ALL THE MARBLES BOOK EIGHT OF DIMENSION OUT OF RANGE 27 OCTOBER 1997 BROUGHAM COMPLEX Jason unfolded himself from the back seat of the Tonka Truck, smiling and nodding. "Not bad, not bad at all." "Hey, you never forget once you learn," Mitch declared. She had just driven for the first time since coming back into Jay's life. In fact, she drove home from the grocery store, a good fifteen kilometers away, without having to pause to try to remember directions, or remember how to operate the vehicle, or anything of the sort. Bri' nodded her agreement, then glanced at a phone. "Hey, we've got mail." "Oh, boy," Jay said unenthusiastically, climbing out of the truck. "Probably Brian wondering why we've stayed out of touch from the world for the past week," Mitch said. "He always was concerned when we went away on our own." "I'm glad they didn't think of getting hold of Asrial," Bri' piped up. Jason grinned. "Never gave them her number." He pushed the MESSAGES button. "Hello," the computer generated voice said. "You have.. fourteen.. messages.. in mailbox.. 1." "So.. give them.. to.. me," Jason mimicked. The machine said in return, "Sunday.. nine.. fifty-two.. am." Brian's voice came on the line. "Jay, pick up. ..You there?.. Bri'?.. Mitch? Anybody? Listen, something big's up. Call me right away." "Sunday.. six.. twelve.. pm." "Where ARE you guys? I tried the truck, too." "I turned off the phone," Jay told Brian's recorded voice. "Anyway, no shit, this is BIG. Call in, day or night, we'll be here." Brianna walked over and stared at the speaker as Brian's third message came through. "Monday.. eleven.. oh one.. am." "C'mon, you can't be gone this long without leaving a note." Gina's voice came through in the background, too quiet to discern what she was saying. Brian spoke to her: "I tried already. They must've turned off the cellphone." "Righto, Bri," Jay said. "Get to the point." The fourth message, from later on on Monday, was a hangup call. Five more came throughout the week, Brian's tone getting more and more exasperated. "I know, I know," Jason said, in anticipation of what the message would say. "It's a really big thing, right? Red Green would be proud. Why leave 14 messages and not say what's up?" The next two were from Gina. She spoke to Brianna instead of Jason, probably hoping that she'd have better luck with her sister. Two more hangups came, and then, finally, the fourteenth message. "Monday.. nine.. thirty-nine.. am." "An hour ago," Mitch pointed out. "Mister Low, or Miss Diggers," a businesslike female voice said. "This is Major Myers' office. We have something for you, and we need to talk to you today about it. Please call back as soon as possible." Her voice had sounded strained, too, as if she'd been trying to reach them for as long as Brian and Gina had. "Wonder if they're connected," Jason said. He picked up the phone and dialed Atlanta first. The videophone clicked on with a shot of Brian lunging for the receiver. "Where the hell have you guys been?!" he blurted out. "Off visiting Asrial," Jay said. "Pointedly not answering our voicemail. Why?" "Something BIG's happened!" "I could tell from the thirteen messages you left for us," Jason said. "All of them without one word about how big this 'thing' is, or WHAT it is." "I don't feel safe talking about this over the phone," Brian said. Jason hit the scramble key. Briefly, the screen went to static, as did the sound, and then it was restored. "We're secure." "I dunno," Brian said warily. "Gina thinks that Penny or Ryan or Talon or some or all of the above might still get in on this." "Dammit, Brian, just tell us," Jason answered. Brian sighed. "Okay. Familiar with the Anti-Jones web site?" "Yeah," Jason said. It was a web site for archaeologists, and it was rather biased against Indiana Jones, as if he was a real person. "THAT'S not the big thing, is it?" "Not directly. They posted that riddle, remember?" "The one about the underground continent?" "The same one. The one they called a fable concocted by the Indy-wannabes of the world." "Okay, so what?" "Gina cracked the riddle." "Really?" Jason motioned for the girls to come over. "Really." "Where does she think it is?" "Can't say. I still don't trust anything but face-to-face on this one. Come down here and talk about it." "Well, we just got a call this morning from Myers' secretary, saying they have a job for us, and.." "No, that was us asking them to try to get hold of you. Ignore them. They know nothing about this." "And you two do," Jason said in a flat tone. "Just get down here, okay?" "Give us three hours to rest and unpack." "One-and-a-half. And don't bother unpacking." "Two." "Whatever--by the time we get done arguing, this'll all be over. Just get here pronto!" Brian's face disappeared. "What the hell was that?" Brianna asked. Jay swiveled the chair to face the girls. "He sez Gina's cracked the Riddle of Tolum." "The what?" Mitch said. "Are you SERIOUS?" Brianna was blurting out simultaneously. "That's what he told me," Jay said to Bri'. To Mitch: "There exists a web site that is a repository for various archaeology news, and, although they don't like to admit it, treasure-hunts. They harsh pretty badly on Indiana Jones- style operations.. I figure we'll have special sections dedicated to us on the site by the end of the year.. but anyway, they occasionally post some of what they call 'drivel'. Recently, they put up what they were calling the Riddle of Tolum. Tolum is, supposedly, another continent, basically, under the ground. Below the sea, even deeper than Atlantis." He called up the web page, showing a sketch which showed an apparently very hot and subterranean land. His voice was now a hushed tone. "Some consider it the first draft of Hell." "And Gina knows how to get to it?" In his normal voice, he continued, leaning back. "Apparently. The web site implies that there's countless treasures at Tolum. Maybe that's true, or maybe that's a fabrication, to see how many hits their web counter can take. They haven't itemized it, obviously, but if it's true, it's the biggest find in history." "To make the finder rich beyond their wildest dreams," Mitch finished. Jason shook his head. "Maybe, maybe not. Like I say, it may be a ruse. But if it IS true, there could be a deeper meaning. Like the picnic-basket story." "The wha?" Brianna smiled. "He's trying to retell a fable using what he remembers from a Samuri Pizza Cats episode. The villain took the biggest one, figuring it was the one that held the treasure, and he was wrong. The smallest was right. Like Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade--remember the deal with the Grails?" "Oh, I understand now," she nodded, turning to Jason. "Why didn't you just say that?" He just shook his head. "Anyway, we should get ready and go before Brian has a stroke." "Well, I don't know about you two, but I'm going to have a shower and some breakfast before I go ANYWHERE," Brianna yawned, stretching and walking to the corridor. "Me too," Mitch piped up, following her. Jason went to the kitchen, since Mitch had gone to use his shower--not a very romantic idea, Bri' and Jay having separate showers with separate water supplies, but it did eliminate the waiting, and the screaming when someone accidentally flushed. Anyway, Mitch and Brianna used the two showers first, so Jason decided to have breakfast and do a quick bit of surfing. He looked up the riddle on the web site and began reading. The two bathrooms were side-by-side, so when the two girls were finished, they ended up meeting in the common area. "You look excited," Brianna said. "I am," Mitch admitted. "This'll be my first real mission with you guys." "Well, don't get your hopes up TOO high right yet," Bri' cautioned her. "In recent times, some of my sister's 'stunning breakthroughs' have been false alarms. Like the time she thought she'd found the tomb of Aries." "What?" "Exactly. Nobody had ever heard of it before. Turns out she misread an ancient tablet, and we were actually finding something called the Ton o'Fairies, which was worthless to modern culture--and actually, rather troublesome. Anyway, usually when she's this concerned--about someone else beating her to the site-- is when she's most wrong. At least lately, that's the case." "You don't sound very positive, if I may say so." "Oh, don't get me wrong. If it's the TRUTH, then we'll be on top of something that will change history. Tolum is rumored to be a civilization from BEFORE jurassic times." Mitch blinked. "You mean--" Bri' towelled herself off, nodding. "They SAY that Tolum was the last of a sentient race, more advanced than our own, that wrecked Earth. They supposedly got wiped