

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and events are either products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

### Copyright 2012 J. C. Allen

### All rights reserved.

### No part of this book may be stored, reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without express written permission of the author.

### Published by Smashwords

### ISBN: 9781476093567

## DEDICATION

### This series is dedicated to Kate, who not only inspired it, but drove it with her boundless curiosity, unique imagination, and indelible personality.

The history behind this novel is completely disputable. Although based on years of factual research, it is fiction. So, if you take literally, or seriously, any of the concepts, ideas, representations, inferences or conclusions contained herein, try Valium! I simply followed my own conscience and mind through the trail of evidence I compiled over the years. It was conceived to inspire interest in history and promote exploration — of your surroundings and soul — in every generation, not mindless, sheep mentality or blind faith. I hope it encourages others to make their own determinations about everything... or at least try to.

### I would also like to thank the following for making this book possible: My mother, Shirley, for... everything! Kate, Kristen, Carrie, and Olivia for giving me insight into the thoughts and feelings of this newest generation of girls as well as planting most of the ideas in my head for many of the characters (they're sneaky like that). Rich, for encouragement. Scott, for hashing out the intricacies involved and for trying to tear apart every theory I had and eliciting controversy at every turn. I would also like to thank everyone who has, and continues, to stand by me through everything! And a special thanks to you, the reader, for supporting me!

### Nobody is to blame except myself for any errors, screw-ups or omissions, although I'll try to blame whoever I can, if I can (those pesky aliens).

# Part I — Buried Treasure

# 

# Prologue

#

March 21, 1756, 8:47 PM, Appalachian Mountains.

Branches, bushes and trees flew by on the amazingly stable video display. The man's labored breath was exceptionally clear. You could almost hear his heart pounding out of his chest. Occasionally, an upside-down glimpse of his face came into view. He appeared to be quite young, perhaps thirty, but had a look in his eyes, the eyes of an old man. A wise old man. The video oddly seemed to be recording from a camera mounted on a chain around his neck. His dirty complexion and half-inch beard growth gave hint that he had dwelled in these woods for days. The perspiration on his face and tenseness of his forehead and jaw reflected his fear — and determination. He had several scratches on his face, mostly from running through the heavy brush. Looking down, his right hand was bloody, as was his left side, where a small hole pierced his buckskin jacket at the bottom of his ribcage.

"Not... gonna... make... it!" he panted with difficultly as he stopped to gather his senses — and breath. He ducked behind a tree, concealing his breathing as much as possible. No more than fifty feet away, atop a horse so black it appeared to be a void in the already dim light, dressed in black trousers and a bright red shirt and cape was his nemesis, Bergamiser — or Bignose as he liked to call him, because of his huge red honker.

"I know you're out there, Taylor," the man called as he turned the horse in circles, looking each way carefully. "I know I winged you, too. Just give me the box and we'll get ya patched up." He tapped his gun, which was lying across his legs, impatiently. He heard a crack of a twig in the opposite direction, turned his horse and sped off in pursuit.

Taylor breathed what seemed like an hour's worth of breath and sighed, "Thank God he's as bad at tracking as he is at physics," he giggled painfully. "And thank God for the trees, or the moonlight would have given me away."

He pressed his hand against his side and pulled it away, wincing as he stared at the bright red blood on his fingers. He grunted and then continued on, hoping to reach his destination before his body failed.

Twenty minutes later Bergamiser slowed to barely a trot, then a walk. He was about to give up the chase. He was angry and it was getting cold when he saw a large lump in the path ahead.

Taylor watched as Bignose climbed down from his mare and walked over to him. His eyes closed before the man reached him. He was face down, apparently clutching something to his body. Bergamiser carefully pushed Taylor over onto his back with his foot, full of anticipation at recovering his prize — finally. Taylor had died with a grin on his face, and Bignose's features twisted with fury when he saw what Taylor was holding in his hands — a parchment scrawled in blood that read: "NO TIME FOR YOU! HA HA! J.T."

# Chapter 1 — Alex

#

Friday, May 11 — Southern Virginia.

It was a warm morning, but a damp one. The sixty-degree temperature still felt chilly flowing through the open window. The sheer white curtains fluffed in and out in rhythm with the breeze. The chill air felt soothing on Alex's face as she snuggled in bed with the comforter pulled up around her neck as far as it would go.

The clock said 5:58, it was set to go off at 6:00, but she was always awake before it could ever alarm. Today, like every day except Sunday, she had to — no, wanted to —go to early swim practice. She had the option of going either before or after school, but she always did both. Alex loved swimming and was good at it.

She opened one eye and stared at her medals and ribbons, which were all hanging from hooks she made her father install on the front of a six-foot mantle built over her bed to hold her trophies.

The ribbons swayed gently above her. She remembered winning each one, starting with her first, a green fifth-place ribbon when she was just five years old, competing in the five- to eight-year-old category. The rest were all blue, first-place, from the time she was seven until now at twelve. She thought that would change soon and she actually looked forward to possibly losing again when she would begin competing nationally in the twelve- to fifteen-year-old group this summer.

"You're too young to compete nationally," her dad had always said. Until this year.

Alex's dad was Richard (Rick) Williamson. His medals, her most prized possessions, were hanging from hooks in the ceiling above the mantle: three gold and two silver from the 1991 National Invitational. He was going to try for the Olympics in '92 but decided he wasn't quite ready. By 1996, Alex was in his life and he had gladly given up the idea of Olympic gold and instead went for the gold in family and employment. He managed to acquire his dream job: senior designer and tester for one of the top gaming software companies in the world.

Alex often felt she had ruined his dreams, but he always assured her she was more valuable than a thousand gold medals, and even better than a world record in the hundred meter butterfly, which he had destroyed in practice many times.

On the far wall, she had a picture of her dad and his coach when he was only fifteen and had set several state records in the open division of the state championships for freestyle and butterfly as well as I.M. He was holding up seven first-place ribbons to show the camera.

Other than that, Alex's room was the typical teen girl's room: teen idol posters were pasted up randomly around the walls. She had a fluffy, frilly bed with matching desk, dresser and nightstand. A giant net took up an entire corner of the room, filled with stuffed animals, all carefully placed, not thrown, and mostly Care Bears.

The room was painted two tones of blue; dark blue on the bottom, light blue on top with a wave border in between. A blown-up picture of her swimming taken last year, decorated the waterline. The carpet completed the pool illusion, being light blue with what looked like the sunlight patterns you would see on the bottom of a pool being constantly rippled by a slight breeze.

She also had a huge walk-in closet on the same wall as the entry door. It was always kept closed, mainly because it was stuffed with too many shoes, too many dresses, too many coats, jackets, hats, and of course, toys littering the floor and shelves. She had a full-length mirror in the opposite corner and a sectional sofa with pull-out bed under the net. Rick had allowed her to paint and decorate the room however she wished each year, and continuously added touches like the huge flat-screen TV mounted across from the couch. It was a dream room for any young girl, and the layout was mirrored on the other side of a shared bathroom for Jessie's room.

The bathroom connecting the two sisters' rooms was fourteen feet long, with one side totally taken up by countertop with double sinks and a mirror spanning the entire wall. The other side held a six-foot sunken Jacuzzi, enclosed toilet closet, and glass door shower stall.

Beyond the luxurious bathroom was what Alex called Hurricane Jessie. Unless the area was in use, the girls left the doors open on both ends of the bathroom because they loved the breeze blowing through their rooms from opposite sides of the house when the weather was nice enough to keep the windows open.

At 6:00, Alex turned the alarm off as soon as it buzzed, slung the covers back and swung her feet around to the floor where she had fuzzy bunny slippers awaiting her feet — pink to match her pink pajamas.

She used the bathroom with the lights off so as to not awaken the beast in the next room, and glanced into the mirror. Her emerald eyes looked wide awake, but her short brown hair was a mess. She decided not to bother fixing it — she was going swimming anyway and no other kids were ever up early enough to see her between the house and the rec center.

Outside her room the upstairs hallway formed a balcony which overlooked the entryway, kitchen, and dining room. A large, curved staircase wound down to the first floor and continued on into the basement.

The entire first floor was open from floor to ceiling, save for a single counter that denoted the boundary of the kitchen. A huge pewter chandelier was suspended from the ceiling in the kitchen area and another in the dining area. Matching wall sconces graced both sides of the fireplace in the living room area. A single large globe dangled in the entryway. Nothing but tiled floor demarcated the area called the kitchen, wood floors defined the dining and living rooms, and stone distinguished the entry.

She could smell the biscuits, eggs, sausage, bacon, and gravy as soon as she opened her bedroom door. She bounced down the stairs and trotted over to the counter, where she could see Rick placing two plates full of the scrumptious-smelling breakfast.

"Good morning, sunshine," Rick said as he poured them each a glass of orange juice.

"Morning, Dad. Good job on the breakfast! How do you always know what I want?"

"Father's intuition," he said, shrugging playfully as he finished pouring. He kissed her on the head and sat down beside her to eat.

"I broke 28 seconds yesterday in the fly," she announced with a huge grin on her face which got even bigger as she saw Rick's startled look. "You know that's second in the nation in my age group?"

"Wow," he finally said. "And no, that's first in your age group — the only other girl who broke 28 seconds is sixteen now, so she won't be in your age group for the Nationals."

Alex was shocked that he had the information in his head, "How did you know that?"

"All of us old has-been swimmers keep up with that kind of stuff," he answered with a straight face.

"Yeah, Dad, like you always kept up on the twelve to fifteen girls' stats..."

"I have ever since I knew someone who would be at the top of it."

"In the fly, maybe. You know that's my favorite..."

"Like your dad, eh?"

"What are you getting at, Dad?" She didn't like the questioning look on his face.

"You're not trying to, um, live up to someone else's expectations, are you?"

She raised an eyebrow and then looked back down at her food, "Dad, I do work three times as hard at the fly. Not because it was your best, but because I like it the best too. It's the one stroke that can set you apart from everyone else."

"Honey, I'm just worried that you're working too hard. You practice almost five hours a day counting the gym work. You're gonna burn out."

"Uh! Dad! I do it because I want to. If I didn't want to, I wouldn't do it and I wouldn't worry about whether or not you approved of it."

"Your coach told me you spend the entire morning practice on the butterfly. He says you're obsessed with it. Honey, that doesn't sound healthy."

"You told me you worked on the fly three hours a day, Dad," she argued.

"When I was twenty, Alex, not twelve. When I was twelve I was shooting things with my BB gun and blowing up stuff with firecrackers."

"So, you want me to become more destructive?" she said sarcastically.

"No, silly. I want you to be a kid. Have fun, don't work all day. You leave here at 6:30 and don't get home until 6:30 in the evening. Sometimes later. That's more than I work!"

"But you're a geeky video game nut — you play video games sixteen hours a day sometimes!"

"I, uh, enjoy that, honey—"

"I enjoy swimming, Dad. I'd do it all day if it weren't for school. It's what I enjoy doing. It's like video games to you, or like Barbie dolls for Jessie when she was little, or like explosives to you—"

"OK, OK, I get your point."

"Is that not good enough for you? Are you going to force me to play with dolls or something?"

"No, honey, I won't. But that's the only answer I would have accepted," he said with a knowing smile as she gave him a puzzled look. "Look, I just wanted to make sure you're not trying to walk in my footsteps. I want you to take your own path."

"I am. But some of the paths you enjoyed walking down are just as beautiful to me as they were to you. You don't see me building fortresses in your strategy games or fragging space marines with rocket launchers in your shoot-'em-up games. I don't like everything you do; I just like swimming!"

Rick just smiled at her tenderly.

"What?" she blasted in frustration.

"I love you, Alex."

"Does that mean I can skip school and swim all day?"

"Uh, no. That means I'm happy you enjoy what you're doing and I'll help any way I can!"

"Cool, so you'll build an Olympic-size swimming pool out back? Ours isn't big enough."

"I said any way I can; we don't even have room—"

"I know, Dad, thanks for worrying about me," she gulped the last of her orange juice and slammed the glass down on the counter. "Now I gotta hurry up and get to practice."

She shot out of her seat and kissed him quickly on the cheek before running upstairs. Rick was still pondering their conversation when she flew past him and out the kitchen door to the garage. She slung her backpack over her shoulder, hopped on her bike, and sped off to practice.

# Chapter 2 — Jessica and Anna

#

At 7:30, Rick came out of the basement, like he always did every school day, and headed up to Jessie's room, from which he could already hear the alarm clock blaring. He pushed the door open and headed for the night stand to turn off what he thought was the most obnoxious-sounding alarm he had ever heard. He had bought it for exactly that reason, because Jessie could sleep through an atomic blast at ground zero. Jessie lay sprawled across the bed, face down, half a leg and arm hanging over the side. He grabbed both and yanked her off the bed and put her on her feet. She appeared to be asleep standing up. Rick had learned over the years that the only way to wake Jessie up was to physically remove her from the bed. He checked the alarm clock; it had been set for 7:00.

He laughed. "Why do you even set it?"

"So you'll hear it and wake me up," she mumbled as she brushed a cobweb of hair out of her face with her hands and staggered toward the bathroom. He looked around for her clothes. She often slept in whatever she planned on wearing, but now she had on shorts and a sports bra. He laid out some clothes and headed downstairs to Anna's room.

Rick and Anna's rooms were identical to Alex and Jessie's, and directly below them. Anna's room was originally Rick's study until she turned thirteen and decided she required her own room instead of sleeping in Alex's room on the pullout bed. That was nearly two years ago, and Rick had been using a corner of the basement rec room as his office since then — always promising to build a wall around it but never finding the time.

Anna was nearly fifteen now. She had been living with the Williamsons since she was five, when her mother, Rick's cousin, abandoned her to his care. All Anna had known of her father was that he was black, which anyone could guess from her dark skin and kinky hair. Rick had finally told her about him when she turned fourteen. Anna's father was jailed for life for murder before she had even been born, leaving her mother with a drug addiction problem and no help raising a baby. Anna had no desire to seek out her father since he had never yet bothered to try to contact her. As far as she was concerned, Rick was her dad now, and she was totally proud to be considered his daughter.

Anna was extremely tall and very skinny. She kept her hair straightened, past her shoulders, and shiny with a dozen chemicals, as if hiding from her ancestry. Just a hair shy of six feet tall, she nearly looked Rick in the eyes now. He figured she would surpass him before she turned sixteen; one thing he had never told her about her father was that he was 6' ll".

Headstrong, often moody, belligerent, and even mildly violent at times, Anna listened to and respected only Rick. She often called him Dad at home, but always 'Uncle Ricky' in public — because it embarrassed him.

"Time to get up!" Rick yelled through the door as he banged on it. Nothing. Anna either woke up at the drop of a feather or joined Jessie at ground zero — it was a crap-shoot. Rick was always leery of barging into Anna's room. Not only did he feel like he was invading her privacy, but she also had matured physically in the last couple years, often creating awkward moments when he had to wake her. Thank heavens today wasn't one of those embarrassing days, he sighed in relief after opening the door to see her well-covered with a knee-length nightshirt she often wore around the house. He shook her shoulder and her eyes opened wide, but the rest of her didn't move for a few seconds.

Awareness finally registered on her features and she jerked her face up out of a puddle of drool and blurted, "Oh my gosh! What time is it?"

"It's 7:35, sleeping beauty. When are you going to start setting the alarm clock?"

"When you stop waking me up, which I know you'll always do right after you get Jess up," she stated matter-of-factly, as if he were a dolt for not recognizing the rules of the game.

Rick thought he sensed a pattern here. He sometimes felt he was their servant, but they enjoyed it, and truthfully, so did he. But he recognized they really needed to start learning some responsibility. As he sat on the edge of her bed he chided, "You know, you're almost fifteen. I think you can start getting yourself up soon."

"Soon," she repeated. "Soon, like when I'm 29?"

"You have to grow up sometime; lord knows the rest of you is..."

She moaned. "Yeah, it's because I'm growing so fast that I need more sleep," she hypothesized.

Rick patted her on the leg. "Right," he said as he rose from the edge of her bed and headed out the door. "Breakfast will be waiting, your highness."

He headed to the kitchen, where most of the breakfast was ready, keeping warm under a heat lamp. He had bought the restaurant-style food warmer for this purpose; he had gotten tired of fixing breakfast twice every morning — once for Alex, and then a second time for Jess and Anna. Now he could cook almost everything at once and keep it steaming hot for the next shift. All he had to do was fry some eggs because they didn't keep well under the lamp. But that only took a minute.

As he started cracking the eggs in the skillet, Jessica came down the stairs. She had put on a pair of jeans and t-shirt, ignoring the outfit Rick had laid out for her. Oh well, he thought, if that was her way of rebelling against authority, he might just make it through her teenage years.

Her long dark brown hair was now neatly brushed back into a ponytail and stuffed through the hole in a ball-cap. She was very slender with long legs which were well-muscled by her two different dance classes which were each held twice a week. She loved Barbie dolls and stuffed animals, but for some reason dressed like a tomboy at school. Rick thought, _Why try to understand her? She's ten. Enough said._

Anna came out of her room, still in her nightshirt, as he was cracking the second egg, her timing impeccable as usual. "How many eggs do each of you want?" he asked.

"One," Jessica replied instantly.

Anna considered her answer a moment before answering, "Four."

"Wow," Rick commented under his breath, but knew his growing girl was apt to eat like a truck driver quite often. He finished cracking the eggs into the skillet, loaded a plate with the previously cooked vittles for each of them, flipped the eggs over easy before adding to the plates, and delivered the finished product to the table. As he set each plate in front of the girls he kissed them on top their heads. He then poured each a glass of juice, and sat down to join them.

_I pamper them too much_ , he thought, then smiled; he wouldn't have it any other way. He watched a few minutes in silence, enjoying his orange juice. "You girls need to hurry up, it's 7:50 now," he said as he rose from the table and headed back downstairs.

"Why don't you just take us to school, then we could sleep another twenty minutes every day!" Jessie asked.

"No thanks!" screeched Anna, holding her hand up in the classic 'Stop' pose.

Rick chuckled and shook his head before continuing down the stairs without comment. He had quit taking them to school because it embarrassed them; they were far too mature for their daddy to take them to school.

Girls!

Anna finished eating first and went back to her room to get dressed and put on some makeup. She thought Rick didn't know she wore makeup, but he did and had let her do it anyway so she'd think she was getting away with something. He had always told them they couldn't wear makeup to school until they were sixteen, but had realized that was a silly rule because girls just love to wear makeup for some strange reason. He never bothered to tell them he'd changed his mind, hoping to use it as a bargaining chip one day. But nobody had ever questioned the rule!

Anna and Jessie left the house at 8:05, after running downstairs to give Rick hugs and kisses. It took twenty minutes to walk to school. The tardy bell rang at 8:25, but somehow they always got there on time.

Anna was forced to walk with Jessie, and of course this was torture for the older girl, but still better than the horror of being driven by a parent. Anna was all about appearances. Every morning she managed to turn a grumpy, sleepy teen into a fashion model in the brief time she spent in front of the mirror, an art of which she was extremely proud.

# Chapter 3 — Kaylie and Christy

#

At the age of eleven, Christy Stapleton was a perky little firecracker. Already in seventh grade from being double-promoted, she was very short and skinny as a rail, so she looked even more out of place with the twelve- and thirteen-year-old kids. Her short blonde hair framed a face with deep blue eyes and a spattering of freckles on her bony cheeks. She had been in gymnastics since she could walk and her entire tiny room was covered with various gymnast posters, except for one: Albert Einstein. Christy was also a math and physics whiz-kid, capable of understanding mathematical theories and computations most college students flee from.

At 7:15, Christy pushed down her covers and turned off the alarm clock. She got up early each morning to perform her stretching ritual, which she performed in her bed since there wasn't room in the floor to spread out. She stretched out into a full split, with her feet hanging slightly over each side of her small bed, and watched herself in the mirror on the wall to make sure she was perfectly symmetrical as she proceeded to bend down, left, right, middle — checking each muscle in her legs, stomach, side, arms, and even her neck. Every stretch had to be perfect as she slowly and methodically went through back-bends, splits, and all other sorts of pretzel twists.

At 7:30 she was done and got up to inspect herself more thoroughly in the mirror. She checked every inch of her body as if she were afraid some fat monster had come in the middle of the night and deposited fifty pounds of lard on her legs, arms, chest, stomach or butt. Nope, still skinny, just the way she liked it. She was not dangerously anorexic or underweight, but she teetered on the edge of it. She smiled, satisfied, and proceeded to change into her school clothes, which she had laid over the back of her chair the night before. She grabbed her shoes, socks, and book bag, and headed downstairs for breakfast, which would be cereal, Pop-tarts or some other form of cold food. This precise routine was followed every day, to the second.

Her parents were never home in the morning. Her parents were never home in the evening either. She often wondered if they even existed. She mused that she hadn't really seen them since she was eight and had always gotten herself to school, practice, and fixed all of her own meals as well since then. She headed out the door for school after breakfast.

Kaylie Monroe was an average-looking girl of medium height, medium weight, and medium appearance — just a plain ordinary thirteen-year-old girl. She had straight thick black hair that hung just past her shoulders, which she kept tucked behind each ear. She wore a constant mischievous smirk on her face that somehow managed to appear cute instead of sneaky. She loved soccer more than anything, and dreamt of playing for the Duke Blue Devils someday. She played in spring and fall leagues and year-round anywhere else she could.

She turned back her covers at 7:45. Wearing a pink tank-top, she stood in front of the mirror and stared at her chest as she pulled the shirt tight, making sure the boob fairy didn't visit her the night before; she worried constantly that she would not be able to play soccer if that happened. She turned sideways and inspected herself for several minutes before smiling happily, content that she had escaped another day.

She went to the bathroom with her clothes and came out a couple minutes later with knee-length white pants and a blue 'Duke' sweatshirt on. Her lips were full and bright red now and her brown eyes were deeper and darker from careful application of make-up. She loved to make the much older Anna jealous with the fact that she was allowed to use make-up.

Kaylie never ate breakfast at home before school; she simply drank a glass of milk while putting on her shoes. She finished her glass and put it in the sink, then grabbed the marker on the dry-erase board and wrote, "Going to Alex's, cya Monday." She grabbed her book bag and headed for school at 8:20; she lived just two blocks away.

# Chapter 4 — An Interesting Assignment

#

Both arms came out of the water at her hips as her legs thrust her almost completely into the air. She literally dove back in and coasted with another dolphin kick. That was her dad's secret to the butterfly and she employed it beautifully. She extended her arms fully in front of her and pulled as much of the liquid as she could down to her sides before stretching her hands out for the lunge to the finish. Both palms slapped into the side and she touched both feet to the bottom as she stood in the waist-deep water to wait for Chelsea. A full two seconds later, Chelsea popped up after jabbing her own fingertips into the same sensitive wall surface. She immediately looked up to the electronic timer.

"Don't you ever look at your time, Alex?"

"I have a clock in my head. Was it good?"

"I'd say so — it's 28.05!!"

"What about you?" Alex asked expectantly, seeming oblivious to her own accomplishment.

"Don't you know what that means, Alex?"

Alex looked at her blankly, and then peered up at the scoreboard, "Your time is 30.02! I told you 29 seconds isn't far away for you!"

Chelsea put her hands on her hips and glared at Alex. "You really don't care if you just set the best time of the year in our age group, do you? You make me sick, girl!"

Alex just shrugged and hugged her.

Chelsea was fifteen and eight inches taller and 25 pounds heavier than Alex. Her short black hair and bushy eyebrows stood out on her otherwise plain face. Last year she had won every event, but this year she had placed second whenever she had competed with Alex. A distant second. She had started entering back- and breast-stroke just so she could win something other than relays this year. Alex could beat her in those too, but chose to enter the distance races for freestyle and butterfly. Chelsea didn't mind second place, even a very distant second place, because she knew Alex would be something special.

Chelsea also knew Alex had made her better, teaching her and pushing her to the point that she might just pull off some blue ribbons next year and more the following years, in the sixteen to eighteen age group... at least she'd have a chance then because she would be competing against someone other than Alex.

"I told you you're going to Nationals with me this year. I can't go without you. Two more hundredths puts you in the top ten, and two more tenths could land you in the main heat," Alex said calmly, ignoring her praise.

"You don't get it. That girl from California posted a 28.38 as her best, and you beat that all four times we raced today!"

Alex shrugged and replied, "I posted 29.15 nationally, so she could be half a second faster now, too! I'll be more confident when I hit 27... or 26."

Chelsea laughed, "My dear, you'd be on the podium in the Olympics with a 26."

"Well, for now, you're going to Nationals with me, and that's final. Next year you're going too."

Chelsea raised the corner of her lip as well as an eyebrow at her.

"Don't give me that look, you're not done improving. By next year you'll be clawing at 28."

Chelsea snorted in disbelief, "Right. Let's go get dressed; it's already past 8:00."

"Race you to the shower!" Alex yelled.

"You don't stand a chance against me on land, Flipper!" Chelsea teased.

Both girls jumped from the water and sprinted to the shower room, with Chelsea arriving yards ahead. "If they ever drain the pool at the Olympics, I've got a shot to beat you!" Chelsea panted as she entered the shower room and hurriedly peeled off her suit.

"They call that track and field, dork!" Alex laughed back at her as she followed and did the same.

They sped through their showers and left on their bikes ten minutes later — again racing. Chelsea winning again too. They took a paved bike trail that cut through the woods, and after about half a mile they crossed a bridge over a nearly flooded stream of chocolate water. It was still raining slightly but the stream seemed to be slowly dropping, evidenced by the patterns on the edge of the banks. Another mile through the trail put them in the middle of town, one block from school. Chelsea slowed up and waited for Alex to catch her. Alex took advantage and sped by, claiming victory and taunting her as they stopped to chain their bikes.

"That wasn't fair!" Chelsea argued, not truly upset by it.

"Your fault! Do I ever let up on you in the pool?"

"So I'm a sucker then, eh?"

"Yep! You goin' to practice after school?" Alex asked.

"No it's Friday; I go to my dad's house this weekend."

"Oh. OK, see ya Monday then!" Alex said as they hugged. Chelsea walked across the street to the high school; Alex rushed into the junior high, the first bell ringing just as she entered.

Alex was almost to her locker where Christy and Kaylie had been waiting for her. She grabbed her books and headed for class with them. They had all their classes together this year, which had made the year much easier for the trio.

"Anderson's going to have a pop quiz today," Kaylie announced as they marched lock-step toward their first class.

"Yeah, right," said Alex skeptically. "It's Friday. He never gives tests on Friday. Plus we're not done with Caesar yet, he's still alive, you know?"

"Who cares about Rome anyway, that's like two centuries ago," joked Christy.

"Millennia, dork, centuries are a hundred years, a millennium is a thousand," corrected Kaylie.

"I want to know what life was really like back then, not what some stuffy old farts wearing blankets did. Why don't we ever learn what's important?"

Mr. Anderson was following closely behind, eavesdropping. Unofficially retired, at 72 years old, he was fairly tall and still well built. He was bald with a fluffy white ring of hair that always seemed to stick straight out. His hair was matched by his huge, bushy, white-as-snow eyebrows which rested over wide eyes and a big red nose. Anderson loved to teach and loved history. The kids all joked that he was alive when history started. That amused him.

As the kids filed into the classroom, Anderson grabbed his book and came around to the front of his desk where he kept his stool, and opened his book to a marked page.

Kaylie sat in the closest seat, Alex behind her, and Christy to the left of Alex.

"Open your books to page 217," said the veteran teacher in a soft, but still strong voice. He paused as the kids reluctantly did so, mumbling dislike. He suddenly looked at Christy, who seemed pitifully bored with the idea of more book study. "No. Close your books, class," he decided spontaneously.

Eyebrows raised, foreheads crinkled. Many kids could be heard murmuring about the rumored pop quiz.

The old man swiveled his stool, placed the book on his desk, and slowly turned to face the class.

"Told ya! Pop quiz," Kaylie whispered to Alex.

"Class. I want to do something different. I heard an interesting question this morning on the way to class," he nodded at Christy. "What Ms. Stapleton here asked was what everyday life was really like back in the days of the Roman Empire for normal people. Now I've read a lot of books about that period of time, and as you may know, it's one of the most fascinating to me. Most every history class will tell you about the senate and the treachery of Caesar, or the military tactics of Rome's imperial soldier legions, but never do you hear what life was like for the everyday Roman." He then motioned to Christy, "Ms. Stapleton, would you please come forward and state your inquiries?"

Christy shrank back into her seat, pointing to her chest and squeaked, "Uh, me?" hoping he had made a mistake.

"Yes, dear, you. I think you have questions that are probably more interesting than facts about stuffy old farts in sheets, don't you?" he challenged.

Christy, bolstered by a new confidence born of adolescent superiority complex, stood and firmly stated, "Yes, as a matter of fact, I think I do!" and took up residence right beside the admired elder.

"Well," she started, "we've heard about Julius Caesar and whoeverus maximus and all that stuff and it's really no different than any other empire or government that ever existed, is it?"

Anderson raised a caterpillar eyebrow and pulled up a knee, rested his elbow on it, then his chin on his fist. She watched him carefully, guessing he was going to chastise her for her thoughts. "Please, explain, Christy. I like where you're going with this!"

She relaxed and smiled, "OK. Well, it seems every government oppresses its people or is corrupt or even evil. Like our own—"

A chorus of cheers welled up instantly at those words.

"But, there are still people like us — I mean normal families and stuff. Were there normal families then? Of course there were! We just never hear about them. Everyone couldn't live in palaces and have servants to do everything for them. What did the normal moms and dads do? What did the kids do?"

A prissy girl in the back stood up, dressed in an outfit that belonged on a runway, not in middle school. "Yeah, what did the kids our age wear? All we know is what the royalty wore."

A large boy stood up then, "What did they eat?"

Others joined in, "What was school like?"

"Did the kids play sports?"

"Where did the kids hang out?"

"Were the kids of normal families forced to marry strangers too?"

The questions kept coming and Mr. Anderson stopped them for a few seconds while he asked Christy to go to the chalkboard and start writing them down. This went on for several minutes until they had over thirty questions scribbled hastily by a happy Christy.

"OK, class, let's try to answer all of these questions. This weekend, I want each of you to pick a question and write it down. Christy, you go first and mark off the question you want to answer."

"I want to know if the kids played sports," she said easily as she marked through the question.

Kaylie stood up immediately and volunteered, "I want to find out what the kids our age wore."

A few kids later, Alex stood and said, "I want to find out what kind of houses normal people lived in."

There were 24 students, 32 questions. After they had each selected one Mr. Anderson spoke, "Everyone, write down the remaining eight questions. If you can answer any of them I will give 25 bonus points each."

A boy in the middle asked, "Where do we find the answers? It's definitely not in our book!"

"Hmmm..." Anderson pondered, "You could use this fancy Internet you kids play around on all the time now... books, whatever. I'll be lenient on this. I'm sure some of these answers will be very difficult to dredge up. I know I've never seen the answer to quite a few of these myself. I'll make a deal with you all though, OK?"

Everyone nodded warily, waiting for the deal before answering.

"You can print or copy any information you find on your topic; this does not have to be an essay of your own words unless you want it to be. But!" he paused to get their attention, "if you cannot find any information on your particular topic, I want you to first show me where you looked to prove you actually made an effort to find the answer in at least three sources. Then, if you like, you can make up the answer — use your imagination to tell us whatever you think it might be. When done, leave it to me to guess whether you made it up or not. Does that sound fun?"

" _Yeah_!" they all cheered.

A boy on the left side of the room stood up and asked, "When are these reports due?"

"Some of you may be ready by Monday, so we'll start then. But you best be finished by at least Friday. This assignment is mostly for fun, but I believe we all have a chance to learn a great deal by it, including me. Does anyone want to do the assignment I had originally planned for today?"

The same boy was still standing and asked, "Um, what assignment was that?"

"I'm so glad you asked! It was going to be an essay of at least one thousand words on the processes and regulations of how the Roman Senate proposed and passed laws." He smiled broadly, "Anyone want to do that instead?"

Complete silence.

The bell then rang and the kids all started to get up. Mr. Anderson quickly stopped them, "I expect some of you to be ready by Monday, and there will be ten bonus points for all who are. OK, dismissed!"

There was a huge buzz about the homework; all the kids were completely energized by it. Mr. Anderson grinned broadly, enjoying their sudden enthusiasm in history as they all walked past him, smiling and talking about the great Roman Empire.

The girls went to their next classes. At lunch, the subject came up again, when Christy asked, "How are we going to find the answers to the questions in History class?"

Alex answered, "I'm checking the Net first, but dad has a bunch of books about Rome, too—"

Kaylie interrupted her, "I'm just going to ask your dad. He did so much research for that game he's making, he has to be able to—"

"You always ask Alex's dad, cuz you have a crush on him!" Christy teased her.

Kaylie blushed, "I do not! He just knows everything about the stuff I'm interested in. He reads the same books; he's into the same games, movies, music—"

Alex put her hand up, "Don't kid us, girl. You spend half your time at my house hanging over his shoulder drooling on him."

"I do not! We just get along well! I can talk to him about anyt—"

"Cut it," Christy said. "You kiss Alex's picture of him every time you enter her room!"

"Well! That picture is just yummy..."

"Gross! That's my dad, Kay!"

"Yeah, but he's only fifteen in that picture, not ancient like he is now — he wasn't your dad then," she stuck out her tongue defiantly.

"God! Do I drool over your dad?" asked Alex.

Christy answered for her, "Kay's dad is bald and fat. Definitely not drool material."

"Good points," Alex said.

Kaylie stuck out her tongue at both of them this time and went back to eating. They finished lunch and went through the rest of their classes.

After the last bell of the day, they all met at the bike rack.

"Are we all meeting up at my house tonight?" Alex asked.

"Yeah, my practice doesn't start until after 4:30 today though," answered Christy.

"I've only got ten minutes to get to the field for soccer practice, but you know I'll be over afterwards. See ya there," Kaylie said, trotting off to the field house next to the soccer park as Christy and Alex mounted up and rode off in opposite directions.

# Chapter 5 — Practice Makes Perfect

#

Kaylie ducked into the field house and changed into her practice uniform, emerging with her shoes and socks in hand and bookbag over her shoulder. She ran across the ground barefoot and sat down to put on her shoes just in time to join the other girls in warm-up stretches.

"Girls, it's Friday — do you want a short practice?" the coach asked. They all said yes, except Kaylie. Kaylie loved to practice as much as playing.

"OK, we'll play one half. If everyone puts out enough effort, we'll quit then."

The whole team cheered, minus Kaylie, of course, and went off to the field as the coach passed out red net jerseys to half the girls to distinguish teams.

Kaylie watched as the coach handed her co-captain a jersey, as well as most of the other starting players. Kaylie didn't get one. This will be fun she thought. I'll be playing against the entire starting lineup with the subs. Challenging.

"Red gets the ball first," the coach yelled as she handed it over to a girl with a red jersey. With whistle in one hand and stopwatch in the other, she made eye contact with both captains and blew the whistle.

The girls quickly got into position and threw in the ball. Kaylie held back a bit at midfield, waited for the right moment, then broke for the ball after the second pass and intercepted it, running the other way full speed. She noticed one of her team running just as hard ahead on the other side of the field and tapped the ball way out in front of the girl, who met it perfectly in stride. Kaylie kept on running for the goal. The other girl punched the ball ahead of her and kept running forward with no enemies around, but closing in fast.

By then, Kaylie had caught up to her, running parallel toward the goal, and the girl punted the ball directly in step with her. The goalie came running out to try to stop the pass, but it was too late. Kaylie kicked with her right foot and connected perfectly with the ball, knocking it past the goalie's diving arms and into the back of the net. Her team gathered around her and cheered, taunting the starting players.

Kaylie scored three more goals before the half ended, making the final score five to one. The coach was pleased with the effort and told them to hit the showers, making the red team run a mile. Kaylie liked to be in shape and would usually run with the losing team, but today she figured it would be just as good to run to Alex's house, which was a mile or more. She grabbed her bookbag and jogged off instead of joining the others in the showers.

Christy arrived at gymnastics class 45 minutes early; she had nowhere else to go. She went into the dressing room and pulled her favorite red, white, and blue Olympic team replica leotard over her body, and casually strolled into the gym to do some warm-ups, checking to see if any apparatus was available to play on while the younger kids were practicing. She found a couple of unused floor-level balance beams and went over to goof off on them.

After stretching, she mounted one and bounced, pranced, flipped, and flopped back and forth across it. She liked to see how long she could continue to stay on, trying harder things each pass: handstands, cartwheels, flips, back flips, twisting back flips, leaps, turns; she wasn't missing a thing. She finally got tired, and her chest was pumping hard, so she simply stretched out and laid down on it. A new record, she smiled to herself, satisfied. After resting a few minutes and regaining some energy, she got up and did a walkover, back handspring, and double back flip off the end of the beam, sticking the landing with only a slight wobble. She then sprawled out on the mat, face down in a split, and watched the other kids.

Eventually, the coach came over and asked if she would like to assist some of the younger girls until her practice started. "Sure!" she chirped and popped up to help.

Christy helped the other girls on the floor exercise until her coach arrived, 25 minutes later. He put her through ninety minutes of grueling work on the uneven bars, vault, and floor. She was sweating profusely, but her smile glistened even more than her skin, until her coach told her practice was over. She often stayed after practice and played on the equipment for an hour or more, but it was already well past 6:00 and she wanted to ride to Alex's house before it got dark, so she headed to the dressing room. She peeled off her leotard and literally wrung the sweat out of it. She decided to put it in a plastic bag, along with four others, and wash them at Alex's house. She only had six of them in her locker at the gym. She took a quick shower, dried off, dressed, and then headed out.

Anna met Jessie outside the elementary school and they ran to the track, where the other kids were already warming up. She was always late for practice because she was responsible for taking Jessica with her. Her coach understood and allowed her tardiness every day. Jessie would usually go out onto the track and play in the sand in the long jump pit, but today she opted to sit on the bleachers and watch. Every other day except Friday, she would have dance class and Rick would pick her up during practice.

Anna hurried into the girl's locker room and climbed into her tankini track outfit and joined the others on the field.

The team had a track meet the next day, so the coach didn't want them to work too hard, mostly having them practice on sprints and techniques. Jessica watched Anna practice handing off the baton for what seemed like a hundred times.

At 5:30, after she practiced the long jump a few times, the coach called them all to the high-jump area to discuss event assignments for the meet. Jessica went to sit beside her cousin.

Anna was pleased at first: she was entered in the 100 meter run, 200 meter run, 100 and 200 relays, and then... high jump!

She hopped up quickly, "Coach!?" She put her hands on her hips, "What do you mean, high jump?" and stared angrily, awaiting an answer.

"You're in high jump tomorrow Jenkins," the coach said dismissively.

"But, uh, coach... I've never even tried high jump. Shouldn't I be in the long jump?"

