[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
"What the hell is that thing anyway? My head still hurts from it."
"A remarkable device," Stern breathed. "Basically, it utilizes
ultrasonic sound as a weapon."
"The doc can explain it better than me," Quinn said,
146
"so I'll let him take over. I'm sure we'll see each other around. This
building is big, but it ain't that big. See ya, Danny!"
Danny waved. His fingers and mouth were stained red from the lollipop.
"Bye, Mr. Quinn! Thank you for helping us."
After he left, Jim turned to the doctor.
"So it's a weapon?"
"Oh, yes," Stern replied, "and a very useful one at that. The technology
was a safety feature, used to keep birds away from aircraft, farms,
buildings, and such. They are very sensitive to sound, you see, much
more so than a human or even a dog. It's really quite extraordinary.
They have a strong hearing ability. It assists them while hunting and
helps them communicate with each other while in flight. Our device turns
that strength into a weakness."
"You're telling me it gives them an ear ache?"
The doctor chuckled. "Not quite. It does much more than that. Ultrasonic
sound creates extreme heat, and disrupts the nerves when played at a
high frequency. It actually damages the living cells in a body. In the
case of the birds, because of their sensitivity to sound, the
mechanism's effects are greatly magnified. The stress forces them to
flee. That's how it was used in commercial and military aviation. In our
case, we simply cranked it up a notch, to use one of my grandson's
favorite expressions. We broadcast at 1MHz, which virtually destroys a
zombie bird's brain, and thus, destroys the zombie itself."
"But why?" Jim asked. "Why does it work on just the birds and not the
other zombies? And I thought you said it only worked on living cells?"
"As for why it works on their brains even when the cells are dead-we can
only speculate. These things,
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147
whatever they may be, seem to originate in their host's brain. It is my
theory, and the theory of my associate, Dr. Maynard, who I'm sure you'll
meet later, that deep within the host's brain, these entities may
reactivate some of those dead cells and tissue. That's what gives them
their mobility and reasoning capacity. The U.B.R.D. causes a loss of
function in those reactivated cells inside a zombie bird's brain because
of that sensitivity to sound, and because of the placement of their ears
in relation to their brains."
Danny watched his father and the doctor talk. His eyes never left Jim.
"Going back to your first question," Stern continued, "we simply don't
know. The effect is sporadic on the human zombies-it acts as a
deterrent, but it doesn't incapacitate or destroy them. Probably because
they don't have the same sound sensitivity that a bird's body does. It
just isn't effective for a large-scale assault against any other creature."
"Seems like it would be," Jim mused. "I sure as hell felt it on that
rooftop."
"We tried, of course. Both of our helicopters were outfitted with the
devices. The first one flew over the city, using the U.B.R.D. in the
streets below its flight path. The zombies did indeed fall back, and it
even seemed to damage some of them, but not enough."
He paused.
"What happened exactly?" Jim asked.
Stern sighed. "The zombies had a rocket-propelled grenade launcher. They
shot down the chopper while it was conducting the experiment. All
onboard were killed. After that, Bates and Mr. Ramsey decided to limit
its use to only the birds, since it proved effective on them."
148
Finished with his lollipop, Danny began to grow restless. He swung his
legs back and forth beneath the examination table. The white paper
covering it rustled.
"Who are Bates and Ramsey?" Jim asked.
The doctor arched an eyebrow. "Surely, you've heard of Darren Ramsey?"
"The billionaire developer?" Jim asked. "The one with his own board game
and books and a reality series on TV?"
"That's him. He is our host. In fact, he designed this building. I'm
sure you'll meet him soon."
"Wonderful," Jim drawled, his voice thick with sarcasm.
"I take it that you're not a fan?"
"Truthfully, doctor? I always thought he was a jerk. Just another rich
yuppie with too much power and too much time on his hands." Jim
immediately wished he hadn't said that, but he'd never been good at
Page 102
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
censoring himself when he was tired.
Stern smiled. "Well, he certainly has both. Especially now."
"So who's this Bates you mentioned?"
"Mr. Ramsey's personal assistant and bodyguard. A very good fellow to [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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"What the hell is that thing anyway? My head still hurts from it."
