CHAPTER SIX
The night before the tests, Jeff slept for a few hours until it was very late. When he got up, he walked to the door, opened it a crack, and peeked
out. He could see two MPs in front of the door, and two down at the end of each hallway. The nurses' station was in between, about twenty feet from his room. He eyed the situation, and decided it would be impossible to get past them. He turned around and looked at the room, which had no windows, and there was only a three by five vent in the corner over the bed. He stared at it, and had an idea, but it would take complete silence to execute.
He quietly stood on the bed, and looked the vent over. He noticed there were four screws, one in each corner. He turned to the tray next to the bed which contained silverware on it. He grabbed the butter knife, and slowly began to unscrew the vent. As he reached, the knife slipped out of his hand and onto the floor, which made a clanging sound.
He jumped back into the bed just as the guard opened the door. "What's going on in here?" he asked.
"Just taking a leak, and I hit the tray," Jeff lied. "Sorry."
The guard looked him over, then shut the door again. He reached down, grabbed the knife again, and stood up on the bed, unscrewing the second screw. After he reached the third screw, he carefully turned the grate to the side, and climbed up inside the vent. The situation reminded him of back on Ventros when the Tolarions invaded, and he needed a plan of escape.
He wiggled his way to the left, and then to the right, following voices. When he reached a grate at the end of the right vent, approximately the distance of four hundred feet, he veered out at what appeared to be the propulsion section. To the far right there was an enormous window, which overlooked two immense ships that were in a type of launch room. 'These
must be the ships Avery designed,' he thought to himself. Looking down, he could see several people moving about, but there were three people who he recognized right away. One was Dr. Thomas Walker, his grandfather, but a much younger age of thirty three. The other two were Dr. Louis Avery himself, and his daughter Angelica, who were just as he remembered before leaving the other universe. Angelica wore her hair in a pony tail, and seemed to be very close to Tom, almost rubbing their shoulders against each other. Dr. Avery was standing still, and talking to the two of them. He couldn't make out what they were saying, and the area was full of other noise.
Staring kiddy corner to the grate there were two offices, which both overlooked the area. The grate was screwed on, so he carefully unscrewed all the screws but one. He placed the screws in his pocket, moved the grate to the side, and carefully stepped down. There weren't any guards in the area, so he stepped into one of the open offices, which was somewhat dark. The light from the hallway gave off just enough light for him to peek around briefly.
He found three blueprints on one of the desks of the plant layout, and one of three schematics of the spaceship they were building. He took both, rolled them up, sneaked back to the vent, and climbed back in. He pulled the grate back on, but only put one of the screws back in for easier access.
Back in the vent, he shimmied himself back to his hospital room. The door wasn't opened as far as he could tell, and they didn't suspect anything. He crawled out of the vent, careful not to make too much noise, put the grate back, and only screwed one screw in that vent as well. He placed the blueprints under his bed, and laid back down to go to sleep.
As he lay there in bed, he began to worry about the next day. 'What if the general found out he was an imposter?' he thought to himself. 'And how am I going to stop Dr. Avery?'
One thing which puzzled him was why Dr. Avery wasn't admitted to the mental institution already. Had Varloo somehow changed history so this didn't happen at all? Or maybe he got here too early, and it hadn't happened yet. His grandfather was still with Angelica, obviously, and it
didn't look like she showed any animosity towards him. He wished there was a way to find out what year it was, and then he remembered blueprints
also usually had dates in the right top corner of them. He pulled out the blueprints, which said, November 10th, 2054.'
As he rolled it back up and placed it under the bed, he became more confused. 'This couldn't be,' he thought.
He heard the doorknob move, so he rolled over and pretended to be asleep. It was just the nurse, who grabbed a stethoscope she left in his room. He said a short prayer for luck, shut his eyes, and tried to go to sleep, contemplating the tests in the morning.
When he woke the next day, he still felt strange to be staying in a place with no windows at all. Even on the ship, he grew accustomed to the darkness outside of the windows, or viewing screen.
The nurse brought him a good breakfast, although he would've loved to have eggs, sausage or bacon. Instead, he got toast, cereal, fruit, and his daily protein capsule; hardly his idea of a gourmet meal. How he longed for the days on the island again, and this mess to be finally over. He could almost taste the fresh cassowary eggs, roast pork, and fish as he began to eat. He closed his eyes, and imagined he was there again; until his thought was interrupted by the general's voice.
"Good morning, Mr. Barkley," he said.
"Good morning," Jeff answered.
"Are you ready for your tests?"
"As ready as I'll ever be."
"Well, then," he said, as Jeff took another bite of cereal. "As soon as you're finished eating and getting dressed, the two men outside will bring you down to the testing area."
"Any word from the ISS yet?" Jeff asked.
"No, not yet. We're sending a recovery vehicle this morning to investigate. You seem concerned, are you having a change of heart about your crew?"
"What do you mean?"
"Oh, nothing," he sneered. "If I hear anything, I'll let you know. See you in a bit."
