This is the only copy. All others have been destroyed.
Why am I including them here?
It is possible that you can use this information to undo damage done to your grandmother. I am sorry for what happened to her. Her adventurous mind and eagerness to hunt for new information and experiences made her hippocampus particularly susceptible to manipulation.
This was extremely unfortunate and it did not even constitute a success for Chuck’s purposes. He and whoever his partners are need people whose memories can be compromised but who remain functional. For their purposes, a nearly obliterated memory — a neurological wildfire — effectively renders the host useless.
But for my purposes, she appears to have retained sufficient communication skills. That is why I’ve encrypted inside of her the password that protects this file.
I am sorry also that I have made things so difficult for you to discover. Given Chuck’s seemingly limitless resources and capacities, I did not know where to turn. I tried to encrypt my clues in a way only you could discover.
Once you’ve brought the conspiracy to light, please destroy this file. The science included here, while still in its early stages, is among the most powerful innovations I have ever seen. It begins to meld the minds of humans and computers — and may eventually lead to a new Internet protocol based not on bits and bytes but on neuro- chemicals and programmable human brain tissue.
If I am dead, your grandmother’s neurologist may be able to help you. If he cannot help you, then you may not succeed.
On the page that follows is what looks to me like Greek. It’s a series of computer and scientific equations.
I am so entranced staring at them that I don’t hear a key enter the lock on the boat’s door, and only register what’s happening as the door swings open. I turn to see Chuck. He’s holding a duffel bag. Without saying a word, he unzips it and pulls out his gun.
He aims at my head.
“What took you so long?” he asks.
Chapter 62
I am trying to look at Chuck while glancing around the tiny compartment for some refuge or weapon or protective armor.
Then I realize my only hope sits on the table in front of me. I lift the laptop and hold it in front of my chest.
“Best not to destroy the top-secret science.”
“It’s not covering your nuts.”
“Chuck, you really think that you’re going to shoot me without someone hearing and calling the police?”
“People mind their own business here, especially when it’s hard to distinguish between all the noises.”
“What noises?”
Chuck reaches to his right to a compact stereo unit. He hits the power button. He presses “play,” causing the cabin to be filled with a John Cougar Mellencamp song. “
“What are you doing?”
He turns the music up to an excruciating volume. He lowers the gun so it is aimed at my lower leg. I start to turn away.
He shoots.
I feel a spasm of heat and pain rip through my calf.
He turns down the music.
“Put down the laptop,” he says.
I’m in too much pain to speak but, somehow, adrenaline keeps me upright — and then not so much. I drop the laptop to the table as I fall to the ground.
Chuck steps forward. He reaches into a sink. He pulls out a white towel, then tosses it in my direction.
“Not rubber bullets,” he says. “Try pressure.”
I lurch for the towel and press it against my calf.
“Son of a bitch.” I’m expressing my feeling about both my intense pain and the asshole who caused it. I look up at him. “One request.”
“You want to know how it all works?”
“I’d prefer to be shot to Springsteen.”
“Smug to the end, just like your snarky blog posts.”
He takes two steps forward and I inch instinctively backwards, scooting along the floor on my butt. I’m backed against the cabinets. I reach behind me, feeling for anything that can help me. On the counter next to the sink, I see a propane tank used for cooking. But it’s too far away, and what the hell would I do with it anyway. I’m helpless, defenseless, coming up empty.
Chuck sits at the table and looks at the laptop.
“That’s your computer,” I say.
He nods.
“You downloaded the encrypted file or took it from Adrianna but couldn’t figure out how to open it.”
He nods.
“You couldn’t open it without me.”
Now I’m thinking maybe I can stall Chuck and hope an earthquake or tsunami will save me — or at least kill both of us.
“Not without you and your grandmother. Not without you getting inside that curdled brain of hers.”
“Couldn’t you get the code out of Adrianna?”
“We tried. Trust me. We had plenty of leverage with that boy of hers. She spent a few days sitting in this chair thinking about how much she loved the Newton kid and being reminded of her duty to her country. But she convinced us that she didn’t know the password. In fact, she convinced us she’d destroyed it and that this file was empty. She said she and that disloyal neurologist had destroyed all the key science when they discovered our true intentions — how we planned to put this wonderful technology to work. But I sensed she kept the protocols and algorithms alive. Scientists love their families but not as much as they love their science. She and Pete were gaga over the possibilities. So I sensed someone would come here eventually to try to open the file, maybe salvage the science but keep it out of the hands of the bad guys, namely me.”
“You’ve been watching the boat?”
He points to the corner of the boat compartment, just a few feet to my right. Near the ceiling is a small black cylinder.
“I get alerted if anyone enters.”
Below the camera is a fire extinguisher. I turn back to Chuck.
“May I sit so I can elevate my leg?”
He’s distracted by the document.
“Go ahead.”
Pain shooting through my limb, I climb up onto the bench along one side of the cabin. I then lie back, elevating my foot. If Chuck was paying attention, he’d realize that I could have done the same thing while on the floor.
He’s enjoying his obvious upper hand, so much so that he’s set down his gun.
“What’s the big picture: mass use of brain tissue to store data, or just rewire a select few to carry military and trade secrets?”
“You have no notion of the concept of sacrifice.” He looks up at me and continues. “We are at war, not over land or even values but over data. The nation that controls information will rule.”
