Mind Set

Can the mind exist away from body? As a scientist, Dr. Blaine Mitchell did not think so. Although he once had a near-death experience in which he mentally left his body for the astral plane and “saw the light,” he did not believe that the event was other than imaginary.

Mitchell is a medical doctor and research scientist who is studying the effects of electrical nerve stimulation on the control of pain in patients who have terminal diseases or who are suffering chronic pain. The device he is developing trains his patients to employ biofeedback mechanisms in order to block erroneous pain signals from reaching the brain, by forcing the release of naturally occurring endorphins: pain inhibitors that are natural analogues to morphine, and that are chemically similar to the artificial drug but which are not addictive.

He knows that over-stimulation of the brain has side effects, such as simulating the out-of-body experience. He has experimented with the device himself. But this is a mere aberration and is easily controlled by installing a governor on the electrical output. As a scientist grounded in scientific reality, he knows that the out-of-body experience is the result of an over-activated imagination; it occurs near death because of the chemical imbalance induced by shock and trauma: the release of hormones into the bloodstream and the lack of oxygen to the brain. The experience is purely hallucinogenic—all in the patient’s mind.

Nevertheless, there are those who believe otherwise, who see applications of Dr. Mitchell’s invention that he has not investigated: nefarious applications. Despite the skepticism of his colleagues, after a presentation of his findings at a national conference there is sudden and explosive interest in the device. Everyone wants a piece of the action: the local police, the FBI, the CIA, the KGB, even the Mafia. Some want to steal it; others want to destroy it.

Overnight, a deadly game is in the air. Dr. Mitchell’s car is blown up, he is assaulted by gunmen, a dead body is found in his house, his mainframe computer files are destroyed, his laboratory complex is under siege, and he is haunted by an assassin who has the uncanny ability to enter buildings undetected, no matter how secure, and to skulk through rooms and read concealed files with complete impunity. Guards cannot see him much less stop him. The assassin can even eavesdrop on top secret telephone conversations.

Dr. Mitchell and his device are put to the task. Only his invention can save his life, and perhaps save the country from the fabulous technological power wielded by seemingly omnipotent foreign spies. What ensues is an incredible game of machine versus machine, mind versus mind, and the foreboding possibility that perhaps out-of-body experiences are not imaginary.

It all leads to a finale that is nothing less than mind-blowing.