Rendezvous with the Future

Chapter One

Zorro opened his eyes and saw an unnatural light coming from the ceiling above him. Jumping to his feet, he observed that there were no lanterns or candles anywhere, only the soft light that seemed to emanate from above his head. The room was obviously a bedroom of sorts, with a bed similar to the one he was used to, but it had very little else in the way of furniture. A small, plain wardrobe stood in one corner and a contrivance, looking like some kind of washstand stood in another. There were a few pictures on three of the walls, reflecting scenes somewhat familiar. The strangest feature, though, was a vast opaque window, which covered one whole side of the room. His sword was still at his side, so he used it to gently prod at the strange window in front of him before he touched it with his gloved hand, and although it was not clear, it did seem to be some kind of glass. Sheathing his blade, Zorro sat down on the bed, and pondered how he ended up in this unfamiliar room.

He remembered he had been returning home from capturing a bandit that had been terrorizing the area for several days, robbing couriers and rich travelers on the El Camino Real. It had taken some time to trail the bandit after his last robbery and by the time Zorro had taken the prisoner to the cuartel and left him with Sgt. Garcia, it had been approaching midnight.

The light!  He recalled a great, strange, all consuming light coming from above him. It was blinding, piercing even through closed eyelids! At the moment he didn’t even have time to conjecture if it was a heavenly light or hell-sent, although now, in his present circumstance, he was beginning to think it was probably the latter. Tornado had begun screaming and bucking in fear. And then there was a loud high-pitched whistling sound.

The stallion went berserk and before he knew it, Zorro was on the ground in a daze, blinded by the terrible light. And that was the last thing he could remember until waking up in this strange room.

Zorro searched completely around the room, puzzled that there was no door. Well acquainted with secret passages, he was thorough in his search, but could find no way out. "Buenos tardes, is there anyone who can hear me?" he called. Receiving no answer, the outlaw lay down, totally confused and for once not having any idea what to do.

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In a nearby room, two other prisoners were pondering their situation. They were only children, snatched from their family on a planet a long way from their real home. "Will, how are we going to get out of this?" the dark haired girl asked, her large, expressive eyes brimming with unshed tears.  Even though she was older, the girl looked to her younger brother for the answers to their problems.  This kidnapping had been especially hard for her.

"Penny, if I could only get to the navigational computer, I think I could put in the coordinates to get us back to the Jupiter II," Will Robinson explained. His hair was flame red and his face sprinkled with many freckles. "You remember when we were first caught and Riboxis was yelling at the whole bunch of us. I was near the helm and was able to read the printout of the coordinates of the planet we were captured on. I remember them and all I have to do is feed them in to get the course. And even if I couldn’t do that, I think I could put in a distress signal that Dad might be able to pick up. But we haven’t been able to get anywhere near the command deck or the central computer," he added in frustration.

"Maybe one of the other prisoners could help us," Penny Robinson suggested, lamely, with a touch of hope in her voice.

"But so far all of the other prisoners have been captured from underdeveloped planets, where the technology is far below ours or Riboxis’."  Will sighed. "Oh, well, I suppose we should go take dinner to the newest member of this little zoo. Come on."

This was the part of their imprisonment that they liked the least, having to care for the poor scared souls who had been snatched from their homes. He and Penny knew about space ships, space travel and modern technology, but most of these other unfortunates thought they had been thrown into some kind of hell or witches’ den. Sometimes in their fright, the prisoners had tried to attack Penny and Will, but the children’s special key card would not allow any prisoner closer than three feet from the children if an attack occurred.

Will walked to the door and looked up at the monitor. A tall man, dressed completely in black, lay calmly on the bed, staring at the ceiling, his face a study of intense concentration. A black hat lay on his chest, a weapon that appeared to be a sword rested along his left hip and his gloved hands were clasped behind his head, which was partially covered with a bandana and a mask. That last fact shocked Will. Had Riboxis captured some kind of pirate?

They were protected at any rate, so Will slid his key card into the slot and watched as the door hissed open. Several things happened at once. The man who had been lying on the bed when Will had looked on the monitor was instantly on his feet with the sword out and postured in a fighting stance. But he didn’t approach them and when he saw they were children he placed the weapon back in its sheath and straightened up.

"Will, he has a mask on," Penny whispered, a bit fearful of the tall, black clad man, who seemed so quick to fight. Will was looking at the man intently as though he reminded him of someone he knew.   There was something vaguely familiar with him, something that reminded him of someone else.

"We have something for you to eat, sir," Will told him politely, and then waited the few seconds it took for the translator to kick in. When it did, Will did a double take. The language sounded very much like Spanish. The prisoner did a double take, too, seemingly confused that the voice was coming from the ceiling.

"Were you speaking English?" he asked the children in their language. His English was accented and stilted as though he spoke it very seldom, but still the children were able to understand him without much problem. They both nodded and the strange voice didn’t come back out of the air. "Where am I?" he asked them, bluntly.

"You’re on a space ship, heading, who knows where. We were captured, too," the boy answered. "Where are you from?"

"I am from the Pueblo de Los Angeles. I am called Zorro," he answered anticipating the next question. "Are we alone or are we being heard?" Zorro glanced at the ceiling again.

"Did you say Los Angeles?" Penny asked incredulously. "That’s on Earth."

"Sí, it is in California, señorita."  Zorro smiled in relief.  The idea that there was someone who was familiar with his homeland was somehow reassuring in this place that seemed so strange.  At this point, it didn’t matter to him if they were Americanos or British.

"This is going to sound silly, sir, but what year is it?" Will asked Zorro. He still couldn’t put his finger on what made this man seem familiar.

"Why, 1820, muchacho," Zorro answered with a smile. "What year is it for you?"

"2009," Will decided he might as well get the shock over with, although this prisoner seemed to be very astute. The man’s revelation was a bit of a shock to him, too. He was unaware that Riboxis had the means to travel through time as well as space.

"Well, children, I suppose that I must be dreaming, hallucinating, in purgatory, or you have a lot to explain to me. But I repeat, are we being heard by anyone else?"  Somehow Zorro had the idea that if there were people who could kidnap him and put him in a room where the light came from seemingly no concrete source, where doors appeared magically and children said they were from the future, then it was possible for someone to be listening.  He remembered the times when he had listened to others from spy holes in his own hacienda.

Will went over to the window and held the card against the glass. It cleared to show the trio a veritable parade of alien beings. "By the Saints!" Zorro declared and jumped back a couple of paces in shock. "I believe I am in purgatory, but what have I done to deserve this?" The outlaw couldn’t begin to describe the different beings that were watching on the other side of the glass. Most had torsos, heads and limbs, but there the similarity to anything human ended. Zorro realized that his hand was resting on the hilt of his sword, but knew that it would be useless to draw it.

"No, sir, you were captured by an alien named Riboxis, who seems to collect prisoners from all over the galaxy for his zoo. Those are paying customers who have come to see you and everybody else that’s here." Will laughed. "I’m afraid you aren’t giving them a good show, Mr. Zorro. I think Riboxis likes to get prisoners from backward worlds because they will rant and rave and try to fight."

"We have to leave, sir, but we will think on what we have talked about," Will said cryptically. "We really would like to learn a little Spanish," he added and winked at Zorro.  He and Penny left and the door slid shut.

The boy had forgotten to change the glass back, although it wouldn’t have mattered.  All pretense to privacy was now gone. Sighing, Zorro went ahead and tried the food, turning his back on the nightmarish parade of creatures at the window. It was sustenance; that was all.  No tortillas, no chilies, and no wine.  It was all very bland, he thought wryly to himself.