Psychic Warrior by Bob Mayer

expended on unnecessary outputs. As I told you earlier, the isolation tube even does your breathing for you. It will also control your heartbeat."
    "How?" Barnes asked.
    "We do direct electrical stimulation to control and maintain your heartbeat and also control the nervous system in the brain."
    Dalton glanced at the other men in the room. No one looked particularly happy.
    The pen squeaked against the board again.
    2 —TACPAD
    Cryprobe
    She turned the helmet once more so that they could see the thick lining inside. "The cryoprobe is a device that surgeons have used for a while to target certain areas of the brain. It's a very fine probe that reduces the temperature in the target area to ninety-three degrees. This causes the neurons there to cease firing, effectively shutting that area down."
    "What parts of the brain do you shut down?" Dalton asked.
    "Those connected with the parasympathetic nervous system, since those bodily functions are taken care of by the isolation tank," Hammond said. "Every milliamp of power we can save is critical."
    "What exactly is the microprobe?" Captain Anderson asked.
    "A microscopic wire that’s inserted directly into the targeted areas of the brain." As there was an uneasy rustle in the room, Hammond quickly elaborated. "The wire is so small that you won't even feel it go in, and when it's removed there’s no bleeding. Less than point zero-zero-eight millimeters in diameter. The fact that there have been so many breakthroughs in microtechnology in the last several years has been one of the reasons we've been able to develop the TACPAD." She held up the helmet. "It's so thin, you can't even see the probe with the naked eye."
    She wrote again.
    3 — TACPAD
    Thermocouple
    "The thermocouple does the opposite of the cryoprobe. It targets those areas we want to activate and emphasize. It raises the temperature of the designated area, which facilitates its functioning."
    "Isn't that dangerous?" Barnes asked. "Wouldn't that be like someone suffering heat exhaustion, where the body temperature goes too high? I've seen guys get their brains fried like that."
    Hammond shook her head. "No. It's very controlled and specific. There is a low-grade electrical current running through the thermocouple that does slightly over half the emphasizing."
    "Hold on," Dalton interrupted. "You just said that it's not a good idea to up the voltage or amperage in the brain."
    "In an uncontrolled or nonspecific manner, yes. But here, we're talking about less power than you would get from a double-A battery. It's safe, I assure you," Hammond said. "Doctors have been using this technique in brain research for years."
    "Do you use wires into the brain for that too?" Anderson asked.
    "Yes. Again, so fine that you can't see it or feel it." She went back to the board.
    4 —TACPAD
    Cyberlink
    "Not only has this technology been used by experimental psychologists, everything I've talked about up to now has also been used for the past couple of years in the Bright Gate program by our remote viewers. It is only in the past six months that we’ve developed the critical piece of technology that takes us one step beyond.
    "The last component that makes the Psychic Warrior program possible is the cyberlink." Hammond paused for a second in thought. "You've all seen or used simulators that act like the outside environment, like the ones pilots practice on?"
    Everyone nodded.
    "In a way, the cyberlink reverses the simulator process." Hammond reached into the TACPAD and held up a black pad about two feet long by eight inches in width with numerous wires coming out of the back. "We can use our mainframe computer, code-named Sybyl, to help you locate where you are going on the virtual plane and also to orient you. More importantly, the computer gives you form—what we call an avatar—in hyperspace that you can project into real space."
    "Form?" Anderson asked.
    "That’s the key to being a Psychic Warrior," Hammond said. "You have to