I still had the raygun in my hands when the light burst in and hurt my eyes.

A man stood in front of me, waving his hand in front of my face. “Can you tell me your name?”

I blinked. I couldn't fathom how the avalanche had stopped and how this man came to be standing in the ship. It dawned on me that the sounds of destruction had ceased, so I answered “I'm Cylas Renford... who are you?”

“I'm Tando Var, from the Pacific Chain. Do you know how you came to be where you are or when you were placed here?”

My vision and my senses cleared and I realized that the man standing in front of me had pointed ears like the men I'd seen in the Sasquatch disguises. He had a raygun too, on his belt, along with some funny looking daggers. The way he was dressed I'd have guessed he was playing at being an Indian, he wore so little: a loincloth, leggings, some bands on his arms.

“The last thing I remember the mountain was collapsing onto the ship...”

“Yes, it looks like you were buried for a long while. If the landslide hadn't unearthed the wreckage of the rocket, you might have been buried forever.”

“I'm sure glad that didn't happen,” I put the raygun back on my belt, deciding that the strange man with a strange name must be a friend.

He helped me out of the closet, which was at a different angle than before. “When you feel up to it, I'll have some questions for you.”

“I've got one for you; was it you I saw sneaking around in the furry costume with that other elf fellow, the one with the eye-patch?”

At that he blinked and seemed to be scrutinizing me.

I noticed that a hole was cut in side of the ship, daylight pouring through. Most of the inside of the ship was filled with packed dirt and rocks.

Tando said “Yes, I may have some very probing questions for you. There is a war in the air and I can't take anything at face value, no matter how much evidence there seems to be.” He helped me through the wreckage of the ship and to the opening.

“I'm game to answer any questions you like, but...”

I stopped stunned as it dawned on me that depth of rock and dirt surrounding the crushed ship. I guess that should have been no surprise except for when I looked out at the woods opposite to see how thoroughly they'd changed.

The time it took for the slide to bury me from the time it took for this elf-man to unearth me, to me, was almost instantaneous. I could not have been knocked out for very long as nothing about me hand changed, I felt exactly the same.

I wondered now whether the slide might have been worse than it seemed, that maybe the whole mountainside had come loose and dragged the craft down to another place.

You see, the variety of evergreen trees looked to be entirely different, in color and in size and even density. Even the mountains that peaked up over the trees seemed different than before. In spots there now appeared to be squared-off rocks, resembling towers, that hadn't been in evidence before.

“Are you feeling alright?” Tando Var asked.

Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.

“Maybe I'm dreaming. Just how long was I stuck in that ship?”

He took hold of my arm “Here, follow me, I have a ship near here.” We started off into the changed woods.

I noted as we went that there were now many oddly shaped pieces of stone scattered among the trees, like ancient ruins. Very few ferns grew but instead there were now many types of mushrooms in varying colors.

“Tando, I think I have many more questions.”

“I shouldn't be surprised. Do you remember what year it was when you entered that ship?”

“You mean it's not 1879 anymore?”

“1879?”

“Anno-Domini.”

Again, Tando Var got a funny look on his face “Well, when we get into my ship we'll see if you're telling the truth.”

“I always tell the truth.”

“You seem honest, but if you prove to be some kind of spy for the Satellite Lords it will go very badly for you.”

“But I'm just a painter from Indiana!”

Up ahead his ship waited through the trees, a long craft covered with fins and glass bubbles, although this one was solid red with white lines. It also had some very angry-looking cannons mounted on it in places. It didn't seem to have any feet, yet it didn't rest on the ground.

“Say,” I said, “that isn't a bit like the other rockets. Is it floating?”

He ignored the question, but asked one of his own “Are you married?”

“Me? Nah, I've never had anything to offer a woman. I tried a lot of trades, but...”

“That's alright, come aboard here.” he gave me a hand up to a circular opening and came in himself, shutting the hatch behind him.

On board were a handful of other elf men, all of them dressed like savages as well. I couldn't help but notice that some of them had red or green skin.

One of them asked “Hail, Tando, who is this strange man?”

“Get the Mento-Scope ready. I found him in the suspension chamber on the ancient craft under the mountain.”

My head was swimming. “Suspension chamber?”

Tando led me to a table with some weird metal devices mounted on it “Yes, that small booth you were in. It freezes a person completely and instantly for prolonged sleep. Lucky for you the process doesn't use any electricity, otherwise you might have been dead long ago.”

“It's a wonder I don't feel a chill.”

“You wouldn't. The freezing process is so fast that it doesn't create ice as we know it.”

“Funny, I never heard of that before.”

He sat me down in a chair by the table and pushed something like binoculars up to my eyes.

“I'm ready to ask my questions.” Tando said.

“I can't see a thing through this.” I said.

“You aren't meant to, but keep looking thorough it. It'll tell us whether you are lying.”

“Alright, ask.”

“What is your name?”

“Cylas Renford.”

“What is your species?”

“Homosapien. Man. Human.”

“To what nation do you swear your oath?”

“The United States of America.”

“What were you doing in that ship?”

“Hiding from beetle-men.”

“What year did you enter that ship?”

“1879 A.D.”

A murmur went up from the other men in the ship.

“What is A.D.?” one of them asked.

“It predated the Storian pantheon,” answered another. “I couldn't add it up for you off hand.”

Tando studied some dials on the machinery “This Cylas is telling the truth, men.”

“I know I'm telling the truth,” I said, “but what does it all mean?”

Tando stood up “It mean that your sleep is far longer than you imagined.”

“Oh?”

“On your calendar this would be the year 501,879. You have been asleep for half a million years!”