“What is wrong with you?” Jake asked. “You can’t go around threatening anyone you want with a gun. We have rights just like anybody else.”
Peter smiled. “This is a whole different game, Jake. I don’t have time to waste explaining myself or my actions. I expect you to do exactly what is asked of you without any questions. Is that going to be a problem?”
“Did you not see what just happened in there?” Jake asked. “Or did you have your eyes closed? This is beyond you and me. This is bigger and more important than anything you and your organization are doing. Don’t you see that?”
“I saw a newly discovered energy source for which I’m sure someone will find a use, but if you’re trying to hint at something more mystical or religious in nature, I fail to see any connection. Amazing? Yes. Miraculous? No.”
Jake stared at Peter and shook his head. “What are you? What are you so afraid of?”
Peter became very still. Then, with a speed Jake never expected, Peter was across the desk and holding Jake’s throat in one hand.
“I’m afraid of nothing,” he said through clenched teeth.
Jake’s eyes felt like they would pop out of his skull, not only from the pressure being applied to his neck, but from the fear he was feeling, staring into the unfeeling and lifeless eyes of this madman. Frank’s words came back now, and Jake understood what the old man was talking about.
Peter smiled suddenly, let go of Jake’s neck, and stood up straight in front of the desk.
“Anything else Doctor Townsend?”
Jake shook his head, afraid to speak for fear of how his voice would sound.
“Good. Let’s go. You have work to do.”
Peter opened the office door and gestured for Jake to walk through it.
He obeyed, somewhat shakily, and walked through the door, ashamed, into another chapter in his life.
Part 3
57
January 19, 2010 5:55 p.m.
Orange Park, Florida
When the General and his entourage entered the lab from the rear delivery door, Jake knew this was not going to be pleasant.
Two of his men carried submachine guns at the ready and marched a shaven and shackled man of Middle Eastern heritage between them.
As the unknown prisoner shuffled into the room, he looked decidedly calm, but curious, while he took in the equipment and the chair. But as his eyes found Peter, they locked onto him and Jake could see the anger seething beneath the calm exterior.
Maddy whispered to him, “Who is that?”
Jake shrugged. “I would guess he is our next test subject. Maybe you should go.”
“I’m not leaving you.”
“Please, Maddy. The General will ask you to leave anyway. Remember?”
“I don’t want to leave you here. What if you need me?”
Jake, still a little shaken up from the run in with Peter, tried to smile, but his face felt tight.
“I’ll always need you. I just don’t want you hurt if something goes wrong.”
“I’ll be fine. I’m staying.” She turned and wandered over to Bodey.
The General marched over.
“We have some additional equipment we will be using. Do you have any folding tables or rolling carts available?”
Jake nodded, watching a man and woman wearing white lab coats roll two hard aluminum travel cases into the lab.
“We have two folding tables. They’re not very strong, just folding tables you would find in any Wal-Mart or Target. Will they do?”
“Yes—perfect. My crew will be setting up and should be ready in thirty minutes. Your people can relax for a few. How long does it take to prepare a test subject?”
“About twenty to thirty minutes to connect all the leads and sensors. We normally need to take measurements for the mold you see there, but since we won’t have that opportunity, we’ll just hope it fits him. He looks about the same size as Peter, so we’ll use his mold.”
“Great. We did some background checks on Madison Ann McClaughlin and she’ll be fine. I just need to have her sign a top secret clearance form. Can I borrow her for a few minutes?”
Jake hesitated, trying to come up with an excuse to keep her from signing the document, but nothing came to him.
“Yes. That’s fine.”
The General walked over and began talking with Maddy as Jake watched the man and woman in the white lab coats unpack their equipment. Teri walked over.
“They have EKG and pulse-ox monitors,” she said, “along with an automatic blood pressure monitor, I.V.’s and a crash cart. What do they need all that for?”
“I’m not sure, but I’m getting a bad vibe from all of this. When the General is done with Maddy, I’ll find out more.”
“What’s he doing with her?”
“Security clearance—he apparently did a background check on her.”
“That was quick.”
“I know. He’s pretty serious about what’s going to happen today. Listen, I have to get the folding tables from the storage closet. Wanna help?”
“Sure.”
As they moved boxes and other items, Teri said, “Jake? I know I’ve been a total bitch lately. I wanted to say I’m sorry.”
“It’s ok. We’ve all been under a lot of strain. I don’t blame you for being a little grumpy.”
“I was more than a little grumpy. I was jealous.”
Jake’s face must have conveyed his shock at hearing those words come from Teri’s lips, because Teri smiled. “I know I caught you off guard. What I really need to say is I’ve seen you and Maddy together, and I can tell she really cares for you. I haven’t seen you this happy in a long time. I’ll stop being an ass. I kind of like her now anyway. She’s pretty cool.”
Jake’s face felt hot and flushed, but he smiled.
“Thanks, Teri. You’ve been my friend for a long time. I can’t imagine you being gone from my life. I was worried for a while that’s exactly what was going to happen. You won’t leave will you?”
“You’d have to drag me away.”
He dropped what he was doing, went to her and took her in his arms.