"Becky Sanders is our long jump; she won the state meet last year at it. She's a senior, too—"

Anna stomped her foot in protest, "But I can jump a foot further than—"

"Jenkins!" The coach blared, "Get over here, now!"

"Ugh!" she huffed as she tromped over to the coach.

Coach Simmons was a lot cooler when she arrived, "Jenkins, I'm the coach, right?" he asked.

"Uh... yeah, of course you are, but—"

"Becky will win the long jump against the team we face tomorrow, but they have a girl who jumps 4'8" in the high jump, and ours can only jump 4'2"... but I know you can go much higher. Meanwhile, we have three girls who can beat their best long-jumper... do you see what I'm getting at, Jenkins?"

Anna stared blankly, considering all he had said.

Simmons sighed, "What I'm getting at is we can have two wins and a complete sweep in the long jump or one win in the long jump and second in the high jump. That's more points for the team, isn't it? And the way I see it, that's just enough to ensure victory, which is what I'm supposed to do, right?"

"Yes sir," Anna slumped in defeat.

"So what are you worried about? Heck, you might even like it! You're gonna set the state record in the long jump before you leave here girl, but tomorrow you're going to help the team win. OK?"

She smiled halfheartedly, "Uh, yeah, of course!"

"OK. Go sit down and stick around after we're done."

"OK coach," she obediently went back to sit beside Jessica.

Coach dished out the rest of the assignments for the meet and dismissed everyone. He then walked over to the high jump bar and set it. He turned to Anna and motioned her over. "That's 4'6", Jenkins. What do you think?"

She smirked and backed up about ten feet. She blasted off and dove right over, head first, rolling off the mat. "Yeah, looks easy enough!" she giggled.

Shock registered on his face. "That was actually 4'l0". And, uh, don't you even know how you're supposed to jump this... Here, let me show you."

Coach had quite an impressive beer gut, but he was still in amazing shape otherwise. He put his clipboard on the ground, paced off a few feet, and ran a semi-circle toward the bar. He came alongside it, planted his right foot, and heaved his body up backward, arching his back at the top and flipping his legs up and over, landing on the mat halfway upside down. "Try it that way."

Anna's eyes opened wide, she could remember seeing others doing it that way but she never paid attention before. She tried once and ran into the bar on her way up. She was discouraged, but the coach urged her to try again. The second time she hit the bar with her arm before going over. Then she started to get the hang of it and cleared it easily two times.

The coach was stunned again, "You're not even arching your back — can you try that?"

"I'm afraid to. I'll land on my head and break my neck!"

"That's why you flip your legs over at the end; that will carry you over. Just put your hands up to catch your fall. Here, let's move it up so you have to do it right to make it over."

He put it up to 5'2", then changed his mind and selected two more inches of height.

Anna hit her butt on the bar three times in a row. This is perfect, the coach thought, she would have to do it correctly now to succeed. He showed her a few more times how to do it properly, knocking the bar down twice himself. He was at his limit as well, but the technique was what he was teaching so it didn't matter to him at all.

Jessie was half asleep on the far corner of the thick pad when Anna finally cleared the height and awoke her with a scream of jubilation, "I did it!" she yelled over and over, "I really did it!"

"Great job!" the coach praised. "Let's do it a few more times, and then you can head for the lockers."

She cleared it two more times, and he moved it up again. She cleared 5'8" on her second try.

"That, Ms. Jenkins, is our state record!" he revealed.

"What?" she gasped in amazement.

"Yeah, and you just learned a few minutes ago. I think you're ready for tomorrow, don't you?"

"Uh, yeah, wow. I guess so!"

She waved at Jessica to come with her to the locker rooms then shouted at the coach, "Hey coach! I still like long jump better, in case you have any goofy ideas!"

"I'm already thinking about taking you out of the 4x200, Anna. I think we can still win that without you, and put you in both. But not this week, OK?"

"OK! I hate the 200 anyway! Cool!" she called back happily as she strutted off with Jessica to the locker room.

When Alex left school, she pedaled a block before turning down the bike trail she had followed to school that morning, casually pacing herself this time. It had finally stopped raining and the trail was mostly dry as the sun was burning bright, except for a few puddles that had hidden from it all day. She took the time to notice all the flowers blooming, the deep, dark green of the trees, the smell of spring in bloom. It was a beautiful sight and worth it to dawdle along the path. When she turned the corner to cross the bridge over the formerly swollen stream, she was caught by a blinding reflection from the opposite bank, just above the chocolate waters where a chunk of the bank had given way to gravity and erosion. She nearly ran into the bridge railing and was temporarily stunned by the brightness. Luckily, she wasn't racing this time or she would be nursing some skinned knees and elbows, or worse, she thought. She regained her composure and stared toward the light, shielding her eyes and squinting. She stopped and walked her bike to the other side of the bridge and leaned it against the rail, never taking her gaze from the shiny object. She continued to keep it in sight as she approached just short of the drop-off created by the powerful water, and then carefully lowered herself nearer to it.

It appeared to be a holographic baseball card or something, but was too shiny for that. She slid down the mud a few feet, ending up with her right foot on top of the object. It was solid! She knelt down and clawed away some mud. A shape emerged, roughly six inches square, and after more digging, six inches deep. Only the top was shiny from all the rain and water she guessed — the rest was encrusted with what looked like centuries of clay, hardened over time. She chipped some of it away but decided to finish digging it out first.

Although the object was hard as steel and seemed to be a solid cube, she noticed it was light as a feather when she pulled it out of the mud with a defiant sucking sound.

She then noticed something else, something rattling inside. She carried it to the bike and laid it down while searching through her bag for something to wrap around it. All she had was a lunch bag from a few days ago when she took a sandwich to school instead of eating the school fish (which she insisted always made her sick). She rubbed as much mud off the object as she could on the grass, and squeezed it into the bag, a tight fit, but a fit nevertheless. She wiped her hands on her pants, which were already streaked with mud from sliding down the bank, hoisted her backpack over her shoulder, and continued on to practice.

She arrived at practice a few minutes early, despite her casual pace, and went into the locker room to change. She slipped into her suit, thinking about the strange thing she had just found as she grabbed a washcloth and her jeans and headed for the shower.

All the other girls were in there already, they liked to get wet under the hot showers before jumping into the pool. By the time they got into the water, the wetness would feel the same as the pool water — it was a common swimmer's trick. Alex wet the wash cloth and tried to clean the mud off her pants without completely soaking them, then went back to the changing area to hang them in front of the heater. She was thinking of getting the box out and scrubbing it when her friend, Jodie, came in and told her it was time for practice to start. As if on cue, she heard the coach's long whistle call. She put her prize back in her locker and sped outside.

They started with relays: girls in one lane, boys in the next, alternating for each age group. Each would swim one lap of the same stroke, rest, then a lap of the next stroke through all four disciplines of swimming. There were six girls in her age group today and six boys as well, so naturally they were racing.

Usually, with Chelsea there, it was a close race, but today the girls just couldn't keep up. Jodie was upset with her performance as she climbed out after her turn. Alex tried consoling her because she was the youngest in her age group.

Jodie had just started swimming only a year ago when she was in Alex's class and made the mistake of asking Alex what sport she should do. She had been in ballet and her mother always placed her in beauty contests — which she hated — and she wanted to rebel by taking up a sport. Delicate and waif-like, everything on Jodie was thin, from her shoulder-length black hair to her eyebrows, nose, mouth, arms, and legs. Alex had taken the tiny urchin under her wing and continued to work with her throughout the year. When she began, the only strength she possessed was in her legs — from the ballet, Alex guessed. Now she had developed a slight trace of upper body muscles and was beginning to rise up from the depths of the team stats. Out of eight girls in their age group, she was still in the bottom half for all strokes, but was moving up steadily.

"Quit being so hard on yourself, Jo, you're not even near the bottom anymore and you've only been swimming a year!"

"Oh yeah? How many points have I contributed to the team this year, hmmm?"

"You had a fourth place finish just a week ago — that's two points," Alex pointed out.

"Oh yeah, made a huge difference. That makes about eight points this season, you score fifty every week!" Jodie snapped as she slung the water out of her glossy hair at Alex with a playful grin on her face.

"All the other girls have been swimming at least five years, in case you forgot, and you're almost in fourth on the team in two strokes already. That's pretty amazing, if you ask me."

"Yeah, but I'm last in everything else!"

"Pfft! You're not last in anything. You're fifth in breast and fly, and moving up in all of them. Wait until Monday when coach times us again, you'll see!"

Jodie knew she wasn't going to win this battle with Alex, and really didn't want to, she just wanted to vent. "Yeah, you're probably right. Are we working out after practice today?"

"Of course, how else can we turn your spaghetti arms into water pumps?" Alex giggled as she clasped her fingers around Jodie's tiny arm.

"You're next. Think you can pull this one out?"

"Blah! No. We're down five seconds and I can't even beat this guy by one second!"

They continued to race through each stroke; the girls almost beat the boys in the backstroke. At the end of practice the coach held a few members over to work on mistakes she had seen. Jodie and Alex continued to train on their own. Alex made her do two laps while holding her feet to work the arms. Jodie was worn out and sprawled out on the wet cement after the torture. The coach gave Alex a wink and a 'thumbs up' for her effort in helping Jodie.

"You just lay there and look pretty, beauty queen, I'm gonna do a 200 or 400 IM," jabbed Alex as she rocked Jodie's butt back and forth with her foot. "I suggest you at least do a 100 or you'll be a slacker and your mom may put you back in ballet!"

Jodie rolled over and grumbled something about slavery being abolished years ago. Alex giggled and dove in.

They finished their swim and both lay gasping on the side of the pool, this time on their backs, staring up at the ceiling while their chests heaved trying to get precious air into their lungs.

"Time for the gym now," Alex announced after the short rest. Jodie griped some more but Alex snatched her arms and pulled her to her feet.

The gym was deserted and the two girls went to work. Alex put her friend through several workouts to strengthen her arms and the other muscles used in each stroke. Jodie was starting to understand as Alex demonstrated what each muscle did.

"OK, now that my entire body hurts are we done? I thought women went to the gym to get mud-baths and massages!"

"Gee, you're welcome, Miss Unappreciative," Alex said dryly. "Let's get out of here."

"Best idea you've had all day!" Jodie remarked gladly.

# Chapter 6 — Message in a Bottle

#

Alex followed Jodie into the shower room where they threw their wet towels in the hamper and grabbed a dry one.

Alex picked up the sandwich bag and tore the box free.

"What is that?" Jodie asked, mesmerized.

"Something I found at the bridge on the way over here," she replied as she grabbed the wash cloth, soap, and shampoo.

"It's really weird," Jodie commented.

Alex held it up to show her friend, "I thought I'd take it in the shower and get all this crud off of it."

"Whoa! What in the— let me see it!"

Alex handed the object over and watched her eyes expand in amazement. She weighed it in her hands, "It's light, like aluminum!"

"More like balsa wood," Alex said. "I have no idea what it is or where it came from."

Jodie wasted no time, taking off toward the shower with it, "Well, let's find out!"

Alex grabbed her stuff and followed.

They entered the shower room and Jodie quickly turned on the closest spigot and held the cube up to the spray, splattering them both with grimy mud. As soon as she got most of the loose stuff off, she held it out for Alex to scrub. Three sides were already clean and they could see symbols in the silvery metal. The other three sides required a little more effort to remove the hardened clay. It soon emerged spotless and Alex held it out to examine.

The surface was completely smooth, like glass, but felt like metal. There were absolutely no dents or scratches anywhere.

"Odd," Alex observed. "How could it be so perfectly smooth?"

"So shiny too, but when you look at it like this—" Jodie took her arms and raised them to the light, "you can almost see through it."

Alex took it and turned it over in her hands, seeing the symbols alter before her eyes. The only one that didn't change was a big spiral on one side. The cube was completely seamless and appeared to be one solid chunk of metal, but the rattle? "What is that?" she wondered aloud.

"It looks like one of those hologram cards, but those have angled surfaces, this is so smooth," Jodie puzzled.

"I thought that's what it was when I first saw it."

Ten minutes of inspection later, Jodie announced, "I know what this is!"

"What?" Alex asked.

"It's a piece of a space ship that fell off or something — proof that we're not alone in the universe!"

Alex grabbed the cube from her with a suspicious look and cradled it under her arm, as if protecting it from an evil enemy. "Beam me up, Scotty, there's definitely no intelligent life down here!" she teased.

Jodie pawed at the artifact playfully and the two girls mock-wrestled over it until it accidently slipped from their hands and clunked on the floor.

"Dork!" Alex exclaimed. "You're gonna break it,"

Jodie apologized and bent down to pick it up. "Look, Alex! It took a chip out of the concrete but there's not a scratch on the box. I don't think I could hurt it with a sledgehammer!" She picked it up and placed it in Alex's hands, "But you better keep it, just in case."

They giggled and Alex set it down. "We need to get our showers and get out of here; it's probably after 6:00 already."

The two friends quickly washed up and headed back to their lockers.

"What are you going to do with it?" Jodie asked as she finished toweling her hair dry.

"I'm going to take it home and let my dad check it out. He's into history and stuff, and he knows like a ton of people who dig up treasures and artifacts," she replied as she pulled on her shirt and walked over to get her jeans, which were nearly dry.

Jodie finished drying her hair and sat on the bench to pull out her brush. Alex threw her clothes at her, "Hurry up, brush your hair on the way home. I want to take this to Dad ASAP!" She slung her backpack over her shoulder and waited impatiently, tapping her foot to emphasize that she was ready and Jodie was holding her up. Jodie got the hint and quickly pulled her clothes on as Alex gathered Jodie's gear and packed all except her brush, which she tapped in her hand.

"Jeeze, chill, I'm almost done!" Jodie said as she finally yanked her shirt over her head and snatched the bookbag and brush from Alex's outstretched arms. They secured their lockers and walked briskly to their bikes.

"You should come to my house and see what Dad says about the cube, Jodie!" Alex yelled over her shoulder as they pedaled off. Jodie lived just two blocks away from Alex.

"I'm probably late for dinner already. Call me later or something, will you? I'm like completely on the want-to-know list!"

"I will, unless it's like a message from outer space or secret alien weapon that blows up the entire solar system. Or maybe the President will ask me to come have dinner with him and the entire intelligence community."

" _Hah_! Wouldn't that be sweet?"

Kaylie had arrived at Rick's at 4:45. " _Hello_! Honey, I'm home!" she yelled. All the kids seemed to act like Rick's home was theirs, and he treated them as if they were part of the family. They even came in when Alex wasn't home.

"Nobody's home yet, Kaylie!" came Rick's voice from the basement.

She headed for the stairs, "That's OK; I wanted to see you anyway,"

Rick was deep into testing a battle campaign for the game 'Glory by Conquest.' Ironically he was commanding his army against the Roman Empire.

"What's that, Rick?" she asked as she dropped her stuff and wound her arms around his neck from behind, in some sort of hug.

"Well, I'm battling Caesar's army for some of my land right now—"

"Cool! That's sort of what I wanted to talk to you about."

"Caesar raided your lands, too?"

"Har har. No! We got an assignment in history today—"

"OK, but can I finish this battle first?"

"Of course! As long as you explain what's going on. I can't wait to play this one when you finish it, it looks _soooo_ cool!"

Rick spent the next fifteen minutes fending off four legions of Romans as he explained how he had to build his empire by developing lands, paying workers, or using slaves who might revolt. He had to research technological advances from the Stone Age all the way into the future, and battle or ally with any and all of the other historical powers that ever existed. It was quite an in-depth strategy game stuffed with actual history and just what he and Kaylie both loved.

The idea had actually been hers. Over a year ago when they were playing a game of _Warcraft_ against each other, they decided they would like one with more detail on advancing civilization. He had bought a similar game in hopes of meeting their wishes, but it fell way short in many ways. So he took the idea and kept building on it until it surpassed both of their expectations and anything ever made in the genre. He kept the details of the game completely hidden from her for the entire time he was working on it, but now in the testing phase, he knew it was inevitable that she would catch him playing it.

He was nearly finished when she got too close and he got a good whiff of her aroma and jerked back. "You absolutely stink, Kaylie," he blurted, nearly destroying a building under construction.

"Gee, thanks. Don't worry about hurting my feelings," she joked. She knew he was just being honest — and she knew she reeked of sweat.

"I wouldn't ever think of doing that," he smiled. "You smell like a room full of sweaty socks," he teased further.

"I just ran home from practice — am I supposed to smell like flowers?"

He mused at her choice of words: 'Home.' She felt like this was her home. Rick had to smile at that. But if this was her home, he had fatherly duties to do. "You're supposed to take a shower, unless you roll in a bed of flowers..."

"I was going to shower when I got here. I wanted to run."

"Well, I have to correct a few bugs in this code I was testing before I forget them all, so go get cleaned up. It shouldn't take me more than fifteen minutes, and then you can help me get dinner ready and talk about your assignment, OK?"

"OK!" she quickly agreed and trotted off upstairs.

Rick finished his changes, saved them, and wandered up to the kitchen. He laid out some half-frozen chicken, got down some rice, broccoli, cheese, baked beans, and a few other things. Kaylie came down the stairs, flipped on the TV and sat down to brush the tangles out of her hair. She had borrowed a blouse and jeans shorts from Alex's closet (one of the reasons Alex had so many clothes in her room was that she and her friends often traded outfits, and probably half belonged to her friends).

"Quit playing with your hair and come help me, Kay, and tell me about this assignment," Rick said as he pulled a casserole dish out and set it on the counter, then started digging in the fridge for more stuff.

Kaylie happily rose to her feet and pitched in, "Well, Anderson was going to make us do a boring thing on the Roman laws, but Christy was saying she wanted to know about the 'normal' life of Rome and stuff, not just the royalty and—"

She explained the entire task while Rick stared at her in amazement, thinking she hadn't taken a breath yet and still hadn't answered his question. "So, chatterbox, what is it you want from me?" he finally got a chance to ask.

"Oh! Well, we each have to answer one of those questions and mine is 'what did normal Roman children my age wear?' So I need to see if you know anything about it or where I can find the answer."

"That sounds easy enough. I have a few books downstairs — one about Roman dress, one about clothing of different historical eras, one—"

"But do they describe the clothing of ordinary, middle-class kids? Those sound like they're about the upper-class, like every other book. We need to find out about the working families outside of Rome itself — the ones in the villages, towns, etc."

"Hmmmm... come to think of it, I've not seen much about that, but I did have some that showed different styles and fabrics of different classes because I had to outfit all the characters in my game. I do recall peasants and field workers, at least. Perhaps we can find what you need there and track down other sources for the rest. I've got a lot of reference materials for all the research I did for this game!"

"OK, what about the servants and peasants?"

"Well, I believe they generally wore plain tunics, except the ones who tended to royalty — they were often dressed as well as a prince or princess."

"That doesn't help much."

"No, I guess not. You start cooking the rice and beans and I'll go look for those books while I'm thinking about it!"

She agreed easily and he hurried downstairs while Kaylie dug out a couple pots and started the water boiling. She was cutting up the broccoli when Rick returned with two books. He laid them on the counter and went to help her.

The rice was boiling, and Rick tossed the broccoli in the other pan. "Put those in that dish when you're done," he ordered.

"Um, OK, what's it going to be?" she asked curiously.

"A broccoli-rice casserole, silly; you've had it before."

"Oh! I didn't know what was in it — all this stuff?" she pointed to the cheese, cream of mushroom soup, ham chunks, and spices. "I didn't know you put ham in it."

He smiled, "We make it different every time; ham is just as good as chicken!" Kaylie finished putting the broccoli in the pot. "Do I put this other stuff in here?"

He checked her progress. "No, after the broccoli cooks, drain it and pour it in this dish, then mix all the other things in. Don't mix it too much, though, it's nice to let it all blend itself together so some bites will have more cheese and others more ham or broccoli."

"All of this cheese?"

"Yes."

"OK."

"I'm going to chop up some onions to put in the beans. I don't know why she wanted beans with all this stuff," he mumbled, shaking his head.

They got all the food cooking, and began preparing the veggies for a salad, then met at the counter to look at the books while they waited for the first timer to go off.

"Here," Rick pointed to the first drawing he came across, "is a depiction of several peasant children. Some have no clothes, but here," he pointed to the next page, "the older children are mostly in rough shirts, they appear to be about your age. This girl is wearing what looks like a grain sack cut open down the sides and tied at the waist. This boy just has on a loin cloth and this one has a loin cloth and a shorter grain sack shirt thing. In this other book, there are illustrations of several types of clothing found during that era, but there's no way of telling who would have worn them."

"Cool! This should help."

"I hope. This first book also has dozens of artists' drawings from that time of the markets and malls, which may show actual middle-class families shopping or browsing. There's no way to deduce who is who with complete certainty, but you can make quite a clear judgment of some, like this," he stopped at a page of a mother and daughter buying bread. They both wore dresses of cloth and had jewelry on, "is most likely upper class, see the jewelry? While this—" a picture of a mother with a girl and boy, about eight and five. All were barefoot with nothing but tattered rags for the mother, a loin cloth for the children, "is most likely lower class."

"I'd say! They look pitiful! Where was 'Feed the Children' during this time?" she said sadly.

Ding! The rolls were done. Rick pulled them out, buttered the top, and turned on the heat lamp to keep them warm while Kaylie continued to study all the sketches and drawings of ancient Romans, completely rapt.

"Some of these drawings are really good, and really detailed. This one picture shows the actual coins a man used to purchase something, and in this one you can see three little kids playing with what looks like a soccer ball! Omigod, they played soccer two thousand years ago?"

Rick laughed, "Maybe. I'm sure little boys have been kicking things around for many thousands of years," he joked.

"How would they make a soccer ball?"

He studied the picture closely, "That one looks like a ball of string. I've seen balls recovered from ancient sites that were over twenty thousand years old made like that. I've also seen some made of dried stomach sacks filled with straw or cloth. Kids have always found ways to make balls. Even leather balls were found over a thousand years ago."

"Wait till I tell Christy, her assignment was to find out if they played sports."

Just then the door flew open and Christy clomped in, dumping her bag by the door.

"Speak of the devil!" Rick exclaimed, "And where does that bookbag belong?"

Christy ignored the latter, but took offense to the former, "What are you guys saying about me?" she demanded.

"Come here," Kaylie urged. "We found an ancient Roman drawing with kids in the background playing soccer!"

"Oh, cool, I need that!" she claimed as she studied the picture. "Did you find your answer yet, Kay?"

"Well, sorta, but it's not definite..." Kaylie showed her many of the pictures and the girls marveled over the attire of the age while Rick went back to preparing food.

"I just broke the state record in the high jump!" Anna squealed as she burst through the door, shocking Rick, who nearly dropped the casserole dish.

"High jump?" Rick puzzled out loud. "I thought you did the long jump. Am I that out of touch now?"

Jessie chimed in, "She did — she even jumped higher than Coach Simmons!"

"Wow, I didn't even know you could high jump. I've failed as a father to you," as he grabbed his chest in mock horror.

"No, silly, I didn't know I could either. The coach just asked me to try it for tomorrow because the other girls can get first and second in the long jump against that team, but nobody could beat their girl in the high jump. I tried and jumped way over her best on my first try. So the coach raised the bar and showed me how to do it right and I kept going higher and higher until he made me stop!"

"Awesome, honey!"

"When are we eating? Can't we talk about all this over dinner? It smells _sooooo_ good in here," groaned Jessica, rubbing her stomach.

"Where's Alex? Anyone know? She's usually home by now," Rick asked, getting nothing but shrugs in reply. "Well, OK, I guess we'll just have to start without her. Kay, set the table. Christy, Anna, Jess, take your stuff to your rooms. If she's not here soon, I'm calling her coach."

The girls pitched in and they soon had the table set. Just as everyone started to sit down, the garage door slammed and seconds later Alex charged through the kitchen door, rushing toward the dinner table while trying to unzip her backpack.

"You have got to see this!" she blurted, still fumbling with the zipper.

Rick closed the distance and stopped her cold in her tracks, taking the bag from her. "Sit down, calm down, and eat, Alex. Then tell us about it," he scolded.

"But you have to see it!" she protested, groping at the bag unsuccessfully.

" _SIT!_ "

Alex puffed out her lip, but reluctantly sat down.

"Now," Rick said as he calmly opened the backpack, "what is it that we have to see?"

"You'll know when you see it, Dad," Alex was still angry but more in control, with her arms firmly crossed over her chest and her lip still sticking way out.

He found it immediately.

"What's this — uh — holy—! It's so... light... but so... hard, so... weird!" He began examining it more closely, turning it over in his hands. "These symbols, I've seen many of them, but some—" He kept turning it over in utter fascination. The others gathered and stared too.

Except Jessica, who sat at the table, ready to eat. "Put down your little toy, Daddy. Isn't it time to eat?" she said, uninterested in the cube, but intently eyeing the grub.

"Yes, yes, of course. Girls, let's eat."

"What about the box?" Alex demanded.

"We'll set it in the center of the table, so we can look at it, but nobody touches it, OK?"

They all agreed, sat down, and started passing food. Alex explained how she stumbled onto the object, garnering complete attention from everyone except Jessica, and told about cleaning it, about chipping the floor, the rattle inside, the strange properties of it. All the girls took turns speculating, fantasizing and theorizing as to the origins and contents of it.

"It's some kind of Japanese puzzle box," Kaylie proclaimed. "I've read about how the Japanese used boxes like this to conceal secrets, hide keys or codes or..."

"This is no puzzle box, this is a solid piece of metal," Alex interrupted.

"No! They were so finely crafted by samurai sword makers or something that they appeared to have no seams. But if you applied just the right pressure on the right places it would slide apart or something. And look, those are definitely Japanese symbols!"

"No, not all of them," Rick corrected. "Some of those may be Japanese, but some are Chinese, Greek, Cyrillic, alphabetic, numeric, even Roman numerals and hieroglyphics." He picked up the cube and rotated it to show her. "And I see some that I have no clue what they are! I see what looks like some mathematical formulas... I wonder what's with the spiral on one side?"

"Jodie said it's from some alien space ship!" Alex said, giggling.

"The truth is out there!" Christy intoned, following up with spooky noises.

Jessica rolled her eyes, "Oh, please! Someone toss me a roll. ET phoned home already! I saw the movie; now let's just eat."

Christy picked up a roll and started to throw it at her. Rick raised a hand and she decided it would be best to pass it in a more civilized manner.

"I think..." Alex started, and then paused in deep thought as they stared at her. "You know how CDs or computer chips would look to someone a hundred years ago? Like something alien?"

"Or hasn't been invented yet," Jessica added.

"Don't be stupid," Christy snorted. "Think about it. You dug it up; it had soil encrusted on it; it could have been dated by that. We should go to the rec center and see if we can find a piece of rock that was stuck to it. But, this thing is obviously from the past, so it could be proof of Atlantis or some other ancient race rumored to have existed."

Kaylie perked up, "I read several books about the Mayans who existed over a thousand years ago and were advanced in mathematics and astronomy and rumored to know how to do space travel. There were writings about 'strange metals' that they used. They supposedly lived in Central America, but some evidence suggested they lived as far north as Canada!"

"You may be on to something there, Kay," Rick acknowledged. "I know some people who deal with Mayan studies — Abby has done several digs of old Mayan ruins, maybe we can get her to check it out."

Kaylie smiled proudly.

"Oh yeah, you would agree with her, Dad," Alex protested. "Just because you both sit and read and talk about those history books and stuff together all the time. Why don't you just kick me out and adopt her!"

"Jealous?" Anna asked sarcastically.

"Drama Queen," Jessica added.

Alex threw half a roll at Jessica, hitting her plate and scattering casserole all over the table and into the floor.

" _Alexandra Williamson_!" Rick shouted, "Get up and clean that mess up right now!"

Alex sheepishly crawled from her seat and picked up the roll, carried it into the kitchen and slammed it into the trash, protesting and mumbling the whole way. She snagged a paper towel and came back to clean up the rest.

"That's better, Alex. Kaylie may be right, or may be wrong. You may be right, any of us could be right, or we could all be way wrong. I actually know experts on this sort of thing and it sounds like a viable possibility. We know experts on other cultures and languages too. If you know any experts from the future, please, let me know and we'll contact them.''

"Or aliens!" Jessica giggled.

"You're an alien!" Alex yelled back.

"Enough!" Rick commanded, standing up as Jessica cocked an arm back, loaded with a very messy piece of chicken. He picked up the cube, tossing it back and forth a few times while he gave her his best parental disapproving glare. She slowly put the chicken back down.

"Girls, I'm going to call my friend. Now you can be good or I'll bonk you on the head with this... sounds like as good a use as any for it. Anna, get the video camera for me; she's going to want to see it — pictures probably won't do it justice!"

"OK," Anna jumped up from the table.

"The rest of you get clean-up duty. Alex and Kaylie can put up the leftovers; Chris and Jess — dishes. I'll be downstairs. Don't let me hear another harsh word or any food flying," he said sternly.

The girls grumbled and nodded. Satisfied they would be compliant, he headed down the stairs.

As Rick came down the stairs, the basement came into view. To the right was Rick's make-shift study, complete with four bookshelves from floor to ceiling, a big long desk with drawers in the middle and on both ends. Two computers, two chairs, a huge mass of papers, pop cans, and other unclassified clutter completed the scene. The far wall contained the bathroom and laundry, with a hot-tub between the two smaller rooms. A two-foot round pillar in the middle was the only obstruction in the fifty by thirty room. The entire left side of the room was taken up by a huge crescent-shaped 25-foot couch facing a nine by twelve-foot TV mounted in the wall, with flanking stereo equipment and speakers. A huge oval coffee table fit perfectly in the arc formed by the couch. To one side stood a fully stocked fridge and bar with four stools. The girls called it 'the theater.' Rick called it 'heaven.'

When Anna came downstairs he instructed her to film the entire cube, one side at a time, from every possible angle. She set up the equipment as he fired up his message software and attempted to contact 'AncientBabe.'

He typed, "Ya there? Got something that may blow your mind. :)"

He turned to watch his niece videotape the cube for a few minutes, until a reply popped up, "Tickets for two to the Caymans?"

"I wish! It would have to be for five, though. Whatcha doing?"

"Not much. Reading. You?"

"Would you happen to be reading about Mayan artifacts?"

"Nope. Romance novel."

"Ugh! You got a video link available?"

"Yes. What's going on; you must really miss me!"

The other girls came bounding down the stairs and gathered around. Anna finished taping and handed the video camera to Rick, who quickly plugged it into the computer and transferred the video. He started to send it to Abby as she popped up on his screen.

"Wow, she looks pretty today!" Kaylie said.

"Well, thank you!' Abby replied. Kaylie apparently didn't realize she could see and hear both ways and it startled her. "And you look very pretty too. I haven't seen you girls in almost a year; you've grown quite a bit!" She glanced down at the screen momentarily and back up, "What are you sending me?"

"This..." He stuck out his hand and Anna handed him the cube. He held it up for her to see. "Alex found it, I'm sending a more complete and hi-res video of it."

"Interesting. What is it?"

"We were hoping you might help us figure that out. Oddest thing I ever saw. Alex dug it out of a creek bank. It had clay rock formed on it, so it may have been there a while. It's super light and seems indestructible, not even scratchable," he explained.

"Hmmm... Light? Like aluminum?"

"No, more like... popcorn!"

"Sounds like you need a geologist, metallurgist, or... something. What can I help you with?"

"Well, Kaylie recalled reading about the Mayan possessing some sort of strange—"

"Strange metals, yes, but all of that and most of the other lore has never been proven. Not a single artifact has been discovered to confirm any of that or any evidence of space travel. But it is written about by countless 'observers.' There's really nothing solid to compare it to except descriptions, and by the descriptions, they could have been talking about silver, platinum, titanium... the list goes on and on. The biggest problem is they basically vanished, or at least abandoned their temples and cities. Their people still exist, but have nothing to show of their great former empire. They apparently took all these strange materials with them when they disappeared, only leaving writings about such things, along with incredible scientific and mathematical discoveries, some of which we still don't fully understand. For example: they somehow mapped the entire galaxy with more detail than we had up until about 1999."

"There's some very strange math on it, too, Abby, as well as tons of writing and symbols."

The video finished loading and beeped. "Hold on a sec, while I watch this, dear," she said and the screen went blank.

"She called you dear!" teased Christy.

"Is she your girlfriend?" asked Kaylie.

"That is none of your busin—" Rick started to complain, but the screen lit back up with Abby's image.

"Rick?"

"Thanks, Abby," Rick said sarcastically instead of answering her.

"What?" she asked, confused.

"Nothing, just try not to call me dear in front of five curious, nosy girls again, OK?" Rick told her as he attempted to wipe the blush off of his face unsuccessfully. "So what did you find so quickly?"

"It's definitely not Mayan, dear."

The girls all snickered and poked at him playfully.

"What makes you say that, honeypie?" Rick played back.

She laughed. "Well, sweetheart, did you notice the writing on it?"

"Uh, yeah. That's sort of like what we wanted you to decipher..."

She rolled her eyes, "There are symbols, letters, characters and numbers that were all developed way after the Mayan civilization disappeared!" she informed him tersely.

"Oh. I should have realized that," he admitted sheepishly.

"Me too!" added Kaylie.

"OK, so we're stupid and wasted your time. I'm so sorry, Abby."

"It's not a total waste, sweetie — in Mayan times this spiral symbol was interpreted as a traveling vortex, supposedly representing how they traveled through space, and how they all disappeared."

"That's interesting, love," he kept up the joke as the girls continued to giggle at the two adults' game.

"Isn't it, darling?"

"OK!" Alex interrupted. "You two are creeping me out now!"

"They're just flirting," Anna told her.

"More like teasing us," Jessica more thoughtfully and correctly pointed out. "Dad knows we need a mother..."

Rick studied Abby's features as they bantered back and forth. She had a disarming smile that instilled instant trust among the otherwise hard, sculpted features. Her hair was a deep black, her large eyes a muddy brown, which along with her dark complexion gave away the fact that she descended directly from American Indians. She was muscular, most likely due to the fact that she had spent nearly all 38 of her years digging in the hot sun, yet unmistakably feminine. Not an ounce of fat had collected on her over the years. Yes, Rick thought, she was an incredibly alluring woman, and that was not the only reason they had maintained a casual romance over the last half-dozen years. Abby always scoffed at the idea of being a mother though, and certainly resisted the thought of being a wife, afraid of the sedentary life she was sure would follow.

"I don't know why you would even want a mother," she lectured, with that irresistible smile, "with the father you have. I can't say I've ever known three happier, healthier girls in all my life. What on earth could I offer that your dad can't?"

The girls pondered that question a few seconds before Anna finally spoke up, "You could tell us about guys!"

Abby nearly choked laughing, "What?! You'd want advice from a 38-year-old woman who's never even had a steady boyfriend? Besides, who could possibly know more about guys than... a guy!? And... he does tell you about guys, doesn't he?" she shot back, glancing at Rick's face.

Anna nodded, scrunching her face up to show displeasure, "Yeah, he does. He tells us to stay away from them!"

Abby laughed harder, taking a minute to compose herself. "I couldn't possibly offer any better advice than that! Look at me — I'm 38 and still happy!" she told her, then altered to a more serious tone, "Honey, is there anything you would honestly rather ask me than your dad?"

Even though she'd directed the question at Anna, all the girls shook their heads no.

Abby smiled, "I didn't think so. Heck, who do you think I go to when I need personal advice?"

Jessica looked up at him, reverently, "Dad? Really?" she asked.

"Really!" Abby answered

"But you're lots and lots of fun and we could go shopping with you and stuff and it would be awesome if you were always here instead of a week here, two days there—"

"Jess! I'm always off digging up bones, remember? Besides, look at my wardrobe — I'm not a fashion guru, it's all tan and denim utilitarianism for me. We have a lot of fun when there, I admit, and that's never going to change. Do you think we would have as much fun without your dad there?"

Silence answered her.

"That's what I thought! Now give him a hug and kiss for me and let's get back to this cube!"

Rick mouthed the words, "Thank you," and blew her a kiss... shielding it from the girls to avoid more ridicule.

During the entire discussion, the kids had been passing the cube around, banging, poking, squeezing and even talking to it.

"So, what do you think about it?" asked Rick.

"Well, some of the languages and symbols are oddly familiar to me. I've uncovered things with those same markings before but I don't understand them. I usually consult Walt Stromberg — he's an interpreter for the UN and has a passion for linguistics and cryptology. Do you care if I send him a copy of this video?"

"No, as long as he can keep it a secret."

"OK, hold on... There, it's on the way, I'll send a message to him as well so he knows it's private. Let me check to see if he's online."

She typed a message to him and nearly instantly got a reply. "He's on; I'm going to invite him to our chat; he has no video."

Rick shrunk her image and moved it up to the top right corner and dragged the message box open larger. 'Figgeritout' joined them in the chat window.

"Hi, Walt," Abby wrote.

"Hi, Abby, and this must be Rick? 'Fraggenstein' could only be a gamer."

"Yes, this is Rick, glad to meet you, Walt." Rick typed.

"So, what's this intriguing mystery?" Walt wasted no time asking.

"I sent you a video; didn't you get it?"

"No. Wait, it's coming now. I'm not on the information superhighway, like you, I'm on an old dirt road :)"

"Well, Rick's daughter found this cube, it's weird and it has writing all over it. All I could make out was a few Mayan numbers."

"What Mayan numbers?" Rick asked.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you because I don't know what it means, but did you see a bunch of dots and dashes grouped together?"

"Yeah... like Braille?"

"Exactly, it looks kind of like Braille. Those are Mayan numbers. They have a system based on the number twenty. It starts at the bottom, up to four dots across, and when it reaches five, they replace it with a bar and start on the next line. Four bars equals twenty. Like I found three numbers together, they are thirteen, twelve and seven, which translates to..." A long pause ensued as she calculated the answer, "exactly 5567"

"What's that mean?" Rick asked.

"I don't know, that's why I didn't mention it, but I noticed there are others by each entry. Let's see, we have a negative 2150, a negative 8521, 131, and 1755 that I recognize immediately."

"I don't get it," Rick said.

"I do!" chimed Walt. "Those are dates, this is amazing! Well, they're most likely years, at least. They're not Mayan dates either, the Mayan calendar was based on a 260-day year, which is thirteen months of twenty days each, which makes their years much shorter than ours, and that wouldn't make sense here anyway!"

"Enough of the history lesson, let's hear what you think and why," Abby insisted.

"Yes. OK, well, these passages, at least the ones I understand, come from that time period!"

"As in?" Rick asked.

"Well, you know these Mayan symbols are from around 8000 BC, these glyphs are from around 2000 BC, Greek, Latin... all of them, especially the extinct languages, correspond to that general time period when the language was in use, but some I've never seen, like one at -3350, +4570, -566, etc."

"Wait," Rick tried to interrupt, "4570? That's not possibly a date, neither is 5567."

