#16 in Scifi as of 12.1.18
THE FICTION OF SCIENCE (My collection of Science fiction entries)
1. A MATTER OF FACT... When Death Looks Just Like You.
What happens when you know how you are going to die? Read the story of a Ayla, who befriended death...
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I was running through the forest. Forcing my way through thorns and brambles, avoiding the over-hanging branches.
My clothes clung to my body, as the constant rain pelted against me, drenching me to the skin.
I was trapped in the death circle of the forest. I stopped to catch my breath and looked around. The forest was nothing but a maze of trees.
I looked at my compass. It was going all in a whirl due to the magnetite reserves at the core of the mountain. I cursed myself for ever choosing that damned place for hiking.
Frantically I looked around for any sign of life, anything in the darkness that could provide me with some direction.
My eyes could barely make out a faint blue light filtering through the trees. I sprang up immediately, all my senses alert. The eerie blue light straying from somewhere seemed like a beacon. An unknown force pulled me towards it as I scrambled towards the hypnotizing light.
The more I went, the further it seemed. I moved on, dragging my tired self.
Suddenly a gunshot shattered the stillness of the night. It was followed by two more.
I screamed in fear. Someone put a hand on my mouth. I struggled against my captor, but he had immense strength.
“Let me go,” I mumbled through the hand gagging me.
“Stop shouting or we’ll both be in trouble,” he hissed, letting me go.
I immediately turned around to face a young man, with tousled hair, glassy grey eyes and a frown on his face.
“How did you come here?” he whispered, studying me carefully from head to toe. “Which era are you from?”
“I don’t understand…” I began to say but was cut-off by shouts of men and more gunshots.
Without a warning, the man grasped my wrist and dragged me behind some bushes.
I was going to protest, but thought better of it in that situation.
Soon the voices grew stronger and I saw few men, with lanterns, guns slung over their shoulders and wearing steel helmets.
My companion put a finger to his lips, indicating me to keep shut. I silently nodded.
Soon the search party passed by.
The man heaved a sigh of relief and turned to me, “So, you came in through the portal right? You aren’t from the time of the world war, as is evidenced by your dress.”
“Umm, I don’t know about any portal or who these men were,” I struggled to fathom the situation.
“They were German soldiers. They’re patrolling their area. Do you even realise that you’re in the 20th century Germany,” he sounded cross.
“Either you’re mad, or I am,” I commented.
“None,” he replied unfazed, “You belong to the 21st century. I am from the 22nd and we both are in the 20th now. You just travelled through a time portal, my invention.”
I was confused. What was he saying?
“Time travel is impossible.”
“Not when you can create a time warp and bend space-time to join two different eras. Of course you need tachyons, which travel faster than light and you need excessive amount of energy which I harnessed from nuclear fusions, resembling those on the sun. But overall, I had opened a travel portal from your world and you just stepped into it,” he looked at me expectantly.
I nodded my head, as all the descriptions belied the science I had known.
Overall I was in a sticky situation, in the wrong time, and with a particularly crazy scientist who claimed to be from the future.
“So, what now,” I asked.
“We’ve to find the portal again. It can be anywhere,” he replied casually.
I felt like smacking him. I was dying of fright, and he was lazy as hell.
“We don’t want the soldiers to see us. Wear this cloak,” he said, handing me a black cloth.
“But it isn’t possible. How can something become invisible,” I argued.
“How does glass become invisible in glycerin?”
“Because their refractive indices match,” I was remembering elemental physics.
“In the same way, this cloak modifies your refractive index to the air around, so you fail to be noticed by anyone,” he explained, putting on his cloak.
Almost immediately he disappeared.
I deftly slipped on the thing and looked at him. He was visible again.
He guessed the question in my mind and replied, “We’re in the same medium now, so light reflected from me is entering your eyes once more. Thus you see me.”
“Follow me,” he commanded, moving ahead.
I silently followed, completely helpless.
We kept on moving. He took out a weird looking remote from time to time, which he later told was a tracker, to detect the huge energy exchanges when the portal opens.
I was gazing at him when finally I couldn’t help ask, “How do you know such technicalities and how do you get so much strength? Are you even human?”
“You’re a smart girl,” he gave a million dollar smile, “I’m a humanoid. Improved speed, agility, strength and intelligence. I’m a scientist, specially created for the time travel project.” He suddenly pointed towards a pink light in the distance.
“Exit,” he guided.
“Aren’t you coming with me?”
“Nah!”
“But this place is dangerous.”
“I’m a machine,” he smiled sadly, “We don’t feel anything.”
“When will we meet again?”
“Never. I’ll be dismantled as soon as this project is over. We can’t afford to let the world be overpopulated,” he sighed.
I flinched, instinctively reaching out to catch his hand.
Almost immediately, a sound of sirens was heard followed by deafening explosions.
“American bombers,” he pointed towards the sky.
I saw the predatory planes fly by.
“Hurry up, go,” he pushed me towards the portal.
It dragged me, sucking me up.
I found myself out of the forest, in my own city.
When I looked back, there was no portal, no savior, only a hollow in my heart.
I never would know even his name. 1000 words completed A/N Dedicatedto tanuandchamp my inspiration in science as she is my real life senior.
