Sigma One

by Hutchison, William

  Walker then turned and faced the committee, moving up to the podium as he did. "But that's not I'm here today! I'm not here to argue the potential benefits of SIGMA ONE. Mr. Huxley, here, did that and he did a fine job if you ask me." He looked down at Pat again. There was sympathy in his eyes.

  He looked up again and continued. "I'm here at the request of Senator Radcliff and am going to describe a situation in the world today which cannot be allowed to go unanswered by the United States. This situation makes the financial aspects of SIGMA ONE pale by comparison and, it is a situation which puts the U.S six to ten years behind the Soviets in," he paused, "thought programming."

  Walker then leaned forward on the podium. All kindness left his eyes. Everyone could see the sense of urgency in his stare.

  "Gentlemen and Ms. Robinson, we know the Soviets already have their own version of SIGMA ONE. And if we don't do something about it, you and I might as well start practicing our Russian, because in one, maybe two years we'll all need it when we're asked to surrender to them."

  Lassiter stood up. "That's ridiculous, Walker! What proof do you have?" He then directed his comments to Radcliff.

  "Senator, what's this utter bullshit about the Soviets having SIGMA ONE? I thought better of you. I can't believe you'd stoop so low as to bring in an obvious plant from the Agency to sway the committee to your viewpoint!" As he spoke, the veins on his neck stood out and his face became cherry-red. He looked like a thermometer about to burst.

  While Lassiter was continuing his tirade, Walker swiftly took the opportunity to go back to his place at the table and pull out his briefcase which was beside his chair. Slamming his briefcase on the table, he opened the case and pulled out his own viewgraphs which he held high in the air for all to see. The noise of the briefcase hitting the table caused Lassiter to momentarily stop his verbal attack on Radcliff.

  Walker looked directly at Lassiter. "I have proof, general! Here, in these charts is all the evidence you'll need. Now sit down and listen!"

  The general wasn't used to being addressed harshly, but before he could offer a reply, Radcliff cut him off.

  "Sit down, General! This is my meeting. When Agent Walker is through, you'll have time to make any remarks."

  The general begrudgingly sat down. He'd sure as hell make remarks he thought to himself.

  Walker then moved to the podium and put his first slide up. It was a picture of a young man in his early twenties. The man had curly brown hair, deep set brown eyes, a large straight Roman nose and a strong jawline. Except for the nose he was quite attractive and looked as if he

  could have been a model for GQ magazine. He had that mysterious, emaciated appearance.

  Everyone in the room stared at the image on the screen.

  "This is Andre Kamarov, premier Soviet world chess master. He's beaten everyone he has ever played. He's the undefeated king of world chess." Walker announced.

  "In a recent exhibition in Montres1 last spring, Kamarov even defeated a Cray computer which the International Chess Federation programmed specially for the event. The program contained every winning move ever made since international chess has been played."

  Lassiter wasn't impressed. "So what, Walker! What's a lousy Soviet chess master got to do with why we're here?"

  Walker, unamused and unshaken, continued. "Simple,general. In the exhibition game, Kamarov got the computer in checkmate in exactly eight moves--taking only twenty minutes to defeat the world's most powerful computer. That's what!"

  "So?" Lassiter asked.

  "So? So?" Walker stumbled slightly over his words, not expecting such a blasé response. He then composed himself and put up the next slide and continued.

  "So, he did it by reading the program the ICS' put in, and then he reprogrammed it while he was playing, and he did it in real time simply by using his mind.” Then he added “simply by concentration. That's how he did it. Kamarov knew the moves the computer would make and he took advantage of this knowledge to stop any advances the computer might make before it made them. The Soviet's already have SIGMA ONE, and it's Kamarov whose discovered the secret and is their sole practitioner to date."

  The group then focused on the second slide. Even Lassiter was studying it. Lassiter apparently knew there would be no other way that Kamarov could have beaten the computer if what Walker said was true.

  The second slide showed a picture of a beautiful gray stone two story house. It was surrounded by trees and had a beautiful white fountain in front of it. A circular drive ran around the fountain from right to left in the picture and except for the barb wire fence which could barely be seen through the trees, the house appeared as if it were straight out of House and Gardens magazine. The lawn was mown immaculately and the crisscross lines from an obvious recent trimming brought further visions of a rich country estate which looked as if the house belonged on Long Island. The only thing missing from the tranquil scene was a beautiful Rolls Royce parked in the driveway.

  Walker began to describe the significance of the palatial estate home. "Shown here is the Soviets’ version of the RAND Corporation. It is located eighty miles outside Moscow and houses fifty eight of the Soviet's top scientists. Here is where the Soviets conceived of and then demonstrated their version of SIGMA ONE!"

  Lassiter didn't buy it. "That's a crock, Walker and you know it. We've had that location under surveillance for the last five years and there is absolutely no evidence to support what you're saying."

  "General, your troops have had it under surveillance all right. We know that. My man has seen them snooping around outside and has intercepted some of their microwave signals. But your men have been outside. Last month my agency got a plant inside and he eye witnessed a demonstration of the Soviet's version of SIGMA ONE. And we have the tape and photos of their most recent experiment to prove it."

