Second Paradigm Read Online Free PDF Page B

‘14:27’ hovered in the air over a similarly white nightstand. Cautiously, Chris reached out to them. They flickered and remained. The seven shimmered and changed to an eight. Ah , Chris thought. A clock. For some reason an image of a white disk with numbers around the edge came to mind. And that image brought a cold fear to his gut. He suppressed the thought and looked at the floating numbers again.
    Another word drifted through his thoughts. Hologram. Once again he passed his hand through the display. This time, he kept his hand there, moving it rapidly back and forth, until the image disappeared entirely. He stopped and a moment later the numbers ‘14:29’ flickered back into existence.
    A cough came from behind him. Chris turned to see a woman in a nurse’s uniform standing in the doorway, looking excited and nervous at the same time. “Dr. … Dr. Nost?” she said, her startled gaze never leaving his face.
    “Yes? I think so, anyway.” Chris looked into himself and realized where the ‘doctor’ came from. Ah, PhD in physics. Hence all the math spinning through my brain in place of memories. Chris shook his head in frustration, trying to jar his memories loose. “Look, maybe you can help me. Where am I? What’s going on? Why can’t I remember anything about my past?”
    Her attempt at a reassuring smile faded, but the look of shock in her eyes remained. “Um, I know you have lots of questions, but I can’t really answer them. I’m sorry. The doctors are on the way now and they should be able to take care of everything for you.” She spoke as if to an infant who couldn’t actually understand. That way of speaking tickled something in Chris’s memory, but it fled again before he could grasp it.
    “Fine. Can you at least tell me how long I’ve been here? Can you tell me anything about myself?” Chris shook his head in frustration, that can’t be right; denial ran through his head.
    She walked across the room, tapping on a tablet as she went. She pulled up a stool and sat in front of him, putting down the tablet to pick up a blood pressure cuff. “Well, Dr. Nost, according to your chart you have a doctoral degree in Aerospace Mechanics and another one in Astrophysics. And you’ve been here for 41 years, two months, and five days.” The nurse spoke while she hurried about performing what appeared to Chris to be an ordinary physical.
    “What? There must be some sort of mistake. I …” Chris felt the walls in his mind crash. Fear rose in his belly and his only defense kicked in as rage, making his blood pump hot.
    The nurse looked flustered and a little frightened, realizing she had said something she hadn’t meant to. “Dr. Nost, I’m sure you’re confused. Please, sit back down until the doctors get here. I’m sure they will have all the answers to your questions.” She backed toward the door, looking scared.
    Chris realized he stood, clenching his fists. He swallowed and sat back down on the bed. He took a deep breath and felt the anger drain out of him, revealing his fear and confusion. “I’m sorry. I’ll wait.” The nurse darted back to the bed and grabbed her tablet, then hurried out of the room.
    The flicker of the clock shifting times sparked something in Chris’s mind. He raised his hand until he held it in the air before his face. Smooth and strong, the back of his hand had a healthy color.
    There must be some sort of mistake. If forty-one years had passed he should be elderly, but he didn’t have the hands of an old man. Even if he had graduated college as a child prodigy, that put him at sixty years old. Yet he had the hands of a young man. He looked around the room for a mirror, but saw nothing. His gaze at once came across the red numbers hovering over the stark white bed stand and he shivered. There must be some sort of mistake .
    The door opened, revealing a thin-faced man in a white doctor’s coat and wearing a smile that didn’t reach his gray eyes. He looked