Chapter 11

Dealing with smart-mouthed, smart ass punks was as natural to Al as 
breathing, but receiving that sort of treatment from a punk who wasn't an 
actual person was a spin he wasn't quite sure he knew how to handle.  He 
stood in the Imaging Chamber, at the window of Perry Kirkwood's bedroom and 
watched the gray pickup truck disappear down Liberty Street.  The memory of 
the menacingly joking words that Aaron had said to him, using Sam Beckett's 
mouth to do so, made him shiver almost, as one of the nuns at the orphanage 
used to say "as if a goose had walked over your grave."  It also made him 
angry.  

Angry because of the obvious but as yet unknown abuse to which the polite 
young man in the Waiting Room had been subjected.  Angry at the depth and 
harshness of the abuse that caused such an entity as Aaron to become a 
needed buffer between Perry and his abuser.

"I don't know who the bastard is that hurt Perry," Al said around the 
Chivello cigar he lit and then puffed on as he continuedto stare down the 
empty length of Liberty Street, "but I'm damn sure gonna find out."  Pulling 
the handlink from his pocket, the Observer summoned the door to the Imaging 
Chamber.  Stepping inside he said, "Ziggy, tell Verbena to meet me in my 
office in five minutes."

"I believe that Doctor Beeks is talking with "Evalyn"," the hybrid computer 
responded.

That was even better.  In spite of the fact that he didn't care for Perry's 
alternate female personality's personality, Al knew when it was wiser to 
collaborate with an unknown enemy than to continue blindly insisting on his 
own way.  "Advise Doctor Beeks that I'll be there in about two minutes, 
Ziggy," Al said as he exited the Imaging Chamber, pausing only long enough 
to return the handlink to Gooshie before leaving the Control Room at a smart 
clip.

Entering the Waiting Room almost exactly two minutes later, Al paused in the 
door way when Verbena and the "guest" paused in their conversation to look 
up.  *A little touch of the Calavicci charm* Al thought as he took a slow, 
calming breath and put a smile in his eyes to match the one on his lips as 
he went to the hospital bed in the center of the Waiting Room.

The instant's hesitation over the greeting that sprang automatically to his 
lips was barely noticeable. "Hello, ladies," he greeted the chief 
psychiatrist and "Evalyn".  "May I join you?"

Even knowing Al as well as she did didn't make Verbena immune to the famous 
Calavicci charm, even if she did see right through his ploy.  The warmth of 
his smile was accented by his dimples, and the twinkle in his eyes was even 
more than she could resist. *I'll get you for this, Calavicci* the handsome 
black woman thought as she return his greeting.

"Yes you may, Admiral," she said, letting her own eyes speak in more subtle 
tones. ""Evalyn" and I were just talking about Perry."

"Evalyn" however seemed well aware of Al's ploy.  "There is such a thing as 
putting too much sugar in a mint julep, sir," she said in cool tones.  But 
she also wasn't immune to Al's charm as "she", too, invited the presumptuous 
man dressed in clothes so loud it was embarrassing, to join them.  "However, 
having been brought up properly, I echo this lady's invitation.  Please join 
us."  Primly "Evalyn" shifted her position so as to be able to face Al and 
Verbena.  She leaned over to pat the opposite edge of the bed where "she" 
sat.  "Please, sit down."

"Thank you," Al said with a smile, "but if you don't mind, I'll stand." He 
focussed his attention on "Evalyn". "I trust you are being well taken care 
of..ma'am?"  He kept his gaze level with Perry Kirkwood's alternate 
personality, his tone with just the right amount of warmth that had yet to 
fail in thawing the coolest of feminine receptions.  Evalyn didn't exactly 
capitulate but she did respond to it as a faint blush rose in Perry 
Kirkwood's cheeks and she dropped her gaze.

"Yes, thank you," "Evalyn" said.  "The doctor, here, has explained a bit of 
why and how I came to be here.  And, she also...explained what your purpose 
is in all this."

Al couldn't prevent the rather sharp look he turned on Verbena, but was 
placated somewhat when she assured him, "Only in the broadest of 
generalities about you, admiral. But I have been a bit more candid about 
Perry's position in all of this."

"I'm very pleased that...Someone," "Evalyn" darted a glance upward then back 
to Al, "cares enough about Perry to send someone to help him."  "She" 
allowed a smile to curve "her" lips. "And considering those whom you are 
going to have to deal with if you're to be successful in your efforts, your 
friend is going to need someone like you to get him through this."


