A Thing Called Destiny

Jeremy Kapp

A Thing Called

Destiny

~A Novel~

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“Who did it” Productions ©2007 A division of Neck records® ([email protected])

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

October 30th 2006 by Jeremy Kapp

Text set in Garamond Premier

All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.

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______________________________Author’s note______________________________

This story is written out of my love for dark, creepy places. I love unexplained phenomenon and the exploration of strange alien worlds. The underworlds and dungeon crawling, together with a cast of unlikely heroes is one of my favorite settings. I also like to put my own spin on

some of the unknown wonders of the universe.

Chapter one will introduce some characters into a new environment, but it is mostly intended to give character background and show their personality. My dad always told me: “You can’t

put a character in danger if no one cares about him.”

I hope you enjoy my tale. Thanks for reading! _______________________________________________________________________

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For my nephews Nathan and Coty

Their out-worldly sense of

humor was the best inspiration

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“Come with me, it is your destiny” -Darth Vader

“I will show you how to live, if you show me how to die” -Dave Mustaine

“In the land of the crawlers, death comes to those who wait” -Sentibarrian

“It’s not the ending that is important, it is the journey” -Stephen King

“Fire made it better” -Homer Simpson

“Much to learn, you still have” -Yoda

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CONTENTS Prologue: Interrogation 009 Chapter One: Planet Earth Stinks 012 Chapter Two: Fall of the Hu-dite 038 Chapter Three: Fall of the Ubangi 045 Chapter Four: Call of the Jabberwock 052 Chapter Five: A Momentary Lapse of Destiny 063 Chapter Six: Destination Unknown 073 Chapter Seven: Grip of the Clawdite 090 Chapter Eight: The Show Must Go On 101 Chapter Nine: The Reintegration of Kāno 118 Chapter Ten: The Power of Four 130 Intermission I: The First Cigarette 145 Chapter Eleven: Déjà Voodoo 148 Chapter Twelve: Jimbob’s Great Escape 164

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Chapter Thirteen: The Crawlers of Sentibarr 183 Intermission II: A Night at the Game 202 Chapter Fourteen: The Annihilation of Xonia One 205 Chapter Fifteen: Glyphic of the Night Walker 218 Chapter Sixteen: The World is a Storm 236 Epilogue: Primitive Minds Want to Know 261 Afterword 266 About the Author 267

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~Prologue: Interrogation~

“Here’s what happened.” These three words were the beginning to the longest police interrogation

Officer Billiard would ever write in his life. An interrogation report that would eventually be thrown into his nearby trashcan out of fear of being ridiculed for bringing this lunatic into custody in the first place.

It was well past the middle of the year, halfway through October, and Officer

Billiard was getting used to his simple life here as an officer of the law. He preferred the simple days, where he would do little more than prop his feet on his desk, read the paper, and occasionally take a bite out of a jelly-filled doughnut.

However, today was not looking like a simple day at all. In fact, it was getting

progressively worse as the day moved on, and he could tell by the intense look on Jimbob’s face that the best of this idiot’s story was yet to come.

“I’ve just got to get out of here,” Jimbob thought. He clenched his hands into fists and sweat began to bead on his forehead as he

thought of all the possible ways he might be able to escape.

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“If this officer would just go away for a while…,” he thought. Jimbob quickly realized that an escape attempt would not be easy; not with his

wrist handcuffed to the table. Officer Raymond Billiard was not a man known for his patience, and when

Jimbob began hunting for words and looking as if he was simply making this story up, the middle-aged officer began to lose what was left of his short fuse of sanity. He glared at Jimbob, hoping to intimidate him into finishing this worthless interrogation. His eyes shifted in the direction of the clock on the far wall, and after noticing how long he had been in there, his anger began to swell.

“One hour and Forty-five minutes,” Officer Billiard’s mind screamed. He picked up his notebook containing Jimbob’s award-winning story and shook

his head. Blackout lines continued to litter the Interrogation Report as Jimbob changed parts of his story, and now all he had was a half page of handwritten nonsense.

“…And then there was a Jedi master,” Jimbob continued. Officer Billiard lowered his notebook so he could see Jimbob’s face, and as soon

as he saw that vacant stare looking back at him, he snapped. He stood up, threw his notebook on the table, and stomped over to Jimbob’s chair.

“This is your last chance Jimbob! Vandalism of a state park and battery of the

elderly are not light charges! Now give me the truth, or I’m going to have you sent away for a very long time!”

“Okay, okay,” Jimbob muttered. “If you want the truth, I’ll give it to you, but

I’m going to have to start at the beginning.” Officer Billiard crumpled his interrogation report. After a moment or two, he

sat down with a new sheet, a new doughnut, and a new calm attitude as he waited for this new and exciting story to begin.

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Jimbob lowered his head and began to speak. “It all started back in September…”

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Chapter One: Planet Earth Stinks

It was an average Monday afternoon at the Brannon house; everyone finished their lunch, and the two teenage brothers Ryan and Cody were wasting time playing games on their grandparents’ two computers.

All of a sudden, Floyd, who was the uncle to these two brothers, came bursting

through the door. “Mom!” he yelled. The instant Floyd yelled for his mother, their household pet Eddie came

scrambling into the kitchen barking, yapping and showing his teeth in an effort to frighten Floyd back to where he had come. Watching this little dog made Floyd miss his own dog.

“Scooter…,” Floyd thought. Scooter was the best little animal friend the world had ever known, and only

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after much household destruction did Floyd decide to have Scooter removed from his home.

This is Floyd, always busy with a project. If he needs help, he always knows

where to find the proper helpers. Now in his early thirty’s, he rarely finds excitement. Floyd seldom pursues adventure, but more often than not, his life is made exciting by things unexpected.

After a moment or two, Floyd’s mother appeared at the door of the kitchen. “What’s up?” she asked. “I just got a new porch built on my house, and the guys left the old porch in a big

pile in my yard.” Floyd looked at his mother. “I need someone to help me get the wood into the truck and hauled away.” Floyd’s mother aimed a hand at Ryan and Cody. “They could help you.” Ryan and Cody continued to slap buttons and enjoy their games. Floyd, who now sat at the dining room table, raised his voice to his two

nephews. “Do you guys want to help?” The two brothers appeared not to notice. “I’ll buy you each lunch at Taco Bell tomorrow if you help.” Without taking his eyes from the computer, Cody raised his voice to Floyd.

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“I’ll help!” he replied, his un-brushed hair was a tangled mop of black tendrils. This is Cody, always willing to help. He is the one person you can count on to

help with the hardest of work without any complaint. He is sometimes unaware of the obvious, but his determination is always unaffected by hard work or even imminent danger. Sometimes, he just needs a little persuasion. He is the younger of the two brothers and there is not much he wouldn’t do for a good meal.

“I’ll go too.” Ryan added, after a moment or two of silence. This is Ryan, always the analytical one of the family. He is never willing to jump

into a situation without thinking of all the possible outcomes. He requires more persuasion than his brother does, but if he can be convinced he is working for a worthy cause, he will put his best effort into it.

The three of them all sat at the dining room table eating a slice of pumpkin pie

and discussing what they were about to do, when one of them let out a long blast of flatulence. Cody immediately started laughing, followed by Floyd, but Ryan only continued to chew his pie with no expression whatsoever on his face.

Floyd stood up and spread his arms out to his sides. “WHO DID IT!” he yelled, and that was when Ryan finally broke down and

laughed. Ryan left the table shaking his head and eventually returned, ready for work. He

wore his red flannel shirt over his T-shirt and left it unbuttoned. A short time later, the three of them piled into the borrowed pickup truck and set off for Floyd’s house to cleanup wood. Ryan offered the window-seat to his brother; he worked too hard styling his blonde hair, to have it blown by the wind.

With the windows rolled down and the sound of the air rushing in,

conversation was non-existent. When they arrived, Floyd pulled the truck into the driveway and backed it up to the mess of wood.

“There it is.”

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The two brothers did most of the work, while

Floyd mostly supervised. After taking the wood away to be disposed of, they decided to return the

borrowed truck and go back to Floyd’s house to admire how clean the yard looked, and how nice the new porch was.

They returned in Floyd’s car this time. Ryan and Cody hopped out of the car

first and Floyd followed with a look of disgust on his face. As Floyd approached his back yard, he saw three large empty sacks lying in a pile.

“Look at this!” he said. “The neighbor’s crap must have blown into my yard!” After picking the sacks from the ground, he tossed them into his nearby

trashcan and joined the others behind his house. There was a plastic toy light-saber lying in the back yard, a toy that belonged to Floyd’s son. Cody picked up the toy light-saber and began swinging it this way and that, appearing to battle against some invisible enemy.

“What’s that over there?” Cody asked, as he aimed a finger at a large hole dug in

the back yard. “That’s my septic tank,” Floyd answered. “I dug it up a few days ago and had it

sucked out and cleaned.” With the light-saber in his hand, Cody walked to the edge of the septic tank and

peered into it. “I can’t see the bottom, but it stinks-” Cody barely got the word stinks out of his mouth when the soft ground beneath

his feet gave way and he flew helplessly into the septic tank, disappearing into the darkness and foul stench.

Ryan and Floyd ran to Cody’s rescue. They could only see the top of Cody’s

head, but he was already complaining about the smell, and it was clear to them

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that Cody was going to be all right. Ryan held both hands over his mouth to prevent himself from laughing aloud and soon the smell removed all comedy from the situation. Ryan helped Floyd remove the garden hose from the house and carry it to the septic. They lowered the hose into the tank and almost had Cody back to the surface when the ground beneath them shifted again and Floyd, Ryan and Cody reunited at the bottom of the tank.

“Now what are we going to do?” Ryan asked. With some type of unknown slime in his hair, he had the look of a mallard duck. “We can get Cody up on my shoulders, and he can crawl out and get help,”

Floyd answered. “Okay,” Cody said, but before they could make their plan happen, the three of

them heard a splash and the sound of laughter above them. When they turned to look, they saw red glowing eyes and long bony hands twisting the round lid of the septic tank shut above them.

“I hope this is a joke,” Ryan said. “If it is, it’s not a very funny one.” For a moment, no one said anything. They were too scared to speak and it was

too dark for any of them to see. All of a sudden, there was a blinding bright light as Cody produced a flashlight

from his pocket and flicked it on. “Great. Now we can watch each other die!” Ryan mused. “We’re not going to die,” Floyd countered. “Someone will check the septic tank

eventually.” Suddenly, the walls began to vibrate and a wet sucking sound filled the air. The

floor beneath them lit a bright blue color, and then disappeared. The three of them fell screaming into a tube-like waterslide that was gaining speed faster by the second.

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The tubes took them up and down, banking to the right and to the left and

managed to flip each of them head-over-heels more than once, when Ryan screamed.

“Where are you guys! I can’t see!” Cody’s flashlight provided an excellent source of light for most of the ride, but

once he dropped it, the trio had no sense of direction. They saw only darkness. One by one, they each hit a jolting bump, accompanied by another brilliant flash

of blue light. With no warning, Floyd and Cody exited the tubing and landed in a heap on

the rock floor. They both moved quickly out of the way when they heard the sound of Ryan following close behind. He exited the tube, landed on his back and skidded across the floor. He stopped just short of crashing into the wall.

They found themselves in a large underground labyrinth of tunnels. The stones

that made up the walls appeared to glow a dim green color and served as their only source of light in this vast underworld.

“I wish I still had my flashlight,” Cody said. As if on command, a bright little flashlight came hurling out of the tube,

cracking Cody on the back of his head. “Ouch!” he screamed, but he was too happy to have his flashlight back to

complain about his sore head. Ryan stood up and began rubbing his backside. “Now I know what a turd feels like!” he said. He walked under the large tube and looked inside it.

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“What’s the deal with your septic tank, Floyd?” Floyd did not answer. He was speechless. “Where are we?” Cody asked. The echo from his voice reverberated for many

seconds before silencing. “And who was that guy in the hood?” As the trio of adventurers looked around, a new reality set in. “I think we’re

trapped in here,” Floyd said more quietly. They were in a dark place. Using the tubes to return to the surface would be

impossible; too much of the tubing was a slime-covered freefall. “At least it doesn’t smell so bad down here,” Cody said. Again, the echo from Cody’s voice was loud, and hung in the air for many

seconds. “Cody!” Floyd snapped, “Can you please not talk so loud?” Now it was Ryan’s turn to argue. “Why?” he asked. “Are you afraid someone might hear us? I don’t know about

you, but I would like for someone to hear us down here, so we can get saved!” “All right,” Floyd said. “You guys win. But no one is gonna hear us down here

and I’m sure no one can hear us up there, so we’re going to have to find a way out of here ourselves.”

The light from Cody’s flashlight revealed only one available exit to the north.

Cody picked up the plastic light-saber; which had finally tumbled out of the tubing, fastened it to the waistband of his pants, and the trio slowly set out in a northerly direction.

As they traveled north, they came to an intersecting passageway leading

northwest. The entrance to this passageway had collapsed many years ago. Large

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stone fragments, rubble and other debris blocked their path. After a few attempts at removing the debris, the group finally struggled their way into the northwestern path.

“Where are we?” Cody asked, as his flashlight lit up the cave. Floyd studied his new surroundings for a moment, and then walked behind his

nephews. “This doesn’t even look like a cave.” The adventurers found themselves in a huge circular cavern with hallways

running east and west. The walls of the cavern were very smooth and did not seem like any type of rock they had ever seen before. The eastern end of the hallway had stairs leading down into shallow water.

The cavern was on the verge of total collapse; the only thing holding the ceiling

up was a large metal support beam in the center, running from floor to ceiling. There was a perfect round hole in one wall with a tangle of roots growing out from it. The ceiling of the cavern had a circular pattern of glass plates organized with the smaller plates in the center and the larger plates toward the outside.

In the center of the floor, they saw the skeletal remains of a very large creature

laying face down. The creature was over ten feet tall and had three stunted horns protruding slightly from its upper skull.

“What do you think that is?” Cody asked. “It’s not human,” Floyd replied. “Let’s get out of here.” Cody knelt down beside the dead creature and said, “Look! It has a sword!” Cody grasped the handle of the sword with both hands and pulled with all his

might to free it, but the weight of the creature had it pinned down. As Cody continued to pull the sword from under the dead creature, Ryan

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sighed. “Cody! Leave that thing where it is and come on!” Cody decided to give the sword one final tug. He pulled the sword so hard that

when it came free, it swung a wild loop that severed the support beam of the room. The beam fell to the floor in two pieces.

Ryan cautiously examined the ceiling of the room. “We’re lucky we didn’t need that beam,” he said. “Do you hear that?” Cody asked. “Hear what?” Ryan replied. The ceiling of the cave produced a series of loud pops. Floyd, who was already

out the door, ran back in and with a look of shock on his face. “Get out of here, NOW!” he shouted. However, before he could run back out the door, a large boulder dropped

behind him, sealing his escape route. One by one, the glass plates in the ceiling began to explode and dirt started to

pour in. Floyd ran to the eastern end of the hallway and started into the shallow water.

“Come on,” he said, motioning toward the water. “This might be our only way

out if this whole place comes down!” Ryan and Cody followed Floyd into the eastern hallway. Cody’s new sword

dragged the floor behind him and his little flashlight lit the way. Shortly after the boys joined Floyd, the whole cavern collapsed inward. The

blast of flying debris forced them deeper in the water.

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“We’re gonna have to swim, guys!” Floyd said to his nephews. The three adventurers plunged into the water and surfaced on the other side of

the wall into another large chamber. This chamber had smooth walls on one side, but the wall behind them was a more ordinary stone. Embedded into the smooth wall was a large circular symbol. The symbol once had a picture of some kind in the center, but years of erosion made it impossible to make out what it was.

Hanging on the smooth wall, adjacent to the round symbol, was the dead corpse

of another strange creature. A large metal shard impaled the massive body and effectively stapled it high on the wall. Too much of this creature had rotted away over the years to make out what it was. Nevertheless, whatever it was, it too was very old and very large.

“Let’s go that way,” Floyd said, and aimed his hand in the direction of the more

familiar rock walls. As they walked, Cody found a piece of a broken wood sign on the floor and read

it aloud. “Dam!” “What did you say damn for, Cody?” Floyd asked. Ryan smiled and gave Cody a funny look. “Yea, Cody. Why are you swearing?” “I didn’t swear, Ryan! I was reading that sign!” Cody pointed his finger at the broken sign. Floyd picked the broken sign from the ground and read it. “That’s weird,” and then he tossed it to Cody, who already had his hand out

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ready to catch it. As they moved deeper into the cave, Cody’s new sword began to glow bright

blue. “Wow! Look at this!” he said. Cody flicked his flashlight off and put it away; his

new sword was now a much better source of light. “This sword is cool!” Cody announced. “I wonder why it glows.” “Who cares why it glows!” Ryan said. “It’s too big and heavy to take with us

anyway!” Cody held the sword in the air with both hands and said, “It’s cool, and I’m

keeping it!” They continued walking until they came to a dead end room with wooden walls

and many strange controls. The glow of the sword revealed a long wooden control box with very old

wooden handles. A broken wooden sign hung on the wall above them that read, Control Two. Cody removed the piece of broken sign from his pants and held it up to the broken sign on the wall.

“It says, Dam Control Two! Maybe these wooden levers will open a door so we

can get out of here!” Cody placed his hand on the first lever and gave it a hard tug. The handle

immediately broke off and landed on the floor. “…or maybe they won’t.” Cody put his hand on the second lever, but it was too stiff and he could not

budge it. He moved on to the third and final lever, but it snapped easily and the handle landed on the floor beside the first.

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“We’re trapped in here,” Cody said. “And I can’t budge that lever.” He motioned toward the stiff lever.

“That’s because you’re a wimp, Cody!” Ryan said, and gave the second lever a

powerful tug using both of his hands. The handle slowly moved into position. They heard the sound of a chain-driven mechanism clicking inside the wooden

wall and the walls in front of them and behind them began to rise. As the water began rushing in, Ryan held on with both hands to prevent the water from washing him out of the cavern. Cody held on to the wooden door with one hand and the huge sword with the other and screamed.

“Help me! I can’t hold on!” As the walls continued to lift, the water rushing through became too much for

them to hold on and they all shot through the doorway, flying rapidly though an underground tunnel. The rushing water tore many rocks loose from the floor of the cave and sent them hurling through the water.

Floyd quickly grabbed a large root as he passed by and pulled himself to safety.

As the others flew through the tunnel, he grabbed their arms and helped them out of the water as well.

They all watched the rushing water as it moved faster and faster until the water’s

path began to widen out. Large stones hammered the wall and opened the exit into a doorway large enough to walk through.

Ryan stood up and quickly focused his eyes on Cody. “Get down, Cody!” Cody jumped out of the way and was almost impaled by the huge sword as it

flew passed him and stuck into the rock wall above the newly made doorway.

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After a few minutes, the tidal wave of water ceased and the three adventurers stood before a huge doorway leading to another cavern.

Cody walked over to the massive sword and began pulling with all his strength. “It’s stuck!” Cody said. “We might have to leave it here!” “We don’t need it anyway,” Ryan said. The remaining sewage in his hair created a makeshift afro as he spoke. Floyd turned around and gave Cody an understanding look. “It’s going to have to stay here, Cody. Let’s go.” The adventurers walked through the newly made doorway and over many large

rocks and boulders as they exited the watery cavern. They walked until they were clear of the fallen rocks and once again merged onto the northern path.

The trio walked for so long, their clothes dried. No one spoke for the last

twenty minutes; everyone kept their thoughts private. As Cody walked, he noticed the light emanating from the walls caused his

plastic light-saber to emit a faint blue glow and it reminded him of his cool blue sword.

“I’m getting hungry!” Cody said, rubbing his hand over his stomach. “Cody! How can you be hungry at a time like this,” Ryan scolded. “I don’t think we’re going to be eating any time soon, Cody.” Floyd remarked. After walking for what seemed like an eternity, the path to the north opened up

into a huge square vault-like room with pools of sparkling water on all four sides. A large patch of mold covered the floor at the northern end and several deep scratched etched across the floor, ending at the northern-most pool.

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Upon seeing the endless supply of water, Cody bent down and began scooping

the water into his mouth, but only after he sat up, did he notice a small wooden sign directly in front of him, which read, Nedder Kinnessar Water, DO NOT DRINK!

“What the!-” he said, as he wiped water from his face. “Cody!” Ryan scolded. “The sign was right in-front of you!” “Do you think it’s poisonous?” Cody asked. “It’s probably okay,” Floyd said. “It looks like good clear water to me.” Ryan bent down and scrubbed the slime from his hair and together they

continued to the north. The three of them stopped for a moment to sit down, rest and have a little

conversation, when Floyd noticed Cody’s eyes. The dim green glow emanating from the walls had a way of playing tricks on their vision, but now it appeared that Cody’s eyes were radiating a reddish-orange glow.

“Cody!” Floyd said. “Why are your eyes glowing?” “I’ve turned to the dark side!” Cody screamed as he backed away looking to the

right and to the left. “Cody!” Ryan said, shaking his head, “You didn’t turn to the dark side. There is

no dark side, and even if there were Sith Lords, you wouldn’t just turn into one of them.”

“But I feel different now, I feel… powerful.” “I think that water you drank made you goofy,” Floyd said. “But your eyes are

looking normal again, and I think it was just the lighting in here. Let’s get

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moving.” They traveled further to the north until they came to another intersection. One

path continued to the north, and a new path branched off to the west. “Now where do we go?” Cody asked. “I say we keep going north,” Ryan suggested. While the group decided which path to take, they saw a quick flash of blue light

from the far end of the western branch. As they stood, dumbfounded by the dim blue flash, the silence broke with a skidding sound, a rip, and someone saying “oof!” following the flash of light.

Floyd looked to the boys and said, “Let’s go see what that is.” They walked a short distance to the west until they came to a dead-end and

found a large dark-skinned man standing at the end of their path, holding what appeared to be a light-saber.

The dark-skinned man wore a well-used superman costume and seemed very

annoyed at their presence. His costume was modified with spray-paint and the letters “BW” were clearly intended to be a replacement of the “S.” The light-saber he held had a blade the color of a shimmering emerald, but red spray-paint covered its long metal handle. The top of his costume was too small and the lower portion of his large belly was clearly visible in the light of his blade. His weapon glowed and buzzed like a bad transistor radio.

With no visible fear, Cody stepped forward. “Who are you?” Cody asked. However, when the man bearing the BW on his

chest heard the sound of his voice, he began to speak his own words. “Listen up, fool!” BW said. “I got the weapon, I do the talking!” As BW scanned the trio of adventurers, he noticed that Cody not only had his

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own light-saber hanging on his hip, but Cody’s weapon looked to be newer, better, and the kid wearing it was obviously well disciplined and showed no fear, unlike the other two adventurers.

BW retracted his blade, put it away and came at Cody with his hand out,

meaning to shake his hand. “I wanna be your friend,” BW said, as he gripped Cody’s hand hard enough to

turn his knuckles white. All of a sudden, BW grabbed Cody’s toy Light-saber and ran back to the corner

of the room with it, laughing as he ran. He looked his new weapon over and admired its fine craftsmanship, assuming it to be a real weapon. After a short moment of consideration, BW threw his old weapon at Cody and laughed at the unauthorized deal he had made.

Cody picked up his newly acquired weapon and fastened it to his belt, in place

of his old one. Cody then watched as the stone wall behind BW opened and a spooky figure with red glowing eyes began lurking behind him. Upon viewing the adventurers, the figure lowered its head and scanned the cavern from left to right. The skin of its hands looked like tanned leather.

BW was unaware of the creature standing behind him, but the moment he saw

fear flash in Cody’s eyes, he decided to kill these cowardly adventurers once and for all.

Cody lifted a finger in the direction of the shadowy figure and prepared to

scream, but at the same time, BW ignited a blade of plastic and moved to take off Cody’s head. Cody’s scream instantly muted as BW’s blade slapped him in the throat, causing him to enter into a coughing fit. BW was confused at how the boy somehow survived this deadly strike, and after a moment, Cody again aimed his finger at the shadowy figure, and with the best raspy voice he could manage, screamed.

“We’re all gonna die!”

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BW turned to look behind him, and upon viewing the demon-like phantom, he simply adjusted his waistband and ran for the exit. He stopped only for a quick moment to raise his fist at the trio in an “I will be back” gesture. Cody’s keen sense of observation noticed the

dried red paint caked around BW’s fingertips. BW took one last look at the shadowy figure lurking in the room, turned and

quickly fled into the darkness. Snarls of defiance echoed from the shadowy figure as it turned and moved

toward the trio of adventurers. A chill ran down Floyd’s spine when the creature’s head turned and its red eyes made contact with his.

Floyd looked at both Ryan and Cody, and without a word, they all together ran

out the same exit as BW. They ran all the way back to the intersection where they had decided to branch west, only this time they merged back onto the northern path once again. Cody’s flashlight continued to light the way.

They decided to stop for a short break and catch their breath. In the distance,

Ryan thought he heard a scream from the direction they came. Cody thought he heard the sound of an animal tongue licking something nearby, but said nothing.

