@@@@@There’ll be only a single
@@@@@There’ll be only a single batteryoperated
tape recorder and me and one or both of you The doctor turned to the door, then
glanced back“I’ll send for you at the proper time,” he added, again disappearing inside
Conklin and Peter Holland looked at each otherThe second period of waiting began
To their astonishment, it ended barely ten minutes laterA nurse came out into the lounge and
asked them to follow herThey walked through what appeared to be a maze of antiseptic white
walls broken up only by recessed white panels with glass knobs that denoted doorsOnly once on
their brief journey did they see another human being; it was a man in a white smock, wearing a
white surgical mask, who walked out of yet another white door, his sharp, intense eyes above the
white cloth somehow accusing, determining them to be aliens from some different world that had
not been cleared for Sterile House Five
The nurse opened a door; there was a blinking red light above its top frameShe put her index
finger to her lips, indicating silenceHolland and Conklin walked quietly inside a dark room and
confronted a drawn white curtain concealing a bed or an examining table beyond, a small circle of
intense light shining through the clothThey heard the softly spoken words of Dr
“You are going back, Doctor, not far back, just a day or so, just when you began to feel the dull,
constant pain in your arm Why are they inflicting pain on your arm? You were
in a farmhouse, a small farmhouse with fields outside your window, and then they put a blindfold
on you and began hurting your arm
Suddenly, there was a muted flashing of green light reflected on the ceilingThe curtain parted
electronically several feet, revealing the bed, the patient and the doctorWalsh took his finger off a
bedside button and looked at them, gesturing slowly with his hands as if to say, There’s no one else
hereConfirmed?
Both witnesses nodded, at first mesmerized, then repelled at the sight of Panov’s grimacing pale
face and the tears that began to flow from his wide-open eyesThen, as one, they saw the white
straps that emerged from under the white sheet, holding Mo in place; the order had to be hisWe have to begin with the physically invasive procedure, don’t we? Because
you know what it does, Doctor, don’t you? It leads to another invasive procedure that you cannot
permitYou must stop its progression
The ear-shattering scream was a prolonged shriek of defiance and horror“No, no! I won’t tell
you! I killed him once, I won’t kill him again! Get away from meeeee