

## Jessie Stern and the Time Shifters

### By

### Kim Merrill

### Published by Kim Merrill at Smashwords

### Copyright 2013 Kim Merrill

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And thank you for reading my book

Cover image from of Dreamstime

**Chapter 1 - The Last Entry of my 12th year**.

I don't want to be a hero, but it feels like I've been one the past few nights.

It happens in a dream. I am watching a young girl – a priestess. And, in that strange dream way I _am_ the priestess too.

It happens in that twilight time between being awake and still being asleep. You know, the seconds of time when it's hard to tell if you're still in the dream world or back in the real world. That's what this dream is like. I hate that mixed-up feeling. It makes me feel crazy.

The dream is about Shilona; a world that's dying.

I've had the dream every night this week...

I always have the dream around dawn...

And the dream is always the same...

"You must not tell them." The dream starts with this message. The message is broken, but clear enough. All other communication with the Shilonan people had been lost hours ago. Only the cabinet leaders are still in contact.

"Repeat, you must not tell them. If you do, they may not come," the voice says again. She feels it is wrong, the girl that I watch, the girl that I am. Despite the warning the girl feels those that are coming need to be warned.

"This will be the last transmission. We wish you luck," the voice dies in static.

She is alone. It is the first time in her young life that she has been truly alone. There have always been tutors and priests and, of course her parents- but now they are gone. They fled their dying world and left her to her destiny.

She proceeds down the hall to the stasis chamber; the place she will sleep until her rescue. She is cautious. She knows there are those who want to see her dead so they can seize power in the new home world. New factions that have risen and become stronger since their Sun started to die. The Unconstrained Ones they are called. It would be a great accomplishment for the Unconstrained Ones to kill the High Priestess of the Scrolls of Shilona. Her death would make it so much easier for them to grab the power they desire. The knot in the pit of her stomach tells her that danger is close and she thinks once again of how it is wrong not to tell the ones sailing towards her of the possible hazards.

She slips into the crystal chamber that will bring her slumber. She knows she must put the threat out of her mind for now. She has other duties that need her attention. She must give a message of thanks and welcome to the rescuers as instructed in the prophecies – and then she must release the gas that will bring her sleep.

The Prophecies are always right. As a child she remembered hearing the ancient tales of the Blending Time. The stories had been told over the millennia's. It was a story of the time when the Shilona galaxy joined with the galaxy they now called home. During the millions of years the monstrous sheet of stars loomed before them, some feared that Shilona and its Sun would be thrown out if its orbit into a new region or even into the nothingness of space. Others feared that their planet would not survive the shock waves of the churning 100 million degree gases. (Read More About It #1)

But the Prophets were not worried. They said the Shilona system would maintain a safe and steady orbit around her Sun as their planet joined the new galaxy. They said it would be millions of years before Shilona's own Sun would bring about the planet's death. The prophets were right.

Now that time had come. Their sun was dying. All the others had left and she, the Priestess of the Scrolls remained to welcome and thank those that would save her. The Sleep Chamber is soft and silky. As she closes the door a mist of gas envelops her. It is cool and white and smells of green growing things. She reaches out for the recording device. As the thought once again enters her mind, 'The ones who are coming must be told of the threats.' If they are not the rescuers that were prophesied then they must be warned off. If they are the ones, they would do what they must do to overcome the dangers and take her to her new home. The cabinet always spoke of politics, but she must follow her consciences and she knew what she must do. She closes her eyes and activates the recording device.....

Chapter 2 -1st for Entry My 13th Year on Earth

Despite the strange dreams I've been having I think my 13th year looks promising. On the first morning of my 13th year the clouds hung low on the mountains that surround our city. Rain came down in a drizzle bringing a damp chill to the air.

I guess I really shouldn't start that way. I've read books on writing that say you shouldn't talk about the weather right off. But I disagree. Weather has such an effect on us. It determines how we dress, what we do that day, it can even be an omen. I like the rain, so I took it as a good sign. I took it as a sign that today I would get the "Great Gift."

When I came down the stairs the table was full of presents. Not all mine, of course, it's my cousin Daniel's 13th birthday too. People said that we're a lot alike, but I can never see it. We do both look a little similar. Like most of our family we are tall, thin, have dark hair and glasses, but that's where it ends. I think people just believe we're alike because we were born on the same day and in the same year.

I picked through the presents looking for the ones made out to "Jessie" (that's me) - And especially for the "Great Gift." The one thing I've been asking for since I could talk. Finally, right in the middle, there it was - a ticket, THE ticket, for the Goddard*. I recognized the name. It was a ship that my dad sometimes uses as a science vehicle. He and the pilot go way back. It's also the ship that's taking my dad on his next scientific expedition. The one where he will be studying the death of the Shilona star! I've wanted to go with him and I guess that explains the dreams. It's just been on my mind. I only wish it was a happier dream. I think maybe the dream's a little scary because I was afraid I wouldn't get to go. I told my dad about the dream and how it made me feel crazy. He said, 'Crazy people make the best scientists. It's the wild crazy ideas that change the world.'

The reason why I want to go with dad on this expedition is because I'm a scientist. That is to say I will be a scientist, even though I'm not always very good at it. Like the time last semester in chemistry class when I accidentally turned my hands blue. But that really doesn't matter because I'm not going to be a chemist. I'm going to be an astronomer like my dad.

I love studying the universe. It's just so big and wondrous yet, for the most part, logical. The Earth revolves around the sun, the sun revolves around the galaxy – logical. Plus my last name, Stern, means star in German.

The ticket felt thick, and when I rubbed my finger across it I saw there were two. I figured that meant my cousin was coming along. That's all right. He's generally OK. He came to live with us last year when his parents and my mom were killed by grave robbers on a dig in Peru.

I have nightmares about her death sometimes; dreams of dark figures appearing out of the jungle mist or patches of shadows forming in the moonlight. Her death was illogical. They said it was grave robbers, but nothing was taken. I miss my mom. I miss talking to her and even just being by her and not talking. I think Daniel has nightmares too. Sometime quite screams break through the walls piercing the silence of the night.

Even though Daniel had never asked to go on the expedition, I think my dad got him a ticket so he wouldn't feel left out. I guess I can understand that.

Just as I found the ticket there was the sound of thunder. It wasn't from the storm outside, it was my cousin running down the stairs. He came over to the table and zeroed in on one of his gifts. He ripped it open and declared, "Time Shifters!" It's a video game he'd been wanting. He believes in Time Shifters. Plus he loves the educational video games and the ones that are like piloting a ship. The game was from our Aunt Molly and attached was a card that said "master the game." (She gave me a poster showing the life and death of a star with a card that said "master the star cycles"). After reading the card Daniel turned to me like he just noticed I was there.

"Happy Birthday cuz!" he said even though he knew I hated being called 'cuz'.

"Happy Birthday," I replied back and showed him the tickets. He did seem happy he was going along.

Then, almost as if blown in by the storm Aunt Mini busted in. She didn't knock, but breezed through the door, flew over to us and planted a kiss on Daniel and my cheeks. Then patted our head and cooed, "Poor dears."

She calls us "poor dears" because we only have my dad. She's fond of saying, "I know he tries, but he just needs a little help." Of course she means from her. I hate it when she says that. Dad's great!

She gingerly picked up the necklace I had on while shaking her head, "Dear, that really doesn't go with what you're wearing." I was wearing pajamas. I was going to say that I didn't know they made jewelry that went with PJ's but I didn't. My mom use to say that rudeness is catching like a cough. Once one person starts it it's hard to stop. Since the necklace was from my mom, I tried to take her advice.

Mom had a way of going past the surface and seeing into the heart of things. I always have trouble doing that. For example when I found out that Triton, a moon of Neptune, had a strange orbit (It orbits in the opposite direction of it Triton's rotation, a retrograde orbit) she declared, "Isn't that wonderful!" I thought it was just not consistent with everything, but she was right. It shows how wondrous the universe can be.

Aunt Mini glared at Daniel's necklace (it's just like mine) and shook her head with a wordless "no, it just doesn't go with what you're wearing."

The necklace, which is made of something like pewter, shows four dolphins swimming in a figure eight that is laying down – the symbol for infinity. My mom and his parents sent them to us days before they died and asked us to wear them always so we do.

Aunt Mini gave us each an umbrella for a our present then stood back and exclaimed in her high pitched yet soft voice, "Let me see how much you've grown," even though we just saw her last week.

As she looked at us, we looked at her. Aunt Mini always dies her hair to match her shoes. Today her shoes are green with white stripes.

She started moving in closer, I think for another kiss, then it happened.

She spotted the ticket.

"Rick!" her high pitched voice became a deep megaphone as she yelled out my dad's name. I don't know why she yelled. He was already starting down the stairs.

"I thought we agreed," she said motioning to the ticket, her voice turning high pitched and soft again.

He ignored her and turned to us, "Happy Birthday kids." He started for the kitchen but she followed.

"Space is no place for a young lady. I thought we agreed." She gulped air like she was out of breath even though the kitchen was just a few steps away. Then she patted her green and white striped hair as if to put it back in place. But she wore it up in a tight beehive with so much hairspray I don't think that even a tornado could mess it up.

"It's a wild and woolly Universe filled with Space Pirates and Time Shifters," she continued as she looked back at us. She had been whispering that kind of stuff to him ever since I turned eleven. That's when dad started saying I could go with him on a science expedition once I turned 13.

Aunt Mini locked her eyes on me. She was waiting for me to say what I always say. I would agree that interstellar travel was new and things are always wild when new frontiers open up. But I would argue that the Space Pirates wouldn't bother a science vehicle and that the Time Shifters were just a myth. (I mean a race of people that can speed up time – come on!) My dad wouldn't say anything at all and I almost thought she won him over to her side until I saw the ticket. Since it looked like she hadn't convinced him I decided to let my dad speak to her this time.

"Come on into the kitchen Mini and I'll make you some coffee. Then we can talk."

Daniel and I took that chance to go back upstairs. I wanted to read one of the books Dad bought me and write in my new journal.

This journal was one of my other gifts. Dad gives me a journal every year. He says he gives me one because I have so many special thoughts, but I think the real reason is so I will have something to do and not keep bugging him when he's keeping his science log. But I have to admit, giving me a journal and saying it's for "special thought" is a lot nicer than just telling me to leave him alone.

I had just started reading my new book when my thoughts were interrupted by cries of "wow" and "awesome." Daniel was playing the "Time Shifters" game. I went to his door to ask him to keep it down but before the words could leave my mouth he dragged me in telling me that "...you just have to see this."

He was talking so fast I could barley understand him but did catch how it was "so realistic" and that "its navigation system was based on actual spacecraft." Before I knew it he slapped the visor for the inter-active holographic images on my head, placed the controls in my hand, and told me to, "Just follow the instructions."

In the game, as in the myth, the Time Shifters ships -like ours- are powered by ghostly particles that fill the Universe. Tiny neutrinos* and gasses that burn so hot we can't even see them with our naked eye. The Time Shifters also used dark matter*; an unseen mystery to our people, yet we know it existed because we can watch as the stars and planets seem to dance to its gravity. The Time Shifters, on the other hand, understand dark matter so well they can actually bend time using dark matter's strong gravitational forces.

The game revealed this information to me as images whirled into focus. When the images were clear, I was standing on the bridge of a ship. Through the large portal I could see masses of stretched and crushed debris spiraling into a black hole* - nothing was escaping its grasp, not even light.

A small ship was being pulled in and sending out a desperate transmission.

"They want to destroy the Earth!"

The voice over the intercom went on to tell the stories we have all heard-the stories of how the Time Shifters contract themselves out as mercenaries and can surround an area as big as a solar system or as small as a person and speed up the time for that area. The Time Shifters surround a person or place with their Time Altering Beam, making time passes quickly for whatever or whoever they were hired to "remove". When directed at people the person grows old, dies and turns to dust in a matter of minutes. The Time Shifters can also do what they're doing in the game; age a giant star so it becomes a black hole pulling every thing into – who knows where.