"Well..." Walt paused for dramatic effect, "wait until you hear the translation of the ones I _do_ understand!"

"Waiting..." Rick answered as Abby typed the same at precisely the same time.

"This is loosely translated, as all of them basically say the same thing, but not exactly!"

"Get on with it Walter!" Abby wrote, just as he finished.

"It says, _'Time is critical; follow the path; the vortex is the key'."_

Rick and Abby read the words simultaneously, their silence showed their confusion. Rick broke the trance first. "So, if you're saying what I think you're saying, some of this writing is from tens of thousands of years ago and some is from... the future? That's not possible."

"I just translate, you historians and archeologists interpret! Hey, can I keep this video? I see some symbols that may provide a key to deciphering a few texts I never could translate!" Walt asked excitedly.

"Certainly, Walt, as long as you don't show anyone unless we say it's OK."

"Of course!" he agreed.

"Thanks, Walt," Abby said.

"No problem. I'll be around. I'm going to spread all this out and see what goes where. Let me know if you figure anything else out or need more help, this is very intriguing."

They said their goodbyes to Walt, and Abby and Rick instantly went back to the video link. "I don't believe it!" a sober Abby proclaimed.

"I don't understand it, much less believe it!" Rick said, still dazed.

"Did I find something like... important?" Alex asked, stunned.

"I wish I could answer that for sure, honey, but my guess is yes."

Alex stuck her tongue out at Kaylie, for teasing her about her future theory.

"Kaylie may have been right, too," Rick allowed.

Kaylie stuck her tongue out at Alex this time.

"And you're both still jealously fighting for his attention!" Anna teased.

"Too bad he's got the hots for Abby!" Christy observed rather loudly.

"Enough!" Rick startled the girls into silence. "I love all of you and still have room for Abby too," he winked at her.

"OK, so let me hear it, Rick, what makes you think Kaylie may be right, too?" inquired Abby.

"Well," he diplomatically pulled Alex over to one knee and Kaylie down onto the other, wrapping them up in a three-way hug, "I know most, well, all of this, but let me try to put it together. All the writings about the Mayans talk about the 'prophecies' and 'renewal,' their purpose was supposedly the 'balancing of the universe' or something like that. What if those texts were just slightly misunderstood?"

"What do you mean?" Abby said, unable to follow.

"What I mean is even the Bible is subject to thousands of different translations and interpretations for thousands of different sects. Let's hypothesize that 'time travel' was actually 'travel,' 'prophecies' were actually facts from the future and 'renewal' means fixing, or altering, the future. 'Balancing the universe' could also mean bringing time into sync, or, according to some physicists, bringing alternate universes into sync."

"The Mayans had 'strange metals,' technology... this cube definitely qualifies. They had advanced mathematics. I suppose time travel would require that! Everything points to the Mayans being from the future if you look at it all that way. How else could anyone explain some of the descriptions? It all starts to make perfect sense now, as impossible as that seems. These Mayans could have gone back in time. But why?"

"To stop World War III?" Kaylie offered.

"I don't think so. World War III would be more likely to happen in this century, not three thousand years from now. We would have obviously lived through that to develop time travel."

"Maybe time travel was developed by aliens!' Anna submitted, jokingly.

"Maybe it came from Uranus!" Jessica joyfully jabbed.

"Come on," Rick struggled to fight back an enormous belly laugh, "that's all possible too—"

"What? That it came from Anna's big butt?"

"I'm gonna shove it up your—"

" _Stop_!" Rick shouted, twisting the enigmatic object from the two as they fought for control of it.

"Wait, you're saying it could have been from the past, future, and aliens? So we've learned absolutely nothing about it then?" Christy deduced.

"Future aliens visiting the past," Jessica concluded comically.

"I think I saw that movie on Sci-Fi last week, right after the one about the mutant creature from the sewers that ate half of New York. You're all dorks!" Jessica pronounced, giggling.

"Why don't you go watch a movie and leave us dorks alone so we can think and figure it out?" Anna growled.

Jessica turned to leave, "Sounds good to me. Let me know if you have any in... tell... i... gent thoughts!" she spat and skipped to the oversized couch, where she plunged over the back and settled face-down just within reach of the remote.

# Chapter 7 — Following the Path

#

"OK." the perturbed father attempted to regain control to organize their efforts, "I'm not saying aliens did it; I'm saying at this point we have to consider all possibilities that have any connection to what we know. What do we know of Atlantis?"

Blank faces stared back at him.

Abby stumbled for a reply, figuring none of the children had any, "Um, nothing really. I mean there are some individuals in my field who are convinced it existed, but even they have to admit there is no proof of 'the lost city' at all, just myth and rumor. I can try to find someone who studies the myth."

"Abby, what do you know of the myths?"

"They suggest that Atlanteans were extremely technologically advanced, some theories are that they lived under water for thousands of years to avoid some cataclysm on Earth. Some suggest they just happened to have expanded to underwater before the human race was annihilated by a meteor and they lived there for thousands of years until Earth was habitable again and repopulated the planet. Some say they actually lived on what is now Antarctica before the Earth's axis shifted and put them under ice, and some believe they lived on a continent that sank during an exceptional period of tectonic activity. So you see, there's not a lot to go on—"

"That's what they said about the Mayans a hundred years ago, just a myth, right?"

"Well, that's true—"

"So when do they think this civilization existed?" Rick asked.

"Anywhere from 500 BC to 2,000,000,000 BC."

"Hmm... are there any 'dates' on the cube that happen to go back an extremely long time?"

"I may have seen a five-digit, possibly a six-digit number or two. Those could be up to 64 million years."

"Wow," Alex muttered, "this is big..."

"Check to make sure, could you?" he asked curiously. "Then perhaps we can consult with some of these myth-chasers to see if anything clears up or gets cloudier."

"The only fantasy nuts I know are asleep right now, but I'll do that tonight," Abby promised.

"That still leaves us with the enigma itself: the cube. What could it be? A message? An actual time machine? A clue? Directions?" Rick speculated.

"I want to know what's in it," Alex stated.

"I think I can answer those questions..." Kaylie submitted confidently.

All ears suddenly turned to her expectantly.

"I didn't say I could solve everything! Chill everybody. I just said I think I can answer those questions!" she straightened back up and calmed herself as the others waited expectantly for her answer.

When she was sure she had their attention, she started, "Well, is it a message? Definitely: 'time is critical.' Is it some kind of directions? Yes: 'follow the path.' A clue? 'The vortex is the key' and it's even possible that a time machine is inside. But, we don't know why time is critical, where this path is or what it leads to, or what this vortex is the key to."

Jessica strolled over to Rick, cupped her hands around his ear and whispered something for about ten seconds, then stood back, proud of herself.

"Brilliant!" Rick congratulated. "Best idea I've heard all night!"

A chorus of "What?" came from each mouth in perfect harmony.

"Jess decided we should all go out for ice cream, and then rent some movies, and Abby could leave right now and be here in time to watch them with us and stay for the weekend!"

As if someone pulled a plug and let all the air out of the room, everyone released their breath in one big sigh.

"Well, I don't have any plans this weekend, why not? It'll take about two hours to drive there, ninety minutes if I fly..." Abby decided quickly.

"In a space ship?" Alex asked.

"You could be here an hour ago in a time machine," Christy contributed.

"Go to the future first and tell us what this thing is!" added Kaylie.

"And don't forget to write down the lottery numbers for tomorrow," Anna suggested.

"OK girls, let's let Abby get moving; it'll already be 9:30 or 10:00 by the time she gets here!"

"Yes. I'm going to hurry. I'll see you all shortly. Bye." Abby waved, blew a kiss and signed off.

"I haven't seen Abby in like a year, I thought maybe you broke up," Kaylie said.

"She didn't even recognize us," Christy observed.

"We've gone to see her the last four or five times because she was busy, and you girls have grown a lot in the last year. Don't be hurt by it. We went to two digs with her last summer and back again to the second one just two months ago for spring break. She's been there nearly nine months and just finished."

"Oh," Christy seemed to understand.

"Hurry up, go get ready, girls!"

Rick climbed the stairs, shoved his feet into his shoes, and exited through the kitchen door into the three-car garage.

The '65 Mustang was out of the question, as was the Dodge Viper. "Looks like door number three!" he announced. He punched the third button on the wall to open the farthest door, housing the beastly old Dodge Caravan. At least it was pimped out with a DVD player and an X-box, he mused. He climbed in and wheeled around front to await his five passengers.

The gang leisurely consumed their ice cream in the minivan then spent thirty minutes in Wal-Mart before hitting the video store, returning home just before 9:30. They filed downstairs to wait for Abby. Again, the strange relic was the center of attention, each trying to magically awaken the secret power they knew it possessed.

The doorbell rang at 9:45 and Anna hopped up with Jessie to race recklessly up the stairs. Jerking it wide open, they startled Abby. She stood there in worn blue jeans, knees and cuffs frayed, and a light brown tank top. A duffle bag that appeared to have been dragged through the entire Amazon jungle was slung over one shoulder like a sack of toys on Santa's back. She had a leather purse flapping loosely over her other shoulder and a giant bag of cheese puffs in her arms, hugged to her body like a pillow. The girls quickly ushered her in and guided her down the stairs. She abandoned her purse and duffle bag near Rick's door.

When she reached the couch downstairs, Abby attempted to squeeze between Rick and Kaylie, then Rick and Alex, but neither would give ground so she finally settled in between Anna and Jessie; Jessie was all too eager to get some space between her and her cousin.

The entire gang continuously poked and prodded the cube, trying to figure it out. Nobody seemed to be in any hurry to watch the movies they had selected. Jessica finally grabbed the cube from an off-guard Christy, stared intently at the spiral design on one side and announced, "Watch this!"

The other girls began teasing her as she intoned, "Follow the path," over and over. She then began tracing the vortex with her finger from the outside to the inside.

"You're so stupid!" Alex uttered scornfully.

The cube suddenly started to vibrate, and Jessica hastily dumped it on the table, backing off slightly. Then they all edged closer for a better look as the sides appeared to split and unfold.

Rick pulled all the curious heads away from it. "Don't get near or touch it; we don't know what's happening," he warned.

The top unfolded to the left and each side slowly peeled away and laid flat. One of the flaps unfurled further, completing an eighteen by 24-inch rectangle with a six-inch square attached to the right containing another spiral. All seams vanished as if on command, forming a smooth surface. The square at the bottom contained seven curious items, and the entire surface of the rectangle was riddled with maps, diagrams and instructions, all in English.

Curiosity overcoming apprehension, Rick came forward to examine the contents. The others clutched him and held onto each other in both fright and wonder, staying well behind Rick, but peering around and over him.

Rick cautiously touched one of the items on the bottom square and when it didn't explode, he hesitantly picked it up. The object looked like a deep red crystal, about two inches long, shaped like a finely faceted teardrop. He held it and closed his fingers around it; it seemed to radiate heat. Satisfied it was not dangerous, he passed it around.

"Maybe we shouldn't touch this stuff, Dad," Alex timidly protested.

"I don't get the feeling this stuff is meant to be harmful," Abby replied for him. "It came with instructions."

Rick then plucked a thin device off the square. It resembled a cell phone without a display. It had five buttons arranged in a cross pattern. He laid it back down on the table and lifted what appeared to be four necklaces with shiny crystal sphere pendants. Under the tangle was a coin — a shiny and barely worn gold coin.

"It's dated 1755," he read, "I wonder if that was when it was buried?"

"It couldn't have been earlier," Abby declared, causing a groan from the others.

Each of the girls, except Alex, picked up a necklace and checked them out. The chains appeared to be made from some sort of metal fiber, but were flexible as a thread, only slightly thicker. There was no clasp, obviously fitting over the head. The spheres attached to them were completely reflective; one silver like a pinball, one gold, one blue and one red. Like the mysterious metal of the cube, the spheres appeared impervious to damage; their shiny surfaces were an awe-inspiring display of perfection.

Alex picked up what was once the cube, it now appeared to be a solid, unbendable piece of metal. While the outside of the box had seemed holographic, the inside was finely etched, much like her trophies and plaques, but with unimaginable detail. "Dad," she nudged him, "how big will your projector magnify?"

"I think 25 times. Why?"

"I guess that's better than nothing, but we might need a microscope," she said while rising to her feet without taking her eyes off of the metal. She shuffled over to the projector, positioned it as far as possible from the wall, flipped the switch on, and laid the metal across it, dialing in the maximum zoom. She began to adjust the image to fit the entire wall, and then studiously approached.

"Kill the lights!" Alex demanded, "I think I can read this... maybe!"

Abby immediately flicked off the lights, while the others continued to study one item or another, remarking, questioning, and imagining their purpose. Abby took the opportunity to steal Alex's seat by Rick, settled in and watched over his shoulder as he tried key combinations on the slim device. She looked down at the last item on the table, the coin, while the girls each marveled at their reflections in the globes and the odd, silky feel of the necklace chains.

"What could be the significance of 1755?" Abby pondered out loud.

"There was a 'date' matching that on the cube. Maybe it's a clue? I don't know. This is all a bit difficult to comprehend!" Rick shrugged. He sat back, put his arm around Abby and exchanged items with her, "See if you can figure this one out."

Abby turned, inspected, poked, rubbed, tapped, spoke to and breathed on the piece like a caveman trying to figure out an MP3 player. Nothing seemed to work.

They all continued to trade items, each inspecting while Alex intensely scrutinized the inscriptions on the former box itself bit by bit until she was satisfied. The rest of the group had forgotten her in their obsessive attempts to make sense of their piece of the puzzle.

Alex suddenly strode over and held out her hand, "Give me the Universal Chronicler, please."

Twelve eyes stared at her like puppy dogs at a whistle.

"The what?" Anna finally questioned.

"This—" she indicated the slim device which Christy was currently examining, holding it up to her ear like a shell, expecting to hear something. Christy warily handed it to her. Alex continued, "—is a Universal Chronicler, it records information and everything the omni-directional, four-dimensional recording devices observe when activated." She looked into the crowd of eyes appraising her as if she were juggling bowling balls with her feet. Alex pressed her thumb into the center button and counted, "One, two, three—"

Seemingly from nowhere came a display screen roughly six inches above the top of the chronicler, leaning at a 45 degree angle. A menu appeared with options of record and playback.

She explained, "It's really quite easy to use — simply select which, or all, of the ODFDs (necklaces) you want to start recording, and it will record everything it sees until you turn it off. Or, it will automatically copy any recordings from them while they were 'displaced.' I assume that means 'in another time.' These things are made to keep records of time travel. The ODFD's record 3D images for ten yards in every direction at all times and can hold up to four centuries of video—"

" _WOW!_ " Kaylie exclaimed.

"That's not possible!" Christy concluded.

"Maybe not now..." Rick intruded, "but thousands of years in the future..."

"Well, smarty, what about this?" Jessica challenged, holding the red teardrop.

"That is the time stone. It operates the 'displacement machine'."

"Uh, the what?" Anna was still totally baffled by the whole thing.

"The time machine, you dork!" Jessica rudely clarified.

"What time machine?"

"The time machine the map leads to," Alex revealed.

Stunned, everyone swiveled their heads toward the wall at once.

"But I don't quite understand it all," Alex admitted.

"Well, let's take a look at it," Rick said as he got up and led the crew to check out the display.

The 'map' was no more than a hand-drawn bunch of squiggles with two main lines intersecting another at different points and traveling in different directions with an X near the farthest left line. It then had an inset of a simple maze, twisting to another X.

"Well," Rick said after a brief study, "that makes perfect sense!"

"Really?" Alex excitedly asked.

"No," he admitted, squishing her hopes.

"So like, uh, what do we do now?" Kaylie sighed.

"I know a treasure hunter who works with USGS; he's had a lot of success decoding treasure maps," offered Abby.

"I should have guessed," snickered Rick, "You know someone who does everything, don't you?"

"It comes with the job."

He rolled his eyes, motioned to the computer, "Lead us to your King Arthur."

Abby hopped in Rick's chair as he stood behind her with his hands on her shoulders. The girls gathered on both sides. She punched in a new name, 'ICKU,' and saw he was online. She quickly typed a message, "Rob, got a map for you — it's algebra, your favorite!" She then asked Rick to take a picture to send Rob.

Rick wasted no time getting the camera and snapping a few pictures, trying to get a shot without the writing, now more deeply concerned with anyone knowing what they may have found.

"What's ICKU stand for?" Kaylie asked curiously.

"What do you mean about algebra?" Christy added, interested in math.

"Well, ICKU stands for 'I seek AU.' AU is gold."

The girls giggled at the acronym.

"Algebra is just a joking way treasure hunters refer to maps where they have to 'find X'."

" _Oh_!" Christy said, amused.

Rob finally answered just as Rick came back, satisfied with a picture to send, which he quickly loaded for her.

"What? Found my map to the Holy Grail at last?"

"Indiana Jones found that already," she replied. "But this may still intrigue you. Sending..."

"Got it... printing it out..."

She gave him a brief rundown, including where they found the map and Rick asked her to add that a coin from 1755 was with it.

"What is this? Someone draw it with a crayon?" Rob finally asked.

"What's the matter, Rob, intimidated?" Abby challenged.

"I've found treasures buried under a hundred feet of volcanic rock on the ocean floor with only a description from a nearly blind and drunk monk about an island passed two days prior to the sinking of the ship that held it. This is a piece of cake!" he boasted.

"I'll leave the line open for ya."

"Who's paying the bill on this one?"

"Um... Rick's daughter found this one, we don't know what it's for."

"Figures..." he harrumphed.

"Rob, the coin is gold — Spanish, I think — 250 years old. Do you think it has possibilities?"

He didn't respond for a few seconds, then "What condition is that coin in?"

"Looks brand new. We have reason to believe it was sealed up the entire 250 years. Why?"

"That, alone, would pay more than five times what I would normally ask for my services... hint hint."

"You looked it up, eh? Well, we'll consider it," Abby wrote.

"So I don't get paid otherwise?"

"You know I'll find a way, Rob. In fact, if you find this one, I'm almost positive Rick will part with that coin real quick."

"There's something you're not telling me, Abby," Rob accused.

"And that alone should drive you, right?" Abby came back quickly.

She was right. Rob loved a challenge and intrigue doubled the fun. "You know me too well. Now I won't sleep tonight until I find it. Thanks a lot!"

"That's what friends are for..."

"Tell Rick not to get his greasy fingerprints on my coin. Seal it back up for me please. Thanks," Rob replied confidently.

"Thanks, Rob!" Abby answered.

"Thank me at 4:00 AM when I wake you up."

"You would do that? Here, here's Rick's number..." she gave him the number and told him to quit wasting time. He left to start his search, promising to keep them up to date through messages, and promised he'd call if he found it.

# Chapter 8 — Don't Look Back... in TIME!

#

"Well, girls, let's go watch these movies," Rick suggested to the gathered crowd.

"I've got a better idea," Alex said, tapping the chronicler, "Let's watch these movies!"

Everyone was more than excited about that idea, so Rick easily caved in, "Sure, let's go to the couch." He led the parade to the gigantic couch and they all settled in around Alex.

Alex popped up the menu again on the strange device and quickly selected playback, which caused a list to pop up on the clear display. She immediately selected the first entry: Jan 7, 5565 18:55.

First, a nose appeared, and then backed off to reveal a man of about 25 years. He was slim, but soft-jawed, and had thick, wiry brown hair parted on the left side and well-trimmed above the ears. He possessed small, almost squinting eyes compared to his bushy brown eyebrows. He spoke through a small mouth topped by a thin moustache that extended half an inch over each side of his upper lip.

"Dr. Jonathan Taylor here. Testing, one, two. Yes, we have a success," he cried jubilantly. "This is it, the first test of the Universal Chronicler. With these necklaces," he held up three necklaces, the fourth was around his neck, "we will be able to record all that occurs within the displacement machine."

He took a small, proud look at something out of sight, then continued, "Now that I'm reasonably certain the system works, we will schedule our first trip. Within the next couple days—"

Alex adjusted the display, zooming out and rotating around the room. All eyes were glued to the images. There was literally nothing within view that appeared normal to them except the human and a cup on the table. By looking around, they could also see the man was not very big, judging him to be about 5'8", but surprisingly sturdily built — totally incongruent to his nerd-like facial features. He was dressed in what looked to be the consistency of aluminum foil, but obviously not stiff or metallic. Or was it? He seemed completely comfortable in the outfit. Anna ran her fingers over the soft silk-like metal of the necklaces and thought it might be the same material. In the corner, there was a podium-like console which had an unbelievable 3D display of a brontosaurus bathing in a small lake.

"Amazing," said Abby in awe, followed by similar comments by all.

"—this concludes our test of the Universal Chronicler," the man ended and the menu appeared.

Alex flipped through the next few entries, perhaps a couple pages of them, before starting to see other dates. She stopped at one that brought several gasps: October 28, 75,252 12:01.

"Holy cow — 75,252!" Christy exclaimed.

Alex quickly chose it from the menu.

"Just as we expected," murmured Dr. Taylor as a view of wasteland filled the screen. There were barely any shapes visible in the rust colored dust. "This is the precise location of the Earth Union Science Facilities of New Paris, built exactly thirty thousand years ago. As you can see, this entire city is gone. Forty-five million people lived in this city in buildings that stretched up to three thousand meters high. Now it's flat," he said sadly.

"My next mission is to find out precisely how and when it happened."

"What do you think, Daddy?" Jessie asked somberly.

"I don't know what to think," he shook his head.

The video continued for a few minutes as the doctor collected soil samples.

The menu reappeared. "I don't think I can handle any more of this today," Kaylie said as a tear slowly rolled down her cheek.

"I think reality has just changed for all of us," Abby said calmly, trying to comfort her.

"Go to the last entry, Alex, then we're turning this off and watching a movie," Rick instructed.

Alex began flipping through dozens of pages per second, taking more than a minute before noticing the scroll bar that would take her to the bottom with a simple movement. She found the last entry, March 21, 1756 20:45. She hit play.

At first, the Chronicler was in view. Dr. Taylor had evidently just selected to record and shut down the display. Alex adjusted the view to look at him from the front as he breathed very heavily. He placed the Chronicler on the folded out box, on the bottom square, and slowly traced the swirl that caused it to revert back to a cube.

"This could be my final hour," he whispered dramatically. "I was planning on sneaking into the cave tonight — it's been eleven, no twelve days. I thought he would give up by now, but he's mad!" He let out an obviously painful cough as he got up. Now it became evident to the viewers what caused his distress: a bullet hole in his side. Alex deftly spun the view around to see a matching exit hole on his back, then returned it to his front again.

He now clutched the cube tightly under his arm and started to walk down a path, continuing to whisper, "He was lying in wait for me, but I managed to knock him down with a blow to the head with this—" he held up the cube, tapping it. "He wanted it bad enough, so he got it... but not before the blast of his pistol got me. I should have checked but wasn't thinking. I have to try to reach Helen's now, I have no choice; I won't survive out here like this." He suddenly reacted to a noise, turning to check it out. His eyes widened and he began to run as fast as he could. Faint sounds of beating hooves began to invade the sound of his breath and the crunch of twigs and leaves. Alex tried to locate the source of the sound, but could not. Taylor then darted off the path and through the woods.

"Not... gonna... make... it," he panted.

He ducked behind a tree just as Alex focused on a horse and rider in the distance. He looked scary and sounded even scarier. "I know you're out there, Taylor! I know I winged you, too. Just give me the box and we'll go get ya patched up!" he bellowed as the doctor stood frozen until the figure took off in the opposite direction.

"Thank God he's as bad at tracking as he is at physics," Taylor muttered painfully. "And thank God for the trees, or the moonlight would have given me away."

Resignedly, he began reciting instructions as if by rote, "Dr. Jonathan Taylor, Earth Union Science Administration. If you should find this, you should destroy it immediately—" Then something seemed to have occurred to him. He paused, and then continued through the woods, noticeably weaker. "OK," he continued, grunting out most of the words, "nothing can destroy it in this age, probably not for another fourteen hundred years or more, so I guess I'm just going to pray that if it is discovered before then, it is not misused..." He put his hand on the necklace, "This is one of four omni-directional cameras that interface with the machine," he laid the cube on the ground and traced the spiral on top, waiting for it to finish unfolding. Once opened, you could see the other three necklaces, the stone and the chronicler. He hefted the stone, "This is the time stone; it powers the machine." He stopped momentarily to catch his breath; it seemed incredibly difficult to speak each word. "This," he laid a single finger on the chronicler, "is the Universal Chronicler. It records all four cameras automatically whenever you return from a trip in the machine, or manually, like now, until you remove the necklace or manually stop it. To end a trip, simply hold it in your hand and say 'return.' These instructions are all written..."

He rested a few moments and then trudged on, coming to a stream. He was carrying the open box carefully. "I destroyed the method of time displacement; it is not possible to change the past now, nor is it possible to change the future in it without a special command. However, the information in displaced time could cause you to change the future inadvertently, so be very careful. Each time anyone uses this machine from now on, in this mode you will enter a copy of this time-space, if you will, and it is contained in memory indefinitely. I was in the process of destroying the ability to enter future time-space and that is the reason Bignose, er, Bergamiser, put this hole in my side. It is dangerous to see the future; I found that out the hard way. I encourage you to never travel to the future. If you find this, Bergamiser, may you rot in Hell for carrying out your evil plans. But it's not too late to develop a..." He coughed, noticed it was blood he was coughing up and sighed. "I'm—" he forced a chuckle, "history! Be careful with time; it's dangerous. There's so much you need to know but I'm... I'm out of... time, hah! It's necessary to learn before you—"

He gasped, clutching his chest, barely recovering this time. "It's... time... time to go..."

He dug into his pocket, took out a coin and placed it with the other things, and then took off the necklace, which abruptly ended the recording.

"Any questions now?" a glazed-faced Rick asked somberly.

"Did he die, Daddy?" Jessica asked with a sad expression, full of empathy.

"Duh!" Anna answered for him.

"OK, let's watch a movie," Rick attempted to change the subject.

"No Daddy! We have to find out what happened!" Jessica implored.

"We have to find the time machine!" Alex added. "There could be more answers in the—"

"Stop," Rick demanded. "We can't find out anything else right now—"

"But there's more on the chronicler—" Alex continued to protest.

"I said stop. You saw that list." He snatched the device and shut it off, "There's fifty to a hundred thousand or more recordings on this thing, it would take years to watch them all. Relax, take a chill pill!"

They all stared at him like he just kicked their dog.

Abby tried a different approach. "How about one of you get some bowls for the cheese puffs and glasses for drinks, and one of you get the Pepsi out of the fridge. And Anna, set up the DVD for us, OK?"

Each considered her words for a brief moment, and then Christy and Jessica went upstairs. Kaylie and Alex walked over to the fridge while Anna stuck a movie in the player. Moments later, they had food and drinks laid out in front of them, and Anna sat down with the remote to start their movie.

Finally, Abby got up to turn off the lights and Anna hit play, cranking the stereo system up considerably louder than normal, watching Rick to see if he protested.

While the movie played, the girls continued to whisper about the items, and what they had been used for. By 1:00 AM, Christy, Jessica and Anna were out cold, snuggled together like a litter of newborn pups. Kaylie was leaning forward, intensely into the movie, Alex was propped up against Rick's shoulder, half-asleep, and Abby now leaned on his other side, also barely awake.

Without complaint, Rick slid out, leaving Alex to right herself, pulling Abby along with him.

"I'm going to bed," Abby told him drowsily.

"Let's check the messages first."

"Go ahead, I couldn't read it right now anyway," she said, swaying groggily. She put her arms around him and slumped into a long, unstable hug, then backed off enough to plant a light kiss on him and dragged herself up the stairs after winking and saying, "Don't be too long," as suggestively as she could while nearly zombiefied.

Rick strode to the computer and settled comfortably into his cushioned chair.

Hearing the computer monitor come on, Alex roused and stumbled over and plopped down in his lap as he checked the messages.

There were four new messages: "12:00, Of course no match in USGS. 12:14, No topo or streams or rivers matching both lines. 12:35, Checking satellite images, found something, trying to get infrared and x-ray access. 1:02, You won't believe me if I'm right."

Rick glanced at the clock: 1:08. He figured Rob was still on and wrote a reply, "Rick here, whatcha got?" Just as he finished typing, he received a file.

Rob replied, "Got the picture?"

"Just did, go ahead and explain."

"I trust my coin is well preserved?"

Rick was studying the picture. It was a satellite image from space of the area where Alex found the cube. The picture was huge. Another file arrived, then another.

"OK, I don't see anything..."

"My coin?"

"It's fine — sealed in carbonite, like Han Solo," Rick answered.

"OK. Look at the image you gave me, then this photo. See the bike trail? It matches one line pretty closely — the middle line is the stream—"

"But the stream doesn't match," Rick said quickly.

"Waterways can change drastically in 250 years," was Rob's easy reply.

That made sense to Rick. "OK... what's the other line?"

"Well, that took some effort. I had to merge infrared and x-ray images, but if you look at the next picture, you'll see."

Rick was already looking at it. "Wow," he said out loud, causing Alex to perk up and check it out.

"That, my friend, is the forgotten trail. It appears to be buried by perhaps two to four feet of earth, but it leads to the next picture."

Rick looked at the next image — a view of a mountain.

"And you'll really like this next one — it's a geological survey of this cave system you might find interesting."

Rick received another file and quickly loaded it. He studied it carefully, comparing it to the inset map and discovered it matched perfectly, except... "Where's the branch that leads to the X?"

"That, I can't find. I did find some history of the caves, but this study was over a hundred years old and the last mention of it was shortly after. I pulled off property details, which is kind of standard if you're planning a dig. I wasn't sure if you wanted that or not."

"Let me guess. Taylor?"

"Wow, close! The Taylor Foundation, a firm in Raleigh, owns the land. As far as I can tell, that is their only holding. It may be a wildlife preserve or something odd, but I'll send the info!"

"Good. I'd like to see what kind of background these caves have."

"All I can tell is that it's completely grown over — you got the picture. There were no minerals found inside, either... maybe mined out? Hey! How did you get the name of the owner?"

"Did some research of my own; it was a lucky guess, really."

"Oh, I get it. Can you send me a picture of the coin? I know someone who would probably jump right on it."

Rick chuckled. "Hold on a sec..." He got up, took some pictures of the coin and sent them as Rob relayed the information about the current maps with GPS coordinates as well as the 'Taylor Foundation' information.

Rick printed all the information. Kaylie then lumbered over and asked what was going on. Rick took one look at her and decided not to tell her anything until morning because she looked so tired. "I think it's time you girls get to bed. We have a track meet and a soccer game tomorrow."

Both girls nodded, gave him hugs and kisses, and plodded up the stairs. Rick said bye to Rob and thanked him. Rob promised to continue researching and update him on anything else he could find.

He shook Anna awake and told her to go to bed. She whined, but agreed, and then promptly closed her eyes. He jolted her awake again and she realized he wasn't going away so she reluctantly headed to bed. He then wrestled Jessica into his arms and woke Christy, eventually following her up the stairs and laying Jessica in the bed beside her.

Worn out himself, he finally retired to his own bed, where he slipped quietly in beside Abby and quickly entered dream world.

# Chapter 9 — Soccer Dad

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Rick awoke to bouncing and shaking. Two giggling girls were using his bed as a trampoline. Abby screamed at first, but soon joined in the effort to force him from the bed. He grabbed Jessica with one arm and Christy with the other, pulled them down on the bed, and proceeded to relentlessly tickle them into oblivion. Abby jumped on his back and they grappled and fought for two minutes before Anna, hearing the commotion from the kitchen, finally came in and beckoned them to the breakfast table. The smell helped.

Before leaving his room, he could already taste the muffins, but when he turned toward the dining room, a wonderful buffet was laid out: a heap of scrambled eggs, plate full of sausage, bacon and ham, a pile of french toast, a stack of toast, muffins of many different flavors in a basket, jelly, butter, syrup and a tray of assorted fruits, as well as three different types of potatoes (hash browns, chunks and fried slices).

Rick put his arms around Abby from behind, embracing her and whispering in her ear, "I think they're trying to tell us something."

"What?"

"I think they like you being here?"

"I thought you said they often fix breakfast..."

"They do," he pointed in amazement, "but not like this! Look at it. I'll bet every utensil is in a precisely measured spot."

Abby put her finger to her chin, facetiously saying, "It is quite an unusual display for young American girls..."

"Quite a peculiar species, eh?" he joked back.

She laughed playfully, "I didn't mean to analyze them like cavemen—"

"Sometimes I feel like that would be the most appropriate analogy. They certainly act like cavemen sometimes. Let's eat and enjoy it now though, while it lasts. Savor it while we can. One day they may get their wish and you'll become the evil stepmother they always wanted to have so they can hate you," he jabbed, hinting a bit much.

"Yes, definitely," she said, ignoring half of his statement.

As they approached the table, Alex and Jessica jumped up and politely pulled out their chairs as if they were royalty. Anna then delicately poured the appropriate drinks and reclaimed her seat. Kaylie and Christy each rose next and placed a napkin in Rick and Abby's laps before returning to their seats. Alex stood next, reaching for some food to dish out for them.

"Wait!" Rick yelled, giggling and smiling broadly. "What is going on, Alex?"

Alex feigned shock, "Why, I was only going to serve your breakfast to you, sir! What would you desire on your plate this morning?" she answered with a straight face, and then bowed for dramatic effect, awaiting his reply.

"What's next? Is someone going to chew our food for us as well?" he asked.

Anna raised her hand as if she were in class and giggled, "Um, that's my job!"

Christy snickered and added, "I'm supposed to wipe your mouth."

"OK, why are you doing this today?"

"Because we love you," came at him in five-part harmony, as if rehearsed.

"Riiight! You sure it's not because Abby's here?"

"No," Jessica blurted. "Well, I mean we're glad she's here, and wish she was here every day, but that's not why we did it. We did it—"

"Because we love you!" Anna interrupted, as if to hide something.

"OK, Rick isn't dumb and he knows you girls better than you know yourselves, so just tell him what you want and let's eat!" Rick said, undeniably blunt.

"Well," Kaylie started as Rick motioned for everyone to pass the food around, "we've been up since 7:30, and we were downstairs, and we found the maps and read your messages — eggs please! — and um, well, we wanted you to take us there after breakfast—"

Rick sighed, "Sorry, we can't, we have places to go today, but we will go afterwards, at least to see the cave."

Everyone whined and moaned.

"What we need to do first is get equipment together—"

"Cave?" Anna's eyebrows shot up to her hairline. "I'm not going in no cave."

"Yes cave. That's why we can't go this morning. It would take entirely too long and we have a track meet at noon and soccer at 4:00. Please don't be disappointed and don't think you failed this morning — this breakfast is totally incredible!"

"Yes, amazing!" Abby added with a full mouth. "You didn't even tell me you found it, Rick," she scolded him.

"Why don't we just drop Anna off at the track, she doesn't want to go to the cave anyway!" Alex suggested.

Anna shot a very menacing look her way.

"No," Rick waved her off. "We will all go to the track meet and the game, no question about it. You girls don't work so hard at these sports for us to not be there to support you."

"OK," a resigned Kaylie asked, "so what do we need to do then?"

"And tell us about the caves..." Christy added.

They went through the rest of the meal intently listening to his explanation of all he had learned the night before as well as all he intended to find out today, then went through a list of things they required for their anticipated cave adventure.

The girls bubbled with excitement, gladly taking assignments to prepare them for the trip, even Anna was gallantly awaiting the opportunity to battle huge bats, which she was certain dwelled within the evil cave.

It was 10:30 when they finished cleaning up breakfast. Rick reminded each of the girls of their role in spelunking preparation and they darted off to acquire the necessary equipment while he took Abby downstairs to show her the information.

Urged by Abby, Rick decided to call the Taylor Foundation to see what they could learn about the property.

"Hello?" was the peculiar response.

"Um, hi, is this the Taylor Foundation?"

"Oh, yes of course, sorry," the man sounded as if he had been sleeping, which he had.

"I'm sorry, I must have been given the wrong number; is there another number I should call instead of your home phone?"

"Oh, no," said the venerable voice on the other end, "this is the only, yes, the only number to call. Are you calling about the property? I certainly hope not, because it's not for sale and never will be. It's imperative that you accept that and do not trouble me about it further. I have grown weary and impatient with your people calling me time and time again. Understand that it's not for sale, at any price, period!"

Rick held out the phone and stared at it as if it had grown arms and slapped him. He finally said to the old man, "What do you mean? Someone is pressuring you to sell the land? But why? It's not worth a lot..."

"Exactly! It's a hillside — that's what I tell them. They offer millions; I say no; they offer more. It's unnerving. Same man most of the time — fellow senior citizen, like myself, although he seems to have a bit more lilt in his voice than I — for the last twenty years or more... Why am I telling you this? I don't know. Speak up, boy, what do you want?"

Rick quickly thought of the best story, "Well, I'm doing a study and—"

"Telemarketer?" the man shot back.

"Oh no! An academic study. I received information that your foundation is over two hundred years old and I wish to learn about it. It's one of the oldest in the area. I'd like to learn about its history — who set it up, who runs it and... why?"

"I see. Of course. I don't see why that could be a problem. Well, hmm... where to start?"

"The beginning, preferably?" Rick prompted, feeling as if he had to nudge the man's brain into gear.

"Of course! Well, Helen Taylor started the Foundation in 1785; it was written into her will, naming the terms and the person who would control it as well as four others, always maintaining at least five people to take charge and replace their name with a new one. It was her late husband, John's wish. It's really an endowment, you know. It was started with ten million dollars, and always growing with inflation. The executor keeps the interest after a certain percentage is funneled back into it. It's over two billion dollars now."

"Wow, what's the..."

"The purpose? Well, the only purpose I know of is to keep from selling the land! The land is worthless, you see, estimated two years ago at a $35,000 hunk of hillside with no access right of way. Must've been special to the poor old sod!"

"Yes, it must have..."

"Well, I'm the thirteenth executor and we have all been ordered to maintain a log of our transactions and report earnings and such each year as well as inquiries. The damnedest thing is, someone has been trying to buy the worthless lot the entire time, for hundreds of times the value."

There was a long pause. "Do you know who?" Rick asked.

"Who? No, can't say that I do; don't care either. If I sell the land, the endowment goes to charity and I lose my job. You know how much interest there is on two billion dollars? They offered me four million to sell the land a while back. I laughed!"

"Can't say I blame you. Seems foolish to even attempt to buy you out. Do you mind if we check out the property?" Rick asked as nicely as possible.

"You planning on buying it?"

"Of course not. I'm not foolish!" Rick answered quickly.

"Well sure, then. I've seen no rules about trespassing. It's fully insured, too. I see no reason why not. It's as if Mrs. Taylor wanted someone to explore it someday..."

