AllFreeNovel
Share Us
CHAPTER
78
OUTSIDE THE FARMHOUSE the sun had dropped low, throwing shadows through the windows. It would be fully dark soon. Sean put some more wood on the fire and stoked it. When he sat down Roy said, “Kel told you about the E-Program, obviously.”
“Yes,” said Sean.
“How about the Wall?”
“Not really.”
“The Wall is all the data delivered in one fell swoop. I sit in front of a giant screen for twelve hours a day taking it all in.”
“When you say all the data, exactly what does that mean?” asked Michelle.
“It literally means everything collected by US intelligence operations and various allies overseas who share intel with us.”
“Isn’t that a lot of information?” asked Sean.
“More than you can imagine, really.”
“And you look at it and do what?” asked Michelle.
“I analyze it and then put the pertinent pieces together and give my report. They vet my conclusions, and then it becomes part of the action plan of the United States on all relevant fronts. In fact the actions taken are pretty immediate.”
“You have a photographic memory,” Sean said. “An eidetic?”
“Something more than that,” said Roy modestly.
“How can it be more than photographic?” Michelle commented.
“True photographic memories are extremely rare. A lot of people can remember many things they’ve seen but not everything. And even for many eidetics the memory eventually fades as others replace it. I can never forget anything.”
“Never?” Sean said, looking at him skeptically.
“Unfortunately, people don’t realize that a lot of memories are ones you want to forget.”
“I can understand that,” said Michelle, drawing a sympathetic glance from Sean.
Sean said, “Mind if I test you?”
“I’m used to being tested.”
“What was the name of the police officer who arrested you in the barn?”
“Which one? There were five,” replied Roy.
“The first one to speak to you.”
“His nameplate said Gilbert,” replied Roy.
“Badge number?
“Eight-six-nine-three-four. His weapon was a Sig Sauer 9mm with a twelve-round mag. He had an ingrown nail on his right pinky. I can give you the other officers’ names and badge numbers if you want. And since this is a memory test, over the last two hundred and six miles of the trip we passed one hundred and sixty-eight vehicles. Would you like their license plate numbers starting from first to last? There were nineteen from New York, eleven from Tennessee, six from Kentucky, three from Ohio, seventeen from West Virginia, one each from Georgia, South Carolina, D.C., Maryland, Illinois, Alabama, Arkansas, Oklahoma, two from Florida, and the rest from Virginia. I can also tell you the number and descriptions of the occupants of each vehicle. I can break it down by state if you want.”
Michelle gaped and said, “I can’t even remember what I was doing last week. How do you keep all that in your head?”
“I can see it in my head. I just have to dial it up.”