In all the mythical and legendary ways to kill someone (you know the typical poisoned apples, magic swords) I think that speeding up time has got to be one of the most convenient ways. There's no evidence to prove or disprove it. Anything small they age into dust. Anything large like a planet or a star is just as easy. The beam simply forms a temporal* bubble around it. What people see seems, to them, like a fluke astronomical event. The objects true past is lost in time like some ancient and forgotten civilization. Or at least that's how the legend goes.

"You're going to have to pull up or you going to get sucked in," my cousin's voice floated to me. Another booming voice came from the game telling me, "Avoid the black sun."

Before me were strange instruments that gave off a dark blue light. As I looked at them I realized I had absolutely no idea what I was doing.

Like they had a mind of their own my hands moved towards the instruments to try to do – something-anything. Before I could do anything the instrument panel started glowing bright with fire. I watched helplessly as the hulls of the ship began being stretched out from the gravity of the black hole; spagetification* they call it. You couldn't really see it stretch as much as sort of sense it stretch.

An oddly pleasant voice announced "All propulsion units loosing stability – explosion is imminent." Before I could react I heard blasts behind me while pieces from the ship whizzed passed my head. They smashed into the side of the ship and then flew into space as holes in the ship opened from more explosions all around me.

Everything suddenly went black.

I blinked and when my eyes opened again I was back in Daniel's room.

"You're dead," were the first words I heard.

"You didn't even make it through the first level," Daniel taunted. I didn't answer. My cousin was right; the game did seem real - eerily real.

"You died before the game even really starts," he taunted again.

"So what," great comeback, I thought. I was embarrassed and just wanted to change the subject.

"I'm hungry. Let's go talk go talk my dad into taking us out for pancakes." Daniel nodded in agreement and we left his room and the game behind.

What I couldn't leave behind was the sense something was going to happen, something foreboding. I've been feeling that way since the priestess dream started and for some reason the game just made the feeling stronger. It certainly didn't help me feel any better when Daniel told me he had been having a strange dream too. He dreamt about the ship that was in his game every night this week, right around dawn. Just like my dream with the priestess.

Chapter 3 -2nd Entry – School, Filed Trips, and Wooly Mammoth Attacks

The worst thing about going to a new school is that as soon as you walk through the doors you become invisible. No one sees you, no one hears you, and no one seems like they even want to see or hear you. It isn't so bad for Daniel. He can usually find other gamers fairly quickly, and he's more or less set. It always takes me longer to fit in. And once I finally do make friends it's time to move again. My Dad moves around a lot for work so we go to new schools all the time. We've only been at this school for about a month so things are not so great yet. But today, I thought, would be different. Today would be a good day, a day when I could leave strange dreams and ominous feeling behind. Today we were going to the Natural History Museum for a field trip. It's museum where my favorite Aunt, Aunt Molly, works. No such luck on the good day though. Instead it all turned out to be very weird.

First they gave me Breeze as my partner (her real name is Barbara but she calls herself Breeze). She is the most popular girl in the school (or at least that's what she always says). She walks with her head held high, her blond hair bouncing to the rhythm of her steps. When she says hello it sounds like she's singing – that is if she deems you worthy of a hello. She didn't speak to me on the bus ride over but as soon as we got off and saw our teacher chaperon, Mrs. Welden, she acted all chummy. Mrs. Weldon was talking to one of the parent chaperones but Breeze busted right in. After dragging Daniel and me over to them she tried to introduce us to the parent. All the adults think that Breeze is a one kid welcoming committee when actually she has a way of making people feel most unwelcome.

"This is Jessie and Daniel....." she stopped and looked puzzled as she tried to remember our last names. "Well, they're cousins!" she smiled a broad smile and seemed delighted with herself for remembering that much.

The parent (we never learned her name) and Mrs. Welden seemed very proud of her too. "Well, take good care of them," the parent said, "and make sure they don't get lost in the museum."

I was about to tell them it was unlikely I would get lost since my Aunt Molly worked there and I had been to the museum more times than everyone on the entire field trip put together, but before I could we were all called over to the entrance. Daniel could tell I was steamed by the way Breeze used us to try and look like the helpful kid. He grabbed my arm and whispered in my ear. I figured he was going to say something nice, but instead he asked, "Do you think they have that really tasty chocolate peanut butter pudding in the cafeteria today?"

Our Aunt Molly was waiting at the entrance to the museum and gave a warm smile to Daniel and me. She is the Curator of History but she often gives tours. Like most of my family she is tall with glasses but unlike most of us she has blond hair. It always looked a little wind blown and you can never be sure if it's a fashion statement of if she just forgot to brush it. She is a favorite among many of the schools because of the great stories she tells. What people don't realize is that she thinks the stories are real.

The story she never shares with tours but often tells the family is that she's married to a Time Shifter. She met him on an expedition to Egypt.

The first time she told us the story was years ago. It was a balmy summer day on a sail boat traveling along the west coast. The breeze and the waves carried us away in her tale.

"His name is Lavay," she said wistfully, "and when we met he was in hiding. You see, the other Time Shifters liked the way he piloted a ship and they liked the way he handled the time portals. In fact the only thing they didn't like about him was the fact that he didn't like to kill. And since that was mostly what the Time Shifters do, it was a real problem."

It was all very romantic but not very logical. I liked hearing the story, it was a good yarn. However, it was Daniel that begged her to go on.

"We fell in love," she continued, "by the lights of the Egyptian pyramids on a warm star filled night. He told me his story and how he was in hiding so he couldn't stay with me. But I told him a few hours with him is better than no time at all.

She went on to tell how he took her with him for nearly a month. They traveled through portals – doorways in time -doorways that could take them anyplace or anywhere. In 1876 they were married by a preacher in Deadwood, South Dakota and they honeymooned in Renaissance Europe. Their last day together they watched Magellan set sail for his trip around the world in 1519. On that day the other Time Shifters found Lavey and he was afraid to take her with him again. But he vowed to come back to see her, which he does once or twice a month. They spend a few days in some exotic time and place but then he has to leave again.

Or at least that's the story she told us on that distant summer day - the story she always tells the family.

Aunt Molly met the class like she was greeting royalty and then lead us into the dim holographic theater. "This hologram is based on my last trip to the past when I ran into a Neanderthal," she said as we took our seats. The lights dimmed to pure blackness as images on the stage began to take shape. Aunt Molly's voice was low and clear, it seemed to be carried on the darkness as she narrated the story that was unfolding before us.

"We saw him climbing over the hill. He was covered in hair and his cloths were covered in hair. In fact it was hard to tell where he left off and his cloths started. He held a spear and had a large bunch of berries in his hand. He stuffed the berries in his mouth then lifted his spear. He shook it fiercely above his head and stomped his feet in an menacing dance. Then, quite suddenly he gave a great, grand and thunderous, burp. He looked at us for a few seconds more then leaped to the other side of the mountain – out of sight."

The hologram was followed by a brief lecture on prehistoric man. After the presentation we were invited to see the museum.

The rest of the group moved on but as I started to leave a diorama exhibit of a wooly mammoth caught my attention. The mammoth was fending off a group of early humans carrying spears. No one but me seemed to notice that the mammoth was shimmering. Then I thought I saw it move. As I looked again, I know I saw it move. It charged towards me and I began to run. My legs didn't seem to be carrying me fast enough and I could hear it barreling towards me.

I think at this point it would be good to tell anyone seeing this - I remember most of what I read - I actually see the words in my mind. As I ran I remember that wooly mammoths were ancestors of elephants and that elephants are strong, intelligent and can run up to 25 miles per hour; which made it kind of pointless for me to try to run away from it. Thankfully one more thing came to mind. Elephants can swim well, but are not able to trot, jump, or gallop. (Read More About It #2)

Hoping a woolly mammoth couldn't jump either I scrambled onto a display of a saber-toothed that stood several feet off the ground; wishing, as I pulled myself up, that the mammoth couldn't climb that high. It reached it's trunk up towards me and I could feel its warm breath. I closed my eyes and heard-----nothing. I opened one eye then the other. The mammoth wasn't there, but most of my class was.

Daniel was in front, he must have heard the commotion and got there first. He looked concerned. The rest of the class was staring at me blanked faced-then as the shear silliness of the situation started to sink in (the new kid standing next to a saber-tooth on a museum display looking freighted) they started to snicker. The snicker turned to a laugh and my face, I'm sure, turned red.

Mrs. Weldon clapped her hands to regain order then stomped towards me, her face looking like she just swallowed a nasty tasting bug. I didn't need a Time Shifter speeding up time for me to know she would ask what I was doing.

But before she could ask Mr. Alset, the museums chief tech guy appeared from behind an exhibit of some particularly menacing looking prehistoric sharks.

"Are you all right? Did it look real? Could you hear the sound effects – footsteps and what not? Are you sure you're all right?" he asked again even though I never answered the first time.

"I'm afraid it got away from me," all eyes turned to Mr. Alset. I was very relieved of that because it gave me a chance to get off the platform with out them all noticing that I fell off more than climbed off.

"Yes, it really did get away from me. My new interactive hologram that is" he continued. "Would you like to see?"

There were cries of "YES!" from both kids and adults. Excitedly, he nodded his head and then fiddled with some buttons on what looked like a TV remote. A swirl of shapeless light formed into a wooly mammoth. It stomped around and made some sounds similar to the one chasing me. "Oos" and "Ahhs" could be heard over the clamor of the mammoth. Mr. Alset pushed some more buttons and the creature disappeared in another swirl of light. After the cheers and applause Mrs. Weldon turned to me and said reluctantly, "Well, I can see why that my have given you a little start."

Aunt Molly, who appear out of nowhere, made here way through the crowd and said, "Yes, in fact I think I should take her to my office to give Jessie a chance to collect her thoughts. I am her Aunt and I feel she needs family now." She whisked me away before Mrs. Weldon or any of the chaperones could say anything. As we left she whispered something to Daniel. She must have been telling him something about the mammoth that chased me because he gave her a look that wavered somewhere between terror and awe.

As she led me away she murmured to me, "He's deceptive and not to be trusted. I suspected for some time he was working with them, now I know."

"Them?" I asked still al little shaken. We entered her office and she closed the door behind us.

Aunt Molly's office didn't have the usual computers and electronic files. Instead it had the look of an old fashion library with the same comforting smell of books and papers. Her desk was made of dark red wood and behind it sat a dark red overstuffed chair. The room was dark too except for glimmering images of holograms all around. There were large holo's and small holo's and one that practically filled the room when it came on every few minutes. The holos would take the shape of some ancient creature, people, or object. It would glitter for an instant then disappear into the darkness again. But my mind was not on the holos, it was on what my Aunt had said.

"Them?" I asked again.

"The Time Shifters. It was the Time Shifters that told Mr. Alset to send that creature. He brought it through a portal to kill you," she said leading me over to the couch.

"Why would Mr. Alset want to hurt me? He's always been nice to me before and he's always showing Daniel his new computer stuff."

"He's changed," Aunt Molly said. She seemed lost in thought for a moment then spoke again. "For sometime now he has appeared to be drawn to the idea of time travel, the mystery of it, the power of it. But I didn't think he would ever hurt anyone to get it." She turned her attention back to me. "But now he has...changed; now, it is evident he'll do anything for the powers of the Time Shifters."

"Yes," she nodded to herself, "he is definitely working with them."

I wasn't completely back to reality but managed to get out the words, "I don't believe in Time Shifters," I started to stand but reconsidered as the room began to spin forcing me to sit down again.

Aunt Molly sat next to me, put her arm around my shoulder and asked simply "Why?"

It was a good question. She must have told me her story about Time Shifters dozens of times, but I never told her I didn't believe in them. It must have been the heat of the moment that made me finally say it.

"Everyone says they don't really exist," I explained.

"Everyone use to say that the Sun orbited around the Earth, but they were wrong."

She helped me stand and continued on, "Everyone is not always the best source of information." It sounded like something my mom would say.

"If there are Time Shifters and Mr. Alset is working with them why didn't he just turn me to dust?" not that I wanted to be turned to dust, but I felt it was a fair question.

'I suspect it's the necklace," she said softly touching it where it rested on my neck. I believe it has some power that protects you, at least from the smaller time fields." That was as good an explanation as any given the circumstances.