out, just before the dinosaurs came into the spotlight. As the fable goes, all of the data on Tolum was either lost or destroyed--and only bits of it are showing up now, uncovered by someone and posted to a webpage as a joke." "What if it isn't, though?" Mitch asked as they got out fresh clothes. "I mean, when Jay and I and our friends were in the WDF, we saw civilizations rise and fall, and then get replaced with new ones--why not here?" Brianna thought about it for a moment, then shook her head slightly. "We uncovered Atlantis a few years back, and it turned out to be an alien ship, not a lost continent. I think Tolum might be something along those lines." "Do you want something to eat?" Jason heard over the intercom. "Got something already," he said, studying the webpage. "Does that mean the showers are free, though?" "Yup." "I'm in, then." He bookmarked his page, shut off PCzilla's monitor, then went unhurriedly towards the bathroom. On his way there, he was mumbling something. "The strongest land.. there, search deep.. find yourself.." He shook his head and carried on to the showers. And so, they went to the Atlanta complex. Along the way, they continued to try to pick apart the story, each offering their own insight into the riddles. They arrived and were ushered in right away, to Jason's protests. "Fer chrissakes, Brian, calm down and relax," he snapped as he was pushed into the lift. "It'll keep for 45 more seconds, yaknow." Brian said nothing, intent on getting them downstairs promptly. The four of them, Brian included, spilled out of the elevator when it arrived in the underground part of the complex. Gina was there, pulling them into the lab. "Gina," Jason and Brianna protested. "We've gotta get this underway today," Gina urged. She sat her friends and herself down in front of the computer console. "We'll start from the top." "Jason and Brianna told me about it," Mitch said. "'The strongest land is where you must begin. There, you shall search deep until you find yourself.' Is that really as ..'deep' as it sounds?" "You'd think so, wouldn't you?" Gina smiled. "Not so much. What would you think was the strongest land?" "We're not going to be considering religious sites, I presume?" Jason said. "Absolutely not." Jason and the rest watched as Gina brought up a map. "This part of the Canadian Shield is the hardest piece of rock in the world." "The strongest land?" Brianna said, looking at Jason, who was looking at her. "Exactly," Gina smiled. She clattered on the keyboard. "Search deep until you find yourself?" Jason inquired. "Not what you think," Brian said. "We've been looking in the wrong direction." "Ok, so.." Jay trailed off. "Not 'deep' as in existential," Gina told them. "Rather, 'deep' as in, .. well, deep." "Will you just spit it out, please?" Jason blurted out. "The equipment we acquired off the ZWD, then recalibrated for our own use?" "The ground radar/seismo-sensor?" "Yeah." "What about it, already?" "Fifty-five kilometers down.. below that portion of the Shield.. there's an underground lake, a really huge one. The water's, according to the scan, 100% pure freshwater." "Clear enough to .. see your reflection in," Jason slowly realized. "So.. what after that?" "Dunno," Gina admitted. "One might suspect that there's some entrance near the lake." "Or under it?" Mitch asked. The rest of them turned to look at her. "Well, it makes sense," she said, "if we're talking about something that's supposed to have been underground for millions of years. What's the bottom of the lake made of?" "Can't tell," Gina answered, shaking her head. "There's a series of ledges, it would appear, from alternating sides of the lake, like horizontal baffles or something similar. They're made of rock at least three times stronger than the Shield itself--the radar can't penetrate it." "Let's look at those ledges," Brianna said. She snatched up the keyboard and called up the radar/lidar/X-ray image. Onscreen, suddenly, was a swirling mass of red. "Yuck! What'd you do?!" Jason blurted out. "Hang on, hang on," Gina said with mild annoyance, and reached over to push F4 repeatedly. "The water's so pure, it reflects the beam. You've got to adjust the sourcing a bit." In moments, the red faded away to a dull haze, and they were left with two overlapping bluegreen roughly rectangular shapes. "This is as good as it gets," Brian piped up. "The 'top' of the picture is oriented due north. The first ledge juts out from the southern 'shore' of the lake, and the second ledge, seen at the top, is underneath the first one at about two meters deeper, coming from the northern 'shore'." Mitch's eyes were focused on the red haze still. "Why does it move like that?" "Motion in the water," Gina answered automatically. "It flows--" She looked up abruptly, first to the screen, then to the others. "It flows?" Jason echoed. "Are you serious?" He snatched the keyboard away from Brianna and brought the sourcing back up so that the water was the main part of the image. They looked at the different hues of red that were rushing up the screen and then back down. "How is it flowing somewhere?" Brianna said. "There wasn't anything else on radar, was there?" "Nope," Gina returned, again shaking her head. "Just the lake and the ledges." "Oh, shit, the ledges," Jason said. He took the sourcing down again, so that the picture was a balance of the water and the ledges. The water seemed to flow more-or-less due north and due south, matching the orientation of the ledges. "You.. think these ledges.. overlap in the middle?" he asked. "Yeah," Brian said, thinking he had an inkling of where his friend was going with this. "And they're all like the top one, only about three-fifths the width of the lake?" "That was my guess," Gina nodded. "And we're seeing the water flowing northward over the top ledge, and southward from the second ledge," Jason said. "It would appear that way.." Gina said. It finally struck her. "It's flowing downwards?" "Like it was a water ladder," Jason said, tossing the keyboard back on the desk and crossing his arms, leaning back. "There's something at the bottom taking this water OUT of the lake." "Good eye, Mitch," Brian smiled. "You too, Jay." They briefly watched the radar image continue to play out on the screen. "Who are you calling?" Brian asked with concern as Jason tapped on the phone's keypad. "Asrial," he said. "She asked me to let her know the next time we were going on a trip, so she could tag along." "Are you sure that's wise?" Brian said. "I mean--" He was silenced by a vicious glare from Jason. "Get real," Jason said finally. "I trust her fully. Even if she DOES bring someone else along, I'm sure Tolum will be more than big enough for everyone to explore." He turned back to the phone as Asrial showed up on screen. Several hours later, the Salusian showed up at the Atlanta complex. "Hi," Jay greeted her. "Ho, Jason," she answered. "Where is everyone?" "Sulking, I think," he smiled. "Actually, they're planning what they want to take." "Sulking? Why?" "I was just kidding, but they're not all that happy that I used an unencrypted line to tell you about our little jaunt." "Why?" "For some reason, Bri and Gina are totally paranoid about this job," Jason explained as they took the elevator downstairs. "Idunno why; this site has been advertised on the Information Superhypeway for months now. Granted, it's been branded a fable, but still, some people must be working on it, like we were." "Is there anything to this site, other than it being the land of an ancient civilization?" "Well, there's a rumor that it holds endless treasures and lost sciences, and that sort of stuff. Tolum was supposed to be as advanced as, say, oh, .. your race, with lots of things that are only dreamed of at this time on this Earth." "Wouldn't that strike you as a good enough reason to keep this under wraps?" Asrial pointed out as they stepped off the elevator. "How so?" Jason said, smiling and adopting Classic Super Hero Voice #1. "If this technology falls into the wrong hands, all hell could break loose." "Exactly," Asrial nodded. She paused, then realized something. "Were you making fun of my reasoning?" "Not really," he said. "I just--" "YOU!" Gina said, suddenly appearing in a doorway and pointing at Jay. "Here. Now." Jason looked at Gina, then at Asrial, then shrugged, and looked back at Gina again as he walked toward her. "What's wrong now?" "Did you post anything to the webmasters of the Anti-Jones site?" Gina asked menacingly. "No, as you may have noticed, I was upstairs for the past 10 minutes, greeting my friend," he said back with a bit of irritation. "Why?" "Because suddenly they posted an