Michael Crichton - Drug of Choice

Permanent? How delightful that was, how thrilling. They were truly on the verge of a breakthrough in science. He felt an almost palpable sense of discovery. It was very exciting, working here in Advance. It was the most exciting thing a young man could do.

“I’m very eager to begin work,” Clark said, rubbing his hands together.

Washington gave him a funny look.

“Is something wrong, George?”

“No,” George said. “It’s just…well, sometimes I can’t believe it myself, is all. You’re a new man, Roger.”

“I know it. I feel like a new man.”

“Yes, I’m sure you must,” Washington said. “Well then: down to business, eh? I’ll show you around your lab, and then you can get right to work. Oh, by the way, Harvey wants to see you.”

“Harvey wants to see me?” It was an honor, the president of such a fine company wanting to see him,

“Yes,” George said. “Come along.”

Roger met with Harvey and George in the big office. They were both very happy, and Roger felt happy as well. He was extremely eager to begin his work; he could hardly contain his excitement. It was such a wonderful company, so dynamic and interesting.

After that, George took him to the lab, which was ideally equipped, everything a man could ask for. And a smashingly beautiful technician who seemed very interested in him. They showed him where everything was stored, including the two vials of powder, one white, the other pink.

“Now then,” George said, his voice ringing with enthusiasm, “these are the drugs you’ll be working with. The drug of choice here—” he raised the white vial “—and the reversal drug here.” He held out the pink vial. “You’ve had some experience with these before, so you know how vital and important this work is.”

There was no question of it in Roger’s mind. It was not only important, it was fascinating. It presented a huge intellectual challenge, a great stimulus.

“What we need to know,” George said, “is maximum dosages for these drugs. We’ve been using it cautiously, because we don’t know upper limits. But we suspect that we are not getting the maximum benefits from the drug administration. That’s where you come in. We want you to set those limits of dosage. You’ll work with animals at first, and later, when you’ve done the groundwork, with people.”

It was thrilling, Roger thought. In his mind, he could see the endless experiments he would perform, and his steady progress toward an eventual solution to this fascinating project.

“Just one word of caution,” George said. “These drugs are both very potent, and very valuable. Manufacture is still expensive, and there is only one person who does it.”

“Only one?”

“Yes. Harvey. He’s the only one that knows the formula, and he won’t tell anyone else.”

That seemed strange to Roger at first, but as he thought about it, he could understand the reasons. Harvey was being careful; he ought to be careful. Those drugs could be dangerous in the wrong hands. They could be…well, exploited.

“You see, Roger, this firm is making all its money at the present time from this drug, and its use on the island. Funds from that are financing all the research in this large building, and all our projects, like Sharon Wilder and the Glow Girl.”

Roger nodded. Two excellent projects. Nice young girls given a chance in a lifetime to make good. Very worthy and charitable projects.

“So Harvey is playing it close. And he limits the amount of drug he is making available. So don’t drop it or lose it or anything.”

“Oh no,” Roger said. “I wouldn’t do anything like that.” George gave him a funny look again, then smiled, and left.

The lab technician said, “We’re going to have a fine time here,” and Roger could only agree. Immediately, he began work.

The next two weeks were the happiest he had ever known. He had a worthy project, and he devoted himself to it during every waking hour. He lived in a pleasant room on the top floor of the building, so it was very convenient. He was close to his work and had no need to leave for anything. Whatever he requested was brought to him instantly. It was a very agreeable place to work.

He saw Sharon Wilder once, and she seemed happy to see him. She asked how things were going and he said they were going wonderfully.

During the second week, he saw Susan Ryle, the Glow Girl. She looked surprisingly different. They had done things to her, cut her hair and changed the way she made up her eyes. She was like a different person. She remarked to Roger that he looked different, too. He was very flattered.

Toward the end of the second week, he began having dreams. At first, they occurred only occasionally, strange and annoying dreams. They disturbed his sleep.

He thought of mentioning them to George, but never did. He was afraid that George would take him off the project if he knew. After all, they couldn’t have an unstable man working on an important project.

And he was feeling a little unstable.

Later, the dreams began to come every night. They were always the same. He was flying an airplane over tropical islands, shining in blue water. He was happy, flying the airplane. And then the airplane would go into a dense fog, and it would start to worry him.

He would wake up in a cold sweat.

Perhaps, he thought, I am working too hard. He took more of an interest in his lab technician, who was interested in him as well. She began to spend nights in his room, and he dreamed less when she was there.

But with time, the dreams progressed. He would fly into the fog, and then somehow he would know that there was an end to the fog, a frightening end. Something outside the comforting, frightening white fog.

He no longer invited the technician to stay with him. He was afraid that he would talk in his sleep, and she would report him to George, and that would mean he would be taken off the project. He couldn’t allow that to happen. Because he lived for that project; it meant everything to him.

Everything.

Sometime during the sixth week, his dreams broke through the fog. He saw what lay beyond, and it was some kind of hideous chair.

Immediately, he woke up. He was shivering and sweating, and angry. He did not understand precisely why, but he was very, very angry.

He got out of bed in a silent rage, and dressed. He had no real idea what he was doing, or where he was going. Once dressed, he looked around the room and saw a large paperweight on his desk. It was heavy plastic, with a piece of rock imbedded inside.

He carried it downstairs with him. As he moved quietly through the halls, his anger was very great; he could hardly wait until he met that damned guard.

As he reached the ground floor, he saw the guard. It was Sam, the night duty man; Roger had met him before in the evenings.

“Hello, Dr. Clark,” Sam said. “Another late night with the experiments?”

“Yes,” Roger said. “Looks like it.”

He let the guard walk past him. Then he turned, and swung with the paperweight. He felt a flash of horror as the heavy plastic struck skull and scalp; the guard fell and bled profusely.

His anger began to die.

The chair, he thought, and it slowly came back to him. Not all of it, but some.

Enough.

Quickly, he took the keychain from Sam’s belt and used it to shut down the alarm. Then he unlocked the front door and went down the steps into the night. Two cars were parked in the lot—a black limousine and a brown sedan, which he guessed was Sam’s car. He tried the keys until he found the one which unlocked the door; he got in and started the engine, and drove down the drive.

It was not until he was on the road that he realized he had no idea where he was going.