Madness (17 page)

“They waited too long. Shoot them down.”

The Global Realm sen
t a signal. If you join the cause and obey the law, you become an equal among equals. If you don’t, you will pay the consequence. Refusing to disarm and turn over illegal drugs was a crime met with fatal consequences. Six months from now, a world purged of these vices wouldn’t need the death penalty.

Peacock opened her eyes and smelled the odor of alcohol. The objects surrounding her registered as varying shades of achromatic gray. Her intellect knew the color spectrum.
She was colorblind. Her head ached, and she sensed some misfiring in the central part of her brain. She wiggled her toes, her fingers, and listened to her heartbeat. Her body seemed in perfect working order. Aware of her intense femininity, she relished being a woman.

A young man
, early thirties, entered her room wearing a white coat and carrying a clipboard. He sat next to her with a microphone affixed to his collar and a recorder in his pocket. He spoke. “Case 772, seven p.m. Laverna Smythe Pendleton, patient.”

She examined him head to foot, impressive looking.

“Good evening, Laverna, I’m Doctor Pederson. I work for Doctor Levi. Do you know where you are?”

“No.”

“What’s the last thing you remember clearly?”

“My head aches.”

“Yes. What’s the last thing you remember clearly?”

“That my head hurts. I just told you
.”

“Before that?”

She tried to recall, but nothing leaped into her mind. “I don’t remember anything.”

“What language are you speaking?”

“I don’t know. The same one you are.”

She giggled and found
that response refreshing.

“Tonight we’re going to test your mathematical skills. All right?”

“All right.”

“How much is two plus two?”

“What would you like the answer to be?” Someone famous had spoken the same words. She didn’t remember whom.

“I want it to be what you were taught it was in school.”

“Four.”

“Good.”

“Why is that answer good? It just is.” She pushed herself up. The doctor raised the bed so she could look straight at him.

“It’s good you know the answer. Where did you learn the answer was four?”

She didn’t know and shook her head.

“What’s your name?”

“You said it’s Laverna Smythe Pendleton.”

“What do you say it is?”

“I don’t know.”

“Where were you born?”

“I don’t know.”

Doctor Pederson reached in his pocket and pulled out four pictures. “Look carefully at these faces and tell me which one makes you feel good about being alive.”

She studied them, two men and two women, but only one was smiling. She pointed at the smiling face, “This one.”

“Why does this one make you feel good about being alive?”

“She’s not sad.”

“Okay. I’m sure you’re tired. I’ll be back in the morning.”

She wasn’t
that
tired. “Who am I?”

“Maybe we’ll find out tomorrow.”

He left her irritated. She should have been able to continue. There was a television set and a control by her bed. She turned the set on, but could only find two channels, both broadcasting the same programming. She settled in to watch the Western Division of the Global Realm Broadcasting Network.

“In total, an estimated 30,000 insurgents were killed battling Global Realm forces in Chicago,” a man was saying. “While here in Los Angeles, the collection of firearms and drugs is proceeding with few incidents, and clean-up is moving along fairly well. The main problem is bringing in enough large haulers to remove the trash and debris. Volunteers who have a hauler should report to the Global Clean-up Center in West Covina.” He gave an address.

The world she was looking at was unfamiliar to her, although seeing people working together to clean neighborhoods lifted her spirits.
Maybe I am tired.
The T.V. control fell from her hand.

After a sound night’s sleep, Peacock awoke to a rainbow of colors. The staff had moved her to a private room with a view of a city. She could see the colors outside and in the room. She smiled and heard herself laughing. Her voice sounded almost giddy. She
rolled to her left and stepped down onto the floor. Quickly, she rocked back onto the bed and sat still to gain her bearings.

“I’ve brought someone to see you.”

She recognized that voice and put up her hand without turning around. “Give me one second.” Peacock liked the voice, male, strong, yet loving. “Are you my lover?”

“Always and forever,” he said.

She heard a cooing and the stifled cry of an infant. She swiveled around to see a man holding a little baby. Her mouth dropped open and she knew. This was her son. “Please,” she said, and reached for the child.

The man placed the boy in her arms and tears burst down her face.

“His name is George Henry Pendleton, our son.”