After a short break, Floyd stood up and began brushing the dust from his pants. “C’mon Louis and Clark, let’s get this adventure moving!” he teased. Cody looked both hurt and angry. “Why does Ryan get to be Superman and I’m the girl?” Floyd smiled and corrected them. “Not Lois …Louis. Louis and Clark were famous explorers, you know, like from

history? Ok never mind, let’s just go.”

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“Look!” Cody said, pointing his finger to the north. “There’s light at the end of the tunnel!”

“About time,” Ryan mumbled, and they moved eagerly to the north, hoping to

exit this nightmare. As Cody walked through the tunnels, he ran his fingers over a large red welt left

on his neck by BWs plastic light-saber. “BW tried to decapitate me!” Cody said to the others. “I hope he got ate by

that demon-thing!”

A short walk to the north brought them into another large chamber very much

like the last, only this one had a tall triangular stone structure directly at the center with a bright blue glow emanating from a square hole in the ceiling. As Floyd entered the chamber, he caught his foot in a tangle of black vines and almost fell. After the others entered the room, the green glow from the walls brightened and there was a loud grinding sound as the doorways of the chamber slammed shut. At the same time, a deep mighty voice boomed from the ceiling.

“HUMANS!” After hearing the deep voice, Ryan looked around doubtfully. “Who are you?” he asked. “I AM THE GUARDIAN OF THIS CAVERN AND THE KEEPER OF

KNOWLEDGE BEYOND YOUR IMAGINATION,” the voice boomed.

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“Since when do caves need guardians?” Ryan asked. Cody glared at his brother. “Shut up Ryan!” “WHY HAVE YOU SOUGHT ME OUT?” the voice asked. The trio of confused adventurers looked back and forth to one-another until

finally, Cody began to speak. “We weren’t looking for you!” he said. “We just want to get out of here and go

home!” Floyd looked into the glowing hole and added, “Preferably alive.” “YOU WILL ESCAPE ONLY IF I ALLOW YOU!” the voice replied. “IT HAS BEEN A LONG TIME SINCE I SAW A HUMAN,” the voice

began. “THE OLD ONES I ONCE SERVED NEVER CARED MUCH FOR YOUR KIND.”

“YOUR JOURNEY HOME WILL BE LONG AND DIFFICULT. NOT

ALL OF YOU WILL SURVIVE.” The green glow emanating from the walls dimmed. Then, after a few moments

it began to glow bright once again.” “I HAVE SOMETHING TO OFFER THAT WILL AID YOU ON YOUR

QUEST,” the voice announced. “We’re not on a quest!” Cody said. “We just want to go home.” After another long pause, Floyd stepped forward and said, “Listen Cave Dude,

do you have enough knowledge to show us the way out of here?”

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A steady bolt of lightning cracked from the hole in the ceiling and began to burn

a line across the floor in Floyd’s direction. “I AM NOT A CAVE DUDE!” the Guardian echoed. “Are you gonna kill me?” Floyd screamed. At once, the lightning stopped and the voice began to speak in a calm tone, “IN

TIME, PERHAPS I WILL!” As Floyd recomposed himself, the guardian continued to speak. “MANY

QUESTIONS, YOU HUMANS HAVE. NOW IT IS MY TURN TO ASK THE QUESTIONS!”

“IF YOU WANT TO ESCAPE MY GRASP, YOU MUST FIRST ANSWER

MY RIDDLE,” the voice boomed. “Okay,” Cody allowed. “What’s your riddle?” “FIRST YOU MUST EACH ADDRESS YOURSELVES PROPERLY, AND

STATE THE LAND FROM WHICH YOU HAVE COME” Cody lifted his head to the soft blue glow emanating from the ceiling and spoke. “I am Cody Brannon of America!” Floyd walked between his two nephews and joined them under the blue light. “My name is Floyd, and I’m from the same place as them!” Ryan doubtfully looked up and began to speak. “My name is Rya-” Before he could finish his sentence, the guardian continued to speak, ignoring

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his words. “VERY WELL THEN, ANSWER MY RIDDLE CORRECTLY AND YOU

WILL ESCAPE WITH YOUR LIVES.” Ryan looked to Floyd and shrugged. There was another brief pause, and after a

moment or two, Cody impatiently looked up at the ceiling. “Well, what is it?” “NAME THE ANIMAL OF MINISCULE GIRTH, WAS ONCE

BELIEVED TO HAVE NO WORTH, TO BE EXILED FROM A LIFE OF SHAME, THE LOSS OF A FRIEND HAS YOU TO BLAME.”

“YOU WILL EACH HAVE ONE ATTEMPT TO ANSWER THIS

RIDDLE, AND IF YOU FAIL TO PRODUCE THE CORRECT ANSWER, I WILL DESTROY YOU ALL!”

As the guardian spoke, a solid bolt of lightning flashed from the hole in the

ceiling. The bolt burned into the floor for several seconds as the guardian proved his point.

“WHAT IS YOUR ANSWER?” “I don’t know,” Cody said “THAT IS NOT THE CORRECT ANSWER CODY OF AMERICA!”

“YOU ARE NOW OUT OF THIS GAME.” Floyd and Ryan looked at each other, both afraid to speak. The adventurers sat on the stone floor for what seemed like hours, trying to

think of the correct answer. Neither Floyd, nor Ryan spoke, they sat face-to-face, deep in thought.

After a long period of thought and consideration, Floyd stepped forward.

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“Is it the bear?” “THAT IS NOT THE CORRECT ANSWER FLOYD OF THE SAME

PLACE AS THEM! YOU ARE NOW OUT OF THIS GAME…DUDE!” Floyd tried not to notice the angry stare Ryan gave him; he just took a seat

beside Cody, folded his arms, and hoped Ryan would be able to save them all from certain doom.

Cody looked over at Floyd and shrugged. “What does miniscule mean?” Cody made no effort to quiet his voice, and received a nasty glare from his

brother. “I don’t know,” Floyd replied. “I think it means small and puny.” A look of dawning came to Ryan. He stood up, looked directly into the square

of blue light and raised his arms out to his sides. “It’s Scooter!” “VERY GOOD RYAN OF AMERICA, YOU HAVE ANSWERED THIS

RIDDLE CORRECTLY. I WILL ALLOW SAFE PASSAGE OUT OF THIS LABYRINTH FOR ALL THREE OF YOU NOW, BUT FIRST THERE IS SOMETHING I MUST DO.”

A small stone doorway opened on the eastern wall, and as the trio waited in

anticipation, a small black dog with long curly fur appeared from the shadows to greet them.

“Scooter?” Cody inquired. “Scooter!” Floyd shouted as he reunited with his long lost friend.

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The reunion of dog and master could not have been sweeter. Scooter licked

Floyd’s face and Floyd rubbed Scooter’s long furry ears and scratched his odd-looking head.

“Why is Scooter here?” Ryan asked. “Didn’t you get rid of him?” “I’m sorry for getting rid of you, Scooter!” Floyd said, ignoring his nephew. “I’m

sorry little buddy!” The band of three adventurers was now a band of four, and with the addition of

Scooter, they all seemed happy and eager to get out of this dark smelly place. “How did that cave guardian know my name?” Ryan asked. No one seemed to

hear him. A second much larger doorway slid open from the north, and the four of them

trotted eagerly out of the underground chamber and up a very long spiraling stone staircase, to a new level that was much higher and smelled of flowers and fresh water.

Twice, Cody detected danger in the tunnels and guided the band of adventurers

safely around booby-traps and other various pitfalls. “How did you see that, Cody?” Ryan asked. “I don’t know, I just walked in and looked right at it,” Cody replied. After another long walk to the north, they exited the cave. Floyd, being the

tallest of the adventurers, had to walk the final section of the cavern with his head lowered.

“Wow! I never saw this place before,” Floyd said. “This doesn’t even look like

Ohio!” They found themselves in a large open field of grass and wildflowers. Fallen

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trees scattered over the land and large red berries grew abundantly on the nearby bushes.

Floyd noticed the trees had huge leaves on them; some were over four feet in diameter, and on both sides of the fallen trees were two large water-filled ruts in the ground.

“Those ruts were probably made by the large machine that knocked the trees over,”

Floyd thought. As the sun went down, the adventurers decided they would make a camp out of

the fallen trees and use the large leaves to form a tent together with the branches. After building a very impressive tent, Floyd stood back and admired his handy-

work. “This is gonna be a great place to sleep!” Floyd said. “Let’s try to make a fire

before going to bed.” “Should we tell someone about that Cave Guardian?” Cody asked, as he

grabbed a pair of long wooden branches from the ground. “Maybe,” Floyd replied. “But I’m not sure we could ever find this place again,

and if we did, I don’t know if anyone would believe us.” “I wonder why it called itself the guardian,” Cody inquired. “Was it guarding

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something? It must have been the guardian of something.” “Who cares?” Ryan snapped. “It was just some dumb thing guarding a cave!” Cody thought hard for a moment. “But it almost seemed like it knew us, like it met us before. And it talked to us

like we were important, and on a quest of some kind.” “We are important,” Ryan stated. “We are the guardians of Destiny!” Floyd returned from the tent and walked over to his nephews. “C’mon guys, it’s starting to get dark.” “That Guardian said it had something that would aid us on our quest,” Cody

said, almost to himself. “Leave it alone!” Ryan snapped to his brother. “It probably thought we were

someone else!” Cody said no more about the Guardian. He just sat down with his sticks and

began working on the fire. The others gathered water from the deep ruts, ate the large red berries growing all around them, and eventually returned to the tent with extra food for Cody. After two hours of rubbing sticks together, Cody used BW’s discarded light-saber to start the fire.

Cody entered the tent, removed his new light-saber from his pants and began

using a stick to scrape the remaining red paint from it. “What are you doing?” Ryan asked. Without looking up, Cody replied, “Look how shiny it is under this paint!” “I thought it looked better red,” Ryan said and put his head down.

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Cody sat awake in the tent cleaning the weapon until it looked like new. When he finished cleaning it, he held it up for Ryan to inspect, but his brother was already fast asleep. With a sigh, Cody put his light-saber away and curled up beside Scooter.

With their bellies full and smiles on their faces, they all slept together in their

tent of leaves. Tomorrow, they would figure out where they are. Tomorrow, they would figure out how to get home.

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Chapter Two:

Fall of the Hu-dite

The band of adventurers all awoke at roughly the same time. Floyd guessed the time to be around noon, and they all walked around, well rested from a good night’s sleep and picked more berries to eat as their brunch. Even Scooter ate the large red berries. Floyd was unsure if the dog would eat fruit or not, but he was happy to see his little friend eating something.

The adventurers all ate fruit, played, and laughed at what they had done the day

before. Warm air blew and birds chirped harmoniously as they streaked the sky above them. No one in the group mentioned the fact that they were lost. They only talked about the good times, saving their problems for a later time.

Chief Muchaka sat in a patch of high grass with his scout at his side, watching

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the adventurers from a safe distance. “Do you think they have come to harm our people?” Muchaka asked his scout. “I don’t know,” the scout replied. Louhan was the tribe’s scout. His duty was to watch the perimeter of the camp

and make sure the tribe was safe from harm. The two men hid in the high grass and watched the adventurers every move.

They sat very close to the band of travelers, but they remained motionless. They learned over the years how to become one with the land, and to blend in like the chameleon. They watched them laugh and they watched them eat. Then, all of a sudden, there was an unsettling silence among the band of travelers. One of them stood up, spread his arms out to his side and spoke very loudly into the open air.

“Who did it?” The Chief froze in place, and the scout had a look of terror and complete failure

on his face. “They must see us,” the Chief stated. Chief Muchaka had been the Chief of the Ubangi tribe for many years now, and

he knew the tribal customs well. When a Chief meets a Chief of a different tribe, it is customary to spread out your arms and say the name of your tribe.

“Maybe they do not see us,” the Chief said to his scout. “Look!” the scout said. “One of them is waving at us!” The two tribesmen looked at the adventurers as one of them began fanning his

hand back and forth in front of his face. “Have they come in peace, or are they hostile?” the chief asked his scout.

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At that moment, the third member of the adventurers burst into a fit of laughter.

The Chief and the scout looked at each other, and at the same time they both

said, “They must be friendly.” “What did their Chief say his tribe was called?” The Chief asked. “I believe he said he was of the, uh… Hu-dite Tribe,” Louhan answered. The Chief and the scout stood up, and together they began slowly approaching

the Hu-dite tribesman. As they neared the camp, the Hu-dite tribe seemed to pay no attention to the approaching Ubangi tribesman.

Cody was laughing and throwing red berries into the air, catching them mid-air

in his mouth. Ryan was still giggling at something Floyd did a few moments earlier, and Floyd was simply sitting near a water-filled rut, enjoying the pleasant weather.

Suddenly, the sound of another man’s voice broke the silence and Cody froze. “A kway tukiddy? Nzala!” the smaller man said. Cody spun around and gasped when he saw the two dark-skinned tribesman

standing shoulder-to-shoulder. The larger tribesman put his hands out to his sides and attempted to speak to him.

“What the?-” Cody said. The sight of the two tribesmen shook him so badly that he fell flat on his

backside. “They speak English!” the larger man said. After a moment, the smaller man looked over to the larger man and said,

“Pahnam bezy.”

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“We are of the Ubangi tribe!” the larger man announced.

“My name is Muchaka, I am the Chief. And this is my scout, Louhan.”

Louhan nodded with a smile as the Chief introduced him.

Floyd and Ryan quickly approached the scene, and after a few

back-and-forth words between the two Chiefs, the Chief of the Ubangi tribe spread out his hands and began to speak.

“We welcome you to mingle with our tribe, to hear our music and to share our

food.” “Did he say food?” Cody asked. “Yeah, let’s eat some food and party a little!” Ryan said. “Who knows, Floyd,

maybe you’ll meet the woman of your dreams!” Floyd shot Ryan a disapproving glance, then stepped forward and shook the

Chief’s hand. “We would be glad to mingle with your tribe.” The four adventurers followed Chief Muchaka and Louhan into a narrow path

of weeds and tall colorful flowers. They walked around a small pond and past a corral of animals. As they passed the corral, they saw a tall Ubangi man holding a live chicken against a tree stump with his left hand. With his right hand, he raised a hatched high in the air. When the tall man saw the adventurers walking through, he paused with his hatchet raised and kept his eyes on them until they passed. The six of them walked through a long field of wildflowers and back into another narrow path until they arrived at the village.

The Ubangi village was just as Floyd imagined it; young aborigine children ran

through the village with smiles on their faces and women held hands with the men as they walked from hut to hut. Several villagers gathered around an elderly

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man with a bamboo flute and danced around him as he created beautiful music. Two men stood near the woods holding up large fish. The men discussed their fish loudly in a tribal language. There was a large open hut to the east, which served as the village store; Floyd noticed sacks of grain and large ceramic bowls setting inside.

As the members of the Hu-dite tribe walked through the Ubangi village, they

could all feel the eyes on them. Cody began to wonder if this was a good idea or not. Scooter kept his snout buried in Floyd’s arms. Thick underbrush and high grass surrounded the outer perimeter of the large village. Paths branched from Northeast to Southwest and a knee-deep stream flowed at the far end. Floyd noticed a narrow dirt path winding through the village, leading to a secluded place at the far Northeast end. In the center were two beautifully decorated huts, obviously for the Chief and someone else of great importance. Slowly, the tribesmen arrived to greet the newcomers.

The members of the Ubangi tribe wore very primitive clothing. Most only wore

skirts of straw, but Floyd noticed some of them wearing colorful beads around their necks and ornamental headdresses. The guards wore similar skirts, but had small animal bones pierced through their noses and guarded the entrance to the village with long wooden spikes. As Louhan approached, Ryan noticed he wore a digital watch on his left wrist and smelled strongly of cigarette smoke. Chief Muchaka wore a lay of white flowers and carried a carved wooden staff; he had the look of a respected leader.

The adventurers felt very small among the members of the Ubangi tribe; very

few were less than six feet tall. Cody stared in awe as two very tall tribesmen exited the Northeast path and approached him. The two men appeared to be identical twins and took turns shaking his hand.

“Welcome!” they said, before disappearing into the crowd. At one point, Ryan elbowed Floyd in the ribs and grinned. “There’s a woman for you!” he said.

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Ryan motioned toward a group of female Ubangi and Floyd noticed one of them had a stretchy substance between her thumb and index finger, and she seemed to be very intrigued by it.

Upon viewing the fascinating Ubangi woman, Floyd sat up straight and adjusted

his short brown hair with his fingers. “I get all the good ones!” he said, jokingly. The villagers entered the center of the village and began sitting down in neat

rows on the ground. The adventurers followed their example and began searching for a section big enough for the four of them. They found a vacant section at the front of the crowd and each sat down.

As the adventurers took their seats, the Ubangi tribe began to take an interest in

some of their belongings. The members of the Hu-dite tribe began showing various items to the Ubangi tribe and vice-versa, until Cody finally removed his little flashlight and flicked it on.

The Ubangi tribe gasped in amazement at what Cody was doing. Then, the

Chief came over and looked into Cody’s face. “Our prophecy says that a chosen one will be found, and he will produce

lightning from his hands.” Again, Chief Muchaka looked at Cody, this time in the eyes. “Are you this chosen one?” Cody sat up straight and cleared his throat. “Yes I am.” “Come!” the Chief said. “Make our village your home! Everything you see is

yours to have, and my people will see to it you are given everything you want!”

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“Give me a taco!” Cody quickly replied. Upon hearing Cody’s request, the Chief’s head lowered and a look of sadness

came over him. The Chief turned and slowly walked toward the most decorated tent in the village. He slowly looked back at Cody.

“Atokko is my only daughter.” Chief Muchaka entered through the entrance of the tent, and after a very long

time, he walked out with his arm around one very happy tribeswoman. Atokko was unlike the other Ubangi women; she was very elegantly dressed

with colorful beads and a long tan skirt. “Come!” the Chief said. “You should mate with her now!” A look of dread flashed on Cody’s face as he turned to his tribe for help.

“What?” Cody asked. “No!” he screamed, but the Chief insisted that he must

father his daughter’s child. Floyd and Ryan stood up to help Cody, but two Ubangi tribesmen quickly lifted

sharpened spikes at their throats. “He must go, he is the chosen one!” the guards insisted. Floyd and Ryan watched helplessly as Cody entered the tent with the Ubangi

woman. There was a long period of silence in the Ubangi woman’s tent. Several minutes

later, Cody’s shirt flew out of the hut and then there was a loud crash. After what seemed to be an eternity, the Ubangi woman burst through the door of her tent. Her lips parted into a smile so wide that it nearly spanned the full width of her face.

“I’m pregnant!” the Ubangi woman shouted.

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Chapter Three: Fall of the Ubangi

Atokko pulled eagerly at Cody’s arm until he disappeared inside the tent. The light of the evening sun lit the tent through a large opening cut in the roof. The tribeswoman smiled and came at him with a passionate smile. Her greasy lips shined like warm buttered bagels. Cody fumbled back until his back pressed firmly against the far wall of the tent. Then, Atokko pulled him close and planted her warm lips against his.

He jumped over the bed and began circling the inside perimeter of the tent,

trying to stay away from the lust-driven Ubangi.

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“I want your baby!” she teased. Atokko then grabbed Cody by the shirt-collar, spun him around and aimed his

backside toward her bed. She then grabbed his collar with her other hand, and in one quick motion, tore his shirt free from his body and threw it out the opening in the roof. With his backside aimed at her bed, Atokko gave him a hard push, intending to land him in her bed.

Cody tried desperately not to land in her bed, but the push of the tribeswoman

was so hard that his knees buckled and his feet slipped. He flailed his arms and fell crashing hard to the floor, taking a bamboo incense burner with him. He scrambled on his hands and feet around the floor of the tent when Atokko began to get impatient.

“I want to be pregnant!” The tribeswoman came at Cody again, but this time he waved his arms in front

of his face to shield himself from her moist lips and screamed. “You’re not going to get pregnant!”

Atokko finally had Cody right where she wanted him, on the floor, helpless, and shirtless. However, as he began waving his arms, she felt her mind go weak and she fell into a mindless trance. It was as if his hands were weaving a magical spell.

Like many other Ubangi, Atokko had a very limited understanding of the

English language, and when Cody said the words “You’re not going to get pregnant,” she only understood two of his words.

“You’re pregnant!”

Atokko’s face filled with joy. She quickly adjusted her hair, and burst from the

door of her tent.

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Cody looked down at his throbbing hands; they felt as if they surged with power.

“I’m pregnant,” she confirmed, and hugged her father happily. “I am so proud of you Atokko!” Chief Muchaka said. “We will prepare a feast

in honor of the Hu-dites!”

“He couldn’t have…” Floyd reasoned. At that moment, Cody emerged from the tribeswoman’s hut with his shirt tore

off, his hair messed up, and large greasy lip-marks all over his face. Ryan and Floyd stared at Cody, unaware of their slack-jawed expressions. The

guards lifted the spikes from their throats and released them to join Cody. Floyd slowly walked over to Cody and lifted his hands out to his sides. “What happened?” As he saw the concern on his uncle’s face, Cody began to smile. “Nothing happened… nothing happened at all.” “Then why is she telling everyone that you got her pregnant?” Ryan inquired. “I don’t know,” Cody replied. “I think I somehow did a Jedi mind trick on her

and made her think she is pregnant!” “You’re not a Jedi, Cody!” Ryan reminded him. “This is stupid… first you were

a Sith, and now you’re a Jedi?” Without warning, two of the guards threw down their spikes and hoisted Cody

above their shoulders. Cody looked like a half nude crowd surfer at a rock concert as he traveled over the tribesmen and dropped into a colorfully beaded bamboo

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chair beside the Chief. “We will now feast in honor of the chosen one!” the Chief declared. The moment the Chief finished his announcement, loud tribal music blasted

from all around the village. The guards hammered away at various drums and each pounded in sync with each other. The women played flutes made of bamboo and the whole Ubangi tribe shouted and sang to the music. Many of them danced. Even the children gathered into groups and clapped their hands to the beat of the drums.

Floyd watched as a tribesman produced a long wooden stringed instrument.

Dried animal intestines stretched over the length of the instrument and served as strings. As the man began plucking the strings with his fingers, Floyd elbowed Ryan.

“Check this dude out! He’s like the Eddie Van Halen of tribal music!” At one point, a large beautiful Ubangi woman pulled Floyd from his seat and

proceeded to boogie with him in front of both tribes. Floyd was clearly embarrassed as the woman kissed him squarely on the lips and smashed her backside against his lap. Her lips parted to reveal a mouthful of crooked teeth as she lowered her head, batting her long eyelashes at him.

Scooter kept a watchful eye on his dancing master.

As the night grew dark, the Chief emerged from his hut and called to his

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tribesmen. “Wenda banga tevia!” he announced, and two tribesmen arrived from the

Northwest path, carrying long flaming torches. The tribesmen ignited pits of fire all around the village; the largest pit had a

spinning rotisserie of meat sizzling above it. Chickens and other various forms of dead animal roasted over the fire.

One impatient Ubangi man grabbed a piece of undercooked chicken and began

feasting on it. His jaw made a slow, steady rotation as he chewed the raw meat. The man stared mindlessly at nothing and seemed unaware of the juices running down his chin. Once he finished eating, he grabbed Ryan’s left hand with both of his juice-covered hands and looked him in the eyes.

“We are very happy to have visitors! We have not seen an outsider since the day

David Chase came and told us his lies!” There was an uncomfortable moment of silence as the tribesman waited for

Ryan to speak to him. Reluctantly, Ryan asked, “Who’s he?” After taking another bite of chicken, the tribesman continued. “He was not a good man. He lied to us and said he was a god. The chief allowed

him to live, but our people must shun him forever. I’ll never forget that face, that scar.”

“Uh, okay,” Ryan replied. The Ubangi man gave Ryan a quick joyful grin and then continued eating his

chicken. Floyd took a seat between Ryan and Cody.

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“You better not have gotten that Ubangi pregnant, Cody,” Floyd said. “I didn’t do anything!” Cody insisted. “Yeah right, chosen one!” Ryan teased. Cody looked at Ryan and screamed. “I’m not the chosen one!” The whole Ubangi village stopped playing music and stared at Cody. Somewhere in the distance, a bird screeched. After a very uncomfortable period of silence, the Chief returned with two

guards. “Why have you lied to us?” the Chief asked. Cody picked his shirt from the ground and put it on. “My shirt has a big hole in it,” he complained. “And it was new too.” “You have come into our village, and lied to us. You have eaten our food,

listened to our music, and raped my daughter.” “We didn’t eat any food yet.” Cody argued. He was oblivious of the impending

danger and still preoccupied with his torn shirt. “I’m sure you all realize that what you have done is punishable only by death?”

the Chief asked. As the chief walked away, he waved a dismissive hand at the band of

adventurers. He made a gesture by moving two of his finger from left to right under his chin, and whispered loudly to his guards.

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“Kill them!” One of the Ubangi children picked up a large stone and threw it into Cody’s

face, knocking him backwards, out of his seat and onto the hard dirt floor of the village. Another older Ubangi picked up a fallen spike and swung it, cracking Floyd on his head and rendering him unconscious.

