Chapter One

 

            A lone man entered the clear Plexiglas elevator and nervously fidgeted. The door closed with a thud and the elevator shot to the top, some forty feet above, in an instant. Another door slid open behind him. He tried to control his breathing and relax—after all—he was a drifter! The drifters were an elite force of specially trained dinosaur handlers. All of them were also expert marksmen with a photonic laser gun.

            The man stepped out onto the platform and held onto the rails. He pressed the button to extend the platform. As it moved steadily forward, a sudden strong jolt caused him to fall sharply to one side and then the other. He grabbed the rail even tighter. It wasn’t entirely unexpected.

            He straightened himself out and pressed the button again. The animal calmed down as the Ground Task Force operator (GTF) directed the full-strength distortion beam at the animal’s head. The distortion wave acted like a tranquilizer. It caused the animal to think and move in slow motion. It made the animal controllable. The beam vibrated the strings deep within the sub-atomic structure of the cells in its feeble brain. It distorted the natural harmony of the fabric of creation.

            Feeling more confident, the man attached a line to a harness on his back. The GTF crew below controlled a pulley system located somewhere up in the ceiling of the building and they were prepared to yank him out if necessary. The giant dinosaur opened and closed its jaws and snapped its teeth shut several times indicating its displeasure. Its head was enormous compared to its body—and its body was gigantic. Some of its teeth were nearly a foot long—fifty of them all together—and they dripped with yellowish-green saliva. The pressure the animal could exert with his jaws could snap a car in two with one bite. Dark green scales a half inch thick protected the animal’s hide and were nearly impenetrable. Its deep golden eyes with a black slit in the center darted back and forth looking for a way to break free from the force controlling its mind. It wanted to be free.

            The drifter reached out and grabbed the back of the seat positioned on the animal’s back and waited to see if it remained still. The animal didn’t move. He jumped into the seat and immediately snapped the shoulder harness in place and then reached across and brought the seat belt into position with a click.

            From below, a sinister looking man with a cane watched this momentous occasion with rapt interest. The smallest smile crossed his face and the men standing near him marveled at this. He was their leader. He was “The Commissioner.”

            A light blinked on the console of the disruptor beam. The operator almost missed it since he had been watching the eyes of the commissioner. He was mesmerized by the glimmer of a smile on his face.

            The operator’s pulse shot up as his heart began to beat faster.  This can’t be happening. The commissioner will have me eaten alive by the babies!

            A flicker in the disruptor beam had an immediate effect on the large dinosaur. It shook its head violently back and forth as if trying to clear something from its non-existent ears. The small flap of skin on either side of its head, called the tympanic membrane, served as the source of sound reception. Its ears were internal.

            The drifter, seated on the back and strapped securely to the beast, was thrown back and forth with such force it snapped his neck. He never felt a thing. The pulley system, still attached to the drifter, came crashing onto the platform and the small hint of a smile on the commissioner’s face turned instantly sour.

            “What did you do?” screamed the commissioner.

            The operator of the GTF looked dumbfounded. “I…I…didn’t do anything, sir. I don’t know what’s wrong? The system controls indicate everything is operating within acceptable limits.”

            A crash outside the operator’s booth made them all jump. The beast had broken free of its confinement. The test had come to a halt.

            The commissioner looked at the control panel. There was the slightest shimmering effect visible that only his eyes could detect. In that moment he knew.

            The boy has returned.

Chapter two

            Priti preened her feathers while Teresa sat down next to her and stroked her back. Her brother had finally returned—after a long, hard life waiting and knowing that she might have to live it all over again. Would she remember, she wondered?

Can I know what I know and be 12 again? She knew this day would come. Fifty-two years! Was this what happened when we went back the last time? Could it have been this hard on my parents?

She truly hoped she wouldn’t remember—ever.

            “How long ago did they…die?” gulped Kyle, still trying to comprehend what he was seeing. His sister—64 years old! His mind had a difficult time adjusting. Teresa said it would be okay again. How can she know that? What if it isn’t?

            “Mom died ten years ago. Dad…well, it’s hard to talk about him. It’s just so hard…what happened, I mean.”

             “What did happen, Teresa? Where is the lab? Why did time move forward so quickly while I didn’t experience but a day?”

            “I don’t have all the answers, Kyle. Dad always felt you would be the one to finally figure it all out. He said you were the true genius in the family.”

            “Excuse me? Do I even have the right planet? That doesn’t sound like my father.”