addendum to the Tolum page saying that the first riddle's been broken, and that they now consider it a viable, searchable location, and they TOLD EVERYONE TO START IN NORTHERN CANADA!!" she hollered. "Calm down, calm down," he urged as Asrial came over and the rest of them started appearing from various corridors and hallways. "There's lots of north in northern Canada. Besides, we know exactly where to look--anyone else will just be guessing." "Did you forget that that's how WE found it?!" Brian erupted. Jason looked to Brianna for assistance. She shrugged. "Everyone, please!" Asrial said, raising her hands and speaking with a tone of diplomacy. "We're all friends here. There's no point in arguing. Let's just get ourselves sorted out and get on the job. The sooner we get started, the sooner we get there. Agreed?" Everyone mumbled in that way that people who've been chastised for arguing amongst themselves do. "Good. In order to get there without attracting too much attention, I'd suggest we head up tonight. Are we ready enough to do that?" "We can be," Brian nodded. "Okay. Now.. I think it would be best to take along with us anyone who we've told about this operation, so that we know that no one else will find out. In other words, the bunch of us.. and for me, Ichi and Jeremy." Gina rolled her eyes. "You told others?" "Calm," Jason warned. "I agree with Asrial. They could be a benefit, too. Did anyone else tell anyone not already here about our findings?" Everyone except Gina responded in the negative. "We told Stripe and Brit." "Okay," Jason said. "I would say that that settles it. Once Asrial comes back with Jer and Ichi, we'll get everything loaded and head up to Ontario. Fair enough?" "But the guys running the website had to get the information somehow," Brian protested. "We'll have to deal with any fallout from that when we get there," Brianna declared. "Maybe Gina can bring along a hurt-bot set to Stun Mode. Sis?" "I suppose that would work," she answered reluctantly. "Settled, then," Asrial said. "I'll be back." "Hey," Jason said, stopping her. He tossed the pager/controller for the truck to her, and she caught it. "Take the truck," he said. "You can use its light- gate to get there instantaneously, get them, and come back right away too." She smiled and nodded thanks. "Fifteen minutes," she said, and stepped into the lift. And so, a short while later, Gina, Brian, Jason, Brianna, Mitch, Asrial, Jeremy, Ichi, Genn, Stripe, and Cheetah were assembled in the main vehicle bay. "Um," Brian said, looking around. "'Um'?" Jason echoed. "I was wondering if it might be advantageous to have a spellcaster with us," he said. "Oh," Gina nodded. She pondered it for a moment, then went to call Seance, grumbling to the effect that Seance's inclusion would mean the hurt-bot would have to be left behind. After the young mage arrived, with no further interruptions, the team of twelve adventurers set off. Jason took the Tonka Truck, with his usual riders Brianna and Mitch aboard; Asrial drove her own car, bringing along Jeremy, Ichi, and Seance. Gina and Brian took one of the Ginamobiles, while Genn drove another, carrying Cheetah and Stripe with him. They light-gated to Brougham, then used the four vehicles' flight capabilities to move them the rest of the way to northern Ontario. It was getting dark by the time they set down in a wilderness area several hundred kilometers west-northwest of Kapuskasing. Brian and Gina were slightly relieved when they realized that the area was heavily treed, offering great cover. "I don't understand," Asrial said with a puzzled tone. "Are we not taking our cars underground with us?" "What?" Brian said, acting confused. "Well, to me, it would seem that there has to be some kind of opening on the surface," the Salusian princess explained. "Otherwise, how would the pool, which is losing its contents through some kind of drain to the water ladder below it, get replenished? It only makes sense." "Sounds logical to me," Jason piped up. "Thank you, Mister Spock," Brian said. "But what if it's an underground river or something like that?" "I don't think it is," Cheetah said, away from the group and looking through the underbrush. "Huh?" Gina said. "More like a waterfall," Cheetah added as the group came closer. She pulled a branch aside to reveal Stripe about five meters away, sticking his arm through a cascade of water off a cliff. Jason concentrated hard on keeping his truck undamaged. Below and beyond the waterfall had been the mouth of a tunnel, which evidently was completely full of water. It was only five or so meters in diameter and took many random twists and turns, mostly downward; he didn't want to even begin to guess the flow rates involved with all the water that was helping him and Gina move their vehicles down the tunnel. They'd had to leave the other two cars behind; Asrial's was a ragtop, and Gina's Mark-Ten wasn't submersible. Asrial and her passengers rode with Jason, as did Genn, while Gina ferried Stripe and Cheetah. "Um, Jay?" came Gina's voice over the headsets he and Brianna had recently installed in the Tonka Truck. "Go ahead, sis," Bri' answered. "Guys, what happens if we get down there, still underwater, and find out that it's too narrow to fit the cars through THEN?" There was a pause. "We've got enough power to work our way back up this water column," Jason said dismissively. "No problem." "I don't think we'll have to worry about it, Gina," Mitch piped up. "Remember the second part of the first riddle? 'Search until you find yourself'? I think we'll be on the shore of the lake, looking at its surface like the Ugly Duckling." "What an analogy," Jason laughed. It took them three hours more to travel the fifty-five kilometers. Splashdown was impressive; as expected, the car and truck plummeted through a fissure in the 'ceiling' of a mammoth cavern, on par with the one that they'd encountered the Loch Ness Monsters in; the water and the vehicles poured into the center of the sea-sized lake, the vehicles emerging on the surface several moments later. They made their way to the water's edge and jetted onto dry land (they were unable to just drive out because the water was still very deep at the edge of the lake). The group climbed out and marvelled at the sights. It was a tremendously huge cavern, fairly brightly lit, though some areas were still out of sight. As promised, the lake was crystal clear, and relatively calm at its edge despite the millions of liters of water rushing into its center and the turbulent flow going on under its surface. Jason looked into the water. He could see down to what he presumed was the surface of the first ledge, maybe ten meters down, overlaid with his own image and everything above him. He looked up to see clouds of vapor on the cavern ceiling. "This place is so big, it has its own weather," he announced. "We noticed," Brianna said. She came up beside him. "What's the temperature?" He glanced at his pager/truck controller and blinked. "Forty-six." "Yikes. That's why I'm soaked." "Me too," he realized. He suddenly wished he'd brought a pair of shorts along. "Oh my God.." someone said in a hushed voice. Bri' and Jay turned to see Gina peering along the shore to their left with a pair of binoculars. She lowered them and spoke again, pointing. "Right about.. there, there's some kind of writing on the cavern wall." "This is the second riddle," Mitch blurted out suddenly as they were driving towards the writing. Bri' and Jay turned to look at her. "I was looking at the website before we left--that's how we found out that they'd updated it. Anyway, they said that the rumor was the second part of the riddle would become clear if we headed due north from where we ended up after deciphering the first half. We ARE heading north, right?" Jason looked at the HUD. "To the compass, north from here is basically up. But if I remember correctly, if we had headed straight ahead from where we landed in the lake, yes, this place we're going to would fit the description." Momentarily, they arrived. The letters were a strange, unfamiliar language none of them had ever seen before. Even Gina was temporarily stymied by the two-inch-tall letters. "What the heck is that noise?" Cheetah asked. Everyone heard a sort of a rumbling/hissing/roaring sound that appeared to be coming from above. They looked up and saw nothing. Momentarily, many kilometers away in the center of the lake where the water was rushing down, they saw a craft of some kind emerge from the spout and do the same kind of belly-flop into the lake as Jay and Gina's machines had. "OH SHIT!" Brian blurted out. Jay and Bri' were already into the cab of