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        Breathing heavily. Owen ran through the streets. It was past midnight, and he knew he was out past the city curfew. Owen had no intention of being busted by the Authority—not today.  If he got caught, they’d either put him to death or place him in one of those work camps or something, but either way, he’d never see his wife again. Owen cut down a corner and then another. The air was hot and sticky even though the sun set hours ago.  The blasted sun was turning into a gas giant, and it was nearly unbearable to be out during the day without an expensive UV suit on.

Owen turned quickly and saw the lights behind. He cut to the left and realized quickly to his dismay that this alley was a dead end. He heard the whirring of the drones. His heart thumped. Owen turned quickly not knowing which way to go. He looked up. The drones were too close. He saw a door. He turned the knob. Shit! It was locked. He pounded on the door, hoping to measure his worth with some stranger's kindness.

Owen heard voices nearing in on him. “He went this way.”

“Copy That. The drones are closing in too.”

Shit! Owen said aloud.

Owen reached into his pocket. He pulled out his smuggled revolver. Having this weapon alone would lead him to his death. He popped the cylinder out. Two bullets. He had to make it count. He looked up again and realized the drones were circling him. A light rounded the corner and shined brightly at his face. Owen quickly stood behind an alley dumpster poised to shoot at the Authorities armor plated suits, hoping to do some sort of damage.

Sweat poured down his face. This poisoned world. Owen hadn’t had a clean cup of water in four days. He was exhausted. Owen was born into a world without fresh water. All of that seemed like a forbidden thought now. Who cares. Owen was going down fighting. He knew that. He had to. He—

               Just then the door to the alley opened. It was a young man in his early thirties. His hair was green and mohawked in the center of his head. Tattoos sleeved up each arm from knuckle to shoulder—some sort of colorful gibberish.  He shoved his head out of the door and looked down the alley then at Owen. “Are you coming or not?”

               The man didn’t have to tell Owen twice. Owen darted toward the door quickly just as a bullet from the drone whizzed past his head. Owen ran into the man, but he gained his composure enough to close the big metal door tight. His savior yelled, “Help me with this.” He was pushing a huge couch across the door.

               Owen stood dumbfounded for a few moments before helping him force the huge couch over. Breathing heavy again, Owen motioned to the man, Thanks.

               “We’re not out of this yet, Compadre. Quick—follow me.”

               The guy led him down a hallway and to a room on the far side of the building. Owen looked around the dimly lit abode. Lights flickered all around. The air was damp. Water dripped from exposed pipes.  “I’m Techno, by the way.” He grabbed a flashlight sitting on a rusted toolbox and turned it on. The light sputtered to life as he led the way deeper into the building, down some stairs.

               Owen bumped his head on a lower cross beam of the basement. “Damn, that hurt!” Owen exclaimed rubbing his forehead. “I’m Owen.”

               “I know.” Techno didn’t turn but kept leading the way through the winding tunnels of the building's basement. The concrete floor turned to dirt, and back to concrete. Owen could hear rushing water nearby.  

               “What do you mean, you know?” Owen yelled out to Techno who was moving quickly through the vast underground corridors.

               “Your face—it’s all over the news. I could tell by the live feed of the drones; you were headed my way. You’re lucky you cut down that alley when you did.”

               “Who are you?”

               “I told you. I’m Techno,” he said flatly stopping all of abruptly. Owen nearly ran into him.

               “Yeah, but WHO—are you?” Owen emphasized the word.

               “Well, right now, I’m the only friend you got, and if you ever want to see your wife again—”

               OWEN REACTED!

               He grabbed Techno by the shoulders and wheeled his body around, pinning him against the wall. Techno dropped his flashlight. Owen put his forearm against his throat.

               “What do you mean if I ever want to see my wife again?”

               “Relax, Owen. I mean. They already have her. You’re not listening to me, dude. You’re a wanted man. They already took her.”

               “The Authority?”

               “Yes, you know, it’s been bad news for the city ever since they began patrolling the streets. The world is shit, dude. Ever since you know who got in charge and called for Martial Law. There’s no going back. So, we have to find our own way.”

               Owen lifted his grip from Techno’s neck, slowly- unsure of his new friend.

               Techno bent down to pick up his flashlight in which was still-but barely shining in the darkness. “I have a way to get your wife back, but you’re going to have to trust me.”

               “Trust you? I mean, do I have a choice at this moment?”

