliminal perception up there in Connecticut for the last ten years?”
“Yes.”
“Perfecting the science?”
“That’s correct.”
“The Pentagon sees a weapon in it?”
“Definitely. Don’t you see it?”
Quietly, reverently, Dawson said, “If you’ve perfected the science . . . you’re talking about total mind control. Not just behavior modification, but absolute, ironlike control.”
For a moment neither of them could speak. “Whatever you’ve discovered,” Dawson said, “you apparently want to keep it from the Defense Department. They might call that treason.”
“I don’t care what they call it,” Salsbury said sharply. “With your money and my knowledge, we don’t need the Defense Department-or anyone else. We’re more powerful than all the world’s governments combined.”
Dawson couldn’t conceal his excitement. “What is it? What have you got?”
Salsbury went to the windows and watched the snow spiraling down on the city. He felt as if he had taken hold of a live wire. A current buzzed through him. Shaking with it, almost able to imagine that the snowflakes were sparks exploding from him, feeling himself to be at the vortex of a God-like power, he told Dawson what he had found and what role Dawson could play in his scenario of conquest.
Half an hour later, when Ogden finished, Dawson-who had never before been humble anywhere but in church-said, “Dear God.” He stared at Salsbury as a devout Catholic might have gazed upon the vision at Fatima. “Ogden, the two of us are going to-inherit the earth?” His face was suddenly split by an utterly humorless smile.
3
Saturday, August 13, 1977
IN ONE OF THE THIRD-FLOOR GUEST BEDROOMS of the Edison house, Paul Annendale arranged his shaving gear on top of the dresser. From left to right: a can of foam, a mug containing a lather brush, a straight razor in a plastic safety case, a dispenser full of razor blades, a styptic pencil, a bottle of skin conditioner, and a bottle of after-shave lotion. Those seven items had been arranged in such an orderly fashion that they looked as if they belonged in one of those animated cartoons in which everyday items come to life and march around like soldiers.
He turned from the dresser and went to one of the two large windows. In the distance the mountains rose above the valley walls, majestic and green, mottled by purple shadows from a few passing clouds. The nearer ridges-decorated with stands of pines, scattered elms, and meadows-sloped gently toward the town. On the far side of Main Street, birch trees rustled in the breeze. Men in short-sleeved shirts and women in crisp summer dresses strolled along the sidewalk. The veranda roof and the sign for Edison’s store were directly below the window.
As his gaze moved back and back from the distant mountains, Paul became aware of his own reflection in the window glass. At five ten and one hundred fifty pounds, he was neither tall nor short, heavy nor thin. In some ways he looked older than thirty-eight, and in other ways he looked younger. His Crinkly, almost frizzy light brown hair was worn full on the sides but not long. It was a hair style more suited to a younger man, but it looked good on him. His eyes were so blue that they might have been chips of mirrors reflecting the sky above. The expression of pain and loss lying beneath the surface brightness of those eyes belonged to a much older man. His features were narrow, somewhat aristocratic; but a deep tan softened the sharp angles of his face and saved him from a haughty look. He appeared to be a man who would feel at ease both in an elegant drawing room and in a waterfront bar.
He was wearing a blue workshirt, blue jeans, and black square-toed boots; however, he did not seem to be casually dressed. Indeed, in spite of the jeans, there was an air of formality about his outfit. He wore those clothes better than most men wore tuxedos. The sleeves of his shirt had been carefully pressed and creased. His opened collar stood up straight and stiff, as if it had been starched. The silvery buckle on his belt had been carefully polished. Like his shirt, his jeans seemed to have been tailored. His low-heeled boots shone almost like patent leather.