  Walker then put up his next slide and reached into his coat pocket and produced a miniature tape recorder flicking it on as he held it up to the microphone attached to the podium.

  The picture on the screen then showed the same young Soviet Kamarov seated in front of a portable laptop computer. Kamarov had his hands in the pockets of his white lab coat.

  Walker flipped three slides in quick sure lion. The first showed a close-up of the screen of the laptop. The next two showed its sides and back panel in complete detail. The computer sat alone on a glass table top, and in each picture, Kamarov’ s reflection could be seen reflecting off the glass surface. It was obvious from the pictures that no cords were coming into or going out of the computer.

  As soon as the last of these slides was shown, the voice on the tape recorder began. It was muffled and apparently had been electronically altered. Pat suspected this had been done to protect the identity of the man speaking, should the tape fall into unwanted hands. The voice on the tape confirmed this.

  "As you can see, this portable computer is unattached to any input device. It stands alone on the glass table top. The gentleman seated in front of it is Andre Kamarov, chief scientist in charge of their project."

  "Today is September 1, 1990. It's ten o'clock in the morning now as I'm making this tape. The pictures you are seeing were taken last night, August 31, at seven-thirty in the evening. At precisely seven thirty-one, Dr. Vladim, assistant to Dr. Kamarov, entered the room."

  Walker put up the next slide showing another scientist much older than Kamarov but dressed in a similar white lab coat. Obviously it was a picture of Dr. Vladim they were now seeing. Vladim was shown injecting a bluish liquid substance into Kamarov's arm.

  The tape began again. "At seven thirty-two, Vladim administered the drug shown here to Kamarov. He then left the room, leaving Kamarov alone.

  At this point, I haven't ascertained the significance of the drug, but in future reports I hope to be able to determine exactly what it is."

  "At eight p.m. precisely, Kamarov rose from his chair and crouched in the far corner of the room. Because of my camera angle, I was unable to get a
shot of him as he crouched," the voice apologized.

  Walker showed another series of slides. The first was that of the computer monitor and another close up of the keyboard. By careful examination it could be seen that there were letters formed on the screen and that the same keys on the computer keypad were depressed.

  As each new slide was put up, more letters and matching depressed keys appeared. A series of Russian words was being formed on the screen.

  Walker stopped the tape and pronounced the Russian phrase which translated into "success in thought programming is ours." From the evidence shown, it was apparent that what Walker had said earlier was true.

  He started the tape again and put up a color chart split into four quadrants. The voice on the tape then started again.

  "In the upper left hand quadrant you can see Kamarov now standing near the test computer." The group could. Kamarov was standing nearby, hands still wedged in his lab coat pockets. They failed to see the significance.

  "In the upper right quadrant," the voice pointed out, "he has now approached the computer and is standing an estimated two feet away. Note that he is neither touching the table nor the computer. Also note his physical appearance."

  Still, the committee couldn't see what significance Kamarov’s physical proximity or appearance might have. Their curiosity was piqued. They did, however, all notice how deep the circles were under Kamarov's bloodshot eyes. He appeared to them to have been on a four day binge. Kamarov's face was the color of old mushrooms left out on the counter too long. He looked terrible.

  "On the bottom left portion of the screen you'll see Kamarov, and although he is still not touching the computer, he is staring intently at it. Note that the computer is now not resting on the table anymore, but is, instead, suspended approximately three inches above its surface. It is my opinion that Kamarov levitated the machine simply by using the power of his mind, although when he did, he appeared to be in a deep trance even though his eyes were open."

  The members gasped. They could clearly see the computer was now truly hanging in the air. The clarity of the picture also seemed to prove that this wasn't merely a trick because no apparent means of suspension were evident. What this all meant they didn't knew, but they were impressed.

  While they stood gaping at this portion of the viewgraph, Walker moved from the podium and pointed to the final quadrant, leaving the miniature tape recorder while it still played resting against the microphone.

  "This last shot in the lower right shows what's left of the computer only seconds after Kamarov closed his eyes. It all happened so quickly, I wasn't able to get the actual explosion on film."

  The picture showed a molten mass of plastic surrounded by hundreds of pieces of shattered electrical components.

  "As you can see, the computer is totally destroyed. While I was watching Kamarov through my camera lens, seconds after he levitated it, he let out a deep sigh and then collapsed. The machine still remained in the air for another two or three seconds, but then it literally came apart and ended up as shown. The explosion was deafening and as a result, I didn't stay around to see what happened next; this to avoid blowing my cover. Had it not been for the thickness of the control room glass, I would have possibly been hit by the pieces. Let me add just one more thing. I believe what I saw. I don't understand it at all, but I believe it. The Soviets have achieved thought-programming as you suggested, Walker, before you sent me here. My God, we've got to learn how they did it and do something about it."

  He then paused and finished. "I'll file my next report in three weeks."

  The members sat silently as they tried to absorb what they had just witnessed and to determine what impacts the Soviet advances would have on their individual organizations.

