Michael Crichton - Binary

In a corner of the bedroom draped over a chair was a sports coat. He found a ticket for the noon plane to Acapulco in the pocket. A first-class ticket, one-way.

He returned to the living-room. Drew watched him, wary now.

`Planning a trip, Mr Drew?'

`I want to see my lawyer.'

`That's a lot of money in there, Mr Drew.'

`I have nothing to say.'

`From your ticket, it looks like you were planning to stay down there. Not come back.'

Drew shook his head. He did not speak. He was sweating, but still in control; he showed no sign of cracking.

`Can you account for all that money?P

'No comment. I want to see -'

`All right,' Graves said. He sighed and turned to the marshals. `Okay, lock him up.'

The marshals grabbed Drew roughly, each taking an arm. For the first time Drew became excited: `What's going on?'

Graves found the reaction interesting. Was Drew afraid of jail? Was he homosexual? Did he need drugs? Graves decided to play on the jail fear. `We don't have many options, Mr Drew. I know it's not pleasant, but we've got to put you in jail. You know, there's a lot of paperwork, and sometimes people get lost. Inadvertently deprived of their rights. I mean, people have spent a day or two in jail, and their papers get mixed up. So they don't get any food, or water, or anything. But you see, nobody knows you're there. For a while.'

`Where are you taking me?' Drew's voice was strained now, very tense.

`Downtown. We'll be talking to you again in a day or so, when you're more… relaxed.'

`Downtown San Diego?'

`Yes,' Graves said. And he suddenly realized that Drew wasn't afraid of jail at all. He didn't want to stay in the city. That was what he was afraid of.

`You can't do that!'

`Just watch it happen,' Graves said, lighting a cigarette.

`I've got to leave,' Drew said. He was now openly agitated. `I have to leave. I have to leave.'

`Why?'

`It's my sister. She's sick, in Mexico. That's why I have the money, I need it '

`You don't have a sister,' Graves said. `You have one brother two years older than you, who sells insurance in Portland, Oregon. Your father is still alive and lives in Michigan. Your mother died two years ago of a heart attack.'

Drew's body sagged.

`Put him down,' Graves said to the marshals. They dropped him back into the chair. `Now listen to me,' Graves said. `You aren't going anywhere without giving us some help.'

Drew stared at him. `I want a cigarette.'

Graves gave him one.

`What time is it now?' Drew asked dully.

`Ten thirty.' Graves lit the cigarette for him and watched as Drew sat back and inhaled.

`Listen,' Drew said, `I have to catch that plane at noon.'

`Why is that?' Graves said.

`I don't know,' Drew said. `I swear to God I don't know.'

`What do you know?'

`I know I have to get out of San Diego today, because… something is going to happen.'

`How do you know this?'

`John told me.'

`John Wright?'

`Yes.'

`What did he say?'

`He said that the binary would go off today. In San Diego.'

`And what is the binary?'

`I don't know.' He sucked on the cigarette.

`Mr Drew, you're going to have to do better '

`I swear to you, I don't know.'

Graves paused. He let Drew sweat, and let him smoke. Finally he said, `How is the binary related to the information you tapped from the data banks?'

`I can't be sure. The information was in two areas. One was easy to get, the other was hard. First, John wanted supply routings. I spent a couple of days learning how to plug into the subroutines to release the information. I kept getting "no authorization" printouts, but finally I managed to plug in.'

`And extract what?'

`Supply routings for different things.'

`Things?'

`Well, John gave me the codes for what he wanted. Don't ask me where he got those codes. One of the codes was for a thing called "Binary 75 slash 76". I got a supply routing for that.'

`And you have no idea what the code represents?'

`None. Except that it's obviously Defence Department material, transported by rail.'

`How do you know that?'

`From the routings themselves. You can't be sure what's being transported, but you can tell the method - air, rail, other surface vehicle, truck convoy. You can tell the method.'

`What else can you tell?'

`You can tell the C and C ratings.'

`What's that?'

`Command and Control provides a rating for all material transportation. The ratings are in grades: grades one through seven. One is pretty safe, or pretty inexpensive. Like clothing, or spare auto parts - that sort of thing. Seven is very expensive or very dangerous.'

`What was Binary 75 slash 76?"

`It was grade seven.'

`What did you think Binary 75 slash 76 represented?'

Drew puffed on his cigarette. He did not answer for a long time. Finally he said, `I thought it was radioactive materials.'

`Meaning?'

`I don't know. Components for a bomb, maybe. I don't know.'

Graves almost immediately rejected that explanation, although it fitted with the scintillation counter.

`What else could it be?'

`You asked me what I thought it was. I told you.'

`You think Wright planned to make an atomic bomb?F

'I think he planned to steal the components. Maybe he already has.'

`And do what with them?'

`I don't know. But it's going to happen today.'

Graves sat back. Drew put out his cigarette. Graves offered him another.

`What does a code like "binary" mean?'

`It could be just a random code,' Drew said. `But they usually have some specific meaning. That's why I thought it was atomic components.'

`Binary…'

`Meaning a twin system,' Drew said. `Something with two active parts, two units. Nuclear bombs are like that. You have two sections of uranium, neither of which will explode by itself. But you bring them together, and you reach critical mass, start a chain reaction.' He snapped his fingers. `Bingo.'

By now Graves was convinced that Drew believed this explanation. Graves did not. Whatever Wright planned, it had nothing to do with atomic bombs. That didn't fit with the tanks and hoses and nozzles, all of which pointed to some gas or liquid apparatus.

`He's insane,' Drew said suddenly. `That's the trouble. He's crazy. He's convinced that everybody is out to get him, and he's convinced that the government is being turned over to the wrong elements, and he's convinced that only he can set things right.'

`You mentioned that there was something else you, had to tap from the data banks. What was it?'

`That was strange,' Drew said. `I'd already tapped the Defence routings. My job was over. Then John asked me to tap into the State data banks.'

`State?'

`State Department. I said I couldn't. He told me to try, and gave me some more codes. I don't know where he got those either, but they worked.'

`What was the information he wanted?'

`File summary on one person,' Drew said. `A man who worked in State Department Intelligence named Graves.'

`I see,' Graves said. `Did you obtain the information?'

`Eventually.'

`And you gave it to Wright?'

`Yes. He wasn't interested in it, I don't think, except for one part. The psychological test scores.'

`Do you remember anything else?'

`No. Only that John was very interested in the psychological tests.' He puffed on the cigarette. `I remember he said when he saw it, "Well, this is the final cog in the machine", and laughed.'

`What did he mean by that?'

`Damned if I know,' Drew said.

As they left Drew's room, Lewis said, `By the way, they're still holding the girl.'