the truck by the time the newcomer bobbed to the surface. Asrial rushed to yank her armor out of the Tonka Truck just before it turned around and drove into the water. "Wait! W.." Gina said, frustrated, trying to get Jason's attention. She dashed over to Asrial and grabbed the latter's head, shouting into the headset on her armor. "Jay! Stop! It's Penny!" The truck eventually slowed to an idle and settled into the water as the mini- sub it was facing oriented itself towards the group of people and started moving. Jason's window powered down and he leaned out it, shouting back to shore, "WHAT?" "Don't fire!" Gina bellowed, waving her arms. "That's Penny's sub! It's OK!" Penny Pincer and Ace climbed out of the back of the truck after Jason had picked them out of their mini-sub and ferried them to the clifflike shore. "That was mean, Gina," Penny fumed, folding her arms across her chest. "Not telling us about this and all that." "That's because I thought you'd try to grab it all for yourself and finish us off in the process, Penny," Gina said coldly. "Ooh, that HURTS, Gold Digger, it really does. Didn't we shake on a truce a while back?" "Yo! Girls! Time out!" Ace cut in, waving his hands. "I'm sure there'll be plenty enough for everyone." Gina sighed. "I'm sorry for leaving you guys out," she said finally. "I--" "Do you feel sorry for leaving ME out?" came a voice from within the truck. Gina gaped, as did several others, when Ryan Tabbot exited the box. "RYAN?" "I know we're not friends any more, but the least you could've done was dropped me a HINT or two," he said. "Why the hell didn't you tell me he was with them?" Gina asided through clenched teeth to Jason, who was standing beside her. "I tried," he hissed back. "I couldn't get a word in edgewise with you and Penny ranting at one another." At normal volume, Gina was saying, "Same reason, MISTER Tabbot. Fortune and glory won't get you anywhere in this world." "Well, we're NOT in 'this world' any more, are we, babe?" Ryan snapped back. "We're on an entirely new level now--" "Why don't we just shut up now," Brian said, stepping forward, "before we say something that someone else might lay us out cold on the ground for--" "ENOUGH!" Brianna hollered. It surprised everyone, and they turned to face her. "We're here to find something that, if the stories are right, will change our world forever," she snapped. "Whether we like it or not, we're all a part of that world, and now, it seems, we're all a part of this team. So let's just shape up and behave like the adults we are, so we can get on with it. Okay?" Everyone looked at the ground sheepishly, except Jason and Mitch, who were staring open-mouthed at Brianna. "OKAY??" she repeated. Everyone picked up, nodded, and answered in the affirmative. "Good." She turned to Jason. "Now that we're closer, do you think the radar might be able to penetrate the rock ledges?" He was caught off guard, still thinking about her brief tirade. "Oh.. um, it's a definite possibility." She gestured sharply with an open hand toward the cab of the truck. He got the message and walked over to it. Brianna fell in behind Jason, and Mitch came up beside her as the rest formed up the rear. "What happened to the alien city-ship theory?" Mitch whispered to Brianna. Bri' turned and gave a halfhearted smile. "I still believe it--but I got them to shut up, didn't I?" The radar didn't prove very helpful. It wasn't configured for an underground/ seismic search like the equipment they'd lifted from the ex-Weather Disruptor was. They could tell that the vehicles would likely fit through whatever hole was on the bottom, though, due to the flow rates they were seeing in the water. Penny also had a look at the script on the wall and had no more luck than any of the others in deciphering it. "What do you say we camp here for the evening, then?" Jeremy spoke up, yawning. "It's gotta be pretty late now." Everyone was in agreement with him. Penny and her colleagues wanted to sack in the mini-sub, so Jay ferried them back down to it, then he and Brianna crashed in the front seats of the Tonka Truck while Asrial and Jeremy took the back. Ichi slept on the rocky shore, as did Mitch, Cheetah, Stripe, and Genn. Brian and Gina slept in the front seats of the car, and Seance spread himself out on the back seat. Jason lay awake for a while after most everyone else had long since dozed off. He sat there with eyes closed, listening to the solitary faraway sound of the water column crashing into the lake. He could almost imagine that he was in some of the wilderness that existed over fifty kilometers above them. "It's a beautiful sound, isn't it," Brianna whispered beside him. "What is?" he whispered back. "Silence. Or at least near silence. Sounds as if there's nobody else anywhere near." He opened his eyes and looked to his right; at the same time, Brianna did the similar action which resulted in them staring at each other. "How did you know I was awake?" he asked. "You breathe more evenly when you sleep," she said. "Everyone does." He hadn't even noticed it, but she, with her enhanced hearing, did. "I wonder what we'll find," she said to him. She told him the same things she had told Mitch early in the morning, about her misgivings about the site. "You may be right," he said, nodding. "But if it's all the same to you, I'd like to find out for myself." "I'd never think of trying to stop you, Jay. I love you too much to hold you back from something this big." He smiled and closed his eyes again. "The feeling is mutual, my dear Brianna." Jason awoke at 0710 the next morning. Brianna had shaken him awake. "I just had an idea," she said to him quietly. All the others, he noticed, were still asleep. "Yeah?" "I'm going to go around the shore of this thing for my morning run. Come with me so we can talk." "Come with you on your morning run," he deadpanned with a look of disbelief. "Use your suit, stupid," she smiled, gesturing to the armor lying on the ground beside the truck. And so, in five minutes, there they were, rocketing around the edge of the lake. It was, as already well established, monstrous; they'd travelled a dozen kilometers already and were not much further along the shoreline than when they'd started out. "What's up?" Jason asked casually. "Oh, I just thought maybe there might be something to see around here that might give us a tip on how to decode the second riddle," she said. "I just didn't want to have to go all the way back to our little camp in order to get you." "Fair enough," he conceded. He was squinting from the massive airflow being shoveled into his face, from his effort to keep up with Brianna. "I'm gonna have to shut my visor for a few minutes, so this wind isn't buffeting me." "Suit yourself," she shrugged. "Never bothers ME one bit." "Touch‚." He reached up and slapped the shield down, blinked a few times to get the moisture back into his eyes, and idly read the data that scrolled up the now-activated HUD. Brianna realized after a moment that she was slowly becoming alone; Jason had started to slow down, looking around, having forgotten to keep his thrusters online. She figured it out when she saw the inside-out text on his helmet facebowl. "What do you see?" "Not sure," he said, looking up to the junction of the ceiling and the wall. Actually, the ceiling and wall seemed to be one continuous formation in the rock, in a dome shape. In any case, where the wall and the ceiling would have come together, his suit was giving him some interesting readouts. "There's a much-higher level of O2 up there," he pointed. "Really?" "All around the top edge, from what I can tell," he said, looking back the way they'd come and further up the way they would have gone if they'd continued. "What's that all about?" He held out an arm. "Grab on and we'll go see." She held onto him and he did the same to her, and then he jetted up a few dozen meters to the area in question. They both blinked in surprise. Some kind of vent was embedded in the rock. It wasn't a natural vent, like a hole in the wall; it appeared to be hundreds of small holes, which Jason realized was like a grating. Evenly spaced in either direction laterally were identical vents, all spewing out pure oxygen. "For what purpose?" Brianna wondered, as they hovered there. Jason looked down to the lake below, then started setting both he and Brianna back on shore. "To reoxygenate the water," he said. "I beg your pardon?" "They're introducing lots and lots of oxygen into the same area where a huge pool of pure water sits, which we've already established eventually somehow filters down through some kind of hole in the bottom." "Yeah.." "Brianna, we're in