Diane Hoffman was nonplussed. "People, please," she began. "There will be no outward physical appearance change to anyone. And the genetic changes will not take effect until the threat is actual. If no threat materializes then the change doesn't have to be activated. Maybe never activated."
Lucy Smith's curiosity finally got the better of her. "Let's assume for a moment that you really are able to isolate genetic sequences that would give all humans uniques for strength, endurance, agility, eyesight, hearing and ESP," as she pointed to the board where LeBlanc had listed them. "How do you propose to give these uniques to everyone? I just don't think the general population is going to voluntarily submit themselves to a treatment. To even begin to get their agreement, the alien threat would have to be disclosed and that kind of disclosure would necessarily reveal how our government has been lying to everyone about UFO's. There would be mass panic and little if any cooperation!"
"Yes," Collier agreed. "The decision has already been made not to reveal this threat to the general population. We went over this in our first meeting."
Mike Jenson broke in. "As I told you the other day, my job is understanding and persuading people. Based on everything I have learned over the past months, I have to agree with the General."
"Here is the story the government has to sell to the common people. 'The World is going to be attacked by giant green lizards in about 60 years, and they plan to kill or enslave all of us. These lizards are a lot stronger than us and can control our minds. So to protect us against this attack, all of you and your children must take a drug that will change your bodies in unknown ways but with the hope you will be able to survive the attempted takeover of Earth.' Am I leaving anything out?"
Amused looks and silence confirmed his brief summary.
But Diane Hoffman wasn't discouraged. "It has always been quite obvious that whatever we decide to do, no word of the plan and its execution can be made public. A scientist named Crick has been secretly researching the make-up of DNA since the beginning of WWII and has established a relationship with a fellow named Watson here in the U.S. Their discoveries are being kept ultra top secret, but I have been collaborating with them through my lab at Johns Hopkins. There is more known about DNA and how it works than most academics and the public will ever suspect."
McPherson broke in, "So we agree the population will not be told. Let's assume the good Doctor Diane brews up some kind of special gunk. How do we get millions and millions of people, young and old, to voluntarily agree to be dosed with the secret sauce when they aren't told the real reason for the treatment?"
Major Blunt, who had been sitting silently in the back of the room observing the proceedings, cut in. "And when the genetic changes begin taking effect, people are going to notice right away. Calming the population will be a priority. The news reports will be just as Lt. Jenson said. 'The World is going to be attacked by giant green lizards in about 60 years. These lizards are a lot stronger than us and can control our minds. So to protect everyone against this attack, all of you and your children were secretly dosed with a drug that changed your bodies in unknown ways.'
"The only explanation the government can give won't be believed. People will feel betrayed and scared. They'll think the government has either poisoned them or turned them into monsters. I can only hope most people don't take up arms and kill every government employee. There will be insurrection." he concluded.
All eyes focused on Dr. Hoffman. She sighed and said, "I never said my plan was complete. There are many facets that will have to be discussed and agreed to over many more meetings. But I can tell you with no reservation that if we concentrate only on the technical/mechanical side in our response to the Chrysallamans, we're doomed to failure."
***
As everyone was leaving the meeting, Jim Blunt walked out beside Diane Hoffman and said, "Would you please come with me to my office?"
While his tone seemed casual, she could tell he urgently wanted to speak with her so she curiously nodded her head and followed him. His office was several corridors away from the conference room. The mammoth Pentagon building was a labyrinth of twists and turns, and Diane became completely lost by the time he opened a door leading to his small, windowless office.
"Please have a seat Dr. Hoffman," he began, as he perched on the corner of his desk and smiled. Diane thought his dimples were cute and if his hair was a bit longer.
Blunt broke into her reverie, "I just wanted you to know I agree with the basic idea of your plan, and I will make Whatsit available to you for the live testing I know you will require."
"Thank you, Major," she replied carefully. "I'm curious to know if you've noticed any growth in your alien. I mean, you said he was a young one, and you've been with him now for what, 8 or 9 months? Is he getting bigger?"