            “He knew he should have been a better father to you and he carried the weight of the paradox on his shoulders. It changed him. But he said it could have been worse—much worse than it actually was.”

            “What’s this paradox you keep talking about? I know I should know what that means…”

            “Basically, it means the opposite of something. In the case of time travel it means the opposite of life…at least as we know it. Oh Kyle, it’s all soooo complicated. Dad…tried to stop you from coming back.”

            “Stop me? Why? I thought you just said…”

            “I know. That’s what I meant when I said it was complicated. Dad was afraid that if you brought Priti back, you would throw off the harmony of the entire universe. If that happened, he thought it would mean the end of time for everyone on earth. He was partially right. He thinks you may have entered the time capsule at the precise moment he removed the shoestring…”

            “The shoestring! Oh no! I forgot…”

            “It’s not there.”

 

            “Huh? The shoestring isn’t there?” asked Kyle as he walked back over to the capsule. He looked down and realized Teresa was right. The shoestring was gone.

            Priti sniffed the air, bobbed her head up and down, and made a squealing sound.

“Now what?” asked Kyle. Someone was approaching.

A beautiful Indian woman in traditional sari dress, with bright orange and yellow stripes across the delicate fabric, walked out of the darkness into the moonlight. The woman’s hair was exceedingly long and black with streaks of gray.

            “Kyle? Is that…really you?”

            Teresa spoke, as Kyle looked bewildered. “Hi Sonja. You know Kyle…never on time for anything. Even with a time capsule.”

            Sonja walked up to Kyle and gave him a quick hug. “Are you okay? Did you get hurt? I always knew you’d make it. I just hoped it would be a little sooner than this!”

Kyle stood there with his mouth wide open. He was in shock.

None of them could grasp the emotions they felt at that moment. It was all extremely bizarre, very surreal. It was as if they were all in a nightmare and couldn’t wake up.

            As they turned to leave, the deep, distorted sound of a hundred cellos rumbled through their bodies. The capsule began to spin. Very, very slowly at first. Then it picked up speed. Electricity snapped all around the device like lightning. It was something Kyle had never seen before. In a flash of light—the capsule disappeared.

A look of fear crossed Kyle’s face.

            “It’s okay,” said Sonja calmly. “We expected that to happen.”

            Kyle plopped down into a sitting position and held his head in his hands. He felt like everything was spinning, as if he had just gotten off a roller coaster at the Six Flags amusement park.

Teresa put her hand on her brother’s shoulder. “It will be okay. I promise.”

            “I think we should get back to the apartment, Teresa,” said Sonja. “If the drifters see us, we’ll be in serious trouble. We’ll never explain our way out of it.”

            “You’re right. Let’s go. Quick!”

            Kyle didn’t have the slightest idea what they were talking about. He was totally confused. Soon, it would all begin to make sense in an illogical sort of way. Even though he had become accustomed to the unexpected, his mind was in a fog. There was a lot more to time than two hands moving across the face of a clock.

He picked Priti up, to the surprise of both women, and followed them. “Okay. Lead the way. We’re right behind you.”

***

            The street was dark. Kyle heard the sounds of large animals moving in the dark alleyways. He assumed they were dogs—or large cats—knocking over trash cans. Priti kept trying to get out of Kyle’s arms, but he held her tight. She sensed that Kyle was trying to protect her and stopped struggling.

            They arrived at a large door. It was painted black with a yellow circle in the center. In the center of the circle was a control box of some sort. Teresa lifted the cover on the box and put her hand in and the door opened.

            “What on earth…”

            “Later, Kyle. This is the most dangerous place to be right now.”

            He heard a loud swishing sound coming from somewhere above the apartment building. A beam of light shone from a flying craft, but he couldn’t tell what it was. There was something familiar about it, but he couldn’t place it. He strained his neck to catch a glimpse, but Sonja grabbed him by the arm and pulled him through the door. He looked at her questioningly.

            “You really don’t want to know…. Let’s get you a hot shower and into some clean clothes. It might be best if we rest the night and then tomorrow we’ll fill you in. Okay?”

            “No argument from me. You two are the older women of the house. Me? I’m just a kid. A very tired kid,” said Kyle wearily. “I too, have a lot to tell.”

            Kyle hugged and kissed his sister on the cheek. He was still a little hesitant about kissing Sonja and she seemed strangely shy all of the sudden as well. They shook hands and went to bed.

            Kyle dreamed. The nightmares would soon follow, but only after he woke up.