The expected voice of his secretary interrupts his chain of thought.
“Sir, Mr. Colby is here.”
“Please send him in, Connie.”
A moment later the door opens, and Tim Colby briskly enters.
“Morning, Tim,”
“Good morning, Sir.”
Without bothering to be seated Agent Colby opens his briefcase and removes a large envelope. Placing it on the table in front of the Director, he sits down to apprise his boss.
“Sir, as reported we were able to obtain the brain scan results done on Ken Myers when he was hospitalized.”
“Before we go any further, let me ask you, are we exposed?” the director asks.
“We are not.”
“Are you sure?”
“I’m certain of it.”
“You know this could be political dynamite.”
“I know that, Sir.”
Picking up the envelope the Director removes the numbered photographs. Looking at the first one he asks, “So, is this the original scan?”
“It’s a photo of the original. We looked at it and found nothing unusual. Then I had the image magnified. The second photo shows what we found when we magnified the original fifty times.”
Looking at the second photo with a mixture of curiosity and bafflement, the Director asks, “What am I looking at?”
“We don’t know, Sir. It looks a little like a chip of some type. In the next two photos we magnified the image eighty times, and then two hundred.”
Quickly turning to the last photograph, Director Slaughter pauses, and tries to make sense of what he’s seeing.
“So whatever this thing is, it’s inside his brain?”
“Yes, Sir, it’s in a part of the brain called, uh, I have it written down here. The dorsolateral prefrontal cortex.”
“What is that?”
“It’s in the left hemisphere of the brain, in the frontal lobe, as I understand it.”
“You have an expert coming in to help us out this morning, don’t you?” the Director asks.
“Yes Sir, Professor Alan Hobart from Georgetown. He’s an expert in neuroanatomy.”
“Hmm, so he has brains, and knows them, too.”
“Yes.”
“He should be here soon. I told him to come in at nine, Sir,” Agent Colby says.
“Good, maybe he can make some sense of this. I assume he’s unaware of whose brain scan this is.”
“That’s correct.”
“Let’s keep it that way.”
“Yes, Sir.”
“These photos are strange. What’s the size of this thing we’re looking at?”
“We estimate it’s roughly one one-hundredth of an inch.”
“One one-hundredth of an inch? No computer chip is that small. What are those things coming out of it? They look like tiny hairs or something.”
“Our people are at a loss to explain it.”
“Maybe the good professor can enlighten us,” the Director says.
“I hope so.”
A moment later the voice of Mr. Slaughter’s secretary interjects.
“Sir, Mr. Hobart is here to see you.”
“Thank you, Connie, Please tell him we’ll be right out.”
Muting the intercom, the Director says to Agent Colby, “Our expert is here. Show him in, would ya, Tim?”
“Yes, Sir.”
“Oh, and uh, let’s keep things confidential.”
“Yes, Sir,” Mr. Colby says as he rises to go.
Moments later Mr. Colby returns with Professor Hobart and introduces him to Director Slaughter.
“Sir, this is Professor Alan Hobart. He teaches neuroscience at Georgetown University.”
“Professor Hobart, thank you for coming in. I hope this is not inconvenient for you.”
“Not at all, I’m glad to be with you.”
“Please sit down.”
“Thank you,”
“Professor, you’re an expert on neuroanatomy, as I understand.”
“That’s what I teach.”
“Prior to teaching you were a practicing neurosurgeon as well.”
“That’s correct.”
“Let me ask you, Professor, how often did you use brain scans in your practice?”
“Nearly always. It’s fundamental. Brain imaging technology allows us to see inside a patient’s brain. It’s a powerful diagnostic tool.”
“Have you read a lot of brain scans?”
“Yes, hundreds.”
“Professor Hobart, we would like you to look at a brain scan image, and give us your opinion of what you see.”
“Sure, be glad to,”
“Tim, you have a DVD of these photos so we can see them on the TV screen?”
“Yes Sir, I do.”
Director Slaughter closes the window blinds, and as the room gets darker Agent Colby cues up the DVD, and turns the widescreen television on. As the first image appears the three men sit back, and view the image. After a few seconds, Professor Hobart speaks.