The Cold Smell Of Sacred Stone

I've spent a lot of years trying to do what little I can to alleviate the suffering of others, and I've never seen anything like it.'

'How did those two end up with my brother?'

'Garth asked if he might be allowed to volunteer to work with other patients in the hospital. Geriatrics is always looking for volunteer companions two or three hours a day. I got Dr. Slycke's permission to take him out, and here we are. I think it's remarkable the way Garth is able to calm and communicate with them. This gift he has even works with the men in the secure unit.'

'What was Garth doing in the secure unit?' I asked, feeling a sudden sense of alarm. I was not sure Garth would-or could-defend himself anymore.

'He walked in; voluntarily. I explained to you that the other patients can go in there and use the facilities, as long as things are quiet there.'

'What did he do in there?'

'Talk-for hours. And the others just sat and listened.'

'What was he talking about?'

'Who knows? I didn't stay in there with him, but the other nurses tell me he always spoke in a low voice, and tended to clam up whenever one of them got too close. He wasn't causing a disturbance, or stressing the men-quite the opposite-so nobody objected. Hell, even Mama Baker sat and listened to him, and for Mama Baker to sit still for fifteen minutes without cursing somebody out is quite an accomplishment.' Carling paused, smiled thinly. 'Still, I wouldn't advise you to visit there again. Mama still hears voices commanding him to kill dwarfs. Incidentally, I'm really sorry about what happened that day.'

'It wasn't your fault.'

'Yes, it was; it's my responsibility to be aware of any situation that can unduly stress a patient. At the time I wasn't aware of Mama's obsession with killing dwarfs, and I should have been. Anyway, it seems that Garth has developed a marked talent for communicating with the sick and the hopeless. He's able to break through all sorts of psychic walls, and he gives them comfort.'

'Dr. Slycke told me about his empathy.'

'I don't think 'empathy' is a strong enough word to describe it; I'm not sure there is a word. The other patients seem to believe that Garth knows exactly how they feel, and that gives them comfort. We're both watching him right now bring a senile old man and woman out of their shells, but I've also watched him calm violent patients. He not only cries when he listens to that music; I've seen him cry when other patients talk to him about their troubles. But, like you said, he doesn't relate to normal people. He'll talk or really listen to you only if he perceives you to be suffering. It's almost as if the rest of us aren't really there. Or we don't matter to him. It's not only you he treats that way, Mongo. His attitude toward Dr. Slycke, the other staff, and me is one of benign neglect. He functions, will do what he's asked to do without question, and will listen to you politely; but you can tell that he's not actually relating. You know what I mean.'

'I know what you mean. I also know that Garth and I have gone through a hell of a lot of good and bad times together. I'm not just anybody; I'm his brother.'

'Yes,' Tommy Carling said quietly as he blew a smoke ring, then butted out his cigarette in the grass. 'But, again at the risk of being rude, I might suggest that an outside observer could conclude that you're envious of all the attention Garth is lavishing elsewhere.'

'I won't deny that I'm hurt by Garth's reaction-or lack of it to me, Tommy. I also won't deny that I'm more than just a bit egocentric, but I'm not so self-centered that I can't separate my interests and needs from Garth's.' I paused, trying to decide where I wanted to go next. I sensed that the conversation had reached a critical juncture, and I would either have to back off or go ahead. I went ahead. 'After a certain point, which I think may have been reached, I have some doubts about the staff of this clinic being able-or even wanting-to make the same distinctions.'

The male nurse slowly removed another cigarette from his pack, lit it with a butane lighter. When he spoke, his tone was flat. 'You question the quality of the care Garth's been receiving, Mongo?'

'I'm not talking about you, Tommy. You have quite a gift yourself for working with the sick and helpless; I believe that you truly care for Garth, and have only his interests in mind. You're a good man and a good nurse, but you don't do the strategic thinking or make the final decisions around here.'

'I have a lot of input, Mongo.'

'I'm not talking about strictly medical decisions.'

'Then I'm not sure what you're talking about.'

'You don't know what's going on in the minds of Dr. Slycke and the other psychiatrists here, or what their long-range concerns may be. I'm suggesting that Garth's best interests and the interests of the Defense Intelligence Agency may begin to diverge, if they haven't already. After all, what's Garth doing in this secret clinic in the first place?'

Carling tugged absently at his ponytail, then nodded. 'Now I see what you're getting at. But the doctors here are good, Mongo.'

'I'm not questioning their medical skills, Tommy; just their loyalties. Their paychecks come from the D.I.A.'

'Like me,' Carling said with a thin smile.

'Like you.'

'Yet, you're willing to have this conversation with me?'

'Obviously. Can you see me trying to have it with Slycke?'

'I thought this Mr. Lippitt, the big poohbah who authorized Garth's admittance here and gave you the Z-13 pass, was a personal friend of yours and your brother's.'

'He is, and I'm not questioning his motives in placing Garth here; indeed, I'm grateful to him. But we were all dealing with an emergency then; now, things are different.'

'How are things different?'

'For one thing, obviously, Garth isn't catatonic any longer. Now, Garth has gone through any number of changes as a result of being poisoned with that shit; what worries me is that certain D.I.A. personnel might consider it imperative, for security reasons, to keep Garth here for close observation, even if it might be better, for medical reasons, to send him home. Those same personnel would consider it more important to observe the long- range effects of NPPD poisoning than to get Garth's head working right; they're going to be thinking about national security implications, and how they can use what they're learning from Garth.'

Tommy Carling laughed good-naturedly. 'What national security implications?'

'For one thing, we're talking very serious behavior modification. Want to quiet some dissidents, calm down some political prisoners-or maybe pacify an entire population, for that matter? Sprinkle a little NPPD on their cereal every morning. I'm not being facetious.'

'I can see that,' Carling said evenly.

'Also, you have what you're looking at down there on the swings.'

'An empath fixated on alleviating human suffering? You think our intelligence services, or anyone else's, would be interested in that? We should all be so fortunate.'

'I'm talking about imprinting. What you see isn't necessarily what you would have gotten in different circumstances.'

'You're losing me again, Mongo.'

'Garth was thrown into a profound depression as a result of NPPD poisoning; Slycke thinks it literally erased all sorts of emotional valences and connections to things in the past. He came out of it when I stimulated him with music which had very strong emotional associations to human suffering, and the need to do something about it. So Garth winds up thinking about nothing but alleviating human suffering. Now, what would have happened if I'd imprinted Garth in some other way?'

'Yes,' Carling replied quietly. 'Your point is well taken.'

'The NPPD wiped out, or repressed, a major part of his personality, and I unwittingly helped to give him a new one. I hate to think of what would be happening with Garth now if I'd imprinted him with something deeply associated with rage, or hatred. Now, I'm not saying anything to you that hasn't already occurred to the strategic types of personnel I mentioned earlier. I absolutely guarantee you that a lot of wheels are turning in the heads of people who don't give a shit about Garth as a person, and I don't want Garth to get crushed in the gears. I don't