“You could do that? You could actually take away my memory?”
“Yes,” said Forrester. “But there’s no need to be concerned. The procedure is quite safe and painless, I assure you.”
Gulliver shook his head vehemently. “No! No, absolutely not! I cannot allow that.”
“I’m afraid you have no choice in the matter, Dr. Gulliver,” said Forrester. “You have seen entirely too much.”
“And who in their right mind would believe me?” Gulliver responded. “They ridiculed me for my story of the Lilliputians, as Mr. Swift called them, can you imagine how they would react if I told them about this? They would undoubtedly put me in a madhouse. I suppose that I could not prevent your using force against me, but in that case, I would refuse to help you. I would tell you nothing.”
“Dr. Gulliver,” said Forrester, “please try to understand—”
“No, General, you try to understand. A man’s life is but the sum of his experience. How can I forget what’s happened to me? How can I forget that gallant young man who gave his life to save my own? I said that I would help you, but it must be in my own way. If I were to tell you all I know and show you the island’s location on a chart, then there would be nothing to prevent you from doing as you will with me. No, sir. If you are going back there, then much as I dread it, I fear that I must go as well.”
Forrester glanced at Gulliver, his mouth set in a tight grimace.
“Dr. Gulliver, you’re putting me in a very difficult position. We could easily get the information that we need from you, even without your consent. And yes, it would involve using a form of force, though not what you might think. You would feel no pain whatsoever. In fact, you would feel mildly euphori
c and be happy to tell us whatever we wanted to know. However, I would prefer to have your voluntary cooperation. And I’m not unsympathetic to your feelings in this matter. I’ll have to give it some thought.”
Suddenly Andre gasped and dropped her glass.
“What is it?” Steiger said.
She was staring at the window behind them. For a moment, only the briefest instant, she had seen Lucas standing in front of it, but there was nothing there now. She blinked and shook her head.
“Nothing,” she said, swallowing hard. “It was nothing. I just thought … for a moment, I thought …”
Delaney was watching her with concern… Andre, you all right?”
“You didn’t see anything?” she said. “Over there, by the window? You didn’t see?”
Delaney shook his head, frowning. “No, I was looking at Dr. Gulliver.”
“What did you see?’ said Steiger, frowning.
Andre shook her head. “Nothing,” she said, nervously. “It must have been my imagination, a trick of the light … I don’t know.”
“What do you think you saw?” Delaney said.
“Nothing! It was nothing, just drop it, all right?”
“Lieutenant?” said Forrester.
“I’m sorry, sir,” she said, sheepishly. “It wasn’t anything. I ... I guess I’m a little jumpy, what with everything that’s happened tonight.”
“Well, we’ve all been under a strain,” said Forrester. “And I’m afraid it’s going to get a lot worse before it gets much better.” He glanced at his watch. “It’s almost dawn. Why don’t you all go freshen up and grab some chow and coffee? Dr. Gulliver will stay here with me. Be back here for a briefing at oh six-hundred hours.”
As they left, Finn Delaney grabbed Andre by the arm. “You’re not the type to jump at shadows,” he said. “You want to tell me about it?”
“I’ve already told you—”
He interrupted her. “Something’s bothering you, Andre. I know you too damn well. You saw something back there or you thought you saw something. What was it?”
“Okay, you’re right, I thought I saw something. I guess I’m seeing things. That makes me a liability, right? Maybe I should go to the division shrink and get myself checked out. “
“Hell, you’re saner than anyone I know,” Delaney said. “And we’ve known each other too long to keep things from each other. Now tell me what you saw.”
Andre licked her lips nervously. “A ghost, all right? I just saw a ghost.”