He walked out of the room, and Jeff went back to eating. He then got dressed, feeling much better and stronger today; almost back to his old self. He finally got used to the gravity, and was no longer dizzy or disoriented as he first was upon arrival. He walked to the door and opened it, only to be greeted by two military police, who gestured him to go first. They led him down several hallways until they came to a gym area. Carver was waiting for him at the door with a physician.
"Dr. Thomas will perform several physical tests on you today to see how the radiation and extended time in space has affected you," he said. "After that, he'll bring you up to see Dr. Reynolds and myself."
"So you can use your archaic methods?" Jeff asked.
"By that, I simply meant hypnosis."
"Hypnosis? Isn't that a little unscientific?"
"Yes, but in some circumstances, it's been successful at unlocking regressed memories. That is, if you still insist you have a memory block?"
"Nothing's changed," Jeff lied. "I still don't remember."
"Very well," he said. "See you in about an hour."
He performed several exercises for the doctor; such as walking on the treadmill, lifting weights, and calisthenics. When he was done, he was allowed to take a shower, then change into some blue khakis and a tee shirt they provided. He was directed to Dr. Reynolds office, and the military police waited outside, while Jeff entered the room. Dr. Reynolds was preparing a syringe, while Carver greeted him.
"Have a seat, Mr. Barkley," he said, and gestured for him to sit in a recliner, next to the desk.
"What's the syringe for?" the inquisitive captain asked, as he reluctantly sat down.
"It aids in the process," the bald, gray-haired man with glasses said. "It's just a sedative. Could you roll up your sleeve, please."
Jeff followed his order, the doctor prepared the area, and injected the sedative into his arm. As he began to slowly doze off, the intercom made a buzzing sound.
"General Carver here," he said.
"Sir, we weren't able to find any information on our guest," the voice answered. Carver pressed a button, and picked up the phone so Jeff couldn't hear what the other man was about to say.
"What the hell's the matter with you? I told you not to disturb me
now. Why not?" he asked. There was a brief silence. "How did that happen?" Another brief silence. "Okay, keep me informed." He pressed the button off, and by then Jeff was asleep.
"What's wrong?" Dr. Reynolds asked.
"There appears to be a computer malfunction regarding the records division," Carver said. "They couldn't find anything out about Mr. Barkley."
"Well," the doctor said. "Maybe I can. Shall we begin."
"Yes," Carver answered.
Dr. Reynolds turned towards his patient. "Mr. Walker, do you hear me?"
"Yes," Jeff answered. "I hear you."
"What is your name?"
"Jack Barkley."
"Where were you born?"
"I don't remember."
"Are you sure he's asleep?" Carver asked, and the doctor nodded.
"How long have you been with NASA?"
"I don't remember."
"How long was your last mission?"
"I don't remember."
"This is a waste of time!" Carver said. "He must be preconditioned not to answer the questions."
"By whom?" the doctor asked. "It's more likely he has amnesia of some kind, and he really doesn't remember. Mr. Barkley, do you know why you're here."
"I came from the ISS."
"Yes, that's right. Do you know why you were there?"
"I was conducting science experiments with the crew."
"Yes, do you know what happened to them?"
"They were unconscious for some reason."
"How come you didn't pass out?"
"I don't know."
"Were there any incidents before that, a collision or something?"
"No."
"Did you see any unidentified flying objects near the space station?"
"No."
"Any strange sensations before you entered the capsule?"
"Yes, I was dizzy."
"All right, thank you, Jack. You will awake shortly."
"He's told us what we already know," Carver grumbled. "There's still no answer from the space station, either."
"Maybe there was a malfunction in the life support system?"
"It hasn't shown up on the sensors. The ground control says all systems are running normal, except for communications. We're sending a rescue ship up there shortly."
"Are you thinking this could be related to the incident thirty five years ago?"
"I don't know what to think, Frank," Carver said. "It just seems strange to me he has no recollection of his time up there or anything else but his name, and the claim that he knows my son."
Jeff began to wiggle a bit, and his eyes began to open slowly.
"He's coming out of it now," Dr. Reynolds said. "Mr. Barkley, welcome back."
"Thanks," Jeff said, as he sat up.
"Dr. Reynolds has a few mental ability tests he wants to run, if that's okay?" Carver asked.
"Yes, of course," Jeff answered. "Did the hypnosis help?"
"Not as much as we hoped," Carver answered. "I'll be back down to your room later. We'll give you a little tour around the base later, since you're feeling a little better."
"Thanks," Jeff said. "I'd like that."
Jeff performed the IQ tests, and some cognitive tests using pictures, letters, colors and numbers, and then was returned to his room for lunch. He didn't know what he said under hypnosis, but hoped he didn't leak any vital information. As he passed the propulsion section, he could see there was a lot of commotion in the area, almost as if there was an emergency of some kind.
When he was back in his room, the nurse brought lunch into him. She placed the tray in front of him, which contained some fruit, nuts, salad, and of course, a protein pill. She was especially radiant this morning, and beautiful as well.
"Thank you, Kaleigh," he said. "I hear that your General Carver's daughter in law?"
"Yes, that's right," she answered.
"Is he always such a hard ass?"
"Yes, I'm afraid so. Do you know my husband, John?"
