"To give you the background on this particular day, Doctor Ward had been gone for five days to a conference in Washington. As soon as he left, I withdrew the drugs from the Synbats' diet. I wanted to see what happened when they were operating at what might be called a normal functioning level."
Riley's eyes followed the figure that appeared on the screen and stood in front of the two cubicles. The creatures inside were sitting, simply staring straight ahead.
Merrit described her actions. "I just stood there for a while. We'd noticed no real change over the five days since drug withdrawal and I was going to reintroduce the drugs in their next meal. You could say that this was their last opportunity to do anything different."
Merrit stayed silent for about thirty seconds, then the Merrit on the screen stepped forward toward the cubicle on the left.
Merrit's voice was tight as she tried to explain what was happening on the screen. "You can see the male Synbat in Cubicle One turn on his mate and attack her. We'd never seen aggression between the mated pairs, which was why we allowed them to be together. I thought he was killing her."
On the screen, the larger Synbat in the left cubicle had the other down and appeared to be banging her head against the far wall. Merrit's hand was on the combination lock for the cubicle, manipulating the numbers. A voice could be heard in the background, asking her what she was doing.
"As you can see, I was trying to set the combination for opening. I was going to try to save the female. Luckily, Mark reacted quickly. You can hear him in the background trying to find out why I was doing that. He overrode my attempt, using the computer."
The camera shifted back to the cubicle as Merrit stepped back from the door, letting go of the lock. The male Synbat stopped his attack and turned and looked at her. The female also stood, with no apparent damage done.
"Later, when we had sedated them, I checked out the female completely. There were no marks on her — nothing to indicate that she'd really been attacked."
"So what?" Lewis asked. "You're saying that the Synbats were trying to trick you into opening the door?"
Merrit looked at him, her eyes wide, the tic on the left side of her face flicking every few seconds. "I realize you'll find it hard to believe, but I know they were trying to set me up to do exactly that. You have to believe me!"
"Cut to the chase, Doctor," Trollers's voice interrupted. "How smart are the damn things when they're not sedated? Can they communicate with each other?"
Merrit closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths. Riley noted that her hands were balled up into fists, the knuckles white. "Do any of you know anything about the bicameral mind?" Riley's and Lewis's blank expressions gave her ample answer. "All right. I'll try to make it as simple as possible."
Merrit began. "The key question is the difference between man and animal — the baboon, for example. Most people would say thinking, but that's not true. All the manifest examples of thinking are present in various degrees in the animal world: learning, concepts, even rudimentary language. The baboon has approximately eighty signals or commands that it uses — communication, in effect. This ability was another factor in our choosing the baboon as part of our genetic base to make the Synbats.
"Humans started out in the same way. There is a theory that humans truly broke away from the animal world only when we were able to communicate extensively with a verbal language and act as individuals rather than as part of a group. There is also a theory that prior to having an extensive verbal language, Homo sapiens could communicate at some sort of telepathic level. Although that made for an effective group defense in a harsh environment, it also retarded progress because it required the group to stay close together and also think somewhat alike. Once we developed verbal language, we were able to explore and have more initiative as individuals.
"The interesting thing is that the development of language wasn't dictated as much by external factors as by the evolution of the brain itself. That's where the bicameral mind comes in. The human brain consists of two halves that are almost identical but have very little connection to each other.
"The speech centers in the brain are present to almost the same extent in both hemispheres, yet they are functional in ninety-seven percent of people only in the left hemisphere. What happened to the speech center in the right hemisphere? It is still there but is nonfunctional in almost everyone. Some feel that this is the place where a simplistic telepathic ability resided. Initially, man's brain was more connected between the two sides and the speech centers worked together.
"The Synbats' speech centers are developed equally in both sides of the brain. They are not capable of actual speech — at least not that we have been able to determine — yet they do have that part of the brain present in both hemispheres. The two hemispheres of a Synbat's brain are also more connected than a human's. I think there is a possibility that the Synbats have an ability to mentally communicate among themselves to some extent. They're at that point in evolution between ape and man."
"Oh, come on now, Doctor!" Trollers exploded. "Next you're going to be telling us that they read minds. They're just goddamn animals."
"They're more than animals!" Merrit blurted. "They're — " She suddenly paused and her eyes became unfocused.
"They're what?" Colonel Hossey prompted.
Merrit blinked and looked at Riley. "They must be destroyed," she said as calmly as if she were reporting that the sun would come up in the morning. "They must all be destroyed."
"Back to the intelligence question," Riley said, trying to get the meeting back on a useful track. "I can confirm that they're smarter than any animals I've ever seen." He touched Merrit lightly on the shoulder. "Can you give us an idea of how smart they are?"
Merrit's head barely nodded. "There is no doubt that they are extremely intelligent — cunning would probably be a more appropriate word. I don't think they have the ability to do much abstract reasoning, but they are extremely capable of formulating some basic plans. And I think the events of the last twenty-four hours back that up. We may never know exactly how they got out, but they have taken advantage of the situation, and they will continue to do so until we stop them."
The chatter of helicopter blades slicing the air drowned out Merrit's quiet voice. Riley stepped out into the hallway and glanced outside. A UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter settled onto the parking lot. The doors slid open and ten armed soldiers jumped out. Riley recognized several of the men. It was a team from A Company, 3d Battalion. The helicopter lifted with a surge and roared off, back to the east for another load.
"The first lift of reinforcements has arrived," Riley announced to the others.
General Williams spoke. "We've got lifts of men from 5th Group landing at the bridges leading into the Land Between the Lakes, sealing off the park. Task Force 160 is also launching some helicopter gunships to cover the water, to make sure they don't try getting out the way they got in."
"I'm going to put three teams into Lake Barkley in your vicinity," Colonel Hossey added. "They should be in the air with their boats in fifteen minutes."
Trollers continued the update. "I've already been in contact with state authorities in both Kentucky and Tennessee. As soon as we seal off the park, we're going to clear it."
Riley was relieved that the wheels were finally turning. Colonel Hossey then asked the question that had been on Riley's mind since this mission had started. "What's in the backpacks I was told about?"