She motioned for me to sit which I was happy to do, still a little dizzy from my close encounter with the fake mammoth.

As she settled in her chair I noticed a new addition to her office - a poster of Albert Einstein sticking his tongue out. Below him were the words "If at first an idea does not sound absurd, then there is no hope for it." – Albert Einstein

She settled back in her chair and drew a deep breath. "The story I must tell you begins like many stories, it begins in the past. It begins before time even started here on Earth – when Earth wasn't even a molten swirling mass, it was just tiny bits of dust and rocks floating in the universe. It begins.... in an obscure lab with an even more obscure scientist. This scientist found by accident or by luck the essence. The essence is what makes all time in the Universe. He found a way to control the essence, to shape it to his will... how to control time to his will. This discovery changed his life and the life of his people. His people were once starving and dying. There were only a few hundred of them then; a few hundred from a race that use to number in the billions. They were desperately poor, the poorest of planets in what was then the know Universe. But they suddenly became rich when they found a market for controlling time."

"And these are the Time Shifters," I said skeptically.

She nodded – "Lavay and I found this information when we were searching the history of his people. We found the story told in musty books of the musty past. "

I think I rolled my eyes, I didn't mean too. She gave me a stern look that said without words "Pay attention!" and went on.

"The other thing that we found in the musty books was there are people throughout time and space that have a talent to stop the Time Shifters. They have the knowledge and intuitive natures needed to halt their every attempt." She looked directly at me. "You and Daniel have that talent – as did his parents and your mother. It's a talent you will soon be called on to use. The old books say it is so."

The largest of the holograms filled the room with a knight and ogre wheeling swords and clubs at each other making soundless clashes when their weapons met. I wondered if it was just a coincidence or if she made it happen to emphasize her point.

"How could they even know about Daniel or me if all this happened so long ago," I asked. "Are they fortune tellers too?"

"Events in the future can affect events in the past."

It sounded cryptic, but the concern in her voice worried me. I love my Aunt Molly. She is so much different than my Aunt Mini that it's hard to believe they're sisters. Aunt Molly is carefree, inquisitive, and adventurous. And even if she's a little crazy she wasn't the type to frighten easily or to give needless warnings about imagined dangers she saw in her fantasies.

"Factions or forming," she continued on leaning in close. "The Time Shifters are enlisting others to help them, others like Alset who will do anything for them. They offer them their hearts greatest desire in payment for doing their bidding." She looked around to be sure no one else was listening. "There are 9128 of the Time Shifters race that are paid killers. But Lavay has joined with members of his race that do not agree the mercenary ways of their brethren. They are gathering evidence to convince others to join against the Time Shifters. People are beginning to believe, even though they may not be admitting it. People are beginning to resist, like you and Daniel must do."

Just when I was getting ready to ask what she meant or how Daniel and I -just kids –could battle beings as strong as the Time Shifters, we were interrupted. Mrs. Weldon poked her head in the door.

"The bus is leaving – feeling better?" She didn't give me a chance to respond. Instead she just thanked my Aunt and led me away.

"Remember what I said and take care," Aunt Molly said as we left. "Age is not as important as knowledge," she cried out, as if she could read my mind and knew the question I wasn't able to ask. Again there was that concern. It gave me chill, like an unexplained noise on a lonely night. A chill I feel even as I write this now.

The ride back was just as awful as the visit to the museum.

First:

Breeze strutted over to Mrs. Weldon and said with false sincerity, "I'll sit next to her to make sure she's OK."

Of course Mrs. Weldon bought it and beamed at Breeze saying, "Thanks you Breeze, you're such a ray of sunshine."

She didn't sit next to me, I was glad of that. Daniel did sit next to me and I had a notion he was going to talk about the pudding again. But instead he said, "Yes, Breeze is a ray of sunshine alright, she'll burn you every chance she gets." That was a little mean but made me smile. Daniel really can be nice sometimes. I should try to tell him more often.

Then:

I kept thinking about what Aunt Molly had said and thinking about the mammoth that chased me. There was something strange about the mammoth Mr. Alset had shown the class. It looked like mine (if you can call something that chases you yours) and it walked like mine. Then it hit me, there was no warm breath coming from it!

Before I had a chance to figure out why that might be:

I heard some kids laughing and snickering – the second time that day I heard snickering meant for me. "She wants to be an astronomer and makes entries in her journal." Another muffled voice sneered, "Like a kid could see something a scientists who studies for years couldn't."

I turned to them and said:

"In 1930, a young Indian graduate student took a steamer from London. During that long voyage he developed ideas that changed the way we look at the universe. In fact it influenced the way we view the life cycle of a star. (Read More About It # 3)

Actually, I had been thinking about that quote as I remembered what my Aunt said about how age is not as important as knowledge.

"She's soooo weird," Breeze said. "Like a walking book."

"Jessie knows lots of cool stuff," Daniel said defensively. He turned to me and asked, "Who made the first video game.

"Tennis for Two was the first and it came out in October 18, 1958. Someone speculated that exhibits might be more fun if they included a game that people could play," I replied. (Read More About It #4) -

A soft "wow" came from Daniel's crowd and my cousin seemed very proud of me for knowing the answer.

Then Daniel said something very strange. He came in so close his whispered question made my ear tickle. He asked me how I could think that the mammoth that chased me was just a hologram when it didn't even make the same sound as the one Mr. Alset showed the class. I hadn't noticed that. The sounds were different. And like the warm breath (or lack of warm breath) I remembered of earlier - I couldn't explain it. It wasn't logical. Had Mr. Alset really sent something after me like Aunt Molly said? Would they be sending something after me as we went on our expedition to Shilona tomorrow?

3rd Entry

"He's the best pilot in the fleet and I've known him for years," Dad said.

"All pilots think they're the best pilot in the fleet and knowing him for years doesn't make him safe," Aunt Mini said. Today she wore purple shoes with white polka dots and, of course, hair to match.

"And you know how fanciful the child is," she was talking about the time I asked my dad to drive me until we were standing under the North Star. He drove and drove until I finally figured out you couldn't drive far enough to stand under the star in one night. My dad is good at letting you figure things out for yourself. But I did figure it out. So I'm not fanciful, I'm analytical. Besides I was just little then. I was glad when he reminded her of that.

Dad said something, then she said something and then he would say something else again. It went on like that until the Goddard arrived. It breezed passed the other landing vessels screeching to a hovering stop inches from the ground. Aunt Mini glared at my Dad who wouldn't look at her. She lowered her voice like Daniel and I weren't suppose to hear what she was saying, but was sure to speak loud enough so we actually could. "I certainly hope he's the best, because he's not the safest."

The ship doors opened and Jake, the pilot appeared at the entrance. He couldn't have looked more like a pirate if he tried. He had midnight black long hair pulled back in a pony tail and a short scraggily beard. He stood well over six feet tall and he even had an eye patch.

"All aboard," the captain called out like he was announcing it to the entire loading station, despite the fact it was only the three of us going.

The ship is all cold steal and chrome. The dark, soft overstuffed, suede chairs placed at the control helm and all around seem out of place, with the rest of the ship looking so hard. Our pilot told us to call him Jake then told us to buckle up for take-off. I wondered if all science pilots were that to the point.

I snapped a photo of the Earth as we left her atmosphere and heard Jake say, "Sure sign of a first timer," as he entered our flight pattern into the computer. But then he leaned in and said to me like it was something very confidential, "But then I've left Earth thousands of times, and still can't get over how it looks."

As the Earth grew smaller I began to take a closer look at the ship. It reminded me of something. I couldn't think of what it was at first. Then it hit me. It looks just like Daniel's game. The one Aunt Molly said to master.

Chapter 4 - 4th Entry Off World (Finally) - The Moon Has Bees

The lunar surface, once thought to be barren- is now a haven for water. The water is found in cold dark craters-placed there by ancient icy comets and at the poles. It's where everyone goes for water now before heading out into the galaxy. Besides the water from the craters, waste water is dropped off and recycled then returned to other ships. The Moon is our first stop and we're going to spend the night on the ship here before heading to Titan. (Read More About It #5).

The Moon Base has a large round center portion that is domed with several passages coming out from the center. It looks a little like a giant octopus hugging the surface.

The strange stuff started happening as soon as we landed. The port was dark but crowded. Another ship was putting on cargo and there were people rushing back and forth trying to load. That's when I believed I saw him. It was Mr. Alset. He was standing in the shadows but before I could be sure it was really him he disappeared, blending in with the darkens. As we walked down the passageway Daniel grabbed my arm and spoke in hushed tones, "We should stick close together."

I wondered if Daniel had seen him too. Wondered if Aunt Molly had told him Mr. Alset was working for the Time Shifters. And wondered what we could do about it if any of it was true.

Besides being a water port, the Moon is also home to The Gardens, the first attempt to grow food on an alien surface. Everyone goes to The Gardens, and so did we. My dad and Daniel were reading about how they grew the plants. I was exploring.

I made my way over to a grove of trees that had fruit larger than I had ever seen. Wondering down the rows my eyes caught what appeared to be an orange, but it was as big as a watermelon. I didn't remember seeing it before – it was like it just suddenly appeared. I watched the thing begin to move, swaying from side to side. Suddenly a tiny creature like a bee flew out and butted my head. It flew back and became part of the swaying hive. I heard they had bees on the moon but I didn't think there were hives in The Gardens.

As the bee returned the hive changed color. It changed from orange to an angry red with hot white bolts flashing every few seconds.

I remembered reading about Africanized Bees and how a head butt is a warning. Although I never heard about bees changing color I though it best to treat it like the bees I knew. I moved back slowly trying not to seem like a threat to them...then Daniel came darting up to me.

"What ya doing over here?" he yelled out as he ran past the hive.

That's all it took. The bees came buzzing out of the hive right towards us.

"Run!" I yelled as I pulled him along until he started moving on his own. I remembered reading you should run when attacked by a swarm of bees because there is a chance you could out run them and they would stop chasing you once you they didn't see you as a threat to the hive. The things seemed very Africanized Bee like so I hoped they had read the Earth bee rule book and that those same ideas on how to protect yourself from Earth bees would work for them too. I grabbed a couple of tarps off a work bench and gave one to Daniel because I also remembered reading to cover up, especially your eyes and mouth. (Read More About It #6)

As I glanced back to see if they were still there the shapeless swarm turned into something, well, bizarre. The bees had formed themselves into something that looked like what you might get if a zebra and a panther had a baby. It had the head of a zebra, but the body of panther. The bees had arranged themselves so the colors on their bodies made the strips and their stingers made needle like claws.

We ducked into a hallway that was used to simulate night on Earth. There was a simulated full moon surrounded by simulated twinkling stars. It made the night blooming plants around us visible but colorless. The bee/ zebra/panther creature followed. It raced silently down the hall, its feet flying a hairs width above the floor.

We ran. Ran until we were out of breath, ran even after we had no strength left. The hallway seemed to go on forever... until it ended. There was a door we tried desperately to open, but it was locked. We turned to look at our pursuer, galloping closer. Daniel and I reached for each others hands. His hand was cold with fear but it had the warmth and comfort of family. We watched, frozen as the creature came closer.

Then it slowed, it sat, scratched its ear made of bees, stood and loped away. My guess it was going back to the safety of the hive. So evidently the earth bee rules did work - we could out run them. But I had never seen Earth bees take a shape like that before.

The door that was locked before suddenly flew open. The screaming of the hinges made me think it had been awhile since it had been opened. In the doorway stood my dad, some security guys, and a few bee keepers.

Dad asking, "Are you two OK?" was the first voice I heard. Then there were the security people and the bee keepers asking what happened.

I remember hearing other voices too. They blended into a hum with only a few random phrases being clear: "The poor darlings"... "I hope this won't delay any flights".. "Do you think the gift shop sells stuffed aliens?"

But the conversation I zeroed in on was one about the bees:

"No, they think they come from the planet Bezar. Have you been living in a cave?" one voice said.

"Almost, I was on the dark side and the power went out; so only emergency communications," another voice said.

"Well, they've had a few sightings of them on other stations. They act a lot like our bees but the strange thing is when they swarm they can become the shape of an animal – a spider, a wolf, some kind of cat like those kids saw. But the strangest thing is the folks on Bezar said those type of bees have been extinct for centuries."

