Chapter 10:
Greenspan watched his subject on film, received his reports, and made a decision. They needed to keep a closer control of their subject. And he should not have as much close contact with the soldiers. John knew now in which state they were, though his casual question about the nearest town was evaded. John wasn’t supposed to know where he was, or what was happening in the outside world.
John thought he was behaving well enough, doing what the guards said, and not even disputing when they denied him his swim because there were not enough helpers. It was an unpleasant surprise when the decree was relayed by Zack, that from now on, he’d be eating only in his own sitting room. The staff dining room was no longer open to him. But even then, he’d only sighed. After all, there was not much he could do. He was under the control of others. But he walked fast around the perimeter three times that day, scarcely limping, and not even talking to the dogs who were his friends, let alone the guards.
Alec was not there, gone to join his family for Christmas. John hoped that his wet eyes might be blamed on the bitter wind that whistled. It was over a year since he’d first been found in a gutter, though he called himself John Douglas now. His memory went back less than nine months. He thought that in a way he was just a baby, but was fully aware that tantrums could be severely punished.
So when Rudy said it was lunchtime, he was docile as he was escorted back to his room and a lunch was brought in on a tray. But it was not until the following day, Christmas Eve, that he took only a mouthful of his breakfast before pushing it away. Greenspan had suspected he might do this, but there would be no choice. The biscuits that had previously been left in his room were gone, as John quickly discovered when he searched for an alternative to satisfy his hunger. Even the milk in the fridge wasn’t right.
Isaac watched the film afterward, and advised Greenspan again that John was best left alone as long as he was being reasonably well behaved. But Greenspan replied, as he had before, that John had to be kept under control, and the strategy of keeping him under mild sedation, which could be manipulated as desired, would be maintained. “He’s not going to starve himself to death, after all,” said Greenspan.
John’s personal guards knew that he was to be allowed nothing to eat other than the drugged food provided in his room. And they very soon knew that John was refusing to touch his food, tasting, but not eating even when the drug was reduced to a trace.
Christmas Day came. John had the large noon meal delivered to his room, and Zack saw his nostrils quiver. He tried a taste, and threw the fork away from him, quite violently. “You think they could have given me some food I could eat, today of all days,” he complained, leaving the table and trying the locked door.
“Orders,” said Zack. “You have to come here every meal time, and you have to stay an hour.”
John paced. Zack waited, stolidly, patiently. He was a soldier, and soldiers often had to obey orders they didn’t agree with.
Christmas afternoon, John roamed the gardens, but no vegetables grew. “Not in the middle of winter,” Rudy commented, guessing what he was after.
John said with a wry smile, “Obviously, whatever I used to be, it was not a gardener.” He took his perch in his tree for a while instead, contemplating refusing to come in for the evening meal. Maybe he’d just stay here until he died of hunger. Did chipmunks store nuts? he suddenly wondered, and walked the grounds, feeling if there were any chipmunks. But there were no nut trees, and there didn’t seem to be any chipmunks.
On the fourth day, he staggered when he was roused for breakfast. There had been a nightmare that night, and he’d paced for hours afterward. Isaac saw the stagger on film. The film was always watched, but not as it was taken. John could detect the cameras when the screens were watched in real time. Isaac shook his head. He found it hard to comprehend his patient’s stubbornness. He was losing weight fast now, and was weakening, but he didn’t even try his breakfast, just waiting, pacing the floor until he heard the door unlock for his release. Greenspan was equally stubborn, insisting that the subject had to be kept under control, and nothing that Isaac said would change his mind.
Some of the soldiers were going on a route march that day, and John joined Sergeant Davies as the men prepared. “How far?” he asked.
“Twenty miles,” answered Davies. He no longer objected very much to John’s presence, and John no longer set out to irritate him. Lance and Bob were close, although not within hearing. Rudy was having a short break.
Davies glanced at him. “You’re looking thin.”
John nodded casually. “I’ve been on a hunger strike. I want female guards around me. But I’m willing to break it now, if you have something to eat on you.”
Davies laughed and fished out a food bar. “It’s army rations, but that’s all I’ve got.”
John made sure that his guards only saw his back, as he ate, voraciously. Silently, Davies handed him another. It was half gone before Rudy walked back, saw what he was doing, and yelled. John quickly stepped back, behind Davies, and finished the bar. Davies looked at them both, very puzzled.
Rudy strode across to John and firmly took his arm.
“What’s going on?” Davies asked, puzzled.
Rudy said, quite roughly, that whatever John had been telling him, he was perfectly well fed and it was his own fault if he chose not to eat. John just stood, his face expressionless. Rudy hesitated. Davies was looking hostile.
Rudy said to John, “Go and join the men, I’m having a talk to Rod.”
John obeyed.
Davies nodded back at the men, “Sit, if you like.” The men promptly sat, John with them. It hadn’t occurred to him that the soldiers might be on his side, but Jimmy asked him if he was still hungry, and while his guard explained to Davies that Greenspan was trying to keep him sedated, John ate his fill. Bob and Lance pretended not to see.
John grinned at Jimmy and the others, thanking them. They were a bit confused, as he could only say that he hadn’t liked his meals, not really knowing himself why he was so unwilling to eat the food provided. He only knew there was something wrong with it.