"Not personally," Jeff answered. "I've heard of him, though. By the way, thanks for sticking up for me earlier."
"Kaleigh," she said.
"Thank you, Kaleigh. Now that we're alone, can you tell me any more about these spaceships they have here?"
"Why are you so interested in them? Planning on taking a trip somewhere?"
"I'm just curious. Like I said before, when I get back up to par, they may be asking me to fly one."
"And like I said," she stated, and became a little annoyed. "I don't know that much about it. My husband's the expert in that department.
You'll have to talk to him."
"Forgive me for being a bit intrusive," Jeff apologized. "It's just the curious side of me. When am I going to get out of this hospital room anyway?"
"That's up to my father in law," she answered. "Physically, according to the tests, there's nothing wrong with you."
"And mentally?"
"Well, that part I'm not at liberty to say. Well, if there's nothing further, I do have other patients."
"Yes, of course," he said, and realized she wasn't going to give him much information. She left the room, and he quickly pulled out the blueprints of the propulsion section to look them over.
He particularly paid attention to the layout of the duct work. If he was to find anything out, it would have to be at night, and in stealth mode. The propulsion area being so heavily guarded, it was going to be difficult to get near the ships or Dr, Avery. If he wanted to get the scientist alone, he would have to find his quarters and pop in on him unexpected. Whether or not he believed what he was going to say was another story.
He also looked over the rocket blueprints, which were actually fairly easy to follow. Rocket Science was a prerequisite for completion of his academy curriculum. It appeared the rocket was propelled by a fusion reactor until it reached escape velocity, and then the engines switched to the antimatter warp drive, using a type of particle accelerator. He couldn't tell, however, if exotic, dark energy, or matter was involved in the equation. It would have to be to allow for wormhole travel, as far as he
knew.
He heard some voices outside the door, so he quickly put the maps away, and sat up on the side of the bed. General Carver entered, along with Dr. Reynolds, and two MPs. The look on Carver's face wasn't a happy one, and Jeff sensed something wasn't quite right. It was almost as if he could sense an outside presence interfering, but not his friend Batar.
"Our rescue vehicle has veered off course," Carver said. "It crashed near Chesapeake Bay. Do you know anything about that?"
"Why would I?" Jeff asked. "You know where I've been, and it's been nowhere near your control room."
"Perhaps," Carver sighed. "But then again, maybe you have an
accomplice?"
"You're joking?" Jeff laughed. "I came back alone. Your own men knew that when they picked me up."
"Perhaps you have a friend with certain mental abilities?"
"What are you talking about?"
"Certain telekinetic abilities?"
'Now what would make him say that?' Jeff asked himself. "I have no idea what you're driving at."
"What I'm about to tell you is classified, and will never leave this room," Carver said. "And if it does, you'll never leave this room alive. Do you understand?"
Jeff began to laugh.
"Do you understand?" Carver repeated.
"Yea, whatever you say."
"Thirty five years ago, an extraterrestrial craft crashed near this base. It's sole occupant was brought to the science lab, along with an eight year old Earth boy that was abducted by him."
"It's sole occupant?" Jeff asked.
"Yes, why is that important?"
"No, I'm just wondering how one alien can run a whole ship by himself."'
"That's one of the things we'd like to know as well. Are you sure you weren't somehow involved in this incident as
well?"
"Look at me!" Jeff snarled. "Do I look like I'm that old? I would have been about thirteen years old then!"
"That may be true," Dr. Reynolds stated. "But the boy should have been eighteen, and still was only eight years old. You may be a space
traveler that doesn't age also."
"This is ridiculous," Jeff growled. "You're trying to say I'm some kind of gray alien in disguise, which is the dumbest thing I ever heard."
"I never said it was a 'gray' alien," Carver said, catching his mistake. "What makes you think that?"
"All I mean is that most abduction cases involve the 'Greys."
"I think you know more than you're telling us, Mr. Barkley," Carver said. "That is, if your name is really Barkley?"
"Well, when you fix all your bungled computer glitches, I guess you'll find out. Until then, I believe you promised me a tour?"
"Why should I give you a tour? I still don't feel I can trust you."
"I promise not to give you any trouble," Jeff pleaded. "And besides, the two goons you got with you can probably break me in half if they
wanted to."
"I see your point, Barkley. Very well, I'll give you the same tour I would give any other guest, but that doesn't include the research lab or the propulsion lab. We can't have anything interfere with operations here on the base."
"Sounds like you've already had interference."
"There you go getting smug again," Carver snapped. "I warn you, Barkley, if I find out you have anything to do with what's going on presently, you'll be locked in the brig for the rest of your life, got it?"
"Yea," Jeff sighed. "I got it."
"Now, let's go, before I change my mind!"
Jeff rose, they left the room, and passed through the medic area. As they passed different areas, Jeff glanced at the layout of the vents, and visualized their locations according to the blueprints. They passed the propulsion viewing window, next to the office he took the plans from. He stared at the enormous rockets, and stopped Carver at the window.
Dimension Lapse III: Dimensional Breakdown (Dimension Lapse Series Book 3) Page 8