Al decided to seize the bull by the horns.  "You're talking about Aaron, 
aren't you?"

"Yes, but he's not the only one," "Evalyn" replied, folding her hands on her 
lap.

A question sprang to his lips, but he looked to Verbena first. "How much 
have the two of you discussed about Perry's...condition?"  It was "Evalyn" 
who responded.

"If you're referring to the fact that Perry has multiple personalities, and 
that I am one of them," she said evenly, not even tempted to be amused at 
Al's surprised expression, "Doctor Beeks and I have been rather candid with 
each other." She met his gaze openly.  "You may ask me what you will, sir."

A nod from Verbena was all the go ahead that the Observer needed.  "How many 
personalities does Perry have?"

"Aaron and I are the only two remaining," the female personality replied.  
"And I'm afraid Aaron maybe be about to attempt to...if you will, absorb me 
and assert himself over Perry."

"How many personalities has Perry had up to this point?" Al asked bluntly.  
His instincts were telling him that he was coming up against a deviously 
wily adversary in Aaron and, would need all the ammunition and information 
he could get before he confronted Perry's alternate male personality.

"According to "Evalyn"," Verbena spoke up, "at one point Perry had seven 
different personalities.  Of the seven, only Evalyn and Aaron remain."

"What happened to the others?"

"Aaron absorbed them," Evalyn replied. "He's got the instincts of an animal 
in that he can almost smell fear and weakness in others.  And of the five 
other personalities, four were young children."

"How young?"

"Timmy was six, a jolly little boy who loved to laugh and play "cowboys and 
Indians," "Evalyn said. "Annabelle was five and very shy. Marian was four 
and loved to sing. Henry..was the littlest one.  He..." "Evalyn" touched her 
fingertips to her lips as if to stop the quivering that the memory of the 
"littlest one" conjured up.

Al noted the way she said "Henry" with a catch in her voice, almost on the 
verge of tears. "How old was Henry?" he asked gently.  From the corner of 
his eye he saw Verbena move to put an arm around "Evalyn's" shoulders.

"He was the baby," The gentle mannered Southern "lady" whispered, fighting 
back tears that were already glistening in Perry's eyes. "He..he was three."  
She gulped a deep breath as if to steady "herself" then went on. "Aaron 
absorbed him first. He went after them like a ravenous beast."  She looked 
at Al.  "Have you ever seen a starving wolf attack a rabbit?"

Al nodded, not liking the picture the words drew in his mind. He reached out 
to take "Evalyn's" hand, squeezing her fingers reassuringly.

"Then you know what it was like for those "little ones" when he stalked 
them." "Evalyn" shuddered. "The screams when he cornered them and...devoured 
them. Destroying those sweet and gentle aspects of Perry that each one 
represented."

Like Al, Verbena, too, was painting word pictures in her mind as "Evalyn" 
talked.  Her instincts as a psychiatrist, coupled with her natural 
intuitiveness, were telling her that the Project's Director was possibly in 
more danger in this leap than all of his previous leaps combined.  "You don't have to go on," Verbena said gently. "We can do this later."

"No!" "Evalyn" said decisively glancing up at Verbena.  "Your..friend is 
going to need all the help he can get, and the only place he can get it is 
from me."  She turned to face Al. "And you're going to have to be very wary 
of Aaron, too.  Push him too far and he'll attack your friend when he's the 
ost vulnerable to him."

"And when might that be?"

"When he causes Perry to have the violent headaches, which is when he forces 
the personality in control at the time to retreat so that he can come out.  
When the controlling personality is in the throes of the headache, is the 
weakest moment because he, or she, is focused on the intense pain.  And if 
Aaron finds any weakness in your friend, and you push him too far, he'll go 
after your friend at that point like...like..."

"A ravening wolf?" Al supplied the description.

"Evalyn" nodded.  "And after Aaron absorbs another personality, he adds the 
strongest aspects of that personality to his, and uses them to increase his 
strength in beguiling people." She looked squarely at Al.  "In one way, 
Aaron is like you, admiral.  He's a charmer, but he's also very deceptive 
and he's very good at it, so be wary of him.  Be very wary."

"Like walking through a minefield at midnight in winter." Al muttered.

"More like playing "chicken" with a spittin' cobra," "Evalyn" warned, a 
touch of anxious gravity in her voice.  "He'll go for the eyes every time."