Free Dark Future by KC Klein Page A

especially without my consent? I need answers. Where the hell am I, and why am I here?” My voice had lost its calm demeanor, instead bordered on hysterical.
    She’d been in my head. What had she seen?
    The room spun and closed in on me. “Who are you? Who are all these people? What are you doing hiding inside a mountain? And what is that creature that attacked us?”
    “Alright, alright . . . calm down. I know you have a lot of questions. This all seems very strange to you.” He pulled his seat closer and took hold of my folded hands. “We don’t have all the answers, but let me start with wha ctarnd toot we believe might have happened.”
    ConRad’s thumb ran along the inside of my wrist, then he stopped his administrations and lifted his head, pinning me with his stare. “We believe that you might have traveled through space and time.”
    Well, duh, but I kept my mouth shut.
    “I know it sounds crazy, but we’ve heard tales of people doing this in the past. I didn’t believe it, but now . . .” He was close. I could feel his breath as it fanned my cheek. The man had no concept of personal space—I needed room. I broke his hold, twisting to release his grasp on my wrist. He got the not so subtle hint and sat back in his chair.
    I, on the other hand, needed more than a hint. I needed the truth.
    I raised an eyebrow. “Really? That’s what you’ve come up with? Okay fine. So if I traveled in time, where am I now?”
    His eyes narrowed at my tone. He could’ve probably counted on one hand how many people stood up to him and lived to tell about it.
    “You want answers?” The man who had gently caressed me was gone, in his place was the Commander bent on getting what he wanted. “How’s this for answers? This is your future.
    “Look around,” he said, crossing one ankle over the opposite knee and circled his finger in the air. “Pretty isn’t? Sometime after 2020, scientists learned how to harness atomic power. With that knowledge all the new satellites were equipped with UFCs. With more power and longer range we were able to make contact with IL—intelligent life. They came, they conquered, and the human race nearly died in the process.
    “The war, the Global War, surpassed anything ever seen in the whole history of mankind.” ConRad stood and began to pace the small width of the room. “Our planet was destroyed, billions of people were killed. Most of our technology was lost, not just decades of it, but centuries. It was as if the world was thrown back to the late eighteen hundreds. The aliens’ consumption of raw materials caused the Earth’s core to heat up. We know that most of the land is underwater, but we’re not sure how much. What remains is one mass of land that barely supports the few thousand people left—or at least that’s how many we think are left. Earth’s settlement may be located north of the equator, but with so much of the planet uninhabitable, we just can’t be sure. According to legends, at one time there were huge blocks of ice floating around the northern part of the planet, but I don’t see how. All I do know is that we inhabit the only dry land, and there’s only water as far as the eye can see.”
    “Oh God,” I said as a new thought struck me, “tell me this isn’t Earth. Tell me this barren, cold, dark place isn’t home.” Tears welled up in my eyes. How could humans let it get this far? Why didn’t someone step in and urge caution?
    “No, thank the goddesses. The planet you saw outside this compound is a whole other story. We don’t have to get into all that today. I know you’re tired.” He seemed drained also, the lines on his face had etched in a little deeper, the corners of his mouth pulled a little tighter.
    I had passed over the boundary of tired long ago and now seemed to be smack in the middle of delirious, but the need to have answers was too great. Knowledge was power. I couldn’t stand the thought of being vulnerable any longer.