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actually correct, sir.”
    “Correct? Are you all fucking crazy? Didn’t
you see what happened to my man?”
    “I know, sir. We are all painfully aware of
what happened to Jones.” Ted responded.
    “Then what the fuck are you talking
about?”
    “The problem was the evals themselves,
sir.”
    “What do you mean?” Atwater asked. Ted
responded.
    “The psychological profile developed by
Doctor Morgan, and confirmed by Phillips here, is based on the
standard weighting criteria of the Army PSYOPs deep profile exam.”
Ted explained.
    “Yes.” Continued Morgan. “The PSYOP deep
profile examination also requires that a portion of the examination
be conducted while the patient is under hypnosis, as well as a
section that is completed while the patient is under
interrogation.” He cleared his throat. “So you see, that is the
problem.”
    “I don’t see anything. What the hell has that
got to do with Jones? Or the others?”
    “Well, sir.” Phillips spoke up. “With the
others, we had not yet determined that the profile was a
requirement to successfully-”
    “And Jones? You had your fucking profile
then! What happened?” Atwater asked, the agitation in his voice
obvious. Ted continued.
    “Sir, the profile on Private Jones was a
perfect fit with my own examination by PSYOPs. The problem lies
with his profile itself. The profile that we compared to my
baseline profile was not conducted by PSYOPs.”
    “Then who did his profile?”
    “NYU, sir.” Phillips interjected. Doctor
Morgan spoke up.
    “Yes. It seems as though the profile we were
given for comparison came from an examination given to him just
prior to his enlistment. Being a civilian profile, the weighting of
the results could not be accurately compared with the profile we
have developed based on the PYSOPs examinations. Had we known, we
would have had him re-examined, I assure you.” Morgan
explained.
    “You mean to tell me that Jones is going to
be a fucking zombie for the rest of his life because you
buffoons…assumed?”
    “Sir. We made a mistake. But at least now we
know what that mistake was, and can ensure it will not happen
again.” Ted countered. Atwater glared at him. Morgan opened his
mouth to speak, but Ted laid his hand on his shoulder. Morgan
closed his mouth. “That will be all.” Ted said to them, and
escorted them out the office. He shut the door and turned back to
Atwater.
    “So does this mean we have the answer on the
profile, or are we just ready to ruin some other poor saps life?”
Atwater asked him.
    “I think we have it, sir. You yourself have
gone through a PSYOPs examination. You know how thorough they
are.”
    “I’d rather forget. Not my favorite time, no
doubt.”
    “Sir. I ran the profile through the existing
PSYOPs database.” Atwater looked up.
    “Any matches?”
    “Three so far.”
    “Anyone here?”
    “No, sir. Not assigned here anyway. One is
currently active in Turkey. Another is in Japan. There is one
that’s local, but he’s not active anymore.”
    “Is it someone we can re-activate? Maybe in
the reserves?”
    “No, sir. Not exactly. He was discharged ten
years ago.”
    “Well hell, give me his number. I’ll call
him. A little God and country speech always gets them fired up.”
Ted sat down in one of the chairs at the front of the desk.
    “Sir, all due respect, but I don’t think he
would take your call.” Atwater, reared back in his chair, a puzzled
look on his face.
    “Do I know this guy?”
    “Yes, sir, you do. It’s Jack King.” Ted
replied.
    “King, King…I know that name.”
    “CID.”
    “CID? That King?” Recognition entered
Atwater’s face, but no smile erupted.
    “That King.” Ted replied.
    “You’re right. He won’t take my call.”
    “Or mine either, sir. Look, he doesn’t
realize what you did for him back then. Or what I did for that
matter. I’m sure he blames us for the whole thing.”
    “But we saved him.” Atwater replied.
    “You did, sir. And I still