As they spoke I remembered hearing those stories too. Like the Time Shifters I thought they were myth. But since this was the second time in as many days I was attacked by something that had supposedly died out, I thought it might be time to re-evaluate my ideas. I had to ask myself, could the Time Shifters have sent those bees after us?

What happened next was kind of a blur. Just a patchwork of events connected by my dad asking over and over "Are you two OK?"

We talked to the security guys and the beekeepers, at some point we ate (but I didn't eat much).

After all the questions were asked and all the forms were filled out the universe went back to normal for most everyone on the base. People and cargo were loaded onto ships heading to the chill of the outer planets or the churning heat of inner planets or to the web of stations between them all. Everyone settled into their usual routine. But for me, my universe

Turned

Up

Side

Down

It wasn't so much the bees. (Although I have to admit even though it's happened to me twice you never get use to being chased by strange creatures.) It was more the idea that everything I ever believed about Time Shifters could be wrong; the possibility that there may well be Time Shifters. It made my head swim.

Then Aunt Molly came.

She stood next to my dad as he handed us our suitcases saying, "I think you kids should go back to Earth with your Aunt."

"No," we said in chorus.

It took a lot of pleading and some coxing from Aunt Molly but he decided to let us stay. He seemed to realized he was fighting an argument he would never win.

Dad asked Aunt Molly if she wanted to go with us, but she said she was meeting someone (I wondered if it was her husband). She then looked at Daniel and me stating firmly, "Besides this is their journey." I knew she was taking about fighting the Time Shifters.

The patchwork stopped and snapped into clarity when she kissed us good-by. As she did she spoke softly to us, "Danger surrounds you, look for messages in both the big and small things."

Before she left she said something she would often say, "Don't let the great moments in life pass you by just because you get to busy to look."

By the time Aunt Molly left if was early evening. While we were getting ready for dinner Daniel asked me the most unexpected question.

"Do you think Mr. Alset and the Time Shifters sent those bees after us?" I was surprised he asked because as far as he knew I didn't believe in that sort of thing. How could he know I'd been - what do scientists say when they're changing their mind? Re-evaluating my opinion. He could tell I was thinking but he was getting eager for an answer.

"Well," he prodded.

I was thinking about what to say. New evidence had come to light for me; the weird wooly mammoth, my Aunts concern, our dreams, the bees.

"I'm waiting," he said impatiently.

I shrugged.

He seemed thrilled. Even if all I was saying was _maybe_ it could be.

"Sooo you think there could be Time Shifters?"

I shrugged

"And they can alter time?"

I shrugged.

"Mammoth?" he was asking if my change of mind started with the wooly mammoth chase at the museum. So I was right, our Aunt had said something to him about it. It also explains the question he asked me on the bus about how it made a different sound. That seemed long ago now, but it's only been two days. I remembered how I didn't answer the question then, but now I had to answer.

I nodded, "Mammoth."

"Awesome."

"Awesome may not be the word I would use. Did Aunt Molly tell what she thinks is going on with us and the Time Shifters? How their out to stop us from our 'journey' – maybe even kill us if they have to?" I asked.

"Your right, that part's not so awesome," he said.

We went to dinner and again I didn't each much because of all that happened. And because of all that had happened I thought for sure I would sleep like a rock. But I didn't.

The bunks on the ship were soft and cozy. They hung by silvery chains from the ceiling making the beds rock and sway as if we were at sea. Normally they would have rocked me to sleep and carried me away from the cares of the day. But something else happened that haunted me that night. I saw Mr. Alset again - saw him at dinner. But this time he wasn't in the shadows. This time he was wearing a bright Hawaiian shirt. He winked at me and gave me smile that had no warmth but instead said, "I am coming after you."

5th Entry

"I don't usually talk to some one who sends prehistoric creatures out after my cousin or me," was what Daniel said when I told him I wanted to find Mr. Alset and talk to him. We were walking back from breakfast and dad finally let us out of his sight for a bit as he was getting some last minute instructions on his assignment. We were supposed to go straight to the ship but I figured this might be our only chance to get some information.

"Don't you want to find out what's going on – find out what's he's doing?" I questioned.

That made Daniel stop in his tracks. He stood in front of me blocking me from my mission.

"You believe in them now don't you? It's not just a maybe. And you think that Mr.Alset is working for them?" They were actually more statements than questions. But even so he didn't wait for an answer.

"Why risk talking to him. You think he'll tell us anything? Besides.." Daniel didn't finish and as my eyes followed his I could see why.

Mr. Alset was there leaning against the wall as if waiting for us.

"What do you want?" I hissed as we came up to him. He was wearing the same bright Hawaiian shirt as last night.

"I want you to fail. Isn't that obvious," he shook his head and clicked his tongue. "I thought you were supposed to be smart." As he spoke he didn't look at us. He looked in our direction – sometimes in back, sometimes a few inches in front, sometimes even through us, but never at us.

We all stood for a moment saying nothing then very suddenly Mr. Alset's hand darted into his pocket. Daniel and I jumped back not knowing what he was going to do - what would be in his hand when we saw it again. Slowly he pulled out --- a candy bar and started munching on it.

He pretended he was surprised that we would be startled saying "Oh, not here my little poppet – my good son. Not with all these people watching," he motioned to the only other people there, two loading dock workers drinking coffee.

"But don't worry," he said giving me the same kind of creepy smile he did in the restaurant. "We'll meet again very soon," as he spoke he laughed the laugh of a demented clown. Then somehow, despite the brightness of his shirt he disappeared into the shadows just like the first time I saw him. All that was left was his laughter that hung in the air.

We are boarding the ship now getting ready to leave for Triton. In the faceless bustling crowd of the Moon port I thought I heard that laughter again. Even more frightening, Daniel thought he heard it to.

**Chapter 5-6th Entry – Neptune and Its Moons ands Its Sword Fights in the Library**.

Recently my life has taken a turn for the weird. And logic, as much as I try to cling to it, has gone out the space portal.

So I made a decision.

Actual I decided back when I told Daniel wanted to talk to Mr.Alset. Writing it down however somehow makes it official.

My decision is...

Some of my previous scientific assumptions were incorrect. Therefore based on recent observations, specifically being chased by two different extinct creatures in as many days, I have decided:

1)Time Shifters are real

2)For some reason they want to stop Daniel and me from doing – something.

It's strange to think I have a "journey" as my aunt said, but if I think about it too much my brain just starts to float out of my head. So I've also decided to go with another piece of advice she gave, "Don't let the great moments in life pass you by because you were to busy to look." (Plus she also told us to look for messages and if I had a journey I was going to need all the help I could get.)

In light of all that, I focused not on my journey, but on what was else was happening...

We were arriving on a moon circling the furthest planet in our Solar System - Neptune. That was a great moment I didn't want to miss.

From our ship we could see it. Triton- the largest moon of Neptune. It's a moon engulfed in endless night and a freezing endless winter. Daniel and I ran from window to window so we could see the various geysers of the southern regions shooting streams of nitrogen frost into the air. It's the anniversary of when the geysers were photographed by Voyager 2 so people from all over the solar system are flocking to see them and celebrate. Triton was jammed with ships of all sizes orbiting and waiting to land when we arrived. It was almost on hour almost an hour before we had clearence. (Read More About It #7)

We're staying at the hotel next to one of the largest geysers while Jake files his flight plan. The hotel is surrounded by a clear dome giving the entire place an open feeling. All along the side of the dome are blue candles flickering on tables draped in white cloth. Outside the dome is Neptune, A blue gas giant dominating the horizon.

The hallways of the hotel are filled with colorful signs that have smiling faces telling everyone about all there is to do on the station. As we were walking to the hotel registration desk Daniel stopped at one of the signs that said "Live a Fantasy" It described a new interactive game that could read your thoughts and put some of your own experiences in the game to make it seem even more real. Dad went over to Daniel and put a hand on his shoulder. "Stay away from that one partner; it messes with your head."

We registered and hurried to our rooms. Dad had some work to do but told us we could go the visitor's center and take the shuttle for a closer look at the geysers. As we rushed off dad called out all the usual parental warnings about staying out of trouble.

Daniel brought along Sniffer- a robot that looked like a tiny dog. Before we left he programmed Sniffer to know everything in the space station. Plus Daniel had a hand unit that was suppose to control Sniffer. But when he put Sniffer on the floor and let him loose the little robot had a mind of his own. He zipped past some barricades and into a wall. Rolling back, he shook like a dog that just had a bath. Then the little robot darted along the wall and around the corner and under some barricades marked library storage. We stepped through the barricades and started to chase Sniffer. We knew we shouldn't have, but it was one of those times you're caught in the moment and just can't stop. We tore after Sniffer as he sped down the hall into a secluded room.

We stopped at the doorway, panting. The room was lit dimly with streaks of artificial light flickering through the tinted pains of glass that ran along the ceiling. Through the faint light we could see the room was nothing more than a long hall with boxes piled to the ceiling. Sniffer slowed down as he went along the hall. As we reached him Daniel bent down to pick Sniffer up saying in a frustrated tone, "I guess I still have a few bugs to work out with you." Before his hands could reach the robot, Sniffer bolted again, heading in the direction of a group of boxes labeled "Games". The robot kept going until finally he ran into a stack of boxes hard enough to make one of them fall knocking the lid off.

As the lid fell the stacks of boxes around us quivered and faded. Out of the box that fell grew a battlefield. Screams, blazes of light, and the harsh clanging of handheld weapons, unfolded under a blood red sky. Soldiers were everywhere and dressed in everything from combat gear like you see in the old war movies to mesh iron of medieval times.

I heard a voice behind us yell "Get down" and then felt a pull from behind dragging us into a ditch.

"New to the fight I take it." The guy speaking was the same person who had ordered us to get down. He was a battle scared soldier, maybe 50, but he seemed so timeless it was hard to tell for sure. There were winkles not just from age but, stress, worry, and sorrow. There was a kindness in eyes as he looked at us, even if he was looking at us warily.

"What planet are you from?" he asked yelling to be heard over the din of the battle.

"Earth," we said together meekly.

"Earth?!- I didn't know Earth was involved yet," he said as he loaded charges in his laser rifle.

"Well, welcome to the battle all the same. It will take all we have to defeat the 1928"

I guess he could tell by the look on our face we had no idea what he was talking about. "The mercenary Time Shifters, the ones that use the essence to destroy" he said in a frustrated sigh.

Then it hit me. Aunt Molly had also said there were 1928 mercenaries from the Time Shifter race, that they had something she called the essence. Before I really had a chance to think about that....

A giant dragon flew overhead breathing fire bolts into the on coming troops. Even though the fire was not aimed at us, I ducked.

'Don't worry," said the soldier, "he's one of ours."

I watched a little amazed, a little petrified, as the people ran to escape the deadly flame of the dragon. When the breath of fire was gone it soared upwards disappearing into the cloud of smoke that was beginning to cover the field.

A metal ball flew into the hole that was protecting us. Red numbers were blinking- counting down to what was probably going to be zero then BANG! Daniel picked it up examining it like it was some new electronics toy.

"What safety level is this hologram set on?" he asked.

This time it was the soldiers turn to look confused, "What's a safety level? And what's a hologram?"

Daniel and I locked eyes. We each knew what the other was thinking. If there were no safety levels anything in this hologram could actually kill us. Some holograms were set up like that to appeal to the adrenaline junkies.

He hurled the ball out and up where it exploded, raining down bits of metal. The light form the explosion revealed another threat; a swarm of arrows heading for us. The first group zinged over our head but another group followed them and they would not miss. I spotted a shield that looked like it was from Roman times lying near us. I remember how soldiers carry shields along the side and over their head as they marched. Kind of like an early tank. I scrambled to get it and then held it over us. The arrows pelted down like hail on a metal roof.

The soldier seemed a little more impressed with us now, "Hey, you kids are naturals."

"Where are all of these people from? I've never seen so many types of warriors in one hologram," Daniel was barley able to make his voice heard above the roar of the battle.

