Near Death (A Jake Townsend Science Fiction, Action and Adventure, Thriller Series Book 1)

by Richard C Hale

  Madison knew he was just thinking out loud and not really expecting an answer, but she said, “Try it again. See if she can read my mind too.”

  Rachael could. And Teri’s too.

  They played around with it a little more and finally Rachael couldn’t wait any longer for the bathroom. They got her out and she ran off to take care of business while Jake talked with Teri about the discovery.

  When Rachael returned, she joined them at the console and Jake asked her, “The music you hear, when does it start? Is it right here?” He hit play at the point where the distortion began in the recording.

  She watched and listened for a second. “Yep, right about there, but it’s nothing like what you have recorded. You just have noise.”

  “That’s it!” Madison blurted. “I knew I’d heard this type of distortion before.”

  “You’ve heard this before?” Jake asked.

  “Not this exact sound, but something like it. It’s a kind of digital distortion. You get it when the computer system you’re recording to is not capturing or playing back the true waveform of the sound or music. I learned about it in a digital recording class I took at FSU. I majored in music and the class was an easy A.” Madison felt embarrassed.

  “So, what are you saying?” Jake asked. “The sound the computer is playing back is not the true sound that’s in her NDE?”

  “Sort of. It’s the true sound, just not all of it. Parts of the true waveform are missing.”

  “How can they be missing? The computer is recording everything.”

  “I don’t know anything about the software that’s running your system, so I can’t say one way or another if it’s recording it all. What I do know is the sound we are hearing is distortion I associate with a compressed version of the original sound wave. The whole wave file may be in there, but it could be playing it back in a compressed form.”

  She paused, realized she was twisting her hair in her hands and stopped.

  “It would depend on the software written to interpret the audio portion of the recording. Did you write the software that runs the system?”

  Jake shook his head. “No, a friend at CRAY wrote the programs for me. His name is Bodey Jenson. One of the best software systems engineers in the country.”

  “He could tell you what the program is doing,” Madison said. “He might even be willing to modify it so we can hear the true sound.”

  “I hope so,” Jake said. “I’ll try calling him after we eat. Ok kids, let’s break for lunch. I’m buying. Good work.”

  * * *

  At the restaurant, Rachael told them all stories of her life right after her NDE.

  “I was having quite a few episodes of mind reading attacks. That’s what I like to call them, attacks, because it felt like I was being bombarded. When you’re taking a test in an undergraduate class of about three hundred, it can get pretty confusing. I bombed one English Lit exam when I kept hearing different answers in people’s heads and then I would second guess my own.”

  She laughed to herself. “I kept hearing one kid louder than everyone else, and after the class, I went up to him and told him to stop thinking so loudly. He looked at me like I was a lunatic and said, ‘Whatever.’ He avoided me after that. I didn’t care. He thought about porn a lot anyway.”

  “What about your boyfriend, John? What happened with him?” Madison asked.

  “The next day when he came to visit me in the hospital, I told him he was an ass and I didn’t want to see him ever again. He got all ‘What’s wrong babe?’ and ‘I love you’ on me and wouldn’t let it go, so I gave him explicit details of what he was thinking in the E.R. about a certain nurse. I’ll never forget the look on his face. His jaw hit the floor and he got all freaked out. As he ran from the room, he kept looking over his shoulder like I was going to fly out of the bed on my broomstick and cast a spell on him. After that, he would run every time he saw me.”

  “You said the mind reading stuff slowly faded away. How long did that take?” Jake asked.

  “About a year. It’s never gone away completely, but now, it only happens every once in awhile. I can’t control it. It happens when it happens—well, until today.”

  Back in the lab, Jake made the call to Bodey Jensen while Teri hooked Rachael back up to Andee. When Jake hung up he looked pleased.

  “He’s going to fly in first thing tomorrow and get to work on the software. He knew exactly what Madison was talking about and said it would be a breeze to update.” He turned to her. “See, I knew there was a reason you were supposed to be here.”

  Madison felt a little embarrassed, but smiled.