the Tolum Water Treatment Plant." "Are you serious?" "Do I LOOK serious?" She pondered it for a moment, then said: "So how's this tie in to the riddle?" "The second one?" he asked, looking back the way they'd come. "I have no idea." Gina awoke just as the other two were returning to the camp. They hastily told her of their discovery, and she was almost beside herself with excitement. (Actually, Brian was beside her with excitement, when he finally woke up.) They all looked to the wall, with the writing upon it. "So what do YOU say, then, hm?" Gina mused. Again, with his visor down, Jason blinked a couple of times in surprise. "What the--" The others picked up on it and turned to face him. "What?" He held up a hand in a 'hold-on-a-second' gesture, and stepped off the shore, using his thrusters to jet back a few dozen meters. That woke everyone else up, and they all climbed out of their various sleeping areas while Jay read and smiled. When he jetted back to shore, Gina came up and said excitedly, "What does it say?" He picked her up and jetted back out again. She stared as he spoke. "They're pictures," he explained. "Hieroglyphics." Each two-inch-square scribble, viewed at this distance, formed part of a pictorial. Gina slowly read it aloud--or at least said what she thought it was saying. "He.. who is.. pure.. will solve this.. and reach our land." She looked at Jason. "Do you agree?" He studied it for a few moments. "Somewhat," he said, "but I think you're thinking too much in terms of religion again." He shifted Gina to one arm and pointed with the other. "Try it like this. 'Only those who are clean, free of impurities, will get to the bottom of this.'" "Isn't that what I just said?" she protested. He jetted back to shore once again. "Not exactly," he responded, and walked up to the section of wall that bore the inscription. "Take it literally. I think.." he said, trailing off while he looked for something. "You think.." Brian led off, trying to get him to finish the sentence. "..that.." Jason said, now on his hands and knees. "Spit it out," Mitch said with the same even tone, as if to mock him. He pushed on a medium-sized rock at the base of the center of the pictograph. The wall began to fall away, slowly and gently, and became the floor of a short passageway, beyond which lay a much smaller pool of similarly clear water. "..we, and all our equipment, have to be scrubbed perfectly clean before we can descend through their water tower." First, they washed the vehicles and armor. Brianna was about to Tire-Foam the wheels on the Tonka Truck, as she usually did, when Jay stopped her, pointing out that the chemicals in the foam and in the glass cleaner would contaminate the 'cleanliness' of the truck. She eventually relented, although she obviously didn't like it. Then came the personal cleanings. Interestingly enough, the smaller pool of water seemed to somehow recycle itself constantly--perhaps an unseen system that circulated the water and purified it somewhere else--so, the first one to get into the pond for a bath (which turned out to be Asrial, all the while grumbling about how insecure the Earthers were with their bodies) had a clean tub of water to work with. They opted for mostly separate dips in the pool; the couples, naturally, went in together. Including the time taken to clean all the equipment (and, as Ichi realized when no one else did, their clothes as well), three hours were used up in the cleansing process. Aside from the bit of griping by certain members about the absurdity of the whole thing, the three hours passed uneventfully. Ultimately, all the vehicles shiny and spotless, everyone feeling rather fresh (and, in some cases, damp, since clothes hadn't yet dried), the team figured it was ready. "So we're going to go down there now?" Cheetah inquired, pointing into the larger lake. "Yes indeedy," Gina said. "Anyone who wants to opt out can do so now, and stay here until we return on our way back to the surface." There was a distinct lack of any kind of response. "Good," she said, climbing into the Ginamobile. And so, the two automobiles and one sub dove beneath the crystaline depths, ferrying their cargo to what was hoped would be the biggest find in history. Everyone was so wholly concentrated on the view beneath them that they failed to see a second submarine descend through the water column and follow them promptly, not pausing to wash up in any way. It was unfortunate that everyone was engrossed in what lay below, because the view wasn't as spectacular as they'd hoped it to be. It was, in fact, the view you'd expect if you were travelling down the stem of a giant water tower made from subterranean rock. The truck's sensory gear was working overtime, trying to penetrate the rock walls and see further down the shaft, and examine the surroundings. Every byte of data that entered the computer was analyzed four different ways before it even reached the HUD. If, instead of spending nearly all their time watching the two-billion-dollar sensor suite, Bri' and Jay and Mitch had turned on the $2000 stereo system, they would've heard no less than two dozen crystal-clear radio stations--on the FM band alone--and wouldn't have been able to hear a few dozen more that were outside the bounds of the 'normal' 88-108 spectrum. Instead, they continued their descent, intently watching the sensor data. Jay in particular was interested to note that the hull pressures refused to rise beyond what one would normally expect from being submerged in a water tower. "So what do YOU think we'll find?" Mitch asked Jay. "I don't know," Jason said, doing his best to steer the vehicle, although the currents seemed intent on moving him down as safe and as direct a route as possible to whatever lay below. "I'm just hoping the atmosphere's breathable." "How far down are we now?" Asrial asked from her riding position in the box of the truck. Bri' called up the display. "I have no idea. The same blockage that prevented us from getting any views of what lay below the lake is making it impossible to get a valid depth reading." She sat back. "For my money, I think it's going to be a big set of ruins. Hopefully all the treasures won't be crushed." "You really think so?" Jeremy put forth. "Hey, nothing lies around for millions of years untouched," Bri' said. "We'll be lucky if we even find fossils, or powdered rock that we can call remains." Jason thought about--but didn't mention--the artifacts from his various realities which they'd unearthed some time previous, most of them in mint, like-new condition. He had bizarre images in his mind when he tried to accept that the girl sitting behind him had come from one of those tens-of-thousands- of-years-old artifacts. She momentarily spoke. "Well, *I* think that a perfectly preserved ghost-town of a city awaits us. Sure, you can blame it on my imagination running wild, but the two riddles working out exactly as planned settles it for me." Jason was about to add some more comments of his own when the collision alarm sounded. It'd done that eleven times already, so he calmly checked his course as he'd done eleven times before. He was concerned to see that the proximity sensors reported that the truck was more than a meter away from any side of the shaft, so running into a wall wasn't the problem. "LOOK OUT!" Brianna hollered, pointing at the windshield. Jason looked ahead and saw a relatively small opening in a rock wall. He instinctively steered for it; the truck, being the biggest of the three vessels (that they knew about) descending the shaft, barely made it through--the mirrors were slapped into folded position by the edges of the smaller tunnel. They again plunged down an open water column and found themselves in a much smaller version of the lake above. After a few moments of rather heated discussion, the bunch of them in the truck came to the conclusion that they were in a sort of a end-terminal, an open-air resevoir at the bottom of the tower where those who successfully navigated down the shaft could transfer to a normal-air environment. It was exactly that, too; sensors reported 21.6% oxygen, well within human tolerances. Other elements of the air were similarly survivable. Jason was beginning to move the truck toward shore when he noticed Mitch's face in the rearview mirror. She was looking out the right side windows, and her face was as pale as a piece of paper. Her jaw hung open, and her eyes were almost bugging out of her head. Brianna, Jay, and the others turned to follow Mitch's gaze and they, too, were shocked beyond belief. Jay forgot to drive, and the truck settled to a stop. Someone was waving from the opposite