2058

What is my fate?

I sit on the floor in this cruiser, hovering over the landscape of who knows where. I contemplate my outcome.

My mouth gagged, and my hands tightly bound behind my back. The blindfold covering my head is of a thick material. I can’t see anything. I can only hear muffled sounds.

Voices in the cruiser are murmuring something as I try to release my hands from their bounds, trying not to be seen doing so.

Thinking of my beautiful Fiance and Partner, I know if she were here, she would help in rescuing me from these kidnappers. Are the days of being wealthy worth all this torture? Where are they taking me? I hope to God that they haven’t kidnapped my childhood sweetheart, Charlotte. Our wedding is next month, September 21st, in the year 2058. Why didn’t I go with her to Hong Kong when she asked me to?

Advancements in technology have leapt forward over the last 30 years, "Primarily attributable to the influence of artificial intelligence,..." That’s how I began. A gamer from childhood, I’d prefer to create games myself and share them with friends before I realised how much money I could make in the business. Never in my young years did I think I would be in control of a company that spans the world.

I’m the head of a corporation that started my company, Gen-X, with robotics into fully functioning Androids. And now the latest in Cruisers that can fly just about anywhere. What could go wrong?

And now, to my demise, I’m held captive in one of my G3 Cruisers. If I could get this gag out of my mouth, I could tell the cruiser to return to its point of origin. All Cruisers recognise my voice pattern. I integrated it into the computer matrix of each of them. Perhaps the kidnappers knew this, and for that reason, they gagged me.

The murmuring in the cabin starts again. I can feel the movement of the cruiser slowing down. The sounds of what I can only guess to be guns being loaded and cocked surround me. Voices grow louder. I know that language, it’s Cantonese. I know only a few words.

I struggle to make a sound from behind the gag and blindfold.

In desperation, I try harder to release my hands from their bounds. I can now feel blood running down my hands from the sharp metal ties cutting through my wrists. I start to groan and shake from side to side.

“Stand up”! One of them says, “Stand Up”!

“On your feet,” Another one says.

I try to shuffle my legs around to stand up and groan again.

I hear a woman's laughter coming from the front of the Cruiser. It sounds familiar. Or is it my mind playing tricks?

“Stand up”.

I roll onto my knees.

“Stand up” orders another voice.

I try to speak, but I can’t. I can only make noises. I need more time.

Leaning to the left, I lift my right leg and foot in position to start standing.

Two gun barrels start prodding me. One is from the front and the other from the side. I then get an electric shock from the side, a stun gun. I collapse in a heap.

The woman begins to laugh again. This time, much louder. She is near.

One of the kidnappers grabs me and lifts me to my knees. “Stand Up”! He shouts.

I’m slow to move. I try in vain to say something, but I can only growl in pain. Then I feel an almighty whack to the side of my head, propelling me backward into the door of the Cruiser.

The door lifts outwards. I feel the heat rushing in from outside across my back. I know we haven’t landed because I can feel the movement and light vibration of the Cruiser.

“Kick him out”! Screams the woman’s voice.

I turn my head towards the sound of her voice. I recognise that voice! It's Charlotte. The love of my life, Charlotte. What the?

I struggle once more to attempt to get to my feet. I started to shout in disbelief, “No, what are you doing?” The gag is so tight I can only make muffled sounds.

I feel a hand on my head, gripping the blindfold.

“Get rid of him. Kick him out!” She orders.

With that final command, a kick to my head propelled me out of the cruiser. The last thing I witnessed as the blindfold being pulled that covered my head was the laughter on the beautiful face of Charlotte.

Falling to the ground seemed to take forever. It was only a few metres. I landed hard on the ground. I start rolling down a hill over and over again. Sand.

Everywhere I looked was sand and dunes as far as my eyes could see.

The sun is high in the sky, and the heat is overwhelming. After the coolness of the Cruiser, how much of this heat can I tolerate?

Sitting at the bottom of a dune, I try to move my hands under my buttocks. After several awkward attempts, I free my hands from behind my back. I grab at the gag and pull it from my mouth. The heat rushes in. The heat is unbearable.

I look at my hands and the shackles that bind them tight. They are titanium. Even if I could find a rock with a sharp edge to rub them against, I would never be able to get them off.

Standing tall, I look around. What direction should I take? Will I be able to get to a source of water? The heat in the slight breeze is too much to bear.

I start on my journey to no one knows where. I certainly don’t.

Engulfed in the desert's parched silence, I was nothing but another grain of sand in the wind.

Part Two: 2058 Three Days After: https://vocal.media/fiction/2058-part-two