Xchange

by Stan Mason

  Title Page

  XCHANGE

  by

  Stan Mason

  Publisher Information

  Published in 2014 by

  Andrews UK Limited

  www.andrewsuk.com

  The right of Stan Mason to be identified as the Author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1998

  Copyright © 2014 Stan Mason

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser. Any person who does so may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

  All characters appearing in this work are fictitious. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

  Xchange

  Avram Solomon was born and lived in Israel for the whole of his life. He was forty-two years of age, a brilliant research scientist, and he had been employed by Hagannah Manufacturing for over twenty years. He was part of a research team in a small office which technically did very little except to think up ideas for new inventions in the hope that one day they would come across an invention by which the company could make its fortune. An inscription by a famous inventor hung from the wall of the office in which Solomon and two others worked. It read: ‘Tomorrow will be the day!’ and so they dreamed on with esperance. However, Solomon was far more astute than the others. He was a practical man and although he normally worked with theory he had been working on an experiment on his own for a period of twelve years but he was too concerned to reveal anything about it to anyone else because of its hideous nature. He nursed his secret well but he felt that he could not divulge anything of it. In truth, it involved the possibility to exchange one person’s body with another one by a process which he was developing but, as yet, he had not proved it to be workable. Some notes he had acquired revealed that it had been a theory of a German named Hertz who had advanced the theory but did not have any proof of its success. Following the information that he had acquired, he had purchased two cubicles to progress his idea but he had no one with whom he could use the process. He had bought two dummies to assist him in his efforts but they were not the same as human-beings and pretty much useless to get the required result. If the system worked and the body exchange was possible, one person would become the other one on transfer. That made no sense at all. Why should a person desire to lose his or her body simply to become someone else. There had to be a reason for it to happen but Solomon could not think of one. Yet he knew that scientifically nothing was impossible. Man had even got to the moon,,,,at least that what was reported... and there seemed to be no reason to do that... so why not body exchange? He thought hard and long to try to find a solution otherwise all his hard work... the research and the application... was wasted. There had to be a way by which the body could be exchanged without the head or the brain being transferred. That had to be the answer, although he didn’t know the reason why and cared not to think too deeply about it.

  Solomon worked on the invention diligently in his own time, trying to resolve the matter but the solution seemed to elude him, even though he knew he was on the cutting edge of something very important. Then he introduced a metal coat in which was embedded a series of electrodes. The clung to the body but the coat did not extend to the head. He tried to puzzle out the development without having any subjects to use and, having build the machine after twelve years, he reckoned that he was ready to experiment with real people. The dummies he had been using had undergone the process many times and, under the advanced system, a white line had formed around their necks of each dummy identifying, without proof, that the process worked only on the body leaving the head and brain as it existed. Naturally Solomon became very excited at the prospect and he revealed his secret to his two colleagues asking them whether they were wiling to join in the experiment with him. They were reluctant at first and then scoffed at the scientist’s idea. A machine which transferred one body to another was ludicrous but, after a while, when they saw how upset he was, they capitulated deciding to humour the man if it made him feel better. After all, no one could invent a machine to create a means of body-swapping... certainly not a scientist with limited knowledge and hardly any money to invest in the matter such as their colleague, Avram Solomon. Dammit... he was a lowly-paid research scientist!

  A date was made for them to visit his house and they came smiling with a solid view that Solomon was going to make a fool of himself. He took them to a room where he had set up two cubicles and they looked at the machines that he had build to support them in the process with admiration. He clearly had gone all out to invent something new. He took two large coloured markers and made different drawings on their bodies so that he could ensure that the exchange had actually gone through and he placed them in the cubicles. After donning the metal coats with the electrodes inside them on to their bodies, he checked that they were ready for the operation to begin. On their affirmation, he switched on the current and sat watching the two men with his heart in his mouth. If this experiment went seriously wrong, he would have to explain to the authorities what had happened. He would claim that both men volunteered to take part and hoped that he would get away with it.

  However, within seconds he knew that he had already made a serious mistake for both men began to writhe with agony. They screamed and yelled at the top of their voices, wracked with pain, unable to move because of the metal coat as the current passed through them. Solomon made a note that if the experiment was successful, all future participants would have to be sedated before being placed into the cubicles to prevent such an occurrence happening again... if indeed there was another occasion.

  Both his colleagues passed out with the pain and Solomon continued to allow the system to run for a full fifteen minutes which, according to his calculations, was the correct time for the process to be completed. When it had elapsed, he turned off the current and helped the first man out of his cubicle. To the scientist’s dismay, the marks on the man’s body hadn’t changed. It appeared that his theory was entirely erroneous and bodies could not be changed by this method. It was clearly a case of going back to the drawing board! He removed the other man from his cubicle to check his body with the same result... the marks he had made with the large markers on the man were the same as when he was placed in the cubicle. The experiment had been an utter failure and he would be severely berated by his colleagues when they had fully recovered for causing them such pain and agony.