Rick was elated, "Do I need to contact you or get a letter stating permis—"

"Contact? Why, no, just walk right on up to it. I hear the caves are fairly interesting and completely stable; otherwise, it's just a steep hillside. No minerals have ever been found in the caves or anything. I've always speculated that it was just special to the couple because they got their first jollies there or something."

"Is there a fence or anything?"

"Fence? Why, I don't know. No, I suppose not, or there would be some upkeep on it. No, there must not be anything but weeds around it. Worthless hunk of land, it is."

Anna came down the stairs and told Rick it was 11:10, and she needed to be at the track soon.

He held his hand over the receiver and said, "Put your stuff in the van and tell Kaylie to load hers too and everyone else pack the cave gear. We'll be up in a minute!"

He turned back to the phone, "Well, Mr...?"

"Johnson, Edsel Johnson!"

"Johnson, I thank you so much for your time. You have been most helpful. I hope to check the place out today, it's all so intriguing to me!"

"I'm glad I could help, and glad you weren't trying to buy the blasted thing,"

Rick chuckled. "Goodbye, Mr. Johnson, thanks again for your time!"

"No problem. Good-bye."

Rick hung up and smiled at Abby.

"Intrigue, surrounded by mystery, wrapped in an enigma..." she said.

"Yeah... Yeah, definitely," he replied distractedly. "Well, we have a track meet to go to; let's move it!"

They gathered the girls and their things, piled into the minivan and left for the school.

On the way, Alex took out the 'UC' as they now called the Chronicler, and started to play with it.

"Honey," Rick said, "I don't want you using that thing at the meet or anywhere in public for that matter."

"Why?" she asked.

"It's dangerous enough to have knowledge of the future, but even more dangerous to have actual technology. We have to keep this a complete secret. There are seven people who know about it already; that's probably seven too many. There's some reason why Taylor thought it should be destroyed. Do you understand?"

"Yeah, I guess so. Can I stay in the van and play with it?"

"It's not a toy, Alex."

"I know, Dad. The windows are tinted, someone would just think I'm watching a DVD or playing a video game or something..."

"OK, but you will keep the doors locked and keep it out of sight completely. And use your cell phone to let me know if you're getting out so I can watch you."

"Oh Dad," she whined.

He turned and glared at her.

"OK, OK!"

"Can I stay, too?" Kaylie asked.

"Me too?" chimed Christy.

"Yeah. Same rules apply to you, too. Nobody opens a door or even a window without me watching. Got it?"

"Can we have the keys to run the air?" Alex asked.

Alex giggled, "Like we would want to be seen cruising around in this hunk of junk!" She rolled her eyes for effect.

Rick pulled into the parking lot minutes later and easily found a spot where he could watch the van just to be safe. Rick had always been a little over-protective of the girls — he readily admitted to it — but the girls were all used to it, and he hoped they actually appreciated his total devotion to their safety.

Rick took the extra key with its own key ring, one he had made just for this purpose — the girls often wanted to stay in the van and watch a movie or something while he went in to shop or they were stranded at a hopelessly boring event. He left the van running, cracked the sunroof barely a quarter-inch and joined Abby, Anna and Jessica after reminding the girls of the rules and closing the doors, checking each lock personally.

Jessica pulled Rick and Abby to a place she claimed would give them the best view of Anna's events. Sure enough, they were near the finish line for all of her running events and only 25 yards away from the high jump pit.

Rick sat down with Abby and Jessica bracketing him. They sat silently for a minute, waiting for the events to start. Jessica was already bored.

"OK, this is fun. How about we go get some hot dogs and drinks and candy?" Rick asked, seeing her boredom.

"Sounds good to me!" his daughter answered instantly.

"I'll stay and watch the stuff," Abby offered.

Rick pulled out his phone. "I'll see what the girls want on the way. Let's go Jess; we don't want to miss any of the excitement."

Jessica rolled her eyes.

Rick dialed Alex.

"Uh, hello Dad?" she answered, perturbed that he was already checking up on her.

"What are those boys doing getting in my van?" he accused angrily.

"What! There's no—"

"Don't give me that, I saw three boys go around the other side of the van and disappear just now. Was that really your plan? Is that why you wanted to stay?"

"Dad! I—"

He burst into laughter, "I'm joking honey! Sheesh! What would you girls like from the concession stand?" he asked.

"Uh..." she was still shaken from the joke, "we just ate like a couple hours ago..."

"So you don't want anything? Drinks? Candy?"

Alex asked the other girls, eventually giving him a list of drinks, candy, and nachos for Kaylie. They were already in line to order when he hung up. They placed their order and walked over to the van to give the girls their food.

Kaylie slid the door open when they arrived, excited. " _OHMYGOD!_ Rick, you have to see some of this stuff, we just watched an entire herd of dinosaurs! It was—"

"Shhhhh!"

She instantly lowered her voice, but continued, "So neat! And cavemen and—"

Christy butted in, "You should have seen some of these creatures Rick. A lot of them had fur! We've always assumed all the dinosaurs had scales, but half of them had fur. Some of them were soooo cute!"

"Cavemen were stupid, Dad," Alex chimed in next.

"Yeah," Kaylie continued, "we saw one smash his own hand with a rock, and then he showed another guy what he did by smashing his hand again! S—T—U—PID!"

"Must have been one of your ancestors," Jessica commented with a giggle.

"That's really cool, kids, but keep your voices down and promise me you won't look at any future ones, OK?"

They nodded agreement.

He then considered something else, "Also, a lot of things in the past may be violent or cruel... I want you to promise to stop any of them that are, OK? Like if they start killing each other or get eaten by a giant lizard or something—"

"OK, Dad, but we already watched a bunch of cavemen beat each other up, but it was almost funny, like watching wrestling and the Three Stooges combined!"

"That's what I don't want you to see. I wish the thing had some kind of parental control—"

"It does. I mean there are options to hide certain content or skip or black out scenes. It's all in the instructions but I haven't tried any of it yet."

"Here, let me look," he said.

She handed it over and he found the options. He quickly checked the options to filter out and censor vulgarity, violence and sexual content, and then handed it back.

Alex rolled her eyes, "I'm not that immature, Dad."

"You girls be careful with that thing, you hear me? There are still things that are dangerous to watch. I'll call you in a while. Call me or write down anything you think is important as well, OK?"

They all agreed. Rick closed the door with a slightly uneasy feeling of what they could still see, but decided to trust them a bit more. He and Jessica strolled back through the crowd and sat back down beside Abby. Anna had joined her.

"I don't have an event until 12:45. Coach said to join my family if I wanted until then!"

"That's cool. You want some of my drink and hot dog?" Rick offered.

"A little — a bite or two. I might get sick if I eat too close to a race."

"What's your first event?" Abby asked.

"A 200 meter relay. Then I got the 100 relay, high jump, 200, then the 100 is last. The high jump and the 200 are at the same time."

"How do you do them both then?" Jessica asked curiously.

"I have to either finish the high jump before the 200 or ask to do it after. Coach said it won't be a problem."

"I hope not. It'll be nice to see five blue ribbons today," Rick said while chomping on a hot dog.

"You think I can win all five, Uncle Ricky?"

"Coach says you can."

"I'm just a freshman..."

"And taller and stronger and faster than everyone else on the team," Jessica interjected.

"Don't get cocky on us or anything though," Rick warned, shaking his fist at her.

"Whatcha gonna do, beat me up, Uncle Ricky?"

"If I have to humble you, I will, little buttercup!"

"Don't call me that!" she protested.

"Dish it out, but can't take it, eh, buttercup?"

"You're lucky I have food in my hands or I'd kick your butt!" she threatened hollowly.

"You're lucky I paid for it or I'd get it all over you while I kick your butt," he stuck his tongue out and shook his head like a bratty child.

Anna laughed, "Stop! You're embarrassing me!"

"Good! You need it! Hah."

Abby said with a sly smile on her face. "You sure you're not their brother instead of their father?"

"Why, thank you for the compliment," Rick said happily. "I didn't realize I looked so young!"

"You don't, you just act like it," Jessica told him.

"Ouch!"

"It's OK, Dad, we love when you're silly!" she added.

"And immature," said Anna.

"Look for more cavemen, I'm fascinated by evolution!" Christy said.

"I want to see something from the Roman Empire. We do have that assignment to do, remember?" Kaylie argued.

"Those dinosaurs are so incredible, though!" Alex cried.

"One more, then we get to pick some," Christy agreed.

"OK, I've picked enough, you go ahead and do some," Alex said as she handed over the UC.

Christy checked through the previews of several entries between 200,000 BC and 50,000 BC, and stopped at one around 80,000 BC. "Hey, these guys look a lot less ugly. They don't look so hairy either. They've got on those weird shiny coats like Dr. Taylor had on," she observed; the other girls closed in. Christy selected and played the file.

The men on the display were all wearing the same metallic-looking fabric they had seen the doctor wear in his lab, and were all milling about as if preparing for something significant. The majority of workers stopped and focused suddenly on a single point. Christy tried to zoom in on it, but couldn't tell exactly what was going on. Conversations abruptly stopped as all the workers focused on a count-down timer that suddenly appeared clearly in the distance. A monotone voice could now be heard, "...six, five, four, three, two, one."

In a flash of brilliance, accompanied by a rumble that shook the display, came a dart trailing fire into the sky.

"A missile?" Kaylie asked in shock.

"Looks that way, but why?" Alex questioned

They stared as the roar died and voices could once again be heard, "—like a success. If my calculations are right," a brown-haired man with an enlarged nose stated, "it should impact after the planet passes Mars."

"Perfect, do you think it will really alter the course enough?" asked another man.

"We spent eighteen months calculating to the nearest millimeter; it should impact Earth on May 30, 75,252 at 4:15 AM, to be precise," the first man answered, entirely too satisfied with the prospect.

"And you're sure nobody will detect it?"

"Of course not, its next orbit around the sun will be in the third millennium BC, then the 76th. Nobody has the technology to detect it until it's upon them because it will enter the second orbit and approach Earth hiding in the shadow of Mars!"

"What's the predicted damage?"

"Total. It's roughly half the size of the moon and at the speed it will be traveling, that's more than enough for our experiment."

Christy was dumbfounded. "Experiment? They call destroying Earth an experiment? How could... Why? I mean..."

The voice continued for thirty minutes as the two men discussed speeds, forces, orbital changes and even chemical reactions as the silver-suited crews proceeded to sweep the area of any trace of their existence.

"We gotta tell Dad about this!" Alex finally declared and grabbed her phone.

"Didn't that guy look familiar to you?" Kaylie asked no one in particular.

Anna was thirty yards from the finish line when Rick's phone rang. He pulled it out and hit the button to answer but continued to watch the race. Anna was ahead by three yards, they had been even at the start of the straight stretch, but now she was pulling away handily. She increased the lead to five yards as she crossed the line, her other teammates were on the way, cutting across the field to help her celebrate. Rick, Abby and Jessica were all cheering when Rick realized he had turned on his phone and put it to his head. "Hello?" he finally managed to say.

"It's about time Dad! What's going on there?"

"Anna just won the 4x200 relay! Sorry, what's going on there?"

"You have to see this Dad," Alex insisted.

"What honey? Anna has another race in ten minutes, can't you just explain it?"

"Well, I guess so, but it's really important that you see it, too."

"How important?" he asked, knowing the girls tended to put false weight on things in their lives.

"End-of-the-world-as-we-know-it important."

"I warned you not to watch anything in the future," he reminded her.

"We weren't. Remember the video we saw where Taylor went to the future and the Earth was a cinder? Well, we were watching an entry from 80,000 BC and we saw what caused it!" Alex explained what she had seen in the video over the next few minutes while Anna was getting ready for the 4x100 relay.

Rick interrupted, "Honey, that's definitely amazing, but Anna is about to run again. Just write down the entry for me. I do want to see it for myself but I can't do anything about it now, can I? You'd kill me if I ran off during one of your races, wouldn't you?"

"No, I guess you can't do anything about it now, and yes, I would kill you," she admitted, although definitely sounding defeated. "I guess it can wait, we have all the time in the world if this stuff is real, right?"

"Are you girls gonna stay in the van all day or are you gonna join us anytime soon?"

"We're way too interested in this right now. Call when Anna's gonna do her last event so I can watch, OK?"

"OK, will do. Be careful with that thing, Alex. I'm serious."

"What was that about?" Abby whispered in his ear.

"Wait until Anna's race is over..."

A few seconds later, the gun sounded for the start of the relay. Rick watched as the first three girls got a slight lead in the first three legs, then Anna's turn came up and she simply trotted away to grab the baton and left the second place girl in her wake from there, coasting to victory. Jessica continued to cheer for her cousin as Rick and Abby sat back down to continue their conversation.

"I'm kind of worried..." Rick started.

"About?"

"Well, Alex just called and told me about an 'experiment' they watched in 80,000 BC to alter a planet's course to collide with Earth seventy thousand years from now. We already witnessed the aftermath of that, I think, and I'm not too sure that kind of thing is really within the kids' ability to cope. It hit them hard; I wonder what else they might witness on that thing?"

Abby studied him for a few seconds, "Rick, that's why you're such a great father and I'm never going to be a mother. You seem to like to worry, I don't. Personally, I think they're extremely mature. Well, at least Alex and Kaylie. But I may be naive in such matters. You know them far better than anyone, so you're the best person to make that decision. So, do you think they can handle it?"

Rick pondered a minute, "Yeah, I guess they can, but I don't think they should watch it happen. And I don't think they could handle too much knowledge of the future either."

"You already laid out rules for that, Rick, and those girls rarely ever break your rules. I don't think you need to worry."

"Says Ms. Oblivious..."

"Shush."

"I can't not worry," he admitted, betraying the fact that it was a burden to him, regardless of whether he liked it or not.

"Maybe not, but remember what you said about your own childhood? Your mother let you take your own chances and learn from your mistakes. She admitted that it was often painful to watch you get hurt or screw something up, but it was best for you—"

"But girls are so much more affected by emotional trauma—" he argued.

"Don't give me that," Abby said indignantly. "They only are if you shield them and don't allow them to experience any. Look at me; you're a hundred times more emotional than I am!"

"Riiight... that's why you can't commit to a relationship," he smirked.

She bowed her head but maintained a sly grin, "OK, you got me there, but I can handle the end of the world... and I think they can too, if you let them. You don't give them enough credit for their maturity."

Rick pondered a moment as he watched another race begin, "Yeah, you're probably right." He leveled a gaze and wicked grin at her, "Maybe there's hope for you being a mother yet!"

She ignored the implication, "You know, you let them watch some rated R movies..."

"Yeah, some, I admit, but only after I've watched them and made sure there's nothing I find harmful. I believe movie censors are a bit extreme sometimes and there are some really important messages in the ones I allow them to see—"

"Maybe you should do that with the videos — watch them first?" she suggested.

"I like that idea." He thought a moment, then reached into his pocket and grabbed the phone, dialed Alex and put it to his ear. "Time to go," he said as soon as she answered.

"OK Dad, we're coming," she easily agreed.

He watched them get out and walk to where he sat with Abby and Jessica.

"Where is she?" Alex asked after several minutes.

"High jump," Jessica answered.

"I thought her last event was the 100," Kaylie stated.

"It is," Rick replied, "but I thought you girls should do something besides sit in the van all day."

"Dad! We were just starting to learn about the Romans and Gauls and stuff!"

"Yeah, but it was mostly the stuffy upper class," Christy said. "All they did was plot and scheme against each other, just like the rich today. We need to see how the real people lived."

"It was still cool! We got to see a real gladiator fight in the arena and a chariot race," Kaylie recalled excitedly.

"Gladiators? That's what I'm worried about, girls! Some things like that may be a bit too gory or violent for you," Rick worried.

"Oh please, Dad. The chariot race was more violent than the gladiators!"

"Really?"

"Yeah, really! They actually tried to kill each other, unlike the warriors!" Kaylie explained.

"Kaylie found some peasants being killed for stealing, but we skipped that before it happened. We didn't want to see that, but the races were really exciting and cool!" Christy told him.

"The dinosaurs and cavemen were really the coolest though. You should see how huge some of those things were! And Dr. Taylor almost got squashed by this one — its toe was like the size of my whole body! That's when we learned about the necklaces, they can tell if you're in danger! His started to beep and flash and Taylor explained as he was moving that it was a ten-second warning. Once he moved out of the way, it stopped and that huge foot slammed down right where he had been standing. We also found that it will automatically return you if it senses you are about to be killed within two seconds, but he said it isn't one hundred percent foolproof. Like if you get shot, it can only tell if you will be killed instantly from that wound. You can also talk to each other — it took a while to figure it out. It looked like he was talking to himself because it transmits the sound directly to your brain or something. He kept saying 'Red, where are you?' and stuff, then we found a recording of the same time with someone using the red necklace and he was answering by saying 'gold' first for the gold necklace. The instructions said nothing about these features. I wonder what else they do?" Alex finally paused long enough to take a breath and see Rick's reaction.

"I intend to find out everything we can about that; just be patient honey. I don't want you getting too worked up over all this stuff."

"It will be so cool going back in time though..."

"Shh!" He quickly silenced her with a hand over her mouth. "Remember what I said about keeping it a secret."

"Sorry, Dad, I just—"

"And what makes you think I would let you go back in time?"

"Daaaad!" she protested.

Kaylie leaned over and whispered with concern, "Us too? You won't let any of us?"

"I don't know yet, honey. We're not talking about a circus or amusement park here; we're talking about something closer to running with the bulls. I want to know everything about it before I even consider it... and we don't even know if it actually exists."

"Then you best be studying fast!" Christy demanded hotly.

Rick raised an eyebrow at her, letting her know she didn't make the rules. She sunk back down a bit.

"We will find it, today," Kaylie confidently promised.

"We'll talk about it later, when we know what we're talking about," Rick ended the conversation. They knew not to push any further.

The extended family focused on Anna, who was starting the high jump. She and another girl each had to go early because they were entered in other events. Anna easily won with only one jump at 5'4", and then went to prepare for her final event, the 100 meter dash. She was visibly nervous and kept looking up at her supporters for confidence. She eventually settled in at the starting line and stretched her long legs out before fitting them snugly into the starting blocks, as everyone held their breath for her.

The gun went off and Anna seemed to hesitate for an eternity, coming up at least a full tenth of a second later than the other girls. Rick's breath caught in his throat; he knew how much this race meant to her — it was definitely her favorite.

Anna quickly recovered and turned on her speed, pulling up to fourth place after just forty meters and passing third place just ten meters later. As she gained top speed, she cruised by second and first, and lunged to the finish a full stride ahead of her competition, stomping to a halt fifteen meters later.

Overwhelmed with her own accomplishment, Anna instantly turned and fled the track, leaping the fence at full speed — making the coach consider her for the 110 meter hurdles race — and two-stepped the stairs up the bleachers, diving into the waiting arms of Rick.

"I did it, Dad! I did it!" she shouted, oblivious to all the eyes on her, tears streaming down her face.

"Don't you mean Uncle Ricky?" he teased her, squeezing her tightly.

She backed up enough to look him in the face and give him a silly look, then buried her face in his shoulder and bawled some more.

"Dad," she said again, defiantly.

"I hate to break up all the drama," Jessica said sarcastically, "but it was only a meet, Anna, not the Olympics!"

"Yeah, but it's high school and I'm just a freshman," Anna spat back.

"Let her celebrate, brat!" Alex said.

"We're all proud of you, honey," Rick said, kicking Jessica in the back of the leg.

She grunted, "Fine! I'll go get the Gatorade bucket!" she teased.

"Does this mean we win?" Christy asked, confused.

Anna wiped her face all over Rick's shirt and cleared her throat, "Well, that puts us up by three points and there are only two events left. One is long jump and we should win all three places in that, so we basically can't lose now."

"Cool!" Christy was now excited for some strange reason.

"Then let's go to the soccer field," Kaylie decided suddenly, "since it's over now."

"We have to wait until the meet is over and someone..." he squeezed Anna, "wins the most valuable athlete trophy."

"Omigosh! I could win that?"

"Did anyone else win five events today?" he asked.

"Umm, I think I'm the only one entered in five events. Wow!"

"The game starts in an hour; I have to be there in thirty minutes..." Kaylie notified him.

"If we're not done in twenty minutes, we'll talk Abby into taking you—"

"Yeah, I can take you. No problem," Abby offered.

"Why can't I just go by myself? Or even with Alex or Christy?"

"Because I'm responsible for you."

"That's not fair — it's just across the street!" Kaylie argued.

"You know my rules."

"Yeah, but why can't I walk across the street alone?"

"It's not just a street — it's a major highway—"

"You're paranoid," she accused.

Rick grinned, "If you were hit by a car you'd wish I'd been paranoid."

"I'm thirteen!"

He feigned shock and realization, " _Wow_! You're a grown woman then, huh? You could easily dodge a speeding vehicle. I must be stupid!"

"No," she sighed, "you're not stupid, just over-protective."

"I care, that's all."

"You should be glad," Abby commented.

She lowered her head, "Sorry, I am glad you care. Thank you!"

They stood to watch the last two events end. Anna's team won both of them and the coach motioned for the team to join him at the finish line. Anna reunited with the team as Abby took Kaylie and Christy to the soccer field.

The trophy presentation lasted longer than anticipated. At 4:30, Anna was called for the sixth and final time, to receive the 'Most Valuable' trophy. She hoisted it proudly over her head as Rick snapped several pictures to go along with the ones Jessica had taken during the meet.

Rick and the girls finally arrived at the field close to 5:00; the game was already at half-time so they stayed in the van a few minutes so Anna could change clothes. Alex insisted he watch the video of the missile launch. Anna was watching over the back seat when she suddenly piped up, "What is old man Anderson doing there?"

"Old man who?" Rick asked.

She leaned over the back of the seat to point, "There!"

Rick backed up the video and paused it; Anna had finished changing and came out from behind the seat. "That guy," she indicated by touching his big nose, "Mr. Anderson, seventh grade history teacher. You all know him."

"This guy is a lot younger though — I don't know. Alex?" he opened the door and showed her.

"That does look like him! Kaylie said he looked familiar earlier, but he's got to be like eighty or something now. We always joke that he's been around since the beginning of time."

"Well, I have a hard time believing that's him. This guy's name is Ferdinand Bergamiser, and he was trapped in 1756 with Taylor. He'd be over 250 years old now, it's gotta be a coincidence," Rick decided.

"Yeah, it could be his descendant or something," Anna said

"Ancestor, you mean," he corrected.

"Yeah, it's weird seeing a younger person who could be older than old man Anderson."

"OK, girls, let's go find Abby and Christy. They're probably wondering where we are."

They found Abby and Christy sitting on the sidelines on a blanket and joined them. Rick asked how the game was going.

"They're winning four to two! Kay has two goals," Christy cheerfully announced.

"Who's hungry?" an anxious Abby asked. "I've been waiting forever for you guys to show up so I could go get something to eat."

After taking orders, she sped off to the concession stand with Christy and Jessica trailing behind.

The second half was underway when they returned with refreshments. "Kay scored another goal, her third. It's five to two now!" Alex updated them as they reclaimed their spots on the blanket.

"The coach moved her to defense so some of the other girls could get some experience up front," Anna said.

Just then, Kaylie stepped in and stole the ball, running halfway up the field with it until she found a teammate ahead and lobbed the ball out in front of the girl, who caught up and quickly poked it between the opposing goalie's legs — six to two.

"She could score if she was the goalie!" Rick proclaimed in amazement.

The other team didn't even get a shot at the goal for the remainder of the game. Kaylie's team put in two more past a dejected and frustrated goalkeeper and went on to win eight to two.

"Go see what Kaylie would like to eat," Rick instructed Anna so she could get it before the concession stand closed.

She shortly returned with two hot dogs, a bag of chips, two orders of fries, a candy bar, and a large drink.

Alex laughed as she pulled out the fries, "I guess she was hungry?"

"Well, one of the fries is for me, but she asked for four hot dogs and two fries — this is all they had left. She's going to be mad!"

"What a pig!" Alex commented.

Kaylie finally joined them after shaking hands with the other team. She griped all the way to the van about only having two hot dogs.

# Chapter 10 — Some Things Aren't So Easy

#

"You stink!" Jessica rudely announced, indicating Kaylie.

"Jess!" Rick admonished, "You know she's been running for almost two hours. What do you expect? Kaylie, do you want to stop at the house and take a quick shower before we go?"

"She's not that bad," Anna offered.

"That's because you stink, too!" Jessica blurted, with two fingers tightly clasped on her nose.

"That's enough Jess!" Rick scolded. "She's been running too."

"Sorry," Jessica apologized, "but they do stink."

"Whatever," Kaylie finally answered with a mouth full of fries. "I'll just change back into my clothes before we get there. No use taking a shower when we could be getting really dirty again anyway. Besides, I want to get there as soon as possible, don't you all?"

Everyone agreed, including Jessica.

"OK. Just hold your nose then, Jessie; I'll roll a window down, too," Rick joked. The girls giggled.

"I can't wait to go back in time. I'm going to pet a dinosaur, first thing!" Alex remarked, excitedly.

"I'm going straight to the Roman Empire!" Christy firmly proclaimed.

A muffled affirmation came from Kaylie's mouth, "Me too!"

"I'm going to the future!" Anna decided.

"I'm with Anna, the past already happened! If we wanted to know about it, we could read a stupid book," Jessica sided with her cousin.

"Girls, even if we do find a time machine, nobody is going anywhere unless I've checked it out. Thoroughly!"

"Party pooper!" Abby stuck her tongue out at him.

"Oh no, not you too?"

"Well, I want to go as much as they do; heck, probably more! I'd love to visit all the sites I've dug, especially the Mayan and Incan ones. There are so many mysteries we could solve so easily..."

"Then you'd be out of a job," Rick countered.

"Hmmm... Never thought of it that way."

"Let me make this perfectly clear; we are exploring a cave tonight. We are not exploring time. We don't even know what we will find or what we are looking for."

"I'm finished!" Kaylie announced, after stuffing the last couple fries in her mouth. "How long till we get there?"

"It's just a couple minutes, believe it or not. It's less than a mile from our house... well, the path is at least."

"OK," she said, pulling her clothes out of her bag, "I'm going to the back to change."

Kaylie emerged just as Rick pulled to a stop at a dead-end street, carrying her sweaty uniform like it was radioactive waste and threw it at Jessica. "Ewww!" Jessica shrieked, flailing her hands to brush herself off as if bees were attacking. Kaylie just laughed, satisfied.

Rick popped the back hatch and he pulled out a bag of old clothes, jeans and long-sleeved shirts, and began passing them out.

"What's this for?" Christy asked as he handed her an outfit that was way too big.

"Just put them on, honey," he told her.

She looked at him weird, "But I already have clothes on, you want us to change?"

"No, put them on over your shorts and t-shirt; we're going through dense brush and your legs and arms will be shredded if you don't."

"Oh! OK."

"Besides, it may be cold in the cave. Rick handed out small flashlights to everyone and stuffed a package of batteries in his backpack and added rope, a medical kit, chalk, matches, handfuls of snacks, a few bottled drinks, and a hatchet. He pulled out a kerosene lamp and checked to make sure it was full. He also stuck a distress transmitter into his pants pocket, not sure if it would even work underground.

Abby loaded the leftover snacks into her pack, which already held all her standard survival gear, climbing gear, and archeological tools and implements.

The girls each carried their own water bottle, a pack of matches and at least one flashlight, but were otherwise unencumbered.

Abby rubbed some insect repellent on everyone's exposed skin. "I think we're all ready," she declared.

"Just about," Rick fumbled through the remaining mess, making sure they had it all. He tugged on a thick pair of work gloves and unsheathed an eighteen-inch machete he had tied to his belt. "Now we're ready," he posed comically, holding the oversized knife out like a sword.

Abby fiddled with her GPS device and turned around to get her bearings. This caused Rick to instantly think of the maps, which were in the front of the van, and he ran back to get them.

They all checked and rechecked everything, then locked the minivan and headed toward the woods.

"OK, everyone stays five feet behind me, no exceptions! I'll be swinging this around at weeds and briars and whatever else gets in our way." He dramatically sliced the air in front of them with the machete for effect. "If you get hit by it, our trip is certainly over!" he made a pained face for emphasis.

All the girls nodded with respect at the half-rusted blade.

He motioned to Abby, "OK, show me which direction we need to go."

"That way," she pointed straight forward, "is due north, and we need to head ten degrees east of north — that way," she pivoted slightly to the right.

"OK, how far?"

She punched at the device for a few seconds, "Only 0.4 miles."

"No sweat! Let's go! Nobody lags behind — if you need to stop, make it known." He stopped and turned around, looking each of them in the eyes, "And do not get near this blade. I'd hate to accidently hack off one of your ears... or arms..."

They all made frightened faces — just what he wanted. He smiled inwardly as he furiously lashed at the first weeds and moved into the woods amidst flying debris.

"What if we run into a bear?" Kaylie asked, half curious, half worried.

"Just grin at it!" Rick answered between whacks at the brush.

"OK, Davy Crockett," Abby snickered.

Rick chuckled and kept hacking, wishing he had brought a weed-eater instead. They traveled over a fourth of the way in just less than fifteen minutes when the brush seemed to give way to forest. Rick sheathed his weapon and asked if anyone needed a break, sweat dripping from his brow.

They looked at him as if he had sprouted horns.

"What?" he wiped the sweat with his sleeve.

"We've only walked like a few hundred yards," Anna teased.

He peeled off his sweat-soaked shirt and threw it directly in her face, "Here, hold that for me please. Thanks!"

She let it fall to the ground and grinned, unfazed by his antics.

"OK, I guess we move on. Abby, you can lead until we meet resistance again and I'm required to battle our way through!" he said gallantly.

Abby checked her locator and started through the forest. Within five minutes they could glimpse the hillside through the trees past an open field. Rick had been busy carving marks in each of the trees they passed and didn't notice until they were in the clearing.

"Stop," Abby instructed as she consulted the GPS. "We should be 25 meters from the cave entrance now!"

They all looked at the hillside, it was steep and rocky. Rick imagined it would be almost impossible to walk up the loose rock.

Abby studied the map and terrain, finally locating two rocks, nearly thirty feet tall, side by side. "There!" she said as she tromped through the waist-high grass with everyone following.

As they neared the rocks, Rick called ahead and ordered them to stop while he cleared a wide area in front of the entrance, "And check your clothes for ticks. I suspect you each have a few undocumented passengers right now."

A few seconds later, "Ewww! I got two!" Alex screamed.

Rick chuckled as each girl squealed or screeched at the discovery of another parasite.

Abby, a veteran of many wilderness treks, calmly removed her trespassers. She instructed them to take off their extra pair of pants, turn them inside out and check for more, and then look inside their socks and shoes.

By the time the girls finished their de-ticking, Rick had finished clearing a twelve- foot area around the entrance. They all found resting spots while Rick checked his clothes.

Alex walked toward the entrance. The two huge rocks must have plunged down from above, resting about five feet apart, making a tall, narrow slit of an entrance to the cave beyond.

"No!" Rick stopped her cold. "Wait until we're all ready." He pulled his pants back on, stood up and downed a long gulp of water, and tossed the bottle back in his sack.

"Who wants to mark our path?" he asked.

Anna volunteered.

"Here," he tossed her a large piece of chalk. "Mark the cave wall at least once every ten feet — make it a huge mark, too."

She drew a huge A, nearly a foot tall, on a nearby rock. "How's that?"

"Perfect!" he answered and pulled out the digital camera, "Who wants—"

"Oooh, me, me!" Jessica screamed.

He handed her the camera. "I want you to take a picture of every intersection and pathway."

"OK, Daddy. Can I take some pictures outside, first?"

He nodded and she proceeded to click away.

"Kaylie, you'll be my backup. I want you to carry this rope, in case I fall in a hole or something, so someone else will have rope to lower for me. And carry one of these flares and a couple extra batteries."

"OK," she accepted the honor.

He pulled out two extra flashlights and handed one each to Alex and Christy. "You two are the light crew. I want one of you in the back with Anna and one in the middle with Abby, who will be checking the map. Everyone else keep your flashlights in your pockets in case you need them later."

"OK, I'll help Abby with lighting the map," Alex offered.

"I'll help Anna," said Christy.

"Let's just quit over-preparing and go!" Jessica said impatiently.

Rick smirked at her, shaking his head.

"Everyone knows what to do?" Everyone nodded excitedly, so he continued, "Nobody, and I mean nobody, is ever to be in front of me or behind Christy, OK? If anyone gets separated, scream. Everyone is responsible for watching the person in front of them. Anna, you have to watch Christy too. If her light disappears, yell. We must all stay together no matter what."

"We get ya, Dad; let's go before it gets dark!" Jessica chirped.

"OK, OK! Abby, give us a rundown to the first fork, then we go in!"

Abby briefly explained, "Looks like about 120 feet downhill to the first intersection. This part of the cave should be really open."

"OK, lights?" Alex and Christy turned theirs on and Rick led them in between the massive boulders framing the cave entrance.

The entry between the two giant rocks narrowed then widened from four feet to nearly eight feet at the cave mouth. The cave floor was about five feet from ground level, so Rick boosted Abby up and then helped each of the girls before climbing up himself. The walls inside the cave mouth were over ten feet apart and the dome-shaped ceiling was twelve feet high in the middle. The ground was smooth dirt and the cave walls seemed to reflect light. They appeared to be polished as smooth as glass, but were actually coarse as the rocks outside. The crew of seven stood and stared in awe. Only Rick and Abby had ever been inside a cave before, and they both knew instantly this one was not normal. They shared their thoughts with a knowing glance. Rick aimed his light down the increasingly dark tunnel, motioned everyone to follow, and journeyed onward.

"Don't forget to mark..." he started to say.

"Oh yeah!" Anna interrupted, and quickly drew her initial on the wall, which prompted Jessica to take some pictures.

The decline wasn't steep, but was enough to make everyone look as though some imaginary force was pushing them. In two minutes they made the first junction uneventfully, and paused.

"Anna, I want you to draw an arrow at each intersection to point back to the exit, OK?"

"Gotcha!" she replied and drew huge arrows on the walls.

Rick looked at Abby for further instructions.

She directed, "We keep going down; the other path dead-ends. Looks like 250 feet or so to the next fork."

They continued forward after Jessica shot a few different angles of the dead-end tunnel, reaching the next split in just a few moments. Anna again marked the exit direction, Jessica took more pictures, and Abby gave details of the next leg.

They passed three side tunnels before finally altering course, taking a left at a T-shaped intersection. The tunnel by then had shrunk considerably, to roughly six feet wide and eight feet tall.

They stopped at the next fork and Rick checked everyone, "Are we all OK?"

Abby spoke up, "These are not natural caves. I mean the beginning was sort of normal, but these are constructed by some method I've never seen."

"What do you mean? It's obvious it's not natural, but what in particular is weird about it?"

"Well, first off, these walls don't even look like rock — they're smooth and glossy, almost like they were molded, and the floor has been perfectly even. If they had poured concrete floors it wouldn't be any smoother. And... there are no support beams and not one single rock has fallen from the ceiling. The digging techniques of 250 years ago could not have been used to do this!" she waved her arms around broadly for effect.

"That's what I thought; I just wanted an expert opinion," Rick revealed.

"If you want my opinion," Anna butted in, "I'd say you over-prepared for the journey, just like Jess said. We could have jogged in with one flashlight—"

"Shush and keep doing your job," Rick smiled, "it could turn nasty at the next fork."

"Yeah, right" Anna said, rolling her eyes. Jessica giggled.

Eight turns later, twelve junctions and twenty minutes had passed, and Rick paused again. "Maybe the next turn will get nasty," Anna joked.

"I think your butt is about to turn nasty shades of red," Rick teased, and then turned to Abby. "How far down have we come and how far do we need to go?"

Abby checked the map carefully, chuckled, and looked Rick in the eye with a smirk, "Looks like we've traveled about a hundred feet."

Rick and the girls all laughed.

"We walked about a mile and a half to get here, but we're roughly fifty feet from the entrance, and about a hundred feet down. I'm guessing about another half mile, maybe a quarter of a mile, and one, two... seven, eight — eight more intersections."

"OK," he pulled out his cell phone to check the time, "It's 7:45 — what do you think? It gets dark in an hour or so, is everyone healthy enough to speed up?"

"We can make eight more intersections in eight minutes, and leaving should be just as easy," Abby speculated.

Everyone agreed except Jessica, "I'm getting sleepy," she said, yawning for effect.

"You'll be OK," Rick assured her. "OK, everyone do your job double-time. Let's go!"

Less than eight minutes later, they were halted by Abby, "This should be the branch with the missing tunnels. That drawing didn't _exactly_ match the maps, but this is definitely the area where it should be."

Rick flashed his light down each hallway, which was now only five feet wide and less than seven feet tall, feeling sort of crampy with everyone gathered closely. "I'm going to the end of the tunnel and back, this wall is where it should be, right?" he placed his hand on the wall to his right as he faced the left tunnel of the T intersection.

Abby nodded, "Yes, there should be a branch leading directly into this one from there," she confirmed.

Rick walked down the entire hall, lightly brushing the surface from top to bottom for nearly eighty feet until he reached an abrupt end. He then called out, "Jess, I want you to snap pictures of this entire tunnel."

Jessica quickly accepted the task, walking toward him, clicking and flashing thirty or more times to the left, right, up, and down, documenting the entire area. They went down the opposite path, which was nearly identical in length, and did the same.

When they stopped back at the intersection where the others were patiently waiting, he told them, "I see nothing at all that could be another passage."

"Let us look, please?" Alex asked.

Rick had already seen them solve riddles he couldn't, so he figured it was worth a shot. "Sure, knock yourself out. But we're leaving in five minutes if we can't find anything."

All of them searched both tunnels, poking, prodding, and knocking the wall all the way. They all came back with sad, disappointed faces.

"What a bummer!" Christy complained.

"All this way for nothing!" a depressed Kaylie sulked.

"Complete waste of time," Anna contributed to the whine-fest.

"OK girls, it's a disappointment, but we're not through yet. Let's head home and try to figure it out later — after ice cream."

Jessica perked up, "Yes, definitely! Ice cream solves all problems!"

"That's the spirit!" Rick said as he patted her on the head.

"These tunnels were so well-made, why didn't they just put in an elevator to take us to the entrance?" Anna joked, not looking forward to the long, sad walk back.

"Hah, good idea! OK, let's move it. Alex and Christy, I want you two to lead. Yell if anyone needs to stop. Set a fast pace."

It was about 8:30 when they reached the entrance without a single mishap or slowdown, not even a break. As Abby made the leap out of the cave, down the five-foot drop, she realized something and stopped in her tracks. "Rick?"

"Yeah?"

"What do you think they did with all the rock from those tunnels? There are miles of them down there."

"Uh, probably carted it out, like everyone else does when they dig tunnels..." he shrugged, raising an eyebrow.