shore, trying to get their attention. The three vehicles approached cautiously. The man on shore looked as if he was inviting them to come closer and make a meet with him. He was undoubtedly a man, looking fairly ordinary. He was tall, looked about thirty or so years old, and had sandy brown hair. Some of the 'landing party' might have mistaken him for someone from topside that somehow got down here before them, except for his clothes. They were made of some unidentifiable material, and looked vaguely Greek/Roman/Jetson/Star Trek-ish in nature. The entire group started to disembark at once. The man walked closer, smiling, opening his arms wide. Jason noticed that Mitch, beside him while she climbed out of the truck's back seat, was staring with a strange look on her face. He wasn't 100% sure, but it might've been the same look Jason himself had received that first fateful day at The Bus Stop. "No," Jay whispered, reaching out to stop Bri' from reaching for her jacket- mounted holster. He looked up to see the man, with hand outstretched, suddenly adopt a look of surprise. Abruptly, he spoke. "Congratulations," he said, smiling broadly. "You are the first in millennia to correctly solve the two riddles." Not knowing what else to say besides "Jinkies" (which she did, anyway), Gina spoke, with a bewildered tone: "We're from topside, from a land known as North America." She then began to introduce the bunch of them. "Welcome to Tolum, Gina Diggers," the man said, continuing to address her. "I am Valsen Gote. I will be your guide and liason during your visit. In my land, it is customary to use only the person's given name when addressing them in a non-formal setting. You may call me Valsen." "It is the same on our world, Valsen," Jay said (incorrectly using the term 'world' to separate the two places--he was used to visiting other planets, not other parts of one single planet). "We are explorers, seeking to improve our knowledge of our planet." "That you will indeed do here," Valsen nodded, smiling knowingly. "However, I had the impression from the publicity you receive that your people perceive you more as adventurers and treasure-hunters than explorers." Again, everyone looked stunned. Gina broke the silence. "You've heard of us?" "We receive all the signals that are generated on the surface," Valsen explained. "We have our own media and entertainment, of course, but we also keep up-to-date on what goes on.. 'topside', as you put it." He continued before anyone could interrupt with another query or statement. "Let us get in out of this cold and damp place. Tolum awaits your arrival." With no visible action from Valsen, a large section of wall behind him slid open and revealed a large, man-made tunnel stretching beyond. The tunnel eventually opened up into a park that bordered the city of Tolum. And what a city it was: Had the visitors been able to see the cavern walls and ceiling that enclosed Tolum, they would've marvelled at the smoothness of the man-made dome-type structure that housed the city. They couldn't see these features for two reasons. One, the cavern being several hundred kilometers across, was again so big that it had its own weather; and two, the walls seemed to be masked by an image of a pristine, deep blue sky. The group followed Valsen, who strolled unhurriedly through the park, down the gentle hill to what appeared to be a parking lot below. "Millions of years ago, when Earth was still young, Tolum was a surface city, like your cities of the present day. The world Tolum was a part of, however, cared not for its natural resources and treasures. Oh, you may think some of your people are being less than concerned now, but they're angelic compared to what the people of Tolum's heyday were doing. In any case, that, plus the constant squabbling and warring that went on at the time, convinced some of Earth's best engineers to secretly select a single city which they would equip with the necessary means to survive on its own indefinitely. They chose Tolum, and while the rest of the world did itself in with all kinds of warfare imaginable, Tolum silently and stealthily slipped down out of sight, as if it had never existed." "Can I ask a question?" Cheetah cut in. "Does everyone here speak and read English?" Valsen followed Cheetah's gesture to one of the myriad of street signs, which was written in English. He smiled. "Actually, it's the other way around. Back in the time of which I was speaking, there was only one official language on Earth. Perhaps it surfaced as 'English' some time in your past, but it was 'Earthian' long before that." He continued, as Jason noticed Asrial smiling slightly. "From what we gather from the signals we receive from topside, our technology level--and I don't mean to brag--is several hundred orders of magnitude beyond yours. It is our belief that when the wars petered out after Tolum descended, mankind degenerated into simple creatures and 'forgot', if you will, how to make complex machines." "Is that how you made that doorway open up, without doing anything?" Ichi put forth. Valsen seemed puzzled for a moment, then smiled again. "You'll forgive me if I act strangely from time to time, as if I don't understand. We've never had to explain our ways to anyone before; it's as if you were asked by someone to tell them how you control your appendages. To us, it's an unconscious thought process." He tapped his head. "Most of the people in Tolum have biomechanical implants that link their mind to most of our technology. Whereas YOU have to push a button or turn a knob to open a door, all I do is simply think of it." "Unreal.." Gina whispered. "You said that humans degenerated into simple creatures.. what did you mean by that?" Mitch asked. Taking a deep breath, Valsen said, "At the time that Tolum descended into its current resting place, there were, as I told you, many wars going on. They were fairly brutal battles, things which would render the events you consider atrocities to be mild in comparison. These wars would rage for hundreds of years at a time, only stopping when the foes either forgot why they were fighting, all died out, or simply grew tired of the fight. They were, at first, mostly localized conflicts, until a few decades before Tolum descended. At that point, the several regional battles of the time merged into one grand global war. Your peoples' fears about the weapons of mass destruction your countries have stockpiled for years? In Tolum's time, that actually happened, SEVERAL times over. The last straw, only a few decades after Tolum descended, involved rather nasty biological agents which killed off most everyone and everything, and what survived, ended up reduced to nothing more than mindless beasts. I believe you knew them as dinosaurs." "The dinosaurs were victims of bio-warfare??" Ace said with disbelief. "C'mon now." "Kind of puts things in perspective, doesn't it?" Valsen smiled. "Where are we heading, anyway?" Jeremy wanted to know. "When I was alerted to your imminent arrival in the greeting area, I told our governor about it, and he asked me to bring you to him as soon as you arrived. Your coming here is a fairly newsworthy event here. In fact, no one has ever deciphered the riddles and made it to the greeting area. At least, not as long as I've been tasked with maintaining it." "How long has it been your job?" Cheetah asked. "Since I was old enough to work," replied Valsen. Smiling, he added, "Of course, it's not my only job. It would've been a boring career just to sit and wait for you to show up. I'm also in charge of security for the Orbs." "The Orbs?" Stripe echoed. "The Orbs are a series of twelve small spheres, special computer constructs used to store literally everything we know. Historical data, technological information, and so on, all is kept within the spheres--one per planet in the Sol system." "What about the other three?" said Genn. "Other three?" Valsen responded in query as well. "The other three orbs," Jason provided. "Or are you saying that there's more than nine planets in this system?" "Nine planets?" Valsen echoed, grinning. "How far out have you explored?" "We've sent probes out past Pluto," Bri' said. "They haven't reported anything worthwhile yet." "They will," Valsen smiled. "They will, eventually." "Sorry, Gina," Jay cracked. "I guess this is another tech mission after all." "If I might ask," Mitch said, "how old are you?" "Thirty-one," Valsen answered. "We're both essentially the same species; we in Tolum have the same basic life expectancy as you do--lengthened a wee bit by our lifestyle, of course, but not by much." Brian and Jason were looking at each other and smiling. "You