Pulling The Dragon's Tail (10 page)

“I’m holding nothing back from you, doctor, just
like when I came to your office last week. Your grandfather taught
us how to tenaciously keep and hold onto secrets. Very soon I hope
to completely convince you of that. So—yes, I can keep a
secret.”

Campbell leaned back in her chair, looking
thoughtfully at the paintings of birds decorating her office walls.
The art bore her signatures, reflecting a lifetime of talented
endeavor in watercolor. That love and appreciation began with her
grandfather, Mitchell Hilliard. Her gaze then came back to meet
Nate’s. At that moment she knew that this was her last chance to
resolve her aching dilemma with Mitchell Hilliard, the so-called
monster scientist.

“Mr. Kristopher, I have two final questions for
you. You’ve created a language in which you and Dugan, your CCR,
are the sole linguists. Is that correct?”

Nate’s eyes opened wide in disbelief. He groped
for words
. God! She
can
read my thoughts! Wait! No! Of
course she can’t. Don’t get paranoid, you idiot!
“Um, yes,
that’s correct. Did CLUES figure that out?”

She chuckled. “CLUES is pretty powerful, but it
has its limitations.”

“You guessed?”

“Yes. I figured it must be the only possible
explanation after all the other ones were eliminated. If you’re
sane, it’s the only viable explanation.”

“Your second question?” Nate asked tentatively,
anticipation tinged with fear.

“It pertains to our lead psych tech, Keagan.
Staff members never ask for direct feedback from patients about
other staff. However, this has been an unusual day in many
respects. I really need to know your honest opinion of him.”

So this was the big question, the one that
would make all the difference. I truly have to trust her on this
one
. After a momentary hesitation, Nate said, “Well, to be
perfectly honest, doctor, he scares me to death.”

“Perfect. You’ve just volunteered in helping me
conduct an experiment.”

“What’s my role?”

“You’re the bait.”

* * * * * *

Nate lay wide awake on his hospital bed, mind
racing. Discharge was set for early tomorrow, and later that day he
would have a session with Campbell. But for that discharge ticket
to be stamped and validated he had to survive the night.

At 12:00 midnight a stealthy figure slowly
opened the door to Room 1024, crept into the room, and switched on
the light.

Pretending to be awakened, Nate opened his eyes
and sat upright. “Keagan, what do you want?”

“Oh, I’ve just relieved the night shift. Here’s
your medication. That’ll ensure your final brain scan is measured
accurately. It’s standard protocol.” He pulled out two pills from a
metallic pillbox, placing them on the trans-dermal syringe. Sliding
the lid open, they fell into the chamber. With the lid closed, the
pills were crushed, making them ready for transport into the body
via ultrasound.

As Keagan approached, Nate fled away from the
bed, using it as a buffer. “Stop right there! My Neuro Shock has
been postponed.” Nate caught a whiff of alcohol.

“I’m sorry, but this is what’s best.” Keagan’
eyes appeared blood-shot, and his skin was a pale gray. Slight
tremors shook his hands.

The bathroom door swung open. Campbell Devereaux
stepped out. “Keagan, I’ve ordered no meds for this patient. Care
to tell us what’s really in there? And it’s curious why you’re here
when you’ve been given an order not to return until next week.”

“So nice to see you, doctor,” he said sharply.
Then he quickly lunged for Nate, who narrowly escaped the syringe’s
reach.

Campbell said pointedly, “Careful! I have a PPD.
Stop this insanity
now
.”

“I’m the sane one,” Keagan hissed defiantly.
Slowly backing away from both of them, he grabbed the doorknob and
looked ready to leave.

The doctor’s hypothesis had been proven correct.
Keagan’s murderous intentions had been captured for the world to
see. Campbell’s experiment had reeled him in. Hospital security
would pick him up. Nate was ready to breathe a sigh of relief
.
Experiment over. Case closed. Now just leave
. Nate’s body
language urged Keagan out the door.

Instead Keagan closed the door and locked it,
all the while keeping his eyes on his enemies.

Campbell aimed her PPD at him. “So, what were
you planning to do with my patient? Kill him?”

“Good deduction, doctor. Perhaps you’re really
quite the astute diagnostician after all,” he said scornfully. “But
you don’t have it quite
all
correct. Your attempt to rescue
your psychotic friend here is now also going to cost you your life
too.”

