Lost Past by Teresa McCullough, Zachary McCullough Page A

before.
                  Linda was next and she felt a tingly feeling while descending the stairway, which was steep enough to make the trip down awkward without being able to grab t he railing. When she exited through a door that was opened for her, she found herself in a large room with a low ceiling. Three blond workers were processing the strawberries, but Linda found herself looking at a wall that contained a large screen showing a video of two children, who could have been John’s by their appearance, both having blue eyes and platinum blonde hair. They were obviously brother and sister. The gi rl had a smudge on her cheek and a healing skinned knee, visible under her short fur garment . The boy had fresh scratches on his right hand, and the berries he held showed how he got the scratches. There were berry stains on his hands and around his mouth. His face was lit with wide smile.  The girl picked the berries more carefully. Although she ate the majority of them, she gave her brother about a third of what she picked.
                  Off to the side of the screen, partially hidden by the trees, was something that was obviously not from Earth. It was a light bluish gray, with orange eyes. It wore clothing, including shoes over huge feet. It had some kind of equipment in its hand that appeared to be recording the scene. Linda thought it was weird that it didn’t have a mouth, although she could see tiny ear holes. 
                  When the full party finally collecte d in the room, they moved past the flat screen, somehow they were viewing the scene from a different angle, as if it were taking place in the room they were in.
    John translated a caption naming them as the Founding Foundlings who were the ancestors of every human in Vigint City. Linda thought with amusement that she was completely unrelated to these children.
                  The low ceilings caused Wilson to duck at every doorway.  The hallways were surprisingly narrow. The floor was a shiny white and the walls were mirrors. The ceiling was covered with lights, individually dim, but with the walls and floors, the lighting was adequate.
                  They passed numerous people in the hallway, going single file, who wore identically styled pants and shirts, with features similar to John’s , which made Linda certain John came from here and was descended from the two children in moving mural. The people all stared at the party as they passed, but didn’t slow down unless there was a gap behind them. When people joined the line, they did so at a gap and moved smartly with the crowd. Cara coughed several times. She tried to cough into her shoulder, but with her hands behind her back, she had difficulty covering her mouth. Sometimes, droplets appeared on the mirrored halls.
                  An old man intercepted them at an intersection, ignoring the crowds that stopped in the narrow corridor. He said something to Brown Hair that Linda wished she understood, but John didn’t translate. It didn’t take a translation to realize the four abductors were not happy with what was said. They changed direction and went to a small room where a man was ready for them. The man had longer arms and a longer torso than Wilson, but was two inches shorter. His short legs looked odd on his body. The old man addressed him by name: Reidar .
                  Under Reidar’s directions, Wilson was shoved into a chair attached to a device to secure his head. Linda and Cara were jammed into a corner of the room. Although Reidar extended the support to the greatest length, Wilson had to hunch his body to fit. The padded chair had handholds for the comfort of the occupant, but Wilson’s hands remained bound behind his back. Reidar reached for Wilson’s suit coat to pull it back to bare his shoulder. He was clearly unfamiliar with the jacket shirt and tie. John said something and Brown Hair came