Peacock struggled within her mind to recall.

“It’s all right, Lovey. Things take time. I said I’d find a way to get that device out of your head, and I have. Eventually you’ll remember.”

Her breast milk had dried months earlier, and she pulled her hand back from the instinctive urge to nurse her son.

The man handed her a bottle. “Feed him. You’ll breast feed our next one.”

“Then you’re my husband,” she said, and thought him far superior than most men.

“And you’re my wife. The best wife a man could ask for.”

“Please, tell me your name. I’m sorry
I can’t remember a thing.”

“I’m Arthur Pendleton, your husband and friend.”

“Nice to meet you, Arthur.” George cooed and she grinned. “Oh, this is divine.”

Her husband seemed to enjoy watching her with their son as much as she did holding him. The twinkle in his eyes created a warm loving feeling. Then she noticed several men in black uniforms standing guard outside her room.

“Why all the bodyguards?” she asked.

“Don’t worry about them. Until we’ve subdued the resistance, they’re a necessity.”

An older man entered the room, with the young man she’d talked to the night before. “I’m Doctor Levi,” the older man said. “This is my assistant, Doctor Pederson. How are you feeling today, Laverna?”

“I’m happy. I have my son and my husband, Arthur, here with me.”

“I’ll be introducing you to a number of people in your life over the next few weeks.” He studied her vital signs. “We’ll see how much of your memory we can stimulate to recollection.”

“Now it’s time for you to do your physical rehab,” Pederson said, and Pendleton reached to take back George.

“No!” Peacock felt a surge of rage and tightened her grip on her son. “I’m not ready to let him go.”

A sharp prick behind her neck and the world became fuzzy. She couldn’t move her eyelids, let alone her arms. The colors faded to gr
ay, and she slept.

#

Pendleton handed George to his mother out in the hall.

“How did it go?”

“Great for a first time. She adores our son, and I think she likes me.”

Doctor Levi motioned Pendleton over. “We’re
discovering unusual activity in her brain. Pathways have developed in the area surrounding the absent implant that fire instant activity into the subsections of the brain controlling emotional reaction, first and foremost, rage and secondarily libido. Her brain scans confirm our observations. She’ll be normal until a trigger ignites her emotions, then she’s uncontrollable.”

“Which means?”

“She’ll need a lot of retraining to control her emotional swings. You saw how she acted when we tried to take George back.”

“
Yes, but. . .”

“No buts, Arthur, we have to administer her
therapy slowly.”

“All right, give me a game plan.”

“There should be visits by you with George, daily. If you can’t make it, have Anne bring him. You will ask her the questions our researchers want her to answer.”

“All right.”

“She should also see her former associates and allow them to participate in her recovery.”

“Again, I’ll do anything to have her back.”

Reuben Levi placed both hands on Pendleton’s shoulder and looked directly in his eyes. “From everything I’ve read on her from Kolb’s files, I can say with certainty. There is no
her
to have back.”

“I don’t understand.”

“When she came to Hercules, she went by the name of Donna O’Conner. That person dealt with severe post-traumatic stress disorder and emotional psychosis. They trained her to become Peacock. Peacock’s training is that of an assassin.”

“Oh for God’s sake.”

“Are you following me, Arthur?”

“I’m following you. But I can tell you, my Lovey isn’t either of those two people.”

“No, Laverna Smythe Pendleton is a role she performs.”

“She
isn’t acting. She loves me.”

“
In a sense, she does. In another sense, you’re not real. She plays a role and loves the part. Being Laverna gives her a sense of self she never had before. But honestly, after Kolb adjusted the implant, none of the personalities that made up your wife exist anymore.”

“Is she insane?”

“Yes, she’s quite mad. She’s also brilliant. She’s is capable of becoming somewhat sane. Think of an artist removing all the paint from a canvas and starting over.”

Pendleton slumped in a chair and waved away everyone but Levi. He tried to understand his wife’s condition
. However, he kept running into his own emotions. “So her mind is an empty canvas on which a new life can be painted.”

“Except, the pathways most used by the implant are supercharged. Her gene pool is unaltered. She will have memories, but memories are not personality.”

“What about her capabilities? She is a trained martial arts expert.”

Levi chuckled. “She’s as deadly as they come.”