Ryan sat very still and tried to blend in with the members of the Ubangi tribe.

When two guards ran at him with spikes, he quickly got up and ran through the village. The guards chased him around huts and all the way back to where he had began. Soon, Hu-dite tribe had nowhere left to run and the guards surrounded them. The guards moved in with their spikes.

Before the guards could impale the adventurers with their weapons, the other

villagers ran into the circle and began to pound Ryan and Cody with their bare hands. They left the unconscious Hu-dite man alone for the time being.

A loud, shrill scream came from Cody’s lips as he tried to stand. Ryan noticed a

Ubangi child holding on to Cody’s head from behind, and found the sight a little amusing. Scooter’s feet sounded like a mini stampede as he avoided attackers.

Cody stood up and smiled. His round face had the look of determination. He grabbed the clutching child with one hand and tossed him aside. A

menacing look formed on Cody’s face and the Ubangi tribesmen backed away from him.

Light from the nearby fire created dancing semi-circles of orange light in Cody’s

mad eyes. He extended his arm and a shimmering blade of green flame ignited from his hand.

A high-pitched growl slowly built from Cody’s lips as he raised his light-saber to

the sky. With his other hand, he slowly waved his hand in the direction of the entire Ubangi tribe and growled.

“You’re all DEAD!”

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Chapter Four: Call of the Jabberwock

The approaching Ubangi moved in on Cody, but as Cody waved his hand in the direction of the tribe, the entire tribe fell under the influence of Cody’s magical hand. As Cody voiced the words “You’re all DEAD,” many of the tribesmen simply fell dead in their tracks.

Those who survived, attacked Cody with amazing speed, and with each diving

Ubangi came the slash of Cody’s blade. Cody was a fine tuned killing machine as he defended his tribe against the

relentless attackers. His blade created a green blur of motion with every slash as he shredded any and all that stood in his path. He moved like an animal; he had

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the speed of a cheetah and the agility of a spider monkey. It is hard to say how Cody obtained these new fighting abilities; maybe it was just luck, or perhaps it was just something in the water. His skeptical brother Ryan might never agree, but the evidence was clear; the force was strong in Cody.

He stopped for a moment to estimate the death toll, and that was when it

happened. One tribesman hurled a single stone and cleanly removed the light-saber from his hand.

Silence fell over the village as they watched the rock disarm him. The villagers

did not delay. All together, they ran at Cody with their weapons ready to kill. A Ubangi woman quickly grabbed Cody’s light-saber and disappeared into the

crowd with it. Another terrified tribesman aimed his finger to the east and began to yell a word in his language.

“Borkala!”

Spears slapped Cody, and rocks pummeled him. Some villagers were even biting

him. Ryan and the others could not see through the mob of attacking villagers, they could only hope he would find a way to survive this hopeless battle.

There was a tribal scream from far above them, and when Ryan looked up, he

saw two tribesmen up in the trees. The tribesmen were looking to the east and pointing their fingers at something. One of these tribesmen was Louhan, the Chiefs scout. Louhan and the other tribesman swung down from the trees, and began organizing the villagers into two large groups.

The attack ceased, and the crowd grew silent. All together, the male tribesmen

began chanting in a deep voice. “Ahhhhh, AHHHHH! Oooooh, OOOOOH!” and a deep drum began to beat

close by. “Boom ba boom, Boom ba Boom.”

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Ryan heard a villager say, “The great animal is coming!” The rest of the village began to chant with the men. “Call… of… The… Jabberwock! Call… of… The…

Jabberwock!” Floyd woke up just in time to see a thin Ubangi man wearing a

large wooden tribal-mask slide on one foot to the center of the chanting villagers and began to dance and sing in a high-pitched

tribal voice over the chant. “Drrrrrrroooo Ha! Bing bum dippy-doo! Bap! Chucka-chucka boing Rassa!” “Did I miss something?” Floyd asked. No one answered. Noodles ran to Floyd’s side and let out one single bark. After a few moments of tribal dancing, the front man took off his mask, and

spoke in a loud voice. “Behold! The Jabberwock!” Ryan heard a low growl from behind him and turned to see a huge bulldozer

painted to look like a tiger coming his way. Small flowers and purple beads decorated the bulldozer and the black stripes over its yellow exterior gave it the look of a mechanical animal. There was a vertical black line painted in the center of each headlight to make them resemble eyes. Riding this bulldozer was Chief Muchaka and two other villagers. The bulldozer made a parallel line of twin ruts deep in the ground as it moved.

A warm smile formed on Chief Muchaka’s face as he watched his guards close

in. The attacking villagers left the scene and the guards held their spikes at Cody’s throat.

Chief Muchaka slid down from the bulldozer and stood over Cody. He nodded

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to the other two villagers and looked down at him. “Your killing has come to an end, CHOSEN ONE!” “Kill Him!” the chief screamed. Cody saw it all happen in slow motion. He saw the spears lifted. He saw the

stones raised. He saw the teeth bared. Raw power boiled through Cody as he lifted his hands to the remaining

villagers. The prophecy of the chosen one was about to come true. Lightning blazed from Cody’s hands, and every one of the Chief’s guards froze

in place from the paralyzing white blast. There was an audible gasp from the remaining villagers. Cody sprang to his feet, never ceasing the wall of lightning radiating from his hands.

Nearly every member of the entire Ubangi community died from Cody’s attack.

Only three remained. Cody pulled his light-saber from the hand of the fallen Ubangi woman, ignited

it, and held it firmly in his hand. The Chief stood in the middle of two villagers, shaking with fear. “You said you were not the chosen one. Because of your lies, all my friends and

family are gone,” the Chief said. Chief Muchaka closed his eyes and seemed to relax a bit. He whispered some

words under his breath, and then screamed his final words. “You will suffer greatly for this!” The two remaining villagers ran at Cody, but they were unarmed. Cody waited

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until the last second, and then he took them both out with a single slash. As the Chief ran for his bulldozer, Cody snapped his finger and a single bolt of lightning cracked from the sky, striking him dead.

That was the end of the Ubangi.

However, the danger was far from over when Cody heard the sound of a light-

saber ignite from behind. When he turned to look, he was surprised to see BW standing behind him, holding a newly made red light-saber.

“I knew we hadn’t seen the last of you, BW. You won’t escape this time. I see

you’ve found yourself a real light-saber,” Cody said, grinning firmly. “Yeah, some punk kid swindled me out of my last one. By the way, the name is

Willy. Big Willy.” Cody began to breath heavy. “You should not have come back, Willy.” Cody raised his own blade and waited for Willy to attack. As the two prepared for battle, Scooter began to howl. “Look!” Ryan screamed. “That demon guy is back!” Willy and Cody both turned their heads to see a tall shadowy figure

approaching from the wide Southeast path. “Oh no,” Willy muttered. Willy’s lips pressed into a thin straight line as he considered his options, then, he

turned back to face Cody. “C’mon, boy. Let’s take this punk out together! We can deal with each other

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later.” Cody nodded his head, and together, they turned to face the lurking phantom.

“This creature is not even human,” Floyd thought. As the figure approached, he

noticed it was different from the figure he saw in the cavern. Its skin was much paler and its hair was white like straw. The blink of its eyes interrupted the red burning glow.

Scooter began to whine. “So fearless you are!” the phantom hissed. “I will show you much fear!” The phantom looked down to all the fallen tribesmen. He waved one bony

hand in their direction, and their bodies began to re-animate and rise to their feet. Headless bodies walked the village and legless zombies groped for their legs as

the village came alive with the dead. Cody and Willy stood back-to-back as the undead villagers approached. The

first to attack was Louhan. He moved in slow and Willy had to slash the corpse several times before he would drop.

Once again, the severed limbs of Ubangi folk flew. Two of the undead villagers

grabbed Ryan from behind and tried to tear him apart. He struggled to break free of their grasp and screamed for Scooter to help him. When he turned to look, he saw the little dog trying to run away. Ryan fell on his back, kicked the undead villager and grabbed Scooter by the tip of his tail. Ryan dragged the dog back to him by the tail, secured his hands under its furry belly, and tossed him in the direction of the attackers. He let go of the dog just in time and Scooter flew through the air, making a panicked “Roarrrr!” sound. Scooter flew teeth-first into the face of an undead Ubangi and attacked it with all his strength until the undead villager stopped moving.

“I think you gotta cut ‘em through the mid-section to stop ‘em!” Willy said.

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The undead villagers were slow, and most of them had already sustained damage from the previous battle. The duo had no problem dispatching them.

Cody and Willy turned to face the Demon-man. “You’re next, buddy!” Willy taunted. The shadowy figure began to laugh. “Good against a few you may be, but how good are you against an army!” The phantom walked in the direction of the Ubangi cemetery and passed his

open palm over the cemetery gates.

At first, nothing happened, but after a few seconds, the sky darkened to a deep purple color and the full moon turned a shade of orange.

Headstones fell over and creepy moans echoed from the cemetery as rotting

corpses pried their way out of the ground. Over ten years of fallen Ubangi were coming alive.

Big Willy looked at the laughing phantom from a distance and saw the glow of

his red eyes. “I said you’re NEXT!” he screamed. Willy ignored the approaching undead Ubangi and ran straight for the shadowy

figure. With one hand holding onto his waistband, he raised his light-saber with the other as he charged.

As Willy approached the phantom, he watched it remove a device from within

its robe. “You humans have seen too much. Soon there will be an order to erase you.”

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There was a ratcheting click sound, a few electronic beeps and the phantom slowly faded away into the darkness.

“Yeah, that’s what I thought, freak!” Willy said. As he ran back to join Cody, he stopped for only a

moment to shear the head from one confused undead villager. The undead villagers were now coming from everywhere. Ryan, Floyd and

Scooter crouched down in the corner lot of the cemetery while Cody and Willy defended against the mob of moaning attackers. They fought back-to-back against the oncoming freaks until they began coming in swarms of dozens at a time.

Two villagers knocked Willy down and almost ate him alive, but one large rock

thrown by Ryan removed both attackers. He gave Ryan a warm smile and a nod of appreciation as he continued fighting. As the number of attackers increased, Willy could no longer hold the undead villagers at bay and had to run for the corner lot to join the others. As the undead villagers left the cemetery and passed through the village, they began to eat the flesh from the more recently deceased villagers.

Cody defended against the oncoming attackers alone. One by one, he slashed

them down. The others watched in suspense as the undead villagers tried to knock him down and eat him alive.

Ryan heard a moan coming from behind him. He turned to see a very large

corpse, missing the upper half of its head, come at him with its mouth open. He grabbed the villager by its tattered shirt, spun it around and heaved it in front of his brothers swinging blade. Cody severed the heads from two attackers, cut another in half from the center of its head down, turned, and slashed his brother’s attacker fast, before stabbing a crawling villager through the mid-section.

Cody knew he could not keep this up for long. The freaks came from all

directions, advancing fast. Some walked slowly and some ran. Some attackers

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swung from vines and landed on their feet, ready to lunge. Twice, the villagers knocked him down, forcing him to use his lightning attack. If he was going to live, he would have to develop a new tactic, and fast.

Cody let go of his light-saber with his left hand, using the free hand for balance.

With his right hand, he held his weapon firm. He closed his eyes and used his mind to sense the enemies.

Using one hand for balance and the other to fight, he had the look of a highly

trained fencer. His weapon was a steady green blur as he sliced, maimed, and destroyed his enemies. Willy and the others watched in amazement. Cody barely moved his feet; when a villager approached him, he slashed blindly and disabled them without looking. Bodies were beginning to pile up everywhere.

Cody could feel everyone around him. In his mind, it was as if he was looking

down on himself from a great distance. He saw only darkness, but in the center, he saw himself, and with his new abilities still early in their development, he saw everyone else as a blurry orange shape. If a shape approached him from any direction, he could turn and attack them without giving any warning. This was Cody at his best. This was the most efficient killer a human could become.

Hidden in the cemetery, Willy thought he heard someone speak to him. He

turned to Ryan and asked, “What did you say?” Ryan momentarily took his eyes from the battle and looked at Willy. “I didn’t say anything.” After a long tiring battle, the morning sun began to rise and the last of the

undead attackers dropped at Cody’s feet. Floyd ran over to Cody to congratulate him for saving all their lives, but Cody

still had his eyes closed and his mind was ready to sense anything that approached. What happened next, no one could have predicted.

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With one swift motion, Cody swung his blade. His blade cut straight through his uncle’s upper torso, removing the upper-half of his body and both of his arms. Floyd was in pieces. He fell dead on the ground of the Ubangi village.

Scooter struggled free of Willy’s grip and ran to his fallen master, whining. Cody sensed a problem and heard a voice inside his head say, “You will suffer

greatly for this!” He opened his eyes, dropped his light-saber to the ground and screamed.

“NO!” The Chief of the Hu-dite had fallen.

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Chapter Five: A Momentary Lapse of Destiny

Big Willy stood over the grave with his bible in his hand. His modified superman costume was now long gone. He tossed the costume into the cold fire pit, unbuttoned the top button of his white shirt and prepared to speak.

“He was my friend!” Willy cried. Willy did not actually know anything about Floyd, but he tried his best to give a

good speech. He was the only one capable of talking at a time like this. Willy tried to make this sound like a true funeral, but he lacked the words. He noticed Ryan and Cody were not paying him much attention, and he began to mumble undecipherable words in a low voice.

This is Willy, always doing his best to make the two younger adventurers feel

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better. Standing at six-foot nine-inches tall and weighing in at two hundred and seventy pounds, the adventurers are unlikely to find a larger member for their party. He doesn’t like to take a lot of time creating a plan, he prefers to just run in and get the job done. He can sometimes be slow at thinking, but often his straightforward way of attacking a problem is the best way to get the job done. His bad attitude and foul mouth is often the cause of his unemployment, but he is a reliable friend.

No one thanked Willy for taking half the day to dig this grave using only a piece

of wood taken from a hut. He did not need thanked; he knew he was the only one that could do it.

The remaining adventurers searched the Ubangi village for a place to make

camp. They followed the long twisty path through the village until they found a circle of stones surrounding a large wooden stake hammered deep into the ground. They saw the burnt remains of a dead woman tied to the stake and Cody had to look away. In the distance, they saw two men hanging from ropes in the trees.

“Oh!” Willy gasped, covering his mouth as he saw the hanging bodies. “I think I’m gonna be sick!” Willy walked back and forth for several minutes with his hand over his mouth.

Eventually, he calmed down, took a seat on the dry dirt and looked at Cody. “We’re lucky to be alive,” he said. “Hanging is a nasty way to go.” Ryan took a good long look at the woman and turned his back to her. “I think I lost my appetite.” It was getting late in the evening. Darkness settled over the Ubangi village and

the air cooled to an uncomfortable chill. Cody’s light-saber was still lying where he dropped it the previous night. Willy had to light the fire.

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The loss of Floyd weighed heavily on their minds. No one spoke for over an hour; they all just stared through the glow of the fire and tried to keep their thoughts to themselves.

“What are we going to do?” Cody asked. “What are we going to tell mom?

When we go home and he’s not with us… We’re going to have to think of something to tell her, but I just don’t know what.”

“Murder,” Ryan said, without taking his eyes from the fire. “It wasn’t murder, Ryan! It was an accident!” Cody argued. Ryan stood up. “Yeah, an accident you caused, and now we are stuck here lost.” “You guys just chill out!” Willy said firmly. “We would have all died if it wasn’t

for Cody. It is too bad that one of us had to die, but without Cody, all of us would be dead! Do you agree?”

“I guess so,” Ryan admitted. “I’m going to sleep.” One by one, they all disappeared inside the hut; a hut that once belonged to

Atokko, and eventually they did sleep.

Scooter heard a sound coming from outside the hut. When he trotted out to see what the cause of this sound was, he was shocked to see another group of undead villagers.

Scooter tried to bark, but was too frightened to make a sound. When Scooter saw an undead villager approach the hut where his friends were

sleeping, he attacked the freak with all his might until the creature of the night ceased to move.

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One by one, the undead freaks attacked Scooter. After learning the most efficient way to kill them, the undead bodies began to pile up.

Scooter became the very essence of death as he slaughtered everything that came

within sight. However, he eventually grew tired, and the endless supply of creatures proved to be too much for him. The mob of moaning Ubangi overpowered the small dog and Scooter lost his life.

Scooter awoke from his nightmare and looked around the hut. He trotted outside and scanned the area for undead Ubangi. After deciding everything was safe, he sniffed the air for his old master and eventually curled up beside Ryan and slept.

Ryan and Cody awoke to the smell of Willy heating meat over the fire pit. “What are you cooking,” Cody asked. “I thought I’d reheat some of this chicken for breakfast.” They all ate chicken and fruit for breakfast, and once they finished eating, they

began sharing their stories. “Why are you here, Willy? Why do you always seem to cause us trouble, and

why are you being nice to us now?” Ryan asked. “I know these Ubangi folks have secrets, and I wanted to be the first to get my

hands on their technology,” Willy answered. “They’re aborigines! They don’t have technology! What do you think you’re

gonna find? They thought that bulldozer was an animal!” Ryan argued. “They’ve been dealing with strange people. I heard from a very reliable source

that they are guarding a device that can send a man through time and even teleport them to a new location.”

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“That’s stupid,” Ryan said. Willy kept his eyes on Ryan. “I thought you guys were looking

for it too. That’s why I tried to stop you from getting here first.”

“I just want to go home.” Cody added. “We’re gonna take everything we can use from this village, then we’ll go home,”

Willy said. The village had nothing of value. Ryan kept a purple beaded necklace as a

souvenir and was just about to give up this search for goods, when he discovered something.

“Willy!” he yelled. When Willy arrived at the hut, Ryan showed him an oil-stained necktie hanging

on a nail on the rear wall, a car battery and a small toolbox hidden under a pile of empty cigarette packs.

Inside the toolbox was one pair of pliers, which Willy crammed into his pocket. “They probably just used the battery for lights,” Willy said. “Let’s get out of

here.” Ryan shoved the empty cigarette packs aside and saw something shining in the

floor. “Look!” Willy came over to Ryan and saw what he had found; the corner of a thick metal

plate, hidden under the cigarette packs. “I can’t believe how big this thing is!” Willy said as he lifted the plate. The huge

metal plate had a thick coating of soil for camouflage, and nearly covered the

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entire floor of the hut. Under the plate was a smaller room. The room had walls made of wood, but the

floor was soil. There was a single black backpack resting on the dirt floor. Willy grabbed the backpack and immediately opened it to reveal an electronic

device. The device had a digital readout to the left, one knob, and two wires hanging from its lower portion.

Willy aimed a finger at the wires and looked at Ryan. “Something is missing here.” Willy looked again inside the backpack, and found one scrap of paper with a

handwritten note on it. The note read,

Hello, my friend! My name is Doctor Mcagen. I am the inventor of the

trans−dimensional field generator. I hope my device is in good hands. I created two of these devices. My associate Dr. Ulrich

and I each used a device to travel through a portal, but we found ourselves in a strange place. The place we visited did not seem like Earth at all, there were creatures that looked like priests following us; they are tall, and have eyes of red fire. These “Clawdites” captured and killed Dr.

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Ulrich and took possession of his field generator. I barely escaped with my life, but these Clawdite men followed me back to MY dimension using Dr. Ulrich’s device. I originally designed these devices for the instantaneous

traveling of large distances. The portal itself will act as a transmitter, and the smaller receiver portals placed at various destinations will actively receive the signal. Using the transmitter, you can choose between the destination points and travel to them instantly. However, after installing our third receiver portal, our transmitter unit failed to detect it properly. The transmitter unit detected an unknown portal that was not installed by either Dr. Ulrich or myself. After much consideration, I decided to attempt traveling to

this unknown destination. I was gone for several days and my associate Dr. Ulrich was worried I would never return. He decided to complete the second device and attempt to

bring me back. He found me alive and in good health, but I had been hiding from Clawdites and was unable to make an escape. Eventually, I was able to get out alive and return home, but my associate was not as lucky. The general stripped him of his device; interrogated him and eventually killed him.

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After returning home, I resumed my work on improving the

field generator. Using the notes left by my associate, I was able to modify my remaining device to allow for time travel as well as traveling to destination portals. I don’t believe the Clawdites have learned the secrets of

time travel. The device they took and replicated was only capable of destination travel, but I’m sure it’s only a matter of time before they learn time travel as well. The elders of the Clawdite look like priests and control the

technology. Once the first device fell into their hands, they began producing copies of that device and I believe they intend to use these devices to help them take over the planet systems of the galaxy one by one. The Elders have strange inhuman abilities. I am sure they

plan to inhabit earth and turn our world into a place of fear, death and horror. My life is now in serious danger. Possibly the whole galaxy

is in danger. If you are reading this letter, I am most surely dead. I have disassembled the remaining prototype device into two parts. I have left the first piece in the

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care of a Ubangi tribesman, and I have hidden the other part in the Carlsbad Caverns of New Mexico. You MUST NOT let the remaining device fall in the hands of the Clawdites or they will be unstoppable! The fate of many worlds may be in your hands.

Sincerely,

Dr. Mcagen

On the back of the note was a hand drawn map of the Carlsbad Caverns with an X drawn at the end of one passage.

Willy folded the map, and placed it in his wallet. “The shadowy figure we fought in the village must have been a Clawdite!” “This is creepy. What if they’re after us? What if they’re after the device?”

Cody asked. Ryan ignored his brother’s questions. “What are we supposed do now?” “We should destroy this device, and we should find and destroy the other one

too!” Willy said. Ryan’s face lit up.

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“If we can travel through time, maybe we can save Floyd from getting chopped

up by Cody!” Ryan said. Cody looked at Ryan; there was a look of excitement on his face. “It’s too much of a risk,” Willy said. “If these Clawdite people get their hands

on both of the devices, there will be no stopping them. We need to destroy this device, and if we ever find the other one, it must be destroyed too.”

“And what do we say if they find us without the device?” Ryan asked

sarcastically. “Sorry, we broke it?” Ryan stood up and spread out his arms. “Who votes to reassemble this device

and try to save Floyd?” Ryan and Cody both raised their hands. Willy sat down, folded his arms and sighed. “I guess we’re going to New Mexico.”

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Chapter Six: Destination Unknown

The remaining adventurers spent their last night in the Ubangi village. They awoke early to the sound of Ryan moving around inside the hut.

“What are you doing?” Cody asked. “I want to try something,” Ryan replied, and walked out the door. They walked out of the hut just in time to see Ryan pulling the battery out of

the bulldozer. “What the heck are you doing, man?” Willy asked. Ryan removed the electronic device from the backpack and began to connect

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the wires of the device to the battery of the bulldozer. “Don’t do that!” Cody said. “If you burn that thing up, we’ll never save Floyd!” “The writing on the back of this device reads, 12 volts DC… I think this might

work,” he said to Cody. Ryan attached the second wire of the device to the battery and put his hand on

the knob. “Here goes something!” “Wait, Ryan!” Willy said. “You don’t know how to use that thing, and you

don’t even know if it’s going to work at all!” “I think we are at destination two right now. The device is still set from the last

time someone used it. I’m going to turn the knob to the destination three position. If it takes me to someplace bad, I’ll just turn the knob back.”

No one argued. They both wanted to know what would happen just as bad as

Ryan did. “Okay, do it,” Willy said. Ryan sat on the ground with the wired up device between his legs. He inhaled

once, and let it out slowly. Then he put his hand on the knob, and clicked it to the destination four position.

There was a ratcheting click sound as Ryan turned the knob. The digital display

lit up, followed by a series of electronic beeps. Ryan waited a minute, then looked up at the others. “Maybe it’s not going to work.” Ryan waited several more minutes, and then he dropped the device to the

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ground. “We’re going to have to go-” Ryan’s words cut short as the device hummed to life and he slowly faded away

into the light of the morning sun. The device he dropped was still lying on the ground next to the large battery.

“Ryan!” Cody screamed. Scooter began to growl and bark as he watched his friend disappear. Cody’s mouth dropped open and he looked at Willy. “He’s gone! First Floyd and now Ryan is gone too!” Willy gave Cody a doubtful look. “Maybe he’ll come back.” “He can’t come back! The device is still here!” Cody argued.

Willy and Cody waited for over an hour for Ryan to return. There was very

little conversation between them. “I don’t know what to do,” Cody said. “How am I ever going to tell my family?

I wish I could just go back and change everything that happened.” Willy could feel the pain in Cody as he looked into his round face. “Maybe we should just go to the Caverns and get the other half of this device.

Then we can try to find a way to get our friends back.” Cody slowly turned his head, and allowed his eyes to meet Willy’s. “How? How are we going to get there? I don’t even know where the Carlsbad

Caverns are!”

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“We need to get plane tickets and fly to New Mexico. It will cost money, but it’s

gonna be safer and faster than taking a car,” Willy stated. “I don’t have any money,” Cody said. Willy put his hands in his pockets and looked carefully at Cody. “Do you know anyone who can help us get money for the tickets?” “No,” Cody answered. After a few minutes of silence, Cody quickly sat up and looked at Willy. “My uncle, Floyd, keeps money in a little wooden box on his dresser. If we could

get to Floyd’s house, we could get some money. Then, we could buy the tickets to New Mexico and get the other half of this thing. But we’re kinda stuck here.”