Campbell toyed with the trigger of the PPD. One
blast would render Keagan helpless. She marveled that the Registry
of Violent Thoughts scanner had proved to be stunningly accurate.
Her only regret was that Nate had refused to carry a PPD,
explaining that his pacifist beliefs prohibited him from harming
anyone.

“I wouldn’t be too trigger happy if I were you.”
A hideous smile filled Keagan’s face as he lifted out of a deep
jacket pocket a small object with wires attached. “My backup plan.”
Then he kissed it.

Campbell hesitated.

“What is that thing?” asked a befuddled
Nate.

Keagan, clearly enjoying being back in charge of
the situation, announced, “This is known as a dirty bomb, a small
nuclear device, if you will. One of God’s creations, ya know, the
atom.”

Campbell gasped. “You’ve got to be kidding!” She
took her finger off the trigger.

Nate gulped. He knew deep down that Keagan was
deadly serious. Gideon’s Army never fooled around.
So the
rumor’s correct; Gideon’s Army does indeed have the means and
know-how to acquire nuclear material. I’m sure Dr. Devereaux didn’t
plan for a contingency of a homicidal maniac with a nuclear
bomb.

Nate’s mission had hit a seemingly impassable
roadblock. Keagan and his kind were serious about eliminating the
Church of Abraham. Nate recalled how several close friends died in
terrorist attacks from these religious zealots. He looked at
Campbell helplessly.

Campbell’s mind raced as she stood her ground,
one hand on her hip, the other still aiming the PPD at Keagan. An
internship inside a prison had taught her much about the criminal
element. First rule in dealing with full-fledged narcissism is to
placate and stall for time. “You seem to be going to a lot of
trouble over one patient,” she finally blurted out. “What makes him
so special?”

As he checked to make sure the room monitors
were still disabled, Keagan glanced at the reflection of himself
and slicked his hair back. His tremors had disappeared as he was
seemingly resigned to his fate. Death was a reward and a comfort in
the extreme machinations of a terrorist. “Stalling for time are we,
doctor? You remember your training well for crisis situations. But
it won’t do you any good. We’re
all
gonna die.
But I’ll oblige you by giving you a few choice facts.” Leaning
against the door, and with both hands on the bomb, he proceeded.
“Mr. Kristopher represents a threat to the Christian church.”

Or certainly your warped version of it
,
thought Campbell.

“He and his kind need to be eliminated, one by
one or en masse. They’re breeding like rabbits. In less than thirty
years they’ve got over two hundred million cult members. Yeah, I
guess you’re waiting for the little green men to rescue you and
take you to Andromeda. Do you want to phone home and tell them
you’ll need an immediate beam up?”

“That’s a total misrepresentation of our
beliefs!” Nate protested.

Campbell held her hand up. “Don’t interrupt
him.”

“Why thank you, doctor,” he grinned fiendishly.
“The Church of Abraham, or as we in Gideon’s Army like to call it,
The Church of the Flying Saucer, is pure evil from Satan’s Hell.
All the other major religions—however pathetic they are—hate you,
as well. But we
true
Christians are the only ones gutsy
enough to do anything about it.”

Who’s the real psychotic in the room?
thought Campbell. “But Keagan,” responding in the best empathic
tone she could muster, “I thought Christians were done with the
Inquisition centuries ago.” She thought bitterly,
I’ll never
understand this religious impulse. I’ve got one fanatic wanting to
kill everyone and another fanatic who refuses to hurt a
flea.

“The world’s changed,” Keagan snarled back. “We
need to take bold action to initiate God’s plan of salvation. It’s
all in the book of Revelation, clear and concise. Armageddon’s
coming. We’re just doing our part to help usher in God’s kingdom on
Earth.”

Even Campbell had a difficult time trying to
follow his convoluted logic. “But is it still worth all this
trouble over one man? Now you’re about to kill hundreds of innocent
people.”

“If you’re trying to save yourself, doctor, it
won’t work. You’re as guilty as the rest. I’ve heard you spout
nonsense about Buddha. Besides you can now go to your grave knowing
you died with a very important member of the Church of Abraham.”
Turning to Nate, he said, “My cell leader says to call you
Methuselah.”