Bodey walked up and said, “Whoa—can I get in on this action?”
Jake and Teri laughed.
“Sure. Take over for me,” Jake said, and let Teri go.
“They’re looking for the tables,” Bodey said, hugging Teri hard. “You’d better get ‘em over there. I’ve got Teri.”
Jake chuckled, shook his head and grabbed one end of a table.
“Come on Bodey. Give me a hand with this.”
“Man…” But he grabbed the other end, grinning, and they carried it over to the mysterious lab coats.
“Where do you guys want these?” Jake asked.
The woman indicated the spot, saying, “Here will be fine. Can we use these electrical outlets?”
“Yes. Use all you like. What do you need all this medical equipment for?”
The woman looked at the man and then back at Jake.
“General Breckenridge can answer all your questions. We’ve really got to keep working.”
She turned back to one of the monitors, ignoring Jake and Bodey.
“Friendly, huh?” Bodey said as they went back for the other table.
“I don’t like this,” Jake said. “I need to find out what’s going on. Can you and Teri grab the other table?”
“Yep—no problem.”
Jake went up to the General who was having Maddy sign a form. She looked a little pissed.
“General, what exactly are your intentions today?” Jake asked.
Looking over the form Maddy had signed and nodding to her, satisfied, he turned to Jake.
“We’re going to put our friend there into your machine and pull some much needed intel from his brain.”
“Will he cooperate?” Jake asked.
“We will be sedating him.”
Jake shook his head.
“General, I need the test subjects al
ert and oriented. We need to record his Near Death Experience first before we can begin building a database. If he’s out, I can’t ask him to relive his experience.”
“He hasn’t had one.”
“He hasn’t had one, what?” asked Maddy.
“We’re going to be recording his Near Death Experience live,” the General said.
“What?” Jake said, loudly.
“Quiet!” the General said. “I don’t want him any more difficult to work with then he already is. We will be inducing a Near Death Experience and then recording the results.”
“Inducing? You’re going to kill this man?”
“We will bring him back,” the General said, bluntly.
Jake and Maddy looked at each other, their mouths hanging open. Jake had seen and heard some pretty crazy things in the last two weeks, but this revelation was a total shock. He started to speak but Maddy beat him to it.
“No! That’s impossible.”
“General,” Jake said, “I can’t condone this. This isn’t something I or my staff are comfortable with or even prepared to handle. I won’t allow it.”
“You don’t have a choice in the matter.”
“Bullshit I don’t! I won’t help you kill a man, just to gain access to his memories.”
The General glanced over at the prisoner and Jake could see his words having an effect on him. Apparently the man had no idea what they intended to do to him.
Teri had walked over and asked, “What’s going on?”
“They want us to help them kill this man so they can record his Near Death Experience live.”
“What?!” Teri said. “You’re kidding, right?”
“Do I look like I’m kidding?” the General said. “This man has killed countless U.S. soldiers and citizens and if we don’t retrieve the information contained in that head of his, many more will die. Hundreds, maybe even thousands. Do you understand?”
Jake watched as the prisoner grew restless, his eyes darting back and forth like a caged animal. Peter had apparently noticed the same thing. As Jake watched, he gave some signal to the two men with the machine guns and they tightened the distance between themselves and the prisoner. Peter walked over to the group.
“Problem, sir?” he said.
“Maybe,” the General said. “Our little group of scientists here is having an attack of conscience.”
Jake said, “I don’t care what this man has done, I won’t participate in the killing of some prisoner. I’m not playing judge, jury, and executioner.”
“I’m not asking you to,” the General said. “You’ll connect this man to the machine, we’ll induce the necessary physiologic effect and you’ll record the activity as it happens. Simple enough?”
Teri said, “I won’t have any part of this, Jake. I refuse to assist them in any way.”
“Teri, it’s ok. I won’t do it either. As a matter of fact, General, I need to ask you to leave.”
Peter chuckled. “You people just don’t understand, do you? The General isn’t making a request. He is ordering you. You have no choice.”
Jake stared at Peter—then turned, “Bodey, call the police.”
Bodey, who had been watching the whole thing from the console, nodded, reaching for the phone. Peter drew his pistol, aimed, and fired a single shot which hit Bodey in the lower arm. Maddy screamed and Teri ducked.
Jake had had enough.
He lunged at Peter, knocking the gun from his hand and tackling the man, pinning him briefly beneath him. Peter reacted by elbowing Jake in the side of the head, slipping out from beneath him and then pinning his arm behind his back as he drove his knee into Jake’s kidney.
“Don’t move or I’ll crush your kidney! Believe me, it’ll be a very painful death.”
Multiple guns were now drawn and all of them were trained on Jake.
“Enough!” shouted the General. “All of you! Stand down! Smith, let him up.”
Suddenly, a voice with a thick accent said, “Nobody move or the General dies!”
Somehow, during the confusion, the prisoner had managed to surprise one of the guards and now held his machine gun pointed at the General’s head.
All the weapons in the room immediately turned and drew a bead on the shackled prisoner. Peter let Jake up, but his weapon was on the floor a few feet away.
