John J. McGuire

“ Thirty-three years had taught them the value of an unobtrusive witness to the general's conversations.
"But with personnel changing so rapidly—frankly, I didn't understand your reference to a replo-depot," Culpepper confessed.
"A replo-depot," Bennington said, calling deep on his reserve of patience, "is the place to which all persons called up for military service must go first. There, they go through a process similar to the one we use here: a complete physical, a complete mental, a complete skill-testing, all used to decide where the man himself can best be used—or imprisoned. ”

“ No, let's face facts, that till man is superman, there will always be people like Clarens, people who will never be redeemed. People, who no matter how carefully caged or watched, will ever be a potential threat, if only to their keepers. By what weird accident they came to life, well, list that among other facts as yet unknown, and consider only the end result, that there were people whose only pleasure lay in perpetual destruction.
Automatically, such people themselves must be destroyed.
He was only vaguely aware of the flash-bulbs popping as he walked to the chair behind Chief Scott's desk. ”

“ When Judkins had explained that any conditioning he could give would be as easily removed by another tech, the two men had gone into a corner and consulted in whispers.
They had emerged from the corner with this offer: First, they would bargain with the new warden to get Rooney a job as a trusty. If that failed they offered Judkins twenty thousand dollars and a hideout in New York—until they could set him up outside the country—if he would condition a group of prisoners to riot and discredit Bennington immediately.
"What Rooney must be sitting on!" Mosby murmured in Bennington's ear. ”

“ When Giles and Culpepper exchanged glances, Bennington was immediately and almost totally certain that his explanation had not been needed.
"Seems to me you could economize even more if a part of that permanent cadre were trusties," Giles said.
"I would think so," Culpepper said, "but of course you would have to pick the men very carefully."
Giles approved of that idea. "Responsible men, not hardened criminals. Men who once held a prominent position in their communities, but made a mistake and now would sincerely like a chance to redeem themselves." ”

“ Thornberry was looking aggrieved, as if the fact was so obvious even the general could understand it. "Processing takes all day, sir, and this group does not arrive until late afternoon."
"Does the processing have to be continuous?" Bennington hoped his chief assistant would show a little flexibility.
But the question threw the bureaucratic psychologist into mental dishevelment. "I beg your pardon?"
"All we have to worry about is keeping them quiet tonight, then you can slip them back to normal in the morning and run them through as if they had arrived tomorrow." ”

“ Chief Scott warned.
"But it may save a life, maybe more than one," Bennington answered. "Thornberry, you did a good job of those guards. You question Judkins."
"Wait a minute," General Mosby said. "How fast can we get a tape recorder?"
"Why waste time?" asked Bennington. "You can't use this in court."
"Hell, Jim, stop thinking about courts-martial; there's more than one court. Let's fry these boys in the court of public opinion. The news services aren't bound by the rules of evidence. We can worry about other courts later."
"I can get you a tape recorder in two minutes," Scott stated. ”

“ You will be able to see me clearly."
"No!" broke out Thornberry, staring at Bennington.
"Turn them on," said Bennington.
Thornberry hesitated for a heartbeat, obeyed the order. Then, moving with deliberation, he seated himself beside the general.
"This is Musto," came from the intercom. "I'm boss over here. You've got guts, Bennington, I've read about you. But don't forget, two of my boys have you and the other guy on line down the sights of their rifles. Any sign of something screwy, and you two get it first."
"There has to be mutual trust for any kind of bargaining," Bennington replied. ”

“ Bennington glanced around again. From the roof of The Cage, Ferguson, drafted as a guard for this emergency, waved and lovingly patted the butt of his submachine gun.
One of the regular guards gave the general a sound-powered megaphone. He nodded thanks, lifted it.
"Give me your attention!"
"The procedure is as usual except that, when the prisoners go into The Cage, they are going to get an overnight conditioning treatment.
"But until they've had that treatment, you must be alert! These are all dangerous men." ”

“ Or, as Thornberry would have it, the first step to returning people to normal lives as functioning members of society again?
Dare I say that the only thing certain about prisons is that so far they haven't worked ... that stone walls, iron bars, conditioning and drugs that take the reason prisoner, none of these have kept men in ... that they would always try to escape as long as there was hope, hope of something better on the outside.
As Mosby stepped aside, Bennington considered the reverse of that last thought. ”

“ And I would much rather invade his privacy than have him invade my stomach with a knife made out of bone.
"A metal-spotter is, perhaps, good, but too many killing tools can get by them."
Thornberry seemed more than willing to continue the discussion, but the tractor-trailers were pulling off the bridge. After a moment's jockeying, they turned so that the back of the trailers pointed toward The Cage.
A corporal eased out of the white car that had led the convoy. He shifted his shotgun to his left arm, saluted, said, "General Bennington? Corporal Forester, with thirty-four prisoners." ”

“ Thornberry was already seated in the back of the car. Mosby was ready to seat himself in the front, Scott was opening the door to slide in behind the driver's wheel, but Bennington did not change his steady pace.
Retribution and punishment, because the tiger had killed human beings? No, no and never no, for these are worthless without understanding by the person upon whom they are visited. A baby understands not the reason why, but only the whack across its buttocks when its fingers or its life are in danger, and that action is thence forward "reject" ”

