The Thinking Machine Affair - Bernard Joel (читаем книги онлайн .txt) 📗

"I understand now," Hughes said.

"Can it be done successfully?"

"Certainly."

"I'm afraid, Mr. Waverly, we might fail," Dr. Morris said dubiously.

"You have got the THRUSH poison which he took when he was trapped?" Waverly enquired.

"Yes..."

"Well, what are you worried about then?"

"I'm worried that the double administration of the poison might really kill him. He has an extremely strong constitution but..."

"We'll have to take the risk," Waverly cut in impatiently.

As the two men were talking, Clive Hughes was already hypnotizing the motionless prisoner. At first he was unsuccessful, but as life began gradually to flow back into the body, the hypnotist's efforts met with more success. After some tests he confirmed that the man was in the required state of deep hypnosis, ready to be interrogated.

"I want you to make him believe that he's talking with the Chief Organizing Officer at his THRUSH Center," Waverly instructed.

The hypnotist complied with the order; the consequence was that, asked for an account of his mission, the man on the stretcher unhesitatingly submitted his report:

"I did not encounter any obstacles and landed at New York without attracting attention. As per my instructions I proceeded to U.N.C.L.E. Headquarters and established that the Ultimate Computer's information was accurate.

"It was correct that the electronic beam receivers, which I affixed around myself in the manner suggested by the Ultimate Computer, rendered useless closed circuit television eyes and all the additional alarm systems. Admissions never spotted me and I had no difficulty in slipping into the building through the underground entrance.

"I also succeeded without difficulty in affixing eight electronic beam receivers on all the points suggested by the Ultimate Computer. I can consequently confirm that the entire internal communications system at U.N.C.L.E. Headquarters is now equipped with the electronic beam receivers and ready for receiving any communication sent from European Center B.

"I must report failure as far as U.N.C.L.E.'S external communications system is concerned. The reason for the failure is my own carelessness and I am ready to accept appropriate punishment.

"When I affixed the last electronic beam receiver on the intercom cable at point G and prepared to fix the remaining eight beam receivers on the external communications system, I overlooked the fact that I must not pass any of the points at which I'd affixed the beam receivers because, as the Head of the Technical Department had warned me, the beam receivers on my body would create an ultra-force and set off the alarms. This is what happened. As I passed point H where I had placed the beam receiver, the alarm went and I was trapped in a steel door pocket which seemed to come from nowhere. I took the living death drug phial and a few minutes later my mind went blank.

"That is all I can report on my partly-successful 'Operation U.N.C.L.E. Headquarters'. But before I took the phial and lost consciousness, I hid the unused electronic beam receivers in the hollowed-out heels of my shoes. I believe the U.N.C.L.E. investigators did not find the beam receivers in my shoe heels when they searched my body.

"That's my report, sir, and I am ready to submit to any punishment the Disciplinary Committee may impose upon me for having only partly carried out my task."

Clive Hughes continued to pretend he was the THRUSH European Center's Chief Organizing Officer. "I want you to describe the exact locations where you affixed the electronic beam receivers so that I can check the chart and ascertain whether 'Operation U.N.C.L.E. Headquarters' was indeed carried out to our full satisfaction," he said.

The hypnotized man described the location of the various gadgets he had planted, and this information was passed on to the technical team so that they could check whether any of the dangerous receivers had been missed. It was soon confirmed that all the gadgets had been discovered and removed by the search team even before their exact locations had been disclosed.

In the role of THRUSH'S Chief Organizing Officer, Hughes asked: "Are you satisfied that the U.N.C.L.E.'S internal communications system is now ready to receive and pass on effectively any transmission from European Center E that is beamed to the receivers you affixed?"

"Yes, sir, definitely."

"You are very confident, but have you taken into consideration the sort of transmissions U.N.C.L.E. Headquarters are to receive?" Hughes wanted to extract as much information from the hypnotized man as possible.

"Well, sir, I don't know much about it. I only know what the Head of the Technical Department told me, which is that the Professor's apparatus is to be linked with an electronic transmitter beamed at the electronic beam receivers at U.N.C.L.E.'S internal and external communications systems. I'm afraid that's all the Head of the Technical Department told me, sir."

"You seem to have forgotten the Professor's name," suggested Hughes.

"Oh no, sir. It's Professor Novak."

The interrogation continued, but it was soon clear that the man had been drained dry of all he knew.

After Clive Hughes had conditioned the man's mind to permanently forget his awakening moments and only remember the happenings that had occurred before he took the phial and lost consciousness, he ordered him to fall into a deep sleep.

"I want you to fix one of our miniature electronic direction finders somewhere on the man's body, where it cannot be discovered even if their greatest expert goes over him," Waverly told Dr. Morris.

The doctor examined the man's mouth. "We're in luck," be said. "He has a large filling in his lower right molar. We could take it out, insert the direction finder and re-fill the cavity," he suggested.

"Make sure the filling doesn't look new," warned Waverly. "I wouldn't want them to spot the direction finder by noticing a brand-new filling."

Dr. Morris looked at Waverly as if to say, "I don't need that kind of reminder," but only said: "It'll be carried out expertly. Don't worry."

"You spoke earlier of the possibility that a new dose of the poison might kill the man," Waverly said.

"Yes."

"If this happens, would a pathologist who has full knowledge of the poison be able to discover that the man had been given the poison again?"

"I'm sorry, but I can't answer that one. I haven't sufficient knowledge on how the poison works, nor how it affects the human body."

"Never mind," Waverly sighed. "As I said before, we have to take the risk of the man actually dying. I want the body to be ready for collection by the funeral directors in about an hour's time."

"Right," Dr. Morris acknowledged.

Waverly returned to his office to summon Illya Kuryakin and brief him on his new assignment. "I'll make the necessary arrangements for the City Funeral Directors to collect the body and I want you to take charge of the affair from then onwards," he said.

Two hours later, the funeral directors called at the U.N.C.L.E. office on the third floor of the whitestone to collect the body, and Illya was ready at his well-picked observation post when the closed van arrived and the coffin was carried into the funeral parlor.

Later, Illya stepped into a deserted doorway, took out his miniature shortwave transmitter-receiver, and said: "Open Channel D."

Within seconds, Waverly replied.

"A relative has claimed the body, sir," Illya reported.