               “We always have a choice, Broski.” Techno turned with a sly smile and passed through a doorway. He switched on a light as soon as Owen was through and closed the door. The room was a maintenance room to an underground subway station. Everything looked standard—run-down but standard, except for one thing. There was a large computer set up in the center of the room.

               “What is that?” Owen walked over to the large machine. All sorts of hoses and cables protruded from the thing exiting through the walls of the room.

               “I call her Esmerelda. Ezzy for short. Ezzy meet Owen. Owen meet Ezzy, the love of my life.”

               “It’s a machine though. It’s old.”

               “Hey, Piss for Brains!! Don’t go dissin’ my girl like that.” Techno walked over to the computer and rubbed his hand against the side of the monitor gently. “He didn’t mean it Snookum.”

               Owen ran his hand across his forehead. There was a bump from hitting it earlier—the least of his worries. “Well, I appreciate it, but I figured, there’d be a way out or something. No, doubt the Authority lasered their way through the doorway upstairs, by now.”

               “They’re already in the building for sure.” Techno flipped switches on a panel as he spoke, “but, we won’t be for long.”

               “What are you—” Owen’s question was cut short when the monitor came to life. It was a picture of his wife tied and gagged to a chair. A woman stood above her grabbing her chin as she spoke. There was no sound. “What is this? I need in there, now.”

               Techno stepped out from behind the machine. He was plugging things into the computer and handed Owen what looked like a smaller version of a black screen attached to a wristband. “You’ll need this.”

               Owen took the wrist screen and looked it over. “What is it?”

               “See those two buttons on the side?”

               Owen saw two glowing buttons on the side as instructed. “Yes. What do they do?”

               “Put the watch on.”

               “How is this a wa—”

               “Shut up and listen. You do not have much time. Now, put it on. Look at Ezzy’s screen. I want you to focus on the screen. I’m going to still the footage.”

`              Owen put the watch on. When he did, he felt two pinpricks entering his wrist. “Ouch! What the hell is this?”

               “Stop whining. When you focus on the still picture. You will be taken to the room where your wife is being held. You’ll have exactly 41 seconds to get her out of there. She has to be touching you. The watch acts as a teleportation device. When you push the top button on the side twice, it will show you the room you are standing in now. When you push it three times, the watch will show you a place outside both rooms. Most of the time, it’s a better place than here. Now, I need you to hear the next words.” Techno stood and grabbed Owen by the shoulders. Whatever you do . . . Do not push the bottom button or the top button any more than three times. It has not been tested. You could teleport between a wall for all I know, or a million miles in the air, or a different dimension.”

               “What? Dimension?” Owen repeated. “How is this technology even possible?”

               Techno laughed and ignored the question. “Take your gun out. You’ll only have a moment to get her back. You ready?”

               “I guess so. Push the button how many times to get ba—”

               With an electrical jolt, Owen dematerialized and rematerialized in the same room as his captive wife with a flash. The two guards by the door were blown back. The woman standing over Owen’s wife shielded her eyes, blinded by the light. “Owen looked down at his watch. It was counting down. 36 . . . 35 . . . He held his gun out and pulled the trigger. It hit the woman in the shoulder. He aimed it at one of the guards and pulled the trigger again. As the guard got up, the bullet hit his visor, knocking him back against the other guard. The woman cried out in pain and grabbed at her shoulder, as she crawled behind a desk.

               Owen looked down at his stunned wife. He grabbed her restraints and unbuckled them. He didn’t have time to remove her gag. She fell against his shoulder, as he looked down at his watch. 11 . . . 10 . . . 09—The one guard regained his composure and pulled his weapon. Owen pushed the button once then twice then three, but a shot rang out causing both him and his wife to jump, he double- pushed the button adding up to five. A cloud engulfed both him and his wife. The bullet shot at him slowed as soon as it hit the protective bubble. He stared into the screen of his watch, which lit up. It was sunny, there was water. It was an ocean. Owen only heard about oceans. He looked up. The bullet traveled ever so slowly toward the back of his wife’s head. Her face was buried into Owen’s arm. He yanked her out of the way, but everything moved in slow motion, including him. Suddenly with a flash—they were both gone.

()()()

               Owen’s eyes opened slowly. He tasted sand. He forced himself up. His muscles ached. He looked around. His wife was lying a few feet from him. She wasn’t moving. He shot up and fell again—the pain. Owen crawled to her, yelling out her name, “ANNA! ANNA! WAKE UP!!”

               Anna stirred. She pushed herself up. “Owen, what happened? Where are we?”

