"I"ll ask the questions. Mister Schweitzer."
"I"m just curious. Perhaps if you would tell me ... "
"Roll up your sleeve. Either one, it doesn"t matter."
"Why?"
"Because I told you to."
"What are you going to do?"
"Administer an injection."
"Are you an M.D.?"
"That is none of your business."
"Well, I refuse it, for the record. After the cops get hold of you, for a variety of reasons, I"ll even see to it that the Medical a.s.sociation is on your back."
"Your sleeve, please."
"Under protest," I observed, and I rolled up the left one. "If you"re to kill me when you"ve finished playing games," I added, "murder is kind of serious. If you are not, I"ll be after you. I may find you one day ... " I felt a sting behind my biceps.
"Mind telling me what you gave me?" I asked.
"It"s called TC-6," he replied. "Perhaps you"ve read about it. You will retain consciousness, as I might need your full reasoning abilities. But you will answer me honestly."
I chuckled, which they doubtless attributed to the effects of the drug, and I continued practicing my yoga breathing techniques. These could not stop the drug, but they made me feel better. Maybe they gave me a few extra seconds, also, along with the detached feeling I had been building up. I keep up on things like TC-6. This one, I knew, left you rational, unable to lie, and somewhat literal-minded. I figured on making the most of its weak points by flowing with the current. Also, I had a final trick remaining. The thing that I disliked most about TC-6 was that it sometimes had a bad side effect, cardiac-wise.
I did not exactly feel myself going under. I was just suddenly there, and it did not feel that different from the way I always feel. I knew that to be an illusion. I wished I had had prior access to the antidote kit I kept within a standard-looking first-aid kit hidden in my dresser.
"You hear me, don"t you?" he asked.
"Yes," I heard myself saying.
"What is your name?"
"Albert Schweitzer," I replied.
There were a couple of quick breaths taken behind me, and my questioner silenced the other fellow, who had started to say something. Then, "What do you do?" he asked me.
"I"m a technician."
"I know that much. What else?"
"I do many things ... "
"Do you work for the government, any government?"
"I pay taxes, which means I work for the government, part of the time. Yes."
"I did not mean it in that sense. Are you a secret agent in the employ of any government?"
"No."
"A known agent?"
"No."
"Then why are you here?"
"I am a technician. I service the machines."
"What else?"
"I do not ... "
"What else? Who else do you work for, besides the Project?"
"Myself."
"What do you mean?"
"My activities are directed to maintaining my personal economic status and physical well-being."
"I am talking about other employers. Have you any?"
"No."
From the other man, I heard, "He sounds clean."
"Maybe." Then, to me, "What would you do if you met me somewhere and recognized me?"
"Bring you to law."
" ... And failing that?"
"If I were able, I would hurt you severely. Perhaps I would kill you, if I were able to give it the appearance of self-defense or make it seem to be an accident."
"Why?"
"Because I wish to preserve my own physical wellbeing. The fact that you had disturbed it once means that you might attempt it again. I will not permit this access to me."
"I doubt that I will attempt it again."
"Your doubts mean nothing to me."
"So you saved two lives today, yet you are willing to take one." I did not reply.
"Answer me."
"You did not ask me a question."
"Could he have drug-consciousness?" asked the other.
"I never thought of that ... Do you?"
"I do not understand the question."
"This drug allows you to remain oriented in all three spheres. You know who you are, where you are, and when you are. It saps that thing called the will, however, which is why you must answer my questions. A person with a lot of experience with truth drugs can sometimes beat them, by rephrasing the questions to himself and giving a literally honest reply. Is this what you are doing?"
"That"s the wrong question," said the other.
"What"s right?"
"Have you had any prior experience with drugs?" that one asked me.
"Yes."
"What ones?"
"I"ve had aspirin, nicotine, caffeine, alcohol ... "
"Truth serums," he said. "Things like this, things that make you talk. Have you had them before?"
"Yes."
"Where?"
"At Northwestern University."
"Why?"
"I volunteered for a series of experiments."
"What did they involve?"
"The effects of drugs on consciousness."
"Mental reservations," he said to the other. "It could take days. I think he has primed himself."
"Can you beat a truth drug?" the other one asked me.
"I do not understand."
"Can you lie to us, now?"
"No."
"Wrong question, again," said the shorter. "He is not lying. Anything he says is literally true."
"So how do we get an answer out of him?"
"I"m not sure."
So they continued to hit me with questions. After a time, things began to wane.
"He"s got us," said the shorter one. "It would take days to beat him down."
"Should we ... ?"
"No. We"ve got the tape. We"ve got his answers. Let"s let a computer worry about it."
But by then it was near morning, and I had the funny feeling, accompanied by cold flashes on the back of my neck, that I might be able to manage a fib or three once again. There was some light on the other side of my portholes. They had been going at me for what seemed to be many hours. I decided to try.
"I think this place is bugged," I said.
"What? What do you mean?"
"Ship"s Security," I stated. "I believe all technicians are so monitored."
"Where is it?"
"I don"t know."
"We"ve got to find it," said the one.
"What good will it do?" said the other, in a whisper, for which I respected him, as whispers do not often get recorded. "They"d have been here long before this, if it were."
"Unless they"re waiting, letting us hang ourselves." The first began looking, however, and I rose, met with no objections, and staggered across the room to collapse upon the bed.
My right hand slipped down around the headboard, as though by accident. It found the gun.
I flipped off the safety as I withdrew it. I sat upon the bed and pointed it at them.
"All right, morons," I said. "Now you answer my questions." The big one made a move toward his belt and I shot him in the shoulder.
"Next?" I asked, tearing away the silencer, which had done its work, and replacing it with a pillow.
The other man raised his hands and looked at his buddy.
"Let him bleed," I said.
He nodded and stepped back.
"Sit down," I told them both.
They did.