"But there's a five foot drop-off — that wouldn't be easy to navigate. And this crevice is too narrow for a cart and..." she looked around, "where could they have put it? There should be millions of tons of earth; that would make a mountain five hundred feet high. I don't see one, do you?" She put her hands on her hips and awaited an answer.

His blank stare indicated he had none. They both dismissed the question and set about helping the girls out of the cave.

It was already getting dark, but they made it back to the van by flashlight before 9:00, packed everything in the back, piled in, and let out a collective sigh.

Rick stole a look back at the girls; they all drooped with exhaustion and dejection. Jessica didn't have the energy to take off the extra pants and shirt. Rick got out and helped her out of the dirty clothes, stuck them back with the others and reclaimed the driver's seat.

"It was fun though, wasn't it? Girls?" he asked hopefully.

Only groans came from behind him.

# Chapter 11 — If at First You Don't Succeed

#

After several minutes arguing over what each of them wanted, the orders were finally placed. "Two cookie dough Blizzards, two M&M Blizzards, one Hawaiian Blizzard, a banana split, a chocolate fudge sundae, and two large cherry freezes, please," Rick enumerated into the speaker at the Dairy Queen. The girls were too tired to go inside although they usually insisted, so they had decided to swing through the drive-thru instead. A few minutes later, the harried clerk handed the goodies through the window and they pulled into the parking lot to eat.

Alex popped in a DVD and Rick and Abby laid their seats back to watch the screen that hung between the front seats, each absently devouring their frozen treats in silence.

They pulled into the garage at 10:30 and Rick honked the horn to try to wake them; only Anna stirred. "Ugh," Rick moaned. He and Abby climbed out. Abby grabbed the trash to throw it away. Rick leaned in, unbuckled Jessica and lifted her out of the van.

"Carry me too, Uncle Ricky," Anna pleaded, holding her arms out for him to take her.

"No," he answered curtly.

"Why not?"

"Because you're almost as big as I am, and you're actually awake! Wake the others — tell them the van's on fire, whatever it takes. I'm not carrying everyone! Come on — move your lazy butt!"

He made a mental note to start parking the van next to the kitchen door as he carried his uncooperative load across the garage. He lugged the slumping lump up to her bed, pulled her shoes off, wincing at the smell, and dumped her in the bed.

He grumbled all the way back down to the van. Kaylie and Alex were bleary-eyed, but awake. Anna finally had her seatbelt off. "Anna, hit the shower before you even think about going to bed," he ordered.

"Awww! Why?"

"Duh!" he snorted, then held his nose.

Anna simply glared at him, "Fine!"

Rick shook Kaylie and Alex, whose eyes had shut again. "You, too!" he said. They both mimicked Anna's rueful expression, but shook their heads in assent.

He then rustled Christy a bit, but she just grunted, so he unbuckled her and carefully worked her out of the van across his arms. "Come on, girls," he said softly to the others, and they followed.

Rick deposited Christy in Alex's room, laid her on the large hide-a-bed and plucked her shoes and socks from her feet. She gave him a weak hug and said thanks as he covered her up and said good night.

"Get a bath, girls!' he instructed the others.

"Why doesn't Christy have to take a bath?" Alex argued.

He stuck his nose to her and sniffed for effect, then turned to them, "Because she doesn't stink."

They both stuck out their tongues and gave a big raspberry, he calmly pointed to the bathroom, then left.

"I guess I'll go first," Alex sighed, trudging into the bathroom and closing Jessica's door.

Rick wandered down the stairs and back to the van, gathering the camera and cube out of his sack, and securing all the doors as he came back into the house. He carried everything to his study, setting them on his desk before searching for Abby.

It didn't take long to discover she was sprawled across his bed. As he tiptoed across the floor, she muttered without moving, "Please don't disturb this burial site."

"Come on, I got plans for you, mummy," he whispered softly, tugging at her arm.

She grumbled, "My only plan is to take a bath and go to sleep, and not even in that order... or I might just go to sleep in the tub."

"No can do, Anna is..." he glanced through the bathroom to see Anna's feet, still shod, hanging off the end of her bed, "...well, she's supposed to be in there. Anyway, we have a date with the hot tub," he informed her.

"Mmmm... that does sound good." She suddenly had the energy to get up.

"Why don't you head on down there and I'll join you after I get that brat in the tub?" He pulled her from the bed, kissed her lightly, squared her shoulders, and pushed her in the direction of the door.

"I'll be waiting," she said, turning to wink slyly.

Rick decided he had better make quick work of Anna. He turned on the water and plugged the drain in the tub on his way through the bathroom, yanked her shoes and socks off, then just as easily jerked her off the bed, by the feet, catching her under the arms and shoved her toward the bathroom. He stood her by the tub, leaving her standing there, teetering, while he finished with the water. When it was full and about the right temperature, he turned to her, "You smell like a wet dog, you cannot go to bed until you get clean."

She bent down to test the water, making it look more difficult than it was.

"Do you think you can get in on your own or do I have to throw you in?"

"I think I can manage..." She wrapped her arms around herself, as if she were ready to start undressing. Rick got the hint and sped away, closing the door behind him and yanking his own smelly shirt off as well as his shoes and socks and headed straight for the hot tub.

He nearly broadsided Kaylie, who was just outside the door. "Where are you going, Rick?" she asked. "I was looking for you while Alex took her bath."

"I'm gonna relax in the hot tub for a few... days," he answered.

"Mmmm, that sounds really nice, can I come with you?"

"Um, well..."

"Oh," she said, almost embarrassed, "you and Abby?"

Rick tried to hide his own embarrassment, "Uh, yeah, but—"

"I'm sorry, I won't disturb you two," she gave the same, exact sly grin that Abby had given just minutes ago, and it suddenly occurred to him that he might be setting a bad example.

"Oh, nonsense, come on down and—" he looked at her clothes, "I mean go get on a bathing suit and join us!"

"You sure?" she asked, disbelieving.

"Of course I am! I'd love it if you joined us, you're always welcome—"

"You're sure I won't be... interrupting?"

Rick switched on his best poker face. It didn't fool Kaylie a bit, but she let him think it did. "Interrupting? Interrupting what? Go get on your suit, and bring your own rubber ducky, OK? You can't have mine," he joked.

She giggled, "OK!" and ran back up the stairs.

Rick stood and pondered for a moment. Just what exactly did the thirteen-year-old suspect? She couldn't know — or could she? Maybe she just thought she knew but really didn't. No, not Kaylie, she wouldn't really know what was planned... no, she probably would.

During his internal struggle, he had almost forgotten... "Oh, Abby!" He rushed down the stairs and clambered into the tub just seconds before Kaylie waltzed in and slid into the water beside them with a huge audible sigh of contentment.

"That's really a nice suit, Kaylie," Abby said casually.

"Thanks, I just got it last weekend. It's my first real bikini. Alex says it makes my boobs look big though."

Rick coughed.

Abby noticed his embarrassment and decided to add to it, for fun, "That's what a bikini is supposed to do, draw attention to a girl's... features."

Rick was feeling out of place, "OK, let's not go there. It looks nice; let's leave it at that, OK?"

Abby looked at Kaylie and they shared a snicker, and then discussed the subject further while Rick tried to pretend he needed to dunk his head under water. Eventually, they tired of tormenting him, "Rick, you should feel honored that she would feel safe discussing such things around you. I wouldn't even talk to my own mother about personal things at her age."

Rick splashed her, "OK, I'm honored, now can we discuss it again when she's 25?"

Abby gave him a dirty look, as if to say if she wanted to talk about it, he should buck up and go through it for her sake.

"Really, Kay, we've talked about this before and I still say don't worry. You're years away from having to worry; enjoy being young while you can!" He glanced at Abby with a slick smile, "In the meantime, if you have any other female concerns, feel free to ask Abby to discuss them with you."

Abby elbowed him under the water. Kaylie knew she could discuss things with Rick, but she just realized that he was embarrassed by Abby being there when she did it.

Alex popped her head in the door, "There you are! I thought you went to get a drink."

"I did, but I went to find your dad and ran into him on the stairs, he invited me to join them—"

"Can I get in, too?"

"Sure!" Rick answered, figuring the more the merrier, "but I need you to go check on Anna first — I left her in the bathroom."

Alex took off before he finished and came back five minutes later, in her own swimsuit, to inform him that Anna was laying on the bed with wet hair, so she had apparently taken a bath. Alex complained that she had to drain the tub because Anna had forgotten, and hopped in the bubbling, fragrant waters.

"Aah! So what were you saying about the tunnels when I came in?"

"I was just saying I'm going to print out all those pictures of that hallway. There has to be a path there, somewhere! Abby is going to double check the maps and surveys to see if we could have been lost, took a wrong turn or were above or below it."

"Do you think that's possible?" she asked Abby.

"Anything's possible," Abby replied, "but we won't know for sure until we check it out thoroughly. Luckily, Jessie took a lot of hi-res pictures of each tunnel and intersection. There's also no way to know how accurate those 160-year-old maps are, or if they're complete."

"Or how accurate the 250-year-old drawing is?" Kaylie pondered out loud.

"The drawing!" Abby yelped as she jumped up and scrambled over the edge, causing Kaylie to choke on a tidal wave and Alex to stand to avoid it.

"What is it, Abby?" Rick questioned, still startled by her abrupt departure from the tub.

"Follow the path!" she seemed to be scolding herself. "Stay here, I'll show you." Dripping wet, she grabbed a towel on her way out the door.

"Follow the path?" Alex asked.

Rick shrugged, "Well, that's what Jessie said before she figured out how to open the box. Maybe it's the new 'open sesame'."

The girls giggled at him.

"Here!" Abby exclaimed as she returned a minute later, still dripping wet, but with the towel around her head. She was carrying a printout of the map from the drawing, very much enlarged. "Follow the path!" she repeated.

All the bathers looked at each other with deep concern that Abby had flipped her lid completely.

"Don't look at me that way. Check this out, right here, where the missing path is that leads to the X, see? You see? That tunnel does not connect to the one we were in; it goes through, er, over or under or... I don't know, but you see?" She traced a line to its end, "This appears to end, but it also goes just a bit beyond where it stops." She paused as if everyone were supposed to understand and agree. "Don't you see? Look closely, they don't end there, it's erased!"

Alex's face showed the dawn of recognition. Kaylie, equal to Alex in eye and mouth size stuttered, "So... that first intersection... we should have... gone straight?"

Abby nodded emphatically as she grabbed Rick's arm, attempting to pull him out. He finally cooperated and got out. "We'll be back," he told the girls as Abby forced him out of the room while he was frantically trying to dry off.

"What do you want?" he finally asked at the desk.

"I don't know how to work your camera and I need the pictures of that intersection."

"Oh, OK," he plugged the camera into the computer, quickly transferring the contents and then opened the photos.

"Let's see... Jess dancing... Alex's swim meet Wednesday... Kay and Alex acting stupid, that's not unusual... OK, here's the track meet, soccer game, aah... cave entrance."

They located the pictures of the intersection where they had taken the first turn; Jessica had taken four pictures of it. He printed them all out on his 46-inch plotter/printer.

Alex and Kaylie joined them as they were printing the pictures. "Alex, can you tape these up under the floodlights?" he pointed to the far wall as he fumbled through his desk for tape and tossed it to her.

Alex took the first photo to the wall; Abby followed with the second. She began studying the first one, a picture taken roughly ten feet before they reached the intersection. Kaylie brought the third enormous print and held it for Alex to tape. Abby moved on to the second image, studying this four-foot-wide scene. It was taken point-blank, straight at the wall in question. Alex and Kaylie studied the third, an eerily dark tunnel to the right with only a part of the wall in question, as Rick posted the fourth print while Alex absently handed him tape for it.

The room filled with quiet tension as each eye scrutinized the scenes. Abby finally broke the silence, "Just like the dead-end, nothing indicates another tunnel..."

Kaylie moved her eyes over the picture and commented, "It looks as solid as a rock."

"It is a rock, dork!" Alex scoffed.

"I don't understand; it looked so much like a tunnel had been erased that would run right into this one. There must be lines for a door or something!" Abby complained.

"Um, Abby," Rick tapped her shoulder, eyes locked on something in the picture. He missed her shoulder a couple times. He was staring across to the first photo, "Look at the first picture—"

"That one's too far away, it doesn't show anything," she answered, not taking her eyes from the image she had been studying.

Rick clasped his hands over her ears like earmuffs and maneuvered her head toward the first picture.

"What?" she barked. She pried his hands from her head with a huff, so Rick decided to use them the old-fashioned way: he pointed.

Now Abby could clearly see what had grabbed his attention. There, in the center of the wall, was a shadow from one of the other flashlights aimed at a different angle from the camera flash — a perfect square, an indention in the otherwise random rocky texture.

"Oh my god! Where is this on the second picture?"

Eyes darted back and forth between the two images, trying to locate the faint lines; many seconds ticked by.

"There!" Kaylie yelled, startling everyone. She stepped up and placed a finger on the glossy photo and traced an extremely faint, but now perfectly visible swirl. It was an exact mirror image of the one on the cube.

Rick immediately ran to the computer, loaded the image and zoomed in on the area. The girls were gathering at his side as the detail showed a more obviously perfect square indention with a swirl pattern. He held the cube beside it, "The vortex is the key!" he announced loudly, almost bursting with excitement.

The girls jumped up and down, screaming and hugging each other. Rick stared at them and shook his head, "Strange specimens, indeed, these human girls..."

"Don't you know what this means, Dad?"

"It means we found a spot on a wall that the cube might fit into, Alex. Please don't get your hopes up too high again."

"We found the time machine!"

"We found a wall."

"Whatever! We are going back tomorrow!" she declared, posing defiantly, hands on hips.

"Sorry, honey, but tomorrow we've already planned to see the world's largest ball of wax," he teased with convincing solemnity.

Alex stuck her tongue out at him.

"Why don't you girls get in bed so we can get up early?" he suggested.

"I don't think I could sleep right now," Kaylie said.

"Me either," Alex agreed.

"I think I can stay up a while myself. Wanna watch some of those movies we rented, before we have to take them back tomorrow night?"

"I think I'm going to bed..." Abby said, stifling a yawn.

"How can you sleep at a time like this?" Kaylie asked her as if she had to be an alien to do such a thing.

Abby smiled, "I uncover mysteries, artifacts, treasures, and documents every day. And I know to get a good night's sleep before undertaking this type of mission." She hugged the girls and kissed Rick, heading up the stairs after bidding them all good night.

"OK," Rick looked at the girls, "you girls go get dressed for bed—"

"Awww! Dad! I thought—"

"Chill! We can't sit on the couch in wet bathing suits, doofus!"

"Oh," she replied sheepishly. The two girls raced up the stairs.

Rick changed into some dry clothes he found in the laundry room, and set up the video.

Alex came down in her nightshirt with two bags of chips, Kaylie followed with cups of ice. They set the items on the table and raided the bar fridge for dip and a two-liter soft drink. Rick finally started the movie as they settled in beside him, pulling a blanket over them all.

Within an hour, Alex lay asleep propped up against her father's leg while Kaylie rattled off her wish-list of places, or times, she wanted to see. She had been rambling on for thirty minutes or more, completely starry-eyed. "I'd like to see the pyramids being built, too, that would be so cool to watch, don't you think?"

Rick had been fielding questions about ancient Rome, Greece, Africa, knights, conquests, ancient wonders, peoples, species, etc., and hadn't really been able to pay attention to the movie at all. "Yeah, that would be neat, honey, but I really don't want you girls to get your hopes up. We don't know what we'll find, if anything, and I'm not real sure I would allow any of you to actually go back in time."

"Isn't it OK to dream though?" she asked.

"Of course, just don't expect all your dreams to come true," he said carefully.

"Oh, come on; you know I'm just fascinated with history — like you. Don't you want to see all those same things I do?"

"Every one of them, Kay" he smiled. "I'm just worried that you'll be disappointed if you don't get to go. I'm afraid maybe you're getting a little too excited."

"Maybe you're not excited enough," she retorted. "Come on! Get excited about something for once instead of just worrying. You're really cool when you're not trying to be an old fart!"

Rick shook slightly, trying to contain his laughter, "I'm supposed to worry — so you don't have to — so you can be a kid all the time and not be an old fart."

"Pfffft! Come on, what would you like to do with a time machine?"

"I... don't really know, Kay," he stuttered.

"Sure you do! You're as much a kid as I am inside," she elbowed his side.

"Well," he thought a few seconds, "I really like all your ideas—"

" _Your_ dreams, Rick, not mine!" she insisted.

"Hmmm... more than anything, really, I'd love to solve, well, find out the answers to some of the world's biggest mysteries..." He stared off, apparently daydreaming about the prospect.

"Like?"

"Like... who shot JFK? Where's Jimmy Hoffa? What happened to Amelia Earhart? Was there really an Anastasia? And even more importantly," his eyes started to mirror the excitement in Kaylie's, "where did we really come from? I mean, did we evolve from apes? Or did apes devolve from us? Or are we two separate, but similar species? Could we have both evolved from the same species? What was it? What stages of change did we undergo? Or were we really created? Which leads to... how did life begin? When did it begin? How were some of the wonders of the world built and who built them?"

Kaylie was rapt, seeing Rick share his desires. He only did that when they were alone and it made her feel like a true part of his family, a daughter, unlike the way she felt at her own home.

He went on, "Did Jesus really die or was he just in a coma? Oh, and who was really his father? I'd love to find out the truth about Noah's ark, the Garden of Eden, witness the voyage of the Titanic, see if aliens really did crash at Roswell—"

Kaylie was grinning from ear to ear at him and when he finally noticed, he stopped rambling, "What?"

She giggled, "It's just nice to see you so excited. You've been so serious all weekend, I like you better this way."

He playfully grabbed her in a headlock and gave her a noogie on her head, "So you like me to play more and parent less?"

" _No_! Not that much!" she managed to giggle out as he proceeded to tickle her.

Alex stirred and they immediately stopped, looked at each other, and burst out laughing again, trying unsuccessfully to suppress the noise.

"You know what would really be the coolest thing in the world, Rick?" Kaylie whispered, still smiling that happy, fun smile.

"What?"

She started counting on her fingers, "If I could go back twenty... twenty-two years and hang out with you when you were my age," she said, watching for his reaction.

He stared at her a moment, then doubled over with his hands over his mouth to keep his laughter from waking Alex.

"What?"

He kept grinning at her.

" _What_?"

Wiping tears of mirth from his eyes he finally answered, "Kay, you wouldn't have liked me at all then."

She cocked her head sideways.

"Really. I was much more serious then. If you weren't a motorcycle or swimming pool, I wasn't interested. That's all I did — I didn't have an adventurous spirit, I didn't give a hoot about history, or care one bit about being around anyone else. I cared much less about going to the park, movies, sporting events, or any of that stuff, and I certainly had no time for girls."

She was still stumped, stunned and perplexed, "But you looked just as happy and friendly in that picture upstairs—"

"Honey, I was happy then, about as happy as I've ever been. But it was because my love then was swimming — that was my passion. Now it's my daughters."

"Including me?" she asked hopefully.

"Hah," he tried to shrug off the seriousness of her question. "If you didn't have parents already, I'd adopt you, Kaylie."

"Well, I can answer one question you asked earlier... My parents — they're aliens!" she giggled.

Suddenly sober, she added, "Rick, don't take this the wrong way, but I don't think of you as a 'father figure,' more like my second best friend — although you'd definitely be a better father than mine."

He squeezed her in a sideways hug, "I'm honored. I'd have to say you're my second best friend, too," he told her seriously this time.

"Who's first? Abby? Or is she your girlfriend?" she asked bluntly.

"She's my best friend; let's leave it there, OK?"

"She's your girlfriend!" Kaylie teased.

"That's really none of your business—"

"I'm your second best friend. Of course it's my business! Tell me the truth, is she or isn't she?"

Rick pondered that question a moment before answering, "I really don't know, honestly."

"Do you want her to be?"

"Yeah, of course I do, but she's off running around the world looking for bones and pots so I just have to settle for times like this weekend—"

"Have you talked to her about it?"

"Yeah, a couple years ago, before she went off on the last two marathon digs—"

"Talk to her again," she advised.

"Honey, she made it pretty clear then that she—"

"Talk to her again!" Kaylie insisted. "Abby belongs here, you know it, I know it, Alex knows, Abby even knows it — I can see it written all over her face!"

"Abby doesn't want kids; she can't handle them—"

"Bull! She loves us as much as she does you! She looked so happy and comfortable playing mommy today. Did you ever think maybe she's ready to grow up?"

"That's awful big talk coming from a thirteen-year-old!" Rick joked.

"Don't make me go back in time and kick your thirteen-year-old butt!"

"Don't make me go into the future and well, never mind. I'd have to kick your butt now, while I can call it a spanking and not an assault!" he threatened playfully.

They laughed together for a moment, causing Alex to stir again. "What would you think of me when I'm 35?" she then asked.

"How can I answer that? I have no way of knowing what you'd be like then — except that you'd be old!" he teased.

"Rick!" she reached back and whacked him in the arm, "that's not funny.

"You called me old first!" he accused.

"Yeah, but..."

"Enough! We're not watching this movie and you're starting to look tired. Why don't we wake Alex and go to bed? It's past 1:30."

"I just wanna sleep down here," she said, grabbing the remote.

"OK, good night then," he kissed her on the top of the head. After rearranging Alex, he kissed her forehead, and made his way upstairs, thinking of the wonders they had discussed.

# Chapter 12 — Turning the Key

#

Instead of an earthquake this morning, Rick awoke to voices, "Don't they look soooo cute together?"

"Yes, they do, we should fix that. Whipped cream should work."

Rick's eyes immediately flipped wide open, staring at the clock: 7:08. Christy and Jessica were hovering overhead. "I really don't think whipped cream is a good idea," he growled.

They giggled.

"You girls got breakfast ready?"

They looked at him stupefied. "Breakfast? We were hoping you would go get donuts so we can go back early to explore the caves some more," Jessica said.

"You two still need baths," he said, sitting up.

"Awwww!" they sighed.

"You should be able to get done before I get back with donuts though."

"Yay!" their attitudes changed as they raced out of the room.

As Rick came out of his bedroom, he noticed Anna sprawled face down, sideways across her bed. She had obviously fallen asleep directly out of the shower. He closed her door and went to the garage.

He started the Viper and smiled at the rumble of the massive V-12 engine. He put it in gear and eased out of the garage. It's a shame for this car to be driving down a residential street so slowly, he thought, and it's an even bigger shame that I get to drive it so seldom. Fatherhood and the minivan seem to be taking over more and more of my life, he sighed.

When he walked back into the kitchen, Abby was slumped at the kitchen counter with a cup of coffee. Christy, Jessica and Alex swarmed when they heard the kitchen door shut and immediately relieved him of the donut boxes.

"Hold on! Jess, go get Anna up; Alex, go get Kaylie."

"Why don't you get her up?" Jessica asked as she stuffed half a fritter in her mouth.

"Because I told you to."

"So?"

" _GO!_ "

"Where's Kaylie, Dad?" Alex asked.

"She should be downstairs on the couch."

"I was down there earlier; I didn't see her."

"Check again. Did you actually look on the couch?"

"Uh, no, I got on the computer."

"Whew," Rick sighed, "don't scare me like that. Go get her, please."

Jessica returned from her task, snickering, "I took a sandal and swatted Anna's big fat booty!"

Seconds later, Anna emerged in her nightshirt, steaming mad. She stomped over to the counter and whacked Jessica on the back of the head.

"Anna!" Rick yelled.

"She hit me with a shoe!" Anna griped.

"It was a sandal!" Jessica corrected.

Anna smacked her on the back of the head again.

"Dad!" Jessica cried.

"I'm not sure you didn't deserve that," he said.

"She shouldn't have had her big fat butt sticking up in the air saying 'spank me'," Jessica explained as if it were a valid excuse.

Anna cocked her arm back to swat her cousin once again; Rick caught her hand, spinning her around and into a seat at the opposite end of the counter. "Hit her again and you'll be grounded."

"Well, my butt is not fat!"

"It jiggles like jello when you hit it with a sandal!"

"Stop!" Rick ordered.

Alex and Kaylie came up the stairs. "So, when are we going?" Kaylie asked as soon as she was in sight.

"After we eat and get ready," Rick told her.

"Cool! I can't wait to see that time machine!"

Anna smirked, "What makes you think we'll find anything but dead-end tunnels again today?"

"Well," Rick laughed, "while you were face down on the bed..."

"Big fat bu—" Jessica started, but Rick swatted the back of her head, cutting off the rest of her remark.

"...we were finding the secret path hidden in the wall," he completed.

"Whoa!" Christy said.

"Wow!" Anna added, surprised.

" _Ow_!" Jessica cried, rubbing her head.

Rick smiled at Abby, who sat in the passenger seat holding two boxes of donuts. When the girls had heard the news of the secret passage, they demanded an immediate return to the cave. Anna was so excited that she ran to her room and came back carrying her shoes, still in her nightshirt. Rick assured her she had plenty of time to get dressed, turned her around, and pushed her back toward her room. Christy and Jessica galloped straight to the van, forgetting their shoes. Only Alex and Kaylie had the presence of mind to calmly walk to their room, change clothes, use the bathroom, and even brush their hair. They were actually in the van and fully prepared before anyone else.

Abby passed out donuts, including half-eaten ones Christy and Jessica had left on the table. The trip to the path was a short one, taking two to three minutes. Rick popped the hatch as the girls opened the sliding door and started to run down the path. "Girls!" he yelled, they all stopped in their tracks. "Get back here. _Now_!"

They all slowly walked back.

"You will sit here and eat your donuts while we get ready," he said.

"I'm not hungry," Anna told him defiantly.

"Me either," the others agreed.

"Right. We'll just stay here until you are, then," he told them all.

Each reluctantly picked up their donut as Rick and Abby packed their bags a bit lighter than the previous day.

He handed out the same assignments as the previous day, distributed the same clothes, then sat down on the bumper and proceeded to eat a donut, agonizingly slowly. When the last bite disappeared into his mouth, the girls jumped up expectantly. Rick smiled wickedly and reached for another. A chorus of gripes and complaints ensued.

"You need to learn to be patient and behave!" was his stoic reply.

"I think you should eat all the donuts before he takes another one," Abby advised.

All the girls suddenly realized they were hungry and complied. And settled down.

Christy asked, "Why do we need these clothes again? The path is clear now and it wasn't that cold in the tunnels,"

"I have a feeling we're going deeper this time. You don't have to wear them, but tie them around you or something in case you do need them," Rick recommended.

"It was sixty degrees at the end yesterday, you would probably have been cold without them," Abby added.

The girls had opted for shorts and tank-tops, except Anna, who wore a halter-top. She pulled her extra shirt on while the rest tied theirs around their waists, and everyone put on the pants when Abby mentioned there were still bugs out there.

Abby again coated everyone with bug repellent and when Rick declared the journey was about to begin, he was treated to a collective sigh of relief. He locked up the van and unsheathed the machete.

"Bout time," Anna grumbled.

"You like having a place to put your earrings?" Rick smiled, waving the blade at her.

He and Abby led the party down the trail. They arrived at the cave and climbed right in. Anna automatically wielded her chalk, Jessica prepared the camera and Alex and Christy illuminated the room. Rick led the way down the slope, carrying the cube now instead of the machete in one hand, flashlight in the other.

It was 9:00 AM when they reached the intersection in question. Rick held his light at an angle to the wall, which immediately made the impression visible. The square was only about 1/16th of an inch deep and was, as expected, the exact size of the cube. The swirl pattern matched perfectly with that in the inset area.

Jessica traced the swirl with her finger, expecting to get lucky again. It did nothing. "Worth a try," she shrugged, not even slightly disappointed.

Rick lined the box up with the square, making sure the swirl matched as well, and gently pressed it into the indentation, holding it there a brief moment.

A seam immediately appeared in the wall and everyone took a cautious step back. The massive stone rumbled as it effortlessly slid back and up into the ceiling, exposing a more natural-looking cave.

The air expelled from this new path smelled old and damp and was a stark contrast to the relatively warm and dry corridors preceding it. Goosebumps raised instantly on their arms. Almost choreographed, they each untied their shirts from their waists and slipped them on.

This cave also had support beams, unlike the rest of the tunnels they had seen thus far, and had traces of rubble which had fallen from the ceiling, as well as stalactites and stalagmites. The roof was carved squarely, instead of arched like the others.

Rick, concealing his sudden apprehension, motioned for everyone to continue their jobs and asked Abby to detail the new path ahead on her map. This tunnel was as wide as ten feet in some places, narrow as three feet in others. As the last person walked through the doorway, the stone slid back into place with a perfect seal once again. Alex noted this side of the door had an identical 'keyhole' as the other, although it was more apparent with the rocky background inside.

Abby explained there were no branches or forks in this cave and they walked forward for nearly fifteen minutes in what was a gradually tightening spiral, winding down until they reached the center, which simply cut to the west to a point which Abby approximated to be fifty feet below the dead-end that halted their exploration the previous day.

Rick came to an abrupt stop as the narrow tunnel suddenly opened up into an obviously man-made and unnatural, but very beautiful scene of magnificent construction. He felt six impacts as each of his companions slammed into the previous one when he halted.

The walls were once again glossy and uniform, now extending nearly thirty feet to the top. The floor sloped gently and extended roughly fifty feet in a crescent shape around a thirty-foot wide pool of clear liquid fed by a waterfall flowing from a rounded chute in the center of the ceiling. The lights danced and reflected off the water with an impressive glow that entranced the entire party.

Christy broke the spell, "Wow, it's so pretty!"

Rick snapped out of his trance and walked around the pool as far as he could to one side, checking the walls for some type of exit besides the one through which they had entered. There were none. As he returned, he focused the beam of his light down into the water. It was crystal clear and it looked like the bottom dropped sharply before flattening out at about eight feet deep across the middle.

He rejoined his clan; they had gradually crept toward the water and were also admiring the clarity and beauty.

"It's warmer in here. A lot," Anna commented, taking off her shirt.

"What do you think?" Rick asked Abby as he slid his arm around her shoulder and cinched her up against him.

"It's amazing," she replied softly. The girls all nodded reverently in agreement.

"No, I mean what do we do now?"

Six puzzled expressions shot back at him. Jessica finally spoke up, "I guess I'll take pictures of every inch of the place."

Soon, every pair of eyes and hands were caressing the walls and inspecting the ceilings. Anna decided that was too boring and sat on the edge of the pool, removed her shoes and socks, and soaked her feet in the water.

"How's it feel?" Alex asked when she noticed.

"Not bad, about like our pool in early summer..."

Rick stuck his hand in it to get his own opinion, as did the others. "Not bad at all, about 72 degrees..."

"It's no hot-tub!" Kaylie observed.

"The hot tub is 92 degrees," Jessica stated factually as she continued to document every bit of the place. She was at the far end of the pathway.

"Rick, there's more to this map. This can't be another dead—" Abby's analysis was broken by a screech and gasp.

"Daddy!" Jessica yelped.

"What?"

Alex, who had gasped, was now tugging at his arm as well. "And what is so important that you have to remove my arm from my body, Alex?" His irritation halted Jessica's reply.

So Alex answered, "The water. It has to go someplace!"

"That's what I was gonna show you!" Jessica protested, wanting credit for the discovery she had made. "Come here and turn out your lights!" she ordered.

There was a rapid pitter-patter of feet as everyone clustered around her, then turned out their lights until it was completely dark.

"Wait a minute," Jessica instructed.

Each of them patiently waited for their eyes to adjust. Faintly a dim light faded into view directly behind the waterfall. After a few more seconds, a square tube, about five feet across, was clearly visible through the ripples along the bottom of the wall.

"There's an exit!" Abby declared.

"Uh, where does it go, though?" Alex pondered out loud.

"To our time machine!" Kaylie proclaimed as she sat down to take off her shoes and socks.

"What do you think you're doing, Kay?" Rick demanded.

"What do you think? I'm gonna swim through to our time machine!"

In the dim light, he noticed the others doing the same. "Hold on," he switched his light back on, "none of you are going in there."

"Why not?" Kaylie questioned.

"See all that water coming out of the ceiling?" he pointed.

"Uh, yeah..."

"That same amount of water is going out that hole. That would make quite a current," he explained.

"Oh," she said, despondently.

"You wouldn't be able to get back very easily, would you?" he asked.

She shook her head, eyes wide with the realization of her possibly near fatal mistake. "What are we supposed to do then?"

"Where's that rope?" he asked.

"I left it at the entrance," she said, pointing at her bag.

Rick walked back to the tunnel where most of them had discarded their gear, picked up the rope, and started to undo the knot as the others gathered around. He laid the rope in a coil on the ground and took one end of it, entering the tunnel. He stopped at the first support beam and studied it. He determined it was no good — he couldn't fasten the rope to it in any way. So he went to the next. Perfect. He could easily fit the rope around it, between the beam and the rock, and tied and checked his knot, then tied a couple more to be sure and returned to the indoor lake.

"Well, the rope's 125 feet and we just lost 25 of it and it's at least thirty feet to the hole; that gives me seventy feet..."

"Rick," Abby's concerned voice cracked, "are you going in there?"

"My dad can hold his breath for like three minutes," Alex bragged.

Rick ignored the concern, "You got any plastic bags?"

"Yeah, sure. I have lots of sample bags — what size?"

"This size," he held up his flashlight.

Abby rummaged through her bag and handed him a clear baggie perfect for the job. He placed the light in the bag and sealed it, then stripped to his shorts. He tossed the rope in the water just above the hole and watched the current suck it in, hoping it didn't knot up.

"Here," he picked up the rope and handed it to Kaylie, "You're my lifeline, if I tug on it three times, tell everyone to pull."

Kaylie gulped.

"Don't panic yet; I'm gonna go down like ten feet to test it out first. Alex, I want you to time me; you know when I'm in danger."

He waded into the water, holding the rope, letting it slide through his hands as he went deeper.

"How's the water, Dad?" Jessica asked.

"Feels good, be right back. Don't worry," he assured them.

He tucked the bag into his shorts pocket so the light hung outside and immersed himself the rest of the way. As he breast-stroked around the waterfall, Abby called, "Be careful!"

"Of course!" he shot back casually, "I'd hate for you to lose me before you finally admit you love me!" He winked at Kaylie, who returned the wink.

Abby glared at him as he went under, and then turned to Kaylie, "What did that mean?" she asked suspiciously.

"Oh, just something we discussed last night," Kaylie replied with an ounce, maybe a ton, of implication, leaving her to wonder.

The lights sparkled and flashed as the bag flapped at his side, not exactly the best arrangement, but it was working. He could clearly see the uniform tunnel ahead until it turned sharply at about fifteen feet. He grabbed the rope and allowed the current to drag him in. Not too strong, he thought.

He drifted around the corner weightlessly then propped his feet against each side to stop his progress and look down the next corridor. There, he thought, not even ten feet away, was what appeared to be the light source they had seen so dimly from the pool, dozens of times brighter now. He considered making the trip to the junction from which it came, a branch in the tunnel to the right, but the rope had followed the current the other way. He opted to go back and explain what he was going to do instead.

He decided to try to swim out of the hole against the current and found he could overpower it fairly easily, and made his way back to the opening where he pulled himself out.

"There he is!" an obviously tense, and now relieved, Jessica exclaimed.

"It's not bad, really, but I'm not sure you can all make it. There's a turn fifteen feet down, then a fork another eight to ten feet to the right where I could see a light," he paused for a breath. "I'm going to go down to that path. If I'm safe, I'll tug on the rope four times, OK?"

Kaylie nodded.

Rick pulled in a few more deep breaths then angled into a dive right at the hole, going directly into the aqueduct and maneuvering swiftly around the first corner to the spot where he had previously stopped. He balanced himself against the current at the split in order to pull up slack in the rope, and took the right path toward the light.

He quickly learned this path was not a long one. In fact, it sloped directly up at a twenty-degree angle and he could see the surface already. He half walked, half swam the four or five feet to the surface, dragging the slack rope with him, breaking the surface to a surreal world that his wildest fantasies could never have conjured.

"What's taking so long?" Abby said, pacing.

"Why? You miss him already?" Kaylie smiled.

"Seriously, he hasn't tugged on the rope?"

"Not at all, there's been no tension on it at all since he went in."

"One minute, 45 seconds," Alex called, looking at her watch.

Kaylie decided to check the rope, just to make sure. She only pulled it a couple feet when she felt pressure on the other end. She tugged once.

The slight jerk of the rope snapped Rick out of his trance. How long had it been? Five seconds? Five minutes? He didn't know, but was sure someone on the other end of this rope did. He slowly pulled back four times to let them know he was OK. He then untied the rope from his waist and tied it off to a column before pulling himself back to the pool.

As his head broke the surface, an angry voice assaulted him, "Richard Williamson! How dare you scare us all like that!"

He held back his smile as he swam back, "How long was I gone?" he asked Alex.

"Two minutes, 45 seconds," said the timekeeper.

"I had fifteen seconds left, why the panic?" he joked. Abby was not amused. He climbed up the steep slope and dried his hands on the pants he had left behind.

"You don't even care if we were worried?" Abby scolded.

He asked her for another plastic bag and she provided it. "There are easier ways to tell me how you feel," he said slyly, winking at Kaylie again. He then took the camera from Jessica and sealed it up in the bag, purposely avoiding eye contact.

Abby fumed at Kaylie, "What is this? A conspiracy? Are you helping him play some kind of joke on me?"

Kaylie was giggling, but shook her head, assuring Abby there was no evil plot against her.

"What are you doing, Rick?" Abby finally asked him.

He glanced at her, "You have to see this. Seriously. And I'm in absolutely no danger at all; I merely lost track of time. Don't worry." He stood and pecked her lightly on the forehead, then squeezed the camera into his pocket and started back into the water. "I might misunderstand your concern and think it's some other emotion," he hinted.

Kaylie fought to control her expression as he smiled at her while going under.

"What?" A frustrated Abby demanded of the girl.

Rick walked up the slope inside the secret room seconds later. The scene was still stunning and he had to pause a second, totally forgetting to wipe the water from his face. He slowly pulled the camera from his pocket and opened the baggie. He turned on the power and raised the camera to his face. Then lowered it. "Holy cow! What to shoot?" he asked nobody. He finally decided: _Everything_!

The room was the shape of a dome: twenty feet high, thirty wide. The entire ceiling, from about six feet up, was coated with what looked like dark blue crystals; the rest appeared to be gold, with uncountable amounts of inlaid gems. The patterns of the gems formed copies of ancient works: pharaohs, mummies, depictions of Ra, Odin, Thor, Jesus, even famous paintings such as the Mona Lisa. There were ancient caveman drawings completely replicated with thousands of gems, and many images of battles, armor, weapons. The floor looked and felt like it was constructed of the same strange metallic substance as the cube, except for an eight-foot circle of stone around the entrance and a twelve-foot circle of red crystal in the center.

