I’m back on First Earth now. I wrote most of this journal on Third Earth, but I’m adding this little bit to the beginning because I want you to know right away how valuable these pages might end up being. I know, you treat all my journals like they’re important, but this one might be the topper. Handle it like gold.
Gunny and I are on a subway train headed back to the Manhattan Tower Hotel. We’ve returned from Third Earth and we’re running out of time. We’ve got to hook up with Spader and get to New Jersey before theHindenburgarrives. But it’s critical that I write down what we discovered on Third Earth because, just as I feared, Saint Dane has changed the rules. No, that’s not exactly right. He didn’t change the rules. We weren’t smart enough to figure out what the rules were. But now we know and I can’t begin to tell you how scared I am.
What we found on Third Earth was beyond horrible.
I hope you’re reading this, Mark and Courtney. I know I’ve written that before, but I mean it now more than ever. Because if we fail today, history will be turned upside down, and there’s a very good chance you two will never be born. I’m serious. You will not exist. Neither will most anything else as we know it. I don’t mean to scare you. In fact, if you’re reading this it means we’ve won. But if you’re not reading this, then the journal I’m writing now may be the only record that Mark Dimond and Courtney Chetwynde of Stony Brook, Connecticut, ever existed.
That would be tragic, but only the beginning of the horror to come if we don’t stop Saint Dane.
Most of this journal has already been written. I’ve tried to include every little detail, because in many ways, I’m recording history.
After finishing Journal #10, I put it safely in the desk where I was keeping Journal #9. Gunny planned on taking the journals to have them bound and covered, but not right away.
We first had to take our trip into the future.
Once the pages were put safely away, I closed my eyes and tried to get some sleep. Spader was already conked out. Just as well. I was getting tired of worrying about what he would do next and warning him to be careful. I hoped I could count on him in the future, but right now I didn’t want to talk to him.
The plans were set. Gunny and I would flume to Third Earth, and Spader would wait here in case we didn’t get back in time. As nervous as I was, I think I caught a few z’s. Man, I needed it. But it couldn’t have been for long, because before I knew it, Gunny was gently shaking me awake.
“Ready to see the future?” he asked with a smile.
“Absolutely,” I answered, wide awake.
The idea of jumping three thousand years into the future had me totally jazzed. Though I wished we were doing it for less intense reasons. Gunny and I took the subway to the Bronx. We changed trains twice and found ourselves back at the familiar station that I had been through so many times before. It was still kind of strange to see it open for business though. When I thought of this place, my mind always went to the first time I came down here with Uncle Press on Second Earth, when the place was abandoned. Was that a million years ago? It sure felt like it.
With so many people hanging around, it was a tricky thing to sneak down onto the tracks to get to the gate. We didn’t want people going all nuts and calling the police because two lunatics had jumped down onto the subway tracks. But Gunny had done this before. We walked to the far end of the platform and waited for the next train to show up. When the train came in, the doors opened, passengers got out, passengers got on, the doors closed, and the train began to roll out of the station. This was the perfect time for us to move because the station was then pretty empty. As soon as the train cleared the platform, we jumped down onto the tracks and ran for the gate.
Nobody saw us. Nobody yelled. Success.
“After you,” Gunny said, pointing to the wide mouth of the flume. We had decided to flume separately. Gunny was too big of a guy to flume tandem with and neither of us felt like knocking heads while rocketing across time and space. Besides, I liked fluming solo. It gave me time to think.
“Is there anything I should be ready for?” I asked. “I mean, is there anything on the other end I’ve got to watch out for?”
“There’s plenty to watch out for,” Gunny said. “But nothing you have to worry about.”
I then stepped up to the mouth of the flume. I have to admit, I had goose bumps. This wasn’t an ordinary flume ride-if any flume ride can be described as ordinary, that is. No, this was more like stepping into a time machine. Next stop: three thousand years from now.
“Third Earth!”I called out.
The flume growled to life. The sparkling light could be seen far in the distance, headed this way. Along with it came the familiar jumble of musical notes that would lift me up and take me into the future of my own territory. I was thrilled, nervous, and terrified all at the same time. Then again, that pretty much defined my life as a Traveler.
“Enjoy the ride!” Gunny shouted.
An instant later I felt the tingling of energy, a slight tug, and I was pulled into the flume.
The ride was uneventful, or at least as uneventful as rocketing through a tunnel headed to a different time and territory can be. It felt good to be alone with my thoughts for a while, and I tried to imagine what Earth might be like in the year 5010. Would it be all Jetson-like and modern? Or did the human race evolve back into monkeys, like inPlanet of the Apes? I didn’t worry too much about the ape thing. Gunny would have filled me in on that little nugget of information.
I don’t know how long the trip took. Actually, now that I think of it, it took around three thousand years. Time sure flies when you’re having flume. Of course, it only felt like a few minutes. I felt a slight pressure on my chest, then seconds later I found myself standing in a surprising spot.
I was back at the mouth of the same flume, inside the same gate, looking at the same rocky room I had just left.
Huh? Did I make a mistake? Did I say “First Earth” instead of “Third”? Did I somehow make a U-turn somewhere in flumeworld? That’s when I heard the musical notes sneaking up behind me. Gunny was incoming. I jumped to the side as he landed in a flash of sparkling light. ”Uhhh, did we make a mistake?” I asked. “We’re back on First Earth.”
“Nope, everything’s fine,” Gunny said.
He walked over to the side of the cavern where a pile of clothes lay. I hadn’t seen them when I first landed. I was too busy being confused. “Only looks like First Earth,” he said as he sorted through the clothes.
Hearing that made me relax a little. We weren’t going to step into some bizarro new world. But I have to admit, I was a little disappointed, too. I kind of wanted to step into a bizarro new world.
“I have no idea how these show up,” Gunny said as he looked through the clothes.
I joined him and looked through the clothes for myself. “Uncle Press told me it’s the acolytes.”
“Acolytes?” exclaimed Gunny. “What’s an acolyte?”
“I’m not sure. I’ve never met one. But Uncle Press once told me they’re people from the territories who help the Travelers. Beyond that, I haven’t got a clue.”
I was glad to see the clothes weren’t all weird and futuristic. I picked out a pair of normal-looking khaki pants and a navy blue turtleneck. There were even regular old socks and boxers, too! The shoes were the most futuristic thing there. They didn’t even look like shoes. They were more like big, white doughnuts. That is, until you slipped them on your feet. As soon as your foot was in, they molded to you and made a perfect fit, kind of like the air globes on Cloral. One size fits all. Cool.
Gunny put on a regular old white shirt with buttons, and a pair of black pants. He chose a black pair of doughnut shoes. White shoes weren’t his style. He also put on a black jacket that finished off the look nicely. He then reached into the pocket of his jacket and took out a small, silver square that was about the size of a baseball card.
“What’s that?” I asked.
“Some kind of telephone thing,” he answered.
“Telephone?”
“Uh-huh. It’s how we get in touch with Patrick. Don’t ask me how it works-it’s all magic to me.” He pressed a button on the card and a red light on top blinked twice. It then blinked green and went out. “He knows we’re here,” Gunny announced. “He’ll come get us.”
“Cool. Can we, uh, take a look around?”
Gunny smiled. He knew I was dying to see what the future looked like. “That’s what we’re here for,” he said.