  15

  January 12, 2010 3:00 p.m.

  Orange Park, Florida

  They ran through Rachael’s NDE a couple more times that afternoon, but nothing new was discovered.

  Andee’s ability to learn seemed to be curbed. Jake hoped with the software update, things would accelerate and get them to the next level. As he watched Madison laugh and joke with Rachael, he smiled to himself. He felt the decision to bring her in had been the correct one.

  That afternoon, Jake had Madison contact the one new subject they knew about here in the Jacksonville area, and Frank Lucas agreed to come see them first thing Monday morning. That gave Jake and Bodey three days to get things up to speed. He was pleased Madison was working out so well, and relieved Teri was behaving.

  They closed up shop for the day and Jake told Rachael they would probably want her back late next week if she was available. She said that would be fine and to call her when he knew for sure what day. Rachael left and Jake locked up, setting the security system. He walked Madison and Teri to their cars and as he was about to get into his own, Madison came back over.

  “Listen, Jake?” Madison said. “I was thinking about getting some coffee at the great place up the street. Did you want to join me?”

  He paused for a second, thinking about it.

  “If you’re too busy, that’s ok. I just thought it sounded good.”

  “It does sound good,” Jake said. “Let’s see if Teri wants to go, too.”

  He thought he saw a flicker of disappointment in her eyes, but he wasn’t sure. Teri was pulling out of her parking space and Jake waved her over.

  She pulled up, rolling her window down, and said, “What’s up?”

  “Madison and I were going to go get some coffee at Java Joes. Do you want to come with us?”

  She hesitated. “No thanks. I’ve got to get home and get the dog fed. He gets mad at me if I’m too late. He’s such a baby.”

  “Ok. Are you sure?”

  “Uh huh. I’m fine. Thanks anyway. I’ll see you two tomorrow.”

  She rolled up her window and drove off. Jake thought she had a funny look in her eyes too. What was up with these women? He’d never be able to figure them out.

  “Looks like you and me,” Jake said to Madison. “Do you want to walk or drive the two blocks?”

  “Let’s walk. I feel like I’ve been sitting all day.”

  “Me too, I’m exhausted from sitting. Does that make sense?”

  She nodded. “I need a hike to wake up.”

  They strolled for a bit in silence, then Jake asked, “How’d you like your first day?”

  “It was very exciting. I really liked it. I hope I wasn’t too much of a pain for everybody.”

  “Are you kidding? We make one of the biggest breakthroughs in over a year and then you, all by yourself, after not even a day, figure out the distortion issue we’ve been wrangling with for months. I should be asking you if I was too much of a pain in the ass.”

  He stopped, turned her toward him and said, “I’m proud of you. I know I made the right decision bringing you on board. Not only are you smart, but I think you’re a little lucky too.”

  She smiled, her green eyes shining in the crisp, early evening air. He was suddenly taken aback by her beauty. Standing there in front of him, radiant in the fading light, he had a strong urge to p
ull her toward him and hold her.

  She looked into his eyes, smiling and said, “Lucky Maddy, is that me?”

  Her eyes were mesmerizing. He couldn’t look away. “Lucky Maddy. Is that what you like to be called? Maddy?” His voice seemed to be coming from far away.

  Her eyes stayed locked on his. “Everybody calls me Maddy. Madison is just too formal, don’t you think?”

  “Maddy it is. I like it. It suits you.” Finally looking away Jake said, “I don’t think I’ve ever known any ‘Maddys’ before.”

  They turned and continued walking up the street toward Java Joes.

  “Are you making fun of me, Dr. Jake?”

  “No, I really don’t know any ‘Maddys.’ And ‘Dr. Jake’ is not one of my favorite pet names. Rachael drives me nuts when she calls me that.”

  Maddy laughed. “She thinks you’re cute, that’s why she does it.”

  “Did she tell you that?”

  “Yep. Well—she actually said ‘Don’t you think Dr. Jake is cute?’”

  “And what did you say?”

  “I didn’t say anything.”

