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| PROLOGUE The
injection he had just been given caused a delicious warm glow to flow
through his veins. Then his head began to spin. His heartbeat became audible
as his pulse drummed in his ears. Clenching his fists and straining against
the bonds made the sinews in his arms stand out like cords through his
aged, parchment-like skin. He rotated his wrists until the skin smeared
away and the nylon straps dripped, saturated with his blood. He tried
to use the pain to focus his mind. The
lights from the lamp above seemed to revolve faster and faster and the
operating table he was secured to started to sway. He closed his eyes
to shut out the sickening hallucination but the feeling of movement increased
and made him nauseous. He
had a burning desire to answer their questions but a strong assurance
deep inside strengthened his resolve and he remained steadfast in his
silence. A
face loomed nearer and crowded his vision. The eyes, dark and penetrating,
looked into his and then beyond into his mind. A voice that seemed a million
miles away spoke to him. ‘I
am sure you already know that the Ancient Egyptians regarded the brain
as merely an organ of thinking. A person’s soul was in their heart
and this was preserved and returned to the body after embalming. The brain,
of course, was removed and discarded. It was no longer required. Do you
know how they accessed the brain, Stewart Henlaw?’ ‘Yes,’
he replied, weakly.’ ‘Yes!
Of course you do. They made an opening in the sinuses through to the cerebral
cavity.’ Summoning
his last reserves of energy Stewart Henlaw strained against the bonds
that held his body fast to the operating table and his head clamped firmly
in a brace. ‘You
know that your efforts are wasted. It’s clear to me that you will
not voice the answers I want with your own mouth so I will obtain them
directly from your mind,’ he paused for a moment, perhaps for effect,
before continuing. ‘I only need to insert this probe into the Frontal
Cortex of your brain and I can open every door in your mind,’ he
said, holding up a stainless steel lancet that was twelve inches long
and the diameter of a large bore hypodermic needle. ‘In most cases
the Ancient Egyptians were dead when this procedure was performed on them.
Unfortunately for you, you will not be dead… Do I have your attention
now, Mister Stewart Henlaw?’ A
high pitch whine invaded the room and grated on Stewart Henlaw’s
nerves. A device that looked like a dentist’s drill passed in front
of his eyes. The instrument attached to it was much longer than anything
a dentist would use.
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