Chapter 14

The door closed quickly and I was hustled off down the corridor. At one of the turns I was taken left where previously I had been taken right to the medical clinic. I was ushered into a small room with a desk and a chair. I was directed to sit in the chair and then the sandy haired man went around and sat in the desk. I expected some kind of interrogation to begin but instead we just sat there in silence. The room was well air-conditioned and my damp shirt felt cool on my skin. I was just about to say something when the door opened and Bill walked into the room. The sandy haired man jumped up and Bill took over his chair. He sat down and smiled at me. "So, how's it going?"

"Have you gotten her to cooperate yet?" I looked back at him in confusion. "What do you mean?" I asked. Bill frowned. "You know damn well what I mean Fred."

"What have you been doing the last two days?"

"Why are you calling me Fred?" I asked with growing confusion. Bill's frown deepened and he turned to the sandy haired man who shrugged at him. "Pat, why hasn't this man been restored?" Pat jumped up. "I'll look into it." He scurried out of the office. Bill looked back at me and flashed an insincere smile. "Don't worry, we'll get to the bottom of this." He leaned back in the chair and crossed his fingers over his stomach. I made an attempt to ask him questions. "Why don't you tell me what's going on?" He held up a finger. "All in good time Fred, all in good time."

"Just be patient, your questions will be answered soon enough." A brief worried expression crossed his face. "Unless something is really screwed up, he muttered softly, more to himself than to me.

After a few more minutes of silence Pat came back into the room followed by the doctor who had seen me the other day. "We've figured it out," Pat said quickly. "He slept in the wrong room last night and wasn't exposed to the ultrasonics that would have restored his memories. While he was talking a team of men and women entered the room with a table and a large boxy machine on rollers. Pat turned to me with a smirk. "We expected you to be more successful in the romance department than you were." The doctor stepped forward. We'll have to run him through an accelerated process. It will be more painful but it should work with no problem. At a curt nod from Bill I felt hands grabbing my arms and was quickly moved to the table. "Hey, wait a minute!" I screamed. "Let me go!" I began to struggle as they strapped me to the table but I was outnumbered and soon helpless.

The doctor positioned the box by the side of my head and then turned to Bill. This shouldn't take very long at all. "Just get on with it," Bill growled. "We've wasted enough time on this shit." He looked at me. "Goodbye James," he said "It's been a pleasure doing business with you." I felt a wave a fear pass over me and tried once more to break free. But it was not use. The doctor reached over and flipped a switch on the box. The box began humming then the pitch and intensity began to increase. Then it stopped making any noise at all. Suddenly it felt as if the top of my head had been torn off. I screamed in pain and shock as the memories began flooding in.