but it’s necessary to understand. They made a mistake. They showed us color frames of the autopsy. There was some discoloration and tissue damage.”
“And?” Tique decided she didn’t want to withdraw her arm from his right now. More confused emotions.
“You don’t know?”
“Damn it, Reubin. Stop asking me if I know. I don’t.”
His smile was grim. “Right. It is not commonly known. But some people have an implant, a biochip attached to points in the brain, the pituitary, and the hypothalamus.”
Tique removed her arm from his. “Sure. You should be a professor. You know physiology. Why haven’t I ever heard of this implant?”
“Only the Long Life Institute knows about it. And those involved.”
“And you, Reubin, and you. Or so you say.”
He rose and paced the short space behind the viewers inside the bubble. “I know because I have one of the implants myself. Only those people who worked on the original development of the Long Life Institute, or one of its ancillary projects, have them.” He stopped and stared at her.
She didn’t let the fierceness of his gaze inhibit her. She returned his stare. “Go on.”
“The biochip,” he said, “contains a couple of simple programs which you can trigger. One is to defeat drug or hypnotic interrogation. You trigger it and your cover story, hypnotically placed there by the most skilled experts in the Federation, is at your demand. You respond with your cover story, no matter what drugs they use, You actually believe the story, too. You don’t fess up about your role with the LLI. So drugs and hypnosis cannot be used against you.”
Though she didn’t want to, Tique asked the logical question, dread flowing through her mind. “And physical torture?”
“The second function of the implant. Suicide. It tells your heart to stop functioning. I’m not certain whether it is a hormonal-directed action, or simple electrical impulse to the appropriate location in the brain. Maybe both. But the autopsy should have showed something out of norm in the chemical analysis. If the biochip launches hormones to the brain function to stop your heart, it would show up. The people at the Long Life Institute are the most expert in hormones in the Fed,”
Tique ignored his words. Suddenly the world changed. “You just told me that someone tortured Mother and she committed suicide?”
Reubin sat again. “That’s the way I figure it. And the autopsy revealed the biochip and your pathologist, Dr. Crowell, removed the biochip thinking it might hold a secret or two. Once brain activity stops, electrical energy ceases and the chip is useless. But she was dead when they dug out the implant. It fits my definition of murder.” His head dropped and his jaw muscles rolled, giving Tique the impression that he was undergoing some sort of internal struggle.
“Why? Why, Reubin?”
He lifted his head. Something flickered in his eyes and was gone just as quickly. Eerie. “She knew something they wanted to know.”
“Connected with the LLI, right?”
“It must be.” He paused. “Those who knew any of the LLI formulae or had any access to the original projects were implanted with the chip. It works off the brain’s own electrical activity.”
“I’m beginning to see,” she said. Her voice sounded weird even to her, “The greatest secret in the known human experience, in history. The Long Life treatment,”
Reubin shrugged. “It could be. If someone solved that, he could bust the Long Life Institute monopoly and name his own price. People wouldn’t have to follow the strict rules of the LLI and its founder.”
Tique was still baffled. “I don’t think I understand fully, yet. You, Reubin Flood, you know the Long Life secret?”
He shook his head. “No. And your mother probably didn’t, either. I was involved only peripherally. I had a part in the R and D of the computer systems for the LLI.”
“God. You’re old.”
A strange look passed through his eyes. “And you’re young. Neither one of us should die for a few more centuries. But Alex did. On the other hand, she might have suicided to keep them from using you or me against her—hostages to her knowledge. Whichever, they killed her and stole her from me....” His voice trailed off.
Tique waited a few moments for his emotions to calm. Another glimpse of him with his mask down. He had really cared for Mother. Tique softened her voice. “Why now? She’d been on Snister since Wormwood, Inc. pioneered it. She was going off with you—”
“Yep, you got it. She was leaving. It was their last chance.”
“I’m dumbfounded. I don’t know whether to believe you or not. It doesn’t make sense, not in this universe, not these days.”
“The oldest motives in the book, Tique. Power and wealth. Unlimited power over all human beings. More wealth than trillions of people can even dream about.”
“You keep saying ‘they,’ Reubin. Who are they?”
“I don’t know, but I’m going to find out. Offhand, I’d say the hierarchy of the Wormwood Company is both the most likely suspect and the only current suspect.”
“Fels Nodivving?”
“It’s as good a place as any to start.”
“I’m cold,” she said and shivered.
“Nodivving virtually ordered me off planet,” Reubin said.
“I remember.”
“I’ve told you what I’ve figured, because it is possible that since Alex is dead, I’m their only link. They might think that Alex told me her secret, whatever that is.”
“Uh-oh.” She began to see where he was leading.
“And you might be next, but they have you here on planet with no plans to depart. I’d recommend you maintain your normal schedule for a while, then grab an opportunity to visit Webster’s or somewhere and don’t come back.”
Thoughts of her own personal safety had not entered her mind. Considering the stunning blows she’d received in the last few minutes, her own safety didn’t seem important.
Tique rose and went to the bubble wall. She looked out over the mountains and forests. She wondered what type of man this Reubin Flood was. She’d seen several different Reubin Floods—or at least manifestations of different people. She’d yet to see the one which her mother had seen.
Mother had chosen him. That was one thing. Mother had told her about first seeing Reubin, amidst battle. He’d been the classic warrior then. Mother had married the man with little time in between the meeting and the deed. Unusual for anyone these days when life was long and marriage taken seriously. Resentment built in her again. But Mother generally knew what she was doing. Tique wondered if Fels Nodivving’s pursuit of Mother had driven Alex to marrying Reubin Flood, with the Long Life treatment next and all it implied. Anything was
