Ken Follett - Code to Zero (2000)

Luke paused, waiting for Bern to say the whole thing was ludicrous, impossible, a figment of an overactive imagination. But he did not. To Luke's surprise, he simply said: 'But for God's sake, why?'

Luke began to feel better. If Bern believed him, he might help. He said: 'For the moment, let's concentrate on how, rather than why.'

'Okay.'

'To cover his tracks, he checked me out of the hospital, dressed me in rags - presumably while I was still unconscious from the treatment - and dumped me in Union Station, along with a sidekick whose job was to persuade me that I lived like that, and at the same time to keep an eye on me and make sure the amnesia treatment had worked.'

Now Bern did look skeptical. 'But he must have known you'd find out the truth sooner or later.'

'Not necessarily - not all of it, anyway. Sure, he had to calculate that after a few days or weeks I would figure out who I was. But he thought I'd still believe I had gone on a bender. People do lose their memories after drinking heavily, at least according to legend. If I did find it hard to believe, and asked a few questions, the trail would have gone cold. Billie probably would have forgotten about the mystery patient - and in case she remembered, Ross would have destroyed his records.'

Bern nodded thoughtfully. 'A risky plan, but one with a good chance of success. In clandestine work, that's generally the best you can hope for.'

'I'm surprised you're not more skeptical.'

Bern shrugged.

Luke pressed him. 'Do you have a reason for accepting the story so readily?'

'We've all been in secret work. These things happen.'

Luke felt sure Bern was keeping something back. There was nothing he could do but plead. 'Bern, if there's something else you know, for God's sake, tell me. I need all the help I can get'

Bern looked anguished. 'There is something - but it's secret, and I don't want to get anyone into trouble.'

Luke's heart leaped in hope. 'Tell me, please. I'm desperate.'

Bern looked hard at him. 'I guess you are.' He took a deep breath. 'Okay, then, here goes. Toward the end of the war, Billie and Anthony, worked on a special project for the OSS, the Truth Drug Committee. You and I didn't know about it at the time, but I found out later, when I was married to Billie. They were looking for drugs that would affect prisoners under interrogation. They tried mescaline, barbiturates, scopolamine, and cannabis. Their test subjects were soldiers suspected of communist sympathies. Billie and Anthony went to military camps in Atlanta, Memphis and New Orleans. They would win the confidence of the suspect soldier, give him a reefer, and see whether he betrayed secrets.'

Luke laughed. 'So a lot of grunts got a free high!'

Bern nodded. 'At that level, the whole thing was faintly comical. After the war, Billie went back to college and did her doctoral thesis on the effects of various legal drugs such as nicotine on people's mental states. When she finally became a professor, she continued to work on the same area, concentrating on how drugs and other factors affect memory.'

'But not for the CIA.'

'That's what I thought. But I was wrong.'

'Christ.'

'In 1950, when Roscoe Hillenkoetter was Director, the Agency started a project codenamed Bluebird, and Hillenkoetter authorized the use of unvouchered funds, so there was no paper trail. Bluebird was about mind control. They financed a. whole series of legitimate research projects in universities, channeling the money through trusts to conceal their true source. And they financed Billie's work.'

'How did she feel about that?'

'We fought about it I said it was wrong, the CIA was planning to brainwash people. She said that all scientific knowledge could be used for good or evil, she was doing invaluable research and she didn't care who paid the bill.'

'Is that why you divorced?'

'Sort of. I was writing a radio show called Detective Story, but I wanted to get into movies. In 1952 I wrote a screenplay about a secret government agency that brainwashed unsuspecting citizens. Jack Warner bought it. But I didn't tell Billie.'

'Why not?'

'I knew the CIA would get the film cancelled.'

'They can do that''

You bet your goddamn life.'

'So what happened?'

'The movie came out in 1953. Frank Sinatra played the nightclub singer who witnesses a political murder, then has his memory wiped by a secret process. Joan Crawford played his manager. It was a huge hit my career was made 'I was deluged with big-money offers from the studios.'

'And Billie?'

'I took her to the premiere.'

'I guess she was angry.'

He smiled ruefully. 'She went ape. She said I'd used confidential information that I got from her. She was sure the CIA would withdraw her funding, ruin her research. It was the end of our marriage.'

'That's what Billie meant when she said you had a conflict of values.'

'She's right She should have married you 'I never really understood why she didn't'

Luke's heart missed a beat. He was curious to know why Bern had said that But he postponed the question. 'Anyway, to return to 1953,I assume the CIA didn't cut off her funding.'

'No.' Bern looked bitterly angry. 'They destroyed my career instead.'

'How?'

'I was subjected to a loyalty investigation. Of course, I had been a communist, right up until the end of the war, so I made an easy target. I was blacklisted in Hollywood, and I couldn't even get back my old job in radio.'

'What was Anthony's role in that''

'He did his best to protect me, Billie said, but he was overruled.' Bern frowned. 'After what you've just told me, I wonder if that was true.'

'What did you do?'

'I had a couple of bad years, then I thought of The Terrible Twins.'

Luke raised an eyebrow.

'It's a series of children's books.' He pointed to a bookcase. The bright jackets made a splash of colour. You've read them, as it happens - to your sister's kid.'

Luke was pleased he had a nephew or niece - or maybe several. He liked the idea of reading aloud to them.

There was so much he had to learn about himself He waved a hand at the expensive apartment. 'The books must be successful.'

Bern nodded. 'I wrote the first story under a pseudonym, and used an agent who was sympathetic to the victims of the McCarthy witch-hunt. The book was a big bestseller, and I've written two a year ever since.'

Luke got up and took a book from the shelf. He read:

Which is stickier, honey or melted chocolate? The twins had to know. That was why they did the experiment that made Mom so mad.

He smiled. He could imagine children loving this stuff. Then he felt sad. 'Elspeth and I don't have any kids.'

'I don't know why,' Bern said. 'You always-wanted a family so badly.'

'We tried, but it didn't happen.' Luke closed the book. 'Am I happily married?'

Bern sighed. 'Since you ask, no.'

'Why?

'Something was wrong, but you didn't know what you called me one time, to ask my advice, but I couldn't help you.'

'A few minutes ago, you said Billie should have married me.'

You two used to be nuts about each other.'

'So what happened?'

'I don't really know. After the war, you had a big quarrel. I'm not too sure what it was about.'

I'll have to ask Billie.'

'I guess.'

Luke put the book back on the shelf. 'Anyway, now I understand why you didn't react with total incredulity to my story.'

Yes,' Bern said. 'I believe Anthony did this.'

'But can you imagine why?'

'I don't have the slightest idea.'

.

8 P. M.

If temperature variations are higher than expected, it is possible that the germanium transistors will overheat, the mercury batteries will freeze, and the satellite will fail to transmit data back to Earth.