Robin Cook - Mindbend

“Passport?” asked Juan.

After a moment of panic Adam found the passport in his inside jacket pocket and handed it over. Juan opened it. Adam felt a stab of terror, but Juan just looked at it for two seconds and handed it back, saying, “Here’s your boarding card. Please present it to the purser and he will assign you your stateroom. If you leave the ship during the cruise, be sure to have the card on your person. Next, please.”

Adam stepped aside so the man behind him could approach the counter. So far so good.

After Alan had obtained his boarding card, he, Ned, and Clair accompanied Adam to the Arolen desk. There they were given a package of “goodies” as Ned called them. The process starts, thought Adam as he took the gift, a leather shoulder bag with the MTIC logo on the side. Inside the bag were a Cross pen and pencil set, a legal-sized, leatherbound note pad, and a lecture schedule for the cruise. There was also an array of Arolen products which comprised a small pharmacy. Adam glanced at the loot with interest, but knew that he’d have to wait to examine it in detail.

The loudspeaker crackled to life and it was announced that the ship was ready to board. A cheer rose from the crowd as Adam and his newly made friends slowly walked outside. A uniformed policeman checked their boarding cards at dockside, and they all trooped up the gangway.

Stepping off the ramp, Adam found himself on the main deck. It wasn’t a new ship by any stretch of the imagination, but it appeared to be well cared for and certain sections seemed to have been recently renovated. The personnel were all dressed like the man at the registration desk, in white blazers and black slacks. Their uniforms were spotlessly clean and carefully pressed.

Adam was approached by one of the stewards who politely checked his boarding card and directed him to a desk to the right. Apparently, there were different colored boarding cards for those who had been on a previous cruise. Ned and Clair were sent to a different desk.

Adam was assigned stateroom 407 on A deck, which was the floor below the main deck. As he took his key, he noticed that the purser had the same monotonous inflection in his voice as the man at the registration desk.

Alan, who was right behind Adam, was assigned stateroom 409. As they walked away, Adam commented on the flat speech pattern.

“I suppose they say the same thing over and over again,” said Alan.

A steward approached Adam and relieved him of his small suitcase and his new Arolen shoulder bag.

“Thank you,” said Adam.

The man didn’t respond except by indicating that Adam was to follow him.

“See you later, Stuart,” called Alan.

It took Adam a moment to remember that that was his name. “Yes, of course,” he called.

The steward was leading him past a gift shop filled with Gucci bags and Japanese cameras. At the back were wines, liquors, and tobaccos as well as a drug section. For the first time, Adam thought about the possibility of seasickness.

“Excuse me,” he said. “When will the store be opened?”

“About an hour after departure.”

“Do they sell Dramamine or those ear patches for motion sickness?” asked Adam.

The steward looked at him with a blank expression. “I don’t know if they sell Dramamine or those ear patches.” The way he echoed Adam’s question didn’t invite further conversation.

Staterooms 407 and 409 were adjacent on the port side of the ship. Alan was nowhere in sight. Adam’s steward opened the door to 407 and led Adam inside.

To Adam, who’d never been on a luxury liner, the room seemed small. There was a single bed on the right with a night table. On the left were a small desk and a chair. The bathroom was a tiny affair with a shower, toilet, and sink crammed next to a narrow closet.

The steward stuck his head in the bathroom, entered, and reappeared a moment later with a glass of water, which he handed to Adam.

“For me?” asked Adam. He took the glass and sipped the water. It had a rather chemical taste.

The steward reached into his side pocket and pulled out a yellow capsule, which he extended toward Adam. “Welcome back,” he said.

Adam smiled uneasily. “Sure is good to be here,” he said, eyeing the yellow capsule. It became obvious that the steward expected him to take the pill.

Adam put out his hand and the steward dropped the capsule into his palm. It didn’t look like Dramamine, but how was he to know?

“Is this for motion sickness?” he asked.

The steward said nothing, but his unblinking stare made Adam acutely uncomfortable.

“I’ll bet it is for motion sickness,” said Adam, tossing the pill into his mouth. After a swallow, he gave the water glass to the steward, who returned it to the bathroom. While he was out of the room, Adam took the yellow capsule out of his mouth and dropped it into his pocket.

The steward pulled down the covers on the bed as if he expected Adam to take a nap. Then he set Adam’s suitcase on a stand and began to unpack.

Amazed at such service, Adam sat on the bed and watched the man silently go about his business. When the steward was finished, he thanked Adam and left.

For a moment Adam sat puzzling over the steward’s behavior. Then he got up and upended his new Arolen shoulder bag. The drugs spilled onto the blanket.

Taking the yellow capsule out of his pocket, he checked to see if it matched any of the samples. It didn’t. Adam wondered if he would be able to find a PDR on board. There should be a library with basic reference books. He was curious about the yellow capsule. It had to be for motion sickness. Adam glanced at it one last time, then put it into a small bottle of aspirin.

He picked up the lecture schedule and began to read. It was nearly twenty-five pages long. The first half dealt with orthopedics, the second with OB-GYN. Adam noted that most of the lectures were clinically oriented, which he thought accounted for the conferences’ popularity.

Adam was convinced that if anything were done in the nature of brainwashing, it had to be done during the lectures. But what could they say to make a doctor like Vandermer change his mind about a drug? Could it be some kind of subliminal hypnosis? Adam tossed the schedule aside. He guessed he’d find out soon enough.

The blast of a horn made Adam jump. Then he heard the engines start. He decided to go on deck to watch.

Hanging up his seersucker jacket and removing his tie, Adam stepped into the corridor. He paused outside of room 409, realizing that although they shared a common wall, he’d heard nothing from Alan. Adam rapped on the door and waited, but there was no answer. Another steward came past, and Adam had to flatten himself against the wall. Then he knocked again. He was about to leave when he heard a thump from inside the room. With the heel of his hand, he pounded on the door, thinking perhaps Alan was in the bathroom. Still there was no answer. Reaching down, Adam tried the latch. The door was unlocked and swung inward.

Alan was sitting on the edge of the bed. At his feet was a water glass that had apparently just fallen to the floor.

“I beg your pardon,” said Adam, embarrassed. Alan mumbled that it didn’t matter, but Adam saw that he must have been asleep.

“Sorry to have disturbed you,” said Adam. “I was going to watch the departure and thought that maybe you…” Adam didn’t finish his sentence. Alan was slowly falling forward. Entering the room, Adam grabbed him before he hit the floor and eased him back onto the bed.

“Hey, are you OK?” asked Adam.

Sleepily, Alan nodded. “I’m just tired.”

“I think you’d better have a snooze,” laughed Adam, glancing around at the night table, suspecting that Alan might have taken a drink or two. But there was no liquor in evidence. He debated if he should cover the man, but since Alan was fully dressed, he just left him on top of the spread.