Captives

FIFTY-SIX

The years had not been kind to Robert Dexter. The lines in his face had deepened into clearly defined wrinkles. The flesh of his forehead looked like pastry after someone has drawn a fork across it. He sighed and looked at Nicholson.

'Any progress?' the Governor said, nodding towards the man in the bed.

'I was just about to look,' Dexter said, his voice low and guttural.

With that he reached into the pocket of his white overall and took out a small pair of scissors. He cut the bandages close to the man's chin and began slowly unravelling them, pausing every now and then to lift the man's head. All that was visible was a small gap for his nose; the rest of his head was completely encased in gauze. Dexter continued with his task.

'If that delegation had got inside here the other day, you and I would be locked up in here,' said Nicholson.

'Does that bother you?' Dexter said.

'It's a change we were both prepared to take. We both knew the risks,' Nicholson said.

'What did they think of the electronic tagging idea?' Dexter wanted to know, still unwinding bandages.

'They liked it. Needless to say, I didn't mention our other little venture.'

'You won't be able to keep it secret forever,' Dexter exclaimed. 'Besides, secrecy wasn't my aim. Once the technique has been perfected there'll be no need to hide the truth.'

'And how do you propose to announce your findings, Dexter? By showing the world an example of your work?' He nodded in the direction of the man in the bed. The first layer of bandages was off. Dexter began on the next one.

'When it works, it'll be nothing to be ashamed of. It's what I've been working towards for most of my professional life,' the doctor said defensively.

'The world might applaud your achievement but I doubt if it will condone your methods,' Nicholson said, taking his eyes from the bandaged man to look momentarily at Dexter. 'Brain operations on convicted murderers.' He smiled. 'It'll be interesting to see how the Home Office reacts to that.'

'It was you who allowed me to work here; why do you ridicule me?'

Nicholson held up his hands.

'No offence meant.' He smiled again, 'I'm happy for you to do your work here.'

'It doesn't seem to bother you that it hasn't been altogether successful so far.'

Nicholson shrugged.

'I sometimes wonder if you realise what this work actually means, Nicholson. An end to man's violent tendencies… An end by the insertion of a device constructed and perfected by me.'

'Don't lecture me, Dexter.'

'If this work is successful it could mean an end to places like Whitely. An end to violence.'

'You're starting to sound like a refugee from a bad horror film. The role of mad scientist doesn't suit you.'

'What the hell is mad about wanting to stop violence?'

'Because it's a wasted dream,' hissed Nicholson. 'If you believe you can stop violence by your surgery, you're crazy. You've seen some of the men in here; you know what they're capable of. How can you hope to stop that with technology? I find the twisted nobility of your scheme rather amusing, all the same,' he added sardonically.

'You don't care whether it works or not, do you?' Dexter said. 'You never have. If the men die as a result of the surgery you don't care.'

'They're murderers. If we still had the death penalty they'd be hanged, anyway. You've become the executioner, Dexter. All you're doing is carrying out a sentence that the courts no longer have the power to impose. That's what I agree with. Not the ethics behind your work.'

'And what about the ones who've survived? It was you who allowed me to release them. If they'd been traced back to here, it would have been your responsibility.'

'We've been fortunate, so far,' the Governor said, looking down at the man lying in the bed.

Dexter was pulling the last layer of bandages away, using the scissors to snip off any loose pieces, exposing the face beneath. Only the bandages around his scalp remained. Slowly Dexter began to loosen those, too. 'What makes you think you can succeed now, when you couldn't all those years before?' Nicholson wanted to know. 'You were using surgery on your patients in the asylum.'

'When I was working in Bishopsgate I was using a different method,' Dexter explained. 'My colleague and I thought we could stop patients' psychotic tendencies by removing the parts of the brain responsible for triggering violence. I now know that was wrong,' He pulled more bandages away, 'Inserting the device inside the brain, actually placing it in the lateral ventricle ensures that the chemical is evenly spread around the brain.'

He pulled the last piece of bandage away, revealing the bald dome of his subject.

There was a thin cut running around the skull, stitched in several places but held, in others, by several aluminium clips fixed to the skull like large staples holding the cranium shut.

'Good morning, Doctor Frankenstein,' said Nicholson, smiling.

Dexter didn't appreciate the joke.

He took a scalpel from the pocket of his jacket and slipped the plastic sheath off its sharp blade. Then with infinite care, he loosened two of the clips, sliding the tip of the scalpel into the incision in the scalp.

As he applied pressure to the blade, a portion of the skull about the size of a ten pence piece came free. Beneath, the greyish-white brain was clearly visible, criss-crossed by countless tiny blood vessels. The brain was throbbing rhythmically, looking as if it was trying to well up out of the hole in the scalp. In the centre of the pulsing greyness was a gleaming object only millimetres square.

'When hormone levels in the blood rise, due to anger or aggression, the device releases an artificial chemical which neutralizes other bodily fluids like adrenalin,' Dexter explained. 'It's like a warning system. As soon as the patient feels anger, the device releases the chemical, calming him down again.'

'Why is it placed there?' Nicholson wanted to know. 'I thought the mid-brain controlled sight and hearing.'

'It does, but no area of the brain has yet been identified as controlling reactions like reason. Violent men don't usually stop to reason first. The device is located centrally because the chemical can be distributed more quickly through the brain that way. It also makes the operation easier.' He kept his eyes on the pulsing grey matter.

'You said you used to cut away portions of the brain,' Nicholson said.

'That was useless,' Dexter said. 'I might as well have lobotomised the patients. It stopped them reacting violently because it stopped them reacting at all.'

Nicholson raised his eyebrows.

'I don't want to create mindless idiots, that's not my goal. It doesn't benefit them or me.'

Nicholson was unimpressed. He stepped away from the bed.

'Is he going to die?' he asked, nodding towards the patient, the brain still throbbing gently through the hole in the skull.

'Does it bother you?'

'Not really. No.'

'He's got as much chance as the others had.'

'If it works, Dexter, if he survives, this time we have to be sure before we go any further. We can't afford any more mistakes. Either of us.'