I believe it was at that moment I knew beyond doubt we were not on the planet earth unless we’d been transported centuries into the future. Since I had witnessed the destructiveness of the pandemic, I judged that earth had no more then a generation of humanity left.

And without humanity, who would create this world, this technology?I rubbed my eyes with both hands feeling that if I asked the wrong question, the answer might loop me into a place in my mind where insanity ruled consciousness.

“Hey,” Margaret’s voice sounded quietly caring. “We are going to survive all this.” She waved a hand at our surroundings.

“I suspect we will but this is not what truly concerns me.”

“What it?”

“Whoever created everything.” I looked into her eyes and saw a confidence that defied logic. “You don’t agree.” I said since a question would’ve been out of place then.

“This time you need to trust my opinion, okay?”

I drew a deep breath ready to argue my point and then thought, Oh to hell with it.

“I will,” I said and that drew a huge smile that made my heart skip.

She stood and reached for my hand, and once I was on my feet, she led me into the bathroom, the shower once undressed and after the nearest sleeping area.

As we lay with our shoulders and hip touching, I turned to look at her. “What was it like in 2028?”

“I’m basically apolitical, never bothered choosing a political party. Guess you might say I’m an independent so I have the freedom to vote for whoever I wanted.”

I shrugged enough so she could feel it. “We don’t have anything resembling politics. We have a mainframe that searches for the best, qualified person for each position in government. The snag is that the comp must find the best qualified but also someone who abhors the idea of governing on any level.”

She laughed lightly. “Must be interesting. Are they forced to govern then?”

“They are, but mostly they consider the obligation a civic duty and serve the required years and then step aside. That way we always have people in charge that will do their best for their, constitutes and not use the job as a get rich scheme.”

“God if you only knew what we have running out country. Hell, several other countries have the same problem. Which are men and women who made a career out of politics and find ways to work the system for great power and wealth.”

“We don’t earn a living as I’ve read people did in the past, or my past. Each of us is issued credits depending upon our needs and skills. No one suffers poverty.”

“What kind of incentive does that create?”

I shrugged again. “Everyone will work diligently if they have the opportunity to do what they are most interested in doing.”

She wrapped an arm around across my chest. I knew she was getting drowsy and I was too.

“Anything else about 2028 that is interesting?”

“Nothing that made me, desire to remain there.” I heard her draw a long deep breath and then knew she slept.

No matter what she’d told me, I felt strongly there was something significant she not talked about to me. Something in 2028 that affected her outlook on life. Perhaps I was wrong to feel that way, but her eyes and the way they changed hadn’t been an illusion. And the night I felt something heavy land on the bow deck of the boat, and the finding her sitting calmly, again eyes not at all normal.

In the time I lived before using the portal, historians knew almost nothing about the early twenty-first century. Some historical experts believed whatever happened back then was awful enough that later in time all of it was erased as if the first five decades were a mistake best overlooked and forgotten.

There had been rumors of bio-warfare, altering DNA to create a warrior class unlike any ever before. Mainframe computers large and powerful enough to, eliminate the need for a human working class. Which in turn left millions homeless and living in utter poverty. And if the rumors were true to any substantial degree what about the offspring of the warrior class, the DNA recreated humans?

I smiled and chuckled softly. Nighttime was when I dreamed up catastrophes the ‘what ifs’ that the ancient philosopher Montagne wrote about: My life has been filled with the most terrible of misfortunate most of which never happened.

But little did I know then.

I drifted off to sleep.