"He's coming out of it. I tell ya he's coming out of it!"
"relax Johnny, Starsky aint gonna come out of nuffin' he's gonna be so lost in that mind of his he wont know what planet he's on. Let alone what century he's in" with that last remark the taller of the two men cackled. They were watching Starsky through a one way mirror. Starsky had no way of knowing they were there, but the first goon was right. Somehow Starsky had begun clawing his way back to reality. He was Captain David Starsky of the Bay City Police force. He had a wife and three children and he wanted to go home.
Starsky was tired and aching and yet he was getting sharper and sharper. It was no longer such a strain to remember. He was not as confused anymore and he was all but convinced that someone was messing with his mind. He knew that whoever had planted the things in his head that had convinced him that Hutch was in danger back in the 70s was also probably the person who was after Hutch now, Forest.
Starsky raised his head. He strained to see anything. It was dark, so dark and yet Starsky forced his eyes to focus, to pick up something. His attention was drawn to a wall on his left. He pushed his body up so he was in a kneeling position on the floor. He stretched his neck, trying to put off, as long as possible, the need to get up. Eventually he realised he would have no choice; if he wanted to get out of here he had to start acting. He placed one foot on the ground and pushed hard on the other leg and winced as he finally managed to stand up. He was wobbly at first, like a new born foal. He tentatively placed one foot in front of the other and slowly made his way to the wall where the one way mirror was.
Taken off guard by Starsky's sudden awareness the two men, behind the mirror, jumped back. The smaller one started to panic. "I told, I told you, he's onto us. He is, he is"
"Shutup!" shouted the other man."It's okay, a little gentle persuasion and old Davey boy will be back just where we want him. By the time Hutchinson gets his friend back he will be a mess and our job will be done. Now quit your panicking and just watch."
Both men had their eyes glued to the mirror until Starsky was practically on top of them. He pushed his face onto the mirror, still not knowing what it was. He was surprised to feel it cold and shiny against his cheek. Actually it was quite soothing. It was the first feeling, other than pain, that Starsky had experienced in what seemed like weeks. He held his cheek against the glass and sighed, savouring the moment and the realisation that he was alive.
"What's he doing?" asked the smaller man, panic rising again.
"hush yourself!" snapped his partner.
Starsky thought he'd heard something. "Who's there?" he asked. He listened, nothing. "Who's there?" he asked again with more urgency. "I know what's going on. You gotta let me out of here. I'm the Captain of detectives; people will be looking for me." Hutch will be looking for me he thought.
On hearing this, the small man panicked, "I'm out of here, he knows, he knows. I told you he knows" He began to head for the door. The other man grabbed him, sharply, "You leave here now and Old Forest will have us both killed, we gotta finish this thing." He held the other man squarely in front of him and sighing he said "We don't have no choice"
