APOCALYPSE NEXT


Chapter 2
DEJA AND VOODOO 
  

Parameters... At a glance, Parameters looks like nothin' more than a
telemarketin' operation or an office scene from Wall Street: A very large
room of offices and cubicles occupied by head set equipped operatives of
every description. At every desk there is a computer terminal, a radio and
a small television, the operatives all seem to be engaged in monitorin'
all the media at their disposal as well as freely and not too softly
chattering away to one another.

Some bits and pieces I overheard:

   "....new slant on Kennedy killings from a fresh young theorist...
   Was a ZR sniper team out of Mexico....no?
   ...multiple Oswalds...no two pictures match..."

   "...and we'll call it NAPSTER, we'll gain a foothold on controlling the
web...
   get some laws passed..."

   "...re the projections for O.J.'s 'image change'?"

   "...Jon Jon getting his pilot's license...set a track on that?"

   "Yeah, let's...may be useful in the future..."

   "...Hoagland on Art Bell shitting all over NASA again...(laughter)..."

And so it went, most of it nonsensical and some that made a weird kind'a
sense. Furbin leads me to the nucleus of this nerve center, a set of wide
glass doors built into a wall made o' dozens o' video monitors, all of
them set to a different t.v. channel or video playback, some 'ave static
images while others 'ave black and white security camera footage and
A.T.M. video footage. I'm reminded, by this mosaic o' lost privacy, o'
William S. Burroughs' cut-up method. Furbin's hand on me shoulder presses
me toward the glass doors as he leads me into a large office with yet more
monitors. Crowded among all the 'peep tech' is a desk and work station,
two men await us, a Yank in an Air Force uniform and a dead man...or at
least I thought he was.

Control Agent Doubt.

Doubt steps toward me, his hand extended in greeting, but I don't accept
it.

"Something wrong, Pete?" Doubt.

"Yes, there is, main thing being that you're supposed to be dead and you
never call me Pete.... anything else? I'd 'ave to dig further." The
uniformed Yank moves up behind Doubt and Furbin puts a hand on me
shoulder.

"This is where we part company, Agent Wisdom." Furbin.

"I'm off to file our debriefing...Thank you for being so forthcoming with
me, I only wish all our agents were like you, Agent Wisdom, you make the
job of control so much easier." Furbin.

Furbin shakes my hand,leaves me, pushing past the two Black Suits guarding
the door and is soon lost in the din and activity of the main room. Doubt
lights a fag for me and offers it...me brand, even, he came prepared.

"Agent Wisdom, I know you must have some questions regarding my current
state of....'undeath'...but they wil have to keep for a short time."
Doubt.

"I don't see why, Doubt, certainly we 'ave time for a chat -- wot's the
rush?"

"We are actually under a considerable time constraint, Agent Wisdom, which
is why we are meeting here rather than at Avebury." Doubt.

"Ah, now I see; something about this place 'as been naggin' at me since my
arrival 'an now I see wot it is...this base and the one in Avebury are
very much alike. There is a familiar feelin to these walls...even if wot's
inside them doesn't match up." 

Doubt leads me to a chair at the desk.

"Let me introduce you to Colonel Scorzaney, Air Force Intelligence, he is
one of the sub directors here at Montauk base and is currently the head of
Parameters." Doubt.

With the introductions completed, Scorzaney seems to relax somewhat...he
may even visit the loo sometime this year...he starts to say something.

"Welcome to Montauk, you're very right to feel a sense of deja vu, Agent
Wisdom, here at my base. You see, both Montauk and Avebury are only two of
many similarly designed complexes that have been built into the Earth to
take advantage of the planet's power points. It's no coincidence that
Avebury is home to a stone circle and is often the site of crop circle
formations. In Britain, all of the 'Undergrounds' involved with our work
are built along the ley lines at specific energy outflows and at the sites
of your famous Circles. We have many other such bases situated throughout
the globe and aside from the differing nature of the work that takes place
at each site, if you've seen one you've seen 'em all." Scorzaney.

When he smiles, his lips disappear. "And all the time I thought Avebury
was unique."

"Hardly anything left under the sun that can be called unique any more,
Agent Wisdom, that's why our network of undergrounds exists, each with
it's own purpose but all working toward a common goal." Scorzaney.

This man is a predator, dead behind the eyes and never at rest. I
immediately hate him! I can easily see meself running an op on 'im;
stalkin 'im and boiling him in his skin...."And wot is this common goal?"

"Control, Agent Wisdom...ultimate control." Scorzaney.

"Which is why we brought you here, Agent Wisdom." Doubt.

Bollocks! Really am back in the game now. "How much more control do you
need, then? Am I being naive to assume that you already have the world in
your pocket? At least that's how it seems to me from what I've experienced
as an operative." 

From behind his desk, Scorzaney turns off all the monitors in the room. He
turns his chair away from me and stares at the wall of blank screens and
he doesn't return to our world for some seconds but when he does,
Scorzaney no longer directs himself to me and Doubt, he focuses on the
wall as he begins to relate the story of his ultimate control and how he
lost it.

"This land, Agent Wisdom, Montauk Point has been a military base since
before World War One. Once it belonged to the Indians but we took it and
turned it into an Army camp, Camp Hero, with the lighthouse nearby and the
ocean view it was ideally located to guard against invasion from the sea.

"In the years since, Montauk has been a part of many some of the most
secret operations the world has never known; have you ever heard of The
Philadelphia Experiment, Agent Wisdom....Not the movie of course but the
actual event?"  Scorzaney.

I 'ave actually; me old man made me watch the film with 'im and learn all
the details of the story that inspired it along with all 'is other
paranoid conspiracy shit..."No, can't say that I 'ave....does it 'ave to
do with me mission?"...that's it, Pete, play the oaf for just a little
while longer.