"A remarkable device," Stern breathed. "Basically, it utilizes
ultrasonic sound as a weapon."
"The doc can explain it better than me," Quinn said,
146
"so I'll let him take over. I'm sure we'll see each other around. This
building is big, but it ain't that big. See ya, Danny!"
Danny waved. His fingers and mouth were stained red from the lollipop.
"Bye, Mr. Quinn! Thank you for helping us."
After he left, Jim turned to the doctor.
"So it's a weapon?"
"Oh, yes," Stern replied, "and a very useful one at that. The technology
was a safety feature, used to keep birds away from aircraft, farms,
buildings, and such. They are very sensitive to sound, you see, much
more so than a human or even a dog. It's really quite extraordinary.
They have a strong hearing ability. It assists them while hunting and
helps them communicate with each other while in flight. Our device turns
that strength into a weakness."
"You're telling me it gives them an ear ache?"
The doctor chuckled. "Not quite. It does much more than that. Ultrasonic
sound creates extreme heat, and disrupts the nerves when played at a
high frequency. It actually damages the living cells in a body. In the
case of the birds, because of their sensitivity to sound, the
mechanism's effects are greatly magnified. The stress forces them to
flee. That's how it was used in commercial and military aviation. In our
case, we simply cranked it up a notch, to use one of my grandson's
favorite expressions. We broadcast at 1MHz, which virtually destroys a
zombie bird's brain, and thus, destroys the zombie itself."
"But why?" Jim asked. "Why does it work on just the birds and not the
other zombies? And I thought you said it only worked on living cells?"
"As for why it works on their brains even when the cells are dead-we can
only speculate. These things,
Page 101
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
147
whatever they may be, seem to originate in their host's brain. It is my
theory, and the theory of my associate, Dr. Maynard, who I'm sure you'll
meet later, that deep within the host's brain, these entities may
reactivate some of those dead cells and tissue. That's what gives them
their mobility and reasoning capacity. The U.B.R.D. causes a loss of
function in those reactivated cells inside a zombie bird's brain because
of that sensitivity to sound, and because of the placement of their ears
in relation to their brains."
Danny watched his father and the doctor talk. His eyes never left Jim.
"Going back to your first question," Stern continued, "we simply don't
know. The effect is sporadic on the human zombies-it acts as a
deterrent, but it doesn't incapacitate or destroy them. Probably because
they don't have the same sound sensitivity that a bird's body does. It
just isn't effective for a large-scale assault against any other creature."
"Seems like it would be," Jim mused. "I sure as hell felt it on that
rooftop."
"We tried, of course. Both of our helicopters were outfitted with the
devices. The first one flew over the city, using the U.B.R.D. in the
streets below its flight path. The zombies did indeed fall back, and it
even seemed to damage some of them, but not enough."
He paused.
"What happened exactly?" Jim asked.
Stern sighed. "The zombies had a rocket-propelled grenade launcher. They
shot down the chopper while it was conducting the experiment. All
onboard were killed. After that, Bates and Mr. Ramsey decided to limit
its use to only the birds, since it proved effective on them."
148
Finished with his lollipop, Danny began to grow restless. He swung his
legs back and forth beneath the examination table. The white paper
covering it rustled.
"Who are Bates and Ramsey?" Jim asked.
The doctor arched an eyebrow. "Surely, you've heard of Darren Ramsey?"
"The billionaire developer?" Jim asked. "The one with his own board game
and books and a reality series on TV?"
"That's him. He is our host. In fact, he designed this building. I'm
sure you'll meet him soon."
"Wonderful," Jim drawled, his voice thick with sarcasm.
"I take it that you're not a fan?"
"Truthfully, doctor? I always thought he was a jerk. Just another rich
yuppie with too much power and too much time on his hands." Jim
immediately wished he hadn't said that, but he'd never been good at
Page 102
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
censoring himself when he was tired.
Stern smiled. "Well, he certainly has both. Especially now."
"So who's this Bates you mentioned?"
"Mr. Ramsey's personal assistant and bodyguard. A very good fellow to [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]