“ But the second mental, that quick recheck of the completeness of the drugging or the hypnosis.... It had been there that both Giles and Culpepper had been very, very interested to learn if anything a prisoner said at this point was admissible in a court of law.
The general now understood their relief at Thornberry's explanation: Anything a man said while under the influence of psychological conditioning was considered as obtained under duress.
Bennington was still meditating on what Rooney could reveal as he walked around the mess hall in the center of the compound. ”

“ Scott continued: "That's why I said, I hope he's crawled off, wants to sleep a while. Every place he can get a bed in my town, I'll know the minute he wants to lie down.
"Then I'll take him, like this"—the big hand crushed upon itself—"dead or alive, and I hope I have to take him dead."
"Why dead?"
"General, sorry, warden—no, I'll go back to the way I know you best—General Bennington, Clarens simply isn't the business of any kind of normal living.
"You take a guy who cracked a safe, knocked off a payroll, robbed a bank, he's like any good business man taking a risk ”

“ Then the second trailer was unloaded and sent away. When its cargo had added themselves to the line, the corporal again approached Bennington.
"Want a roll call, sir?"
"The count is correct, but a roll call will help get them in order, in the right frame of mind." Bennington raised his megaphone to his lips. "Now get this! When your name is called, sound out HERE and run for that gate. Then walk up the path and through the open door.
"John Musto."
A stockily-built, dark-faced man stepped from the line and with an exaggerated slowness dawdled toward the gate. His pose lasted only a moment. ”

“ Though educated in different professions, both Bennington and Thornberry had been well trained in the value of not showing astonishment. Out of the corner of his eyes, the general could see a uniformed State trooper lying flat on the floor. The head lifted, Bennington recognized Trooper Forester.
"This is your party," the corporal continued. "How does the entertainment shape up?"
"We've got to keep the customers happy," the general said, "by making them think that the main show is just about to start." ”

“ What was it Thornberry had said about the moat? Oh, yes, not to keep the poor misguided inmates imprisoned, but to keep unwanted people out....
When his eyes were accustomed to the darkness, Bennington walked east and came to the first of the two new additions to the camp. A long building, used by psychological and medical men to determine the total amount of usefulness to society left in a man convicted of a crime.
Beyond it, the second addition, a barbed-wire-enclosed building called The Cage, where prisoners where first received and conditioned. ”

“ Bennington said. "Son of wealthy parents, a good education, the only child in a family who seemed to have everything, including parents who loved both each other and the child—why does he kill, ask to be caught, and then hide so well?
"What therapy does your science have for him, Dr. Thornberry?"
Thornberry's lip-pursing again made his face a skeleton's.
"There are areas of human behavior—"
Bennington observed that Scott and Mosby had turned away from the conversation to the immediacies of patrol distribution. ”

“ He held down his temper while the politicians exchanged glances of mutual congratulation.
"But," he said, "if I establish a trusty system, it will be an honorable one. I would be seen in hell first before I would allow any man to use the setup as a place to hide in comfort during a short rap when he should be sweating out a long one.
"Your friend Rooney will get exactly what he deserves. And not a thing more."
Giles had slowly turned a turkey purple, but his voice remained calm and even. "I think you stated the proposition fairly, general. ”

“ Bennington remembered his own impression of Dalton.
"I can't blame the trainees. Dalton's gotten by better men than they are yet," the corporal continued. "And they were looking for desperate criminals, not for someone in a cleaning company's uniform who asked, when they stopped him, if they wanted some work done."
"Anybody been killed yet?" Thornberry asked.
Forester was a long time answering. "Not yet, doctor. But a man answering Clarens' description bought six steak knives near the railroad station tonight."
"Six steak knifes?" Mosby asked. ”

“ Bennington said bitterly. "He was the fat belly with Dalton and Clarens, the one who didn't make it."
The story flowed on under Thornberry's skillful questioning.
At noon yesterday, a frightened and angry Giles had called Judkins, had boosted the bribe to thirty thousand and demanded immediate action.
"What did you tell the prisoners?" Thornberry's voice was as even as Judkins'.
"I was their friend and their only friend; every one else was their enemy. I told them they must be quiet and obey all orders until the last man received his coffee in the mess hall. ”

“ Bennington temporized.
"That's your worry."
The general sighed. "All right, you've got Message Center. Connect this phone with the outside. Remember, this is going to take a while."
"That don't worry us, general. Add up how much time we've got coming due over here. It's all you need and then some."
Bennington lifted the phone on the desk and waited. He could see an irregular flickering, like a cigarette lighter, in the Message Center Room. Then the familiar buzzing sounded in his ears.
Once more he dialed "0". "Operator? This is Warden Bennington of Duncannon Prison. ”

“ Today that's the way to gain votes and I'd come up with more than I'd lose."
"But your turnover," Culpepper said. "I can see that in a regular prison, where they have the men a long time, it's easy to train them in kitchen work and supply. But here.... How long do you plan to keep them, general?"
"I'll try to get back to the original purpose in setting up Duncannon as quickly as possible," Bennington said. "Dr. Thornberry agreed that five days is the maximum time his sections need to complete the analysis of a prisoner and decide what prison he should go to. ”

“ He seated himself and blinked a couple of times, adjusting to the glare.
But, beginning with Thornberry, there would be many people who wouldn't agree, who would never accept such an amendment to the Sacred Ten, people who never seemed to see that phrase in their newspapers every time a child was assaulted, "Police are questioning all known sex offenders."
Bennington looked thoughtfully around at the men ready to question him.
He, too, was ready, ready to tell them....
... Some people are a damn sight better off dead. ”