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JoAnn Smith Ainsworth
a book bubble about
Expect Trouble
Mystery, Thriller & Suspense
Author Insight
Trey the Skeptic is Tapped to Oversee a Psychics P
What else could the military get wrong, he wondered.
Book Excerpt
Expect Trouble
is friend unlocked his briefcase and started pulling out papers. “The White House created The Watch, and subsequently Operation Delphi, at the urging of Prime Minister Churchill. British spies report that Hitler has brought together an occult team to disrupt the Allied war effort through mind control.”Once more, the little hairs on the back of Trey’s neck stood up. “Occult? Mind control?”“Psychics.”Trey’s jaw dropped. “Surely the White House doesn’t believe in that claptrap.”“The Joint U.S. and Allied Intelligence Project’s task is to counteract the Nazi occult efforts no matter their personal opinions on the subject.” Walt had disclosed the facts in his no-nonsense way, despite the unbelievability of the assignment.Disbelief churned in Trey’s gut. “They want me to get involved in witchery?”“I argued against your appointment,” Walt said. “As an engineer who has to measure everything, I thought you’d be miserable.”“You bet I will.”“Believe me, there were military officers evaluated for the operation with more experience than you, but the committee isn’t looking to you to wage war. They want you to interview people who claim to be psychic and to test their abilities. If by any wild stretch of the imagination this stuff is real, you’re to assemble a team. Then you’re to figure out how to use their psychic ability to defend against occult attacks from Germany or to find our enemies—like today’s saboteur.”Trey felt like he’d been kicked in the stomach by a mule. “A load of nonsense.”Walt sat on the office chair and leaned his elbows on the desk. “It’s hard to swallow.”“That’s like my telling my aide to go into a trance and write the saboteur’s name on her shorthand pad. It isn’t going to happen.” Trey had been looking forward to using his engineering skills on the European or African fronts. His autocratic father pulled the rug out from under those plans to send him on a different path, and what a path!“I know, I know. I have a hard time swallowing that one myself,” Walt said.“Dammit. It’s insanity.”“Hunches are important for catching spies.”“You consider hunches psychic?” Trey asked.Walt nodded. “This nebulous stuff about evil energies is another matter. No one in the White House will admit to believing in it, but they decided ‘better safe than sorry’.”Trey kicked the leg of the desk, making Walt’s papers jump. “Why me?”“The committee wants Operation Delphi to run on a scientific footing.”“So get a physicist. Their heads are in the clouds. They should be able to find a psychic or two while they’re up there.”Walt shook his head. “The committee wants someone practical to study the psychic results objectively, to analyze, evaluate and test Nazi claims against physical reality.”Trey saw the logic of that thinking. The committee couldn’t use a psychic to analyze so-called psychic events. That required a skeptic, but did the operation require him?
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