Free Dark Future by KC Klein Page B

“No, I want to know, need to.”
    He stopped pacing and zeroed me with his gaze. “It’s why I live in this God-forsaken mountain like a rat in a hole. It’s because this hell is a portal planet, a way to travel through space. Dark Planet is the last defense against the aliens. The main function of our society—or what’s left of it—is to protect the portal. If the aliens are able to break through, then the whole human nation will perish. I know I keep saying that, but it is true. It’s a numbers thing—we don’t have enough bodies left to sacrifice again.”
    I cringed at his use of the word sacrifice , as if the aliens were some type of gods needing atonement.
    “So that’s it, the sordid truth of why we are living like animals and getting our butts kicked by giant cockroaches with teeth.” He’d turned and faced the wall, hands on hips as if the retelling of history made the facts more gruesome.
    I couldn’t believe what he was saying. Intelligent life? Global War? Billions of people dead? I put my head in my hands, squelching the childish desire to cover my ears. If everything he said was true, then the Armageddon that my grandfather warned about had happened; the world as I knew it was gone. I felt a churning in my stomach that had nothing to do with the persistent cloak of fatigue that had been draped over me since my late-night visitor.
    “So then why am I here?” I blinked rapidly to dispel the burning in my eyes.
    “Hell if I know.” He faced me again and ran both hands through his hair. “Aura told me that you passed through time and space. She also said ‘someone’ sent you. When I pushed for more information, she said that all I needed to know was that you are not a spy. Damn goddesses, they get so cocky sometimes. Do you know who could’ve sent you?”
    I shook my head, but c my-us got that sick guilty feeling in my stomach.
    He sighed. “Of course not, why would anyone tell me the truth. I’m just the Commander of this hell hole.”
    And for one second I felt sorry for him, and then it was gone.
    He shook his head. “There are myths about time travel, but I want to be crystal clear on my thoughts here—they’re just that, stories. But hell, if someone talks against the myths and prophecies that are spewed out by the Elders and goddesses alike. That kind of talk can be construed as heresy and before you know it, you find yourself buried up to your neck with a bunch of people throwing rocks at your head.”
    My God, what if he was telling the truth? What if all of this wasn’t a dream and this really was the future of the human race. And with all our advancements, this is what our race had come to. Capital punishment and heresy? Shock thickened my brain, making his words hard to digest.
    ConRad took two steps and braced his hands on either side of the table, crowding me with his presence again. “But there is one thing I do know, and that’s that you came to this planet through some type of portal, and it wasn’t the one under my guard. So where is it? Because if you’re hiding information about another portal and the aliens find their way through, I’ll cut you up and feed you to them myself.”
    Okay, so he scared me—a lot, but hell if I was going to let him know it. “Oh, another threat from you, how original. And here I thought we had moved past that to, I don’t know, dirty looks?”
    ConRad leaned in close, a sly smile slithered across his face. “Oh, we can move past that if you like. Right on to the part with you moaning my name, legs clasped around my hips.”
    Ahhh . . . jerk anyone? Because only an arrogant prick would bring that up. And there was the crux of the problem. He believed I was hiding something and I saw him as a bully who used his authority to get what he wanted. But if I was sent here to enlighten his views, it wasn’t happening today. An overwhelming fatigue permeated through my muscles. The fight seemed to have been leached out of my body. “I