  As would be expected, one of the military men, Colonel Anderson, raised his voice first. "Great Walker! That was just great. If your pictures are real, and I do have my doubts about their validity, then we can cancel SIGMA ONE right now. We don't need to be wasting any more of our precious R and D money on your project when the Soviets already have it."

  Walker didn't follow the logic and indicated so. "I don't understand colonel." he replied.

  "Easy. All we need to do is get the guy you have over there spying on Kamakoff,"

  "That's Kamarov!" Walker said, correcting the colonel.

  "Oh, yeah, Kamalove!"

  Walker cringed at the mispronunciation. The colonel was hopeless.

  The colonel regained his momentum and explained. "You see, Walker, it's simple. We get your guy to kidnap Kamarov (he finally got it right), and then we bring him over to the good ole U S of A, and we take him down to Camp Arthur, and deprogram him. Why my boys will have him whistlin' Dixie, singin' Yankee Doodle Dandy, and satin' homemade apple pie in no time. Then we can either bleed him for everything we need to make our own version of SIGMA ONE work at a fraction of the cost of Huxley's proposed program, or we can simply use his talents to carry out SIGMA ONE on his own people. Either way, when we're done with him, we can get rid of him."

  Pat and Walker both cringed at the colonel's suggestions. Pat had heard rumors of a Camp Arthur in his previous military flying career, but he didn't know a place like that actually existed. As he had heard the story, Camp Arthur was a deserted military base down in Fast Texas which had been abandoned after WWII and later reactivated, supposedly, at the height of the Viet Nam Conflict. It was supposed to be a place manned by the Army with the sole purpose of performing psychedelic drug deprogramming on captured war criminals to learn their secrets. The whole project was and still is kept under wraps for obvious reasons. To hear that such a place actually was still in operation disturbed Pat and Walker alike. It was as if we had our own version of the German POW camps.

  What disturbed Pat even more was the idea that the Soviets were ahead of the NSF. He hoped the other members wouldn't agree with Anderson's plan to kidnap Kamarov. As much as he wanted to question the Soviet himself to find out how he had achieved what his team had been unable to, Pat knew that if the plan could be pulled off successfully as Anderson suggested, that there really wouldn't be any reason to continue SIGMA ONE at its present level of funding, if at all. Getting the secrets from the Soviet would allow his staff to possibly replicate their advances and save them months of research effort, which as a program manager he should have loved, but his jealousy won over his professionalism and he gritted his teeth in anger and continued to listen to Anderson's scheme. Pat wanted the Soviet dead, not kidnapped.

  Anderson proceeded to lay out an elaborate plan describing how Kamarov would be smuggled into the States and then how, with the use of the drugs, he'd be made to divulge the secrets the Soviets had obviously worked so hard to guard.

  His words were very convincing and with each added detail, the other committee members were being swayed closer to his point of view.

  Walker, meanwhile, said nothing. He merely stood at the podium while the colonel rattled on and on.

  When Anderson finally paused, Walker seized the opportunity to conclude. "Colonel, your plan is exactly what our agency had in mind, and in fact, we were about to implement it just five days ago.- Unfortunately, we have been unable to contact the agent we had in the research facility. In fact, we have reason to believe he's dead, but we have no way to verify it."

  Pat breathed a sigh of relief at Walker's last comment If the agent were dead, there would be no way that Kamarov could be kidnapped if he stayed in the Soviet Union.

  Lassiter stood up decisively and by his movements, it appeared he was about to say something very important. "Well, Walker, I've seen enough. If those pictures are real, and if the Soviets already have their version of the project, then I feel we have no alternative....Pat piqued his ears but to continue Mr. Huxley's research. (Pat beamed).

  The general continued. "I do want to recommend, however, that we not give him blanket budgetary authority as we have in the past, but that we grant him a continuation of research for only ninety days pending
our being able read the report he referred to earlier in the meeting and pending our finding out whether the agent Walker referred to is dead or alive. If either the report is not convincing or if we are able to contact the agent again ourselves and verify what he said was true then, and only then, can we re-examine the need to continue. In any event, a three month continuation is needed in the interim. Don't you agree?" Lassiter asked turning to each of the other members, all of whom nodded to show their approval as his eyes met theirs.

  "Very well then," Radcliff added seeing everyone concurred. "It appears the committee has reached a consensus based on General Lassiter's recommendation. Let me restate it for the record and then we can adjourn."

  Radcliff then restated the conditions on which SIGMA ONE would be allowed to continue as a formality and called for a vote. The committee voted unanimously to accept the conditions, and with that, he called the meeting to adjournment.

  As each of the members filed past him, Pat nodded cordially, trying to put on that he was pleased with the outcome when, inside, he was seething. Each returned his gesture save for Butterworth and Ms. Anderson who were too caught up in an animated conversations about the health benefits of tofu. Apparently, both were vegetarians; although, judging from his girth, it didn't appear that Butterworth stuck to as healthy a diet as he was espousing to Robinson. It seemed odd to Pat that Butterworth would be interested in bean curd, and odder still that such a beauty as Robinson would give him a second glance, much less seem interested in what he had to say. Pat shook his head as he watched the odd couple pass into the corridor.