In her mid-twenties, his wife wasn’t anyone. All right, he’d help her become a vibrant individual and teach her to love life. To Doctor Levi, Lovey was a unique opportunity to understand the human mind. To Pendleton, she was the woman he loved. Between the two of them, a wonderful human being would result.

He shivered, but not from the cold.

#

Peacock opened her eyes. She reached for her child to find her arms empty. Color returned to her sight, but her temper raged red. She pulled herself out of bed and disconnected the monitor lines attached to her skull. She pitched the blood pressure stand and gauge across the room, slamming it against the wall.

Two attendants raced through her door only to barely escape with their lives.

“I want my baby, now,” she howled. “Now, I said.”

Doctor Levi stepped into the room, and she glared at him. “Where’s my son?”

“With your mother-in-law.”

“Bring him here.”

“No.”

She jerked back at the word,
no.
“But he’s mine.”

“You could have harmed him with your tantrum, Laverna.
You didn’t think. How is your rage working for you?”

She sat down on the edge of the bed. “You’ll sedate me when I get mad, won’t you?”

“We have to.” Levi walked fully into her room. “You and the team I’ve assembled need to work together to bring you to some sense of normalcy.”

“I want to read my files. I have a right.”

“Under the new regime, I’m not sure what rights you have.”

“Is my husband still here?”

“No, he’s left for one of his hundred meetings a day.”

“Doctor Levi, please, I’ll cooperate, but I need to know about the world I live in and who I am. I can read, write, speak, and understand. I’ll work with you, and yes, we’ll figure me out together.”

She watched Levi’s face, trying to read his mind. Finally, he said, “All right. Work with your therapist today. Give a hundred percent, and tonight, I’ll give you a copy of every file I have on you. I think you’ll be occupied for a good month.”

“I’m sorry I blew up. The rage happens before I can think to stop myself.”

“I know. We’ll work on finding out why.”

Three Weeks Later

Peacock closed the last of a mountain of files. This one labeled,
Mind Control Project-DBS, Subject 34.
Where did she go from here? What were her assets? Intelligence, an IQ of over 150, physical dexterity and strength, and the ability to mimic emotions led the field. Reading about her life amazed her. Since memories were returning, she could connect the writing to events in her head.

Like working a twelve-step program, Peacock tackled her steps. The first three were easy. She admitted she was helpless and couldn’t restore herself to sanity. She had become willing to work with God and Doctor Levi’s team and turn herself over to their hands. Her past emotions purged
, and seeing her life for the miracle it was, she readily accepted God as the reason she’d survived.

Now,
she’d come to the place where she had to write down a thorough assessment of her strengths and weaknesses. One glaring weakness lay in her inability to disconnect from her intellectual fear of attachments and actually experience the relationships she mimicked. Being alone most of her waking hours gave her time to reflect.

She remembered standing at her family’s gravesite talking in her head to her
dead father almost fifteen months earlier.

I’m
mortally wounded, Dad.
Only it’s my mind that’s dying. Even my feelings for Arthur can’t be described as love—only a boost to my ego. One day, I’m afraid I’ll be just a whore and a cold-blooded murderer.

She remembered licking the melting snow off her lips and sighing.

I’m pregnant. I want the child, but I’m afraid to grow fond of it. Everyone I love dies. That’s why I know I don’t love Arthur. He’s very much alive.

She’d mulled those words
repeatedly. Did she really believe admitting she loved Arthur Pendleton would result in his death? Apparently, she had back then. Right before Ursa showed up that day, she’d asked her father.

If God is real, why did He allow you to die the way you did? Answer me that.

Logically, there was no answer to the question. A person believed either God did not cause that event, or God did. Until she understood God, she was stumped. Arthur told her once that God never brings evil, but He allows evil to happen and has His own reasons as to why.

“I want to live a normal life,” she said aloud, knowing
her emotional makeup and Kolb’s work altering her brain had destroyed everything normal in her. She made a decision and pressed the button Doctor Levi installed when she wanted to talk. “I want to explore the past.”

A voice over the intercom answered. “Doctor Pederson and your husband will be with you at four o’clock.”

“Can I take the tests?” she asked.