Willy clapped his hands together. “Perfect! I don’t know where we are, but we

can’t be too far from where we entered the cave.” “Get your stuff,” Cody said, unenthusiastically. “Let’s try to get back to my

uncle’s house.” After packing the few things they had, Cody walked to the center of the Ubangi

village and looked down at the light-saber lying on the ground. “I don’t even want to pick it up. The last time I touched it was when I-” “Don’t worry kid,” Willy interrupted. “We are gonna try our best to change

what happened to him.” Willy picked up Cody’s light-saber and clipped it to his own belt beside his

weapon. “Let me know when you’re ready for it.”

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The trio of adventurers picked up their

belongings and set out for Floyd’s house. They walked for a few miles until they saw a

road in the distance. They watched as one car raced down the road and disappeared out of site at the far end. Scooter trotted happily along beside them.

“Where are we?” Cody asked. “I am starting to wonder that myself,” Willy answered. There was a large cattle ranch in the distance to their left. To their right they

saw what appeared to be an endless forest. The three of them walked to the road and began waiting for a car to come their

way. After a very long time, they saw a truck approaching them from a distance. The truck was a light tan color and had the letters B.E.A. painted on the side in

dark green. When the truck moved closer to them, Cody began waving his arms until the truck came to a stop.

“What can I do for you?” the driver asked. Cody picked Scooter from the ground and approached the driver. “Where are we?” “You’re lost?” the driver inquired. “Yes,” Cody replied. The driver looked at the lost adventurers. “You are in Mato Grosso,” he said, aiming his hand in the direction of the forest.

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“Xingu National Park is right over there.” “Xingu National Park? Where the heck is that?” Cody asked as he began

scratching his head. The driver gave Cody a confused look. Willy came forward and spoke in a strong voice. “What country are we in?” The driver, looked just as confused as Willy and Cody. “You are in Mato Grosso, Brazil.” “And who are you?” Willy asked the confused driver. “I work for The Brazilian Environment Agency, and I am out here because of

the lack of rain,” the driver said. “We don’t want another forest fire like last year.” “Would you two boys like a ride?” Cody dropped to a sitting position and did not answer. “I need to get going guys. You’ll need to make a decision,” he said. Willy put his face to the driver’s window. “No thanks. We don’t need a ride.” Cody and Willy watched as the driver of the truck rolled up his window, drove

away, and disappeared over the hill. “How did we get here?” Cody asked Willy. “I think something in that cave somehow teleported us here,” Willy answered.

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The two of them were speechless for a moment, but eventually Willy got an

idea. “Let’s go back to that cave and see if we can find our way back to where we

were.”

Cody threw his hands up. “Whatever.” While backtracking their way to the cave, Cody gave Willy a dejected look. “I miss Floyd,” he said, returning his gaze to the road. Willy stopped walking for a moment, looked at Cody, but said nothing. “I think I even miss Ryan too,” he added. Willy put a large arm around Cody and spoke softly to him. “Don’t worry kid. We’re gonna do everything we can to get them back.” As they walked, Cody saw a shiny penny on the road laying heads up. “Check this out! This will bring us good luck!” he said, while cramming it into

his front pocket. They walked the road for several minutes when Willy paused. “I think we can take this road for a short-cut,” he said, and aimed a hand toward

a dirt road. The dirt road took them to a dead end with a large field of rusted bulldozers. “Look!” Cody said, pointing a finger at an old discarded boot. “It looks like

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someone’s been living here!” Willy looked around and saw that someone had been there within the last few

months, but not recently. One bulldozer was missing from the back row and it appeared that many others served as parts, possibly to repair it. Scooter lifted his leg to urinate on the treads of a large backhoe.

“C’mon.” Willy said. “Let’s go back to the road.” The three of them made their way to the path through the Ubangi village, past

the abandoned Jabberwock, all the way back to the exit of the cave and started in. Cody flicked his flashlight on as they began walking through the dark tunnels. “How did you find these tunnels, Willy?” Cody asked.

“I overheard a conversation between two men while I was working at the gas

station,” Willy began. “They were talking about kidnapping some scientist and stealing his invention. They said the device could transport a man anywhere in the world instantly. I wanted to follow them, so I could get a better look at what they were doing.”

Willy stopped for a moment to remove a spider web from their path, and then

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resumed his story. “I wore a disguise and followed them through a doorway into this cave, but I got

lost. I watched as one man dropped a small device on the floor. When the device hit the floor, it emitted a bright blue glow that lit up the whole cavern and a loud tearing sound filled the air. I knew if I didn’t find a place to hide fast they would see me in the light so I hid behind a big boulder, but after a moment I looked and both of them were gone. That was when you and your friends found me. One of the men I followed was Louhan, only he was not dressed like a tribesman. I didn’t get a good look at the other man; he was dressed in black and wore a hood over his head.”

“I saw a blue flash too!” Cody said. “I fell into my uncles septic tank and saw a

blue flash as I was sliding down. That’s how I found the cave.” “You fell into a septic tank?” Willy asked. “Yeah,” Cody answered. Willy gave Cody a little smile. “That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard.” Cody was deep in thought. “The blue flash must have teleported us to Brazil!” Cody looked at the pair of light-sabers hanging on Willy’s waistband. “How did you learn to fight with a light-saber?” “I always loved watching the movies, and when I saw the hooded man leave a

light-saber in the gas station, I had to swipe it. I always wanted one as a kid, and that’s probably how I learned to use it so fast.”

As Cody and Willy walked through the tunnels, they came to a familiar

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chamber with a tall triangular stone structure in the center and a blue glowing square hole in the ceiling.

“I never saw this place before,” Willy said. The door behind them made a grinding sound as it slammed shut. The walls of

the chamber produced a green glow and the booming voice began to speak once more.

“ARE YOU LOST AGAIN, ADVENTURERS?” the guardian boomed. Cody bravely stepped forward and spoke to the guardian. “Uh, no. We have sought you out because we want to go back to Ohio.” The square in the ceiling turned orange and Cody began to feel dizzy. It felt as if

the room was lifting and slowly spinning at the same time. The room spun faster and faster until Willy had to sit down and Scooter actually stuck to the wall.

After several minutes of spinning, the room came to a stop and a stone doorway

slid open from the east. There was a large blue portal covering the entire doorway of the eastern room.

As they walked east through the glowing doorway, they heard the door from

which they had entered grind shut and the booming voice spoke one last time. “MY WORK HERE IS DONE ADVENTURERS, NOW LEAVE ME BE!” As the light of the portal dissipated, Cody flicked his flashlight on. When he

noticed the look of confusion on Willy’s face, he smiled. “Don’t worry Willy, I know where we are. We’re back in Floyd’s septic tank.” “This is insane,” Willy said. Willy stood up and easily removed the lid of the septic tank. Using height to his

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advantage, he stood up and pounded the iron lid out of the hole. Cody and Scooter used Willy as a scaffold to climb out of the tank, and then

helped Willy out as well. “We’re back!” Cody Exclaimed. “Now we just have to get Floyd’s money and

fly to New Mexico!” As they approached the front porch of Floyd’s home, they saw a man in

suspenders knocking on the front door. “Who are you?” Cody asked. The stranger quickly turned around to see the three of them approaching and

cleared his throat. “My name is Jimbob. I’m Floyd’s neighbor. I lost my job last week, and today

my landlord kicked me out of my house. I hoped Floyd would let me crash at his place for a couple weeks until I can get a job and some money.”

“Where is Floyd?” Jimbob asked. Cody and Willy looked at each other, and after a moment, Cody answered. “He’s gone for a while and won’t be back for a couple of weeks.” “Well, where is he?” Jimbob asked. “I can’t say. All I can say is he’s gonna be gone for a while,” Cody replied. Jimbob looked confused. “Is he in trouble?” “You wouldn’t understand. Just don’t worry about it!” Willy answered.

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“It’s getting cold out here tonight and I don’t have anywhere to go!” Jimbob complained.

“You could stay with us for a while, if we can use your truck.” Cody offered. Willy gave Cody a disgusted look. “Don’t ask this jibber jabbering fool to come with us! It’s gonna cost a lot of

money for two plane tickets, and we don’t need another tag-along.” “I’m not a fool,” Jimbob said. “And I don’t want to go anywhere with you guys!” “Wait,” Cody began. “We might need a truck to get all our stuff to the airport,

and Floyd probably has enough money for three tickets to New Mexico.” “New Mexico?” Jimbob asked. Willy gave Cody a long thoughtful look and turned to Jimbob. “Let’s go inside. We need to sit down and talk about a lot of things.” The door to Floyd’s home was unlocked. They all entered the house and took

seats at the dining room table. Jimbob removed the cap from his head and placed it on his lap under the table.

“First,” Jimbob said. “I would like to know who you guys are.” He looked back and forth, from Cody, to Willy. “What’re your names?” Jimbob asked. “My name is Willy,” the large dark-skinned man answered. Jimbob studied the gloomy look on Cody’s face. “Who are you, and why do you look like you just lost your best friend?”

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Cody gave Jimbob a small smile. “I’m Floyd’s nephew, Cody, and I’ve just had a rough couple days.” Willy gave Cody a stern look. “Don’t sell yourself short, boy! Tell him you’re a Jedi master!” Willy pulled Cody’s light-saber from his belt and slid it across the table. It slid

directly in front of him. Cody took the weapon from the table, stood up, and held it firmly with both

hands. “I used to be a Jedi master.” After saying the word master, Cody ignited the light-saber for Jimbob to see. “Okay!” Jimbob said. “I’m impressed. Now tell me what we’re doing.” Cody extinguished the blade of his weapon and emotionlessly tossed it back to

Willy. Then, he sat back down and began his story of how he, Floyd and Ryan left to clean up wood. He talked about the septic tank, the underground labyrinth, the undead Ubangi, and everything else that happened to him since he fell into the septic tank.

Jimbob listened eagerly as Willy told the final part of this epic tale. Scooter

curled up on the couch and slept. “Why not just go to the police?” Jimbob suggested. Willy looked at Cody and then returned his eyes back to Jimbob. “Do you think the police are gonna believe a tale like this? They would laugh at

us. The only way this is going to get done, is if we do it ourselves.”

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Cody unfolded his hands on the table and looked at Jimbob. “We could use your help.” “So let me get this straight…,” Jimbob began. “Y’all got teleported to Brazil,

Cody slaughtered a bunch of natives, there were zombies, Floyd was killed… but can still be saved, and then Ryan hot-wired a time machine and sent himself to some unknown place?”

Cody nodded his head. “You have half a time machine and want me to help you find the other half in

New Mexico?” Cody and Willy nodded. “Sure, I’ll go,” Jimbob said. This is Jimbob, always quick to get himself into trouble. Born and raised in

wild, wonderful West Virginia, with his brown hair always kept too long and shaggy and every button of his flannel shirt buttoned, he is a one-hundred percent pure redneck. He puts so much effort into keeping his friends out of trouble, that he is often unaware of his own safety. He has a very active sense of humor, but he can’t take a joke.

Cody left the table and started fumbling around in Floyd’s bedroom. After a

few minutes, Cody returned with a fistful of cash. “We have almost two thousand dollars!” “That’s enough money for all of us to fly to New Mexico,” Willy said. As Cody descended the basement stairs, Willy asked, “Where are you going?” “I’m going to look for Floyd’s dog carrier,” Cody replied. “I know he used to

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have one down here.” As Cody searched the basement, Willy and Jimbob sat down on the couch, and

Jimbob turned the TV on to the news channel.

“The Brazilian authorities have declared a state of high alert in the central region of Mato Grosso, where a major fire is threatening one of the country’s largest native reservations,” the reporter stated.

“The fire, which started at a cattle ranch, has already burned more than three-

thousand square kilometers of pastures and forests. It’s now close to the Xingu National Park, which is home to seventeen

indigenous tribes. The Brazilian Environment Agency has called for help from the armed forces to

tackle the fire and says the lack of infrastructure in the region is hampering its work.”

The screen switched to a female reporter, who said, “Welcome to the eight

O’clock news, where we will be further investigating the disappearance of several factory workers who vanished while eating their lunch in the Break Room of a-”

Using the remote control, Jimbob turned the television off. After a few minutes, Cody emerged from Floyd’s basement with a dog carrier in

his hands and somehow managed to trick Scooter to walk into it. Scooter did not look happy.

The four adventurers exited Floyd’s house, hopped into Jimbob’s truck, and

after stopping at Taco Bell for lunch, they set off in the direction of the Pittsburgh International Airport.

The truck was very crowded with Scooter caged-up and riding in the bed, and

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Willy squished against Jimbob. Cody sat by the door with all their belongings on his lap.

“Get your turkey elbow outta my ribs!” Willy complained. “You’re taking up the whole seat!” Jimbob replied. After a long and un-enjoyable drive, they arrived at the Pittsburgh airport and

navigated their beat-up truck through the parking area. They parked Jimbob’s truck, entered the airport and soon the four of them

stood at the information desk of the airport. “We need to go to New Mexico,” Cody told the woman. “How soon would you like to go?” the woman asked. Willy leaned forward and put his hands on the counter. “As soon as possible, please.” The woman checked the computer screen for a few moments and eventually

looked up. “We have a plane leaving for Albuquerque New Mexico in 20 minutes. If you

hurry, you can make it.” Willy and Cody spoke at the same time. “We’ll take it!” Cody placed the carrier containing Scooter on the desk, in front of the woman. “What about our dog?” “Uh, there is a separate area of the plane for animals,” the woman answered.

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“Okay, cool!” Cody said. They used Floyd’s money to buy three tickets to Albuquerque, and waited in the

waiting area for the boarding to begin. “We still have over a thousand dollars!” Cody announced. Cody opened the backpack and pondered for a moment. “What if they think the device is a bomb?” “It looks more like a radio than a bomb, Cody,” Willy answered. “It will be fine,

but we better take it as a carry-on. We can’t afford to lose it.” They combined all of their belongings into the backpack containing the device

and watched it slide away on a conveyor belt for screening. Scooter whined as a man took him away to be stored with the other animals.

“We’ll see you in New Mexico, buddy!” Cody said to the dog. After stepping through the metal detector, Jimbob grabbed the backpack and

stood in line with the others. “Well, I guess they didn’t think it was a bomb,” Jimbob said with a smile. “Shut up you idiot!” Willy snapped quietly. “You can’t say the word bomb in an

airport!” One by one, they boarded the plane. They listened to several minutes of safety

messages from the pilot and waited patiently for the plane to get clearance from air traffic control. After fifteen minutes of waiting, the plane took off for New Mexico.

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Chapter Seven:

Grip of the Clawdite

Ryan watched the environment around him disappear and slowly fade into a new world. He looked down, but the device that brought him into this strange place was gone. Ryan was alone.

The device teleported Ryan directly into an unoccupied prison cell. The

markings on the wall matched those found on the robe of the creature seen in the Ubangi village and Ryan assumed the prison belonged to the Clawdite army.

“They must use the device to teleport criminals directly into a cell,” Ryan thought. The cell he teleported into was obviously intended for a much larger being; the

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bars of the cell were spaced wide enough to allow a human to escape. The interior of the cell reeked of alien sweat.

He could hear the sound of beings thrashing around inside their cells from a

different wing, but there was not one single prisoner in this wing of the prison. Every cell within Ryan’s view was empty, but each door still had the name of its previous occupant written above it in black ink.

After considering his options, Ryan slipped between the bars and began quietly

mapping out as much of the prison as he could without approaching the other inhabitants. He saw a large circular window across the hall from his cell door. He tried to open the window, but it was sealed shut and the glass was far too thick to break. Looking through the window revealed only darkness.

“It must be nighttime here,” he thought. “Wherever here is.” As he walked through the prison, the floor began to tilt and debris began sliding

across the floor. Ryan grabbed the bars of an empty cell for support, but after a moment, the floor leveled and he decided to continue inspecting the empty cells.

He noticed some of the cells were padded and had soft beds to sleep in, and

others had large pools of water for the aquatic beings to reside in. The Clawdite prison was a strongly fortified defensive structure; it was designed

to keep the prisoners in, and the enemies out. A creature could certainly find security behind its thick metal walls.

Ryan could hear a conversation between two guards taking place very close to

him. As he approached the end of the corridor, he noticed the prison had three levels of cells, and he stood at the third level, overlooking the guard’s quarters and what appeared to be one very large office. A wall of fence that spanned from floor to ceiling divided the end of the long corridor.

Ryan backtracked the way he had come until he arrived at a spiral stairway

leading to a lower level. He moved slowly down the stairs until he arrived at the ground level.

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As he approached the end of the lower corridor, a figure with red glowing eyes

and a long brown hooded cloak stepped into the hallway in front of him. The creature was a Clawdite guard and appeared to be having a conversation with another Clawdite of higher rank. Ryan quietly ran into one of the unoccupied cells and sat down on the bed.

The cell Ryan fled to was directly opposite of the guards quarters and the

Clawdite office; only a thick wall of padded brick-like material separated him from the two talking Clawdites.

Ryan heard what he thought to be an argument between the two Clawdites

coming from the guard’s quarters. He could make out the names of the two Clawdites. The guard’s name was Gipp, and the boss of the guards was a larger being who went by the name Gizzron.

As the two creatures moved into the office, he could no longer hear the

conversation. Ryan slid to the edge of the bed, placed his ear against the wall, and listened as the two Clawdites continued their heated discussion.

Gipp: I’m sorry master, it will not happen again. Gizzron: If you touch my collection again, you will be punished! (The sound of a drawer sliding open) Gizzron: This gun is a family heirloom. It is one of the first pulse-ray cannons

ever made, and now it has your fingerprints all over it. Gipp: I will clean it master. Gizzron: No! You will clean the gun, the desk, and the whole office, until there

is no trace of your greasy oversized fingers! Gipp: Yes master.

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(The sound of feet scuffing the floor) Gizzron: Wait. I have one more thing to say to you. Gipp: What is it master? Gizzron: The life-force monitor is showing 267 living beings in this prison.

Yesterday there were 266. I checked the pregnant Tiberian blood wraith and she has not had her offspring yet.

(A few seconds of silence) Gizzron: Either some creature has multiplied, or we have an intruder. I want

you to scan this whole facility for the extra life form, and don’t come back until you have an answer.

Gipp: I will find this life form. Gizzron: When you find it, kill it. I don’t care who or what it is. Shoot first.

Ask questions later. Gipp: I will shoot this intruder. Gizzron: Here (Something slides across the desk) Gizzron: Use this to detect the life form. Check every cell. Gipp: I won’t let you down, master. Gizzron: We will be sending the second shipment of supplies to Earth

tomorrow morning, and I don’t want this operation to fail! (A fist slams on the desk)

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Gizzron: Now go! (Feet scuff the floor and the door shuts) Gizzron (Very loud): Clean this office first, Gipp!

Ryan sat up. “Sending supplies to Earth?” he thought. Where am I? I need to get out of this

place quick.” He hid in the empty cell until late at night. He watched as Gizzron left the

office and Gipp entered with an armload of cleaning supplies. After an hour or so had passed, Gipp left. Ryan moved quietly into the office and began to search the desk for the antique

weapon. His first find was a very old book marked “Clawdite Muir.” Flipping through

the book, he noticed it explained the entire history of their race. The book had several large blocks of text, each describing different historical events. The end of the book explained their ranks and the many uses of their unnatural powers. After a moment of consideration, Ryan crammed the book down the front of his pants and continued searching the desk.

He pulled the gun from the bottom drawer, removed the protective cloth and

spent a moment or two admiring the antique weapon. The pulse-ray cannon resembled a large hand-held gun, made completely of an

unknown lightweight metal and had a large safety switch above the trigger. As Ryan flicked the safety switch to the OFF position, the rear-mounted power cell hummed a low buzzing tone and a small glass bulb, resembling an old radio tube emitted a dull orange glow. After thoroughly inspecting the weapon, he flicked

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the safety back to the ON position and shoved the long barrel of the weapon into the front pocket of his jeans.

Ryan had no intention of getting blasted by Gipp and dying in this strange alien

place. Ryan had an idea. He placed his hands palms-down against the dirty stone floor, and then, using

his dirt-covered hands, he proceeded to touch and probe everything in the office until the whole place was a fingered-up disaster.

Ryan left the office and continued to search the alien prison for an exit. He

would have to walk directly through the center of the prison’s western corridor if he was going to escape. However, there were guards posted at the end of the corridor, and behind each guard hung a red glowing button with the word ALARM written on it. He would have to wait for the right moment.

After several hours of waiting, the guard of the eastern corridor walked over to

the guard of the western corridor and began a conversation with him. “What do you want Kravitz?” the larger guard said. Ryan sighed. “Now there are two guards watching the western corridor.” Ryan could hear the reverberations of their speech, but could not make out the

words they were saying. He slipped into a nearby cell and once again pressed his ear against the wall to

listen to their conversation.

Kravitz: Shhh. Don’t talk so loud, Killmister.

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Killmister: We should not be talking at all, Kravitz. Your orders are to guard the eastern branch of this prison

Kravitz: There’s no one in the eastern branch. This is a waste of my skills; I

need something I can inflict some pain on! Killmister: Gizzron said there might be an intruder loose somewhere in the

prison. You should never assume the branch is empty. Kravitz: I can’t just stand there. Not with everything that’s going on. (A buzzing sound and the lights temporarily dim) Kravitz: I heard the boss talking to someone over the X channel, and he said

we’re about to gain control over another zone. The human zone. Killmister: It’s called Earth, Kravitz, and we still have some work to do before

that planet is secure. We do not yet have the large field generators operational. It will take more time to get them in place.

Kravitz: Earth will be the eighth planet system to- (The door to the office slams shut, followed by loud footsteps) Gizzron (Very distant): Guards! (The sound of footsteps running to the office)

With no one guarding the area, Ryan quickly walked through the archway and into the entrance of the western corridor.

He heard noise coming from the direction of the office, and decided to enter the

first unoccupied cell for a chance to hear what was going on. “Earth is being taken over?” Ryan thought. “I need to get out of here and tell this

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to someone.” Ryan was now on the opposite side of the office, and could make out the

conversation coming from the office much more clearly than before. He listened eagerly to their talk.

Gizzron: That idiot Gipp has stolen my family heirloom and made a mess of my office!

Killmister: What would you like us to do about it, master? Gizzron: Hunt that fool down and feed him to the Trigon! It’s been a long

time since he’s had a good meal! Killmister: It will be done. (A moment of silence)

Gizzron: Wait. I have a better idea for him. Throw him through the new field

generator! Someone needs to be the first to test it. (The guards leave. There is nearly twenty minutes of silence as the guards search

the prison. Then, after another buzz and dimming of the lights, Killmister and Kravitz return to the office)

Gizzron: Did you find him? Kravitz: Yes, and we threw him through the portal as you wished. Gizzron: What did he have to say? Killmister: He lied to us. He denied stealing your heirloom and he denied

trashing your office.

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Gizzron: Did you find my artifact with him? Kravitz: We searched him, but he had nothing on him. He must have hidden it

somewhere in the prison. Killmister: The transport was a success, master. The new field generator

appears to be operational. Gizzron: What destination was the portal set to? Killmister: It was set for Earth. The new time dial was set at four days ago and

appears to work properly. We sent him to the underground caverns of Brazil. Gizzron: That idiot got what he deserved. Getting rid of him has been on my

to-do list for a long time. Now I can finally check that off my list. Kravitz: We detected four human life forms in the caverns. Gipp has never

seen a human before; he is probably scared to death. Gizzron: I am sending one of the most powerful Clawdite Elders to deal with a

tribe in that area. I will have him take care of Gipp while he is there. (Another buzzing sound and the lights temporarily dim) Gizzron: Go back to your posts. Watch for any intruders, and if you find my

heirloom, return it to me immediately! My weapon collection is incomplete without it!

Killmister: Yes, Master. Kravitz: Yes, Master. (The sound of the guards returning to their posts)

Ryan peered out of the cell door and could see stairs leading up at the end of the

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western corridor. He studied the guards, but they both had their backs to him, so he carefully

exited the cell and made his way past several strange prisoners; some were aquatic beings and one appeared to be a large slug-like creature. He made his way to the stairs at the end of the western corridor and climbed his way upward to the second level.

As he climbed the stairs to the second level, he noticed two more guards, one at

the far East end of the corridor and one very close to him. He could not safely make his way into an empty cell, not with a guard so close to

him. His blue eyes focused on the guards as he waited to make his move. Ryan sat crouched down at the top of the stairs, waiting for the guards to move

for what seemed like hours. He removed the book from his pants and began scanning it for anything interesting, until finally, the guard at the end of the eastern corridor spoke.

“I’ll be right back. You have the block!” The guard directly in front of Ryan moved to the center of the corridor, and

Ryan decided to make his move for the first empty cell. He nearly made it to the empty cell when the guard heard a sound, turned, and

saw Ryan walking behind him. Ryan saw the red glow of the guard’s eyes burning with shock and excitement.

The guard studied him for a moment, and then ran for the alarm button at the

far end of the Eastern Corridor. Ryan froze in place as he watched the guard close the distance between himself

and the alarm button.