"Everywhere," the soldier said making a grand gesture with his arms knock off flecks of dirt as his hands brushed the side of the ditch. "From every kind of planet in the galaxy and from every stage of development. We all have one thing in common; we have to stop the 9128. "

His eyes darted from Daniel to a disc that was coming straight towards us. It shot out red and green lasers that incinerated anything they touched. He took aim with his rifle and fired. It spiraled down coughing out multicolored sparks before it hit the ground.

He turned to us scratching his chin as if he was thinking deep thoughts then said,

"They didn't brief you guys too good did they."

He settled down in the mud and started to explain like he was describing a difficult math problem. "The thing to remember about the 9128 is your not dealing with any dumb two bit thugs. If you try to pin them down they never come quietly." He ran his hand across the battle field as if to say "See what I mean."

"So listen to this," he said tapping his head, "and you better listen good." He leaned in close to us and continued. "You gotta use your smarts." He then leaned back like he had just revealed a great secret. "Yup, it's the smarts that will save." He picked up his weapon and gave it a pat, "Of course a good laser rifle helps too."

He scanned the horizon. The battle was winding down as some troops were retreating, others were chasing them off or attending to the wounded. The soldier turned his attention back to us. He wasn't really looking at us, his eyes stayed on the battle field, but we knew he was talking to us.

"Since you're new to this let me tell you. Not all battles are like this. They aren't all fought with guns and swords and bombs. Most battles are quite ones, fought with subterfuge and fortitude and strength of the mind." He turned ad looked directly at us. "Strength of the mind is the most important, always remember that."

A horn sounded a tuneless blast indicating the battle was over. As the blast died out the soldier focused in on us. "The Tweeners know. If you ever get a message from the tweeners listen to them. They come to us in our dreams – they tell us things in our dreams."

"What are the Tweeners?" We asked the question together.

He opened his mouth but before his words could form the soldier and the battle suddenly disappear in wave of bright light.

"Sir, Madam, the center is closed." An android caretaker was standing in the doorway. He had turned on the light and interrupted the hologram. He looked human but had the silver skin of an android.

As he walked over to us you could hear the grinding of gears. Every now and then he would come to a dead stop, and then start up again. He had the jerky movements of a poorly operated puppet.

"Madam, Sir the center is closed."

He was obviously malfunctioning, which was probably a good thing; otherwise he may have reported us for being in a restricted area.

"I do know how it is when you get caught up in research," he went on, "Time just flies by. Yes indeed, it flies by. However the center is closed, but you can always return tomorrow."

As he approached us Sniffer caught his eye. "Is this device designed to assist you with research?"

"Well," Daniel hesitated but the android didn't wait for an answer.

"And it took you right to where the information was for your research," he said as he looked at the holograph displayer and scattered materials on the ground.

"Did you build this device, sir?"

"Yes," Daniel replied.

The android picked up Sniffer and began to examine him. "Very clever sir, very clever indeed. I would have never been able to create such a device."

He walked over to us and handing Sniffer to Daniel he said again, "However the center is closed, but you can come again tomorrow."

While he led us out of the he seemed to go into tour guide mode.

"Triton is the coldest measured object in the solar system."

He pointed to a wall covered with information about the geysers, but his systems must have been telling him he was pointing at Neptune. He was definitely malfunctioning.

"Wind speeds on Neptune can reach 2000 kilometers an hour. Its mantle or surface is made up of partially melted water, ammonia, and methane ices."

"Neptune was discovered in 1846; the first planet to be discovered by mathematical calculations."- (Read More About It #8)

He finally led us out, thanked us for coming, and invited us back tomorrow- again.

We still had time to catch the last transport to the geysers but as we headed towards the loading area an observation popped into my head and then it popped out of my mouth.

"Did you notice that hologram didn't have a catalog number?" I asked.

"So."

I was kind of expecting that reaction but I didn't let it go.

"It's just weird usually everything has number, even games."

"So."

I could tell he was unimpressed so I just dropped it. But I started thinking – was it a game. It wasn't set up like a game. Games always had introductions and copyright restrictions. This one didn't- this one was – different.

I decided I needed to think about that – but later. We had to hurry so we could make to the transports in time.

We barley made it but we were able to catch the last shuttle to the geysers. They were awesome!

It would have been a perfect day if it hadn't been for the whole soldiers warning about the Time Shifters and talk about the Tweeners. It seems all I get anymore are warnings. And I can't get this one out of my head.

7th Entry

Last night I dreamt of Neptune, the giant gas planet and its moons. With everything that happened during the day I imagined I wouldn't be able to sleep. But I was out as soon as my head hit the pillow.

In my dream I am on the surface of Triton. Somewhere in my mind I know that I can't truly be on the surface, but the dream me thinks it's perfectly normal. I am watching the giant blue ball of Neptune when I think I hear voices- soft faint voices as if they are carried in a wind. I strain to hear them. As the voices become clearer I can faintly see the creatures that are speaking to me despite the fact they are far away on Neptune. When I try harder to see them they fade, but when I close my eyes and I can see them clearly. They are dolphin like creatures swimming in seas of liquefied gases below clouds of blue methane. I feel they were not real beings, but mental creatures taking shape to experience new things, explore, learn, - and share their knowledge with me. They repeat the same words over and over:

The unknown waits to be discovered. It will to lead you to who you are and what you need to do.

The greatest wisdom is seeing through the outer shell of things- always look deeper.

Continual awareness is the greatest teacher.

Be expert in learning.

The voices become clear and then fade again. The images fade with the voices.

The dream ended abruptly.

When I opened my eyes, I was in our hotel room. Dad was shaking me awake and shaking the dream away. He was telling us it was time to get going.

As we packed my cousin told me, "I had the weirdest dream."

Usually getting up and starting the day chases away the dreams of the night, but not this time. This time the dream of the dolphins and the voices just grew clearer.

As we walked to the station café for breakfast Daniel began to tell me about his dream. Before he could finish I told him I had the exact same dream.

8th Entry

"All launches have been delayed for the next 2 Earth hours due to technical difficulties", the voice crackled over the loud speaker.

Dad muttered something under his breath in irritation over the delay and called Jake on his phone. As he did Daniel leaned in next to me and whispered, "This will give us a chance to go back to the library."

"Why?"

He didn't answer me but instead turned to my dad. "Uncle Rick we found a library in the station, can we go check it out since we're stuck here a while?"

Dad nodded his head and waved us off but then called us back with a sharp "Hey!"

"The ship leaves in two hours, I want you back here in an hour and a half. I don't want to have to go looking for you two."

Daniel nodded in agreement and dragged me off, so I asked once again.

"Why?"

"The dream," he said

"From last night?"

He shot me wordless look that said "Of course."

"How will the library help us with that?"

"Don't you think it's strange," he said as he dragged me along. "We go into a hologram where some guy tells us to listen to our dreams and then we both have the same dream."

"He was just a hologram. " I said planting myself to stop Daniel from dragging me. "The dream was just a coincidence. We probably had it because we saw the hologram."

Well it won't hurt to check it out", he said tugging on my arm but I stayed planted. He dropped my arm taking a deep sigh then said, "Look at it this way, it's better than waiting for two hours in the lobby of the spaceport. Besides," he pressed on looking around to make sure no one was close, "the holo could be a message. Aunt Molly said we would be getting messages."

Daniel was right, it could be a message.

I didn't want it to be a message.

I closed my eyes.

I wished that when I opened them I would be in a normal universe, on a normal scientific expedition. Not a universe where we were chased by things that could kill us and where we were suppose to stop Time Shifters. I didn't want to be a hero.

I opened my eyes.

Unfortunately, the world hadn't changed. We were still in a world of Time Shifters. And Daniel was still pleading to me with his eyes to go with him to get a possible message.

I knew Daniel was right. It probably was some kind of important communication and we had to find out what the holo had to say. I shrugged in agreement and followed him.

Once we were back at the library we found the malfunctioning android. He told us several times how happy he was to see us and he took us back to the holo from yesterday.

He pulled it out examined it and proclaimed "Oh my! This is not cataloged." He turned it over in his hands, "No not cataloged at all."

"I told you they were always cataloged," I said under my breath.

'No you said usually cataloged," he muttered back. I think he just didn't want to admit I was right.

The android turned to us and said, "I will need to accompany you to find out what this is. Do you mind?"

We really didn't want him but we didn't have time to argue. So we quickly agreed. As an afterthought we asked him to tell us when it was time to leave so we could make it back to the ship on time. Thinking back asking a malfunctioning android to be our time keeper was not the best idea we ever had.

The holo opened but the battle was gone. In its place was a celebration full of fireworks and people dancing in a field.

A ring of torches lit a circle where groups of fighters were engaged in friendly battle. Daniel loves to do mock sword play and went there first thing. I followed mostly because I figured it was best we stay together, with the safety levels being off and all. The android followed me all the time staying unusually silent.

As we watched the sword fight the same soldier we saw before came up to us.

"Didn't think you would make it," he said weaving his way through the crowd to us.

"But then not even newbie's like you wouldn't miss the solstice reading of the names. They will be coming up at dawn." He snatched our arms us and led us to the arena where people were fighting, "Until then enjoy the festival."

In the ring two guys were going at it. One of the fighters twisted the sword out of the other's hand then pointed his sword at his opponent's unprotected chest. The crowd cheered and applauded then gave out cries of, "Who's next for a "frey"?"

"Let these two meet some challengers," the soldier whooped as he shoved us into the ring. "They're new but they're very good."

The crowd cheered once again and swords were thrust in our hands. I was relieved to see that the swords weren't sharp, but they were heavy and would really hurt if they hit you.

"We will meet the new challengers!" Two guys stepped forward, they looked about our age and I think they were twins.

We stood looking at each other, then nodded – I guess to say were all ready, but I really wasn't. Some one called out, "BEGIN!"

There was thumping and whomping and whacking of swords. I was just trying to stay clear but Daniel was actually doing OK. I guess all that fake sword play was paying off for him.

The guy I was fighting was actually pretty nice. I think he was holding back and was even trying to give me advice.

"Move your sword to deflect mine" – clang followed by a whop as he hit me in the ribs.

"Move the sword every time to block the blow, girl warrior!" he chuckled, then clang again and whop again.

My ribs hurt, but I was too embarrassed to stop. The fight continued.

"Strike or thrust when you see an opening!" he bellowed but I never saw one. At least it seemed to be getting a little easier to fend off his blows.

We were circling around as we fought. When Daniel was beside us I saw him twist the sword out of his opponents hand just like the other fighter had done.

"Well done!" cried his challenger. My eyes turned to them and the guy I was fighting eyes followed mine. While we were watching them an idea came to me. I remembered reading how important surprise is in combat. So I took my opportunity swung my blade at him while he wasn't looking. It must have caught him off guard because even though he was able to lift his sword in time to deflect mine, he must not have had a firm grip. His weapon went flying out of his hand and made a thump as it hit the ground. Like the fighters before us and my cousin I held my sword up, pointing it at his chest.

He lifted up his arm and howled out "Trickery!" the crowed fell silent. I was sure I had done something wrong. Not a good thing in a holo without safety guards off.

He yelled out again, "Trickery," but then let out a thunderous laugh. "I LIKE that!" he declared as he shoved aside my sword then grabbed my hand shaking it so hard he almost knocked me down. He continued laughing and the crowed joined in. The guys thanked us for the great fray and led us out of the ring, there arms around our shoulders like we were old friends. Another two entered as we left.

This time it was jousters that entered the ring. Two men stood on opposite ends of the fields while metal mounted horses raced to each other. The shiny metal knights lowered their lance striking as they reached the center of the field. One of the knights burst into small pieces; the fragments flying out like a flock of glistening butterflies. The pieces sang like wind chimes as they took to the air then reformed again at the end of the field.

They ran towards each other again. Someone say they were going for best two out of three. I watched them, mesmerized, but Daniel had gone over to speak the winner of the first contest to see how it was done.

At the end of the contest Daniel came back excited and talking about how it was all made with electronic magnets. I think Daniel wanted to continue to watch or maybe even fight again but I was very hungry, comfortably tired and uncomfortably sore. We went to a nearby stand that had colorful streamers flowing down from a blue canopy. We decided on turkey legs (or at least it looked like a turkey leg ). The android said he didn't need to eat – ever –and continued just to follow us. It was only holo food, which means it was probably just some processed protein, but it was strangely satisfying and tasty.