Along the far wall appeared to be a slanted desk full of large papers. To the right was what looked like eight storage containers, each six feet high and three feet wide, like large lockers, lined up side by side and made of the same mysterious metal. To the left was a bank of glowing buttons and switches, and in the very center of the room, a podium seemed to grow out of the red crystals like a tree. The trunk of this tree was round and completely illuminated the room. This was nearly the entire source of light in the room, but it wasn't bright to look at. The top of the podium was flat and black. This device was obviously the center of attention for some reason, a reason Rick wholly expected: it had a single, faceted hole in the center, just the right shape and size for the time stone.

Could it be? Could it really be a... time machine? As he approached he had to remind himself for the tenth time why he was here...

"Pictures!" he reprimanded himself.

Twenty minutes and probably 150 pictures later, he decided he should get back to show everyone.

Walking back to the exit, he sighed, not wanting to leave, reluctantly resealing the camera in the bag and pressing it into his pocket.

# Chapter 13 — Wonder — Full!

#

"So he's putting you up to this?" Abby questioned. She had been prying information out of Kaylie for the last fifteen minutes as they dangled their feet in the water, impatiently worrying over Rick's absence.

Kaylie was baiting her to demand more info. "No, I just told him that you two make a perfect couple and you really seem to belong here. Alex, Jessie, and Anna all really love you and think you're the perfect mother—"

"You really told him all that?"

"Yeah, and you act like you want to stay too. And he should ask you to—"

"What did he say about that?"

Hook, line and sinker, Kaylie smiled inwardly as she reeled her in. "Oh, he said you already told him no—"

"But that was two years ago!" Abby argued.

Kaylie mentally high-fived herself, "Well, I think you should let him know you might have changed your mind," she suggested.

"But how do I tell him?"

Kaylie was amused at Abby, acting like a high school girl with a crush on the quarterback. I thought I was supposed to be the immature one, she thought to herself with a smile, then decided to give an immature answer, but good advice, "Duh, with your mouth... speak! You're an adult, right?"

Abby chastised herself, "Gosh, you're so right. I'm being _childish_! No wonder you and Rick are such good friends, Kaylie. You are a smart and mature young lady,"

"Thank you," she replied, sincerely flattered.

Luckily, Kaylie was holding the rope loosely; it nearly pulled her into the water when it suddenly tightened. She practically jumped out of her skin.

"Kaylie?" Abby asked, startled too.

"It just scared me," Kaylie said, indicating the rope. "Rick's coming back!" she yelled to the girls across the water and they all splattered over to her.

Twelve eyes stared intently at him as he emerged from the pool. Nobody spoke, anticipating the details of his photography session. He quickly pulled out the bag, opened it and handed it to Alex. They were like ducks after a single piece of bread, swarming, jockeying for position. As the pictures appeared on the screen, a collective gasp filled the room (or emptied it), followed by random "Ooh's" and "Aah's." After only fifteen pictures, Alex abruptly turned the camera off.

"What are you doing?" Anna protested.

Alex tore off her pants and extra shirt like they were on fire, "We're going in there!" she declared and waded into the water.

The other girls hurriedly shucked their clothes as well.

"Wait!" Rick demanded, "We need to pack some stuff to take with us, and nobody is going until I'm at the other end to make sure you get there safely."

Alex angrily swam back and started to get out, but then slumped back into the water. "Is it cold over there?" she asked.

"It seemed a lot warmer, but I was so excited that I really can't remember."

"We should take our extra clothes," Abby decided, pulling out a roll of trash bags and tearing one off. She gathered all the clothes now strewn about the cavern. Rick added the cube and the camera. Jessica and Christy jumped in with a splash to join Alex, and Anna followed shortly.

Rick turned the lantern on. "I'm gonna leave this burning so we'll have some light when we come back."

Kaylie sidled up to him and whispered into his ear, "She's staying, all you gotta do is ask."

"Really?" he jerked his head to look her in the eye.

She simply winked in reply as she headed toward the pool.

"I'm gonna adopt you someday, I swear," he whispered back to her.

Abby, noticing some communication between the two, joined Kaylie (probably to eavesdrop on whatever secrets they were sharing) and slowly walked into the pool with her.

Rick checked the bag, tied it tightly while expelling the excess air, and tossed it near the tunnel, barking out instructions to the others. When he was sure they understood, he snatched the bag and swam through the hole. He deposited the bag just seconds later and dove back to wait for Alex, who was supposed to go first.

He tied a flashlight to the rope at the bottom of the ramp, and Alex showed up seconds later, head first. Rick grabbed an arm and shoved her toward the ramp. Christy came next, feet first, sliding down the rope like a fireman's pole. Rick caught her leg and twisted her toward the ramp. Jessica came right behind her, giving him little time to snag her under the arms and propel her on the way. Anna was next. She stopped before she got near the split and Rick could sense she was terrified by the flailing rope. He thrust off the wall toward her.

Anna was clutching the rope tightly with both hands, eyes closed firmly. Rick tapped her shoulder and her eyes sprang open. The tension in her fingers seemed to loosen instantly upon seeing her uncle and he slowly pried her hands from the rope. Grabbing her around the waist, he floated down the rope, dragging her toward the ramp. He shoved her up and out of the water, where she began spitting and crying. He had seen Kaylie coming out of the corner of his eye and rushed back just in time to snag her under an arm and trudge back up the ramp to gather a few breaths.

Finally, he saw Abby's foot lightly supporting her against the current at the split and hopped back in. He wove his hand into her free hand, pulling her in the direction of the ramp.

"That was fun!" Abby exclaimed as she broke the surface, then her elation turned to fascination as she saw into the room past his head. She practically climbed over him to enter the room.

All the girls were standing silently on the stone floor, staring, mouths agape. Except Anna, who had her back to the room, sitting half in the water, coughing and complaining, "I almost drowned!" she was yelling at him, splashing him with fists in the water.

Rick climbed past her, placed his hands under her arms and jerked her out of the water, slung her around and dropped her at the top of the ramp facing the room.

Anna stopped complaining.

Rick noticed Christy and Jessica standing with their arms folded over their chests, shivering, and opened the bag, "Here, dry off then get your other clothes on!" They all dressed while relentlessly bombarding him to be allowed to enter the room and look at everything.

"OK, but don't touch anything... anything! Got it?" he ordered.

Several excited nods later, they were darting about the room.

Nothing could hold the girls' attention long, something prettier, shinier, weirder kept beckoning them from somewhere else. Kaylie and Alex were checking out the desk, Abby was studying the walls, explaining each depiction to anyone who would listen, Christy and Jessica were looking at all the different buttons and switches, daring each other to touch them. Anna was focused on the time machine in the center like a collector at an antique car show; Rick fully expected her to kick its tires, if it had any.

Rick knelt down and opened the cube. He sat there a moment and watched the girls as they all ooh'd and aah'd, captivated by their utter enjoyment. He grabbed the camera and took several pictures of the girls, capturing their complete bliss, overflowing with pride. He finally looked back down at the open cube. The time stone begged him to pick it up. He did.

Feeling the excitement as he held it in his hand, all eyes suddenly turned to him expectantly.

A crack of lightning couldn't have made them blink as Rick walked over to the machine, "Stay back, please."

Butterflies were battling buzzards in his stomach as he approached and placed the tear-drop gem into the slot. It fit perfectly. Nothing happened right away. Rick turned and shrugged questioningly at Abby. Before his shrug could finish, a soft, monotone female voice said, "Initialization of universe complete, destination, please."

"What?" Rick asked.

"Please, identify yourself, voice unrecognized," it answered.

"Rick," he replied.

"Hello, Rick, will you be controlling displacement parameters?"

"Um, I guess so."

"Authorizing Rick, I guess so. Destination, please?"

Rick looked at everyone, puzzled, and then turned back as if it were a real person he had to face when speaking. "You mean a place to travel?" he asked it.

"No, a date, Rick." Although the voice had no inflection, Rick felt as if the woman were teasing him.

He couldn't think of anything at first, but then instinctively remembered the most famous date he could think of, "December 7, 1941."

Rick jumped back, as did everyone else, when a five-foot sphere appeared two feet above the podium. It was Earth, in spectacular detail, not just a model of the planet, but the actual planet, as if they were looking at it from space. It was complete with weather patterns.

"Would you like to manually or verbally choose a location, Rick?"

Rick was too awestruck to answer, so Alex did, "Pearl Harbor."

"Please identify yourself, voice not recognized."

"Alex," she responded.

"Hi, Alex, I cannot change location — Rick is controlling parameters. Would you like to share or give control to Alex, Rick?" the machine asked.

"Uh, no."

"Would you like to allow anyone else to share control, Rick?"

"No," he decided quickly.

"Would the rest of you like to identify yourselves now?" the machine asked.

Rick thought the machine had a hint of loneliness in its voice. "How do you know anyone else is here?" he asked.

"I am reading seven human biosigns, Rick. Am I mistaken?"

"Wow! No, you're right. That's amazing..."

"I am programmed to do that, Rick; it would be amazing if I did something I'm not programmed to do."

Rick chuckled at what certainly sounded like a joke from the computer. Christy stepped forward, "I'm Christy. What's your name?"

"Hi, Christy. I am Tedium. Nice to meet you."

"Tedium? What kind of name is that?"

"It is the designation I was given by my creator, Dr. Jonathan Taylor. It is actually derived from the initials, TDM, which stands for time displacement machine. You can call me T if you like; John always does... or did."

Again, there was no tone change, but everyone could sense sadness in her voice.

Rick decided to ask, "Do you know what happened to John?"

"I assume you were addressing me?" T asked.

"Yes, sorry, T."

"That's quite all right, Rick. I am not accustomed to crowds and it is much easier if you direct comments or questions to someone by name. I can tell if you are facing me, but that does not always mean you are addressing me. Please, identify everyone, then we can discuss whatever you like," T said.

Abby spoke first, "I'm Abby."

"Hi, Abby."

"I'm Anna."

"Hi, Anna."

"I'm Kaylie."

"Hi, Kaylie."

"I'm Jessica, but you can call me Jess or Jessie, if you like."

"Hi, Jessie," she responded, with no hesitation to decide on which name to use.

Once she had all the greetings out of the way, she answered Rick's original question, "John died on March 21, 1756, but you know that—"

"How do you know that, T?" Rick asked.

"I have all of time in my memory banks, Rick, and I'm fully capable of comprehending it as well. For instance," the sphere displayed Rick's gang as they watched Taylor's last entry, "I can see you watched this recording of John and I can determine that you are capable of discerning that he could not have survived very long with that wound. He died 21 minutes, 32 seconds after this recording ended."

The sphere instantly changed to that scene. They watched as John buried the cube and staggered through the woods to his ultimate death.

"OK, that's enough, T," Rick interrupted and the display reset quickly back to 1941.

"As you can see, he successfully hid the time stone as well as the key and chronicler from Bergamiser. I am very glad that you found the key instead of Bignose, Rick. You are all good people. He was not."

Rick considered the fact that she just admitted to cheering against Bignose — and called him Bignose! T definitely had some kind of personality and... feelings? "Can you help me understand what to do here, T? I don't want to make any fatal errors."

"Of course, Rick. I am programmed to address any concerns you have and will never displace you unless you confirm the destination and location and ask to be displaced."

Rick turned to Abby, "What should I ask?"

T spoke instead, "Although I'm 99.3% certain you were addressing Abby, I believe I'm more capable of answering that question if you don't mind, Rick."

"Sure! Any time you have an answer, I'd like to hear it, T," Rick said gladly.

"First, as you now know, you choose a destination — or time — which you have done. Then, select a location. If you know the exact coordinates of the location as well as an altitude, you can say it. If you prefer a general area, you can say that. For example, Alex's response of 'Pearl Harbor' would have resulted in this view." An aerial view of Pearl Harbor popped up. "If you said New York City," the display instantly changed, "you would get this view. Notice it is larger, formatted to fit the viewing area, as this would be for the general area of Spain," it switched again, much further out, "much more distant."

The world view shifted back into place. "You can normally select a location manually, as well. Use your hand to slide the view — one finger to zoom in, two to zoom out. Please, try, Rick."

Rick stuck his finger right into the solid-looking image of the United States, roughly where New York would be, and the view quickly started to zoom in. He noticed it would zoom faster if he pushed in further. Within seconds, he had an amazing image of the heart of New York. He placed his palm on the edge of it and slid it sideways, the image scrolled with his hand. He maneuvered until he could see a sidewalk. Amazed at the detail, he pressed more and adjusted until he could count the hairs of a man's eyebrows who was reading a newspaper on a bench. He rotated then by twisting his hand until he could see the back of the old man's head, switched to two fingers to zoom out and caught the inside of the building behind the man, then pulled back so he could watch the people inside the building actually in the midst of working in several offices.

"Amazing! We can look inside of things, even through things?"

"Yes, Rick, this is a fully functional 360-degree 3D projection system. Quite common, actually... well, not during your time, I apologize—"

"No need to apologize, T. I'm sure a lot of things you consider common are extraordinary to us, like time travel."

"Actually, nobody else in recorded history has ever developed time travel except Dr. Jonathan Taylor, although our history ends, for humans at least, in 75,252."

"Wait... you hold all of history... in memory?" Rick asked, floored.

"Yes, Rick. The crystals you are standing on — which are encased in acrylic — as well as the ones above and many more meters deep than you can see, are hyper-dynamic molecular memory cells. Each one of them can hold 45 billion of what you call a terabyte and there are more than 785,000 of them. There are actually more of them, infinitely more, stored in an infinite array of quantum states, or universes, if you will."

Rick froze as he contemplated the enormity of T. He couldn't even wrap his mind around the concept.

"I can see you are having difficulty, so let's get back to our introduction, Rick."

"Yes, please, T. Where were we?"

T described how he could move and rotate the image using voice commands as well as hand movements, listed all the basic commands and abilities, and detailed the use of the necklaces and chronicler. "If you have any further questions, Rick, please feel free to ask," she finally concluded after the lengthy review. The girls were all sitting on the floor now, almost completely dry.

"Where's the nearest bathroom, T?" Anna asked.

"All you require is here, Anna, you only need to ask," she replied as a silvery four-foot box with a door, rose out of the floor.

"You cannot be serious!" she said, amazed.

"On the contrary, I can never be anything but serious, Anna."

"What else can you do, T?" Kaylie asked.

"It would take a very long time to detail all of my functions, Kaylie, are you sure you would like an entire list?"

"About how long?" she inquired further.

"Approximately 32 days, Kaylie, would you like me to begin?"

"No thanks," Kaylie instantly decided, eyes bulging out of her head.

"Very well, I will answer any requests you have," T addressed everyone.

As Anna stepped cautiously into the bathroom, Kaylie perked up asked, "Can you make food, T?"

"Yes, Kaylie."

"What kind?" Jessica asked.

"I can replicate any food you desire, Jessie."

"Can you change the temperature and lights and stuff, T?" Alex asked.

"Yes, Alex, I can. Do you require a change at this time?"

"Not really..."

"OK, let's get to the important stuff, girls..." Rick stopped them.

"Like the missile?" Alex asked.

"Yeah, T, can you show me 81,373 BC, June 1?"

"No, I cannot, Rick," she answered just as evenly as everything else.

Rick was taken aback, "Why?"

"Those memories have been removed, Rick."

"Removed? Who removed them?"

"Yes, Rick, they were removed by Ferdinand Bergamiser."

"Can we get them back?"

"Yes, Rick," she answered flatly. Rick thought he sensed another hint of emotion in the answer though, as if she wanted to say more but couldn't.

"How?" he asked.

"I am not permitted to tell you that, Rick."

"What can you tell me about it, T?"

"I can tell you he left a message, Rick, in case he was no longer available. Would you like to see it?"

"Can we be... displaced to that time, T?" he asked instead.

"I am not permitted to displace anyone within five hundred years of that time until those memories are restored, Rick."

Rick sighed, deflated, "OK, let's see the message..."

Bergamiser's face loomed out of the sphere, causing each of them to involuntarily flinch. His voice immediately began reciting a poem:

" _The Republic unwinds, by a knife from behind;_

His successing young fellow wore a diamond of yellow.

Although the court thought, a witch she was not;

The first victim is seen with a diamond of green.

The great assassination, that rocked a whole nation;

Where the killer shot true lays a diamond of blue.

No virgin was she, but a vixen you see;

At His birth, in His bed, lays a diamond of red."

"What the heck does all that mean?" Rick asked.

"I am not permitted to tell you that, Rick, but would you like to learn more about my memory technology?"

Rick furrowed his eyebrows in incomprehension, "Why would I want to learn about that?"

"I am programmed to anticipate your needs, Rick," T said. Again, he sensed an urging in her total lack of tone, like a hint.

And I... need... to learn more about your memory technology?"

"Yes, Rick; you do."

Rick turned to Abby and shrugged, totally baffled.

"I believe she's trying to give you a clue, Rick." Abby speculated.

Rick turned back toward T, "OK, T, tell me about your—"

"Wait, T, can you repeat that message so we can write it down?" Abby asked.

"I have transferred the message to your UC, as you call it. Would you like to learn about my memory technology now, Rick?"

Rick smiled briefly, "Yes, T, I would love to hear about it. And thanks for transferring the poem, to the UC."

"I am programmed to anticipate your needs, Rick, but I wouldn't classify that as a poem. Bignose has never been accused of literary genius before. You should refer to it as a list of clues, to be more precise."

"Did I just hear a hint of cynicism? Or was that a joke?"

"I am programmed to speak to you in whatever vernacular you would most easily understand, Rick."

She paused, switched the display to show a 3D image of a memory crystal, a red one. It rotated in front of them, filling most of the five-foot display. "Did you notice the shape of this?" T asked.

"A diamond?" Jessica muttered.

"Yes, Jessica, a diamond. What a coincidence that you would see it that way, I suspect Bignose saw it that way as well. It's actually an octahedron, but its two-dimensional shape is a diamond." It changed colors from red to yellow, green, blue, and back to red. As they stared at the bright crystals, a portal opened in the top of the console and an arm containing four slots emerged. Quite obviously the memory crystals fit into the slots. The display showed four crystals being inserted.

"Does it matter what color goes where?" Alex asked.

"No, Alex, color is irrelevant. I would guess that someone using four different colors would do so for a cheap dramatic effect."

"That was definitely sarcastic!" Rick accused.

"Merely an observation, Rick. I only intend to educate you on the function of my crystal memory interface."

Rick was quickly figuring out that T was on his side, helping him... and enjoying it.

"I believe you know all the information you will require about the crystal memory interface now," she concluded. The arm retracted and disappeared into the console.

"So, T, where would we find these crystals?" Rick asked.

"I am not permitted to—"

"Yeah, yeah—"

"Perhaps you should be asking when instead of where, although where is certainly important also."

"But you're not permitted to answer that either, are you?" Christy asked astutely.

"No, Christy, I am not permitted to give any information regarding the time, location, or even the existence of any missing memory crystals."

Rick chuckled at the total lack of noticeable emotion in her voice, yet the complete intent to undermine Bergamiser was so obvious that the girls could pick up on it.

"Can you give us the answers to the clues?" Anna asked.

"I am not permitted to answer—"

"Of course not!" Anna groaned.

"Wait," Rick burst out, "T, if hypothetically we were to find four hypothetical memory crystals and... hypothetically place them into the crystal memory interface, and hypothetically travel to 81,373 BC, how could that possibly affect anything in this time? I mean, John said the time we enter is a copy of this time-space and cannot affect this time-space in any way... so how could we stop the missile from being launched in this time-space?"

"Very wise of you to notice, Rick. To answer your hypothetical question, he also said you could change the future of this time space with knowledge of that time-space, but," she interrupted before he could ask the next question, "I am programmed to anticipate your needs. Although it may be possible to stop the planetoid from striking Earth in 75,252 with knowledge gained in the copy of our time-space, I would suggest you consult someone who might know how to configure the machine to travel once again in this time-space. However slight the effects, the launching of the missile itself seriously contaminates the time-line."

Rick studied the display mindlessly.

"But you said Dr. Taylor was the only person in our history with that knowledge," Abby reminded her.

"And he's dead," Jessica contributed.

"Dr. Taylor is dead in 2007, but not in 1756, Jessie," T pointed out.

"T, why don't we just consult Dr. Taylor in that time-space, find out how to go into this time-space, and stop the missile in our time and forget all this riddle nonsense?" Rick asked.

"That would be feasible, Rick, if you had another time displacement machine. John made the mistake of allowing Bignose to alter programming, so I am not allowed to send anyone to that time until his conditions are met."

Rick again caught himself staring at the rotating figure. "T," he finally said with everyone deferring to him for some holy nugget of wisdom — because they sure had none to offer, "change destination to 44 BC, March 15, please."

The scene instantly shifted back to an Earth view, the others gathered closely, wondering what he was plotting.

"Change location to Rome, please."

T gave him an overview of Rome.

"You mentioned you can actually locate a person, correct?"

"Yes, Rick, as long as it's a unique person, otherwise you would be required to provide further information."

"Locate Julius Caesar, please, T," he quickly commanded, and an image of Caesar zipped into view. He was sitting on a stool in his room, apparently having his hair styled. "Can you locate Bignose, T?"

No, I cannot, Rick. Ferdinand did not exist in that time."

"When did he exist?"

"Ferdinand Bergamiser existed from 1735 to 1779 and 5542 to 5567, Rick, but I believe you are trying to find out what times he visited, are you not?"

"Uh—"

"Sorry, Rick, that was a very wise idea, but Bergamiser removed all records of his time travel."

"Jerk!" Jessica muttered.

Rick was stuck in deep thought again and suddenly perked up, "Locate Caesar's grand-nephew, Octavian, please," he requested.

A curly blonde-haired boy appeared. He looked like a mere child, although Rick knew he was in his upper teens, probably seventeen, when he became Emperor, which would have been on this day. He wasn't sure of his age, but that detail wasn't important; he wanted to find something else.

Rick started manipulating the display, maneuvering the image, focusing up and down, especially on the neck, wrists, fingers... nothing.

Rick asked, "Can you show me his room, T?" and was rewarded with an instant display of Octavian's sleeping quarters. It was elegantly decorated and looked more like a young girl's room than that of the future Emperor of Rome. He had a large, canopied bed with brightly-colored fabric draped across the top, bottom, and down the posts, with a sheer red drape covering the sides with a slit on one side for entry. The floors and walls were two different shades of marble with large rugs covering most of the floor.

Rick moved the image around the room to the huge vanity and dressers and began inspecting the tables and drawers.

He searched for ten minutes before Alex finally said, "Dad, what are you looking for?"

"A diamond of yellow," Rick mumbled.

"Oh, you think this... boy has it?"

"Well, there are questions about whether the Roman Republic's end was when Caesar was killed, but there's no question that Caesar's death at least started the end of the Republic. He was stabbed in the back, either literally or figuratively, but there's no doubt his successor was young, and I know no other Republic that ended this way and none with so young a successor in Rome."

"It said 'he wore a diamond of yellow' so why are you looking through his room? And why now? Caesar is still alive at this time, right? Can I look?"

Rick thought for a moment, he was tired and hungry as well. "T?"

"Yes, Rick?"

"Can you get us something to eat?"

"You really need to learn to simply ask for whatever you want, Rick, it is becoming tiresome to fight back the temptation to reply 'yes.' Think of me as your slave, not a friend; I won't be offended,"

"Does this mean I get to play with it now, Dad?" Alex asked.

"Just a minute, honey. T, give me a Whopper with cheese and extra tomato," he ordered.

"Would you like fries with that, Rick?" T asked.

The girls hee-hawed at her reply.

"Yes, please, and a Sierra Mist, too," he added.

A square column silently rose out of the floor and stopped at nearly chest height. Rick cautiously walked to it and opened a door on the side. Inside was a plate with the burger and fries along with a silver cup, which he assumed had Sierra Mist in it, a salt shaker, and ketchup bottle.

"I took the liberty of adding salt and ketchup, Rick; I am programmed—"

"To anticipate my needs, right. Thanks, T!"

A thin cylinder rose from the floor a few feet away and the top expanded into a round table about five feet in diameter, then four smaller ones blossomed around it to form seats. "Is that satisfactory, Rick?"

"Yes, thanks, T." He sat down and started to pour ketchup and add salt to his fries and burger.

"I would like two Taco Supremes, a Nacho Supreme — extra sour cream and tomato on both — and an orange Gatorade, T," Kaylie commanded.

"Please close the door to the replicator and reopen it, Kaylie," T answered.

Kaylie obeyed, and her meal was ready, with hot sauce packets, just like she liked. "Cool, thanks, T."

"No need to thank me, Kaylie. Who's next?"

Kaylie took her food to the table as Jessica ordered, then Christy. When Anna ordered, an identical table rose from the floor. Anna grabbed her meal and sat there. Abby ordered, and Alex continued to play with the display instead of eating. Rick tried to convince her to eat, but she kept pestering him until he finally said, "T, allow Alex to share control, please."

"Done, Rick. Alex now has permission to control the console."

"T, I'd like a TV to watch..."

"Where would you like it, Rick?" T asked.

He pointed, "That wall, if you can?" A digital display formed instantly, it appeared to be solid, but he properly guessed it was holographic, like the display on the console. It was four feet high, six wide.

"What would you like to watch, Rick?" T continued. Rick pondered the question. Christy butted in, "Do you have cable here?"

"Better than cable, Christy, I can display any program or movie ever made. You can say whatever you want to see or I can replicate a remote for you."

"Hold off on the remote, T. I want to watch next year's first episode of _Battlestar Gallactica_ ," Rick told her.

"Would you like it with or without commercials, Rick?"

"Without, please." It instantly started.

"Is this volume level acceptable, Rick?"

"Perfect, T.'

"Whoa!" Christy shouted.

"Oh... my... gosh!" Anna cried, "I can tell my friends what's going to happen on _Degrassi_ next week!"

Rick felt a sudden pang of guilt, "Pause the TV, please, T."

The image froze.

"I'd like to talk about this first, maybe we're getting carried away already. We cannot discuss any of this with anyone. Period. And I'm not sure if we should even be doing it."

Alex was busy, mostly ignoring the conversation taking place, following Octavian all over Rome.

"But Rick," Kaylie said, "we already know about this, and we can't unlearn it now, so what else can we do?"

"I think the damage is done, as long as we are responsible and don't tamper with the future," Christy stated convincingly.

"I agree with both of you, but it still makes me a bit uneasy," Abby said.

"Does this mean I can't tell any of my friends about—"

"Absolutely not, Anna! If you even think about it, I'll ground you for life," Rick vowed.

"T can probably zap her memory out of her for you," Jessica joked.

"Yes, Jessie, I am fully capable of manipulating memories."

"Really, T?" Anna asked, shocked.

"Yes, Anna, that technique was perfected in the 24th century—"

"I won't hear of any memory zapping of my—" Rick started.

Alex interrupted, "Dad! Come here. I found it!" she yelled, bursting with excitement.

"What?" Rick asked, jerking around to face her.

"The yellow memory crystal!" She told him.

# Part II — When in Rome...

# 

# Chapter 14 — A Walk Down History Lane

#

Rick dropped his burger on his plate and rushed to his daughter's side. She instantly began explaining, "I was running it 64 times normal speed and suddenly got a glimpse of it around his neck—"

"Awesome, this may be easier than we thought," he said happily.

"I'm rewinding it now, slower—"

The image was of Octavian walking through the street with guards all around him. The necklace he wore clearly had a crystal attached to it. The scene suddenly skipped to what appeared to be slightly earlier, where he was coming out of his home with the guards. "Stop, T, play at half speed, forward," Alex commanded.

"Those guys look mean," Abby said.

"Those swords look mean," Rick added.

"That guy looks gay," Anna concluded.

"Historians always describe Octavian as 'very feminine'," Rick told her.

Kaylie giggled, "More like flaming little fairy."

Rick silenced her with a scowl, "Don't be rude."

As Octavian began walking down the street, the scene skipped forward to where he had the necklace.

"Rewind five seconds and pause," Alex said, and then studied the scene. "He's clearly not wearing that necklace now."

"T, how much time is missing when it stops?" Rick asked.

"Exactly fifteen minutes and 48.3 seconds, Rick."

"Do we need to guess what happened to this missing time, T?"

"I'm fairly confident that your guess would be completely accurate, Rick,"

Rick thought a moment, looking at his daughter. He knew she had been studying the display carefully for some time and also wanted to assure her that he valued her opinion. "Alex, what do you think? How should we go about getting it?"

"How should I know?" she shrugged.

"You've been watching the boy, what are his habits? Where does he go? Who is he usually with?"

"Who does his hair? That's what I want to know — they should be hanged," Jessica joked.

"He does his own hair," Alex told her. "He's always looking at himself in the mirror and he's always either guarded heavily outside or surrounded by servants inside. I wonder where he got it — he must have gotten it from them!" she answered her father at the same time.

"OK, watch him for a few days; see if he takes it off. He has to lay it down at some time," Rick said as she began cranking the speed up and following him about his day — shopping for clothes and jewelry, tossing coins to the poor, eating, etc. Rick soon got bored, or perhaps disgusted, by his habits, and patted Alex on the back and returned to his seat.

"Resume TV, T," he said, and dug back into his food as the next season opener of his favorite sci-fi show started.

"Pause, T," Alex said wearily. She walked over to the table, pulled Rick's leg out as if it were a stool and sat on it, leaning her head into his shoulder. "He hasn't taken it off in five days, Dad."

"Why don't you go get something to eat; it's at least three o'clock now and all you've eaten today were a couple donuts,"

"OK," she instantly perked up.

Kaylie stood up with her, "You can have my seat, I'll watch prissy-boy for a while," she looked at Rick for permission.

"Right. T, share control with Kaylie, please," he directed.

"Done, Rick."

Kaylie began learning to use the console controls, quickly resuming where her friend had left off.

Alex carried over a steaming plate of chicken, mashed potatoes, green beans, a roll, and drink. She sat down, "Dad, it's no use — he's always wearing it and is always guarded..."

"Too bad we can't lure him away with a woman," Abby jested.

Rick laughed, "I hope you aren't suggesting I try?" and shuddered.

"I think we should go in, see who gave it to him, then go back and get it from them," Christy offered.

"That's a perfect idea!" Rick praised her. "T," he turned to ask, "is that fifteen minutes missing from history altogether?"

"No, Rick, those memories are intact; only viewing of them have been banned."

"OK, I should probably go alone. I'm not taking any chances on you girls getting hurt," Rick said. The girls groaned in perfect harmony.

"Come on, Dad, I found the cube in the first place!" Alex cried.

"It's completely safe, Rick, come on! Hey T, has anyone ever died using this machine?" Kaylie questioned.

"No, Kaylie, nobody has. There have been thirty-one major injuries out of the 8022 uses since the safety controls were added.'

Jessica stood and placed her hands on her hips, looking imploringly at her father.

"What?" Rick asked.

"You're not going wearing those goofy shorts, are you?" she said, instead of complaining.

He looked down at his Hawaiian print, bright yellow shorts, "Hmmm. That does present a problem, doesn't it?"

"What's in the lockers?" Anna asked. Nobody had bothered to look in them; they were too fascinated by everything else this day.

"Let's look," Rick jumped up and they gathered around the lockers like school kids playing musical chairs. They finally settled on one each, opening and calling out what they found.

One held boxes of coins from different times, one contained armor, swords, uniforms and many types of gadgets, old and futuristic. They found boots, shoes, dresses, pottery, tools, jewels, and gems.

"I don't see anything we could use," Kaylie said, "but I think we could get some..."

"OK, how?" Christy asked.

Kaylie opened one of the boxes of coins, "Gold, coins, gems... all we have to do is find someone alone who has some extra clothes and buy them."

Abby stuck her head into the conversation, "That's a great idea, but if banana pants goes up to someone in 44 BC, they will probably run, or try to kill him."

"I thought of that already" Kaylie said confidently.

Abby patiently waited for her solution.

"We," she indicated herself and the other girls, "could take these shirts and cut them up into tunics that will fit us..."

Rick didn't want them to go, but she had come up with a solution that required them going. He couldn't think of a better one either.

"Rick?" Kaylie asked tentatively, putting on her most endearing face.

"No fair! Not the puppy dog eyes!"

"We can do it! All we have to do is cut the sides out of them and tie them together..."

"Who's we?" he asked.

"Um... me, Alex, Christy?"

"If I were to take anyone, it would be Abby."

Kaylie quickly drew a shirt over her head and pulled it down tightly, "But these shirts won't fit Abby, they'd only come to her hips, they'd come half-way down our thighs."

Abby grabbed a shirt and put it on. Sure enough, it only went just past her waist. She raised her arms and it came up even further. "Uh, yeah, there's no way I'm going out in public with this on!"

"See?!" Kaylie begged.

"It's just too dangerous, Kaylie. Although you and Christy are at our house more than your own, I'm still not allowed to make such decisions for you."

"Oh bull!" Christy chimed in. "If we called our parents, you know they would say it's OK. They don't care what we do at Alex's house because they know how incredibly over-protective you are!"

"Besides, you heard T. She said you can use the safety protocols to return everyone before they can even get seriously wounded," Alex reminded him.

Rick thought a moment, fuming slightly. "We don't have anything to cut the shirts with."

Kaylie grinned and pulled a box out of a locker.

"What's that?" Rick asked curiously.

"Sewing kit," she smiled.

"Figures," Rick sighed. "T, can you please list all of those injuries which have occurred during time travel with this time machine?"

"Yes, Rick. Professor Nabakawa was injured by an arrow through the shoulder, Dr. Mandy Crane was stabbed with a dagger in the abdomen,—"

"Just summarize the injuries, please, T."

"OK, Rick. There were eight puncture wounds caused by arrows or knives, six broken wrists or ankles, five lacerations by knives, swords or teeth, five broken arms, four broken legs, twelve broken ribs, a severed finger, and a fractured jaw."

Anna cringed, "I don't think I want to go now!"

"Me neither!" Jessica concurred.

"I'm not afraid!" Kaylie said boldly.

"I'm not either!" said Christy, standing a little taller.

"A severed finger? Arrows through the shoulder?" Alex asked with a horrified look.

"Come on, Alex, we get injuries like that at the playground or riding a bikes," Kaylie tried to reason.

"Who do you know that ever got shot by an arrow at a playground?" Jessica retorted in support of her father now.

Christy took over, "Look, that's 32 injuries out of over eight thousand trips, that's like 0.4%. I bet that's lower than playground accident rates and much safer than gymnastics!"

"And car wrecks!" Kaylie added.

"OK," Rick said, "I'll make this easy. You give me a good reason why I should let you go?"

"Because you love us?" Alex said, changing her mind yet again.

"That's a good reason not to let you go," Rick decided easily.

"Because we can help?" Kaylie offered.

"Honey, I hate to hurt your feelings, but I think you girls would only get in the way. And I would just have to worry about you the whole time."

Kaylie frowned. It was obvious his words hurt her feelings, as well as the rest of the girls, except maybe Jessica.

Jessica was outraged. Of course it didn't take much to get a response from her. "Who found the cube? Who opened the cube? Who learned how to operate the UC? Who found the tunnel leading in here? Who found out about the world ending? Who found the crystal? And whose idea was it to go buy clothes and make tunics and stuff—"

Rick felt stupid... mainly because everything she said was true. "I thought you didn't want to go!" was his only argument.

"I don't, but they do... and they deserve to!" she stared at him like a mother would stare at a child whose hand was still in the cookie jar.

Now Rick felt stupid and guilty.

"Rick, she's right, and they would have so much fun," Abby chimed in.

"Not you too, Abby?" he looked at Abby as if she stabbed him in the back. How appropriate. "Et tu Brute?"

"Why do people go sky-diving if it's so dangerous? Because the excitement is worth the risk. This would be both exciting and educational. Think about it, Rick, you'd let them go to Washington DC for a field trip, wouldn't you? That's probably much more dangerous and couldn't possibly be more rewarding in any way... plus you would be there to protect them!" Abby submitted.

"Can I get some of this armor on before we do battle?" Rick asked facetiously. Everyone stared angrily at him.

"Anna? Help?" He sighed, "OK, OK!"

" _YAY!_ " Kaylie led the cheers. Abby simply smiled at him to let him know she thought he had done the right thing.

He still didn't agree.

"But first," he tried to regain some of his lost authority, "we are going to set down some hard-core rules. OK?"

"Which means," Jessica started out sarcastically, "that we have to listen to a long, boring lecture while he over-prepares, as usual."

Rick wrapped his arm around her neck and pretended to squeeze, "Yes, that is what I intend to do! And if you don't like it, you won't go." He shot a stern look at Abby, "And Abby will fully support me on that, won't you?"

Abby emphatically shook her head yes.

"Alex, you and Kaylie need to find us an isolated family close to town who has an extra man's tunic or uniform to sell, at least an hour, maybe two hours before Octavian acquires the crystal. Preferably close to the part of town he's traveling in," Rick started dispensing orders.

"How will we know if they are willing to sell it?" Alex asked.

Rick gave her an appraising look, "You two are extremely smart; I trust you to figure that out," he told her confidently.

The two girls glowed with pride as they hurried to the console.

"Jess, Christy — I want you two to help make the clothes, and Anna, you find something to tie them with, please?"

The three girls launched into work immediately.

Abby wrapped her arms around him, "And what chore do I get?"

"You and I are going treasure hunting. We need to find enough Roman valuables to ensure our purchases, and maybe more to buy access, guides, or even the crystal itself."

The girls were all diligently working. Abby took time to show Christy and Jessica how to cut the shirts to make them look like the ones the children in Rome were wearing, then went back to where she and Rick were attempting to sort and classify coins and jewels.

"I've never seen them so excited and united," Rick whispered.

"Yeah, it's really incredible. Nice to be a part of it!"

Was that an opening? Rick thought, suddenly feeling tightness in his chest. He recalled the last time he took a chance to extend their relationship to the next level and was summarily dismissed. He fumbled for words, playing with the coins absently. Abby didn't notice his awkward behavior. He watched her skillful fingers nimbly picking through the treasures for quite a while before she realized he was lost in thought.

"Where are you, Rick?" her words snapped him out of his trance.

"I was just thinking how nice it would be if you were with us... permanently," he stammered awkwardly.

Abby's rummaging stopped as she flipped her hair over her shoulder and stared at him over that same shoulder. "Is that an invitation to move in, or a proposal?" she asked coyly.

Rick decided to play off his fear by bringing a finger to his chin thoughtfully in an attempt to figure out the answer. He often resorted to being silly when he was afraid to be serious, "Let me see... if I propose, you might backhand me."

"I might!" she said playfully, knowing his habit well.

"But if I asked you to move in, you could possibly only verbally assault me...

"...or I may assault you in other ways," she said seductively.

"Well," he said, raising his eyebrows, "that may help the decision process along..."

She stared, waiting, and then held up her hand, "OK, what is it?"

Rick suddenly felt confident and played harder, dawdling a while before wrapping his hand around the back of her neck and pulling her into a kiss.

She sat back quickly, "So???" she demanded an answer.