  “Nothing?” he asked. He feigned a hurt look. “My brand new employee, who I took under my wing under great strain and duress, risking bodily harm from my lab partner, wouldn’t even stick up for me? I’m shocked.”

  She smiled. “It’s because I was thinking you are very cute—in a scientificky kind of way.”

  “Scientificky—hmm—is that even a real word?” Jake asked. “Now I’m worried maybe I hired the wrong person.”

  They were at the coffee shop and Jake held the door open for her to enter.

  “Ok—very, very cute,” she said.

  He felt a little embarrassed now, but she seemed to be enjoying herself. They grabbed a booth by the window and when the waitress arrived, both ordered coffee with sugar.

  “I’m glad you took me under your wing, risking bodily harm from your lab partner,” she said. “Although, I don’t think she would do anything to you. Me, on the other hand…”

  “I thought you two got along good today.”

  “Well, even though I can tell there is still something Teri doesn’t like about me, she seemed pleasant enough. I just wish I knew what I’ve done to get on her bad side.”

  “She just gets into one of her moods,” Jake said, not knowing why he was making excuses for Teri. “She’s a great clinician, and an old, and close friend. I feel like I’ve known her so long, yet there are times I feel I don’t know her at all. She has a tendency to keep to herself most of the time. It probably had nothing to do with you, personally. She was just having a bad day.”

  “Maybe,” Maddy said, “but I can usually tell when someone is grumpy, or they don’t like me. I get the impression Teri doesn’t like me.”

  “Give her some time. She’ll come around.”

  “How long have you known her?”

  “Since my first year in college. We were paired up in biology as lab partners and we’ve been working together ever since.”

  “She’s the brain and you’re the brawn?”

  “I think you have it backwards. I’m the brain and she’s the brawn.”

  Maddy smiled. “She does seem like a tough cookie. She’s definitely not afraid to say what’s on her mind. You guys seem close, though.”

  “When Beth died, I was a wreck. She was my only friend at the time who wasn’t all weird with me. No one knew how to respond so most of them avoided me.”

  “I know exactly what you mean. I had my mom. If she hadn’t been there, I don’t know what I would have done. My friends would try to get me to go out, or even try to set me up on a date, can you believe that?”

  He shook his head. “I’m not making excuses for my friends, but I don’t think they knew how to act around me. I mean, I was almost catatonic.” He paused. “Teri at one point actually fed me with a spoon. She bathed me, dressed me, and even put me to bed. I was lost and floundering around aimlessly for weeks. She stayed with me until I could at least function. I owe her a lot.”

  Maddy was silent for a long moment then said softly, “Wow, I knew I was a mess, but you were so lost. I’m so sorry Jake. I wish I had known you then, I would have been there for you.”

  He nodded solemnly. Without even realizing it, he reached out and grabbed her hand and softly held it in his own. “I know you would have, but you had your own grief to deal with, too.”

  “She must have meant the world to you. Can you talk about it now? I’d like to hear.”

  Jake thought about Beth every day. Keeping the pain and memories to himself, he rarely spoke about her to others. It had been a long time since he had talked about the accident with someone else, and normally, he was reluctant to do so, but with Maddy, something felt different.

  Yes, he barely knew her, but he felt connected to her somehow. Maybe it was because they shared a common tragedy in their lives. He wasn’t sure, but he knew he hadn’t felt this way in a long time.

  He told her everything.

  Maddy listened quietly, never interrupting him. He held on to her hand the whole time, sometimes squeezing so hard she winced, but she never stopped him and never let go. By the time he had told the whole story, she was crying.

  “This was just supposed to be a cup of coffee,” he said, getting himself under control. “How did we get here?”

  “We’re here because I wanted to know,” she said. “And maybe you needed to tell me. I’m glad you did. She was someone very special and I feel I know her a little now. I wish I had been able to meet her.”

  Jake said, “You will.”

  “I hope so,” Maddy said, “I hope so.”

  And Jake let her hand go.

  16

  January 13, 2010 - 3:32 a.m.