Davies disappeared, and the men lolled around for a half hour, John sitting among them and storing a few of the food bars in his pockets for later. If he had a chance, he planned to climb a tree where they couldn’t easily follow, and eat them there, although his guards were not trying to stop him eating. He felt better already.
Davies couldn’t contact Colonel Bedville, and finally returned, saying quietly to Rudy that he’d try again later. Rudy nodded. Davies roared at the men, saying that inspections would be made, and any who hadn’t their full ration pack should straightaway remedy the situation.
More food bars poured on a grinning John, as the men did as instructed, filing in to the store, and refilling their ration packs. John was laughing. There may not have been much variety, but right now, the bland, hard ration bars tasted very good.
Finally, the men were lined up in their ranks, ready to march out. John called to Davies, asking if he could come, too, but Davies told him not to be so silly. John shrugged, and said to Rudy, “Surrounded by forty soldiers, what could I do?” Rudy told him not to be so silly.
No-one hindered him as he climbed his tree and stowed his food bars in the driest place he could find. He thought that he might stave off starvation for a few more days, especially if he managed to beg more from the men.
He was quite visible in his tree now, and Rudy nudged Bob and pointed. There was a bird sitting on his shoulder, and another on a tree branch close to his head. All the birds and animals seemed to love John. There were a few cats who’d decided the base was a good home, and they always twined around his legs at any opportunity, though he wasn’t allowed to have them in his room.
There was an especially aromatic meal that evening, and John yielded to temptation and tried a mouthful but put it down again. He was locked in for the evening and Zack was watching a fil
m with him. There had recently been several added to the collection, and he hadn’t seen this one. They didn’t stint on expense, in small matters or big, and although the films were vetted, there were some new releases.
The buzzer went at the door, the indication that someone was about to enter. John rose and waited in the designated spot. The guards briefly checked the outside scanner to make sure he wasn’t near the door, and entered. He hardly saw the night guards, and Pete and Raymond were almost strangers.
“New orders,” said Raymond. “John’s to be confined to Ward 3 until further notice.”
Two other guards waited outside. He was to be given a large escort, it seemed.
Even so, John hesitated as he went into the corridor, looking the wrong way. Zack said very quietly, “John, don’t be silly.”
Raymond pulled out the stun gun. They knew now he could fight very well, and he’d been almost fully fit before Christmas, except for a still weak leg. They could feel his tension. Raymond had his arm firmly in one hand, the stun gun in another.
Zack put his hand on his shoulder, and said calmly, “Come on, John. We have to obey orders.”
John yielded and went in the direction desired, his expression again cold, impassive.
John didn’t eat then for three days, as Greenspan insisted that he would take the drugged food. When Isaac assured him that it was a minimal amount of tranquillizer and would help him cope with the stress of imprisonment, he was not answered. John just paced, interminably, every day, until he staggered with weariness. They could have overcome him with injected drugs, but the aim was to get him accepting the food he was given, with the dose adjusted as they chose.
Isaac was increasingly worried, and pointed out to Greenspan that John was so weakened that one of those attacks of head pain might kill him now. Greenspan was indifferent.
When Mark Bedville entered the room, John was pacing again, staggering now and then, not taking notice of his surroundings. He knew that people watched, all the time. He ignored them. He no longer even tasted the meals served up, no matter how tempting they appeared. They found it hard to comprehend his stubbornness.
“John?” Mark said.
John glanced his way and kept pacing. He looked terrible, and Mark suspected he was on the verge of total collapse. Compassionately, he said, “I’m back now, and your food will no longer be tampered with.”
John paused, “Were you away?”
Mark nodded. “I came back early when I heard. This affair was not at my orders.”
“Can I go out?”
Mark hesitated. John was never allowed out after dark, except to walk to the dining room and back. But he was obviously too much weakened to try anything now. He spoke to Raymond. “John’s going out for a while. You and Fox just stay close to him, and we’ll bring him something to eat outside.”
John staggered as he left the hated room, and went right down on one knee as he stepped outside. But he looked around in gratitude. He was outside. Mark took his arm, and pointed to an outdoor table setting. Isaac brought him a meal himself, just a bowl of soup to begin with, which John ate quickly.
“You can have something else in a little while,” Isaac said.
John started trembling. He’d been trembling a lot lately. No-one commented, and after a while, it died down. John was looking at the stars, faint, as the Compound was brightly lit. “This is the first time I’ve seen the stars,” he said. But then the stars were lost as Peter looked at him instead, very surprised. They tended to forget that his remembered experiences were so limited.
It took a few days for John to feel strong again, and would take longer to regain the lost weight. It didn’t take long before he started trying to make things happen without touching them, telekinesis, he thought it was called. He had to escape. He just didn’t see how. Probably safe while Mark was in charge, but there were people who could tell Mark what to do. There was no feeling of security, although Mark came to see him quite often now.
He was welcomed back to the staff dining room with a cheer, which took him so much by surprise that he started trembling and turned bright red. And yet, he knew that these same men who laughed with him and clapped his shoulder, would probably shoot him if they were ordered, as Alec had. Soldiers always did what they were told. He would have to ensure that if he was shot, it would be by a member of Force B. But he didn’t want to be shot. He wanted to go home.
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