Everything looked like steel. Steel walls, floor, bed, "food area", everything except the "door" to her new prison. When Cortiana had first arrived at her new location she had tried to simply walk out, and was instantly thrown back into the far wall by some invisible barrier. There was no way out and she was starting to panic. About an hour after she arrived she heard footsteps approaching her cell. The barrier flicked of and a man was thrown into her cell. Before the barrier was put back in place, she couldn't be sure, but Cortiana thought the guards here looked…alien. Cant be, she told herself, you have been watching too much sci-fi lately.
Her new cell-mate groaned from the floor. She instinctively knelt down to see if he was ok. She rolled him over and noticed 3 things. First, he was defiantly human. Second, he was very attractive. Third, he was beat-up pretty good. He looked like he had bruising down the side of his face and his arms were covered with scars and gashes. The guards had been particularly cruel and left his handcuffs on. While she was looking him over his eyes opened and she found herself staring into the most gorgeous set of blue eyes she had ever seen.
"Hello, I guess I am your new partner for this great vacation." He said sarcastically to her.
"What? Who are you? Where am I?" She couldn't help herself from asking quickly. He looked at her strangely for a moment then asked:
"If you don't mind me asking, you look positively human, how did you get all the way out here?"
"Um, I don't know what happened to you, but I think you are going crazy. Of course I am Human; I am from Chester County Pennsylvania. As for how I got all the way out here, I was hoping you could tell me." She replied. He stared at her again before responding.
"Oook…so you are from Earth then, but you don't remember anything? Did they mess with your memory?" he asked.
"Of course I am from Earth! Where the hell else would I be from!" despite herself she was getting agitated. She was afraid of this place, of what was going on. All she wanted was to go back home. Suddenly something seemed to click into place inside his mind. His eyes flashed and he took a gentler tone.
"OK, let's try this again. My name is Thomas Paris but you can call me Tom. I am also from Earth. This may seem like a stupid question but humor me please; what year was it when you arrived here?" He asked so honestly and serious that she couldn't help but answer him.
"Well, it was 2006 last time I checked." He took on a sudden sad and uncertain expression which scared her a little. He was going to tell her something shocking, she could sense it.
"What was your name again?" he asked her politely. She quickly realized that he introduced himself but she never did. Slightly embarrassed she answered: "Cortiana, but people call me Cort".
"Ok, Cort, I don't want to be the one to tell you this but you are not in the year 2006 anymore."
"WHAT! What are you talking about? I traveled through time! That's impossible!" she interrupted him abruptly.
"Listen, calm down. The year is 2377 and you are about 30,000 light years from Earth. I have no idea how you got here but I am as eager as you are to find out." Watching Cortiana carefully, Tom decided to press on. It seemed as though his answers were enough to get her to relax a little; she just wanted information. "I am a pilot on a starship and we got stuck out here 6 years ago. We have been trying to get home ever since." His voice was so emotional, she knew it was the truth but simply could not except it.
"300 years in the future, 30,000 light years away? Impossible." She believed it but could not except it. She stopped trying and moved into the corner to think about what had happened to her. At some point she began to break-down and cry.