Rick smiled broadly and winked, "So... when can we go haul your stuff over?"

"You have to ask me first..." she was fighting to maintain her aloofness, doing a pretty good job of hiding her excitement over the prospect.

"Oh, if you're still not interested, I can wait another two years to work up the courage again—"

"Tomorrow!" she blurted.

He blinked a couple times, "That was too easy; what's the catch?"

"No catch," she insisted.

"Why are you suddenly so eager now? Not that I'm complaining!"

"A little birdie made me realize some things today..." she said, glancing over at Kaylie.

"Does that little birdie have jet black hair?" he asked.

"Maybe..."

"A thirteen-year-old, soccer-playing, history buff, video game nut birdie?"

"Sounds like the same birdie," she giggled.

"I need to adopt that little birdie," he said, looking at that little birdie as she excitedly helped Alex search ancient Rome.

"She's not the only one. Your girls always make me feel at home and loved — like a mother. Kaylie really loves you too, though... and she's really smart and mature,"

He smiled and turned back to Abby, "She's a great little friend, too. But let's plan this move... you wanna take the van and your car in the morning as soon as the girls leave for school?"

"Sounds perfect. Should we tell them?"

"I think we need to surprise them," Rick quickly decided.

"Yeah. Besides, we need to focus on this right now," she agreed and started sifting through coins again, watching them scatter as they fell back into the box.

"I'm going to see how they're doing," Rick suddenly said, getting up and laying his hand gently on her shoulder for a moment.

She turned and smiled at him as he left. It felt right. Perfect. Finally. Abby now wondered why she had waited so long.

"Well, how's it going?" Rick asked as he wormed in between Alex and Kaylie, putting an arm around each of them.

"I feel like a thief, searching through people's homes like this," Alex admitted with a slightly scrunched up nose.

"It's not that bad, we're just looking. I think we found a good home, too," Kaylie said.

Rick raised his eyebrows, "Oh? Show me"

"Well, this family seems to be just a woman, two boys and a girl, but they have several men's tunics and uniforms that we could use. But we don't know where the father is..."

"We think he could be a soldier, traveling abroad or in a war somewhere. That worries me," Kaylie said.

"Why does that worry you?" Rick asked.

"In those times it was often considered bad luck to disturb any belongings of a man while he was away at war. They may not be willing to part with anything or they might be beaten by the man when he returns..."

"I think we should just bribe one of the kids to do it. They're about our age," Alex suggested.

"Hmm... so we really don't know anything for sure, except what we observe. Perhaps we should go in and learn on our own. If we fail, we can go back and try something else," said Rick.

"Groundhog Day!" Alex giggled.

"Practically, yes. Good analogy. Good plan too, I think."

"Crude, but effective," Kaylie concurred.

"Well, see if you can find out how much money they have so we'll know how much we might need. I'd rather go twice than three times, if you know what I mean. This could take days if we don't prepare right—"

"Rick?" A tug at his shirt accompanied the address. He turned to find Anna, Christy and Jessica all wearing their creations.

"Wow! Very nice looking!" he commented.

Jessica came forward, "We found some silk dress that looked like a cow wore it, so we used that."

"I did," Anna claimed.

The shirts were very well-cut and tied with ribbons of green twisted with blue.

"You girls did an excellent job. I think we should be able to go really soon if we continue making such progress," he said, leaving five smiling, happy children to go back to helping Abby sort the loot.

Twenty minutes later, Alex came and wrapped her arms around her father, staring over his shoulder at the coins he had piled in front of him. "They only have a few coins, no jewels at all. It looks like they're really poor, Daddy, but Kaylie thought of a problem," she informed him.

"What's that?"

"How do we talk to these people? They speak a different language, don't they?"

Rick pondered a moment, wondering why they could understand speech when they were watching the display. He faced the machine, "T, how are we to communicate with the Romans and why are they speaking English?"

"I translate the language both here and in the other time-space, Rick," she answered.

They let out a collective sigh. "That's good, I'd hate to have to learn a new language overnight," a very relieved Christy announced.

"OK girls, let's get ready. We'll leave after we eat," Rick said, looking at his watch. It was 6:30 already.

While they ate, the talk was excited, vibrant, focused on the mission ahead. Rick smiled inwardly at how interested and helpful the girls were as they planned the whole mission with exacting details.

"...that's why we think we should go in to buy your clothes," Alex concluded after Kaylie explained that children were generally not permitted to speak to adults.

"You see, Rick, the mother isn't home until twenty minutes before we need to be in town. That wouldn't give you much time to persuade her, and she probably wouldn't part with it anyway," Kaylie opined.

"OK. We'll try that. How far ahead are we going in?"

"One hour, 45 minutes," Alex said.

"That's when the kids are coming back from playing in the stream and washing their clothes Kaylie added.

"Why don't you just go in while they're gone and take them?" Anna asked.

"That's dishonest." Rick replied.

"Hello? We're trying to save the world. Do you want to say, 'No, we couldn't save the world honestly, so we just let everyone die?' That doesn't sound right."

"Anna, if it comes down to saving the world, I'll steal a uniform, but if we can do it with a clear conscience... well, I'd prefer to be responsible."

Anna rolled her eyes, "Always gotta set a good example, don't you? Like you're my father!"

"I don't see your father trying to set a good example!" blasted Jessica.

Anna got up in a huff, heading toward the other side of the table, obviously intent on doing harm to Jessica.

"Anna! Sit down now!" Rick ordered.

Anna stopped, considering her plans for a moment. Jessica was still taunting her, shaking her head around wildly with her tongue sticking out, flopping around. She finally decided it would be in her best interests to behave, and stomped back to her seat while Jessica continued to tease.

"Jess, you want to take a swim with me?" Rick threatened.

Jessica ceased quickly, "No!"

Rick added a menacing glare.

"Sorry, Anna," Jessica added as she got the hint.

"OK. So we go there and wait for them to return?" Rick asked.

"Yeah, about a hundred yards from their house is some brush you can hide in while we go make friends and, hopefully, bring you a nice soldier's tunic. That should allow us to get close enough to Octavian. A fellow soldier would be able to get closer," Alex said.

"And as soon as we find out where he gets the necklace, we stop and return, then we can go back and intercept it," Kaylie finished.

The group continued to finalize their plans while they finished eating.

"Can we watch them from here, T?" Abby asked nervously

"No, Abby, they will be gone only one minute and you must not interfere with their return."

"One minute?" Alex asked.

"Yes, Alex, there is always a return time of one minute, no matter how long your trip is. That is the default setting. Do you wish to change that?"

"No," Rick answered, "that's perfect. I'm glad, actually; I was worried it would take all night."

He held three necklaces out after slipping the gold one around his neck. "Pick one," he told the girls.

Alex picked the blue one because that was her favorite color, Christy chose the silver one, and Kaylie took the red one.

# Chapter 15 — A Little Trip to Rome

#

"Do you confirm this destination and location, Rick?"

"Yes."

"Would you like to put any time limits or any other restrictions on your journey at this time, Rick?"

"No."

"Do you wish to disable safety protocols, Rick?"

"No," he answered that question much quicker than the others.

"Everyone who is not traveling, please step well outside the red crystal circle," T intoned as the area started to flash.

Abby, Jessica and Anna all stepped back after giving everyone a quick hug.

Rick nervously stood with his arms crossed; the girls all held hands firmly.

Suddenly anxious, Alex croaked, "What if we get scrambled or something?"

"Even before safety protocols were installed, Alex, in 10,127 trips nobody has ever been scrambled," T said calmly.

"We're ready when you are, T," Rick tried to sound confident, looking at Abby and the other girls, wondering if he would ever see them again.

"Destination confirmed safe, initiating displacement," T answered.

"They just vanished, no fancy lights, no countdown? How un-dramatic!" Jessica complained, disappointed.

Rick didn't remember traveling. T had mentioned a slight, brief orientation period upon arrival. He looked around to see the girls standing with him in the exact positions they were in the room, but now amidst a clump of trees and brush. The view of the land gradually faded in. It took about five seconds before he was able to move, and noticed the girls moving simultaneously with him. They all gathered and locked arms around each other, taking in the view.

Christy finally spoke, "You know, I expected a more eventful journey, and a more exciting arrival."

"We chose this spot because it was not exciting," Kaylie reminded her.

"What did you expect? Flying through worm-holes with lights streaking by?" Alex teased.

"It certainly wasn't what I thought it would be, either, but we're here and we have a mission, don't we?" Rick reminded them.

"Yeah!" they answered, eager to be trusted with their task. He gave them each a hug and headed for his hiding place, offering final words of encouragement. The girls casually strolled toward the house, occasionally glancing back where Rick was crouched, commenting on how he tensely watched them.

It was a beautiful, sunny day. The fresh, new green grass rolled for half a mile past the farm house. The temperature was in the low seventies, but felt chilly in the clothes they wore — the steady breeze whipped through the open sides, removing all the trapped body heat their normal clothes would have afforded them. In the distance, past the farm, they could see the edge of the city — they were literally on its doorstep. They were less than a mile to the east and could clearly see the main thoroughfare leading into it just a few hundred yards to the north, crossing into the heart of Rome. The road they needed to take soon.

"It looks just like North Carolina," Kaylie said, "I expected something a little different."

"Yeah, me too, it's so isolated, but so close to town..." Kaylie agreed.

Rick felt like it was Halloween and he was standing on the sidewalk as he sent his excited kids to a stranger's door for candy. He also felt useless. Here he was, just observing, as the costumed trio headed toward their quarry. Alex carried a pouch Anna had made from the sleeve of one of the shirts and Christy and Kaylie each had one filled with coins and gems. Rick smiled broadly at the thought of three young girls being entrusted with enough money to buy several small countries and broke into a chuckle when it really hit him. And that was just a handful of the hundred or more pounds that remained in the boxes. He mused that it was probably enough to buy the United States. The coins weren't so valuable because they were gold, as most were not; they were valuable because they were so old and in nearly perfect condition. Some of the gems also made the Hope Diamond look like a $99 engagement ring. He decided after seeing all the coins and jewels, he could easily afford to send Rob that Spanish coin. He felt his own pouch, which he carried, since he had no belt... yet, and then remembered he was supposed to watch the girls.

The girls timed their interception well, seeming to merge accidently with the ancient youngsters as they came across the last knoll before their home.

"Hi!" an over-excited Christy shouted before they were even spotted. Alex and Kaylie shot her angry glares. She cowered slightly; they had decided Kaylie was going to speak, since she was the oldest and biggest and knew the most about Roman history.

"Hail! Who goes there?" the oldest boy yelled back angrily.

As they approached, the girls stalled, with Kaylie stepping forward slightly. The elder boy, on the right, had short, dark hair, and dark brown eyes. He stood a mere five feet tall. He appeared to be about eleven years old or younger, but they knew he was fifteen from their research.

"They look much smaller in person," Alex whispered. Kaylie nodded almost imperceptibly.

The girl was slightly smaller than Christy, but they knew she was two years older. She looked much healthier though. She wore an infectious smile of a perpetually happy kid, and seemed to be skipping when she was walking. She had the same dark brown eyes as her brothers, but flopping from her head was a three-foot long mane of nearly blonde hair.

The younger brother was a carbon copy of his older sibling, only smaller. He looked to be a normal-sized eight-year-old kid. He was ten.

They all wore the same type tunics — off-white wool and in desperate need of replacement. The little boy's shoulder strap was ripped and hung down across his chest. The edges of their clothes were frayed and each had a dozen or more holes, noticeable from ten yards away. The youngest was dirty as a pig, but the other two apparently bathed and washed their clothes in the stream while the little one played in mud.

As they neared, Kaylie quit studying them and put on her friendliest smile, "Hi, I'm Kaylie and—"

"This is our land, what is your business on it?" The older boy demanded.

Kaylie thought he sounded more frightened than anything. "I... um," she stammered.

The girl shoved her brother aside, "What my vicious brother, Lucius, is trying to say is welcome!" she said with a bright smile.

She then turned to Lucius, "These girls are not wearing swords and don't seem to be threatening."

She then turned back to Kaylie, extending her hand, "I'm Vespasia, and this is my little brother, Titus. What brings you to our farm?"

Kaylie was much happier to deal with the friendly young girl, "I'm Kaylie, this is Christy, and this is Alex. We're traveling to Rome, planning to find a new home," she said.

"What odd names," the little boy commented.

"You can't buy a home in Rome unless you have a lot of money or are related to a senator," Lucius said skeptically.

"Well, they must have a lot of money," Vespasia said as she leaned forward and ran her hands across the edge of Kaylie's homemade tunic, "I have never seen linen this fine, it's almost like silk, who made this?" Her big, round eyes opened widely with awe.

"I did," Christy volunteered, and then came forward to feel the girl's fabric. She ran her hands over Vespasia's garment, immediately noticing how coarse it was and recalling how Rick had said they looked like grain sacks. This felt like a grain sack.

Vespasia continued as Christy checked out her tunic, "Yours are so soft, and your belts are so pretty, they must be silk!"

The girls blushed collectively, they had thought these clothes were very simple, but this Roman girl treated them like $10,000 designer dresses.

"Yes, yes they are silk—" Christy started to say.

Lucius, becoming even more suspicious, interrupted, "Wait, if you're wealthy, and traveling to Rome, where's your chariot? Where are your horses? You don't even smell like you've been near a horse! And who do you travel with? Where are your parents and servants? Three young girls wouldn't be coming to buy land in Rome and they wouldn't be walking through our land — the main road is over there!" he pointed, then stood with arms crossed, impatiently waiting for an answer.

"Well, we uh, well, we're on foot—"

"Nobody would travel that road on foot! Certainly not three kids. The next village is days away by foot—"

"We're with our father!" Alex blurted, frightened.

"See! I've uncovered a plot! He plans to ambush us and take our lands!"

Vespasia shoved him to the ground, "How absurd! These girls' clothes are worth more than our entire farm, Lucius! You think everything is an evil plot lately."

She turned back to the girls, "You mean us no harm, right?" she seemed hopeful.

"No, of course not!" Kaylie exclaimed.

"Where is your father, then?" little Titus asked.

"He's up there, in the bushes," Kaylie pointed.

"See! He hides!" Lucius spat.

"No! He hides because, well, because he's embarrassed. His tunic is ruined and he has nothing else to wear. He sent us down here to see if we could perhaps purchase one?" Kaylie said.

Alex reached for her pouch, opened it, and poured some coins into her hand. A couple fell to the ground and Lucius picked one up.

Vespasia, obviously star-struck by all the shiny coins, barked at Lucius, "Go get our friends' father a uniform while I show them around!"

"But... they belong to our father! He's—"

"Dead! He's dead, Lucius! And we need the money, now go!" she ordered.

The girls looked at each other guiltily; the shock of the kids' father being dead knocked them back a bit.

"But mother wouldn't allow it, and she's selling another blanket today, we'll be fine as soon as our livestock matures and breeds," he argued.

Vespasia stood her ground and pointed defiantly while the girls watched the scene, disbelieving.

Lucius attempted to defy his sister once more, "Mother will be furious!"

Again, the small girl stood her ground, arm extended toward the house, directing him. "Then she shall be furious at me, and you won't starve tonight!"

He lowered his head and left. Titus followed.

"Our father died two years ago in a battle. He was a soldier in the Thirteenth Legion. Our mother has been trying to keep the land ever since. We help harvest grain, tend the animals, plant crops, and weave fabrics, but most of the work is too hard for a strong man, much less a woman and young children," the girl explained as she led them around the farm, pointing out where things needed to be done.

"Lucius thinks mother will somehow manage, but we have slowly used up all that was left of father's salary. Now we get only a couple coins a week from the blankets I weave and mother spends her time either gathering food or selling what I make. About all Lucius is good for is milking cows. Titus can't even do that."

"That's sad," Alex commented.

"Don't feel pity for us, we'll survive!" the Roman girl said with the same happy smile she wore when they met.

Alex decided to try to change the subject, "So how much is this tunic he's fetching worth?"

"Oh, probably about five **sestertii** if it were new, but it's used. I'll let you decide. Anything is better than starving while it hangs uselessly."

Alex was floored with compassion for the story. She couldn't imagine what kind of iron character this girl possessed after losing her father and what appeared to be a wonderful life. She hoped she could help. "Well, Da—, my father said to pay whatever you ask for it, he is quite rich." She opened her pouch and stuck her hand in, returning with roughly 25 coins and held them out, "Do you think this would be enough for such a cherished family heirloom, and enough to curb your mother's anger for selling it?"

Vespasia's eyes grew to the size of cantaloupes, "Oh, no, I couldn't possibly—"

Alex grabbed her hand and placed the coins in it, spilling several to the ground. "Take it, it's far less value than my father's pride."

Titus came out just then carrying a studded leather tunic. It was a rich dark brown color with lighter tan strips of leather hanging from it. He approached the girls, who were each standing on the lower rails of a split-rail fence, leaning over with hay for the animals. "Lucius said to bring you this — he's too busy crying like a baby."

Vespasia laughed, "Tell him to be a man for once." She then turned to the girls, "He turns sixteen soon but still acts like a little girl sometimes. I have more chance of becoming a man than he."

"Do you really have to get married when you're sixteen here?" Kaylie suddenly asked, forgetting where she was.

The girl seemed confused, "Well, if you're rich, yes. Some girls at twelve, but you should know—"

"Oh, I just thought it may be different in different cities," she quickly tried to cover her ignorance, "I don't want my father to force me to marry."

"I was wondering why you aren't married now, as wealthy as you are, you must be at least fifteen..."

"How can you tell I'm not married?" Kaylie asked, now she was confused.

"You don't wear a stola, or... How far away did you say you lived?" Vespasia was becoming suspicious.

"Oh, not too far, but I'm only thirteen. My father told me I could wait until we get settled in Rome though. We planned this journey when I was eleven," Kaylie was trying her best poker face.

Vespasia's face lit up, "Oh, that makes sense, if you had married, you would have had to stay with your husband instead of your father and sisters."

"Yeah," she hugged Christy, who was closest, "I couldn't be away from my family."

Alex took the opportunity of a slight lull to remind Kaylie they were there for a reason, "Speaking of family, we must get back to father. He may be worried."

"Oh, yeah, we should hurry," Christy added.

"Can I go with you?" the bright-eyed Roman girl asked. Kaylie was mulling the question over when Vespasia asserted further, "I go into Rome often by myself — I can show you around the city. You could get lost or killed if you don't know what you're doing."

"We should ask father," Alex finally answered for her.

"Yes, certainly," the girl agreed, "Go ahead and I'll catch up — I can't carry all this money or I wouldn't make it back alive."

With that, Vespasia ran into the house while the girls walked briskly back to the brush, hoping to arrive before she caught up.

The girl was on their heels a minute later, as they ascended the small rise to where Rick hid in the bushes. "You sure are in a hurry!" Vespasia panted, arms and ponytail swaying rhythmically as she ran. They allowed her to catch up. Together, they approached the bushes. Alex took the new clothes behind the bush and handed them to Rick, and alerted him of their new friend.

Rick smiled at the thought that the girls seemed to make friends everywhere they went. It must be due to his wonderful parenting! He quickly dragged the tunic over his head, finding it fit surprisingly well.

"So, she wants to be our guide? I see no problem with that — we could definitely use one,"

"But what if she finds out what we're doing here?"

"This is a recon mission, soldier," Rick teased, "I actually think we should tell her what we're looking for. Another pair of eyes wouldn't hurt," he said, adjusting his outfit a little. "There, does it look good on me?"

His daughter appraised him carefully, "Well, if you want the truth, it looks pretty stupid. But if you were going to battle, you couldn't possibly be better dressed. At least you're not wearing a towel with a hole cut in the center and no sides!"

Rick chuckled and hugged her. They ducked out of the brush to be welcomed by the others.

"You look good, Rick," Christy blurted.

Kaylie elbowed her and grabbed her arm, "Yes, Father, you look splendid," she emphasized 'Father' for Christy.

Apparently Vespasia didn't notice the slip; she was staring intently at the man in her father's clothes. She thought it was a dream, had she really been so disconnected from the loss of her father? She had always acted tough, as if it were honorable for a girl to lose her daddy at war.

Rick saw she had frozen, but could not tell why. Her eyes started to form tears.

"Hi, I'm Rick. I understand you would like to guide us through Rome?"

She just stared blankly.

"What is your name?" he tried.

She started to answer, but couldn't.

Rick knelt down in front of her, placing his hands gently on her shoulders and softly shook her, "Are you OK?"

She snapped out of her daydream about the last time she had seen her father in that outfit. "Oh... Hi, I'm Vespasia," she stuttered, bashfully sticking her face in her tunic to dry the tears.

"Vespasia! What a beautiful name for a beautiful girl! Are you going to be OK now?"

"Yes," she said weakly, then straightened herself and mustered some fortitude, "Yes, sorry, I just... thought I saw a ghost. You look just like my father did last time I saw him wearing that," she explained.

"Oh, I'm so sorry. I never thought how difficult that could be—"

"No, it's OK. It feels good to be able to help. We should be on our way, shouldn't we? I understand you're in a hurry for some reason?"

Rick glanced at the girls and motioned them all to start walking, "Yes, we need to go, please. Tell us about Rome, and yourself, on the way, will you? But I feel I should let you know why we are really here, first."

The girl looked up at him inquisitively as they walked side by side. He told her of the necklace and that it was to be given to Octavian today, but they did not know how. He explained that it was a priceless family jewel that meant a lot to them. She ate up the tale like french fries.

They quickly learned that Vespasia was indeed a veteran of the city. She explained the exact route Octavian and his guards would be taking, how they could watch him, and how he could acquire the necklace. Eventually, she got around to telling about her life, the family, farm, house, and her escapades in Rome. Nobody was paying attention to anything but her. Alex asked specific questions about how they built their homes, what they were made of and how they cleaned them. Christy soaked up all the information she could about the sports they played. Kaylie talked on and on with her about clothes, and Rick prodded her for more information about the markets, army, and economy. Before they knew it, they were within the walls of Rome, staring at the exact steps Octavian would traverse in just a few minutes.

Rick ushered the girls to where the video had ended then turned and faced where Octavian would arrive. He leaned over in a huddle with the girls and started giving instructions.

"I'll go ahead of you and see if I can find anyone suspicious," Vespasia volunteered.

"That's a good idea. Thanks. If we get separated, we'll meet you at your farm, OK?"

She showed him her brightest smile and put her hands on her hips, "We won't — I'll know where you are!" She then turned and blended into the crowd.

"OK. Remember, girls, use the necklace if there is any danger whatsoever to anyone. I will carry Christy and you two walk behind me, act like you're looking at the food and wares for sale, but be looking for the necklace... it may be for sale and he may buy it."

"Why do you need to carry someone?" Kaylie asked.

"So she can watch behind me and keep an eye on Octavian — unless you want to walk backwards and draw attention to us?" he explained. They giggled and agreed the idea made sense.

They were at an intersection, hundreds of people shuffled around them. Kaylie saw two boys playing with a ball, trying to keep it away from each other with their feet. She tapped Rick's arm and asked if she could go play.

"You have four minutes, not a second more," he answered.

She smiled and bounced off.

Alex then pulled him over to a stand where they checked out the food. "We should buy some bread and fruit for Vespasia's family, Dad. Wouldn't that be nice? Plus it would look a little more normal if we at least had one of these baskets."

"Go for it," he replied and stole a glance down the street in anticipation of the future emperor.

Alex picked what looked like a three-gallon basket and asked the elderly woman how much it would cost. Before the woman could tell her, she added two smaller ones, then two round loaves of bread, a dozen different fruits and some dried meat. The woman seemed overly pleased with the sale, which made Alex wonder if she had been shammed on the price. She simply smiled and handed over what the woman requested, plus two extra bits. The woman graciously thanked her and insisted she take an extra basket which would fit neatly inside the first one. Alex accepted the offer gladly.

She excitedly ran to Rick to show him, but he was calling Kaylie, who had two boys fumbling all over the place trying to get the ball from her. They all converged in the center of the street and Christy urged Rick to pick her up with a playful look on her face. Rick hauled her up on one shoulder so she could watch behind them and keep an eye on Octavian, relaying the information right into Rick's ear. Alex watched the street for Vespasia, but could not see her anywhere.

Octavian, clad in a long, pure white robe with a golden rope belt and flowers in his hair, came up the street with his entourage in tow. He smiled at everyone, often waving like a beauty queen. This made Rick laugh uncontrollably when Christy explained it to him. The soon-to-be emperor finally turned and started to walk toward them. Rick walked a few yards ahead of the group, whispering in Christy's ear to tell her to notify him if he needed to stop or go faster and watch out for the necklace to be handed to him.

"This is fun!" was her cheery reply.

"Just pay attention, OK?" Rick told her.

Christy tried to give detailed commentary along the trip, "He just gave a little boy a coin. Awww, he's so cute! He patted a little crippled kid on the head. Stop a sec, he's kneeling down to give the kid something... oh, how sweet!"

"Christy?"

"Yes?"

"Just the important details, OK?"

"OK, Father!" she teased.

Octavian must have given fifty coins to beggars and children, plus he handed out flowers to all the little girls and he stopped twice to buy clothes or food for orphaned kids.

Rick's arms were already growing tired and he could feel chaffing around his neck from the leather outfit and Christy's squirming. They were nearly ten minutes into their stroll when Rick saw a commotion up ahead.

A woman was screaming, "Thief!"

Rick, at just a hair over six feet tall, was surprisingly well above the short crowd and could see now that it was Vespasia who the woman had by the hair, calling for help.

"Two of the guards are running at us!" Christy almost yelled in his ear from the excitement.

Rick lowered her quickly to the ground, "Stay with me, girls!" he ordered as he tried to follow the guards without looking too obvious.

"What of this?" demanded the larger of the two guards on the scene. He was possibly an inch taller than Rick and twenty pounds heavier — mostly beer gut — with a scarred, square chin and a flat nose. If he had any hair, it was hidden under his helmet. His voice was deep and scratchy and brought fear into the eyes of the formerly perpetually happy child.

"This rodent has stolen a necklace from me!" the woman reported. She was a fairly attractive thirty-something lady wearing a moderately expensive flowing purple robe. Her wavy black hair was tied tightly behind her head, but her eyes were hateful, taking away from her appearance greatly. Her brow scrunched up in a way that spoke of evil. The woman was tearing at Vespasia's tunic, trying to get at the necklace the girl had tucked inside, enlarging several of the holes in her garment. The girl was trying to free her long ponytail from the wicked woman's grasp, her legs and arms flailing around wildly, obviously also in pain from the tearing of hundreds of hairs from her head.

Despite her painful and vulnerable position, Vespasia still managed to shriek, "I stole nothing! This woman tried to steal from me!"

The bigger guard looked to the smaller one, passing a nod, the smaller one said, "Show us this necklace, street rat!"

Rick came forward and wrenched the woman's hand from Vespasia's head, lifting the girl from the ground by her underarms to his side, where he cuddled her closely with his arms wrapped firmly around her. This startled both the guards and the woman.

"You should be ashamed of yourself, wench, picking on such a small child!" Rick scolded, his voice filled with authority.

The smaller guard butted in, "This woman is obviously a respectable one, while this child is obviously a—"

Rick raised his hand as if threatening to swat the guard, which brought the sword of the larger guard out, by instinct.

"What is it to you, veteran," he said condescendingly, which made Rick realize he was wearing an informal military uniform. He immediately recognized the decorations on the man's chest.

He slowly released Vespasia and held her a few inches away, leveling his gaze at the bigger man, "Sorry, Captain, but this girl is my daughter... and certainly no thief. If you wish the truth, she is carrying a yellow gem necklace I gave her for her twelfth birthday. It belonged to my mother."

The captain looked down at the frightened child, "Show us this necklace, girl," he ordered.

Vespasia made a good play of looking up at Rick as if to ask for permission.

Rick nodded, "Yes, honey, show the captain your necklace. Why aren't you displaying it; you were so proud of it..."

"Sorry, Father," the girl continued her part flawlessly, "but she kept trying to rip it from me so I tried to hide it inside my tunic. I got scared and tried to run away from her!" she was half crying through her explanation.

What a good show, Rick thought, "Come on, Vespasia, show the good man your necklace," he encouraged.

She slowly stuck her hand down into her tunic and pulled the necklace out, her cries changing to a gloating smile.

"She's lying!" the hateful woman spat.

The captain appraised Rick thoroughly, finally concluding, "The daughter of a veteran in the famous fighting Thirteenth Legion? Come now, I find that impossible to believe," he determined.

The Thirteenth Legion? Wow! He was wearing the uniform of Caesar's most elite and most respected squad among all the Romans. He gathered his thoughts as he heard the captain speaking in praise of him. He began fumbling in his pouch until he found a similar stone, pulling it out to show. It was blue, but roughly the same size and shape.

"See, we have several gems of this type," he explained to the captain.

The captain raised his eyebrows at the woman, who was quite shocked, indeed.

"Arrest this woman!" The captain barked.

"No, please, let her go. It may just be a misunderstanding. No harm has been done, and perhaps my daughter has learned not to stray too far from her father," Rick said diplomatically.

"She ripped my hair out!" Vespasia hissed.

Rick clasped his hand over the little girl's mouth, nodding at the guard.

The guard unclenched his big meaty hands from the woman's arms and she wasted no time stumbling away in retreat, eventually turning a corner and disappearing.

As the commotion died down, Rick took the necklace from the girl's neck and placed it in his pouch, calmly prodding the girls to come with him.

"That was sooooo cool, Vespasia!" Alex gushed as they walked to the corner of the street, all grinning from ear to ear.

"Mission accomplished," Kaylie declared proudly.

Rick stopped and turned, getting down on one knee. He squared Vespasia in front of him by the shoulders and went into father mode, "Now, little one, you could have been hurt or killed. You should have come to me when you spotted it."

She lowered her head, afraid to look him in the eyes. "Sorry, I know I—"

_Thwapp_!!

Rick saw her eyes widen in surprise as she grabbed her side in pain. She pulled a bloody hand away from her side and stared at it with incomprehension.

Just then, over her shoulder, Rick saw him — Bergamiser. He was on a balcony across the street. He was loading another bolt into his crossbow.

As the shocked girl looked at her hand, she began to faint. Rick scooped her up and tried to stand when he felt his own pain. The bolt Bignose had fired had only grazed Vespasia's side, but was lodged in his upper thigh. He winced and staggered, realizing he couldn't make it around the corner before another volley was launched.

He fumbled, nearly losing the woozy girl but managed to maintain a firm grip on her. He was trying to cover her with his body when he heard the second missile impact his shoulder, going completely through. Vespasia saw this and instantly passed out. The other girls shrieked in alarm. Rick, full of adrenalin now, lunged to his feet with the limp girl still clutched in his arms. He awkwardly struggled around the corner before another arrow could be flung in his direction. The girls followed, shielding themselves behind him.

Rick staggered against the wall, feeling dizzy, smearing a bloodstain down the rough stucco as he slumped. "Alex! Grab that arrow and yank it out!" he ordered.

Alex was hysterical, "I can't! You're not supposed to do that anyway, Dad!"

"I know, but if you don't, I won't be able to run or even walk!"

"Why don't we just use the necklace?" Christy insisted.

Rick considered that for a second while he fought back blackness in his own eyes, then looked at the lifeless girl in his arms, "No, we can't leave her here, she could die."

"But so could you, Daddy!" Alex sobbed.

"Nonsense, if I was in danger of dying the necklaces would have recalled us already. Now just quit complaining and do what you're told!"

Alex clutched the basket in her arms as if hiding behind it and adamantly shook her head no.

Christy finally took the initiative as Rick stared angrily at his daughter, quickly wrapping her hand around the shaft and yanking it out in one smooth motion. Rick gritted his teeth through the pain, fighting to remain conscious.

Alex nearly fainted at the sight of the wound, which was only slightly trickling blood.

"See, I knew it didn't hit an artery." Christy casually pointed out.

"Now let's go before one does," Rick grunted. Somehow, his arms still held tightly onto Vespasia. He was glad her body blocked the view of his leg and he didn't dare risk a glance at his shoulder. Steeling himself, he pushed off the wall and to his feet. "Come on girls, straighten up and let's go, now," he was saying this mostly to Alex, who looked a bit unsteady.

Rick half hopped, half limped, following Christy, with Kaylie and Alex at his side, helping him stay upright. Christy quickly led them to the main road where they hid behind a display while Kaylie doubled back to purchase some cloth. She quickly returned and tossed the white muslin to Rick and then went to stand guard.

Rick sat on the ground, back against the wall, and shifted Vespasia so he could see the damage to his leg. Blood ran all the way to his ankle, but otherwise it didn't appear to be too bad. He then checked Vespasia to see how badly she was hurt. Blood covered her entire hip and back, but the arrow had caught nothing but the outer layer of her side, making an angry red groove above her waist. As Rick ripped the cloth into strips, he asked Alex to find some water.

# Chapter 16 — Goodbye Dreams, Hello Reality

#

Vespasia started to awaken when Rick cleaned her side and back so he could dress the wound. She whimpered as Alex calmed her by gently stroking her face with a damp cloth.

"You got lucky, girl," Rick told her casually, "The arrow went through your side, but mainly through skin."

She looked down as he attempted to clean the blood and nearly passed out again.

Rick pressed a couple strips of cloth into the wound and asked Christy to hold it there as he worked four long strips around her tiny waist and tied them to hold it in place. Kaylie was busy doing basically the same thing to his shoulder; he had packed the wound and tied some cloth around his leg, but that dressing was already showing a deep red spot. He ignored the pain as he focused on the girl, finally finishing, and tying her tunic back loosely so it wouldn't aggravate the dressing. Kaylie completed her first aid at about the same time, tying off several bandages on his upper arm and chest. His injuries began throbbing but he thrust the pain aside, shifting Vespasia so he could attempt to stand.

He struggled to his feet and asked the girls to help lift Vespasia up so he could carry her. He quickly realized he was in no shape to carry her a couple miles. He sat her back down, grabbed the bowl of water and splashed it in her face.

The little Roman girl spat and sputtered and angrily glared at Rick, "What was that for?" she yelled.

Alex and Kaylie held the girl up on wobbly feet while Rick slumped back down to the ground, half giggling at the girl's face, half gritting his teeth in pain. "You'll have to walk, I can't carry you any further, Vespasia. You've got a deep cut on your side, that's all."

Vespasia slowly collected herself. Soon, the happy, smiling face of hers resurfaced when she realized her movement was not restricted much, if at all, and she barely felt the pain when she twisted or bent. She cheerfully asked then, "When do we go?"

"Do you think you can make it?" Alex asked her dad.

Rick seriously considered the question. He wasn't completely certain; maybe it would be best to disappear and let Vespasia get home on her own. No, that wouldn't be right; they were responsible for the girl. He tried to remember just how far it was to her house, but they had been so busy talking on the way into Rome and been so captivated by everything, he wasn't sure how far they had wandered. He knew it would be a much different journey in his present condition. He could not run either — what if Bergamiser would see them? Rick realized he was very easily spotted, being much taller than most of the Romans. That was one detail he had never considered; in two thousand years, humans had definitely changed considerably. In 44 BC, a six-foot-tall person was extremely tall and very rare; in 2007 AD, a seven-foot-tall man was even more common than six feet was then. The captain, by far the largest man he had seen all day, wouldn't stand a chance in a head-on collision with a high school field goal kicker in 2007, he mused. So yeah, he thought, he would be quite an easy target to spot. All those thoughts assailed his mind at once.

"Well?" Alex asked again, impatiently.

"I have to... Vespasia, can you lead us out of here without being seen?"

"We could go through the sewers," she answered quickly.

A trio of protesting howls came from the girls. "You don't want to do that, you have open wounds," Christy stated.

He agreed, "No, probably not... But how else?"

"Well, we can take alleys just about anywhere, but we'd still have to go through the gate to leave unless we use the sewers. She looked around to get her bearings and easily calculated their best route.

Kaylie went once again and bought a blanket from a merchant. The girls helped Rick to his feet. They wrapped the blanket around Rick's body and over his head to form a hood. He slouched over like an old man, hobbling along convincingly, thanks to his injuries. They were sure the crazy man from the future would recognize Vespasia and Christy, so the two girls clung to Rick's side, partly to steady him and partly to hide most of their faces in the folds of the blanket. Alex and Kaylie did not believe Bignose had seen them, so they tried to fit in with the other Roman children.

They traveled awkwardly through a dozen or more alleys until they reached one just a few yards from the gate. The trip was agonizingly slow, but they made it without seeing more than a few dozen people — mostly homeless children who lived in these narrow, forgotten paths. Alex, always the mother hen, a trait she inherited from her father, couldn't pass by any of these orphans without giving them a coin or two and a portion of bread from one of the loaves she carried. She had fashioned two skirts out of their leftover cloth for girls they met while resting. She had found the two girls hiding behind piles of trash. She also gave some small boys with distended stomachs part of their fruit. These respites were welcome to Rick and he admired the way Alex cared for the homeless waifs. The breaks were even more enjoyable to Christy and Vespasia, who grew tired and weary from the exertion of supporting Rick, combined with the heat under the blanket.

It was nearing dark when they finally reached the last alleyway. The girls rested while Rick crept forward to look around. He hobbled back to the girls and sat against a wall, beckoning them to climb under the blanket.

"What is it? Do you see him?" Vespasia asked.

"No, I can't tell who's out there. But it's almost dark and I feel it would be much safer after the sun has set."

"Who was that man shooting at us, and why?" asked Vespasia.

"That's Bignose," Christy answered angrily for him.

"Bergamiser... Bignose... is the man who stole the necklace from us," Rick explained further.

"Who was that woman?" Alex questioned next.

"I guess she was probably just someone he paid to deliver the necklace to Octavian."

"So that's why you let her go?" the little Roman girl realized.

"Yes. She probably didn't even know it was stolen; she was just as innocent as you, dear."

"It seems this Bignose likes hurting innocent people," she said hotly. "Are you still mad at me for stealing it back?" she seemed to be asking for forgiveness.

"Yes, but I forgive you, and I think you were overly punished for it anyway," said Rick, patting her side, near her wound.

"It doesn't even hurt now!" she bragged.

"Perhaps you weren't punished enough then!" he teased.

As night fell, the streets cleared. Rick went to check again and saw nobody but a couple drunken soldiers. He slipped back and gathered the girls, half of whom had fallen asleep, and readied them to continue home to Vespasia's farm. The rest of the trip was uneventful. Rick's girls were all afraid of the dark, but the native girl thought the quarter moon provided adequate illumination. Any light was a blessing for a girl who never knew electricity and was too poor to burn candles at night. When they neared her home, a light was shining through the window.

"Mother must be worried about me," Vespasia fretted. "She never wastes candles! Is it OK if I run ahead so she knows I'm all right?"

Rick nodded, and then reconsidered, "Wait," he said, fumbling in his pouch for something.