We sat cross-legged on the grass, watching the freys, the fireworks, and the dancing, and then (I'm not sure why) we started talking about our dream.

"Do you think it was the tweeners?" Daniel asked. I wasn't sure. I mean it was just yesterday I started believing in the Time Shifters. He could tell I was thinking but he wasn't going to wait.

"Well," he prodded.

I was thinking about what to say. After all the Time Shifters were real and so much had happened in such a short time, our aunts cautions that there were factions on both side, some to help us and some to stop us - our dreams - then the holo we were in now.

"I'm waiting," he said impatiently, just like he did when he first asked about the Time Shifters.

I shrugged.

He seemed thrilled. Even if all I was saying was maybe it could be.

"Sooo you think there could be Tweeners?"

I shrugged

"Awesome."

I shrugged again.

Our soldier friend plopped down next to us munching on a sandwich that must have had about ten layers cheese with purple, orange, and green meat. (YUK!).

"It's time," he said after a large gulp.

The rowdy crowd grew quiet. The music turned soft and only a few faint conversations floated in the air. Then everything turned completely still.

The stars looked bright in the desert sky but faded as the sun rose over a rocky mountain. The cold air turned warm when its rays crossed the reddish stone. As the sun climbed higher in the sky the shadow of words and names began to take shape on an obelisk opposite the mountain.

Suddenly....unexpectedly... the names of our parents appeared.

"The Tweeners," the soldier said to the question we were both thinking. The ones caught between the past the present and the future. They speak to us in our dreams. They don't tell us exactly what to do. But they tell us all we need to know to succeed."

"How did they become tweeners?" I asked. Our parents were dead – that's what we were always told. How could they be caught anywhere?

Most Tweeners are people the Time Shifters tried to assassinate. They were, however, extraordinary people and they had knowledge that saved them. The Tweeners winked at death – and instead became trapped in time. They're trapped between the ages, but can communicate to anyone at any time.

"Do you have a record of what happened to these people?" Daniel's voice was soft and broken. I thing he was trying to hide the shock and sorrow, but he was doing a poor job. The soldier nodded and pulled out a large silver spinning top.

He set it on a marble pedestal and spun it. Colors shot out from all around as the top made a whirling noise.

"Say the names of the people you want to know about," the soldier instructed.

In a voice so soft it was almost like a prayer Daniel said our parents' names. I put my hand on his. He puts up a brave front, but I know how hard losing both his parents hit him.

As soon as the words left his lips figures began to form. It looked like a dig Peru - the last dig for our parents were on. Figures moved across the pedestal. Both Daniel and I looked at each other when we saw our parents. As the figures became sharper a narration started describing what the hologram was playing out....

"It was an ordinary dig. But the 9128 knew the device was there. THE device, the only one that could stop them. So they sent him -the best assassin among them. He would pretend to be simply another assistant. A quite assistant, who just came to work on time every day, did his job and then went home. No one really noticed him, and that was why the 9128 liked to use him for their spy. They wanted someone who wouldn't be noticed. When the scientists discovered the device he gathered with the others, blending in, giving his thoughts on what it might be. It was a beautiful piece. Above a slab of a delicately carved wood were dolphins swimming in the figure used to represent infinity. The dolphins seemed suspended by a magnet ingrained in the wood. Like the others he marveled at the site but, of course he never really reveled what it actually was- a device that could rob the 9128 of their powers. A device that even with all of their might they could not destroy. So instead revealing the devices true nature, he did his duty and reported his findings to the 9128. When they told him that the scientist must be "removed" he knew what that meant and he did his duty.

Time Shifting was a preferable way to "remove" people. It didn't really feel like killing to him – just like altering time. So one evening he waited until all the other assistance had left. He went into their tent and pointed the time shifting beam at them. He would always say he was sorry after they were gone, even though he knew it was too late for them to hear or care. When he was done he left the tent quickly and quietly and then did what he did best. He left the camp unnoticed, and remained unnoticed by all until his next assignment."

The top began to slow and as it did the colored lights faded. The voice slowed too, growing deeper with each sluggish spin. "Beware the 9128. What they do they do without hate, they do without malice. What make them so vile is they act without compassion. They act with out love." The top fell on its side, silent, and we too were silent too for what seemed an eternal minute.

"It is time sir and madam. Madam and sir," The androids words made me jump. He had barley spoken since we arrived. The android turned to soldier and said, "You have been very kind. So much information! But many other things to do now. Madam Sir, Sir Madam you said to make sure you did not miss your appointment."

The android put his hands to the side of his head and ordered, "End session."

The festival and memorial faded but the soldiers voice carried into the library, "Remember what I told you before. Ya gotta listen to the tweeners- trust what they say."

As we started to leave we were met by a librarian, a real live one this time.

"There you are!" At first we felt he was talking to us but instead he just walked past us and up to the android. "What have you got there?''

"A game sir, but it seems more like a history and it has not been cataloged sir."

He took the hologram from the android. A strange look came across his face then he looked quickly at us.

"Were you kids using this?" He didn't wait for an answer and turned to the android. "The reason it wasn't cataloged is because it's a NEW game – one of those new reality things. It's a model not even on the market yet." He looked to us as if to be sure we had heard him. "Since it's new it's not cataloged." He repeated.

"So you realize nothing in this was real – right – not a history or anything?" He came right over to us and grabbed our arms. "Don't tell anyone what you saw here. Do you understand? There would be ---consequences." I think he could tell he was freaking us out a little because took a step back and gave a big smile. "You know we want a big build up before the game is released. We wouldn't want to ruin that. You understand." I think we both felt he was lying.

We nodded but we didn't really understand. If it was just a game why was he so upset about us seeing it?

On our way back to the landing platform we didn't speak, but we were both thinking about what we had seen. Real or not it – message or not-the holo had brought up sad memories. My dad was right. If it was one of the new reality games it did mess with your head.

We were both, I'm sure, thinking about our parents, how they died, and how the necklace they gave us looked like the device we just saw, but as I said, we weren't talking. You know how it is, you know what the other person is thinking but you don't say it because it hurts. When we were almost to the platform Daniel finally asked me, "Do you ever think about them?" by them I knew he meant the parents we had both lost.

I was still for a while and then said "No." but that wasn't the truth; I thought about them everyday. Losing someone is like frost in springtime or an empty place on a crowded shelf. I shuddered as I thought about them and lied about doing it. That was probably what gave me away.

"Liar" he said shoving me. It wasn't the type of shove to cause a fight. It was actually the type that makes you feel better.

"It would be awesome if our parents were Tweeners," there was hope in Daniel's voice.

I had to admit although the whole journey thing is still scary for me, the idea that mom could be a Tweener, could still be with me in some way, was awesome. The thought that she is, somehow, still showing me how to find deeper meaning in things made me feel warm and happy

Oh, and bye the way---we were late. Like I said asking a malfunctioning android to keep time—not the best idea. But all dad did was look at his watch, give us scowl and then motioned us inside the ship.

9th Entry

Jake said we had one more stop to make. On Pluto we would pick up a hologram and wait for our chance to launch to the safety area and make the jump to QT.

With QT timing is critical so everyone waits on Pluto or one of the other large objects in the Kuibner Belt for their turn to leave the solar system.

Daniel and I decided to stick together for certain this time. We were just going to stay on the ship but fate had other plans for us. The battery on Daniels computer went out. I didn't think it was a big deal, but he kept saying you never know when we would need it so we went out to hunt for the battery.

Pluto was supposed to just be a place to wait for launch but I guess they forgot there are still a lot of people that remember when it was a planet. Now it's a favorite destination in the Kuibner Belt. Because so many people visit Pluto their building a whole new station; that means everything is "under construction" including any stores that might sell computer batteries. Lucky for Daniel Jake is friends with the guy that runs the bone yard.

The bone yard is the place all machines go to die. It's surrounded by a thick sheet aluminum fence with doors of all sizes locked by small simple bolts. Inside the fence is a garden of twisted metal and rusted hulls from once magnificent ships. The metal garden has the fragrance of old oil and burning tires. Daniel's combing through the scrap as I'm writing this.

I'm hearing a strange sound now. Is that a normal sound for here? It started out as a moan, but now has turned into the growl of an angry wolf. No, I don't think it is a normal sound for here at all!

10th Entry – Pluto has a Metal Tarantula

After all that happened we tried to be cautious, but I guess even if you're watching bad things can happen.

We turned towards the sound and saw the monster. Eight steely limbs came from a round center. It looked like a tarantula and it was heading towards us – fast.

"Where's it coming from?" I almost swallowed the words. Daniel pointed. There on a mountain of metal was Mr. Alser and with him was a man that looked like the assassin sent after our parents. He was controlling one of the large electronic magnets strewn through out the yard. He must have done something to it make it form the spider. I don't know much about electronic magnets, but I know they generally don't make charging tarantulas.

We ran – again; ran like we did from the bees and like I did from the mammoth. But this time I think Daniel had in mind to fight. We rushed to another electronic magnet that was holding some debris. I guess Daniel must have learned something about electronic magnets from the metal jousters because he released the bulky metal pieces and they came crashing down on vats of acid scattered about the ground. The vats broke open oozing a noxious liquid that spread across the path of the spider. The thing tried to cross the lethal pool the acid made, but as it did its legs gave way. There was another groan and it stumbled. We started sprinting again for the gate. Behind us we heard another growl as the spider reformed from new metal scraps on the ground. It was still after us, but at least the acid bath Daniel gave it bought us some time.

We ran to the gate, or should I say ran into the gate. Someone had locked it. A simple little bolt lock like you have on a backyard gate. The fact that I was going to die because of a simple bolt lock seemed almost funny to me; I guess that's how scared I was.

The metal tarantula crept closer. Close enough we could see its eyes were red lights that shimmered and its fangs were made of deadly gas vials. Real tarantulas are not very poisonous but this one could defiantly kill.

Daniel began poking through the metal trash around us. I was going to tell him that now was not a good time to be looking for stuff for his computer but the look he shot me told me he had something else in mind.

"I need copper wire!" he hollered still picking through the scrap around us. But before I could respond he bellowed, "Never mind – got it!"

The creature drew closer its legs tapping on the ground as it moved. As it raised its front legs threateningly Daniel began wrapping the cooper cable around a rod and attaching it to the batteries from the flashlight he brought to look for the computer part. He was making a small electronic magnet! (Read More About It #9)

He slipped the rod through a crack and with a "click" the bolt gave way. We were free! With a "slam" of the gate the metal spider was contained behind us.

We made it back to the ship, more or less safe and sound. We decided it would be best not to tell dad what happened. I did thank Daniel for getting us away from the spider. The conversation went something like this:

"That was very ingenious what you did with the magnets," I said

"So you're saying I'm a genius?" he said.

I pushed him (a fun push) and he laughed. It was a good release for all the tension. It felt good to laugh for a change.

That was it, nothing much after that. I guess there really isn't anything you can say about being chased by a huge metal spider.

We had eluded the Time Shifters twice since we left Earth. They hadn't tried to turn us to dust which is, of course on the plus side. I guess my Aunt Molly is right. The necklace does protect us from the small time fields. I think Daniel has figured that out too. But being chased by killer creatures isn't much better. I wonder what's going to happen next.

11th Entry

It wasn't long before we got clearance for the launch. We're finally on our way to Shilona, and when we reach the safety zone and engage the QT will be on our way. It will be the first time I've ever left our solar system!

The Shilonans were one of the first life forms we ran into in the Universe. Their solar system survived the galactic turmoil of their galaxy blending with into ours, but now the Shilonan sun was dying and taking their world with it. Shilonan myth told about their sun growing old and large, turning their planet to dust as it expanded outwards. Now it seemed the time had come for that to happen.

In their myth, the leader of the world, the one who held the sacred scrolls of their society's past and future, would remain on their planet, but would be rescued by out worlders.

The Shilonan Sun is very similar to ours. I remember reading a graphic description about the fate of our Sun in one of dad's books. It told how day will come that will be the very last day on Earth. The sun will swell to an enormous size and turn the sky to fire. The oceans will boil away and the mountains will melt.