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He watched the running guard in disbelief and realized he was watching his plan of escape fail before his very eyes.

Ryan had only one option and no time to hesitate. He pulled the ancient pulse-ray cannon from the pocket of his jeans, flicked the safety off and leveled it at the fleeing guard…

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Chapter Eight: The Show Must Go On

Cody, Jimbob and Willy watched out the window as their plane ascended westward from Pittsburgh.

“Give me the window seat!” Willy demanded as he forced his way around Cody

and Jimbob. Each side of the aisle had seating for four passengers. Willy had the seat closest

to the window, with Jimbob directly by his side. Cody was right beside Jimbob, with a vacant seat at his left.

Jimbob gave Willy a goofy smile.

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“We should have brought cards!” Willy ignored Jimbob and continued looking out the window. Jimbob nudged Willy hard with his elbow. “Do you like cards, Willy?” “No. I do not like to play cards, Jimbob,” Willy replied. “This is my first time on

a plane, and I hope you can stay quiet long enough for me to enjoy it.” Jimbob gave Willy a disgusted look, and after moment, he continued to talk. “I grew up playing cards. My two brothers and I used to play euchre every

Sunday evening with my mom, when I was a kid. It was like-” “Cody!” Willy interrupted. “What?” Cody asked. “Trade me places. I can’t spend all day beside this fool!” Willy stated. “You’re so rude!” Jimbob said. He looked down at his lap as he spoke. Without saying a word, Cody got up and switched places with Willy. Cody was

happy to have the window seat. As the passengers continued to board the plane, an elderly woman took the

vacant seat beside Willy. Willy could feel the old woman’s eyes on him, and when he turned his head to

look, he saw what appeared to be the happiest old woman he had ever saw in his life.

“Hello Sir!” the old woman said. “My name is Betty Whitman, and these here

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are my friends, Martha Peterson and Gertrude Ellefson.” She waved her hand to the row of seats directly behind

them. Gertrude gave Willy a very excited wave. “Uh, my name is Willy,” he replied.

The elderly woman gently shook his hand. “It’s so nice to meet you, Willis!”

“The name’s Willy,” he corrected. “I just love flying!” Betty said. “This is going to be a long flight,” Willy thought. After the last few passengers boarded the plane, the pilot gave a few final

announcements, and the plane took off for New Mexico. Cody seemed to be at peace with himself as he gazed out the window. Jimbob

pulled his hat down low, and tried to take a nap. Willy was not happy. He did not like flying, and although it was still early in their flight, he was already getting bored. He was getting very bored.

Willy closed his eyes to take a nap, and as soon as he felt himself begin to relax,

he heard the sound of a woman speaking to him. He opened his eyes to see a young lady with a tray of drinks standing in front of him.

“Would you like a glass of orange juice?” the woman asked. “Sure, don’t mind if I do,” Willy answered. Before Willy could get his drink to his lips, he felt a small finger tap him on his

shoulder from in front of him. He looked up to see a young boy of about nine years of age looking back at him. The boy was holding an empty glass in his hand.

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“Are you gonna drink that, mister?” the boy asked. Before Willy could answer, the boy continued. “I spilled my orange juice, and I was wondering if I could have yours.” Willy was just about to tell the boy no, when he looked to his left, and saw the

little old woman giving him a big warm smile. “Well, okay kid. You can have mine,” he told the child. The kid shoved the drink into his cup-holder, but did not immediately drink it. After several minutes, the boy pulled out a small handheld gaming device and

began playing games on it. He played a variety of games, and after forty-five minutes or so, he put the device into his overhead compartment and sat quietly in his seat.

Willy had never been so bored in his life. His mind exhausted every available

thought. He drummed his fingers on the seat. Watching Jimbob sleep peacefully in his seat did not make him feel any better.

He leaned forward to talk with the kid once more. “Hey kid,” he said. “Do you mind if I play a few games?” The kid gave Willy a look of disgust as he turned to speak. “Sorry mister. I’m not allowed to let people borrow it.” “I’ll give it back, kid!” Willy insisted. “Sorry mister, but I have to tell you no.” Willy sat down hard in his seat.

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“I gave that kid my orange juice, and he can’t even let me play a few games.” Willy heard a soft “thump!” to his left. He turned his head to see Betty setting

beside him, fast asleep. Her heavy purse slid from her lap and thudded to the floor. A few various bottles of medicine fell out.

Willy picked the purse up from the floor and began putting the bottles of

medicine back into it, when he noticed the label of one bottle. The label read “Turbo Lax.”

Willy had an idea. Willy walked into the bathroom of the plane, and removed the roll of toilet

paper. He started the roll of paper into the toilet and began flushing until the entire roll was gone. After admiring his job, he returned to his seat.

Upon returning to his seat, he noticed the young boy was fast asleep, and so he

opened the Turbo Lax and dumped half of the contents into the kids orange juice. He put the remaining portion of medicine back into the elderly woman’s purse.

After a moment or two, he leaned forward. “Hey kid! If you’re not gonna drink that orange juice, give it back!” The kid awoke immediately, and after giving Willy a nasty little smile, he

chugged the glass of orange juice at once. Willy waited. He sensed movement from the kid’s seat. From the corner of his eye, he

watched him sit up straight and begin to moan. An instant later, the kid jumped to his feet and ran into the bathroom.

Willy casually stood up, opened the kid’s overhead compartment, and removed

his gaming device.

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Jimbob lifted his head to look at Willy. “Put that back! Do you want to get arrested for theft?” “Keep your jive-talking turkey lips shut, fool!” Willy replied, quietly. “Would

you rather me get arrested for throttling you? Do you plan to bother me through this whole plane trip?”

Jimbob jerked his hat back down to his nose, and got comfortable. “I plan to sleep through it,” he replied, giving Willy one final glare. Willy had a great time playing the kid’s games. After twenty-five minutes or so,

the batteries went dead and Willy replaced the unit back in the overhead compartment.

A few moments later, the kid appeared from the bathroom door, wearing only

one sock. Willy smiled. Once he heard the kid complaining about his batteries being

dead, he smiled again. Willy fell asleep for several hours, and woke up a refreshed man. The little old

woman at his left was also very much awake. “I just left Vegas!” She declared. “I have never been there,” Willy replied. Betty gave him another warm smile. “My friends and I love to travel. We’re on our way to the Carlsbad Caverns!” Cody heard Betty talking and began chatting with her.

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“We’re going to the Carlsbad Caverns too!” The elderly woman beamed. “Really?” “My friend Martha is rich, and she’s paying for us all to take a limousine from

the airport to the Caverns!” she said. “If you want, you can all join us!” “That would be great!” Cody said. Willy leaned over to Cody and whispered into his ear. “I do not want to spend the whole day hanging out with these cotton heads!” he

said. “Why not,” Cody asked. “We’re all going to the same place!” After a few seconds of thought, Willy turned to face the old woman and smiled. “Sure! We’d be glad to join you and your friends!” Betty returned a smile and nodded to the other women. “You’ll be glad you did!” …Somewhere deep within the bowels of the airplane, a little dog was all alone.

No one heard the chorus of animals whining. The three adventurers remained quiet for the rest of the trip. A few vacation

stories from Betty and her friends were the only conversation, and after a short while, the plane arrived at the Albuquerque International airport.

“We’re here!” Betty announced. They all grabbed their luggage from the airport’s baggage claim area and waited

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patiently for someone to bring Scooter from the plane and hand his cage to Cody. Soon, the group reunited with a very happy little dog. They exited the airport and the limousine was already waiting to take them to

the Carlsbad Caverns. They loaded their belongings into the trunk, placed Scooter’s cage onto the back seat and drove off.

Willy was fascinated by all of the luxuries riding in a limo had to offer. He opened the sunroof, opened the windows and pushed all the buttons. He loved it.

Jimbob and Cody stared silently out the windows for the majority of the trip,

but toward the end, they shared some good travel stories with the elderly women.

After a long drive, Betty again turned to look at everyone and shouted. “We’re here!” The driver dropped the group off right in front of the cavern entrance. The

limo drove away leaving Cody holding Scooter and Jimbob holding the backpack of supplies. Shortly afterwards, Jimbob looked at the others and began to complain.

“It’s a gall darned tourist attraction! And there’s guards watching the place too!” “Well, of course it’s a tourist attraction,” Martha said. “That’s why we're here.

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Seven dollars will buy you a tour you’ll never forget!” No one was more excited to be at the Caverns than

Gertrude. She was the first to buy her ticket, and waited anxiously for the others.

“C’mon, guys! Let’s get going!”

Jimbob and Willy gave each other a look of doubt, but when the others all bought tickets to see the caverns, they did too. After all, that is why they were there.

The man selling the tickets bowed and aimed his hand at the entrance. “Hello everyone, your guide will be with you shortly. You are one of the bigger

groups we have had today! We do not usually allow dogs to enter the cave, but as long as you keep it in its cage, I think it will be fine.”

A happy man wearing a green vest appeared soon after the ticket-seller’s speech.

As he began telling the history of the Carlsbad Caverns, the adventurers and the guide disappeared into the cave.

Scooter seemed to enjoy the scenery. Willy took the hand-drawn map from his wallet, unfolded it, and began talking

with Cody. “This is the right hallway,” he said. “But we’re gonna have to find a way to ditch

the tour guide, and probably the cotton-head tribe too!” Cody giggled at Willy’s cotton-head tribe comment. About thirty minutes into the tour, the adventurers followed the guide down a

stone walkway, lined with aluminum handrails. Willy did not follow. He remained at the top of the walkway and tried to get Jimbob and Cody’s attention.

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“We need to go this way!” Willy said, quietly to the others. Cody and Jimbob joined Willy at the top of the walkway and asked him to

explain. “The map says we need to be right there!” Willy said. Jimbob had a look of confusion on his face. “That’s a stone wall, Willy.” “I know that, you turkey.” Willy explained. “We need to be right on the other

side of it; maybe through it.” “How would we go through it, Willy?” Jimbob asked. “Are you planning on

vandalizing a tourist attraction today? You are just begging to be arrested today, aren’t you?”

Jimbob stooped down on his hands and feet to examine the aluminum handrail

a little closer. “I think there is another chamber right on the other side. I can see it through

this hole here!” Jimbob aimed his finger at a hole in the rock wall left by a broken handrail

mount. As Jimbob began tugging and pulling on the handrail, the oldest woman walked

back into view. “What are you guys doing?” Martha asked, “Are you going to see the rest of the

tour?” “We’ll be with y’all in just a minute!” Jimbob replied as he continued tugging

on the handrail.

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“Stop that!” Martha demanded. “You’re going to ruin that wall!”

Martha walked swiftly up the walkway to discourage

Jimbob’s vandalism, but as soon as she reached the top, Jimbob tore the handrail free.

He tore the aluminum railing from the wall with so much force, that half of it

broke loose and actually flew down the walkway. Martha didn’t even see it coming.

The railing flew down the walkway and smashed poor Martha straight in the

head. Her struggle for balance made her look as if she was attempting to run backwards back down the walkway. She landed in a heap, right in front of the rest of the group.

“Martha!” Betty cried in dismay. “What happened to you?” Martha aimed her finger at Jimbob, but was only conscious long enough to say

four words. “Jimbob beat me down!” The tour guide and the security guard looked up the walkway and saw Jimbob

holding the other half of the handrail. Jimbob scowled as understanding dawned. “I’m sorry.” The security guard wrestled Jimbob to the ground and fastened handcuffs to

both of his hands. “We’ve got the police on their way, buddy!” Soon, the police came and hauled Jimbob away, and the women followed them

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out of the cave. Jimbob fought and argued so much, that no one noticed Willy and Cody staying behind. Willy picked up Jimbob’s fallen backpack and put it on.

“What about Jimbob?” Cody asked. “We can’t just leave him! What are they

gonna do to him?” Willy paused to look into Cody’s eyes. “Look, let's try to get Ryan and Floyd back first, and then we can worry about

Jimbob. Okay?” Cody nodded. Once everyone was out of view, Willy used a section of handrail to pry the loose

rocks free from the wall until he had enough room to insert his large body. Cody removed Scooter from his cage and one-by-one, the trio of remaining adventurers descended into the darkness of the underground Caverns.

Cody removed his trusty little flashlight from his front pocket and flicked it on.

The Cavern was very much like the first cave they had seen, very green and very creepy.

They followed the map deep into the cave, and past many intersecting paths

until they came to the end of a long dark corridor. “It should be here!” Willy said, but Cody had already found it. Cody gazed directly into a perfectly cut rectangular hole in the side of one wall.

He saw the long-dead remains of a mummy folded up inside the wall. There was a large briefcase folded in its arms.

“He’s been dead a long time,” Willy stated. “Look!” Cody said. “He has a cell phone in his hand!”

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Willy studied the mummy for a moment. “That’s weird.” Willy pulled the briefcase from the hands of the mummy,

opened it, and saw the second half of the device. “We have it!” he declared. Cody removed the cell phone from the hand of the corpse and dropped to the

floor. “He looks like he’s been dead for a thousand years, but he’s wearing Nike tennis

shoes!”

As he used his flashlight to study the outfit of the corpse, a centipede crawled across his hand. Cody screamed as the insect touched his hand and dropped his flashlight onto the hard stone floor.

The lighting of the room shook and moved as some unknown animal grabbed

the flashlight with its teeth and scurried off into the darkness with it. “Scooter!” Willy screamed. Willy used his hands to feel around in the dark for Scooter, and once he had the

dog by the scruff of its neck, he threw the confused animal in the direction of the moving flashlight.

As Scooter flew toward the fleeing animal, he understood his mission; bring

back the flashlight, no matter what the cost. The fleeing creature ran to the far corner of the room and stopped for a moment

to study the adventurers. Scooter skidded across the floor and eventually landed directly in front of the

thieving animal.

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The two animals stood face-to-face, but when Scooter bared his teeth and began

barking wildly at the strange creature, it simply turned, and ran quickly over a few large rocks and into a hole at the far corner.

Scooter did not hesitate; he silenced his barking and darted into the hole after

the animal. Willy and Cody waited in the darkness for some sign of hope. They heard the

sound of a furious battle happening inside the small cave, and after several long minutes, they began to see light coming from the mouth of the cave.

As the light began to flicker and move with the sound of the battle, Willy

screamed. “Kill it Scooter!” They watched in disbelief as Noodle’s body began to emerge from the cave rear-

end first. The two animals competed in a game of tug-of-war with the flashlight in both of their mouths. With one swift tug, Scooter tore the light free of his opponents mouth and began to run happily in Cody’s direction. The thief followed Scooter.

Cody watched in shock as two animals ran full-speed straight for him. He

fumbled at the zipper of Willy’s backpack, and right before the moment of impact, his light-saber ignited. Cody’s weapon frightened both of the animals. Scooter hid between Willy’s feet, and the other animal scurried back into the hole at the far corner.

Willy bent over, removed the flashlight from Scooter’s mouth and tossed it to

Cody. “Good boy, Scooter!” cheered Willy. Scooter had a look of pride on his furry face.

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Cody wiped the drool from the flashlight and handed his light-saber back to Willy. Willy noticed Cody’s hands trembling as he passed the weapon to him, but said nothing.

With the flashlight on and the caverns well lit, the trio decided to explore a

little, before exiting the cave. They walked through the center of the caverns until they began to see light

coming from the far end of a southwestern passageway. The trio waded through knee-deep water and fit between several narrow openings until they arrived at the source of the light.

They soon stood at the far end of a huge rectangular room with a high stone

ceiling. Water flooded the south end of the room, and the southwest corner had a bright blue glow emanating from deep within.

Cody walked to the edge of the water and began to study the submerged glow. As he gazed through the water at the source of the light, he saw the form of a

body appear under the water and begin moving quickly toward him. The sight of the figure moving toward him startled Cody. He turned to run,

but the stone floor was wet and slippery. He slipped on a patch of green fungus and rolled down a slope of rock, into the deep water. Cody plunged deep under the water, and as he tried to scream, the exhalation of air from his lungs caused him to sink further into the murky depths of the water.

Cody felt his back land on the floor of the cavern, and when he looked up, he

saw a dark figure with red eyes looking down at him. The shadowy figure appeared to be simply floating on the surface and not

moving in any way. It appeared to be lifeless.

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Willy’s arm reached into the water and pulled Cody to the surface with one

powerful tug. Cody sat down on the stone floor and coughed lightly. “Where is he?” Cody asked quickly. “Don’t worry kid, he’s dead,” Willy replied. Cody shook the water from his hair. “Did you kill him?” “No,” Willy answered. “He was already dead.” As they sat on the floor discussing the dead phantom, a second body burst to the

top of the water. This body was also dead, but it was different. This creature was completely naked, except for a silver fabric that served as underwear.

Willy returned the flashlight to Cody and watched as he crammed it back into

the front pocket of his jeans. “Where are these bodies coming from?” Willy asked. Cody stood up and straightened up his clothes. “I think that blue light is coming from another portal; a portal like the one we

have in our backpack.” “Try to get it,” Willy said.

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Cody knelt down on his hands and knees and reached into the water. Half of

his body disappeared in the water, and after a moment, he stood up with a large glowing square in his hands.

The portal in Cody’s hands was very similar to the one in their backpack, only

this one had less electronics and a much smaller power supply. He held the square in his hands for only a brief moment, and then abruptly

threw it into the dry corner of the room. “It hurts my hands to hold it!” Cody said. Willy thought for a moment, walked to where Cody was sitting and dropped

the backpack at his feet. “Let’s put this thing together” Cody took a seat on the stone floor, removed the two halves of the device, and

began assembling the field generator. The two halves clicked easily together. Willy handed the pliers he took from the

Ubangi village to Cody, and as soon as he twisted the last wire together, the device lit up.

With the device assembled, there was now a full-color display showing a visual

image of each destination point. As Cody clicked the destination knob from one point to another, the vision of each destination changed accordingly. The second half of the device was a hinged section containing a battery to power it; a rectangular button marked “Send,” and a second smaller knob that changed the numbers on the digital readout.

“I wish Ryan was here,” Cody said. “He would know how to use this thing.” The remaining adventurers had an idea of how to save Floyd, but they had no

idea where Ryan was, or how to find him.

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Chapter Nine: The Reintegration of Kāno

Ryan held his arm steady, and pulled the trigger. The ancient pulse-ray cannon bucked hard and threw a bolt of fire so intense that it illuminated the entire western corridor with its light.

The searing red bolt flew through the air with so much force that it passed

cleanly through the guard and embedded in the wall only inches away from the alarm button. Red sparks crackled from the bolt as it melted into the wall. Ryan stood over the dead guard and saw a huge hole bored through his back and his cloak was on fire. He used the sole of his shoe to extinguish the fire.

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Ryan heard the sound of footsteps from the east and turned to see the second guard running for an alarm on the far eastern wall.

“I’ll never hit him,” he thought. “He’s too far away.” Ryan dropped to his knees and very carefully aimed his weapon at the running

guard and fired. The force of the blast was smaller this time, but again his aim was brutally accurate and the bolt hit its target. The second guard dropped.

With both guards dead, Ryan decided to search their bodies for anything useful

and then hide them out of site. He ran to the second guard and searched him. The dead guard had nothing

useful on him, except for his dark hooded cloak and possibly the ring of keys in the cloaks pocket. The blast nearly destroyed the first guard’s body, but the second guard was in much better condition.

He pulled the cloak over his head and tied the ropes. As he adjusted his new

clothing, he heard the sound of his newly acquired book thump to the floor. He removed the book from the floor and gently placed it into the large pocket of the cloak. It pleased him how well his new outfit fit his body. Ryan was now in disguise. He studied the ring of keys he found for a moment, and then returned them to his pocket and began searching for a place to hide the dead bodies.

As Ryan searched the southwestern corner of the prison level for a place to hide

the bodies, he found a black square on the floor and recognized it to be another trans-dimensional portal. While experimenting with the control panel, he noticed it had no destination knob and several of the functions of his generator were missing on this unit. This control panel was inferior to the others with only two large buttons on the left and right sides. He pressed the button to the right, but nothing happened. As he pressed the left button, the black square lit up bright blue, and the large monitor above him displayed an underwater scene.

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He decided to drag the body of the first guard through the portal.

“No one will ever find it here,” he thought. He positioned the first body over the blue glowing portal, and

watched as it slowly faded away into the scene of the monitor. The body of the second guard was nearly naked, but otherwise in much better

condition. He pulled the body close to the portal and watched as it too disappeared from the prison.

From one of the prison cells, Ryan heard the sound of a prisoner speaking to

him in a low husky voice. “Human?” The creature seemed barely able to speak Ryan’s language. It pronounced the

word as “hoo-mun.” “So, you’re a human, huh?” “Who is it?” Ryan replied. “Let me out of this cell, human!” the husky voice said. “I can help you escape

this place. You have the key to this cell, you must open it.” Ryan walked through the center of the corridor, toward the sound of the voice.

He carefully maintained a safe distance from the inmates. As he approached the cell of the speaking prisoner, he saw a dark blue creature

with scales crouched down close to the cell door. “Give me the keys, human!” the reptilian creature demanded. As Ryan considered freeing the blue creature, he heard a snort from the cell on

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the opposite side of the corridor. He turned to see huge ape-like hands reaching through

the bars. The hands were too far away to harm him, but the beast raised one hair-covered fist, swung it through the air like a hammer, and growled what almost sounded like a word.

“Jog!” The sound of the beast’s scream startled Ryan and he backed away. His back

was now against the bars of the lizard-mans cell. The lizard man shot to a standing position and grabbed Ryan’s throat from

behind. “Give me the keys, or I will kill you human!” As Ryan fumbled for the keys, he saw the hair-covered beast from across the

corridor swing his fist again and scream. “Jog!” The ape-like beast looked at the keys in Ryan’s hand, and then held his own

hand out toward Ryan, and spoke in a more pleasant voice. “Jog?” Ryan considered his options for only a brief moment, and then threw his ring of

keys directly into the beast’s hair-covered hand. The blue scaly creature tightened his grip on Ryan’s throat. “You will die for this human!” However, before it could move to harm him, the beast from across the hall burst

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from his cage. The beast screamed, “Jog!” and at the same instance, brought its hair-covered fist

down on the head of the reptile-man. There was an audible “Snap!” and the reptile creature fell motionless to the

floor. Ryan gasped for air as he inspected his sore throat for damage. The souvenir

necklace he took from the Ubangi village left a deep impression in his neck. After a moment, he turned around to look at the beast that saved his life. The massive size of the ape-like beast made Ryan back up a step.

“Uh, thanks,” Ryan said in a harsh voice. Again, the beast swung his fist through the air said his strange word. “Jog.” “Is your name Jogg?” Ryan asked. And again, the beast swung his fist. “Jog.” “Well, okay,” Ryan agreed. “I’ll call you Jogg.” No one threatened the new duo as they walked together through the prison, in

search of an exit. Ryan and Jogg walked to the end of the eastern corridor and traveled up the

stairs to the third level. They quietly approached the top of the stairs and Ryan peered through the

doorway to see what dangers awaited them.

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There were no more stairs leading upward at either end of the corridor. “This must be the highest level.” Ryan thought. Ryan saw four Clawdite guards watching the western end of the corridor and

four more guards watching the eastern end, standing very close to them. “How am I going to get past them?” Ryan thought. Without warning, Jogg raised his fist and ran through the corridor, screaming. “Jog!” Jogg caught the guards by surprise and scooped all four of them into his arms.

He crushed the guards in a bear-hug death grip. From the western end of the corridor, the other four guards approached Jogg

with guns ready. He ran at the leading guard with his arm raised and brought his huge fist down

on his head. The guard dropped motionless to the floor. As the second guard readied his weapon, Jogg jumped at him and buried his teeth in his neck. The second guard was still screaming when Jogg lifted him from his feet and hurled him into the third guard.

Seven of the eight guards were now lying in piles around the eastern corridor. Ryan watched in shock as the fourth guard raised his weapon at Jogg and pulled

the trigger. A blue arc of lightning cracked from the gun and froze Jogg in place. The air filled with the smell of singed fur. Jogg fell to his knees and Ryan watched as Gizzron entered through the archway and ordered the guard to cease fire.

The remaining guard removed a pair of handcuffs from his belt and secured

Jogg’s hands behind his back. “Is he still alive?” Gizzron asked.

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The guard knelt down and checked Jogg’s breathing. “Yes master. He is still alive,” the guard answered. Gizzron aimed his hand at Ryan. “You! Put this creature back in his cell.” Gizzron then aimed his hand at the remaining guard and. “And you! Clean up this mess and assemble more guards to watch the block!” Gizzron and the remaining guard disappeared up the stairs, leaving Ryan alone

with Jogg. Ryan tried to get Jogg back to his feet, but his injuries were too great for him to

stand on his own for long. He put his arms around Jogg and slowly helped him down the stairs and back into his old cell. The single guard gave him no problems as he walked through the corridor in disguise.

“You will be safer here,” Ryan told his friend. He closed the door of the cell, but did not lock it. As he turned to walk away

from his hairy friend, he heard Jogg’s voice. “Jog?” He turned to face the ape-like creature one last time, and say his last farewell. “See ya later, big guy.”