“Of course, I’ll bring them to you.”

The Global Realm required all its citizens to undergo evaluation for skills, interests, and life experiences. She’d already selected the modules she wished to follow. The testing would take seven hours. She had nine hours before her meeting. She’d finish well ahead of time. “All right, God. Your creature needs Your love to understand how to love herself.”

Creature, yes—one with a blank
slate for a soul.

#

Pendleton peeked through the curtains at a group of people gathering outside his hotel. He orchestrated the broadcasts on the Global News Networks from his new home in Zurich. The native population visited his location, particularly the populace of Switzerland who were within a bike ride of his Widder Global Headquarters. The curious wanted to see their new world leader. However, Pendleton rarely appeared in public. He had too much to do, so his team leaders came to him. The hotel converted its rooms into residences for Pendleton and his family, his staff, and executives coming in and out of Zurich to meet with him. Pendleton insisted on a living space of 1800 square feet, one-fifth of any of his previous residences.

His mum lay asleep
on a divan with George in her arms. When he had a dilemma, Pendleton felt comfortable with her near. His longtime friend, Milton Rogers, appeared smitten by Anne—not at all in Pendleton’s plans. Not that he didn’t want happiness for them both, he did. However, the distraction didn’t fit right now. He needed Milton focused on global security. Managing the egos of four strong generals was a sticky wicket at best.

The telly flashed to four large ocean
barges approaching an area north of Tern Island in the North Pacific. Another group of ships readied themselves off the West Coast of the United States for a mission north of the Guadalupe Island. The vessels were the first of what would become an estimated five-year project to clean up the oceans. Dredging solid materials off the surface of the oceans, as small as a centimeter in width, and syphoning smaller particles to a depth of a quarter kilometer, the barges could remove eighty percent of the manmade waste from the oceans. Yet, the greater task was preventing the material from entering the sea in the first place.

“
Un-recyclable material from the world’s trash cleanup system will be sent to sites being prepared in the Sahara Desert,” the narrator said.

The scene swung to show an area in the hyper-arid regions of the Sahara along the border
between the former nations of Algeria and Chad. The cameras swept the amazing panorama revealing a new construction project.

“The plan is to dig down over a hundred and fifty feet and create six-foot thick concrete containers three
-hundred feet by three-hundred feet by fifty-feet high and bury material that can’t be recycled.”

The announcer, based in Miami, pointed to a convoy of trash haulers over a mile long waiting to unload waste material onto vessels bound for the Sahara. “These trucks carry the remnants of materials deemed unrecyclable from clean-up efforts in the United States. The government appreciates our citizens
’ help in restoring our world. Now we’ll go to the North American Continent weather forecast.”

The transition to a sane society would take years, maybe longer than Pendleton would live. Sadly, he’d ordered the destruction of areas where the population refused to turn over weapons and drugs. The
brutal, lightning attacks and the inhuman clean-up following were broadcast live worldwide, adding to the general fear, but spurring compliance from an overwhelming portion of the global population.

Pendleton had to be at the hospital in two hours, but Van Meer was coming up with Milton Rogers to discuss how to handle new instances of rebellion.

“Mum,” he said, rubbing her back gently. “I have a short meeting and Milton will be here.”

“Oh,” she groaned. “Well, I certainly don’t want him seeing me like this. I’ll take George to my room.”

“How serious is this
thing
between you two?”

“We like
each other’s company, Son. If the heat turns up, I’ll let you know, so you won’t be embarrassed.”

Pendleton
’s cheek twitched a bit.

“Did I hit a sore spot?” Her snide little smirk surprised him. “We’re quite able to handle our relationship ourselves. I know you don’t want to hear this, but I stopped telling you what to do years ago.”

“It’s just. . . “

“It’s just that I’m your mother. I know.
But, I’m not going to waste away living by myself. Whether it’s Milton or someone else, I do intend to have fun in my later years. So don’t be a prude.”

She gathered George and his things together and headed for the door. “I love you, Son.”

“I love you too.”

She was out the door and gone.

Pendleton shivered as he had when his mum caught him with Irene Duffy when he was sixteen. He couldn’t control his mother. She wasn’t a teenager. Seemingly, he couldn’t control anything one hundred percent, particularly her.