  However, a short while later, after they had recovered, one of the men examined his body to find an appendix scar on his left-hand side.

  ‘Hey!’ he called out. ‘What’s happened here? I never had a scar like this before!’

  It caused the other man to scan his body carefully. ‘And the scar of my appendix operation’s gone,’ he gasped.

  ‘How are your heads?’ asked Solomon with an element of excitement building up inside him.

  ‘Mine’s okay, although I’ve notice a white line around my neck.’

  ‘I’m okay too,’ stated the other man staring at himself in the mirror. ’I reckon you might be on to something here, Avram,’ he went on in awe. ‘I mean we seem to have exchanged bodies.’

  ‘Yes we have,’ concurred the other man. ‘You’re a goddam genius, do you know that? How about letting us in on the act. I mean we agreed to be used in the experiment.’

  Solomon thought the matter over for a while. ‘I know I’m a da
mned fool but I will let you in on the act providing that the executives upstairs agreed to handle it for the company,’

  ‘You’re on!’ declared both men in unison.

  After making an appointment to see their superior, the three men went upstairs to his office to explain what had been discovered.

  ‘A body exchange programme,’ uttered the senior executive in disbelief. ‘What the hell is the use of that? How can the company make any money from that? I mean, who’s going to change bodies with whom and for what reason. I think you’ve all gone off your heads! I wonder why we’re still employing you to come up with this sort of nonsense. You’re supposed to be thinking ideas for new inventions that are useful to the company, not idiotic ones like this!’

  They were stunned at the response and were sent away with their tails between their legs duly admonished for having invented, what they thought, was a great idea. There was no questions of an appeal and they were annoyed that they were not allowed the opportunity to state their case. As soon as they mentioned that they wanted to talk about a body exchange experiment, the executive had sailed off at them with a mighty reproach.

  There was no doubt with regard to the disappointment felt by Solomon who had been working on the invention for such a long time. He could hardly believe that it had been cut to shreds by his executive in a matter of seconds. He had proved that it worked and there had to be some use for it but he still could not think of one He mulled over the matter for a few days and then found an advertisement in a British newspaper invited people to enter a competition by suggesting new inventions. He sat down and wrote a long letter identifying his idea, stating that he had already experimented with it successfully and he sent it off in the post not expecting to hear from anyone again.

  Three weeks later, he received an invitation to go to London to meet the Minister of Science, Jeremy Ratcliffe in order to discuss his invention at length. He was extremely surprised at first, because he thought that he had entered a competition, however it was pleasing to receive such a response. At first he was reluctant to do so, deciding not to reply, but then his colleagues persuaded him to undertake the visit. The worst that could happen was that the invention would fall by the wayside. There was nothing to lose.

  When he arrived in London, he was shown into the office of the Minister of Science. Ratcliffe stared at the scientist closely. ‘Avram Solomon,’ he began. ‘A scientist in Tel Aviv. We picked up your letter concerning the invention from your application in the competition. The Government decided to remove it from there because they may have a use for it. You say that you’ve carried out an experiment with it successfully. Is that correct?’

  ‘I used my two colleagues who work with me and the body exchange took place perfectly. We have not tried to reverse the situation yet. I don’t know whether it will happen that way. I’ve been working on this for many years. The two cubicles and all the machinery are currently in my house in Ashkenazy Street, Tel Aviv.’

  ‘I can tell you that we’re very interested in it, Solomon,’ stated Ratcliffe. ‘Would you consider selling it to us? Naturally we would have to experiment with it first to make certain it worked properly. If it does, you’ll be very well rewarded, I assure you.’ The Israeli was very impressed by the comments and he readily agreed to accept. ‘You’ll have to bring the equipment from Tel Aviv to London of course. We’ll make arrangements to bring it to our laboratory at Lytham St. Annes in Lancashire but you needn’t trouble yourself about that. Tell me, how much were you considering asking for it, lock, stock and barrel.?

  The Israeli was a scientist not a negotiator and he never considered receiving payment for the invention. Nor had he any intention of haggling with any price quoted by the other man.

  ‘How much do you think it’s worth?’ he asked weakly.

  ‘You’re the inventor,’ came the reply. ‘You tell me.’

  ‘I’ll leave it up to you. I know you’ll play fair. The British are renowned for their fairness.’

  Ratcliffe was a little confused by the responses from his visitor but he had his eye on the main chance and he wanted the invention for an experiment he had in mind.

  Solomon returned to Tel Aviv on top of the world. The company for whom he worked had no interest in his invention yet the British Government couldn’t wait to get their hands on it. It was then that he came across his first hurdle. When he tried to take the equipment on to the aircraft, two security officers halted the situation and took him to an office to interrogate him.

  ‘What’s inside these crates?’ demanded one of them authoritatively.

  ‘It’s an invention to exchange bodies,’ he explained.

  ‘Are you serious?’ exclaimed the other security officer. ‘Before these could ever get on board we’d have to look at the contents.’

  ‘It’s a new invention,’ stated Solomon firmly. ‘The British Government’s interested in it.’