From his cell, Jogg lifted himself on one elbow and watched as his friend

disappeared into the elevator.

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Ryan hurried back up the stairs to the end of the western corridor, ran up a short ramp and saw an elevator there. He entered the elevator and studied the controls. There was a button marked “Bridge,” and another marked “Level Three.” Ryan did not wish to return to the third level, so he pressed the “Bridge” button. There was a loud buzz, and the sound of a voice emitted from a speaker.

“Insufficient clearance!” As Ryan examined the elevator, he noticed the red glow of a hand scanner. He

passed his hand under the scanner until he again heard the buzzing tone. There was no voice this time. However, as he waited in the empty elevator booth, he turned and watched in shock as the entire rear wall slid open to reveal a hidden doorway, and five more Clawdites stood at attention.

There were two rows of Clawdite guards. One row of three and the other row

had only two. When the guards saw Ryan standing in the elevator, they quickly made room for him.

“You! Come here and get back in line!”

Ryan cautiously approached the guards and took his place in line. There were

now two lines of three guards.

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They stood in line for over an hour without saying a word. Ryan had to struggle to hold back the urge to run out of there. Several times, he heard a low buzzing tone accompanied by dimming of the lights.

The buzzing tone stopped for several moments and the guards began to quietly

talk to one-another. “Do you think they’re done with the shipments?” a voice asked. Another voice soon replied. “I hope so. I want Gizzron to come back and relieve us.” “I don’t like Gizzron,” a new voice spoke. “If our old master was here, we would

have gained Earth months ago!” “Kāno is dead!” the first voice answered. “At least he helped gain the first seven

planet systems, before frying in the transporter prototype.” “I was there when it happened,” a deep voice added. “He just had to do it

himself. He beamed away and never appeared at the destination. He just disintegrated.”

“They should have destroyed that transporter when it happened,” someone said.

“I can’t believe they’re going to use it again.” The low voice spoke again. “They have to. It is the only transporter large enough to deliver this many pods.

They are using it right now.” “Our scientists are near completion of a new transporter prototype,” a dry voice

added. “Soon we will have the ability to modify destination and time.” Again, the lights dimmed simultaneously with a loud buzz.

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“I agree with Karr,” the low voice continued. “Kāno was a better leader. He was too intelligent to remain a soldier. It was his idea to study human culture and bring their artifacts to us so we could learn how they fight. We took from their homes and watched their media. We have learned how to re-create the light-sabers we saw in their media and Kāno taught many of us how to fight with them.”

“No one can match Kāno’s skills with a light-saber,” a new voice added. “They made him the general,” the first voice said. “But he died before he could

lead his first invasion as a leader. Earth would have been his first victory.” The lights dimmed again, only this time, the sound of a Clawdite man

screaming, accompanied the buzzing tone. Footsteps and shouting came from a room in the rear. The two rows of guards looked at each other, and all together ran into the

Generator Room to see what was happening. Ryan followed. The Transporter Room had one very large blue square, glowing from the floor

of the room. Strange symbols decorated the walls and two large flags hung at each end of the room. The flags were black, and depicted an open palm with a blue circle around it in the upper left corner and a large stone pyramid with a red eye hovering above it, taking up the majority of the lower portion. There was a wide diamond-shaped pattern of seven white circles located under the open palm. Ryan thought the eye over the pyramid looked vaguely familiar to the one on the back of a one-dollar bill. The control panel that controlled the field generator consumed one whole wall of the room. A digital display had the words, Destination Five glowing in red letters above it.

The monitor above them had the image of a sand covered desert on it, and two

Clawdites struggled with the controls. Above the blue panel flashed the image of a Clawdite man. The man wore a

metal vest that formed an X across his chest.

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“General Kāno!” a voice said. “Can you hear me?” As the image began to fade, the men struggled harder with the controls. One

Clawdite man twisted the destination knob to the Destination two position, and Ryan watched as the scene on the monitor changed to show the center of the Ubangi village.

The image of Kāno continued to fade and the hand twisted the knob to the

Destination one position. The monitor changed again to a view of an underground cavern system; the view was very dark, but Ryan could see what he believed to be water on the floor.

After several minutes of struggling, the Clawdite operating the panel dropped

his arms to his side. “We’ve lost him.” The operator lifted a long lever and turned to the other guards. “We’re done for today. Let’s report this incident to Gizzron and resume the

shipments tomorrow.” One by one, they all left the Transporter Room. Ryan was at the end of the line. When the last of the Clawdites left the Transporter Room, Ryan turned and

quietly returned to the control panel. After several minutes of waiting, he threw the power lever to the “ON” position and watched the monitor display a view of the cavern systems.

He turned the knob to the Destination two position and considered jumping

through the portal and into the village, but decided to look at the other destination points first and possibly find a better place to go.

Ryan decided to start the knob in the Destination five position and view each

destination in order from five to one, and then choose the best portal to make his

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escape. The glow of the monitor lit up the room as Ryan carefully studied the

destination points.

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Chapter Ten: The Power of Four

Willy and Cody studied the newly assembled device. Both of them were eager to use it, but were unsure of how to use it, and where to go.

“Let’s get out of here!” Willy said. “There’s nothing for us to do here.” Cody considered leaving for a moment, and then turned to look at Willy. “Wait. We haven’t finished searching this place yet. I think I saw something in

that dead guys hand.” They returned to the dead remains, and peered into the hole. “Why does he

look like he died a million years ago?” Cody asked.

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Willy pondered this question for a moment. “He must have traveled into the past and somehow died. And then his body

rotted in this rock wall until we found it.” Cody shrugged. “Yea, that’s probably what happened.” Cody picked up a large rock from the ground and used it to examine the

mummy without using his fingers.

“Look at this!” Cody exclaimed. “It looks like his whole body is encased in some type of pod.” The pod was made of a black rubber-like material and surrounded the body of Dr. Mcagen. A large cut opened the pod from head to toe and had the telltale markings of animal teeth all around it. There was a broken electronic device attached to the rear side of the pod.

Willy watched as Cody poked and prodded the corpse with his rock for a few

minutes, and then took the rock from his hand. “Move. Let me show you how it’s done.”

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Willy grabbed the dead body with both of his bare hands and pulled the corpse

out of the rock wall. The remains of the body crashed to the floor in a heap. “Now we can take a better look at him,” Willy stated. Most of the corpse’s clothing had rotted away over the years, only a few scraps of

cloth revealed his blue jeans and buttoned white shirt. Willy immediately bent over, picked up a plastic card from the body and

examined it closely. “Dr. Mcagen. Security clearance level one.” He held the card up for Cody to see the photo ID. “This is the guy we read about in the Ubangi village.” Cody knelt down and removed a paper scroll from the hand of Dr. Mcagen. As

he unrolled the scroll, he noticed it was two large pieces of paper with writing on each of them. One paper was an ancient scroll with many handwritten lines of unreadable text and strange symbols on it, and the other paper was a translation of the first paper, written by Dr. Mcagen. The second paper had several lines from the first paper copied to it, and had an English translation directly beneath them.

“What does it say?” Willy asked. Cody held his trusty little flashlight up to the scroll. “There are only two lines of the scroll translated. The first line says ‘A chosen

one will rise from the darkness and decipher the glyphic of the night walker.’ The words chosen one have a circle around them.”

Willy nodded his head. “Okay, what does the other line say?”

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Cody continued to read. “The other line says, ‘In the land of the crawlers, death comes to those who wait.’

The word crawlers has a circle around it in this sentence.” Willy took the two papers from Cody, rolled them back into the scroll, and put

them into the backpack. Then, he studied the ID card for a moment and placed it into the backpack as well.

“What are we gonna do now?” he asked. Cody dropped to a sitting position and focused his eyes on Willy. “We have to save Floyd and find Ryan.” Cody felt something cold touch his back and jumped. He quickly turned

around to see Scooter standing on all fours looking at him. “Scooter, I forgot you were here!” he said. Scooter flopped down beside Cody and rested his nose between his paws. Willy removed his light-saber from his back pocket, set it on the ground and

took a seat beside Cody. Cody picked Willy’s weapon from the ground, and rolled it around in his hand. “How did you make this, Willy?” “I used the handle from an electric weed whacker and a glow-plug from a

nuclear submarine,” he answered. Willy took his light-saber back from Cody, stood up and placed it back into his

rear pocket.

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“C’mon Cody, let’s get-” The large man ceased to speak and a frightened look replaced the happy-go-

lucky expression his face once had. The cavern behind them lit with a red glow, and they heard the sound of a light-

saber buzzing from behind Cody. Cody immediately stood up and turned around to see a tall figure standing

behind him. He had the same red glowing eyes as the other creatures he saw; only this man was holding a light-saber.

The man holding the light-saber was different in many ways from the others.

He was bald, with no hood over his head, and he had silver belts crisscrossed over his chest. His vicious stance had a look of calm elegance.

“Who are you?” Willy asked. The tall figure ran his finger over a large rock and studied his finger for dirt. “My name is Kāno. I am the general of the galaxy’s largest opposition against

lesser beings, and I am the last thing you humans will ever see!” Cody knew there would soon be a furious battle and his sword fighting abilities

were about to be tested, but no fear shown on his stern face. Kāno was the most innovative swordsman of the Clawdite army. Many

Clawdites had trained under him, but none have ever matched his skill. Cody was younger and more energetic than his opponent was, but Kāno was more than his equal as a swordsman, and was driven by an uncontrollable hatred for humanity.

“I estimate five minutes,” Kāno began. “Five minutes from now, you will all be

dead.” Willy ignited his light-saber and lunged at Kāno. The Clawdite master looked

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at him out of the corner of his eye and smiled as if amused by the premature attack. Then, he flashed his blade and cut Willy’s weapon in two without even looking at him. Cody reached for his weapon, but there was no light-saber on his belt. As Kāno approached him, he backed into a stone corner and gave Willy a look of fear. After the death of Floyd, Cody wanted nothing to do with handling a light-saber, but he needed it now.

Kāno raised his light-saber in a threatening pose and glared at Cody. “Goodbye, human!” As Cody prepared for the deadly blow, he heard the sound of Willy’s voice

calling from across the cavern. “Cody!” Willy screamed, and Cody looked up to see Willy throwing his light-

saber back to him. Kāno brought his weapon down at Cody in an attempt to kill him. However,

when he did, his blade connected with the green glow of Cody’s light-saber. Cody was good with a sword, but today he knew he would have to be better

than he had ever been in his life. The two combatants fought their way across the cavern floor, light-sabers

flashing. Kāno showed off every skill he had acquired over the course of his career. Cody tried repeatedly to press the attack, but Kāno was in control of this fight and they all knew it. Willy watched with hope as Cody gained a little ground on Kāno, but as always, the Clawdite master regained his ground and pressed Cody even further back. Even Scooter was on his feet watching the fight; he stood very still with his ears back and his eyes locked on Kāno.

The clash of their light-sabers was almost deafening in the cavern as the two

battled through pools of water and over large moss-covered stones. Willy looked down at his hands and threw the shattered remains of his light-

saber to the ground. He knew this battle was going to be over soon and Cody

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would die if he could not find some way to help him. As Cody backpedaled over a patch of stones, Kāno caught him off balance, and

with a powerful kick, knocked Cody into the deepest pool of water. In the beginning, Cody matched Kāno blow for blow, but now Cody was in

over his head and his skills were more than tested; they were exhausted. Cody felt around in the water for his light-saber. Somehow, he managed to lose

it when he fell into the pool. As Kāno charged at Cody, an idea came to him. He stood up and raised his hand in the direction of the charging Clawdite. A white burst of lightning charged from Cody’s hand and Kāno had to stop to block it with his weapon until Cody ceased the attack.

“You’re very brave, human,” Kāno said, with complete confidence and calm. “You haven’t seen nothing yet!” Willy replied coolly, and threw a large stone at

Kāno, knocking him down for the first time. From out of nowhere and without warning, Scooter leapt through the air into

the face of the relentless Clawdite. The battle that started as a one-against-one battle was now a three-against-one

battle and Kāno’s chances of winning were no longer looking so good.

Kāno stood up, and for the first time, he lost his little confident smile. Scooter snarled and snapped at his ankles.

Cody removed his light-saber from the pool. The water inside created a blast of

steam as he ignited it. Then, he slowly lifted his light-saber with both hands high into the air, and closed his eyes.

At first, he could see everyone in the room as only an orange shape, but as he

focused his abilities, he began to take in much more detail. Through the stone, he could see Scooter, cowering in fear and watching through a small hole.

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As he turned to face Kāno, he noticed he could see through his body. He could see two hearts pumping liquid through a network of pulsating veins. He could see a large scar, hidden beneath his vest, and, he could see the white flame of his light-saber, rising before him.

Kāno hesitated and stepped back, eyes widening. Then, he raised his weapon

high, and swung at Cody. “Human fool!” Cody allowed the weapon to pass very close to him, but at the last moment,

dodged it and came at Kāno full force. Cody’s movements were impossibly fast as he stabbed and slashed at his

opponent. The cavern was a blur of red and green motion from the effects of their weapons.

Kāno swung his blade at Willy, but hit nothing but air. Cody stabbed up high and quickly changed the angle of his light-saber hoping

that Kāno would dodge left. However, Kāno, with all his years of training and combat knowledge, veered neither left nor right, but rather, stepped back.

As Scooter lunged at Kāno, the Clawdite master prepared his weapon. “I’ve had enough of you, my little friend!” Kāno lowered his light-saber and charged at the dog. Scooter let out a terrified

bark, and ran far away out of the cave. Willy began picking up stones and throwing them at Kāno. The swordsman

met each stone with a flash of his blade. In one graceful movement, Kāno swung his weapon from left to right, and

sheared a huge stalactite from the ceiling of the cave. The stalactite hit the floor and exploded into a pile of rubble that covered Willy’s legs. Willy was unable to

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move. A feeling of fear came over Cody as he once again faced the Clawdite master

alone. Under the rocks, he could see Willy; he could see through his skin and tell he had no broken bones. Willy was going to be all right.

Both swordsmen attacked each other at the same time and their blades locked

together in a scissor of red and green flame. Kāno looked at Cody, and Cody looked at Kāno. Cody could smell the sweat beginning to form on the general’s body.

Without warning, Kāno kicked the light-saber out of Cody’s hand and grabbed

him by the collar of his shirt. Cody opened his eyes. Kāno brought his face so close to his, that Cody could see nothing but the red glow from his eyes.

Willy watched the battle helplessly through a cloud of dust as the Clawdite

General overpowered his friend. Kāno threw Cody down on his back and lifted his light-saber into the air. “No more games, human. It’s time you die. Your death will be the beginning of

my future here as a ruler.” Again, Cody turned his head to avoid the sight of his own death. He heard a

loud buzzing sound and saw the cavern around him glow bright red, but instead of dying, he watched the lifeless body of Kāno fall facedown before him.

With Kāno no longer standing in front of him, Cody could see his brother Ryan

standing over the blue square holding a large glowing gun with both of his hands. The fourth adventurer had arrived.

“Your future is history,” Ryan said, pretending to blow smoke from the end of

the ancient weapon. “Ryan?” Cody breathed.

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Ryan removed the hood from his head, crammed the barrel of the pulse-ray cannon into the front pocket of his jeans, and walked over to Cody.

Cody’s jaw fell open. “Man, am I glad to see you!” he said. “I wasn’t sure if I’d ever see you again!” Willy began moaning from under the pile of rubble. Ryan and Cody inspected

Kāno briefly, and rushed to help Willy. Ryan knelt down and began removing rocks from Willy’s legs. “Ryan?” Willy asked. “How did you get here?” “I used a different transporter,” Ryan answered. Cody joined Ryan and helped Willy. “He saved my life, and probably yours too,” he added. A moment later, Scooter scurried into the cave and leapt into Ryan’s arms. “I’m glad to see you too!” Ryan said to the dog as Scooter licked his face. Willy stood up and brushed the dirt from his pants. Dust and sweat covered his

once white shirt. “I have to get out of this cave,” he said. “I need to breathe some fresh air.” Cody looked at Willy, admiring how well he handled his defeat. “I saw an exit when I was in the pool of water. It’s not far, all we need to do is

swim about fifteen feet and we’ll be out of here.” “Isn’t there a better way?” Ryan asked. “Couldn’t we just use the transporter?”

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Cody thought about this question for a moment. “We don’t know if it will work with all of us. I don’t want to go to any

destination, I want to stay around here and get some food.” “I agree.” Willy added. “Let’s get out of here. We’ll figure out where to go after

we get some rest.” Willy walked to the motionless body of Kāno and removed the light-saber from

his hand. “I need this more than you do, buddy,” he said, and shoved the weapon into his

back pocket in place of his old one. Cody secured all of their belongings into the backpack, and stepped into the

water. Ryan removed the hooded cloak from his body, which contained the old book and added it to the backpack as well. Soon, the three of them were wading through the water toward the deep end, when Scooter began to whine. Scooter remained on the dry ground at the edge of the pool. He was afraid of water.

“C’mon Scooter!” Willy said. Ryan whistled for the dog. “Here boy! Wanna go for a swim?” Scooter did not want to go for a swim. Cody returned to the edge of the pool and pulled the dog into his arms. Scooter

relaxed and allowed Cody to hold him. The four adventurers waded to the deep end of the pool and plunged into the

murky depths of the water. They could all see light coming from a nearby chamber and were eager to exit

the caverns. Scooter kicked and fought against Cody as he pulled him through

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the water. Bubbles ran from the dog’s mouth as he tried to bark under the cold water of the underground channel.

One by one, Ryan, Willy and Scooter surfaced into a well-lit chamber with very

smooth walls, but Cody was not with them. As Cody swam through the channel in the direction of the light with Scooter, a

large crab approached him. The crab snapped at Cody’s face with its claw, and Cody let go of the dog. Scooter swam alone to the safety of the underground chamber.

Cody fumbled his light-saber into his hand, but when he ignited it under water,

the blast caused a small tidal wave of steam. The tidal wave slammed the crab against the stone ceiling of the channel, and made it angry. Cody watched as the crab’s red stalk-mounted eyes slowly turned to look at him.

The crab moved like greased lightning toward him and Cody swam frantically

to the lit chamber to join the others. Ryan, Willy and Scooter watched in fascination as Cody thundered out of the

water and ran to the edge of the chamber, breathing heavily. When the crab surfaced into the chamber, Cody looked at Scooter and

screamed. “Kill it Scooter!” Scooter did not seem interested in the crab; he just ignored it, shook the water

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from his body and flopped down. Again, Cody ignited his light-saber, and this time the crab jumped into the

water and disappeared. Willy looked at Cody and began to laugh. Cody was frustrated and angry with Willy for laughing at him. “Don’t laugh! That thing bit me!” Cody held a red finger out for them to inspect. They could all see that Cody

was okay, he was just upset. Ryan straightened up his hair and looked at Cody. “I thought you said this was the way out!” “I thought it was,” Cody replied. He was beginning to regain his cool. The four adventurers looked around and saw piles of bones all around them.

Scooter rummaged through the pile of bones until he found one that satisfied him. His teeth made a loud snap as he chewed the bone.

“I want out of here,” Willy said. Cody placed Scooter back into his arms, and the four adventurers plunged again

into the depths of the water. After a short swim, the channel opened up into a wider cavern and there was air

to breathe. The adventurers waded through the deep water and exited from the opening at the end.

“Freedom at last!” Willy exclaimed.

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They walked from the cavern, into a large field of high grass until they came to a

road. A sign on the road read, “Oklahoma, 1 mile.” It was late in the evening. The sun had begun to set and the sky dimmed to a

dark shade of orange. “We must have walked over three miles in that cavern,” Willy said. “We need to

find a place to camp for the night.” Ryan removed his shirt and wrung the water from it. “I don’t care where we camp, as long as it’s not back in there!” The four adventurers followed the road until they came to a railroad overpass. As they walked, a serious look came to Ryan’s face. He turned to others and

stopped walking. “I have something to tell you and I think it’s something important.” Willy appeared to be searching for something in the high grass. Without

making eye contact with Ryan, he unenthusiastically began to talk. “What is it Ryan?”

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“When I last used the device,” Ryan began, “I was transported into a Clawdite prison. I escaped, but I overheard them talking about taking over Earth. General Kāno was the leader of the Clawdite army, and they have been using replicas of these portal generators to take over other planets.”

“It all makes sense,” Willy said. “But we need to work on our problems one at a

time. For now, we need to get some sleep. Then, tomorrow, we can work on getting our circle of friends back together.”

Willy found an old tire under the tracks, and pulled it under the overpass. “This will make a fine pillow,” he said. “C’mon guys, I’m gonna sleep right

here.” The four of them unpacked their belongings, and made a camp under the train

overpass. Scooter curled up on the backpack and slept. “What are we going to do tomorrow?” Cody asked. There was a moment of silence before Ryan spoke. “We’re going to try to use the device to rescue Floyd,” he answered. Willy lifted his head on final time. “Go to sleep guys. We’ll talk about rescuing Floyd when we wake up.” Cody stirred for several minutes as he got comfortable, and then he drifted to

sleep. The four adventurers slept under the tracks and dreamed of what they would do

the next morning.

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~Intermission I: The First Cigarette~

Somewhere in a city far away from the adventurers, a man and his wife sat together in a crowded movie theater watching a movie. An hour or so into the movie, the man turns to his wife.

“I need to get out of here for a few minutes. I’m going to catch a cigarette in the

lobby. I’ll be right back.” The wife does not make eye contact, she just leans her head closer to whisper to

her husband. “Hurry up. I’m not going to fill you in on half the movie!” A moment later, the man enters the theater lobby and asks the man at the desk

if he has a light. The ticket-man working the desk hands him a book of matches and aims his hand to a room in the far corner.

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“The smoking lobby is over there,” he says. The ticket-man motions toward a small room with tables, chairs and a few

snack machines for the smoking customers. There is a television set mounted on the far wall displaying the news.

The man sits down at one of the available tables, lights a cigarette and begins

watching the latest news.

NASA delayed the planned landing of space shuttle Atlantis by at least a day

today after they received a transmission from space that may have come from an alien spacecraft.

NASA engineers think the message may be an elaborate hoax from someone

here on earth. The shuttle intercepted the message during the firing of jets in preparation for landing.

The astronauts quickly participated in a rare conference call with two other

NASA officials who ordered the shuttle to remain in orbit until more information was gathered.

“The question is what is it? Is it something benign? Or is it something more

critical we should pay attention to,” said Wayne Hale, space shuttle program manager.

“We want to make sure we’re correct before just writing this off as a hoax.” “The transmission in question appears to be from an alien race who call

themselves Clawdites and it mentions a plan to take over earth.” Mission control reported to the news channels.

“They refer to their transmission signal as X channel and they do not appear to

know their transmissions are being intercepted by us.”

NASA wanted an extra day to do a detailed analysis of the transmission

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intercepted by its cargo bay satellite, NASA spokesman Doug Peterson had said earlier. Already NASA had been using satellite microphones and cameras to scan the far reaches of space, but until now, their findings have been insignificant.

“It’s something that we didn’t expect, but it’s something we’re taking a real close

look at,” Peterson said. NASA ordered Atlantis to keep the satellite microphones running all night

instead of stowing them ahead of the planned landing attempt as usual.

As far as the Pentagon is concerned, it’s nothing more than “another hoax.” “There is no military connection,” a spokesman told the BBC News Magazine.

“If it is a hoax, it is very well done and was clearly done with the best

equipment,” says Sci-Fi Channel spokesperson, Lawrence Hall. “There are no signs of this transmission being a recording of any known media found on earth.”

Conspiracy theorists will already have their own ideas, such as whether someone

used this “alien spacecraft” as a convenient decoy to cover up a research project or military crash from the Gulf War.

During a 10-minute conversation with the news media, NASA spokesman

Doug Peterson said, “At this time we are regarding the transmission as a hoax. Anyone responsible for sending this transmission into space will be prosecuted, and the consequences of this crime will not be light.”

“Even before the problem with the unexplained transmission, NASA had said

weather could affect Wednesday’s scheduled landing. A storm front moving through Florida could delay landing from 5:59 a.m., when the sky would still be dark, until 7:34 a.m. or until Thursday or Friday. Weather requirements are more stringent for dark sky landings because they are more difficult, but the weather should allow for the extended flight.”

After snuffing out his cigarette, the man made a quick stop at the men’s room and hurried back to his seat. He leaned to his wife and asked, “What did I miss?”

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Chapter Eleven: Déjà Voodoo

The next morning, the adventurers awoke to the sound of Cody screaming.

Ryan sat up immediately and rushed to see what was happening to him. Cody was screaming in agony and appeared to have a crab attached to his toe by its claw. Willy saw what was going on and simply rolled over and tried to go back to sleep.

“That’s the same crab from the caverns.” Ryan remarked.

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Cody stood up on one foot, still screaming. “Do something! Kill it!”

Ryan tried to be serious about this, but it was obvious this situation amused him.

“What do you expect me to do?” he asked. “Just get it off my toe!” Cody answered sharply. Cody hopped on one foot over to a fallen tree-branch and tore a small stick

from it. He raised the stick and proceeded to bash the crab with it until it finally let go. He looked down at his red swollen toe, and then to the crab. Cody decided to strike the crab one last fatal blow with the stick. However, when he brought the stick down, the crab managed to catch the end of his stick with its claw and hold on.