Five minutes later a knock on the door said Rogers and Van Meer had arrived.

“The natives are restless out here,” Van Meer said, as Pendleton opened the door.

“I don’t see any natives.”

“Then you haven’t looked outside.”

Pendleton hurried to the window as Rogers and Van Meer entered. What had been a small group on bicycles
had swollen to a crowd of thousands. Most were dressed in the type of Global Realm wear with the insignia on the breast pocket. A few still wore traditional clothing. Many carried flags of support reading, “Save the Planet.”

“You’re in charge of security.
” Pendleton playfully poked Van Meer in the chest. “Keep these people orderly.”

“Well, they are orderly. But
at one time or another, you will have to greet them in person.”

That thought was God-awful uncomfortable.

The three sat down at a round table, and Pendleton pulled out a list of questions. “First, Milton, assess the loyalty of our four key commanders.”

Rogers nodded and gave a folder on each commander
to Pendleton and Van Meer. “General Marco Giamo understands the game. He’s convinced General Ruthman to come onboard. I believe we have a strong friend in Giamo and the full support of the former U.S. military.”

“I wish we’d have been able to neutralize Monroe.” Pendleton tapped Giamo’s file in his hand “Edmunds would have allowed us access to the missiles without the necessity of using Professor Cline, but we didn’t. I’m glad we have Giamo onboard now.”

“Next, Vito Costello.” Rogers frowned. “The man’s not the leader the other three are. He’s loyal, absolutely no chance of his leading a rebellion, but he’s not decisive.”

“Can we afford him in his position for three years? Should we make a move now?”

“I plan to give General Sakharov the tactical responsibility over Europe, the Middle East and Africa with your approval,” Rogers said. “I’ll switch Costello into the role of balancing firepower. Seeing to it, areas having an over-balance of weaponry cede their excess to areas with a need.”

“Will Sakharov work well alongside Jarvis Franks?”

“Other than an occasional emotional twitch from Franks, I don’t expect a problem.”

“You have my approval,” Pendleton said. “What about General Tzu Chui
?”

“An amazing strategist, leader, and survivor,” Rogers said.

“Do I hear a
but
?”

“My gut tells me Chui understands the
necessity for a one-world government now. He’s onboard with the need for saving the planet. He agrees with the idea of resource and distribution planning from a global perspective, but long term, his profile shows a desire to rule. If anyone would be a challenge to you as First Citizen in the future, it’s Chui.”

“Define future?”

“Chui mentioned ten years several times when discussing Li Ziyang’s plans to wait before breaking away from our union. He said both Ming and Ziyang agreed on a ten-year window. I think Chui will work within that timeframe.”

“What steps would he take to elevate his position and gain control?”

“What would you do?” Van Meer asked.

“Play nice for the first few years,
while receiving promotions into positions of influence with key Global Realm executives. Plant seeds of discontent on problems that already exist, and embellish the government’s mistakes. Obtain a silent following, and test out at the highest level. If I didn’t win the role peacefully, I’d assassinate my rival thereby gaining control.”

“Yes, the same formula you used with Eric Throgmorton, your old nemesis.” Van Meer grinned. “And Chui is like you. He supports the mission as you did when you joined the W.F.C. Like all great megalomaniacs, he’s sure he can achieve greater success than anyone else.”

“Define megalomaniac!” Pendleton snapped. He might be a narcissist, but not a megalomaniac.

“A megalomaniac would rather be powerful than charming and feared rather than loved.”

“Well then I’m a mix of the two. I wish to be powerfully charming and lovingly feared.”

“There were three men who conquered most of the known world,” Rogers said. “None were destroyed by military might, Alexander the Great, Genghis Khan, and Timer the Lame. All were megalomaniacs in a sense. All had these traits. They were organized
. They gave people a cause to follow them, and they were military geniuses. You have exceeded them all, and with less bloodshed.”

Pendleton smiled. “People have to fear you enough
not to try to kill you.”

“Wrong,” Van Meer said. “You have to have invincible protection. Lots of buggers want to
off
the First Citizen of the Realm.”

He hated to admit the fact that Van Meer was right. The security team for Arthur Pendleton needed as much thought as the security team for the Global Realm.