The girl's wide eyes watched curiously as he pulled something out but kept it hidden in his palm. He reached out and hugged her. "Thank you for all your help, Vespasia. We couldn't have done it without you."

She shoved back to look at Rick's face, "What? Aren't you coming with me? You have no place to stay tonight, you must stay with us! You can't leave yet! Who will tell mother I'm not lying about the whole thing? I wanted you all to meet her, too!" She looked hurt.

Rick fought back emotions, "We have to go, honey... here..." he opened his hand, showing her the enormous jewel.

Her eyes widened, "I can't take that! It's worth more than our entire farm!"

"We want you to have it. Keep it unless you absolutely need it," he suggested.

She hugged him tightly, refusing to let go for over a minute, then slowly released her hold and embraced the others just as fiercely.

Alex wiped tears off her face as she handed the large basket to the girl, taking one of the smaller baskets out of it, "Here, this is for you. I want this one to remember you by. I will never forget you, Vespasia."

"You act like you're never going to see me again. Can't you at least come visit when you buy..." She suddenly stopped, comprehension dawning as she turned to Rick, "You're not buying a home in Rome, are you?" her tears flowing freely now. She wiped them on her already wet tunic.

Rick shook his head, "Probably not. But if we do, I promise we will spend an entire day with you... if you promise not to get in the way of any arrows aimed at me!"

She giggled and reached her free arm around him for another hug.

"You're a very strong girl, Vespasia. Take care of yourself and your family, OK?" he said, kissing the top of her head. He then turned her around and nudged her gently toward her home.

"Bye!" she sputtered.

As the young girl walked away, Rick pulled out his necklace, grabbed hold of the golden ball and started to huddle the girls close to him.

"Wait!" Kaylie screamed suddenly.

"We have to get back, Kay. I'm going to bleed to death eventually," Rick joked.

"This will just take a minute!" she said quickly and started running full speed toward Vespasia. All Rick saw was a white blur and the back of her tunic trailing behind her like a comet tail. They all heard her yelling at the girl to stop.

Half a minute passed quite anxiously before they saw a dark form approaching them, jogging. It was Kaylie, now proudly wearing Vespasia's ruined, dingy tunic.

"OK, we can go now," she said with a satisfied grin on her face.

Everyone stared at her. The tunic was ripped in more places than it had places, but she was happy as a pig in mud.

"What? I needed it for history class!" she claimed. "Guess I'll have to wash it to get all the blood off. Do you think it will survive a washing?"

Rick shrugged, "I'm sure we can find a way to clean it. But right now, we gotta go. He squeezed the necklace and commanded, "Return!"

"What do you think they're doing?" Jessica fretted after only fifteen seconds had passed.

"They'll be fine, stop worrying," Anna told her.

"I wonder how long they'll be there," Jessica continued.

"One minute," Abby sarcastically replied, "I just hope they come back with all their fingers."

"Please remain outside the red area," T's voice suddenly announced.

Rick could see Abby, flanked by Jessica and Anna, fading into view. When they fully emerged, the trio rushed over to them and immediately noticed the blood and bandages. They skidded to a stop simultaneously.

"What on earth happened to you?" Abby demanded.

"I'm OK, but you should see the lion," Rick joked.

Anna and Jessica fell for it and gasped, "Lion!?"

Alex filled them all in while she and Kaylie helped Rick to a seat at the table. Abby rushed to the lockers and located the medical kit while the girls went to change back into their normal clothes.

"This cannot continue now, Rick. If this Bignose guy is going to try to kill you when you go near the crystal... I just won't have it! I'm not losing you now, mister!" Abby decreed as she slowly unwrapped the bandage on Rick's shoulder. She winced when she saw the ragged bloody hole, and could barely keep her hands from shaking as she began to clean it with disinfectant. "You're lucky he didn't use poison, you fool! You're not ever going back. No way!"

Rick twitched in pain as she wiped and scrubbed with every harsh word. "We don't have to go back," he managed to state calmly through the abuse.

Abby taped a thick wad of gauze to the puncture holes. "You're darn right you're not going back, we should turn this over to the government and let them send specialists to—"

Rick fought to his feet as she finished wrapping and clasped his hands around both her arms, pinning her with his eyes, "You would suggest the government take over this machine? Do you have any idea how badly those corrupt, greedy, power-hungry jerks could screw up the whole universe if you gave them that kind of tool?"

She gently forced him back down and proceeded to work on his leg. She suddenly realized the content of his earlier words "What do you mean, you don't have to?"

Rick grinned and pulled the crystal out of his pouch. Abby stared in amazement. Before she could comment, Kaylie walked over, carrying her new prized tunic like a priceless artifact.

Abby forgot her anger instantly. "What is that?" she asked curiously.

Kaylie proudly unfolded it and dangled it in front of her. "It's a _real_ authentic Roman Republic tunic that a real kid wore!" she proclaimed happily. "The very one our friend Vespasia wore. I traded her," she grinned triumphantly.

Abby's archaeologist persona kicked in and Rick's wound became unimportant to her. She ran her hand over the tunic, "Wow, Kaylie, this fabric is so coarse, it must have been so uncomfortable to wear."

"It is. It's really itchy," Kaylie explained, scratching for effect.

As Alex joined them, Abby turned to her, "Oh my god! Is that an actual basket made by Roman hands? Nothing like this has ever been found in any condition worth studying, these things just don't last two thousand years! We've only had drawings or descriptions before now, but—" She nearly swooned as she ran her fingers around the basket, which was merely a bowl-shaped reed-woven creation, hardly remarkable. She studied every detail of the two items for several minutes, listing the properties of each and explained popular theories, right and wrong. Alex explained that there were literally hundreds of different types of baskets and Kaylie told her of all the various kinds of fabrics she had seen and felt.

Eventually, Abby remembered Rick's leg and returned to treat his wound. While she was working on him, the girls explained the farm, streets, markets and many foods and wares for sale. They described how the people looked, how they acted, what they wore. Christy talked about Octavian and his guards for ten minutes, offering minute details. Alex told of the homeless children she tried to help, and Kaylie elaborated on their new friend, and how she recovered the crystal for them.

Despite his injuries, Rick was delighted the girls had absorbed so many amazing lessons from their trip.

"And we got one of the four crystals," he reasoned to Abby, "It was well worth it. We just need three more—"

"While a maniac tries to kill you!"

"We didn't expect him to be there."

"But he was, and you know he could be setting a trap for you three more times. I can't worry like that!"

"You only have to worry for one minute," he teased.

"That minute can be an eternity though! Girls! Please talk some sense into your father!"

The girls all remained steadfastly silent in support.

"You're all mad! There's no way I will let you go back!" she vowed. "You can't walk now, and your arm won't be healed for weeks, and you don't even know where the other three are!"

"I'll be good to go in—"

"Rick?" T's voice interrupted.

"Yes, T?" he rotated gingerly to face the time machine, as if it mattered.

"I have another message now," she informed him.

All eyes turned to Rick as he tried to hide his dread, "Let's have it..."

An image of Bergamiser showed. "Oh, great," Alex sighed.

"Well, you've found one crystal, bet you think you're smart. But there's still three more, so that's only a start. I'll always be there, for the three you seek. And to make things worse, you have just one week!" Bergamiser's eyes twisted with insanity as his evil laugh reverberated from the screen.

Kaylie gasped, " _No_!" She was terrified, pointing at the machine and shaking her head in disbelief.

Rick wanted to comfort her, but couldn't manage to get up.

"Come here, Kaylie, what is it?" he asked, but she remained in place, eyes transfixed on the screen.

"T, play the last ten seconds of that again," Kaylie instructed. Bignose appeared again. "Pause!" she yelled. Using her hand, she quickly zoomed out, moved the view around and zoomed back in. There, in mid-air, was an object he was tossing up and down in his right hand. She zoomed in further and told T to rotate the image.

As realization dawned, Alex put her hand over her mouth to cover a scream, Christy actually howled, Rick simply lowered his head into his hands. Kaylie turned, looking at them all, eyes wide with fear.

"What's the deal?" Jessica asked, confused.

"That's the jewel we gave to Vespasia," Kaylie cried.

"We have to go back and help her!" Alex demanded.

"No!" Rick said firmly. He was immediately assaulted with accusing eyes.

"Well, I'm going to see what happened—" Abby started.

" _NO_!" he yelled louder this time. "We can't go back. Bignose is trying to bait us into another trip to waste our time. We only have a week, remember?" he explained very coolly, calmly, betraying his own fears only by the way his hand clutched his wounded leg.

"But can't we just see if she's OK?" Kaylie pleaded.

Rick held up a hand to stop her. She became enraged, crying, "You don't even care about her! You're as mean as Bignose! How could you? What if she's dying? Or dead? You don't even care!" She threw the tunic in his face and stomped off to the bathroom.

"Nice going, Dad." Alex's words cut through him. Kaylie's tirade had already sliced him to pieces. He held the tunic to his face for a moment, pressing it against his eyes to keep the tears from leaking out. He could smell the girl's own tears on it; he could smell her on it. He could see her smiling face; saw her bouncing off down the street. It took all his strength to get to his feet and walk to the bathroom door and knock at the partially open door.

"I'm using the bathroom!" Kaylie shot at him angrily.

"No you're not," he said as he pushed the door open further. She whirled and slammed the door, catching him off balance and knocking him back a few steps.

Rick winced in pain, but fought back to swing the door open again. Kaylie slumped down on the toilet seat, sniffling, crossing her arms over her chest.

With anguish on his face, Rick knelt down in front of her. "Kay?"

"Go away!"

"Kay, we will go back for her. I swear on my aching leg..." _that I shouldn't be putting weight on right now..._

She looked up at him with wet, red eyes and restrained a slight giggle, "You should be sitting, or lying down."

"So you're not mad at me?" he asked hopefully.

"No, I'm just mad. I'm sorry. I'm not mad at you. I know you care — it's just not fair. Not fair at all!"

"No, no it's not. But we will make it fair. Right now, we have billions of cute little girls to save, don't we?"

She shook her head yes.

Rick worked his way to his feet, grinding the hurt away with his teeth, and held out his arms to pick her up.

"No, I'll help you," she said. "You can't carry me with that hurt leg, Rick." She stood and took as much of his weight as she could, helping him back to the table.

"OK. Let's figure out what to do next now. All of us."

All sitting around the table, Rick asked, "OK, let's make a plan, what do you all think? I'm fairly sure where the second crystal is, and we—"

"No, you're nuts! We are doing nothing tonight but go home. These girls have been up for over 24 hours and you're in no condition to do anything!" Abby commanded, standing over him like an old-fashioned schoolteacher, ready to whack his knuckles if he didn't obey.

"Well," he answered evenly, "that's what we're doing next, but we have to be thinking of what to do after bed. I'm not moving from here until I eat and rest a bit, so... I'm thinking steak, fries and a salad please, T. Then we're discussing Salem, Massachusetts."

Anna picked up his meal for him.

"Thanks, hon," he smiled at her as he began awkwardly trying to cut his steak with one hand.

Anna smiled and ordered her own meal and the others did the same.

"So, what's in Massachusetts?" Abby asked after the long silence.

"Well, it certainly sounds like a reference to the Salem witch trials... but I don't remember a whole lot about it, can't even remember exactly when it happened."

"Late seventeenth century, like 1692, but that's all I know." Kaylie offered.

"Yeah, that sounds about right. We'll have to do some research. You got any books of that time?" Abby asked Rick.

"Only a couple that mention it... how the colonies and government were formed and became the United States."

"OK, I'll snoop through those while you search online, OK?"

"Sounds good to me."

"What about us?" Alex asked, interrupting their exchange.

"Yeah, don't you remember how valuable we are?" Christy fluttered her eyelashes.

"I think we've proven this is a bit too dangerous—" Rick tried.

Jessica rolled her eyes, "Oh, please, didn't you just get done telling us a fourteen-year-old girl recovered the first one?"

"And you are certainly not in any condition to do anything but go to bed tonight," Kaylie challenged.

"OK, we're going to have to discuss this tomorrow. I know four of you are going to bed as soon as we get home," Abby determined.

Alex leaned on her sleepily, "I like it when you call our house 'home'. It sounds good, doesn't it?"

Abby looked at Rick.

"I think you should tell them," Rick said with a smile.

"Tell them what?" Alex asked expectantly.

"Well," Abby gulped, "we — your father and I — decided—"

"You're finally moving in? You're finally moving in!" Jessica leapt out of her seat and bounced around her, finally stopping long enough grab Abby in a huge hug.

"Is it true?" Anna asked, holding onto her excitement until she was sure.

"Yes! Yes!" Abby screamed and all the girls attacked her at once, nearly knocking her out of her seat, all bouncing and yelling.

Rick just stabbed another piece of steak, dunked it in steak sauce and smiled at them as he stuck it in his mouth. He chewed it a while as they continued to celebrate. "You girls aren't happy about this, are you?" he asked sarcastically.

"Dad!" was the only reply, from Alex. He knew what it meant. They all finished eating.

"How are we going to get out of here?" Abby asked Rick as they watched the girls' fascination with the 'bottomless pit' — a round, foot-wide trash receptacle T provided for them. It was clear and extended a couple feet from the floor. The kids would put trash, dishes, food or anything else in it and watch it gradually disappear.

Rick asked T how the device worked. She replied, "Just like the food replicator, Rick."

Rick asked, "You mean the opposite?"

"No, Rick, it simply changes the molecular state of the objects you place into it to air. The replicator changes the molecular state of air to objects. Same process."

"Wow, OK. That makes sense."

That launched a barrage of questions that made Rick forget Abby's original inquiry.

"Where do you get your power, T?" Alex asked.

"I get power from a thermal transducer tube implanted deep into the ground, Alex."

Christy, the little scientist, perked up, "How does that work?"

"It takes heat from a warmer layer of Earth and transforms it into energy as it rises through the tube, then is replaced by cooler air which falls through the tube to the bottom and is heated again, Christy."

"Wow, how much power does that produce?"

"This particular unit is capable of producing 125 megawatts per hour, Christy."

"How were the tunnels dug, T?" Abby asked curiously.

"They were not dug, Abby, they were created using a tool from the 2lst millennium called a force repulsor," T explained.

"How does that work?" little Einstein questioned.

"It uses a force field to repel the earth in whatever direction desired, Christy, compressing the stone and dirt into a composite stronger than steel, and which never corrodes."

"Whoa!" Rick commented.

"That's neat!" Alex added.

"What about the natural cave? I have a hard time believing it formed in a spiral without some help," Abby asked further.

"A well-founded suspicion, Abby; that cave was also created with a repulsor. They can be programmed to create any shape."

"Why would they make it look natural, and put supports in it?"

"You'd have to ask them that, Abby, I can only speculate."

"T," a serious Kaylie started, "is Vespasia still alive?"

Before Rick could stop her, T answered, "That is a relative question, Kaylie. She certainly isn't alive this day, but I need a specific date to answer that to your satisfaction."

"No! Do not even try to ask again, Kaylie; we are better off assuming she's OK," Rick instructed.

"Can't we just—"

" _No_!"

"Kaylie, let's get back to the most important problems now — like how are we getting out of here?" Abby intruded.

"The same way we originally planned. I'll swim out first and pull anyone out who can't make it on their own. I think everyone should easily be able use the rope to get back, as long as they don't panic," Rick said as he stared pointedly at Anna.

"I can do it! No problem at all. I just got scared coming down because I didn't know the way. Really!" she defended herself.

"Will you be able to make it, Daddy?" A concerned Jessica asked.

"Of course, honey, swimming will be much easier than walking, I'm sure. The rope will make it simple too. You girls go get ready so you can take the clothes—"

"Why don't I take them, Dad? You know I'm almost as strong a swimmer as you," Alex offered helpfully.

Rick nodded his approval.

"I'll go change while you seal up all the stuff," he said as he realized he was still wearing a leather tunic and was rather uncomfortable in it.

Rick limped out of the bathroom and saw all six pairs of eyes impatiently waiting for him. "Sorry, it wasn't easy getting that thing off inside that small box with one arm," he said, slightly embarrassed. "Here, Alex, can you hang this in a locker for me?"

Anna was closer and grabbed it. "I will," she said.

"Thanks."

Christy and Jessica were already playing in the water, running down the ramp as fast as they could until the weight of the water tripped them, and then they ran back out and repeated. "Daddy, when are you gonna get that other hide-a-bed for my room so Christy can sleep in there with me?" Jessica asked.

"I have one, Jess. When I move my stuff down here, it's yours," Abby told her.

"Why don't you just take all the clothes off of your bed so she can sleep there, Pigpen? Then you'd have room for three more people!" Anna teased.

Rick agreed. "That sounds like a good thing for you to do when we get home," he told Jessica.

She splashed him, "I thought we had more important things to do right now?" she whined.

"You're lucky I'm injured or I'd dunk you mercilessly, brat," he warned as he waded into the water.

Christy got above him on the ramp and jumped onto his back. "How are you going to pull us out if your arm hurts, Rick?"

Rick calmly lowered himself into the water until he submerged them both. He patiently sat on the bottom until she was forced to come up for air. He then surfaced, "I'm fine. I'd break both my arms to save one of you, don't you worry a bit about that. But, let's see who can make it back out with no help at all, OK?"

"Ooh! I can make it!"

"I can!"

"Me too!"

They all volunteered to go first.

"Right. We'll see. Just remember I'll be able see you once you turn the corner, and Abby can see you until then. If you can't make it, just signal one of us and hold onto the rope and I'll pull you out or Abby will pull you back."

Alex interrupted, "You should leave me back here instead, Dad. I'm the best swimmer and I'm trained in lifesaving."

"I was thinking of Abby since she's an adult, but I think you're right — you'd be a better choice. Thanks for the suggestion."

Abby seemed relieved, feeling clueless about how to save someone in water.

"OK, if that's all..."

Everyone gave a thumbs up.

He took a deep breath and submerged, pulling the rope until he was on the other side, anchored at the opening.

One by one, they all popped to the surface, with Alex bringing up the rear, pulling the bag behind her. Rick was relieved they all made it under their own power and didn't require any assistance. His energy was fading quickly and he wasn't sure how much longer he would last.

They quickly dried off and dressed. It was definitely cooler in the grotto and Rick was starting to shiver uncontrollably.

The trip back to the van took four times as long, nearly ninety minutes, because they had to stop several times for Rick to rest. The girls and Abby took turns supporting him. When they finally arrived at the van, Rick sprawled across the back seat while the girls loaded everything. Abby drove them home.

"Help me downstairs," Rick ordered when they arrived. "Move the coffee table and unfold the hide-a-bed. Bring down some sheets, pillows, and blankets—"

"We'll take care of it all," Anna said, volunteering her cousin, Jessica. "The rest of you are probably tired..."

"That's sweet of you' Abby praised.

"Speak for yourself!" Jessica complained.

Anna grabbed her by the arm and dragged her into the house as Abby and Alex aided Rick.

"Just take me to the computer, please."

"You really need to go to bed, Rick, you're exhausted—"

"Please," he pleaded.

She thought a moment, but ultimately gave in and helped him to his chair.

"You know you can do this tomorrow," she still insisted.

"I won't be able to sleep right now, Abby. Really, I'm OK. The ride home gave me a chance to rest and recover some strength."

Anna and Jessica were beginning to prepare the bed; each had an armload of linens. Kaylie, Christy and Alex came down, like zombies, to say goodnight.

"Night, Dad," Alex said sleepily, as she gave a hug and a quick kiss.

Christy and Kaylie did the same.

"Good night? It's only 8:30!" he teased. They each looked at him as if he were growing bunny rabbit ears.

"Seriously though, girls, you all smell like sweaty street bums, you need to take a shower—"

They groaned in unison.

"Sorry girls, you still have school tomorrow..."

The trio trudged upstairs to the showers.

"Oh, and girls?"

Alex turned as the other two staggered on.

He smiled, "Sorry. You have to get Jess and Anna up tomorrow, too. I won't be able to."

Alex nodded assent, too tired to speak.

"Thank you, Alex. Don't fall asleep in the shower, OK?"

Anna and Jessica were laying on the pull-out bed twenty minutes later, watching a movie, when Abby came down the stairs. "I put everything away, where are the other girls?"

"Thanks so much. I sent them to the showers."

She wandered back over to Rick's bookshelves and studied them a moment, Rick pointed out the two books he believed she wanted and she plucked them from the shelf and strolled back over.

"I'm going to sit and read this, but you really need to rest, Rick," she suggested.

"I will in a minute, soon as I finish reading this."

Abby looked at the screen, "Aah, you've already found it all?"

"Yeah, I think so. It appears that the first of four hangings was on June 10, 1692, when a lone woman, Bridget Bishop, was hanged at Gallows Hill. But," he looked up at her in confusion.

"What?"

"Well, it says that both eleven-year-old Abigail Williams and nine-year-old Elizabeth Perkins had shown signs of being bewitched on January 20, but nothing states which was first. Bridget Bishop, the first to hang, was not even the one accused of bewitching the first two girls; they had accused a servant named Tituba. Sarah Good and Sarah Osbourne were also accused, but of those three, only Sarah Good was hanged — on July 19. None of it makes sense with the riddle. I can't find anything about Tituba or Sarah Osbourne, but Bridget Bishop had nothing to do with any of the first four girls mentioned to have been afflicted. I can assume Tituba was simply not hanged because she confessed — the only way to escape hanging — but I can't make the connection. The phrase, _'although the court thought',_ must mean she was tried and convicted, doesn't that make sense to you?"

Abby stared blankly at him. "I think maybe we're both tired, you just confused the heck out of me too. Let's print it all out, you go lay down and I'll sit on the bed beside you and read it all. Sound good?"

She didn't appear capable of accepting any answer but yes, so Rick agreed, "OK, but can you check on the girls; they're too quiet. I can make it to the bed on my own." He printed out all the information he had found, and grabbed it as Abby headed to check on the kids.

Rick limped and hopped toward the couch, dropped the printouts on the bed, and nudged Anna to move over so he could lie down while he studied the information.

Abby called down the stairs, "The girls are already in bed and sound asleep, so I'm gonna take a quick shower."

That was the last sound Rick heard that night before falling into a much-needed, deep sleep.

When Abby came downstairs she smiled as she gathered the pages scattered across Rick's chest. Settling into one of the recliners, she started reading the first few pages. The infamous witch hunts of Salem, Massachusetts — a dark and troubled era in our country's history — a time of insanity. Why were they being led into this quagmire of madness?

# Now available

# Chronicles of Time: Book 2

#

Part III — Injustice in Salem

# Chapter 17 — Kids Do Sneaky Things

#

Rick struggled from the depths of a dream. In his mind's eye he could still see the infectious smile of that adorable, precocious Roman girl, Vespasia. Or was it a dream at all? As he felt the surreal slipping away to consciousness, he realized it wasn't just a fantasy.

His older daughter, Alex, really had found an obscure and intriguing artifact. His younger daughter, Jessica, really did decode its clues with her own unique brand of curiosity. Most startling of all his revelations was that it really had turned out to be the key to a time machine. They had actually located the machine, unlocked its mystery, and uncovered an evil plot to destroy the world. They were given a riddle to solve if they wanted to try to stop the process.

They had deciphered the first part of the riddle and recovered one of the four crystals which would enable them to stop this disastrous event. They had traveled back to ancient Rome and met Vespasia, who helped them find the missing piece. Along for the ride had been Alex's soccer-loving friend Kaylie, and gymnastics-obsessed Christy.

They had been mesmerized by the beautiful, rolling landscape of the time, taken in by the sights and sounds of the bustling city of Rome, and captivated by the young girl they now considered family. Each had performed an important part in the quest for the first piece of the puzzle. Unfortunately Bergamiser — better known as Bignose — the mastermind behind the plot, had tracked them to Rome and they narrowly escaped with their lives. Rick sported two nasty crossbow wounds from the encounter, and they feared the vile Bergamiser now held their new friend captive.

When they discovered Vespasia could be in peril, it had taken a toll on them. They had been given only a week to complete the tasks necessary to restore the missing time from the time machine, and with his injuries, Rick feared they would have no chance to finish it.

Or save the girl.

# Now available

# Chronicles of Time: Book 3

#

# Chapter 29 — Can You be Born Before You're Born?

#

As Jessica opened the kitchen door, a man in shorts carrying a large knife filled the doorway.

Christy and Jessica both shrieked.

"So... did you get the crystal?" Rick asked calmly.

Both girls flushed with recognition and quit screaming, then noticed he held a melon in the other hand, which he was cutting up for a fruit tray for breakfast.

"Are you gonna beat us?" Jessica questioned.

"That wouldn't be fair, would it?" Rick asked.

Christy said, "Nope!"

"Well, I'm not feeling particularly fair at the moment," he waved the knife around menacingly.

They both dashed past him toward the stairs, screeching again, this time in mock panic.

"Get back here!" he roared.

The girls stopped and moped back to him. He held out his hand and Jessica deposited the crystal in it. "The cube too," he added, and Christy pulled it out of the bag, setting it on the counter. "Go put away your things and get back here. You're fixing breakfast."

They whined and complained about being tired, but did as they were told.

Anna heard Rick's yell and emerged from her room just as the other girls tromped up the stairs. She walked over to Rick and hugged him. "I might as well help. You should be resting," she pointed to a chair.

Rick hobbled to the table, grabbing the cube on the way. He opened it and started watching Jessica and Christy's adventure.

The rest of the clan eventually joined them and all listened to the tale. Everyone was shocked at the mere descriptions; Jessica urged them all not to watch it.

After breakfast Rick insisted the three girls in Anderson's class wear a necklace all day. Oddly though, Mr. Anderson made no strange moves, barely acknowledging the girls. Rick spent all day reading up on the birth of Jesus until it drove him mad and he opted to work on his video game instead. Abby was shopping for supplies for her upcoming expedition and didn't come home until it was almost time to get Jessica from school.

"It seems nobody truly knows when Jesus was born," he said with a sigh. "Some say December 25, year 0, of course, but they are in the extreme minority. It ranges from 8 BC to anywhere in the next twelve years. Some say he was born in Jerusalem, some in Jericho, some in Nazareth, some even say Mary wasn't his mother! How can anyone claim to be sure, much less righteous, and proclaim with such certainty something so incredibly vague?" He threw his hands up in frustration.

"I'll ask some of my friends tonight to see if they know anyone who knows something..."

# Other books by J C Allen

# M.O.D.

#

Check out the YouTube video trailer:

<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wnk8YbBKLOo>

# Prologue

#

Tuesday, March 10, 7:30 AM

"We've got him this time," said Special Agent in Charge Sheelia Tanner of the FBI. She sat in the passenger seat of a plain blue sedan belonging to her partner, Special Agent Scott Carver. Scott was a fit, trim, athletically-built man with short blond hair, blue eyes, and chiseled features. He was average height and had a generally serious, but approachable look. Sheelia was only slightly shorter, still quite tall for a woman, also very fit but sleekly built like a dancer. Her father and mother were of mixed heritage, including black, white and Asian, and she seemed to draw all her features out of a hat from them, including a deep, dark complexion, big round eyes, dainty nose and mouth, and thin sharp eyebrows which angled sharply inward. Her hair was straight, silky and jet black, her eyes dark as midnight. Scott and Sheelia were just arriving at the scene where two dozen agents awaited in the shadows to execute a search warrant.

"I hope so," Scott answered, lacking confidence.

Sheelia reached up to her ear subconsciously, obviously listening to her earplug. "They're all in place, awaiting orders," she told her partner. She then rifled through some papers.

"Tell them we'll be there in two minutes. I want to park a bit away instead of pulling up to the house," Scott said. She relayed the message.

Tension enveloped the vehicle. This was their seventh attempt to nab the elusive and enigmatic "M.O.D." Nobody yet knew who or what M.O.D. was or what it stood for. They did know, however, that M.O.D. was wanted for several counts of every known form of identity theft, computer crimes, and probably several other crimes not even thought of yet. In each of these recent raids, he was positively traced to some unsuspecting location in Vero Beach, Florida, where Sheelia and Scott lived. Every time, the evidence turned out to be some ruse or false trail M.O.D. had purposely led them down.

"He made a mistake this time," Scott said.

"It could be a she, you know," Sheelia reminded him, always sticking up for women around the world, even criminals.

"Yeah, right. Sorry, but this is a man, Sheelia, I'm certain. And he made a mistake. He got greedy; he went for too much money and was tracked in real time when the computer flagged the transaction. Usually, it's not found for hours, even days, and we have to sift through logs of..."

"Katherine Himmel," Sheelia interrupted.

"HUH?"

"The owner of the house we're going to is a Miss Katherine Himmel, 37, unmarried, lives alone. She fits the profile, Scott: four years as a programmer for the DOD, fired for insubordination last September. That alone gives her the motive and skills to deliberately mess with the government..."

"Like everyone thus far," Scott sighed.

"Are you suggesting this one's a setup as well? I thought you said this one was it," she challenged.

A grim look crossed his face. "You're right, it's not her. It's a man — I know it."

She rolled her eyes.

"Listen, Shee, this guy is making a statement of some kind. A defiant statement. In all my years, I've never heard of a woman being so bold for so long. Sorry to punch you in the feminism, but women just don't behave this way."

"All your years? Do I need to remind you that you've only been here three years and I've been here fourteen?" she shot back with a smirk. "So we should just call off the search war..."

"Of course not, we have to execute the warrant. I'm just saying we shouldn't be so harsh on the suspect this time."

"Maybe, since she's a woman, she was smart enough to know we'd never suspect her to be a woman," Sheelia predicted ominously.

"Give it up, Gloria Steinem," Scott teased as he pulled to the curb a few houses from the suspect's and shut off his car. "Here we are," he said rather tensely.

"Want to call it off now?" she joked.

Scott grinned, then got out, talking into his microphone, "Is anyone inside?"

"We've seen no movement, no car in the driveway. We have no reason to suspect anyone inside — there are no lights on and the mail is five days old," an agent responded.

"Let's knock then," Sheelia decided, holding up the warrant.

They walked down a narrow sidewalk to the house, which had a half-circle driveway and a fence all the way around, encompassing all but the front entryway. Scott admired the house as they approached. Situated in an older neighborhood of stucco-walled and tiled-roof homes typical of the building style of a few decades past, the concrete arches and warm colors left no doubt they were in the tropics. Even the pavement reinforced that feeling, with crushed shells imbedded in the surface instead of gravel. He marveled at the carefully groomed lawn and shrubbery, imagining the time it must take to maintain the manicured look. Each blade of the thick, lush St. Augustine grass appeared to have been trimmed individually with manicure scissors to the exact same height, and all were a uniformly dark green. The edging along the walk and driveway seemed to have been accomplished with the precision of a scalpel. The plants and hedges had been placed with an eye for beauty and symmetry. At this point in his life he was glad he lived in a condo and didn't have to worry about taking care of the grounds, but wondered what it would be like to be responsible for such a place.

Sheelia rang the doorbell as a dozen agents stood behind her with guns drawn and aimed at the ground. They waited several tense seconds before she rang again and added several loud pounds on the large, wooden double doors.

At the same time, agents approached the back entrance, by the pool. "Nobody's home," she called to them. "Check the doors and windows."

A few seconds later, an agent announced the back door was unlocked. She ordered the rear team to enter and secure the area, and then let them in the front door.

Two minutes later, the front door opened and a beefy agent smiled at her, "Come on in, ma'am, but I don't think you'll like what you see. This has 'innocent victim' written all over it," he said, standing aside.

Sheelia strode in and Scott closely followed, holstering his weapon. The agent led them directly to the left, through a wide arch and into the living room where a desk sat with a computer on it. "The computer is on, but the monitor is off. We didn't want to disturb it," said an agent who stood by the desk as they entered.

"Turn it on," she ordered.

"But, it could contaminate the..." he started to protest.

"All the computers so far were on and none of them were rigged to destroy any data. I want to see what's on the screen," she told him.

With a shrug he said, "Very well, you're the boss." Then, with a latex-gloved finger, he reached out and pushed the power button on the monitor. It flashed and faded on. In bright, red letters, taking the entire screen, read "M.O.D."

Sheelia snapped on a glove and moved the mouse. As she had expected, a message popped up, "Kathy is in the Bahamas — she has been since Friday. You should do your homework, Sheelia. I thought you would like it to be a woman this time, though. Nice touch, eh? I'll have an exclusive interview on ABC News tonight at 11:35. You might want to watch."

She stared at the message, reading it twice, her face knotting up with each word, then angrily she ordered the team to unhook the computer and seize it as evidence. "Let's go, Scott," she added in a huff, and stormed out.

# Other books by J C Allen

# Novel Ideas

#

Check out the YouTube video book trailer at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8gf1oVYZAI

# Prologue

#

### January 1, 2040

Jordan was nervous. He was about to make the biggest announcement of his career — to him anyway. He sighed deeply, waiting for his latest understudy, Samantha White, to begin the report.

"Today, on his seventieth birthday, world-renowned author, Forrest Reed, has announced in a statement issued by his agent, Philip Conrad, that he is releasing his final novel," Ms. White read from the teleprompter with an appropriately despondent tone, which actually appeared to be fairly genuine. She was situated in front of a _breaking news_ logo which rotated slowly, while dozens of books swirled in the background, emerging from the blackness as if bubbling up from the bottom of a stew pot. Forrest Reed's familiar covers adorned the front of each book — and more surfaced endlessly. She continued to read the statement. "It is with a heavy heart that I am forced to inform you that Mr. Reed has decided to hang up his vocal processor and enjoy the remainder of his life at his newly completed home at an undisclosed location. He has requested everyone respect his decision to retire, and refrain from future contact."

As Samantha finished her script, the camera switched focus to Jordan. "Wow, Samantha," he soberly intoned, shaking his head in disbelief. Jordan, a legend in the business, had been spinning the news from the same desk since the inception of the interactive 3D Holo-TV broadcast. Now in his sixties, he was by far the oldest anchor still on HV.

Samantha White was the newest face of the show, which seemed to cycle new, young, attractive women into Jordan's evening news show annually. Jordan was obviously rocked by the news, but managed to finish his comment with, "He's the last of a dying breed."

"Yes, Jordan, he is. With 150 novels reaching number one on the bestseller list over the past thirty years, he has consistently released an average of five books per year, when nobody else seemed to be writing anything. That's going to cause a severe void in the ever-declining book market."

"And movie market as well," Jordan added. "Seventy-two of his books have been made into films. His movies have grossed $48.9 billion in box office sales and have sold a staggering 3.4 billion copies in the aftermarket. He is reportedly worth an incredible two hundred billion dollars — definitely one of the world's richest men." As he spoke, the statistics appeared in colorful displays all around the two reporters.

"How did he become so popular?" Samantha asked the experienced newsman.

"Well, Samantha, it's really quite simple. "He was the only person out there who could come up with interesting, unique ideas."

"What do you mean?" she pursued, genuinely intrigued.

"In 2010, when he began writing, the well seemed dry. People were growing tired of the cookie-cutter novels — the generic, molded, scripted repeats of previous successes. Forrest Reed came along and made people disengage their auto-pilot minds from the internet and immerse themselves into his imagination. He often criticized the entertainment industries of being so cold and calculating with their formulas for success, and challenged them all. The industry seemed unable to produce anything new. Old movies were recycled, mainly because nobody would chance anything different. Forrest Reed blasted the school systems and parents for not pushing young minds to be creative, to solve problems, to think other than in a linear fashion, but kids were being increasingly left plugged in and tuned out. They had mastered the world of digital communication, but had lost the ability to communicate with each other. All the languages of the world were degrading into a universal, anachronistic, lazy impersonal, and emotionless waste of space — according to Reed. He called the entire generation _screenagers_ , and predicted they would reach new lows never previously thought possible. He said his generation strove for mediocrity, while this one strove for nothing. In 2015, twelve of the top hundred songs were remakes of old songs. He predicted that by 2035, more than 95 of a hundred would be recreations. A quick check of the numbers —" he deftly manipulated the area around him to show the statistics, "reveals that, indeed, Reed was right. Ninety-seven of the top hundred songs in 2035 were remakes."

"Amazing," Samantha commented. "Why can't anyone create something fresh and new?"

"Reed believed the minds of children were polluted with the ideas forced onto them by our education system. He thought parents lacked the ability to inspire their children because of their own poor levels of education, causing each generation to become worse, compounded by the previous mistakes. In his record-breaking non-fiction book titled, _A Lost Art: Thinking_ , he details personal beliefs on the state of creativity in the world — and he appears to be right about all of the predictions he made."

Samantha sighed heavily. "With Forrest Reed gone, and this show the only remaining source of creative commentary, what will happen?"

Jordan shook his head sadly. "I suspect the book industry will finally die off and the sole source of our entertainment will degrade into twentieth century commercial jingles, remakes of '80s movies, unreal so-called 'reality' shows, ridiculous sitcoms and a continual stream of OMG, WTF and WGAF."

It was obvious he found this scenario rather revolting. Jordan had always prided himself in being a student of Reed's, concurring with the famous author in nearly every sad detail of the pathetic state of the planet. He really didn't want to think of the world that would rise from lost creativity and originality. It seemed everyone thought being like everyone else was a good thing; the biggest problem Jordan and Forrest saw with that was the population all met at the bottom, not the top. He and Reed appeared to be the last two dinosaurs that had broken away from that path.

The show continued with several old clips of Reed preaching his gospel to the masses of mush-minds, most of whom just didn't get it. Jordan and Samantha set out several charts which the HV users could peruse at their leisure. One showed that Forrest Reed's novels outsold the rest of the market three to one in the last year. His last two movies grossed $3.8 billion, more than the total of all other movies for the previous four years.

Jordan finished his broadcast by pleading, "Forrest, if you can hear me, we really need you. Please don't leave us." His somber mood didn't abate after they signed off; he was really crushed.

Concerned, Samantha asked, "YGBOK?"

Jordan stared a hole into her as if she were from another planet.

"Sorry. Are you going to be OK?" It was a rule of his show not to use acronyms, one that he still tried to enforce off the air.

"No, I think I'll go read his last book, then just shoot myself," he answered drily.

Now she regarded him as the alien. "Good luck with that," she responded.

He chuckled. "And Reed says there's no hope for this generation. But you see? You are capable of independent thought — even humor! That was really funny, Sam," he said sarcastically.

"I was serious," she informed him with a straight face.

He laughed harder.

# ABOUT THE AUTHOR

#

Born and raised in the Charleston, WV area, this young single father started writing when unimaginable circumstances thrust him into a situation beyond his control. As a way to stay connected to his beloved daughters, he began writing stories to entertain them — first a fantastical, magical adventure, the Edge of Knight series.

### What started as entertainment for his daughters evolved into a coping mechanism to maintain his sanity as he waged a monumental battle against injustice. The battle continues, and as his daughters have grown into teenagers, the stories have changed to more mature fiction.

Please visit our website at http://jcallenbooks.weebly.com/

### Follow us on Twitter: @jcallenbooks