Blunt looked thoughtful. "He has grown about 4 inches and put on around 50 lbs. Stands about 5 feet tall now. He's an omnivore. Loves raw ground beef. His favorite leafy green is spinach. His mental ability to project thoughts or pictures and control people seems to already be fully matured. It is my impression the lizards' mental powers are virtually at full capacity by the time they're teenagers."
"The really difficult thing about their mental power is that even though it does not appear to get any stronger, through practice they seem to become more precise in their control and that precision makes them appear mentally stronger.”
"For example," he continued, "When I first encountered Whatsit on the crashed saucer, he appeared to only be able to influence one person's thinking at a time. However, as you saw the other day, he was capable of controlling five people around that conference table."
"Whatsit thinks it is a great game to try to best me. He has an innate need to dominate and control, and so he's constantly trying to dominate me. My problem is I can only defend myself from his mind games. I can't push back at the mental level. My only offense against him is physical. I can overpower him with my physical strength up to this point in time at least, and I can hit him with a stick. I'm afraid as he continues to grow, eventually I will not be able to physically handle him one on one."
With a curious, worried look on his face, he gazed into her eyes and said, "You claim you can change the equation, perhaps make humans equal to or possibly stronger than them. You sure got my attention!"
Peering over her glasses, Diane warned, "It's going to take some time."
She began ticking off a list with her fingers, "Finding people with unique powers, testing them, being able to measure results, determining what genetic pattern provides the uniques we need to focus on, finding a way to introduce the genetic uniques to the general population, finding a way to trigger the genetic change, finding a way to expose the population at large to the trigger." She smiled. "I'm running out of fingers."
Blunt grinned back, "Let's hope we all still have fingers when you get through with us! Where do you want to begin your quest for uniques?"
Returning his grin with a coy look, Diane replied, "I think the mysterious land of Tibet may be the place to start. Home to snow, high mountains, a few yetis and a 13-year old little boy who may just be able to speak with Whatsit mind-to-mind. The big question is do we bring the young boy to meet Whatsit or take Whatsit to meet the boy?"
Chapter 4 - Tibet
After some deliberation, Blunt and Hoffman decided it was better to bring Whatsit to the Dalai Lama than the other way around. There was just no good way to tell the Tibetan Tulku it was imperative he meet with a 5 foot tall alien lizard at a secret location in the United States. Another problem was the Tulku's age. He was only 13 years old. Jim Blunt thought the young age was a big plus. Teenage curiosity and openness to new things, he hoped, were universal. Right?
Diane Hoffman was more reserved. Yes, the young age thing was an unexpected benefit, but the young age of the Lama would mean his protection would be the first concern of his guardians. She had a pretty good idea how his guardians would react to Whatsit. Shoot first and ask questi
ons later was probably the initial reaction. She predicted as much to Jim on the long plane trip to Tibet.
Peering over the top of her glasses, she said pointedly, "You know we're going to meet with dogged resistance to any meeting. How in the world do we get them together for the test? They think we're coming to visit him as US Ambassadors pledging support to the rising new Dalai Lama."
"How do you plan on getting our friend here," she said pointing to Whatsit, "anywhere near the boy?"
Jim looked at her with a sideways grin. He was beginning to like the way she peered at him over the top of her glasses. "Meet the unusual and special gift that the US Government is presenting to his nibs," he said, gesturing at Whatsit.
As Diane's eyebrows rose in question, he continued, "I had a special cage built to put Whatsit in for the brief time it should take to introduce him to the Dalai Lama. It is my strong hope that if the boy has any ability to mentally communicate, it will be apparent very quickly. If the Lama is able to interact telepathically even in a limited way with Whatsit, curiosity alone should make the rest of the meeting go more smoothly."
As he watched the wrinkles in Diane's forehead begin to form her unspoken doubts, he raised his palm towards her and said, "I know, I know. I'm worried about the first meeting. I have tried my best to communicate to Whatsit that he must not take control of the Lama. He must not scare the lad."
