Forgotten Future

Chapter 1: Sarah

 

The sound of crashing water was the first thing she noticed. It wasn’t quite the sound ocean waves make as they come tumbling rhythmically onto the beach, this was deeper with no ebb and flow to the noise, just a constant roar.

The second thing was the chill dampness of the air and how she could feel a fine mist against her face and exposed skin. She wanted to take a moment to orient her senses before she opened her eyes but she was startled when a voice cut into her thoughts.

“Dude, I’m telling you it’s her!” came a youthful male voice that sounded like a mixture of surprise and intrigue.

“Ma’am, can you open your eyes for me.” said a second, less excitable voice. This one had an air of composed authority to it.

Before she had time to respond her left eye was forced open and a bright light shone directly into her pupil causing her to flinch and fling her arm in front of her face protectively.

“Patient is responding to external stimuli.” the man said although she wasn’t sure who it was directed to.

Panic rose in her chest. Was she in a hospital? Had she been in some sort of accident? Where was… and there her mind drew a blank. She blinked her eyes repeatedly to shake off the disorientation and try to bring her surroundings into focus.

A face with mixed European and Asian features hovered above her frowning with concern. He was wearing a crisp white shirt with a black badge sewn onto the shoulder and had a stethoscope hanging around his neck. Beyond him though she could see the branches of a tree heavily laden with spring blossoms which made her realize she was lying on her back and the clammy dampness she felt was coming from the ground beneath her.

“Where am…” she began but found her throat to be sore. She made a noise to clear it and tried again, “Where am I?”

“I am totally vidding this man!” exclaimed the first voice she had heard. Turning her head slightly to the right she could see a young man in baggy, khaki coloured clothing and a droopy knit cap holding a skateboard under one arm. With his long untamed brown hair and pale white skin he appeared to be in his early teens and was looking down at her with delight like she was some sort of amazing discovery.

“Can you sit up ma’am?” The man who she thought to be a doctor or paramedic of some kind asked her and put an arm around her to support her. Her muscles achingly protested but she forced herself up despite the general tenderness she felt all over her body.

“What happened?” She asked forgetting that he hadn’t yet responded to her first question.

Before addressing her the medic motioned to someone out of her line of site and then pointed to the teen who was soon escorted away by a policeman or so she thought.

“It will be best if I can assess your condition before answering any questions ma’am.” he answered in a calm voice clearly trying to reassure her. It made her feel even more anxious but she nodded in agreement anyway.

She watched as he gently picked up her wrist feeling for her pulse and after a moment said “BP 110 over 70.” While he continued his examination she looked past him and felt the colour drain from her face as she noticed several other medical people attending to at least two dozen other ‘patients’. All of them were clad in a form fitting white jump suit of some kind and when she looked down at herself she saw she was wearing the same thing.

“Oh my God.” she declared with a sharp intake of breath.

“Acknowledged.” her caretaker said aloud seemingly to no one.

“What’s acknowledged? Who are you talking to?” she demanded fearfully her eyes flicking up to meet his. Her confusion was evident as she looked at him imploringly for him to make sense of the bizarreness of the situation.

“This won’t hurt at all.” he said ignoring her question and before she could protest pressed the end of a small metal cylinder to her arm.

She felt a fleeting sense of pressure on her skin before things started to become hazy again. The medic scooped her up so that her head rested on his shoulder which provided her with a new view and the last thing she saw as he headed towards an awaiting ambulance with her tucked firmly in his muscular arms was the sight of a rainbow glistening playfully in front of a large waterfall.

“Beautiful.” she mumbled before everything faded into darkness.

 

Chapter Two: Troy

 

Outwardly the well groomed man with the short black hair displayed a facade of calm patience. His athletic build and the hint of grey in his short sideburns gave him an appearance of sophistication despite the white bodysuit and myriad of electrical wires running from man to machine to monitor his every body function.  

Despite his mask of cool collectedness the erratic beeps and scribbles the machines emitted betrayed his inner turmoil and apprehension. With no windows or clock in the room he couldn’t be sure how long he had been in the ‘exam’ room as the doctors called it. Based on his internal circadian rhythm which told him when to sleep, when to wake, and when to be hungry he estimated it to be about three days. That meant he had spent the last 72 hours being poked, prodded, and asked endless questions he had no answers for. 

He had been greatly tempted a number of times to pound on the one way viewing pane centered on the opposite wall to the hospital bed he currently sat on and demand answers from the observers hidden from him  on the other side but his civilized side won out and he remained where he was. He reasoned that if they had so many questions it was quite likely they knew about as much as he did about who he was and where he came from, which was to say very little.

His side of the glass reflected back his image and looking at himself for the hundredth time he found the face there no more familiar to him than it had been the first time he’d looked. 

TBCont’d