  ‘If it’s an invention, I’m not sure we can let you export it,’ continued the first security officer.

  ‘Why not?’ snapped Solomon, ‘no one here seems to want it.’

  ‘Anything that might be beneficial to Israel must stay in the country. ‘How many contacts have you asked?’ requested the second security officer.

  ‘Only one,’ came the answer. ‘What’s the difference? As I said, the British Government wants it’

  ‘We can’t allow you to export it. This invention should stay in the country for the benefit of this country, Take it back and review the situation,’ repeated the second security office.

  ‘Review the situation?’ repeated the scientist. ‘What does that mean? After reviewing it, I’ll still be in the same place.’

  ‘Look,’ went on the first security officer, ‘We world for the airport. We have no idea of inventions but we’d rather have it in Israel than give it to another country. Think about it!’

  Solomon shook his head slowly, angry at the decision to refuse to allow him to export the equipment abroad. He returned to his home angry at the attitude of the airport authorities. He could not believe that he would be stopped from exporting his invention to the United Kingdom on such idiotic grounds. No one wanted his invention so why should they stop him sending it abroad to someone who did want it? None of it many any sense! He tried hard to think of another way to export the equipment to Britain. Then, at the end of his tether, he consulted a friend who said that he would help him.

  He was told to rent a van, load it with the equipment, and head for Jaffa on the west coast of Israel at eleven o’clock at night. When he arrived there, he was guided on to one of the docks where the fishing fleet was anchored to find his friend pointing at one of the fishing boats. He was told to load the equipment on board the vessel which was about to get under way.

  ‘Are you sure this will get me to Britain?’ he asked with an element of uncertainty.

  His friend burst into laughter at the question. ‘You are kidding of course. No... it will sail to Cyprus and dock at Limassol. There you’ll find a much bigger vessel which has the name “Dystopia”. You’ll load your stuff on board and it will carry you all the way to England. Trust me, I’ve made all the arrangements.’

  His friend was true to form because the Dystopia eventually landed at St. Katharine’s Dock in the East End of London. It was unloaded and laid on the dockside ready to be taken to the laboratory at Lytham St. Annes. The Minister of Science was alerted to the arrival and he arranged for a van to collect the equipment an carry it northwards.

  Solomon waited at the House of Commons to see Ratcliffe but the Minister of Science seemed to be eternally unavailable. Fortunately, the Israeli was not particularly interested in fame or fortune. He would welcome receiving the Noble Science Prize for his efforts but he knew that he was unlikely to win anything with his invention. It was far too horrendous to be considered for the award, To his surprise,
he was handed a very handsome cheque for his idea, one which would keep him in funds for a long time and he returned to his home in Israel feeling on top of the world. He acknowledged that he had invented something of real value at last. It had started as just an idea and had grown in time like a mushroom. He intended to monitor the information at arms length but, in reality, he had sold the process and it was completely out of his control. He had no idea what use would be made of it as no one would tell him what was in their minds. However his interest in the procedure was no longer his concern and he felt glorified in staring at the sum set out on the cheque that had been passed to him. He was in two minds whether to tell his colleagues about the payment, as the invention was his idea, and if he was left with only a third, it would go against the grain. However that was something he could decide upon in his own time. Although he would never receive an accolade for his work, he felt smug at having achieved something quite different in the advance of science!

  ***

  It was very well-known to the criminal world that Lancaster jail, with all its strict enforcement rules and exceedingly tight controls, was the last place in which any felon found guilty would wish to be sent. In criminal parlance it was known colloquially as ‘The University of the Living Dead’. This was irrevocably true in respect of those individuals who not only failed to conduct themselves according to the rule of law when they were living in the community, but chose to embark on vicious violent crimes leaving a trail of innocent victims in their wake.

  Lancaster prison was a severely harsh penitentiary set deeply in the heart of a bleak wide-open plain in the country of Cumbria, in the north of England. It was outstanding in its majesty, standing significantly aloof and alone like a large grey monumental monster spread over an area of half an acre, boasting exceedingly high walls and a grim heavily-guarded interior. The only way in or out of the prison was served by gates located on one side facing the south. There was no other exit unless someone tried to scale the high wall which had been built all the way around the jail. Pressed continuously by the cold harsh Cumberland winds which swept across the open plain in which it had been erected, it caused the prisoners to experience the icy touch of winter practically all the year round. In order to make the punishment for their crimes of the inmates more realistic, the Warden maintained that the level of the central heating should be kept at the lowest point. It was the reason why the place was called ‘The University of the Living Dead’ because of the number of prisoners who died there of hypothermia in the cold winter months, often found in the morning in their cold dank cells. No one cared a damn for those who died.. After all, the prison was comprised of numerous cold-hearted murderers, men without a vestige of conscience for their violent crimes, and hardened criminals who knew no other way of life. They were the misfits in life... liars, cheats, bullies, those who could not control their anger, many of whom had no conscience when it came to killing others and often enjoyed doing so.