“You have three seconds to place all of your weapons at your feet or I kill the General first, and take as many of the rest of you as I can. One…”
The General nodded and everyone dropped their weapons at their feet.
“Good,” the prisoner said. “Now, kick them to the center of the room.”
As all the operatives in the room did as he asked, he shuffled closer to the General, distancing himself from any other person near him.
Jake looked at Maddy who stood three feet away from him between Peter and the General. Bodey cradled his arm and tried to keep still as the blood poured out between his fingers. Teri stood between Jake and the General.
As the prisoner shuffled to within two feet of General Breckenridge, he shouted, “You! Woman! Get the keys for these locks and unchain me.”
Female lab coat pointed to herself.
“Yes! You—stupid woman—now!”
“I don’t have them,” she said.
“Find them you ignorant bitch! Who has the keys?”
No one moved.
The prisoner quickly turned to his left and opened fire on the nearest operative. A short burst of three rounds cut him down and he was dead before he hit the ground.
“Who has the keys?!” he shouted.
“I do, Omar,” Peter said, calmly.
Omar glared at Peter. “Remove them slowly, and place them on the floor.”
Peter did as he was told.
“Now kick them to me.”
Peter kicked them to him, hard, and they slid past him, but Omar did not chase them. Peter shrugged nonchalantly and inched a little closer to his gun on the floor. Jake had noticed Peter was ever so slowly edging his way toward his gun. As much as he despised the man, Jake hoped Peter would reach it before this Omar character hurt anyone else.
“Woman! Get the keys and unlock me!”
Lab coat scurried over, snatched the keys from the floor and unlocked Omar’s shackles. Jake saw Peter inch a little closer to his gun. Apparently so did Omar.
“Move another step,” Omar said, “and I will kill you and your pathetic General.”
The chains were off now and lying in a heap at Omar’s feet. He shooed the woman back to her place.
“Everyone, on your knees!”
Peter took the opportunity to fall to his knees in the direction of his gun, which now lay three feet from him.
“Not you!” Omar pulled the General up. “You are coming with me.”
On some unseen signal Jake could not detect, the General suddenly dropped and rolled toward Omar as Peter dived for his pistol, retrieved it and brought it up to fire at Omar as he slid across the floor. The General had caused Omar to lose his balance as he rolled into his legs and Peter fired as the prisoner fell. Omar’s gun went off as he tried to regain his balance, but then spun to his left as one of Peter’s bullets hit him in the shoulder.
“Don’t kill him!” the General shouted.
But maybe that’s what Peter should have done, Jake thought.
Even though Omar was hit, he focused on the General picking himself up off the floor, raised his gun and fired point blank into the General’s chest. He went down hard and lay still.
“Son of a bitch!” Peter said and dived for cover behind the console as Omar swung his gun to the right searching for Peter.
Omar fired a burst after Peter, just missing him but spraying the console and the computer with bullets. Sparks flew and smoke rose from one of the consoles.
Omar got to his feet and bolted for the front door.
Even with his shoulder injured, he was still very fast. Peter stuck his head up just as he was passing through t
he broken door and fired four shots, hitting nothing but air.
Omar was gone.
58
January 19, 2010 6:25 p.m.
Orange Park, Florida
Omar, his shoulder on fire, ran out the door and turned right.
There was another building in front of him that had a small parking area between it and the building from which he had run. He turned right again and ran between the buildings toward an area thick with foliage and trees at the rear of the complex. He could see glimpses of a fence between the thick bushes and brambles.
A neighborhood.
Perfect, Omar thought, as he ran. There would be lots of places to hide in there.
Surprisingly, he could hear no one following him, so he dived into the thick bushes and slammed against the old wooden fence. Three of the pickets gave way from his weight and he crawled through the gap into a large yard with a gazebo on his right and a swimming pool directly in front of him. He glanced back through the hole. He could not see through the thick foliage and he was sure no one had seen him come through it.
Pushing himself up with his good arm, he made his way through the yard, avoiding the dirty black pool to his left, and finding the gate on the other side of the gazebo. Lifting the latch and passing through it, he found himself in a little alleyway between the house whose yard he just passed through and the house on his right.
Kneeling behind a bush, he stopped and assessed his wound.
The bullet had passed through his deltoid cleanly, just below his shoulder. The bleeding had slowed, but his whole left arm felt like it was on fire. He worked the strap loose from the machine gun and cinched it around the wound with a piece of shirtsleeve he had torn off as a bandage.
He checked the ammunition remaining in the gun and found the clip held twenty one more rounds. Slapping it back in, he stood, swayed a little, and after supporting himself against the house until the vertigo passed, moved through the small alleyway, stopping at the edge of the house to check the street.
It appeared deserted.
He could see a kind of drainage ditch across, and to the right of the road. Looking left and right, he ran across the street and down into the depression. It was filled with water which moved off perpendicular to the roadway. The backs of houses flanked it on either side, their fenced yards sloping down into it. The small stream of water moved away toward a destination he could not see. Staying low, he followed the creek bed as it snaked its way through the quiet neighborhood.
Near Death (A Jake Townsend Science Fiction, Action and Adventure, Thriller Series Book 1) Page 21