The original idea behind Luger's interrogation and brainwashing in the Zulu area when he had been brought to Fisikous was implementation of the traditional Shtrafnoi Izolyator, or punishment-isolation cell system, which usually guaranteed that a prisoner would break within ten to fourteen days. The usual technique was isolation and sleep deprivation, sometimes for days, followed by alternating "good" and "bad" interrogators. He was given about 800 to 1700 calories of food and no more than a half-liter of water per day, most times laced with neuroleptic drugs such as haloperidol or triftazin, and stimulants such as methylphenidate. Physical torture was rarely used, especially with military or government-trained personnel, since most prisoners with resistance training could shut off the pain and could even use their pain against their torturers.

But David Luger was different.

Extracting information was not enough-Gabovich had wanted Luger to be able to use his education and experience to contribute hands-on to the growing Fisikous- 170

stealth-bomber project. A beaten, battered, psychologically devastated Luger would not produce a workable collaborator. Since Fisikous had some of the finest electrical-engineering minds in the world working there, Gabovich had them design a machine to his specifications to try to "turn" David Luger without creating any psychological damage. His finely tuned intellect had to be left intact, even as his consciousness and short-term memory were being trashed and replaced with an alternate identity, that of Dr.

Ivan Sergeiovich Ozerov.

Inside one of the cells, David Luger was strapped to a waveless waterbed, heated precisely to his skin temperature to help deaden his sense of feel and sever any sensory input. He was naked, covered with a thin cotton sheet to keep moisture from the cold, sweating walls from dripping on his skin and awakening him. An intravenous drip with a computerized metering device had been started in his left arm, which alternated a sedative, haloperidol, and phencyclidine hydrochloride-PCP, the powerful hallucinogen "angel dust"-in tune with an electroencephalograph. A tube had been inserted into Luger's mouth both to deaden his taste buds, to keep his teeth apart (the sound of teeth grinding or clicking was carefully controlled), and to keep him from swallowing his tongue in case of an induced epileptic episode. His eyes were covered by a tight blindfold. On his head was strapped a pair of headphones, through which instructions, messages, propaganda, noise,. news, information, and other aural stimulation were introduced-or, if desired, no sound at all was allow~i In his third year of captivity in the Fisikous Institute, First Lieutenant David Luger, United States Air Force, had become one of the greatest KGB mind-alteration experiments in history.

By controlling Luger's sensory inputs and altering his normal brain functions, Gabovich and his KGB associates were able to mold Luger's consciousness in whatever way they felt necessary. They tried to completely empty his short-term memory and introduce their own personality, Dr. Ozerov, in its place.

Viktor Gabovich entered the cell a few minutes later, still aggravated from the episode upstairs. "What in hell happened up there?" he demanded of the senior doctor in charge of the Zulu area. "He completely went to pieces!"