Nate’s mouth gaped open in disbelief.

“Too bad I can’t stay to chat any longer. I have
my reward in Heaven waiting for me. You have a date in Hell.”

Campbell pleaded, “If we’re really going to die,
can you at least have the decency for he and I to stand next to
each other?”

Glancing suspiciously at first, he then said,
“Okay, hurry up! Just don’t get all kissy face on me.”

Nate thought,
Father Abraham, is this the
journey you sent me on?
Then he sighed as Campbell hugged him.
“Nevertheless, not my will but Yours.”

Keagan overheard the last whisper of prayer.
“Yeah, send all the prayers Andromeda way, buddy, but you’re going
in the other direction.”

Campbell whispered in his ear, “Don’t worry.
We’ll be all right,” in an unusually calm manner for someone who
was about to die and who held no religious convictions.
Does she
know something I don’t?

The overhead page sounded, “Keagan, report to
the nurse’s station immediately.” He placed his hand on the trigger
mechanism. “What the hell? It sounds like Jentry.”

On the overhead page, “Keagan, you’re on the
monitors. Put the bomb down.”

Quickly recovering from the realization that his
message was being broadcast, he said, “Good, now I have an audience
all present for their execution. Prepare to die.”

Nate winced as Keagan pushed the trigger.

Two seconds passed, which seemed like an
eternity. Nate slowly opened his left eye. Keagan was swearing
while furiously pounding the trigger mechanism.

The door flew open. Jentry and two unfamiliar
staff members quickly subdued Keagan. Jentry carefully took the
bomb away from him. She winked at the doctor and Nate. “Good guy
technology always beats bad guy technology.”

Campbell sighed with relief while Nate slumped
over in exhaustion on the bed.

“Gideon’s Army will never stop until they
destroy all the evil ones. That is the Lord God’s command!”
Keagan’s vile, religious invective slowly passed out of hearing
range as he was led away.

A moment later, Nate was still in shock. He
asked, “What just happened here?” He was clearly relieved to still
be alive.

“Jentry, we certainly didn’t teach you bomb
disabling skills here at the hospital,” observed Campbell.

Jentry smiled, “It’s confession time. I know a
bit more about you than you know about me. I work for UN Security.
We’ve been monitoring Gideon’s Army for a long time and I was
assigned to go undercover to investigate Keagan.”

Campbell continued her inquiry. “So who is
Gideon’s Army?”

“A fringe group of Christian extremists, and I
mean
fringe
. No mainstream Christian church wants anything
to do with them. But a variety of recent events seem to have
triggered a surge in the activity of this group. Mr. Kristopher
here is apparently well acquainted with the GA.”

Nate nodded in agreement and wondered just how
much more Jentry knew about him. But now was not the time to
discuss all that.
Why would anybody in Gideon’s Army call me
Methuselah?

As if reading his mind, Campbell pondered,
“Well, I guess I have another mystery to solve with you now that I
know your nickname, Mr. Kristopher.”
One mystery man of religion
down, one more to go.

Glancing at Jentry, he said, “Well, perhaps we
can explore that in outpatient therapy.” He deftly switched topics.
“Was that a real bomb?”

“As real and ugly as they get. It would’ve
leveled this whole city block.”

“That’s not helping us feel much better,” the
doctor wryly observed.

“So how’d you disarm it?” Nate’s curiosity was
proving more powerful than his fear.

“Well besides my wit and charm, I used this
handy device here.” Jentry was almost bubbly as she cheerfully
displayed a black box with an instrument protruding from it
resembling a tuning fork. “It sends out microwave emissions that,”
and she hesitated, “the rest is …well, I can’t tell you that. We
only needed two prerequisites to disable it. One was subterfuge.
Our local representative from Hell needed to be blissfully unaware
of our presence outside the door. Fortunately both of you were
doing quite a good job in that regard. I hope that speaking into
your ear mike wasn’t too disconcerting, Dr. Devereaux.”

“No, but this may just have helped me resolve my
love-hate affair with computer technology. Looks like your
suggestion about stepping closer to Mr. Kristopher bought you some
more time, and kept Keagan close to the door like you
requested.”

Nate asked, “And the second prerequisite?”