may be surprised by how long we've lived," Bri said to Valsen. Valsen was about to answer when he looked like he was hearing something no one else could. He adopted a look that was half excitement, half worry. "What is it?" Asrial said. "Something has entered the secondary shaft--the same one you passed through to get here--but it has bypassed the cleansing stage," Valsen said in a rush. "I must get back to the greeting area promptly. ..This may feel strange." All of a sudden, a feeling of dislocation and disorientation swept over the group; then, in the blink of an eye, they were back in the greeting area again. A rumbling, buzzing sound could be heard. "No sweat," Bri' said. "We use magical teleportation devices like that all the time--" Valsen held up a hand. "Please, allow me a moment to concentrate." At once, a foursome appeared nearby, wearing what looked like rubberized jumpsuits and carrying various cleaning and disinfecting gear. "That's not a lot of warning, Mr. Gote," the woman in charge said before sealing her hood. "I gave you as much warning as I could, Tira," Valsen shot back. He was gazing at the water column, where it exited the ceiling. In a moment, it became apparent what was going on: Another mini-sub came down the water column and splashed down in the pool, just as the humming/rumbling rose to a fever pitch and then stopped. "Oh, NO," the three people from Quagmire groaned. Jay and the rest had an idea what they meant. Sure enough, the cleanup team opened the sub and forcibly hauled Rivalsan Lendo out to vigorous high-and-mighty protests. After cleaning him down, which gave the group lots to chuckle about, the cleanup team scrubbed down the sub, and then purified the water. As the cleanup team transported themselves away, Lendo, grumbling and muttering to himself, stalked over and glared at certain members of the group. "That wasn't very nice of you people to not count me in on your escapades." "We didn't tell you because we knew you'd pull something boneheaded like this, Lendo," Ichi countered. "Everyone, please," Valsen said placatingly, making calming gestures with his hands. "Do not squabble. There is much for you to see here, and we should get started." Governor Karlek Lim turned out to be a quite friendly, rather large man. Not large as in fat, however; Lim was well over seven feet tall, and looked as if he'd worked to be that way. When the man spoke, Jason, Brian, and Mitch were reminded of the Jerka that existed in their former universe, such were Lim's regal and welcoming tones. "This is an historic day," Lim told them. "When Tolum descended to its current depths, it was determined that it would be returned to the surface when it became clear that the surface-dwellers could interact with Tolum in a mature, competent manner. Your arrival is proof that that day has come." "Governor, may I speak?" Jason said. "Of course," the man nodded. "We are not a very equal representation of the peoples of Earth. We are some of the more open-minded and rational ones, but there are still lots of pretty ignorant people up there. Wars are still going on, and people tend to attack what they don't understand." "Do not let it trouble you, young man. Everything will 'work out fine', as your generation puts it. Tolum's return to the surface, if I don't sound too egotistical, will bring the dawn of a new era in Earth's history." Again Jason was reminded of his unique life story, this time by the governor's comment about Jay being a 'young man', and about 'his' generation. Rather than go on about that, though, Jason correctly decided that the more important topic of the moment was Tolum and its 'treasures'. As such, Jason for once kept his mouth shut and let the conversation go where it may. "You are our guests here until the raising, tomorrow afternoon," the governor announced. "Valsen will act as your guide, and will take you where you want to go and show you whatever you want to see. You will be put up in Tolum's finest hotel, all expenses paid by my office, and you will be celebrated guests of honor in tomorrow afternoon's ceremonies. Now, if you will excuse me, I have many things to do in preparation. Valsen will answer any questions you have." "Thank you, Governor," Gina called out as the man retreated into his inner office. He smiled and waved back at them. And so, they toured the city of Tolum, sort of. Inasmuch as it was over 500 kilometers in diameter, it was like touring a very densely populated province or state. "How do you deal with population growth?" Jason asked. "That particular problem hasn't come up yet," Valsen answered plainly. "Are you SERIOUS?" Brian cut in. Jason continued his thought after Brian's eruption had subsided. "I think what my vociferous colleague means is, how have you existed here for millions of years without having to deal with overcrowding and such?" "We excavate more of the cavern to the west and southeast sides from time to time when we need to. Tolum, when it descended, was what you would consider a rather small city, both by size and population. We try to stay one step ahead of the population growth, and we have only a fraction of the waste to dispose of that you do. We reuse most everything, and tend to incinerate what we can't." "Is that why there's no cemeteries here?" Jeremy said. Several people adopted squeamish looks. Valsen had to have the concept of a cemetery explained to him. Then, the talk drifted slightly to churches, and the topsiders found out that people in Tolum didn't have much in the way of religion, unless one considered their reliance on science to be religious. Everyone continued to be astonished by the sights and sounds and revelations of the land of Tolum. The topsiders, as they found themselves being called, found most of what made up Tolum to be rather futuristic and, in a word, sensible. Gina put it the way everyone was thinking: in Tolum, things were done the way things SHOULD'VE been done topside. For example, criminals weren't wined and dined, and law-abiding citizens weren't left to die in the streets. Jay and Bri' were just settling into their suite at the hotel when a hologram sprang to life in the corner. It was the Tolum equivalent of the telephone, and on it was Mitch, who had the adjacent suite. The suites were not exactly small, which is sort of like saying that the movie "Jurassic Park" did not exactly fail at the box office. Mitch obviously agreed with that comparison, as she was quite jubilant when she called. "You were wrong, Jay," she exulted. "This isn't the first draft of Hell--this is paradise!" Late that night, Jay was on the bed watching the cityscape through the window, with Bri' sprawled out beside him, surfing through the holographic equivalent of Tolum's television stations. It took her a fairly long time to go through the thousand or so different channels--almost as long as it took her to realize that Jason was lost in thought once again. "Jay?" she said, muting the sound. "What's up?" "Turn that off and look this way," he said, nodding toward the balcony. She did, and gasped with surprise; with the light from within their suite extinguished, they could both see an innumerable quantity of lights blazing in the sky. With shock, Bri' realized that the cavern ceiling had sprouted stars, much as it had had a bright, warm sun amidst a cloudless blue sky earlier. Jason got up and went to the balcony door, opened it, and stepped out. Brianna followed suit, and the two of them leaned against the rail, taking in the view. The streets nine stories below were quiet, but traffic bustled along as if it were the busiest time of the day; Tolum had found a way to counteract noise pollution, and it was as quiet on the ninth floor balcony as if they were up topside, surrounded by forest, no other living creatures around. "This is what it was like in deep space," Jason said quietly, just leaning there. "Sometimes, when everyone else was asleep and Mitch wasn't trying to yap my ears off, I'd go onto the bridge of my ship and turn on the entire screen, which made my whole field of vision turn into a starfield, and I'd just sit and watch the universe drift past. If you discount the bits of traffic you can see from up here, and turn so that none of the building is in your peripheral vision, I could very easily believe I was back on my bridge, watching the stars, and vegetating." Brianna smiled and remained silent for a moment, then: "Never expected to find a living, breathing city down here, did you?" "Not in a trillion years," Jason responded immediately, smiling and shaking his head. "You?" "Same here, but Mitch was pretty excited about it." "Heh. Yeah. She's quite thrilled