“What the-” Cody muttered. Cody shook the stick vigorously above his head trying to tear the crab free of the

stick, but the critter held on. Finally, he spun the crab several times with his hand and threw the crab, stick and all, very far away.

Willy sat up to watch the crab as it flew an absurd distance and out of site. “Now that’s one way to do it!” he said and began bellowing with laughter. “Look what it did to my toe!” Cody exclaimed. Cody held his foot out for everyone to see. Ryan saw the red swollen toe and

howled with laughter. “Do you think it’s dead?” Cody asked.

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“Probably,” Willy answered. “You threw it halfway to the moon!” Ryan removed the assembled device from the backpack and set it on the ground. “So this is what this thing looks like assembled?” he asked. “Are you guys ready

to do this or not?” “I’m hungry,” Cody stated. “Can’t we find something to eat first? We have

plenty of money, and there’s got to be a restaurant around here somewhere.” Willy stood up and stretched. “There’s an abandoned shack on the top of that hill.” Willy motioned his hand

toward a distant hill. “If we follow these train tracks to that shack, we should be able to see where the main road is from there. If there is an eatery close by, we’ll get food.”

“Okay,” Cody replied. “Let’s go.” Scooter emerged from Willy’s sleeping bag and everyone packed their things

into the backpack and tied their walking shoes. Ryan pulled the backpack over his right arm and nodded to indicate everything was ready.

With Willy leading the way, the remaining adventurers climbed the hillside they

had been sleeping under and began walking the old railroad tracks. “This is gonna be a long walk,” Willy said. “Why don’t you tell us more about

that prison you were in, Ryan?” Ryan told Willy and Cody all about his visit to the Clawdite prison. He started

with how he transported into an abandoned cell, and explained how the running guards nearly caught him. As Ryan began talking about his friend Jogg, his story quickly came to a halt.

“You feel bad about what happened to him, don’t you?” Willy asked.

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“That guard didn’t need to fry him that long,” Ryan replied. “I could smell his

fur burning.” Willy gave Ryan a kind smile. “You said he’s okay, right?” “Yeah,” Ryan began, “he’s gonna be okay. But I’d still like to blast that guard for

torturing him so long!” As they approached the center of the bridge, they all stopped for a moment to

take in the view. The height was immense. They stood over one hundred feet above the ground. They could see a small stream, several small trees and a brown tangle of dead underbrush directly below them. Willy held Scooter firmly in his arms as he peered down at the barren fields. Ryan spit over the edge and watched for several long seconds before watching it disappear out of view.

“C’mon, guys,” Willy, said. “Let’s get moving.” One by one, they each followed Willy’s lead across the bridge. After a few

minutes of silence, Ryan continued to talk. “They’re preparing to invade earth. I heard them say they’ve been sending

supplies here, and they have been making more portals to travel where they need to go. Their elevator has a level marked bridge. I tried to go there, but it is very restricted; only the highest level of Clawdites can get in there.”

A look of accomplishment came to Ryan’s face as he pulled the old leather-

bound book from the backpack and thumbed through the pages. “I got this book,” Ryan said, holding the old brown book for everyone to see.

“It’s all about the Clawdites and it explains how they use their power.” Cody’s eyes widened and he immediately stuck out his hand for the book.

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“Let me see it, Ryan!” Without hesitation, Ryan flopped the old book into Cody’s hand and

continued his story. Cody ignored his older brother’s words as he became fascinated with magical

ways of the Clawdites. “It says the most powerful Elders can quiet their minds and see through walls!” The others were not as intrigued by the book as Cody, but they allowed him to

interrupt Ryan’s story several times without getting angry. “It says they can raise and control the dead, and even produce lightning from

their hands!” As Cody followed the others across the tracks, he came to a dead squirrel,

smashed by a recent train. Cody closed the book, shoved it into the backpack and focused his mind on the mutilated animal. With his hand out and his eyes closed, he concentrated for several seconds before opening his eyes again. When he opened his eyes, the squirrel was nowhere to be found. Paranoia set in as Cody looked around frantically for his undead squirrel. After a few minutes, he gave up his search and ran to meet up with the others that were now nearing the end of the bridge. The others remained fascinated by Ryan’s story and listened eagerly as he told them about jumping through the last portal and shooting Kāno.

As Ryan’s story came to an end, the adventurers arrived at the abandoned shack.

Willy watched the two boys enter the wooden building, but remained outside. He walked to the highest point and looked out in every direction for a main road, but all he could see was miles and miles of country land.

Ryan and Cody came out of the shack empty handed. “There’s nothing in there,” Ryan said. Cody walked back into the shack and sat down on the wood floor.

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“Now we’re never going to eat!” he whined. Willy joined Cody in the old shack and sat down beside him. “Let’s go save Floyd. We will eat the first chance we get. I promise.” “All right,” Cody said. “Let’s do it.” Ryan sat down and placed the device between his legs. He told the others to sit

in a circle and hold hands. Willy held Scooter in his lap. The four adventurers held hands and formed a circle around the device. “I hope

this works better than last time,” Ryan said, as he snapped the large black knob to the destination two position.

After a moment, the device emanated a series of three loud beeps. The

adventurers slowly faded from inside the shack and reappeared in the center of the Ubangi village.

The village was very quiet. The dead bodies of fallen Ubangi people were in

piles at each end of the village. Ryan stood up and placed the device back into the backpack.

“Someone has been here,” he said. Willy aimed his hand at two tribesmen. “They’re still here. It looks like they’ve come to clean this place up.” The tribesmen wore clothes very similar to what Louhan wore. Most were

shirtless and wore their hair in similar fashion. They watched as a very excited tribesman emerged from one of the huts,

stopped for a moment to inspect them and began screaming.

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“Hey! This is our village now! You need to keep moving, strangers!” The tribesman was an older man and walked with a cane, but he often carried

the cane in his hand and clearly did not need it to aid with his walking. As the excited little tribesman approached them, Willy stepped forward. “We don’t want this village. We have some business to attend to, and then we

will be on our way.” “You will leave now or I will explain this situation to the Chief!” the angry

tribesman said. “Chief Koova is not a patient man. He will have you all executed. I am sure of it!”

Willy towered over the smaller tribesman. “This isn’t your village,” he said. “This village used to belong to the Ubangi

people, and we have just as much right to be here as you do!” The smaller man turned and walked quickly toward a colorfully decorated hut. “We will just see about that!” he stated. As the tribesman walked in the direction of the hut, he mumbled some words

the adventurers could barely hear. Ryan could only make out one word. “Executed.” “We’re too late,” Cody stated. “Floyd is still dead. We need to find a way to set

the device to an earlier time.” “I know,” Ryan replied as he once again removed the device from the backpack. “I think I know how to change the time. I think I need to change the numbers

on this digital panel to a lower number.”

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The numbers on the digital paned read “49150,” and Ryan twisted the smaller knob until the panel read “49146.”

Without waiting for the Chief to arrive, the adventurers held their hands

together, and after the press of a button, they once again faded out of the Ubangi village and slowly faded back into the Ubangi village of the past.

The undead villagers were coming from everywhere. Ryan, Floyd and Scooter hid in the corner lot of the cemetery while Cody and Willy defended against the mob of moaning attackers.

After a while, Cody began defending against the oncoming attackers alone. One

by one, he slashed them down. The others watched in suspense as the undead villagers tried to knock Cody down and eat him alive.

Everyone watched as Cody let go of his light-saber with his left hand, and with his right hand, held his weapon firm and sensed the enemies with his mind.

His weapon was a steady green blur as he sliced, maimed, and destroyed his

enemies. They all watched in amazement. Cody never moved his feet; if a villager approached him, he would slash blindly and disable any enemy without having to turn or look. Bodies piled up everywhere.

After a long tiring battle, the sun began to rise and the last of the undead

attackers dropped at Cody’s feet. Floyd ran over to Cody to congratulate him for saving all of their lives, but Cody

still had his eyes closed and his mind was ready to sense anything that approached. What happened next, no one could have predicted.

“Cody!” Ryan screamed. “Don’t kill him!” Cody spun around, saw the adventurers standing near the colorfully decorated

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hut and paused. “Kill who?” “Don’t kill Floyd!” Ryan answered. Cody lowered his weapon and scanned to make sure the undead Ubangi people

were gone. “Why would I kill Floyd?” Cody noticed they were now standing behind him, but a moment earlier, he saw

them in the cemetery. “How did you guys get behind me?” he asked. As Cody fastened his weapon to the waistband of his jeans, he noticed there was

now another group of adventurers walking from the direction of the cemetery. Shocked excitement filled Cody’s face as he approached Floyd. He turned to

the others and cheered. “We saved him!” Ryan stood deep in thought for a moment, scratching his head. “If we saved him, why didn’t he just reappear back with us? “What’s going on?” Floyd asked. Willy stepped forward and focused on Floyd. “Cody accidentally killed you Floyd, and we traveled back here to the past to try

to save you from getting chopped up.” Ryan looked at Willy and shook his head.

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“If we saved him, he should have reappeared back with us. Where is Floyd of the

present time?” “There is no Floyd of the present time, the only Floyd there is, is right there.” Willy pointed his finger at the Floyd of the past. Floyd walked over between Ryan and Cody. “I’ll go with you. It feels like the right thing to do.” Ryan of the past stood up and finally noticed his mirror image. “Cool! Look, it’s us!” Cody of the past twisted his face into a confused grimace. “How is this possible?” Scooter of the future saw Scooter of the past and the two dogs slowly

approached each other. They both eyed each other cautiously. “Ok,” Willy said. “We need to get out of here before we screw up the whole

time continuum. Fire that device up Ryan, and let’s get back to our time!” The reunited adventurers held hands in a circle and stood around the portal

generator. Scooter jumped into Willy’s lap as the adventurers of the past watched in confusion.

Ryan left the destination knob set to destination two, but twisted the smaller

knob until the panel read “49150” and pressed the button. There was a quick series of beeps, a fast flash of blue light and they all quickly

reappeared back to the present. Floyd was with them again.

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Floyd looked at Cody and raised an eyebrow. “So what exactly did you do to me?” Before Cody could reply, a sound came from the colorful hut. They all looked up to see three tribesmen exit the hut and begin walking in their

direction. One man was the irritating old man with the cane, one was clearly the Chief, wearing a headdress of red flowers and an animal-skin vest, and the third man was a tall creepy-looking tribesman wearing no shirt.

“There they are!” said the smaller man with the cane. The Chief stepped forward and folded his arms. “I am Chief Koova of the Do-doubi Tribe. Why have you trespassed into our

village?” “This is the Ubangi village, and you don’t have any more rights to it than we

do,” Willy argued. “Look!” Floyd exclaimed. “That little guy has Chief Muchaka’s cane!” The irritating little tribesman raised his cane and began to speak, but before he

could say a word, Willy interrupted. “Look guys, we don’t care what you do in this village. Our work is done here

and we are leaving.” “No,” the Chief stated. “Trespassing into our village is punishable by death,

and we intend to carry out that sentence right now.” Willy laughed. “You don’t have enough men to kill us.”

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Chief Koova smiled. “We don’t need a lot of men to carry out this sentence. One will do.” The creepy-looking tribesman stepped forward and held his hands palm up in

front of his chest. His eyes rolled up showing only the whites of his eyes. “Kill them!” the chief screamed. “Don’t take no crap from that freak!” Willy said. “Fry him with your lightning,

Cody!” Cody stepped forward, smiled and sent a powerful blast of lightning into the

creepy man’s body. The tall tribesman flew through the air and landed in a dry bush of thorns. “Looks like you’re not gonna be killing anyone, Chief!” Willy said with a laugh. “How do you like the power of the dark side!” Cody teased. As the adventurers turned to leave the village, the creepy man rose to his feet.

Cody turned to take one last look at the Chief and his men and watched as the creepy man raised his hand in their direction and sent his own blast of energy into Cody.

“Noka kunoka tevia!” growled the creepy man. A black smoke-like stream shot from his hands and connected with Cody’s

body, sending him through the air and leaving him in a pile on the village floor. “He is a master in the art of black magic!” the chief stated proudly. “That sucked!” Cody said, as he struggled to his feet. “Kill that Voodoo freak!” Willy screamed.

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With no warning, Cody quickly raised his hands to the Voodoo-man and let out

a searing blast of lightning. At the same time, the Voodoo-man sent out a dark blast of Voodoo magic that connected with the lightning and secured it in mid-air.

The battle became a showdown of dark-side versus dark-side and every time

they attacked one another, they found themselves in a draw. Willy stepped forward. “Okay, it’s time to end this,” he said. As Willy approached the Voodoo-man, the man turned his back to them. “One against one is a fair fight. If you choose to fight unfairly, I will be forced to

take extreme measures.” “You won’t be alive long enough to take extreme measures,” Willy replied. Scooter stood beside Willy and began to growl. Willy ignited his light-saber, and at the same time, the Voodoo-man slowly

turned back around. He had gold rings on each finger of his right hand and as Willy approached him, he opened his hand. A small doll dropped from his hand and suspended mid-air by strings attached to each ring.

As the Voodoo-man moved his fingers, the doll began to animate and moved

like a puppet. The head of the doll turned to the direction of the adventurers, and at the same time, Cody’s head turned in the same direction. There was a small stick placed in the hand of the doll, and with a movement of a finger, the small stick rose into the air.

Cody helplessly raised his own light-saber into the air and watched as it ignited. Willy moved to kill the Voodoo-man, but his weapon connected with the green

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blade of Cody’s light-saber. “I can’t help it, Willy!” Cody screamed. “That guy is

controlling me with his doll!” The Voodoo-man howled with laughter as he controlled

Cody with his fingers. “Don’t kill me, Willy! I can’t stop myself!” Cody insisted. Willy defended himself very carefully against Cody, trying not to harm him. Willy allowed the Voodoo man to press him back until he was within ten feet of

Chief Koova, then he quickly jumped behind him and held his light-saber to his throat.

“This game is over, Voodoo-man. Hand over that doll or I will kill your Chief!” The Voodoo-man lowered his doll and began to speak. “You win this round, strangers. However, I would like to keep my doll. This

rare Zuni-doll is the last of its kind and I could never bear to part with it.” “What?” Willy said. “So you can torture more innocent people just because

they come to your village?” The Voodoo-man began to smile. “We only use our magic to protect what is ours.” The Voodoo-man spoke softly and looked very sincere. He spoke with his head

lowered and his hands behind his back. Ryan began to scream, and when Willy turned around, he saw Cody holding his

green light-saber to Ryan’s throat. The outraged Chief struggled, but was unable to escape Willy’s powerful grip.

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“It appears we have come to a draw,” the Voodoo-man said. “Release the Chief

and I will let your friend go.” “I’m not falling for anymore of your tricks,” Willy said. “You will release my

friend first, or I will kill the Chief right now.” The tension in the village was high and everyone felt as if their lives were in

danger. Floyd concentrated to himself. “A draw? There must be some way to end this battle, and I am the only one who is

not in immediate danger.” Floyd studied everyone closely and tried to find a solution to the problem. After

studying Ryan for a moment, he moved. “I have a draw for you!” Floyd pulled the pulse-ray cannon from Ryan’s front pocket and aimed it

directly into the face of the Voodoo-man. “You’ve got two seconds to drop that doll, buddy,” Floyd said. “Are you going to kill us?” the Voodoo-man asked. “Not if you do what I say,” Floyd replied. “Are you going to take our new village from us?” Chief Koova asked. “Our old

village was in the nearby forest and burned from the fire. We need this village for our people.”

Willy adjusted his hold on the Chief and said, “We told you, we only want to

leave. We don’t want anything; only a safe passage out of this village.”

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The Voodoo-man removed the rings from his fingers and threw the doll to Floyd. There was a piece of Cody’s shirt pinned to the doll.

“Get out of our sight!” Willy said to the Voodoo-man and the Chief. “I can see you are sincere,” Chief Koova began. “We apologize for any trouble

we have caused you.” The two men turned around and walked back into the colorful hut. Floyd looked down at the pulse-ray cannon and cringed. “Does this thing actually work?” Ryan took the gun from Floyd and shoved it back into his front pocket. “Yep. I saved Cody and Willy with it yesterday.” Willy smirked at Ryan and put an arm around him. “You can tell Floyd about how you triumphantly saved us all, another time.” “You guys are going to have to catch me up on a lot of things,” Floyd said. Cody walked over to Floyd, pulled the piece of his shirt from the Voodoo doll

and placed it into his pocket. “Where do we go now?” he asked. Ryan walked over to the abandoned bulldozer formerly known as the

Jabberwock. “I have an idea...”

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Chapter Twelve: Jimbob’s Great Escape

Officer Billiard knocked on the door marked Chief. After a moment, he heard the click of a telephone settling onto its base and the sound of the Chief’s voice.

“Come on in, Billiard!” As Officer Billiard entered the Chief’s office, the Chief told him to close the

door and aimed one hand in the direction of a vacant seat. He took a seat across the table, began opening his notebook and arranging his paperwork into two piles.

“Well,” the Chief began. “What did you get out of him?” Raymond sat back in his chair and let the few remaining papers fall to the table. “This guy is an idiot.”

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The Chief seemed unaffected by Raymond’s words; he formed his fingers into a pyramid under his chin and kept his eyes locked on him.

Raymond let out a deep breath and continued. “I don’t know if this Jimbob guy is lying to me or if he’s just insane… really

insane.” He motioned his hand at the stack of crumpled interrogation reports. “I have done this job for ten years and I’ve never seen a man so convinced that

the world is all wrong and he is all right.” Officer Billiard picked a page of his Interrogation Report from the desk and

began to scan it with his eyes. “He said he has to save his neighbor, who’s already dead! … He said zombie

aborigines are attacking people in Brazil! … He said his friend traveled through time and got lost! … He even said aliens are taking over the world!”

The Chief stared at Raymond with a face like stone. “You used to be good, Raymond,” he said. “But it’s been a long time since

you’ve impressed me with your abilities.” Officer Billiard said nothing. “You were in there for almost two hours,” the Chief said. “Didn’t you get

anything out of him?” Raymond composed himself and sat up straight. “The only thing he wants to talk about is how the earth is being taken over by

alien creatures.” He motioned with his hands as he said “With red glowing eyes!”

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Now it was the Chief’s turn to dominate the conversation. The Chief lowered his head and began to speak in a quiet voice. “Your ten-year evaluation is next month, Raymond. I’ve been thinking about

giving you a promotion, as well as a raise this year.” Raymond Billiard’s eyes lit up. “Really?” he asked. The Chief paused for a moment before continuing. “Not if you can’t do your job, Raymond,” the chief replied. “Older does not

always mean better. You’ve had a lot of easy cases these last couple years,” The Chief looked down at Officer Billiard’s belly. “And a lot of jelly-filled doughnuts.” Again, Officer Billiard said nothing. The Chief could clearly see the

disappointment on his round face. “I have seen you break guys a lot tougher than that hillbilly.” the Chief

continued. “I want you to get back in there and crack that man.” Raymond stood up and pushed his chair back in. “Okay, I’ll make him talk.” He closed the door behind him and began to walk down the hall in the direction

of Jimbob’s room. “I have never had a problem getting a man to talk!” his mind echoed. “He’s gonna

tell me the truth. I don’t care what it takes!” Anger boiled inside Officer Billiard as he stormed back into the Interrogation

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Room. As Raymond closed the door behind him, he put on a false look of calmness. As

his eyes scanned the top page of his notebook, he began to speak in a quiet voice. “James Robert Huckleberry… I am going to sit down beside you here, and we

are going to finish this little story now.” As Officer Billiard spoke, he used a small key to remove the handcuffs from

Jimbob’s hand. “I think the two of us can finish this story man-to-man without handcuffs, don’t

you?” “Uh huh,” Jimbob replied. Raymond slid his chair directly in front of Jimbob’s, removed his notebook, and

continued his questions. “Tell me again what you were doing in the Carlsbad Caverns, Jimbob,” the

officer asked. Jimbob lowered his head once again and began. “I had a map. I was trying to find the other half of this time-machine thing we

found, and use it to save my friend’s life.” “We’re not going to do this all day, Jimbob!” Raymond screamed. “Martha

Peterson is in the Clovis City Hospital right now, because what you did!” Officer Billiard smiled. “This is going to be a lot easier if you just cooperate and give me the truth. It’s

better for me, and it’s better for you that we get this report finished, so we can get out of here.”

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“I need to get out of here,” Jimbob said. Raymond stood up and walked behind Jimbob’s chair. “Oh, you want out of here, do you? You are going to have to cooperate with me,

Jimbob. I don’t care what you did or why you did it, all I need is the truth, so I can hand in this report and go home tonight.”

“And get my promotion,” Raymond thought. “I’m done talking,” Jimbob answered. “Don’t I get an attorney, or a phone call,

or something?” Raymond locked the door and slowly turned to face Jimbob. “You’ll get what I give you, Jimbob.” “You may have hurt that old lady at the Caverns, Jimbob,” Officer Billiard

began. “But at least she gave you a black eye before we caught you.” Jimbob looked confused. “She didn’t hit me,” he said. With one swift movement, Raymond swung his fist and smashed poor Jimbob

square in his left cheek. The force of the blow was so great, Jimbob’s chair tipped over and he flipped

head-over-heels out of his chair and onto the floor in a heap. “Please, officer…,” Jimbob sobbed. “Just let me out of here!” Officer Billiard stood over Jimbob. His hands were now vibrating fists, and his

white knuckles were clearly visible. “Two options, Jimbob…” the officer began. “Finish the Report, or I get to tell

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everyone how little Martha made your face look like hamburger!” As Officer Billiard voiced the word hamburger, he used his foot to push Jimbob

onto his back. Jimbob’s lower lip had a trail of blood running from the center and heavy bruises covered his left cheek.

“Tell me, Jimbob,” Raymond began. “What in the world could be so important

to you, that you would spend all day lying to me, and you just have to get out of this place, right now?”

Jimbob slid to a sitting position and wiped the blood from his bottom lip. “A thing called destiny!” As Officer Billiard raised his fist and prepared to strike, he heard the sound of a

low rumble coming from the other side of the wall. He walked over to the wall just in time as a time-traveling Jabberwock crashed through it and covered him with a mountain of bricks and debris.

When Jimbob looked up, he was amazed to see four men and one dog setting

atop the painted bulldozer. Cody slid down from his seat and wrapped his arms around Jimbob. “It’s good to have you back, Jimbob!” One by one, the others slid down from the bulldozer and joined Jimbob. They

did not have long to enjoy this small victory before two more officers emerged through the opening in the brick wall and knelt down at each side of the bulldozer with their guns drawn.

“Turn around, and put your hands behind your heads!” one officer screamed. The six of them ran out of the Interrogation Room, through the hallways of the

Police Department and into the main office.

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“How are we going to get out of here?” Ryan asked Willy. “The police are right beside our bulldozer!”

As they approached the front door leading out of the main office, they heard the

sound of sirens blazing, and watched as two police cars pulled in front of the Police Station and two officers exited them.

Willy gave Ryan a disgusted look. “I guess we’re not going out here.” As they turned and began running back the way they had come, Willy noticed a

sign on the wall and stopped for a moment to study it. “Hey guys!” he said. “I have an idea! Follow me!” They followed Willy through the Police Station, down a flight of stairs and

halfway through another long hallway when they heard the sound of a Police officer speaking through a megaphone.

“Come out with your hands up!” the megaphone blasted. “You have one minute to

exit the building or tear-gas will be deployed!” As they decided which direction to flee, an unwary guard approached them and

stood, blocking the hallway before them. After a brief moment of consideration, Ryan pulled the pulse-ray cannon free of

his front pocket, aimed it at the guard and spoke coolly with his head tilted. “Drop your gun and move it.” The officer quickly complied.

They ran through the final stretch of hallway and emerged outside, right in the

center of the Police Station Parking Lot.

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The police never considered the adventurers would attempt to exit through the parking lot, and the six of them were very happy to see it was unguarded.

Willy pulled Floyd and Jimbob close to him. “We’re going to have to run across this road and into those trees without anyone

seeing us.” Before they could execute Willy’s plan, a single police car pulled into the parking

lot and shut its headlights off. “He didn’t see us!” Cody announced. As the officer opened the door of his car and stepped out, Willy grabbed him

from behind and quickly thumped his head off the front fender. He studied his handy-work for a brief moment and aimed his hand at the rear seat of the car.

“C’mon guys, get in!” Inside the Police Station, two guards watched the surveillance monitors. One

guard picked up his telephone, and the other pressed an alarm button under the desktop.

The six adventurers piled into the police car and Willy put it in gear. Ryan sat

in the front passenger seat with Scooter in his lap, and the other three sat in the rear. As they pulled out of the parking lot, they heard the sound of guns firing and someone screaming through the megaphone.

All the available police officers ran to their cars as the adventurers raced down

the road. “This is where the fun begins,” Willy said. One by one, the police cars poured out of the station and sped after them with

their sirens blazing.

