Salsbury took another length of cord from another pocket in his smock and gave it to Rossner. “Do you know what that is, Glenn?”
“Yes.” He had watched impassively as Holbrook murdered the Frenchman.
“Glenn, I want you to give the cord to Peter.” Without even pausing to think about it, Rossner placed the second garrote in the Englishman’s hands.
“Now turn your back to Peter.”
Rossner turned.
“Are you relaxed, Glenn?”
“Relax. Be calm. Don’t worry about anything at all. That’s an order.”
The lines in Rossner’s face softened.
“How do you feel, Glenn?”
“Relaxed.”
“Good. You won’t try to keep Peter from obeying the orders I give him, regardless of what those orders are.”
“I won’t interfere,” Rossner said.
Salsbury turned to the Englishman. “Loop that cord around Glenn’s neck as you did with Michel.”
With an expert flip and twist of the garrote, Holbrook was in position. He waited for orders.
“Glenn,” Salsbury said, “are you tense?”
“No. I’m relaxed.”
“That’s fine. Just fine. You will continue to be relaxed. Now, I’m going to tell Peter to kill you-and you are going to permit him to do that. Is that clear?”
“Yes. I understand.” His placid expression didn’t waver.
Don t you want to live?
“Yes. Yes, I want to live.”
“Then why are you willing to die?”
“I-I-” He looked confused.
“You are willing to die because refusal to obey the key means pain and death anyway. Isn’t that right,, Glenn?”
“That’s right.”
Salsbury watched the two men closely for signs of panic. There were none. Nor even any of stress.
The stench from Michel Picard’s fouled body was nearly overpowering and getting worse.
Rossner surely knew what was about to happen to him. He had seen Michel die, had been told he would die in the same way. Yet he stood unmoving, apparently unafraid.
He was willing to commit what amounted to suicide rather than disobey the key. In fact disobedience was literally inconceivable to him.
“Total control,” the general said. “Yet they don’t look or behave like zombies.”
“Because they aren’t. There’s nothing supernatural involved. Just the ultimate in behavior modification techniques.” Salsbury was elated. “Peter, give me the cord. Thank you. You have both done well. Exceptionally well. Now, I want you to wrap Michel’s body in the canvas and move it to the next room. Wait there until I have additional orders for you.”
As if they were a pair of ordinary laborers talking about how to move a load of bricks from here to there, Rossner and Holbrook quickly discussed the job at hand. When they had decided on the best way to roll and carry the corpse, they set to work.
“Congratulations,” Klinger said. He was perspiring. Cool, dry, steady-eyed Ernst Klinger was sweating like a pig.
What do you think of the computer lights now? Salsbury wondered. Do they look as Christmasy as they did ten minutes ago?
The computer room smelled of lemons. Salsbury had used an aerosol spray to get rid of the odor of feces and urine.
He took a bottle of whiskey from his desk drawer and poured himself a shot to celebrate.
Klinger had a double shot to steady his nerves. When he had tossed it back he said, “And now what?”
“The field test.”
“You’ve mentioned that before. But why? Why can’t we go ahead with the Middle East plan as Leonard outlined it in Tahoe, nearly two years ago? We know the drug works, don’t we? And we know the subliminals work.”
“I achieved the desired results with Holbrook, Rossner, and poor Picard,” Salsbury said, sipping his whiskey. “But it doesn’t necessarily follow that everyone will react as they have. I can’t possibly have complete confidence in the program until I’ve treated and observed and tested a few hundred subjects of both sexes and of all ages. Furthermore, our three mercenaries were treated and responded in controlled lab situations. Before we can take the extraordinary risks involved with something like the Middle East plan-where we’ve got to create a new subliminal series for another culture and in another language-. we’ve simply got to know what the results will be in the field.”
Klinger poured himself another shot of whiskey. As he lifted the glass to his lips, a look of fear flitted across his face. It lasted no more than a second or two. Pretending to be thinking about the field test, he stared at the liquor in his glass and then at the bottle on the desk and then at Salsbury’s glass.