Lost Past by Teresa McCullough, Zachary McCullough Page B

she helped him discover more about the current state of psychiatry. From his point of view, it wasn’t pretty. Certain practices made him think “witch doctor” or “dark ages.” He started formulating a way of teaching what he knew. He wanted to go to his computer to type it up because that was faster, but it occurred to him that he might be able to do it better in Vigintees . He had no idea if he typed Vigintees . He tried to imagine a keyboard in Vigintees , but couldn’t. 
                  He put his hands out to an imaginary keyboard and started thinking words in Vigintees , but nothing came. He mouthed the words, but his hands didn’t seem to know a connection between what he was saying and the text. He went through the alphabet and there seemed to be no place where he wanted to put his fingers. Either there was no keyboard in Vigintees or he never learned it.  Alternatively, he just could not force his memory to relearn the specific skill.
     
                  Somehow, Cara came back with him for dinner. While they were preparing to eat, he realized that he had left the pages of handwritten Vigintees on his desk. She didn’t notice the significance of his casually putting them away, but it gave him a cold feeling. Arthur’s kidnappers spoke the language, and they callously killed a planeload of people. John felt knowledge of Vigintees was unsafe and didn’t want to add Cara as a potential target.
                  “Tell me about me,” he said.
                  “I think you figured out everything.”
                  “Hardly. I went to work, I kept up with the news, and I exercised. Judging from the food in the freezer and cabinets, I cooked simple, healthy meals. I don’t even know my medical history.”
                  “I can’t help you on that, but you’ve never missed work because you were sick. I don’t remember you having a cold.”
                  “Have I had a flu shot? When was I last at the dentist? What’s the matter?”
                  “I forgot to get a flu shot,” Cara replied, obviously annoyed at herself. He kept the remaining conversation on psychiatry and didn’t have to lie when he sent her away, pleading fatigue. As soon as she was gone, he shredded the papers and wondered if that was enough.

CHAPTER 6
     
    It was 5 a.m. and he was ready. His money was in his pockets and he had a bag with a change of clothing, along with his notes. Cara picked him up, using Eric’s car, taking him to a motel. Eric, Jun, and Pedro were not the only ones there. Eric introduced someone named Matthew Mason. Eric didn’t explain who he was, except by a mute look that John interpreted as an apology. John decided that if Mason could be convinced the material was valuable, he wouldn’t hinder the dissemination of the information.
                  Jun set up a camcorder with wire feeds into a computer. When the pleasantries were over, John got up in front of the group and said, “This is how I’d like this to work. Although you are recording everything I say, I want you to take notes and later duplicate the recording. Nothing gets out of this room until we are done. I think it will take several hours, but we should finish today. When we’re done, I want everyone to go separate ways and get the information out as widely as possible. I assume you all have plans for this?”
                  Mason said, “My instructions are to give the information to my boss and no one else.”
                  John shrugged. “I’m not going to fight you on that, as long as no one interferes with getting the information out. First place, everyone turn off your phone. I don’t want anyone to locate us with them.” He pulled his out and did so, placing it on a table on the side of the room. Eric did so also. Everyone else followed suit, with Mason being a reluctant