Diane replied drily, "Your ability to understate is amazing, Major Blunt! Have you even considered the fright Whatsit will feel being shut up in a cage surrounded by human strangers? If he lets his emotions get the better of him, we could see a quick meltdown!"
"Yes, I thought about that," he responded and beamed. "I have promised Whatsit he'll not be left in the cage longer than an hour, and he'll receive a large plate of ground steak when we get back to the plane. If we get near the time limit, he'll begin to act like a very naughty lizard, forcing us to renege on our generous gift for the safety of the Dalai Lama. The perfect excuse to leave with no one the wiser they just met an alien from another planet."
"Cute," Diane replied, and she looked over at Whatsit and smiled, gesturing at the lizard. "You think he really understands what you need him to do?"
"We'll see," Jim said. "Proofs in the pudding, so to speak."
The rest of the flight was uneventful save for the many boring hours spent flying over the ocean. The big passenger plane landed at the Tibetan airport, and Whatsit calmly entered the cage. Blunt covered it with a tarp just before the cargo doors were opened. Several Tibetans maneuvered the cage into the bed of a waiting truck, and sitting down on a bench beside the cage, they headed towards the Dalai Lama's compound. Jim stayed close-by, stroking the lizard's arm through the bars in an effort to reassure him.
At last the truck rounded a curve and the landscape of palm trees and low scrub greenery opened up to reveal a large Asian architecture building surrounded completely by an ornate stone wall. As sunlight played across the wall, it looked like each stone had been covered with glitter, giving the whole thing a jewel-like appearance. The large wooden gate leading into the compound looked to be about a quarter mile distant. Jim suddenly felt the muscles in Whatsit's arm tense up. Quickly glancing at the lizard, he was surprised to see Whatsit appeared to be agitated. Maybe that was not a good description. Maybe excited was a better word.
Jim projected a picture in his mind towards Whatsit that he had come to realize meant, "What is wrong?"
Whatsit's response was astounding! A keening wail whispered from his mouth as he grasped Jim's arm tightly with his hand, looked at him and projected the clear mental picture of happiness into his mind. Jim Blunt turned to look at the gate as it opened up to admit the truck, a look of wide-eyed surprise plain on his face. Diane could tell from his eyes that something was going on. She leaned over and grasped his hand in hers and squeezed it.
The truck wound around the gravel drive leading to the main dwelling and lurched to a stop. The entrance to the house was beautiful, with carefully manicured flowering bushes in heavily carved clay pots lining the staircase. Immediately, 10 men in red outfits and black loafer-like shoes marched down the wide steps leading from the home to the driveway, carefully lifted Whatsit's cage and carried it up the stairway. Blunt and Hoffman, feeling odd about the bustling reception, climbed down from the truck and followed the cage with the marching men up the stairs and into the house.
The troop of red clothed men marched the cage deeply into the building. The cooling in temperature as they moved deeper into the structure was a welcome change from the oppressive mid-day heat in the truck bed. The hallway suddenly opened up into a great room, perhaps 40 feet square, and there, at the far end, upon a raised dais sat a young boy. Jim and Diane instantly knew they were in the presence of someone of singular importance.
The red guard lowered Whatsit and his cage directly in front of the boy and then moved quietly away. Blunt and Hoffman walked up until they were standing beside the cage. The young boy stood up, leaving the dais and moving down to the cage, seemingly deep in thought.
The room was in complete silence. Somewhere off to the left, a bird of some kind twittered, and you could hear its wings ruffling. The sound seemed to break into the reverie of the boy. He was obviously Asian, about 4 feet tall, with nut brown skin tones, almond shaped dark eyes and hair so closely cropped he might have appeared bald from a distance. Very young but with a demeanor and look in his eyes that indicated a great depth of patience and intelligence.
He looked up at Blunt and speaking very matter-of-factly in perfect English said, "Please open the cage and let WrrNrr Zennk out."
