Seven Point Eight (7 page)

“I hope you had a good time last night, Paul,
I
certainly did. I can’t expect you to work and not enjoy yourself every once in a while.” He sat with a confident repose and continued. “I was going to reserve the final surprise until after your break, but I’ve decided it can’t wait. Be downstairs in the hallway in half an hour.”

Max left the room and Paul sighed, conceding there’d have to be another time for
Elizabeth
.

“Are you still going to be around later?” he asked her.

“Maybe,” she chided.

After a wash and shave, he met Max downstairs in the hallway, who led him out to a car parked in the drive. Paul was impressed by the dark green, open top, two seated roadster with wire wheels, and Max noted the wistful look on his face.

“It’s a Jaguar XK120,” he informed him, “fastest production car in the world, with a top speed of a hundred and twenty miles per hour.”

Max reached inside for the pull cord as there were no external door handles. Paul slid into the tan leather interior with matching dash, while Max jumped into the driving seat beside him. He started up the engine, and the wheels spun on the gravel as he sped away from the coach house.

“Nought to sixty in ten seconds,” Max continued, demonstrating its capabilities by pushing his foot down on the accelerator. “One hundred and sixty brake horse power, a 3442cc engine and a fuel consumption of almost twenty miles per gallon. Jaguar’s first post-war sports car and most definitely a procurer of the feminine parts,” Max laughed.

Paul allowed himself to enjoy the high speed journey, placing his trust in Max, who expertly handled the car around the bends in the country roads they drove down. He took them to a small village about twenty miles away, and pulled up outside a small cottage covered in ivy. It looked very cosy, nestling within a coven of trees.

Max turned off the engine and sat briefly for a moment, with a sentimental expression on his face. Finally, he spoke.

“It’s yours. I appreciate you’ve been trapped in a bubble for a few years now and I believe it’s time you had a home of your own.” He handed over the keys. “Go and take a look, I’m sure you’ll adore it.”

Paul didn’t expect this and if anything, he wondered why Max was being so generous. On entering, Paul found it to be pleasantly furnished and decorated. The sitting room had a beamed ceiling, inglenook fireplace, and two
Chesterfield
style sofas while the kitchen was a reasonable size, with pans hanging from suspended racks. Upstairs he discovered three bedrooms, one having a comfortable double bed with a cast iron frame, and a magnificent view out of the window. The bathroom had a Victorian bath with clawed feet.

Too right he adored it. It was cosy and peaceful, with no immediate neighbours. Transport wouldn’t be too much of a problem, as he had sufficient funds to buy a fine vehicle. Yes, he was going to be happy here.

Max stood in the hallway as Paul descended the stairs.

“It’s wonderful, I can’t thank you enough,” he told him.

“I hope you’re happier here than the previous occupants were,” Max said, closing the door on their way out.

***

Without even thinking of the repercussions, I showed
Elizabeth
the cottage, as I felt I just had to share the good luck. She also fell in love with it instantly and quickly became a regular fixture. A few months after acquiring the cottage, I purchased a cute little roadster: the MG TF in an elegant cream with a 1250cc engine, headlights fared into the fenders, long flowing wheel arches and a tall, sloping radiator grille. Not as impressive as Max’s phallic symbol on wheels, but it had style without being too flashy.

As winter closed in, we sat by the open fire, drank wine, and listened to the wireless, particularly Billie Holiday, although I never discussed work. We even managed to catch ‘Singing in the Rain’, plus a plethora of wonderful films such as ‘From Here to Eternity’, which brought out the romantic in Elizabeth; tense science fiction such as ‘War of the Worlds’, which caused Elizabeth to hide behind her hands, and Hitchcock thrillers like ‘Dial M for Murder’ and ‘Rear Window’. In those days, the feature was accompanied by the Pathé News Reel, with the crowing cockerel, rousing theme tune, and images of life in other parts of the world. The cinematic experience was a spectacle of feature film, B-movie and advertisements, and the National Anthem played at the end, to which the whole audience stood up and sang along. To me, it felt like reintegration into the real world. I saw plenty of activity in the bedroom, if you know what I mean, but I didn’t truly fall in love. However, her companionship was as pleasurable as her body.

I managed to keep away from Max’s parties for a while, despite the invitations, but it wasn’t easy because Max didn’t believe in monogamy. Although Elizabeth and I still enjoyed such pleasures as meals at restaurants, and nights at the theatre or cinema, the magic wasn’t there by the milestone of six months. Her idiosyncrasies, chain smoking, and untidiness became all too vexing, however,
Elizabeth
stayed, demonstrating that security was more important than happiness. I began to wonder if I’d been too rash in showing her the cottage, but a year in,
Elizabeth
’s unexpected appearance at one of the parties concluded the matter. She found me engaged in oral pleasures with Eve and took great offence, despite the fact that these parties had brought us together in the first place, and her appearance here suggested her own temptation to wander. A week later, I had the cottage to myself. Breaking up was not always hard to do.

Parties became my only source of female companionship, which made life much less complicated.

