“Mind control,” Klinger said matter-of-factly.
Dawson took another sip from his brandy glass.
“If such a drug can be synthesized,” Salsbury said, “it will change the course of history. That’s no exaggeration. For one thing, there will never again be war, not in the traditional sense. We will simply contaminate our enemies’ water supplies with the drug, then inundate them, through their own. media-television, radio, motion pictures, newspapers, and magazines- with a continuing series of carefully structured subliminals that will convince them to see things our way. Gradually, subtly, we can transform our enemies into our allies-and let them think that the transformation was their own idea.”
They were silent for perhaps a minute, thinking about it.
Klinger lit a cheroot. Then he said, “There would also be a number of domestic uses for a drug like that.”
“Of course,” Salsbury said.
“At long last,” Dawson said almost wistfully, “we could achieve national unity, put an end to all the bickering and protest and disagreement that’s holding back this great country.”
Ogden turned away from them and stared through the window. Night had fully claimed the lake. He could hear the water lapping at the boat dock pilings a few feet below him, just beyond the glass. He listened and allowed the rhythmic sound to calm him. He was certain now that Klinger would cooperate, and he saw the incredible future that lay before him, and he was so excited by the vision that he did not trust himself to speak.
To his back Klinger said, “You’re primarily the director of research at Brockert. But apparently you’re not just a desk man.”
“There are certain lines of study I’ve reserved for myself,” Salsbury admitted.
“And you’ve discovered a drug that works, a drug that primes the brain for subception.”
“Three months ago,” Ogden said to the glass.
“Who knows about it?”
“The three of us.”
“No one at Brockert?”
“No one.”
“Even if you have, as you say, reserved some lines of study for yourself, you must have a lab assistant.”
“He’s not all that bright,” Salsbury said. “That’s why I chose him. Six years ago.”
Klinger said, “You were thinking about taking the discovery for yourself all that long ago?”
“Yes.”
“You’ve doctored your daily work record? The forms that go to Washington at the end of every week?”
“I only had to falsify them for a few days. As soon as I saw what I had come upon, I stopped working on it at once and changed the entire direction of my research.”
“And your assistant didn’t figure the switch?”
“He thought I’d given up on that avenue of research and was ready to try another. I told you, he’s not terribly clever.”
Dawson said, “Ogden hasn’t perfected this drug of his, Ernst. There’s still a great deal of work to be done.”
“How much work?” the general asked.
Turning from the window, Salsbury said, “I’m not absolutely certain. Perhaps as little as six months-or as much as a year and a half.”
“He can’t work on it at Brockert,” Dawson said. “He couldn’t possibly get away with falsifying his records for such a length of time. Therefore, I’m putting together a completely equipped laboratory for him in my house in Greenwich, forty minutes from the Brockert Institute.”
Raising his eyebrows, Klinger said, “You’ve got a house so big you can turn it into a lab?”
“Ogden doesn’t need a great deal of room, really. A thousand square feet. Eleven hundred at the outside. And most of that will be taken up with computers. Hideously expensive computers, I might add. I’m backing Ogden with nearly two million of my own money, Ernst. That’s an indication of the tremendous faith I have in him.”
“You really think he can develop, test, and perfect this drug in a jerry-built lab?”
“Two million is hardly jerry-built,” Dawson said. “And don’t forget that billions of dollars’ worth of preliminary research has already been paid for by the government. I’m financing just the final stage.”
“How can you possibly maintain secrecy?”
“There are thousands of uses for the computer system. We won’t be incriminating ourselves just by purchasing it. Furthermore, we’ll arrange for it through one of Futurex’s subsidiaries. There won’t be any record that it was sold to us. There won’t be any questions asked,” Dawson said.