The look on Jim Blunt's face was a combination of surprise, confusion and outright skepticism. All he could say was, "Huh?"
Luckily, Diane Hoffman was quicker on the uptake. She turned to look at him with a sideways smirk and said, "Major Blunt, please let Whatsit out."
Jim Blunt felt as if he was in a fog. Fumbling in his pocket, he drew out the key and opened the cage door. Whatsit came out of the cage with a quick lunge, wrapped his arms around the young boy, and both of them hugged each other.
The Dalai Lama looked up at Jim and Diane and said, "Now why don't you tell me why you're really here."
Blunt just looked at the boy, then glanced at Diane and shook his head in amazement. She grinned back at him.
***
Watching the two teenage boys interact was captivating. Naturally you couldn't push aside the fact that one of them was a human boy and the other a 5 foot green lizard, but it was quite apparent that they were kids having a good time. The Dalai Lama had moved a large cushion onto the floor and was sitting in a lotus position. Whatsit lounged on another cushion, his head propped up by one crooked arm in a very human-like position. No words were spoken between them, but every once in a while, Whatsit, now known as WrrNrr Zennk, would look askance at Jim Blunt, cock his head and point, and the Lama would burst out laughing. Blunt was beginning to get a complex made even worse by the fact that Diane Hoffman was highly amused by the whole thing.
"I don't know what is going on, but I don't like it!" he said with no little frustration.
"Oh, Major, just relax," Diane purred, her eyes glinting. "They're just having fun."
"Yeah, fun at whose expense?" he muttered.
Finally the boy Lama spoke to them.
"WrrNrr Zennk is a very intelligent creature, and just so you know," as he looked directly at Blunt, "He thinks you're a good Master."
He continued. "His name is WrrNrr Zennk, and he's about 12 of our years old. He was on a training mission with his father when their craft was shot down by your men."
The boy Lama's eyes glistened with humor as he said, "He has a pretty good sense of humor by the way. WrrNrr Zennk accepts you as his Master even though you come from an inferior race. He is compelled by hard wired Chrysallaman traits he can't control to defend you with his life despite the fact he knows you will be ultimately destroyed by the superior Chrysallaman warriors whe
n they return to conquer the Earth."
He looked over at Whatsit, lounging on the floor cushion, absently toying with a beetle that had flown in a window and landed near him.
"Somehow, I'm able to converse with WrrNrr Zennk mentally just like I talk with you verbally. I cannot explain how I'm able to do this, but nevertheless I can," he said thoughtfully. "By the way, Major Blunt, he actually prefers the name 'Whatsit' to WrrNrr Zennk. Rather curious that, but nonetheless so."
Diane broke in, her face showing mild distress. "Sir, how do I address you? I have some questions but I don't know your name."
"My name is Tenzin," he replied smoothly.
"Tenzin, do you know why we wanted to meet with you and introduce Whatsit, I mean WrrNrr Zennk?" she asked.
"Yes. You need something from me and you thought the only way to convince me to help you would be to put me in direct contact with our alien friend here," he said, gesturing towards the lizard.
His entire demeanor was so completely relaxed that Blunt and Hoffman just stared at him in open amazement. In fact, Jim Blunt kept waiting for the boy to float up into the air on a cloud or something.
Diane pressed on. "Tenzin, we need to study and try to duplicate your mental ability to communicate with Whatsit." She kind of liked the name 'Whatsit' come to think about it. "I'm afraid his pals are coming back with a vengeance, and we must be able to talk with them and understand them when they return."
"And it would be a great advantage to be able to mentally overpower them when and if they do return," the Lama replied drily. "Major Blunt practically shouts his thoughts at me. It's a good thing Whatsit is only able to get limited pictures of thoughts from Major Blunt's mind and not his actual words. If he knew the Major's plans to wipe out his people when they return to Earth, our lizard friend might just curl up into a big green ball and wither away."
Blunt looked at the boy guardedly. "You know all that from just being in the same room with us?" he asked.
The Origin of F.O.R.C.E. Page 5