Lehal Library

Chapter 9 MR. AXELROD AND HIS TRAVELING PLANS The expected contact came early In July 1977, a few days after I discovered the message in the dust. The "campus" of Stanford Research Institute has a very nice dining room where my colleagues and I often ate lunch, especially if we were being visited by "dignitaries-" Access to the dining room is through a large lobby, at one end of which stands a very large globe of Earth about six feet in diameter. X don't remember who we were lunching with that Friday, but when we passed through the crowded lobby on the way to the dining hall, there was Mr. Axelrod standing as large as life, but I suppose inconspicuously, by the globe of Earth. When he saw that I had noticed him (I had actually stopped dead in my tracks) he walked quickly into the men's room adjoining the lobby. So I did what 1 thought he expected of me. I excused myself from my colleagues saying I had to take a leak. To do this, I had to get the key to the toilet from the dining room hostess. Everything at SRI was kept locked because of its Pentagon connections and the fear that terrorists might plant a bomb in the heads. When I entered the men's room, Axel boldly locked the door with a key and whispered in my ear: "Can you get away right now for the weekend? I want to take you somewhere and show you something? Just nod yes or no." I nodded yes. "There's a car in the parking area outside the lobby. I'll wait for you there. Invent a convincing story for your friends. You may be away as long as four days." He then unlocked the door. I had to think fast about what might stand up as a "convincing story" as I joined our group the dining room. But all I could really think about was how Axelrod had secured the key to the men's room. I told my colleagues that I had just remembered I was supposed to join some friends in San Francisco for a long