Eerie! I'm glad I won't be around to see that. But for the Shilonans the desperate time had come.

Granted, the Shilonans had progressed to space travel, they still held to their old ways. They are, however, a practical people and not wanting to leave the rescue to chance, they contracted the Goddard to go and retrieve the Priestess. Since their star is a lot like our sun the two planets decided, "in the interest of mutual cooperation and sharing of information between our worlds" to let Earth study the death of their star. They contracted my dad to record what was happening. It will be kind of bizarre, I think, to actually see the beginnings of how our Sun will one day, in 5-7 billion years kill our planet. It's strange that the thing that gave the Earth life for so long will also bring her death and then become a dead thing itself, a black dwarf without life or warmth. (Read More About It #10).

Jake is calling us over now as he slides the holo disc into the viewer saying, "Let's see what the folks paying the bills have to say." So I'll be putting down my pen soon.

She's appearing now in an island of white light - the Revered and Honored Priestess of Shilona; the one who holds so much power by holding the scrolls. The image is becoming clearer and I can't believe it – she's the same priestess from my dreams!

Chapter 6 -12th Entry – The Priestess and the Time Shifters

We all watched the holo intently. At first, it looked like she was sleeping, but then her eyes open and she spoke. "As you have been told, I am the last remaining Shilonan on our planet."

I was struck by how her voice seemed to carry more authority and knowledge than someone her age would normally have.

"Our world," she went on, "once blue, green and full of life is dying. Our Sun grows large and will soon engulf our planet. The farms and cities of Shilona have now been emptied. I alone remain to guard our Sacred Scrolls. These Scrolls tell of you, my rescuers, who will come in a silver sword that will pierce through the Galaxy to rescue the Sacred Scrolls and their Guardian."

She closed her eyes and remained silent for a minute that seemed to take an age then spoken again. "I am tired now and must sleep. In my slumber, I will dream of your rescue. You will encounter danger - your lives will be threatened, but your wisdom will save you and you will come for me. I know you will come, because it has been foretold."

The light flickered out leaving darkness and silence.

**********

I never was one for sitting still, so I decided to explore the ship. While I did the words of the Shilonan Priestess kept playing over in my head. Plus I couldn't get over how she looked just like the priestess in my dreams. I tried to remember if I had seen her somewhere before, and that's way she was in my dreams, but as best I can recall my dreams and the holo were the only time I ever saw her.

What she said kept running through my mind. You will encounter danger; your lives will be threatened. What could that mean or was it just part of their ancient stories. Considering all that had happened, our lives being threatened was a real consideration. No one else seemed worried, not even Daniel, so I tried to just put it out of my mind, but I couldn't. I finally decided it didn't matter. I was already caught up in a whirlwind of Time Shifters and killer creatures. Worrying about it wasn't going to stop whatever was going to happen.

I settled in a chair that engulfed me while I gazed at the distant stars. I thought about how soon, very soon, we would be near one of the closer ones. I thought about the priestess, and all that had happened over the past few days. And then I started to fall into a fitful dream filled sleep. In my dream...

I am watching some kind of gathering from far above. People from all different planets are there. Mr. Alset is there too.

The group I am with also has many different races from all over the known planets and some races I don't recognize, maybe they're from planets still unknown. Daniel is there but we don't speak to each other. The ones at the gathering below can't see us – don't even seem to know we are there. Arguments are growing louder, people protesting that, while the gifts being offered are tempting, it is wrong to lie or cheat or steal to get them. A tall grim looking man stands and holds out his hands to quite the crowd.

"Let us to show you what we offer," he says in a quite voice that is still able to carry over the crowd, "then you can decide." The group nods in agreement and starts to board a ship. As they do my group turns as if it were one to the meadow below us. There we find creatures of all types waiting for us. A winged dragon grabs me by his tail and places me gently on his back, Daniel climbs onto a Pegasus. There are other creatures too, lions and gargoyles – just about anything you could think of. The smaller creatures ride rabbits and dogs.

Some of the animals take flight. The rest, well their strides are so high and long it is as if they are flying. We travel along grassy, sunlit fields that give way to rocky misty mountains. It seems like we travel for hours or maybe it's just minutes. Time is funny in dreams.

We arrived at a building made of intricately carved rocks and glass. Even at our far away distance we can see the group that came in the ship being led into the buildings. They are place in chairs that are hard yet, lean for enough back like a dentist chair.

A teeny blue ball is given to each of them and they are told to place it against their temples. As they do the ball begins to glow red and pierce into their skin until we can no longer see it. Then they sleep. Hours or minutes, again I'm not sure. When they open their eyes again the same tall man who spoke before tells them the things he wants them to do. They all agree that they can follow the desires that came from the darkest corners of their heart. That it is OK to lie and to cheat and to steal, if it is for something you really want. The groups I am with glance at each other with alarm. We all knew – the dark side had won.

I woke with a start. For a moment I forgot where I was. That same disoriented feeling I would get after my dream of the priestess. I sat for a while trying to figure out what the dream meant, but I couldn't. The dreams ominous revelations frighten me and nothing seems to be able to shake that fear.

13th Entry

After we had been traveling for a few hours, and I had seen all I wanted to see of the ship and thought all I could about my dream and the strange young Priestess I went back to the helm. I settled down in the soft chair by the controls. Jake and Daniel had been fooling around with the computer. When I came over they stopped talking and stared tuned their focus to the window that reveled the universe stretching in front of us.

It's about 12 hours from Pluto to the safety point where Quantum Tunneling (QT) can be engaged. I read once there was a time when people were sure it was impossible to travel faster than the speed of light. But then scientist experimented with QT. Very shortly it was refined now ships can engage QT and ZAP- they're light years away in seconds; faster than anyone could ever travel before. Although I baby-sat a two year old once that could almost move that fast.

During the early part of those hours we talked, and watched the stars. When evening would have come to Earth Jake lowered the ships lights to soft twilight. In space, when darkness closes in and the stars all around you shine constant and bright, it draws you close to the people you're with. It also brings out the mystical tales. The stories that seem so full of truth in the dark, but always seem to wither in the light of day. That's how it was with us anyway. Jake told us some space pilots legends. You know, monsters and heroes type of things. Then Daniel and I started talking about how Aunt Mini was afraid for us on this trip because of the Pirates and Time Shifters.

"Well, the Time Shifters are just a myth," dad chimed in. He looked at me expecting agreement but I just couldn't agree this time. So my dad just went on.

"The whole idea is too strange," he huffed. "They're a myth. And everyone knows they're a myth."

"How does everyone know that?" Jake asked. While Jake spoke I heard my Aunt Molly's words – "Everyone is not always the best source of information."

"Jake," my dad turned his name into a warning not to tell another tall tale, but Jake just winked and stated in.

"Well, many people have said they are a myth. But other say there are those who have gone to great lengths to hide information about the Time Shifters. Some people even say a few of the Time Shifters that aren't mercenaries have given us more than just information. They have given us miniature time portals, all now hidden away in some deep dark vault." Daniel shot me a glance; he was thinking what I was. What we saw in the library could have been a portal. That's why the librarian was so upset. That's why the food and everything seemed real. So not only was it a message, it was real. We had gone to another time!

Jake could tell we were riveted, I don't think he had any idea why. He continued on, "Try as they might to cover things up, things leak out. I've heard lots of stories - only one I believe."

Jake drew a deep breath and began his story, "Two great nations, the Etour and the Dants had been warring since anyone could remember. They agreed to meet on a lifeless planet at the edge of their galaxy to arrange a peace agreement. The meeting did not go well; there were threats of violence and acts of violence. Both sides said the other one started it. Both sides left despising each other even more than before. In vengeance or retribution, the Etour hired the Time Shifters to kill all members of the Dant's race. What they didn't know was the Dants had also hired the Time Shifters to kill the Etours. The Time Shifters pride themselves in honoring all mercenary contracts, so they killed both races, just as they were asked, just as they were paid."

"If they killed everyone from dad asked.

"Sometimes there isn't enough science research work to go around, so I hire out as a transport vehicle. And it seems sometimes the Time Shifters need a transport vehicle. In fact one of them needed transportation just before I took on this job. Of course he didn't say he was a Time Shifter."

"And he told you that story?" Dad said, his voice thick with disbelief.

Jake leaned in slowly to him saying, "Well, I never said they actually told me."

"Oh" my Dad said to prodding him to go on. Then they started talking like they forgot we were there.

"Yea, it seems like the only contract the Time Shifters honor are the Merc contracts. He tried to stiff me on his fare."

"Really"

"But, you know, that old saying is true, what goes around comes around. The guy that tried to stiff me lost his PC. It was a shame. He searched and searched but he never found it."

"I imagine he was a little upset about that."

"Frantic, actually. But that's just not the kind of problem that you share with you're co-workers. Embarrassing I guess."

"I can imagine. If he was a Time Shifter and he could travel through time, why didn't he just go back in time and get his computer?"

Jake scrunched his face, he knew, my dad knew and even I knew, Time Shifters never went back in time to change things, only observe. Some say they can't, other say they're afraid of changing their own timeline, changing it to a timeline where they can't shape moments to their will. But all Jake said was, "Temporal laws I guess."

From under a hidden compartment beneath his chair he pulled out some star charts. Underneath those was a computer. Jake tapped at it with the charts, I guess to make sure my dad saw it, then slowly closed it.

He looked up slyly at my dad, "It's surprising the kind of information people leave lying around on their computer. All kinds of stuff that you just know they wouldn't want other people to find out about. In fact we should talk about that sometime. Talk about,..." Jake glanced at us like he just remembered we were there. "Talk about computer safeguards."

Dad nodded anxiously in agreement. Maybe he was re-assessing his view too. Daniel and I looked at each other shaking our heads. That exchange was suppose to keep Daniel and me from knowing that Jake stole the Time Shifters PC. I don't think that they actually believed we were too brainless to figure it out. That's just the way adults talk sometimes around kids. Subtle, they like to call it.

We talked some more and then I wrote. Finally I slept. I dreamt, I think, of the Time Shifters. I'm awake now, but suddenly, it feels like I'm still dreaming. I know this time, though, it's not a dream.

Chapter 7- 14th Entry – Meet the Time Shifters

It all became very strange very fast.

We engaged the QT and appeared on the far side of the Shilona's furthest moon. The Shilonans allowed the use of QT a lot closer to their planet than Earth does. It seemed since their planet was dying it didn't really matter to them.

Just after we passed the moon, a ship appeared on our screen. It was ship that wasn't supposed to be there, I could tell by the way Jake was reacting to it. He jumped out of his chair and went to my dad. They talked soft and low and very fast like there wasn't any time. I went over to dad and asked him what was wrong. He had his don't bother me I'm concentrating face, so I knew something was up. He rushed into the Communications Room, the door swishing closed behind him. I pressed myself against the door straining to listen to his voice. All I heard were fragments of words and parts of phrases ---"Incompetent idiots... kids with me...should have been told...hologram telling myth wasn't good enough..." When he came back out I could tell something was seriously wrong. I knew that meant they were here. The Time Shifters.

It was a Time Shifter ship that appeared on our screen, a Time Shifter ship that caused my dad and Jake to have a rushed panic that they tried to hide from us. They were making unanswered calls and trying to move a ship that had suddenly become sluggish. It seemed they were moving slowly too, but I knew they weren't. They both stopped moving completely when a voice broke over the com. It was the Captain of the Time Shifter ship.

"We have no quarrel with you," he said. "All we want is the girl Priestess. Factions within factions have ordered her demise, so other powers can take hold. It is an unhappy occurrence that you have arrived when you did and have become a part of this. Unfortunately, we can not halt our mission because of your presence," he apologized, but didn't really seem sorry. "We will continue to do what needs to be done. It is strictly business. There is a contract to be fulfilled and our reputation must remain untarnished."

His voice was like an icy, gooey clay my cousin use to have. It was black and it spread and it left a dark place even when it was gone. It was just creepy. And even creepier were the words that played in my mind, the words of the Shilonan Priestess, "You will encounter danger, your lives will be threatened," and I hoped her other word were true, "...but your wisdom will save

you."

