move would be futile. There was nowhere to run.
Up ahead, a set of bronze elevator doors were the only
accents in the otherwise plain wall pattern. I was drug in that direction,
struggling to move in the restraints. They shoved me into the opening, almost
causing me to trip over the heavy chains, and I nearly hit my head on the
elevator wall. The two guards who had been waiting inside the elevator grabbed
me and spun me around quickly as four others stepped aboard. The doors closed
and I noticed a digital keypad where a typical set of buttons should be. One of
the guards punched in a few symbols I didn’t recognize and we started moving
downward.
My head was spinning. Everything was happening so fast. I
tried to piece together what I knew. The fight in the forest had to have been a
dream. But instead of waking up in my dorm room, I woke up in on another
planet. It couldn’t be real. There were strange moons, futuristic cars, and the
city was a place the likes of which I’d never seen or heard about anywhere.Even more
bizarre, I’d exhibited incredible strength and agility. I had snapped the
handcuffs with surprising ease. I’d jumped thirty feet through the air and
beaten up what I assumed were highly trained, armed men. I may have even killed
a few. And I’d done it all as if I were unconscious, like something inside of
me had taken control of my body.
My face itched but I couldn’t scratch it. I hated that
sensation and it seemed like the ride wasn’t going to end. After a long
descent, the elevator came to a sudden stop. The doors opened to a tunnel-like
hallway that extended a few hundred feet then curved out of sight. The place
looked like an underground mine, or what I thought a mine would look like from
what I’d seen in movies. The walls were carved out of dark gray rock, cut with
laser precision, yielding completely smooth surfaces. I wondered what kind of
machinery could produce such a result. Off to the side, a set of railroad
tracks followed the corridor down and around the bend. A short line of mine
cars rested on top of the rails. The light blue train had bench seats and a low
profile to make getting through low-ceiling areas possible. There was a guard
in the engine car operating some levers and buttons. Two others stood next to a
car in the center of the line and swung open a waist-high door.
I was shoved forward again and steered towards the open
car. There were two men in the rear car and two more in the car behind the
driver. For whatever reason, they were taking no chances with me. When I
reached the mine train I couldn’t step up into it so the two guards nearby
lifted me up and into the thing. They motioned to sit down and I obeyed without
protest, plopping down on the hard plastic seat. The two guards who had loaded
me onto the little train sat down across from me and stared, issuing a
non-verbal warning that they were watching.
I peered beyond them to the tunnel ahead. “Where are we
going?” I asked, half expecting at least one of the guards to answer.
One gave a sickly smile. I imagined his eyes smirking
behind the dark visor of the helmet. I also wondered how they could see
anything. They had on dark visors, in the depths of the planet. It struck me
then that I didn’t call it “the depths of the Earth.” I was clearly not on
Earth.
“You’ll see soon enough, frag.” The grinning guard’s answer came in a raspy, menacing voice.
I didn’t know what the word frag meant but I had a feeling I was going to find out when I found
out where we were going.
“Keep your mouth shut,” the other ordered in a more
commanding tone. I wasn’t sure if he was talking to me or his
partner . Either way, we both stayed silent as the electric engine whined
to life and jerked the transport forward.
The transport picked up speed as we headed down the long
passageway and around the bend, disappearing from sight of the elevator and the
few remaining guards that stayed behind. There were
Up ahead, a set of bronze elevator doors were the only
accents in the otherwise plain wall pattern. I was drug in that direction,
struggling to move in the restraints. They shoved me into the opening, almost
causing me to trip over the heavy chains, and I nearly hit my head on the
elevator wall. The two guards who had been waiting inside the elevator grabbed
me and spun me around quickly as four others stepped aboard. The doors closed
and I noticed a digital keypad where a typical set of buttons should be. One of
the guards punched in a few symbols I didn’t recognize and we started moving
downward.
My head was spinning. Everything was happening so fast. I
tried to piece together what I knew. The fight in the forest had to have been a
dream. But instead of waking up in my dorm room, I woke up in on another
planet. It couldn’t be real. There were strange moons, futuristic cars, and the
city was a place the likes of which I’d never seen or heard about anywhere.Even more
bizarre, I’d exhibited incredible strength and agility. I had snapped the
handcuffs with surprising ease. I’d jumped thirty feet through the air and
beaten up what I assumed were highly trained, armed men. I may have even killed
a few. And I’d done it all as if I were unconscious, like something inside of
me had taken control of my body.
My face itched but I couldn’t scratch it. I hated that
sensation and it seemed like the ride wasn’t going to end. After a long
descent, the elevator came to a sudden stop. The doors opened to a tunnel-like
hallway that extended a few hundred feet then curved out of sight. The place
looked like an underground mine, or what I thought a mine would look like from
what I’d seen in movies. The walls were carved out of dark gray rock, cut with
laser precision, yielding completely smooth surfaces. I wondered what kind of
machinery could produce such a result. Off to the side, a set of railroad
tracks followed the corridor down and around the bend. A short line of mine
cars rested on top of the rails. The light blue train had bench seats and a low
profile to make getting through low-ceiling areas possible. There was a guard
in the engine car operating some levers and buttons. Two others stood next to a
car in the center of the line and swung open a waist-high door.
I was shoved forward again and steered towards the open
car. There were two men in the rear car and two more in the car behind the
driver. For whatever reason, they were taking no chances with me. When I
reached the mine train I couldn’t step up into it so the two guards nearby
lifted me up and into the thing. They motioned to sit down and I obeyed without
protest, plopping down on the hard plastic seat. The two guards who had loaded
me onto the little train sat down across from me and stared, issuing a
non-verbal warning that they were watching.
I peered beyond them to the tunnel ahead. “Where are we
going?” I asked, half expecting at least one of the guards to answer.
One gave a sickly smile. I imagined his eyes smirking
behind the dark visor of the helmet. I also wondered how they could see
anything. They had on dark visors, in the depths of the planet. It struck me
then that I didn’t call it “the depths of the Earth.” I was clearly not on
Earth.
“You’ll see soon enough, frag.” The grinning guard’s answer came in a raspy, menacing voice.
I didn’t know what the word frag meant but I had a feeling I was going to find out when I found
out where we were going.
“Keep your mouth shut,” the other ordered in a more
commanding tone. I wasn’t sure if he was talking to me or his
partner . Either way, we both stayed silent as the electric engine whined
to life and jerked the transport forward.
The transport picked up speed as we headed down the long
passageway and around the bend, disappearing from sight of the elevator and the
few remaining guards that stayed behind. There were
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