               The ocean water swept the shore encircling the couple. It was cool. The sun was not as hot here either. Nowhere on earth was the sun this cool. Owen held his wife. “I don’t know where we—” He heard a familiar voice.

               “Holy shit, how did you make it here?”

               Owen turned to Techno standing in white loose-fitting clothes standing above him. His hair was different—black-longer and slicked back. The tattoos were gone somehow. Owen shook it off. He was unmistakingly, Techno.

               “I been living on this island for three and half years, give or take. I lost track of time—that’s neither here nor there—with these nice people.” Techno pointed behind him at the handful of people— men, women, older people, children even.

               Owen and Anna, still lying on the beach holding each other and looking at all the smiling faces. One of the older women ran up to the couple with a thermos of fresh water. She held it out and eyed the jug incredulously. “You poor dears. Please drink. Be careful it’s really cold.”

               Anna snatched the thermos a bit more abruptly than intended, but forgiveness could be asked for later. She took a gulp then handed it to Owen. He looked at the thermos for a few seconds, and his wife pushed the bottom up toward his lips. The fresh-sweet water encased his chapped tongue. Owen couldn’t help but inhale the water. He pulled the thermos off his lips in between mid-gulp and pushed it back toward his wife. She also took the much-needed liquid into her stomach.

               “Easy you two. There’s plenty more where that came from. I don’t want you to get sick. You must be famished. GERALD!” The woman called to her husband. Lay out the table for our guests. A man turned with a smile and made his way toward the straw huts near the tree line. “My name is Elizabeth. If there is anything you need, my husband and Gerald and I can help you.”

               Anna spoke next with a smile. “Thanks, Elizabeth. My name is Anna, and this is my husband, Owen. I do apologize we are a little worse for wear right now.”

               “Nonsense,” Elizabeth kindly scolded with a smile. You two is all young Techno ever talked about in our little paradise for years.

               Techno held out a hand and Owen took it. He pulled his wife up with him. Owen looked at Techno.  “I just can’t believe after all this time, you made it. I thought sure you were dead.”

               “I don’t understand, how you lived here for three and a half years. I was only gone for a few seconds,” Owen stumbled through the sand with his Anna’s arms wrapped around his waist.

               “Wormholes are tricky mistresses. What can I say?”

               The three walked up to the main hut, followed by the other people on the island. The sun was setting, and the cool hair rushed in from the ocean.

()()()

               “You know, I only heard about the ocean. It’s louder than I thought it would be.” Owen laughed a few hours later sitting down with his wife and the group, eating the most delicious food.” They all chuckled.

               “How’s my watch doing?”

               Owen looked down at the black screen hanging about his wrist. “Oh man, it was literally a lifesaver, but I’m afraid it doesn’t work anymore.”

               “Maybe I can get it to work then. Who knows.” Techno took a swig of fruit wine out of coconut shell.

               Throughout the night the clan became more drunk and very happy with their new surroundings and friends. Elizabeth showed the couple where their room was, a very nice woven hammock hung in the center. She closed the door gently leaving Owen and Anna to settle in.

               “My goodness, babe. Everyone here seems so nice.” Owen fluffed a pillow on the hammock before sliding into it carefully.

               “I know. We are blessed to have found this group. This area is so amazing. It’s what we saw in the old-world magazines. The sun is just the right amount, and the night is so cool out.” Anna stood above the hammock and smiled down at her husband.

               “What is—” Owen felt something jabbing his lower back on the hammock. He reached down and it was a photo. He sat up and looked at it closer.

               “What is it, honey?” His wife leaned in.

               “It’s the city we just came from. It looks like the same—”

               The world around Owen flickered. He gripped the edge of the hammock, but when he twisted his body, he fell out and hit the floor. He stood, but he was not in the hut anymore. His world changed dramatically around him. He was in the very alley where the Authority was closing in on him. “What the hell? Anna! ANNA!!” He yelled as he turned. His wife was nowhere to be seen.

               “He’s over here.”

               “Copy! Closing in.”

               He heard the voices over the radio, just as a shot rang out. He didn’t feel the pain at first, but he felt the blood dripping onto the alley ground. Owen fell to his knees and his face hit the ground. He saw a set of shiny Authority boots walking up to him. Owen could barely keep his eyes open. The pain was setting in now. He managed to crank his neck to look up at the man standing over him, but he didn’t need to. He knew who it was when he spoke.

               “Hello. Old friend. You almost got away.” Techno smiled ear to ear. “Don’t worry. You’re home now.”

               Techno reached down and took his watch from Owen's wrist just as his eyes closed.