Free Sigma One by William Hutchison Page A

make any difference. Pat ended his presentation with a budgetary summary which, through carefully constructed bar charts and pie charts, attempted to hide the true nature of the project's overrun. Through the entire presentation, Pat directed all his comments at Butterworth, who sat stolidly and expressionless. Pat couldn't tell if Butterworth believed him or not, but the truth became patently obvious right after Pat put up his last slide and paused waiting for his reply.
    Butterworth wedged himself out of his chair again and stood up.
    "Mr. Huxley!" he said matter-of-factly. "No matter how pretty the graphics, or flowery the words you use to describe the many successes your organization has made over the years, it still can't hide the fact that your project is being miserably financially mismanaged!"
     
    Butterworth was sweating now and his sophomoric voice quavered slightly. He was just not used to speaking up in public and would have preferred to have had the charts delivered to him and not have to show up at this meeting at all. Then, in his leisure, he could have reviewed the financial statements and issued a report instead of being put on the spot to provide his assessments publicly.
     
    When Butterworth finished he remained standing and waited for a reply from Pat.
    Pat said nothing. His sham was uncovered and he felt beaten. He had relied on his ability to cover over the financial data and sway Butterworth and, in turn, win his vote. He felt sick to his stomach.
    Each committee member sat as silently as he, waiting for his reaction to Butterworth's accusation.
    He offered none. Instead, Pat stepped slowly away from the podium and sat down to await the verdict.
    Suddenly, the silence was broken as Agent Walker briskly shoved his chair back from the table and got up from his seat.
    Walker strode toward the podium and when he arrived, he looked directly into Pat's eyes. He appeared to know what Pat was feeling and reached out and put his hand on Pat's shoulder.
He then began to address the assembly while still looking down at Pat. "Mr. Huxley, these hearings are never easy. It's obvious you sincerely believe in SIGMA ONE and your dream of world peace is inspiring. Your progress, too, seems to be accelerating if we can believe the statement you made about achieving limited thought programming with Dr. Jackowitz."
    Walker then turned and faced the committee, moving up to the podium as he did. "But that's not I'm here today! I'm not here to argue the potential benefits of SIGMA ONE. Mr. Huxley, here, did that and he did a fine job if you ask me." He looked down at Pat again. There was sympathy in his eyes.
    He looked up again and continued. "I'm here at the request of Senator Radcliff and am going to describe a situation in the world today which cannot be allowed to go unanswered by the United States. This situation makes the financial aspects of SIGMA ONE pale by comparison and, it is a situation which puts the U.S six to ten years behind the Soviets in," he paused, "thought programming."
    Walker then leaned forward on the podium. All kindness left his eyes. Everyone could see the sense of urgency in his stare.
    "Gentlemen and Ms. Robinson, we know the Soviets already have their own version of SIGMA ONE. And if we don't do something about it, you and I might as well start practicing our Russian, because in one, maybe two years we'll all need it when we're asked to surrender to them."
    Lassiter stood up. "That's ridiculous, Walker! What proof do you have?" He then directed his comments to Radcliff.
    "Senator, what's this utter bullshit about the Soviets having SIGMA ONE? I thought better of you. I can't believe you'd stoop so low as to bring in an obvious plant from the Agency to sway the committee to your viewpoint!" As he spoke, the veins on his neck stood out and his face became cherry-red. He looked like a thermometer about to burst.
    While Lassiter was continuing his tirade, Walker swiftly took the opportunity to go