The Chancellor Manuscript Read Online Free PDF

men.
    Genesis spoke. “Above all, at all costs, the files must be taken and destroyed. In this there can be no disagreement We’ve finally established that they’re stored in an upright vault, built into the steel wall of the walk-in closet, behind and to the left of the office desk.”
    “The closet lock is controlled by a switch in the center drawer,” said Banner quietly. “The vault is protected by a series of electronic releases, the first of which must be triggered from his residence. Without the first release none of the others will activate. It would take ten sticks of dynamite to break in; the estimated time of operation for an acetylene torch is roughly four hours, with alarms sounding at the first touch of heat.”
    Across the table, his black face obscured in the dim light, Venice asked, “Has the location of this first release been confirmed?”
    “Yes,” answered Banner. “In the bedroom. It’s in the shelf of the headboard.”
    “Who confirmed it?” asked Paris, the Hispanic member of Inver Brass.
    “Varak,” was Genesis’s reply from the south end of the table.
    Several heads nodded slowly. The elderly Jew, to the right of Banner, addressed him. “What of the rest?”
    “The subject’s medical records were obtained from La Jolla, California. As you know, Christopher, he refuses to be examined at Bethesda. The most recent cardioanalysis indicates minor hypochloremia, a low potassium condition in no way dangerous. The fact in itself, however, might be sufficient to warrant administering the required dosage of digitalis, but there’s risk of exposure through autopsy.”
    “He’s an old man.” That statement was made byBravo, a man older than the subject in question. “Why would an autopsy be considered?”
    “Because of who he is,” said Paris, the Hispanic member, his voice evidence of his early years in Castile. “It might be unavoidable. And the country cannot tolerate the turmoil of another assassination. It would give too many dangerous men the excuse to move, to implement a series of horrors in the name of patriotism.”
    “I submit,” interrupted Genesis, “that should these same dangerous men—and I refer without equivocation to Sixteen hundred Pennsylvania Avenue—should these men and the subject reach an accommodation, the horrors you speak of will be minuscule by comparison. The key, gentlemen, is in the subject’s files. They’re held out like raw meat to hungry jackals. Those files in the hands of Sixteen hundred would usher in government by coercion and blackmail. We all know what’s taking place right now. We
must
act.”
    “Reluctantly I agree with Genesis,” said Bravo. “Our information shows that Sixteen hundred has gone beyond the unattractive limits experienced in previous administrations. It’s approaching the uncontrollable. There’s hardly an agency or a department that has not been contaminated. But an Internal Revenue investigation, or a DIA surveillance report, pales beside those files. Both in nature and—far more seriously—in the stature of those they concern. I’m not sure we have an alternative.”
    Genesis turned to the younger member at his side. “Banner, would you summarize, please?”
    “Yes, of course.” The slender, fiftyish man nodded, paused, and placed his hands in front of him on the table. “There’s very little to add. You’ve read the report. The subject’s mental processes have disintegrated rapidly; one internist suspects arteriosclerosis, but there’s no way to confirm the diagnosis. The La Jolla records are controlled by the subject. At the source. He screens the medical data. Psychiatrically, however, there’s complete agreement: The maniac-depressive condition has advanced to the state of acute paranoia.” The man stopped, his head turned slightly to Genesis but not excluding anyone else at the table. “Frankly that’s all I have to know to cast my vote.”
    “Who reached this agreement?” asked the old Jew