Research continued, this time into the effects of an electromagnetic field on the human organism. This particular study, from conception to culmination lasted a few years, with other projects running concurrent and new projects created as offshoots. I applied both low and high frequency electro-magnetic fields to humans and animals. Some of the low frequency fields had deleterious side effects, which included incontinence and vomiting, and in animals, I instigated a greater range of frequencies, which resulted in cardiac arrest. Higher frequencies in humans caused disorientation and confusion, quite distressing to the volunteers and in retrospect, my detachment surprised me. Did I regard this treatment of living things normal behaviour?

I also investigated the use of electromagnetic radiation, to see if it could erase memories. The results were inconclusive, but it paved the way for further experiments on the use of EM fields for mind control, the manipulation of individual mental states and alteration of brain function. I gathered evidence which suggested that certain frequencies could create anxiety and influence psychosis, generally make the mind more pliable.

During this time, I lost my role model, a twentieth century icon. I listened to the Bakelite radio in the evening, an art deco beauty in teak from the 1930s with two dials, as it was my only real contact with the world outside of The Establishment. On the night of the 19
^th
of April 1955, I followed a poignant broadcast.

“The eminent scientist and originator of the theory of relativity, Albert Einstein, died yesterday in hospital in
Princeton
,
New Jersey
, aged 76. He was admitted to hospital three days previously, suffering with an internal complaint, but he refused surgery for a ruptured artery. In 1940, he became a
US
citizen after leaving
Germany
during the early years of the war. In a statement just released,
US
President Dwight Eisenhower paid tribute to the visionary and respected scientist.”

The broadcast cut to the voice of the president.

“’ No other man contributed so much to the vast expansion of twentieth century knowledge. Yet, no other man was more modest in the possession of the power that is knowledge, more sure that power without wisdom is deadly. To all who live in the nuclear age, Albert Einstein exemplified the mighty creative ability of the individual in a free society.’”

I also caught the broadcast on the television, which showed a black and white reel of Albert Einstein at various stages of his scientific life, a man who never shook his German accent or his desire for seclusion. It was truly a sad day for me, and for physics. Who’d complete his Unified Field Theory?

Life went on though, as did the research. I also became involved in the British sibling of MK-ULTRA, a necessity in response to the allegations of Soviet, Chinese, and North Korean mind control techniques on US prisoners of war in
Korea
. Much of the research conducted focused on the use of chemical substances to alter brain function, particularly LSD. I made attempts to increase extra-sensory perception, withstand torture and coercion during interrogation, employ brain washing techniques, and even induce psychic powers. Experiments with LSD were commonplace, although later I suspected members of the public were exposed to it without their knowledge or consent. I also oversaw some experiments using sensory deprivation tanks and their effect upon the mind.

During these years, I experimented with LSD myself. I took it one day in June 1956 when it was still legal, at home, alone. I created a soft ambience and ingested a small dose of the drug, in an attempt to recreate Albert Hoffman’s now famous ‘Bicycle Day.’ After a short while of riding a bike under the influence, my limbs soon became weak and my perspective of reality too distorted to pedal along safely.

I sat down in a field near home, and became aware of the complexity of the folds in my trousers. I must have spent a while trying to fathom why they fell the way they did, appreciating their intricate beauty. Objects around me began to oscillate, particularly the spokes of the bicycle which now lay on its side. The spokes moved about, drawing together and separating in a rhythmic vibration. I contemplated the dance of the neutrons and electrons within them, vividly remembering my lectures back in the late forties. The flowers in the field shone with an inner light, shimmering as if they were breathing, and I became fascinated with each and every breath.

By now, the drug had reached its full strength, and I found myself enjoying a trip that was rather intense but full of vibrant colours, sounds, and strange visual effects. I closed my eyes to witness a scene of beautiful kaleidoscopic colours, and when my eyes opened, I saw fireworks in the sky. When I moved my hand, it left trails so I spent a good hour or two moving my limbs around and watching the visual effects, not that I had any sense of time whatsoever.

Buying a pint of milk from the shop proved to be very difficult as people’s faces were distorted, which made me laugh uncontrollably, much to the consternation of the other customers. So I cycled back home, wobbling erratically as I tried to avoid the white lines in the road that had become writhing serpents. I found myself back in the study of my cottage, resting in my favourite armchair and listening to the layers of music coming from the gramophone. In turn, a particular instrument became dominant, drowning my senses, then another instrument received my focus and went through the same process. The books on the shelves tried to speak to me, shining with their inner light and wanting to fly towards me, pregnant with knowledge. Eventually, I drifted towards sleep and a lucid dream.

All in all, it had been a positive experience, and one I repeated several times in different settings. It was truly a remarkable substance, one that could easily drive someone insane though, a view I shared with the author, Aldous Huxley.

My time at The Establishment formed some powerful memories and mixed emotions, but I could never leave. Max had been correct, it was my destiny.

However, another interest lurked in the background. I frequently used the Bakelite radio as a background to typing up reports, as it allowed me to follow the world’s events. On October 4
^th
1957, the Russians launched Sputnik 1. It was the first ever man made satellite to go into orbit, with a mission to study the Earth’s atmosphere. Completing an orbit of the Earth in around ninety six minutes, it emitted a fast beep, beep, beep sound transmitted at twenty megahertz, very easy to tune into. I listened to the beeps numerous times, until Sputnik’s battery died after twenty two days. It revitalised my interest in the cosmos and I wondered if we’d make it into space during my lifetime. It began to look that way.