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The road was a straight runway of pavement for the first few miles and Willy held the accelerator pedal to the floor. The speedometer climbed over one hundred and ten miles per hour and the adventurers remained in the lead.

As they crowned the top of a hill, they saw another police car parked across the

street. An officer stood in front of the car with his gun ready. “What are we gonna do?” Ryan screamed. Willy slowed the car down a little as he thought of a plan. “Hold on and put your heads down,” he replied. Moving at over a hundred miles per hour, Willy took the car off the road and

attempted to drive around the other car. The officer aimed his gun at them as they passed, but did not fire. After the adventurers moved the car back onto the road, the officer raised his weapon and began firing at the stolen car.

“Keep your heads down!” Willy screamed. Ryan opened his eyes to see Scooter with his head out the window and his ears

blowing in the wind. He quickly grabbed the dog and placed him back on his lap. With his head down, Willy could not see where he was driving and once again

veered off the road. The front tire found a hole in the grass and their car began spinning wildly out of control.

After the car stopped spinning, they looked up the see the police officer running

on foot toward their car. Willy put the car in reverse and tried to get away, but the tires spun in the grass and they could not move.

When Willy finally got the car onto the street, the officer began firing his

weapon at their car. The rear of the car dropped as a back tire exploded. Willy put the car back into drive, and tried his best to drive away. When the

officer saw them moving away, he ran back to his car and jumped in.

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“We’re done for, guys!” Willy said. “Wait, Willy!” Ryan said. “I have an idea.” Ryan thought for a moment and aimed his hand ahead. “Drive over this next hill and pull over!” As their car climbed over the hill, Willy pulled off the road. Ryan jumped out of

the car, pulled the pulse-ray cannon from his pocked and stood in the center of the street.

The moment he saw the police car appear over the hill, he pulled the trigger. A

massive orange bolt blasted from the barrel of Ryan’s weapon and struck the car directly through the hood. The car skidded sideways and eventually came to a grinding halt.

Ryan looked down at his weapon in awe. “Groovy!” Before Ryan could enjoy the small victory, the car exploded into a mushroom

cloud of debris. Pieces of the car blew over forty feet in the air and flaming scraps covered the road. The police car rested in the center of a large burning pool of gasoline.

“Not groovy,” Ryan said, as he returned his gaze to the inferno. From the direction of the burning wreck came the sound of a man screaming.

Ryan turned to see the officer dive from the car on fire and run for a nearby pond. After watching the officer plunge into the water, Floyd leaned forward to speak

to Willy. “We better not get caught now!”

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Ryan jumped back in the car, and the adventurers once again took off down the

road. With one rear tire flat, the adventurers moved at a slower pace. They saw the

nearby town closing in ahead of them, but they would not get there in time, not with the police sirens so close behind them.

“We need to find a place to hide this car!” Willy said. Floyd aimed a finger to the left. “Hide behind that gas station!” The sound of the approaching sirens continued closing in. In a matter of

seconds, the police cars would have them surrounded. Cody looked to Willy and screamed. “We’ll never make it to the gas station in time!” Willy slammed on the brakes. “I have a better idea.” With only seconds to spare, Willy pulled the police car into a nearby carwash,

handed the attendant a five-dollar bill and pulled quickly into the door.

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The adventurers heard the sound of many police cars passing them as they

slowly moved through the carwash. They exited the other side and sat quietly, thinking of what to do next.

They all jumped at the sound of a man knocking on the driver door window. “Would you like your car towel dried?” the man asked. Willy looked over to Ryan, and then back to the carwash attendant. “Sure, why not.” After thanking the man for a job well done, Willy pulled the car out of the

carwash and onto the street once again. As they left the carwash, they heard the attendant yelling. “You better get that back tire fixed!” Willy gave the man a dismissive wave and focused on Ryan. “We’re going this way,” Willy stated. “What do we do now?” Jimbob asked. Willy kept his eyes on the road. “I don’t know, but we can’t stay around here any longer. Where’s the device,

Ryan?” “Cody has it. It’s in the backpack.” “Wait,” Cody said. “Can’t we find a place to eat first?” “We need to get out of here!” Willy replied.

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“Look!” Cody shouted excitedly. “There’s a pizza shop right there!” After a short moment of silence, Floyd added his two cents. “I’m kinda hungry too!” he said. Willy skidded the car to stop and turned the wheel hard left, into the parking

lot of Carlos Pizza Shack. “I’ll go!” Floyd announced. “You guys stay here, and beep the horn if I need to

run back.” Ryan exited the car and opened the rear door for Floyd. They all watched him

disappear through the door of the pizza shop. Floyd entered the pizza shop and stepped up to the counter. A moment later, a

large Italian man with greasy black hair appeared. “What do you need?” “I want some pizza. You do sell pizza, right?” “We sell pizza by the slice, baby... when we’re open. But, we don’t open for

another forty-five minutes.” “I can’t wait forty-five minutes,” Floyd said. Floyd walked over to the window and aimed his hand at Cody, who sat in the

back seat of the cruiser. “Do you see that kid? He’s starving, and I promised him food. Can’t you help

me out here?” “Wait a minute,” the Italian man said. “I can make a quick pizza, but you will

have to wait a few minutes.”

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“Okay,” Floyd replied, and sat down on a nearby stool. The Italian man returned for a moment with a remote control in his hand. He

aimed the remote at a small television set and pressed a button. “Here, watch some TV while I make your pizza.” Floyd turned on the stool and began watching the news…

“Here, in Seattle Washington, many people are intrigued by a new phenomenon where several machine shop workers claim to have lost a few hours of their day while eating their lunch in the lunchroom,” the newswoman said.

“Three frightened workers finally arrived back to work, and when they entered,

they noticed that the clock on the wall showed 1:20 A.M., confirming their lunch had taken just over two hours. Normally it took 30 minutes. They immediately went to the boss’s office, William Collen, who confirmed the time loss. Confused as to what to do next, they called the Police station. The next day, they phoned the Navy recruiting station. Neither of the two calls afforded them any aid. The Navy station did give some of the details of the event to a Seattle TV station. The story quickly reached the press, and was given headline status.”

“Their boss, Collen, was desperate to know what happened during the missing

time. The three men were assured that they would be able to undergo regressive hypnosis, and uncover their missing time, therefore alleviating some, if not all of their emotional stress. Several things were evident to the investigators at this first meeting. The three male witnesses were sincere about what they had experienced, they were each suffering from the so-called “blue flash,” and there were obvious physical scars from the encounter.”

The newswoman continued. “Stuart Abbot has reported having small marks the size of half-dollars all over

his body from the experience. Others claim to have been harmed from this

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experience, but only Abbot has visible signs of abuse.” “Though some abductees can consciously remember the abduction experience,

many can only recall the memory while under-”

“That will be eight dollars and fifty-six cents,” the Italian man said. Floyd turned around to see the Italian man holding a somewhat small pizza in

his hands. “It’s not very big,” he said. “It’s the best I can do in such little time,” the man said, smiling a false smile. After digging in his pocket for exact change, Floyd paid for the pizza and left the

pizza shop. He opened the front door of the car to hand a few slices to Ryan and Willy, then he jumped into the back seat, beside Cody. Jimbob continued to look out the rear window in search of approaching police cars.

“Do you feel like eating some pizza?” Floyd asked. Cody gave Floyd a quick disappointed glance. “I’d rather eat something good, but I guess this is better than nothing.” Willy turned around in his seat. “This is the best we can do for now. I promise, the first chance we get, we will

eat something good.” “I’m not very hungry,” Jimbob announced. “You can have half of my piece!” Cody took Jimbob’s half-eaten slice of pizza, ate the majority of it, then shoved

the crust through the wire mesh that separated the front and rear of the car and whistled for the dog.

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Ryan turned around. “You’re wasting the food! Don’t feed our only food to the dog!” Cody continued to shove the pizza crust through the wire mesh. “He needs to eat too! And it’s not very good, anyway! It tastes old.” Willy finished chewing his pizza, swallowed, and turned to face Cody. “You said you wanted to eat! We got you pizza!” Cody watched Willy with a blank expression. “Can’t you just say thank you and be happy for a while?” Willy asked. Cody folded his arms, but did not answer. He was mad, embarrassed, and most

importantly, he was still hungry. After a moment, Willy turned back around and resumed eating the last of his pizza.

After they finished devouring the remaining pizza, Willy started the car, and

once again, they set off down the road, rear tire flopping. Once they were back on the road, Ryan reached over and flipped the C.B. radio

on. “Let’s see if they are still looking for us.” “We have them in sight, proceeding to follow,” the C.B. blared. “I wonder if they’re talking about us,” Jimbob inquired. They were only on the road for a minute before the sound of sirens began

blaring all around them.

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“Where do we go now?” Ryan asked. Floyd looked out the windshield and screamed. “They’re coming from both directions!” Willy turned the car left onto a four-lane street and smashed the accelerator

pedal down, ignoring the shredded rear tire. When the traffic light ahead turned red, Willy looked back and yelled.

“Cody! Use the device and get us out of here!” “I don’t know how to use it!” Ryan turned around. “Just twist the knob to the destination two setting, and press the send button,

Cody!” The intersection ahead now had cars moving both directions. Willy did not

have time to stop. Their car moved faster and faster toward a steady stream of traffic.

The car moved into the intersection and right in front of a large van. The man

driving the van gasped in shock and stepped hard on the brake pedal, but instead of crashing into the police car, he watched as it faded into a cloud of blue light and his van drove right through it.

Ryan and Willy saw the van and screamed as they passed through it. Their

vision of the van disappeared, and the vision of Atokko’s hut soon replaced it. Willy fought the steering wheel hard to avoid hitting the hut. The rear of the car slid out from behind them and they slid past the hut, over a pile of empty wooden buckets, and crashed into the cooking pit.

Willy quickly turned around and looked in the back seat.

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“Is everybody okay?” Ryan struggled behind the spent airbag. “Get this stupid thing off me!” Willy helped Ryan out of the car, and then he opened the rear door for Cody

and Floyd to exit. “We did it!” Cody rejoiced. “We got everybody back together!” Scooter crawled onto the front bumper of the police car and jumped into

Floyd’s arms. “Are you okay little buddy?” Floyd asked, as he rubbed the little dog’s ears. Floyd gathered all their things from the police car and put them all into the

backpack. “Well, we’re all back together and alive. What do we do now?” Willy walked behind the car and leaned on the rear bumper. “We need to rest for a little while to recover from all the excitement, and then

we’re gonna tell someone about the Clawdites taking over the world. We can prove it now. If they don’t believe us, we’ll transport them into the prison!”

The adventurers walked to the edge of the stream where the Ubangi-folks once

fished, and sat down. Willy removed his shoes and socks and placed his feet into the cool water. “Ahh, that’s better!” Scooter trotted into the shallow water, turned around and looked at Willy.

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“That’s the way, Scooter! Soak them feet!” Willy cheered. Cody and Jimbob joined Willy and added their feet to the water. Cody kept a

comfortable distance away from Willy. “Man,” Willy said, admiring Jimbob’s bruises. “Those cops really beat the crap

outta you!” Jimbob flashed a false smile, but said nothing. Willy looked back to Floyd. “I think our little adventure is just about over. Once we tell everyone about the

Clawdites, it’ll be out of our hands.” “I hope the Do-doubi tribe like their new car!” Ryan said, looking around for

tribesmen. The six adventurers rested, relaxed, and reminisced about all they had done. Soon, they would move on. Soon, their adventure would come to an end.

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Chapter Thirteen: The Crawlers of Sentibarr

Ryan returned to the wrecked police car and sat down on the ground. “I don’t think we have to worry about hiding the car,” he said. “No,” Willy replied from the stream. “But now we need to figure out where to

go next.” Cody noticed small marks in the ground coming from the direction of the

stream and straightened his back. “What do you think made those?” he asked Willy.

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“Looks like some small animal,” Willy answered. “Maybe that crab that loves you!”

Cody immediately pulled his feet from the water and walked back to the police

car with Ryan. Jimbob pulled his feet from the water and followed Cody. “Let’s use the device to go back to the Brazilian Caverns at destination four.

From there, we can get out through Floyd’s septic tank and get help.” “I just wanna go somewhere and get something good to eat. I’ve been starving

ever since we left home!” Cody stated. “There are only four destinations we can travel to!” Willy snapped. Willy and Cody glared at each other; both ready to argue, when someone spoke. “Actually, there are five destinations.” Willy slowly turned to face Ryan. “But the device only has four settings!” “When I was in the Clawdite prison,” Ryan said. “The device they had, had five

settings. I saw it; it was some kind of desert.” Willy removed the device from the backpack and opened it. Upon opening the

device, a colorful screen lit up to reveal the Ubangi village. They saw themselves standing in the village.

“Weird,” Cody said. “It’s like we’re on camera!” Floyd walked beside Willy and gazed at the image on the screen in awe. “If you turn the knob, will the picture change to show other places?”

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Floyd grabbed the destination knob with his right hand and gently clicked it to

the destination one setting. An image of the Carlsbad Caverns appeared on the screen. Floyd quickly snapped the knob to each of the four settings, and spent a moment studying each scene.

“Willy’s right, there is only four destinations!” “Let me see that!” Ryan said, and took the device from Floyd. Ryan twisted the knob hard to the destination four position, and tried to force

the knob further, into a fifth position. “There is a fifth destination. We just need to find a way to get this older device

to use the newer portal.” Ryan separated the device back into two parts. Then, he flipped the lower piece

over and removed a cover, revealing the wiring and electronics of the device. “There are enough wires for five portals, but the knob only has four positions. I

think we can disconnect the destination one wire, and make that destination five.” Without waiting for the others approval, Ryan proceeded to re-wire the device

to his new settings. As he began twisting the wires together with his fingers, Willy dug deep in his pocket for the pliers he took from the Ubangi village. He handed the pliers to Ryan and watched as he twisted the last few wires, snapped the cover back on and re-assembled the device.

Ryan connected the battery cable to the upper portion of the device, and opened

it. As he clicked the knob from the destination four setting to the destination one setting, the image on the screen changed from the Brazilian Cavern system, to a huge desolate desert.

“I told you there was another destination!” Ryan beamed. Cody stared into the image, fascinated.

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“It’s Egypt! I can see a pyramid in the distance!” Willy grabbed the device from Ryan and held it close to his face. “Cody’s right, it is Egypt! I always wanted to see the pyramids up close, let’s go

check ‘em out!” Cody dropped to a sitting position and folded his arms. “We can take a quick look at the pyramids, but then I want to get something to

eat. I don’t really care about pyramids anyway!” Everyone seemed eager to see the pyramids, except Cody. Watching Cody sit on

the ground with his arms folded irritated Willy, but he managed to keep his cool and ignore him; for now.

“C’mon, guys!” Willy said excitedly. “Let’s go!” Reluctantly, Cody stood up and walked between Willy and Ryan. The last

thing he wanted to do was trudge across a desert, but his opinion seemed over-ruled; no one else seemed disappointed to be walking through the sand, and so he decided to give in to Willy’s little vacation plan.

Once again, the adventurers all sat down and held hands in a circle. With the

device set to the new destination five, they waited eagerly for Ryan to press the send button. Floyd held Scooter firmly against his lap as the device beeped and sent them to their destination.

They all arrived at the new destination unharmed. Miles of sand dunes spanned from East to West as far as their eyes could see, and a sandstorm brewed behind them from the South. To the North, they saw the great pyramids in the distance, shimmering through the haze of the desert heat. Through the sandstorm, they saw an abandoned adobe village spread out at the far southern end.

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“Man,” Jimbob said. “It’s hot out here!” Cody took the device from his brother, placed it in the backpack and put it on. “Yea, this stinks!” he added. Floyd let go of Scooter and smiled as he huddled close to his ankle. They all

stood up, shook the sand from their clothes, and took in their new surroundings. They stood at the very edge of the hardpan soil, shielding their eyes from the harsh wind. Any direction they chose would take them across miles of sand dunes, except one. The only way they could avoid trekking across the sand, would be to follow the hardpan soil to the adobe village.

A strong gust of desert wind blew the baseball cap from Jimbob’s head. He

chased it, flailing his arms above his head, to the edge of the hardpan soil, where it landed and stuck in the deep sand. He stepped into the sand to retrieve his hat and grabbed it just in time before another gust of wind blew it again.

“Are you sure you wanna walk across this sand just to see some pyramids?”

Jimbob asked Willy, as he stepped out of the sand. Floyd looked back and forth between Jimbob and Willy. “I’d like to see them too!” Willy stood up and looked around at the others. “Who wants to go with me to see the pyramids?” Willy asked. “This might be

the only chance we ever get. I wanna see them up close just once and be able to say I saw them.”

Willy immediately put his hand up, followed by Floyd. Scooter let out one

solid “bark!” and Ryan followed him with a raise of his hand. With a shrug, Jimbob raised his hand and shook it joyfully in the air. Cody kept his arms folded and looked down at his feet.

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“I don’t want to walk through the desert,” Cody said. “It’s stupid and I’m

hungry.” “Listen, Cody,” Willy began. “This is the last thing you’re gonna do with me.

After we see the pyramids, I’m gonna go home. I’m done with this adventure stuff. You guys can go to the cops, or whatever you gotta do without me.”

Cody stood up, but continued to look away with his arms folded. Willy took a

few steps in the direction of the pyramids, then looked back to see if Cody was following. Everyone stood at the edge of the hardpan ready to go, except Cody; he continued to be a thorn in Willy’s heel.

Willy walked over to Cody, grabbed him by the wrist and pulled him to where

the others stood. “You can’t stay here alone, Cody!” Willy shouted. “You are over-ruled! Now

go!” As Willy voiced the word “go!” he gave Cody a very hard push on his back.

Cody staggered out in front of the others and landed on his hands and knees in the deep sand.

Cody slowly stood up and pulled the shoulder straps of the backpack back

over his arms. Willy’s smile faded as he saw the look of defeat on Cody’s young face.

“Do you guys hear something?” Jimbob asked, looking around at the ground. The whole group watched in horror as a large ring of teeth emerged from the

sand, creating a circle around Cody. Cody noticed too late. “Cody, get out of there!” Willy screamed, but it was too late. A huge, worm-like head rose out from beneath Cody and engulfed him within

its mouth. The creature made a long moan like a humpback whale as it closed

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its mouth around him and slowly disappeared back into the desert sand. “Cody!” Floyd screamed, but only the sound of Cody screaming returned to

him. Floyd turned to Ryan and Jimbob. “We’ve gotta do something!” he screamed. “He’s dead.” Ryan said, looking into the large hole in the sand. “It’s too late,

that creature ate him. Floyd turned to Willy, but Willy stood frozen in place, staring out into the

desert. The huge man did not blink and did not respond to what the others said; he seemed almost in a trance.

Jimbob stepped forward with a look of resolution on his face. “We can use the device to go back in time a few minutes and get him back!” “He was wearing the backpack!” Ryan said, turning to face Willy. “This is your fault, Willy!” Ryan said. “You shoved him out there and now

he’s dead, and now we don’t have the device to get back home!” Willy did not reply, he just continued to stare out into the desert. As the remaining group decided what to do next, they heard the deep moan of

the creature, moaning from the North. When they turned their heads to look, they saw the creature emerge from a different hole, carrying Cody and the backpack in its mouth. The creature soon disappeared into yet another hole, and after another brief moment, appeared again from a third hole. Cody was clearly still alive and certainly still able to scream. Everyone watched in silence as Cody moved across the desert.

The sound of a light-saber igniting soon broke the silence and Willy stepped

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forward. “I will go after him alone,” Willy said. “You guys stay right here.” No one said a word; they just watched in silence as Willy stepped into the sand

and began following the track of the creature. Jimbob watched in horror as Willy walked through the sand. Willy stopped

for only a few seconds to turn and wave. “He’ll never make it,” Jimbob said. The remaining adventurers watched in shock, as a row of pointy teeth

encircled Willy. No one could speak. As if expecting an attack, Willy quickly jumped out of the circle, landing on

his feet to the left of the creature’s mouth. When the creature’s head emerged from the sand, Willy quickly cut a large slash across its head with his light-saber. The creature fell dead on the sand before him and its dead body slowly slumped back into the sand hole.

Willy heard the sound of a second crawler approaching the surface of the sand

and steadied his light-saber close above the sand, waiting for it. The creature must have heard the buzzing tone of his weapon, or possibly sensed the other’s dead body. Either way, the crawler remained under the safety of the thick sand.

“He might make it,” Ryan said, nodding his head to Jimbob. Floyd kept his eyes on the desert, but spoke quietly to the others. “Well, I guess we’re not in Egypt.” They watched in suspense as Willy continued across the desert after Cody.

Cody flew, screaming through the desert, and Big Willy followed. The

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Sentibarr desert was very much like every other desert Willy had seen on the geographic channel, minus the crawlers. Willy’s guilt for what happened to Cody erased his fear for the crawlers; it was good that he chose to travel alone; it is unlikely that others would volunteer to go with him on such a dangerous mission.

As Willy crossed the desert, he heard the sound of the crawlers moving

beneath the sand. At first, he heard only a quiet scuffing following him, but as he continued to walk, the sound increased as other crawlers took an interest.

The sound remained a safe distance behind him, but if he slowed his pace, the

crawlers would slowly gain on him. Staying ahead of the monsters was an easy task for Willy as they had a hard time matching his comfortable walking speed.

“Death comes to those who wait,” Willy pondered, as he remembered the dead

doctor’s scroll. “I guess I need to keep moving.” Willy's boots felt as if they were filled with lead, but he continued to trudge

onward. He began to think the crawlers had finally left him alone when he heard the

sound of two crawlers coming from his left and his right about ten yards ahead of him. He knew if he continued ten more yards North, the crawler would close in on him.

“They’re getting smarter,” Willy thought. “They made a plan to move ahead of

me and catch me in their trap.” Willy avoided their trap easily several times and eventually, they became silent

once again. As the day grew old, the sun dimmed to a dark red hue. In the distance, Willy

could see an object lying in the sand. Seeing this object motivated Willy to quicken his pace. As he neared the object, he identified it as the backpack Cody wore at the time of his attack. Lying next to it was the ID badge of Dr. Mcagen.

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Willy lifted the backpack from the ground and shook the sand from it. Then, he plucked the ID badge from the sand and inserted it into a small pocket in the backpack.

Willy focused his weary eyes on what he believed to be a pyramid rising from

the Northwest. When he began to move north, a large circle of teeth surfaced around him. Willy easily jumped out of the trap, but as he tried to run, another set of teeth closed around his left ankle.

“Oh, you smart little freaks!” Using the backpack as bait, the crawler set a trap by resting just under the

surface of the sand with its mouth open. Like a bear-trap, the spiny rows of teeth quickly closed over his foot.

Willy ignited his light-saber and attempted to slash his attacker, but upon

hearing the sound of the weapon, the crawler quickly let go, regained the backpack and retreated into the ground. Willy was now hurt and bleeding from the crawlers bite and once again without his backpack. He left his weapon ignited as he walked the final stretch of desert to the pyramid, waving it vigorously over the sand to keep the crawlers away.

He ran the last few yards to the entrance of the pyramid holding his left leg.

Exhausted, he threw himself onto the stone floor and began to recover his breath. The crawlers might be able to crawl through the doorway, but they could never come from under him, not through the stone blocks.

He rolled the leg of his pants up and inspected his wounds. The bite was more

of an immense pinch than an attempt to eat him. As with Cody, the bite was only intended to carry him off.

As Willy regained his strength, he began to observe his new location. He

noticed several fresh marks on the floor, and believed it to be both a crawler and most likely, Cody. From the Northeast end of the pyramid, he heard a sound very similar to that of a light-saber. Gazing upward, he saw a few dozen black pods hanging from the ceiling. The pods were identical to the pod found in

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New Mexico containing the dead body of Dr. Mcagen. Each pod had a small electrical device attached to its rear side with a tiny red light glowing from the center.

“I bet those are Hibernating Clawdites,” Willy thought. “If only I could reach

them with my light-saber.” He stared at the hanging pods and shook his head. Having few options, he

decided to follow the sound of the hum to the Northeast side of the pyramid. As he proceeded in the direction of the tone, he began to notice a soft blue glow emanating from that direction. He continued walking until he came to a large rectangular chamber with stone pillars lining the halls. In the center of the chamber was a cylindrical metal device with a very bright blast of blue energy emanating from its top. As Willy approached the device, small harmless bolts of blue static electricity arced from the device and began to surround his body.

Slowly, Willy let go of his wounded leg and reached out to touch the device.

Upon touching the device, there was a loud “snap!” The blue light of the device flashed out and the hum went silent.

“Great,” Willy thought. “Looks like I broke it.” Willy felt different. The air instantly became cooler and now he noticed

several lit torches lining the walls. “I don’t remember those torches.” Walking around, he noticed the pods were no longer hanging from the ceiling. “What’s happening here?” He returned to the chamber where he found the cylindrical device and

continued northeast through a square doorway into another smaller rectangular room lit with only one torch at each end. When he arrived, he saw two large crawlers, one on top of Cody, gluing him to the floor with slime and another crawler laying large slimy eggs all around the chamber.

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“Cody!” Willy screamed. “Are you all right?”

TO BE CONTINUED…