While the Captain of the ship was still talking, Jake was trying to hack into their systems. I think he was trying to override their Time Shifters programs by using some of the information he got from the PC he stole. As Jake worked, we watched while the Time Shifters calibrated their beams. The beam was pointed on a small but turbulent moon in a distant part of the solar system we had just entered, the solar system that was coming to a fiery end.

I always heard it called a beam so I call it that here, but there wasn't any light coming from the ship. The moon that they picked just began evolving in front of us like those time elapsed movies you see in school. You know, the ones where a flowers peaks out of the Earth, blooms, and withers in just a few seconds. It was just like that. We watched as underwater volcanoes of the little moon erupted, turning into islands in an instant. Continents formed, then broke apart and formed again. Jake said when they were done calibrating the Time Beam, he was sure the Shilonan sun would be the next target. And that would mean that we would be the next target as well. It would speed up the sun's death cycle, causing it to swallow Shilona and our ship in heat filled gases.

"Why are they doing this?" I meant just to think it, but I must have actually said it, because Dad answered. "When the scientists found out about their sun dying they sent research ships to study it. There was a tragic accident and a solar flare with its elector magnetic pulse killed many of the researchers. The ones that lived seemed... different; they lacked judgment – they couldn't really tell right from wrong. Electro magnetic pulses don't usually have that effect on people but this one was very different. The scientists affected started calling themselves the Unconstrained Ones and they wanted to take over the Shilonan government. They enlisted others to help them by promising them power, money, anything they wanted. The Unconstrained Ones fitted the new members with a device that would send out the same type of electrical pulse that altered their perception of right and wrong. It also made the members easier to control. It seems the Shilonan government didn't tell many people about what happened. They certainly didn't tell Jake and me."

I looked at Daniel and he looked at me. I wondered if he, at some time, had the same dream I did hours ago. The dream about the glowing ball that changed the way people thought and behaved. I somehow know he did.

Dad took a deep sigh then softly said "It was the Unconstrained Ones that hired the Time Shifters. Some say they paid them by giving them the Time Shifters the technology they used to control others. Now the Time Shifters can control people too. I'm sorry. I guess your Aunt Mini was right. It was too dangerous for you to come."

I was thinking it, but this time it was Daniel who said it "No she wasn't. The Time Shifters are real and they can go anywhere, even Earth, you can't always save us from everything." Daniel looked at me and I knew he was thinking about what happened to our parents.

The words had barley left Daniel's lips when we saw a streak of light come at the Time Shifters ship and hit the air scrubber system. The ship began to fill with sickly sweat gas. It was fog white and felt just as cold. It filled the room and swirled around us. I remember wondering what kind of gas it was, something that would kill us, or just make us so sick we wished we were dead. Then I remembered thinking it didn't mater, either way it was bad.

Dad grabbed Daniel and me pushing us into an airlock, closing the door behind us, leaving us alone in the darkness and ordering us to "Stay!" I hate it when parents talk to you in one word orders like a pet dog. We didn't obey. We tried to open the door, but in that dark which was as black as the deepest night, we couldn't find the controls. We had no choice but to do what he said. We stayed and we listened in that lightness room to what was going on outside. Dad and Jake were still trying to save us all.

Listening as hard as we could, we were able to get enough information to tell what was going on. We heard that Jake was still trying to hack into Time Shifters computer to reverse the beam and disable their systems so they couldn't fight back. We could hear Jake tell my dad that he would then need to enter Sun life sequence backwards – back to where it was when we came. After that their voices grew heavy, sluggish, dull, then stopped. Certainly Jake didn't have time to enter everything he needed.

I thought it was all over, that we were done for, when a bluish light broke the darkness. Daniel had turned on his computer. I was really glad he had insisted on getting the battery for it. With the faint light we searched the walls looking for a way to escape. The light revealed a control panel door. "The Timer" We said it at the same time. We worked together to re-set the clock so we could make the door open. As we worked his thoughts were my thoughts and his voice was my voice. It was all very bizarre. I guess maybe we are alike after all, at least a little...sometimes.

Finally, the door flew open. The gas was gone but there was bad news. Dad and Jake were motionless on the floor. Only the lifting of their chests showed they were still breathing. I felt a pushing from behind me then saw Daniel in front of me. He raced to the flight panel and became fixated on the computer where he and Jake had been working.

"What do you think you're doing. You don't know anything about this stuff." He didn't listen, or at least acted like he didn't.

"What could you know about it. It's not even your computer"

"Enough," he said. "I know enough"

I considered that for a moment. "You're right," I said softly. I don't usually tell him, but Daniel really is good with computers.

Daniel didn't look up. He just kept working, his fingers flying over the keys. I noticed for the first time the control panel was just like Daniel's game.

"Jake showed me the files where he keeps the information he gets from other computer systems. I'll bet I can get into the program he was using to reverse the cycle of this star. The one he got off the Time Shifters computer." He looked at me and said, "You know he was trying to reverse it, you heard them. If he wasn't able to get in maybe I can." His eyes locked once again on the computer before him. "Besides, it's the only chance we have."

As he was working the communications line opened again. It was the captain of the other ship. He tried to act relaxed as before but you could tell he was worried.

'We have discussed it and decided we were wrong to involve you this situation." He held out some small blue balls, like the ones I had seen in my dream. "We will send these over to you in a transport. They will save you. Simply..."

"No!" Daniel and I cut him off together. We returned each others look and knew we both had the same dream – again.

"You will fail.... and you will die!" the captain roared as the screen turned blank.

Daniel went back to work, then hesitated, then pounded his fist on the panel.

"He didn't finish," Daniel's voice was raspy like he just finished a race. His fingers flew across the keys on the control panel. I could tell by the look on his face he was able to access the programs we needed.

But I also knew he would still need to load the star sequence and send it back into their Time Altering Program.

He turned to me. "You know the sequence of the stars. You're always looking at stuff like that. You've got to remember how a star is born and dies."

He kept talking while I was frozen.

"Maybe this is what we're suppose to do. Maybe what we saw back in the library, the dreams we've been having, everything that has happened, all of it was leading us to this."

"So we are suppose to save everyone here" I said it in a snide way but it was only a front to not show that I was scared.

"Ya maybe we are. We could be like super heroes in a game – but with out the extra lives." After he said it I'm sure he knew that wasn't very convincing.

I did nothing.

Then he said in that annoying mocking voice he knew I hated. "Or we could just stand here and die. It's your choice." That didn't help. Or maybe it did. I mean, he was right. I couldn't just stand there.

He kept going on.

"That would be a really stupid choice, but..." I didn't look at Daniel, I just forced past him and approached the panel, trying to remember how a star grows old and dies. But other memories flashed in my head. Memories of family, absent friends, going to the movies. All kinds of normal stuff. What was happening now was so strange, it seemed so unreal, but it was real and I had to focus on it.

I tried, but I couldn't. Time was stretching. Seconds became minutes and the minutes never ended. I was frozen.

I heard my cousin say "Your wisdom will save you, that's what she said." He put is hand on my shoulder and whispered, "You can do it."

I shut my eyes and could see the words that told about the life of a star. I remembered how a star has hydrogen and how nuclear reactions in a star generates large amounts of energy and heat..."Eventually the stars core runs out of fuel and begins to shrink and becomes hotter. Hydrogen fuel begins to burn outside the core and the star swells up and becomes a red giant." (Read More About It #11)

I put my fingers on the keyboard and began enter what my mind saw. I knew I had to reverse the current hydrogen levels back to where they were when we first arrived.

Time passing faster than it should feels like wind and speed. You can feel it whirling, twirling, spinning. It whips around you from above and below and from every other direction. It flows so fast you can't catch your breath. We watched through the front screen as the star whose gases were expanding stared to be pulled together again; the hot gasses that were surrounding our ship gave way to the cool of space. It was just in time too. The controls were telling us that the shields were loosing their battle in protecting us from the heat of the gases and Solar Winds that buffeted the ship. As the vapors fell away the shields regained their strength.

Finally the searing mass of gas settled, returning to the way it was when we came; a star nearing the end of its life. We heard dad and Jake stirring from their sleep and watched as the Time Shifter ship left –defeated-- knowing that – if they tried again we could reverse their efforts. It would be at least a little while before they could put up firewalls guard their systems from us hacking into theirs.

***********************************************

So in the end it turned out to be a pretty good trip. We fulfilled a prophecy, saved a Priestess, saved ourselves and found a way to defeat the Time Shifters. Oh yea, we also documented a dying star.

I guess being a hero isn't too bad after all. And yes, I have to say, I think my 13th year looks promising.

Chapter 8 - Fun Facts

## Read More About It

**1.** http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/ask_astro/answers/980213a.html - Ask an Astrophysicist

http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/features/news/29sep04.html - Massive Merger of Galaxies is the Most Powerful on Record

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/hubble/science/milky-way-collide.html \- Nasa's Hubble Telescope Shows Milky Way is Destined for Head – On Collision

**2,** Reisner, Speed of Animals Np n.d. http://speedofanimals.com/animals/elephant

http://animal.discovery.com/news/briefs/20030407/elephant.html - Elephants Do Run, Say Researchers

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elephants - Elephants

**3.** The Idiots Guide to the Sun. Alpha – a member of the Penguin Group 2003 print The Idiot's Guide series

**4**. http://www.bnl.gov/bnlweb/history/higinbotham.asp) – First video Game

**5.** http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LCROSS/main/prelim_water_results.htmlM \- Lcross Impact Data Indicates Water on Moon

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/behindscenes/waterrecycler.html \- Recycling Water is not just for Earth Anymore

**6.** http://www.nps.gov/sagu/planyourvisit/upload/africanized%20honey%20bees.pdf \- Bees

**7.** http://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/science/neptune_triton.html -Triton

**8.** http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/solar_system_level1/neptune.html \- Information on Neptune

**9.** http://education.jlab.org/qa/electromagnet.html How to make a magnet. Be sure to get the help of a responsible adult

**10.** http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zbere6q8Yc – What Will Happen to our Earth When the Sun Dies? Answered by Dr. Carolyn Brinkworth of NASA's Spitzer Science Center Credit: NASA and Caltech

**11.** http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/teachers/lifecycles/Imagine2.pdf \- Imagine the Universe: The Life Cycle of Stars

http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/universe_level2/stars.html \- Stars

Cover image from Dreamstime.com

## Glossary

**Black dwarfs** – A white dwarf that has cooled to the point that it no longer emits light. It takes a very long time for a white dwarf to cool enough to become a black dwarf and it is believed the universe is too young to have any black dwarfs yet. Our sun will become a white dwarf and then end its days as a black dwarf.

**Black holes** \- The ultimate fate of a massive star after it burns all its energy and collapses onto itself. Its gravity is so great even light can not escape.

**Dark Matter** -Name given to the unseen mass that exists in our universe. We know it exists because we can see how it affects other things in the Universe. We don't know exactly what dark matter is, but there are theories. Some believe there is also Dark Energy. Like Dark Matter we can see the effects, but we don't know what it is. We do have theories though.

**Goddard, Robert** (1882-1945) – Robert Goddard was an early rocket scientist. He is considered by many to be the father of modern rocket science.

**Kuiper Belt** \- a group of icy objects orbiting the Sun beyond Neptune. Sunlight takes more than four hours to reach Kuiper Belt Object (It only takes eight minutes for sunlight to reach Earth). These objects are sometime referred to as "KBOs"

**Neutrinos** \- Small particles that were made the very first time in the very first second of our Universe. Neutrinos also come from stars. We can't see them because they are so small. As they travel they pass right through the Earth and anything on Earth. As you are reading this millions of neutrinos from our sun are passing through you.

**North Star** \- Our current north star is named Polaris. It's at the celestial North Pole. It seems to remain constant while all the other stars dance around it. Because of its northern location it's often used for navigation.

**Solar winds** – Gas particle that flow off in streams from the Sun. They can travel as fast as 1 million miles per hour. I million miles is about 4000 trips around the Earth.

**Spaghettification** – The theory that an object would be stretched and torn apart from the gravitational pull of a black hole.

**Temporal** \- Having to do with time