  Orange Park, Florida

  Jake sat bolt upright in his bed, gasping, a scream barely contained.

  The sheets clung to his damp skin trying to trap him in the nightmare. His feet, tangled in the linen, struggled to break free and he slowly became aware of his surroundings as his frantic kicking subsided.

  The nightmare had come again and this time seemed even more real than the last. Everything was the same, just more vivid. Beth’s face right before he woke was terrifying. An image he couldn’t stand to recall.

  The room seemed to reverberate from the colossal ‘Stop!’ that had come out of Beth’s mouth. Her lips had barely moved and so little effort had been made in speaking the word, yet the sound had been a deafening, booming, shout.

  His phone rang and he jumped.

  “Shit!” he said, running his hands through his hair. He took a deep breath and picked up the handset on the third ring.

  “Hello,” Jake said, softly, a little creeped out as to what might be on the other end.

  “Jake! It’s Maddy, Oh God—I can’t take this!”

  “Maddy, what happened? Are you all right?”

  “I had the dream again. It was so real. Oh Jake, I’m so scared.”

  “It’s ok, I’m right here. Just try and calm down. It’s over—it’s over.”

  He could hear her crying softly. She took a deep breath and said, “I’m sorry—I just…”

  “It’s ok,” he interrupted. “Don’t be sorry. I was awake.”

  “Mom and Dad went to see Nana and I’m here all by myself. I’m so scared.”

  “Do you have someone who can come over and stay with you? Do you want me to come over there?”

  “Could you?” Maddy said, pleading. “No one else will understand. I don’t think I can stay here by myself.”

  “Let me throw some clothes on and I’ll be right there. What’s the address?”

  She gave him directions and they hung up.

  Throwing on an old t-shirt and sweat pants, he grabbed his cell and wallet. It was only about a five minute drive and he was knocking on her door. He could see a shadow looking through the peephole and then the door was unbolted and thrown open.

  She threw herself at him and hug
ged him tight.

  “Oh Jake! I’m so glad you’re here!”

  He could feel her trembling, “Whoa!” he said. “Hey…” he pulled away slightly, and tilted her chin up. “It’s ok now. I’ve got you. What scared you so badly? It’s a dream remember?”

  “It was so real,” she said again, “and there’s something else.”

  “What?”

  “Come in, I’ll show you.”

  She grabbed his hand and pulled him inside. It was as if she didn’t want to be more than a few inches away from him. He let her cling to his arm as she led him through the small, single story, ranch style house.

  Every light was burning bright and he could see clean, but dated furnishings in a comfortable and cozy country décor. Family pictures hung on the hall wall where he found Sara and Maddy, and what must also be her father and sister, Charlotte. She was another stunning beauty favoring her mother’s blond locks where Maddy shared her father’s red hair.

  He’d never met the man and had no idea what he did for a living, but he looked somewhat industrial; medium height and stocky with large hands and bulging forearms. One picture showed him in greasy coveralls standing proudly in front of a blue ’69 Chevelle.

  They passed through a medium sized kitchen with older appliances, the exception being a brand new stainless fridge, which looked somewhat out of place. They continued down a long hallway and Jake had the impression the place was bigger than it first appeared. As she pulled him along, they passed three doors on the left and two on the right. They were closed except for the last one. Jake caught a brief glimpse of a bathroom.

  The last door at the end of the hall stood open and Maddy led him inside what was surely her room.

  “See,” she said, but Jake did not.

  The room was small and tidy, decorated in the country theme that carried throughout the house. The walls were a muted yellow with pictures of Maddy and her friends from days past. The bed was a queen with a large canopy, the sheets rumpled and slept in. A dresser with a mirror was to the left of the doorway and there were snapshots of people and places stuck in between the mirror’s glass and the frame. Two nightstands with lamps burning brightly were placed on either side of the bed framing a large window draped in a sheer purple fabric. An older desk of dark wood stood against the wall opposite the bed and held a small TV and laptop computer. Knickknacks and collectibles adorned a few shelves scattered around the room and Jake thought, Thank God there were no unicorns.