Lehal Library

Chapter 3 UNDERGROUND, SOMEWHERE With the hood removed, eyes watering a little, I found myself in a dimly lit room. The twins were nowhere to be seen, The VOICE said: "I am Axelrod, which is not my real name, of course, as you must have figured out." Mr- Axelrod was a jolly-guy type, smiling, with kindly eyes, but dressed in a dark-green jumpsuit of some kind. He reminded me of a certain Captain McBee I had worked with while in Korea. He continued: "I can answer no questions as to where you are or what we represent, but beyond that I am at your complete disposal with regard to anything that pertains to the task ahead." Mustering what dignity r could, which really was not much, I croaked out: "Well, what task, then?" Mr. Axelrod smiled. "First, there are some procedural matters. We will reimburse you for your expenses, and provide what we will call an honorarium. Would a thousand dollars a day be suitable? We will provide this in cash before you leave-" "A DAY!" I croaked again. "How many DAYS?" "Well, we have heard you work best in the morning, and as it is now in the afternoon, we will begin the task tomorrow morning at any time which suits you- After that, we will wing it a little." A thousand bucks a DAY!!! 1 perked up - and stopped croaking -and even tried to say something sensible. "So, if you know about the morning thing, then you must be very familiar with our procedures out at Stanford Research Institute." "We know a great deal about you, Mr, Swann. You seem to be an exceptional man, and of course it is your psychic gifts we want to try to employ with regard to the task." "My 'psychic gifts', as you must then know, are very undependable. I work only in experimental situations, and I hardly think anyone should risk anything really serious on them." "We understand fully, Mr. Swann. We do not see the task as a risk, so do not feel stressed about that. "The second preliminary. We would like to ask you never to reveal any of the details about any of this, including your presence here. If the circumstances were otherwise, we would ask you to sign a