'Crap' I thought, observing the huge puddle before me, which occupied a low section of the track I intended to walk on every day while on break. I was glad I'd brought an umbrella, because it had rained while I walked, but this was ridiculous, there was no way I could bring a boat with me. I laughed at my own joke. Lame. I had two options; I could take a detour across unknown terrain that would add an unpleasant hour to my walk, or I could find a way past this obstacle. I looked on either side of the small lake; on one side the water preceded into the undergrowth and a couple of overhanging Sydney wattles. No chance there. On the other side however there was a thin path of sand that had been pushed up against the side of the track. I silently thanked whoever or whatever had done that, and made my way towards it, quickly discerning the best method to cross the risky path. There was a large, strong looking pine tree beside the middle of the path, with a large branch within grabbing distance of the path. I would go fast over the first part, taking as few steps as I could, then balance myself against the tree, and then go from there. I took a step back, and then I ran. It took two steps to get to the tree, and the branch seemed strong enough to support most of my weight, so I leant back. Big mistake, 'snap' went the branch, and I spun instinctively as I waited to face-plant the water.
'Smack!' went my nose, chest, hips and legs on what felt like stone. Tears threatened as a blinding pain swept through my head and a similar agony spread through the rest of my body. I was paralysed for a moment, unable to comprehend anything bar the pain, but thankfully my youth paid off, and nothing was broken as far as I could tell, although I was in for some pretty spectacular bruises in the next couple of days.
"Fuck" I finally sighed, taking a huge breath and heaving myself into a sitting position. I still wasn't game to open my eyes; disorientation now meant that an action like that would cause dizziness and possibly the loss of my lunch. I cupped my hand to my nose, feeling over it to ensure no serious damage. It absolutely throbbed, and even more to touch. I amended my earlier remark. "Fuck my life"
"Silence!" commanded a powerful, slightly obnoxious voice from nearby. "Yes, this one will do also... you there, bring her to my hall with the others"
"Yes sir!" replied a less dominant voice, but one that still commanded authority. A set of footsteps left the room, and two more sets came closer, then my arms were wrenched upwards, and I was dragged out of the room. I fought with my very strong captors, futile attempts at overpowering the two obviously extremely muscular men, still with my eyes closed. I opened my eyes after a short time, and before I could shout what the hell is going on, a hand at the back of my neck signalled time to lose consciousness, which I did.
When I next woke up I was lying on soft dirt, in a warm environment, which my nose and ears were telling me was a forest. I could hear a bubbling stream, smell moist soil, and see the deep green leaves of tropical trees swaying slightly in the smallest wind. I sat up, and my smile at the calm, sweet serenity that this place was overcome with sunk away, to be replaced by a confusion, and a panic. This was not a small town in the south-west of Western Australia, and I definitely couldn't remember how I had gotten from there to here. Before I could come to any conclusion, which would have taken a while anyway, I heard a strange, metallic sound of metal or rock sliding over something manmade. I looked around and saw behind me a clearing, in the centre of which there stood an enormous, artificial looking ring that somehow seemed to fit perfectly into the environment around it. There were carvings all over it, and several triangles around the frame that were shining, like headlights on a car. In front of the ring sat a large object three feet wide at the base, with a huge disc on top, at about waist height. The disc had even more carvings than the ring, and in the centre was a glowing red crystal of some sort. I stood up, and, watching the ring spin and light up each of the seven crystals around its perimeter, I waited, close to the tree line, to see what would happen. All the while, I was slowly coming out of a sort of subconscious, and very hazy, wariness. When they all were ignited the clearing was silent for a fraction of a second, and then the most amazing thing happened; the ring filled with blue flame and burst forth like a model explosion plume, only horizontal. And then it was gone with a similar 'whoosh,' leaving a film, a sheet, like oil in a bubble bower, of blue plasma. I held my breath to see what would happen next, and after a short while, in which I was unable to abstain from breathing, a small, definitely human engineered vehicle drove through. It drove along past the structure with the red glowing crystal, then stopped, turned, and looked at me. I was totally shocked, my mouth hung open, and I froze. The drone-like vehicle drove closer, and I took a careful step back. It stopped moving, turned to look around more, and then stopped completely. I was even more confused now, but just to make things more interesting, one, two, and then four people stepped through the ring, all armed, and raised weapons to look around. I immediately put my hands up, and one of them, a young man around my age with dark hair and glasses, lowered his gun and stepped towards me, smiling and reaching out a hand. I would have said my confusion ended there, but then I looked at his uniform, which stated on the shoulder 'United States Air Force' and that's when I fainted.