about the whole thing, isn't she?" "Definitely," Brianna agreed. "Some things moreso than others, though." Jason smiled--not unhappily, but not joyously either. After a moment, he said, "You noticed too?" "It would've been hard NOT to notice. I thought Valsen was going to go nuts, with her hanging on his every word today." "I think it'll be okay," Jason said. He laughed briefly. "You know, it's sort of the same way I met Kylie. She was the liason officer assigned to make sure that the relations between the Humans and Salusians in the WDF stayed OK, way back when the Salusians first joined." Brianna let him carry on, after he paused and then chuckled. "This is SO ironic. I was all worried that you and me and Mitch would get into some kind of three-way brawl when I brought her back.. and now she's giving some other guy The Look. I should've known, though--she's always been very independent, doing what she wants, and all that." Brianna responded with: "Are YOU all right with it?" Jason thought for a long moment. "Like I said, she's her own person, always has been," he finally said. "Besides, it's only fair--I started a new life with YOU when *I* got here." Brianna nodded her agreement, then looked down to the street below and changed the subject abruptly. "Why'd you insist that we all stay below the 10th floor?" "An old thing my father always did. He never stayed in any place that was more than nine floors above street level, for one very sobering yet often overlooked reason: Fire department ladders only reach about nine floors, in the best case scenario." Bri' chuckled, realizing he was right. The next day came, the artificially-generated (but quite pleasantly bright and warm) sun rising on the city of Tolum, unaware of the chaos about to unfold. "Jay! Bri'! Get up!" someone shouted through their door, banging frantically on it, before proceeding to run to Brian and Gina's door down the hall and do the same thing. Jason and Brianna awoke, at first irritated, but then wondering what was going on that got whoever was screaming so agitated. It turned out that the screamer was Mitch, and she had risen early to go seek out Valsen, to ask a bunch of questions. She'd found him in the Orb Vault, a tiny room in the government building's library. He and several other high- ranking Tolumi were investigating the theft of the twelve Orbs. "Holy jeezus," Brian exclaimed, drowning out Gina's cry of "Zoinks!". "I volunteered us to go'n'help look for the Orbs," Mitch said, taking charge. "Is everyone up yet?" "Everyone except Lendo," Ichi declared, looking about. The people from Quagmire, and those of the balance that knew Lendo's habits, paled a bit. "Ohh... shit," Jay intoned. Lendo's room was, of course, empty, never having been used at all. By then, Valsen had arrived at the hotel, accompanied by a dozen or so well-armed cops. "This is distressing, to say the least," Valsen observed, chin in hand, eyeing Lendo's room. "This is one of the ignorant twits I was telling your Governor about, Valsen," Jason said over his shoulder as he helped check the room out thoroughly, but he knew that Lendo was as likely to neaten up a room so that it'd appear that he'd never been in it as Arnie was likely to take up ballet. "He could be topside by now," Ichi said with despair, thinking of when they'd last seen Lendo the night before. Valsen shook his head. "None of your vehicles have sufficient power to climb the water columns alone," he declared, standing up. "The only way to exit Tolum is for it to rise and become open to the topside world once more. He's still here." "Is there any way to track the Orbs?" Jeremy thought to ask. "Not in terms of a tracking device or some such thing, no," Valsen said. "We will have to search manually for him." Jason groaned inwardly as he heard Valsen continue. "If we're lucky, he hasn't tried to return to the greeting area yet. Some of us should stand guard there in case he attempts to return topside." "We'll go," Cheetah said, indicating Stripe as well. "He won't get past us." "Very well," Valsen nodded. "The rest of us will split up. The police are searching as well, but we have to leave some officers to patrol the city for the 'normal' emergency load. Each group will be assigned sectors of the city to search, and a radio with which to contact myself directly if the Orbs are found. Any questions?" "Are they easily damaged?" Brianna wanted to know. "The Orbs?" Valsen asked in return. "Not in your way of thinking. Naturally, don't step on them or throw them at a wall or anything, but don't kill yourself trying to stop them from falling a meter or three, either. Anything else?" After a pause, he said, "Good. Split up into whatever groupings you find manageable--no more than three to a team, please. Then we'll set off." And so, the search party arranged itself thusly: Brian and Gina as one team, with Ryan insisting on tagging along where ever Gina went; Ichi, Jeremy, and Seance as another. Jason and Brianna were joined by Asrial, and Penny and Ace stuck together. Genn went with Penny and Ace, leaving Mitch the odd one out. "Not so much," she said when Jason brought it up. "I'm going to stick around with Valsen and help him out." She looked at Valsen for acceptance of her apparently improvised plan. "Fine by me," he said, and Jason decided he felt the same way. They met back up at around supper time, as the 'sun' was setting on the city. "No luck," Brianna reported. "That, unfortunately, is the way it's gone everywhere," Valsen said with a sigh. "We do know one thing, though: he's already tried to return topside. When Britanny and Stryyp'gia arrived at the greeting area, they found his vehicle in a different place than we'd left it, and it was dripping wet once more." "There's no other way for him to escape to the surface?" Ryan asked. Valsen shook his head again. "When our ancestors brought Tolum to its present location, the intent was for it to rise back to the surface when people such as yourselves arrived. The idea was that nobody would have a need to leave until that time." "So.. you're a crook who's stolen the most treasured artifacts in the whole joint," Gina submitted to the group, "and you can't get out of the place. What do you do? Where do you go?" "I don't like how you were looking at ME when you said that," Penny seethed under her breath. Ace calmed her down while the others put their suggestions forward. "He probably thinks they might have some monetary value," Ichi contributed. "That's all he ever thinks of, anyway." "I pity him if that is the truth," Valsen said sadly. "Someone like that would never understand the true value of something like the Orbs." "Knowledge, right?" Jason piped up. "In a way," Valsen said, with a tone and look that indicated he wanted to hear Jason's opinion. "Well," Jay went on, "first of all, the Orbs possess every bit of information anyone would want to know about any of the.. um.. TWELVE planets in our solar system, right? That's valuable enough as it is, to not only help us improve technologically, but as a species, so that we can interact with other races"-- he indicated Asrial, then Stripe--"in an intelligent manner. But, if you think about it another way, it's our world's history--our star system's history. We should never forget what went on here. I've read countless stories with at least one character in it who is preserving the past, in the forms of books or artifacts--hell, that's what WE do, when you get right down to it." This time he gestured to Brianna, Brian, and Gina, as well as the other adventurers there. "We make sure that at least SOMEONE never forgets. Because of us, SOMEONE remembers what's gone on before. And, well, maybe that's how I view your Orbs.. not just a storage medium with which we'll bump Earth's technology level up a few dozen notches, but a way to let the memories of your ancestors live on." Valsen looked stunned and pleased at the same time (the others were just stunned). "I'd never thought of it that way," he smiled. "You are right." Jason didn't know what to say, so he just stood there, taking in breaths to catch up. Ichi leaned close. "Congratulations. You beat Jer at his own game." Some--those who could--searched all through the night, still in vain. The artificial sun rose once more on Tolum, now a day late in rising to the surface, and still there was no trace of Lendo or the Orbs. "Why not put a broadcast out on your video and radio broadcast systems?" Bri' asked during breakfast the next morning. Mitch cut in before Valsen could answer. "Because the Orbs are highly regarded here in Tolum. If we were to let on that they were missing, the whole city would likely grind to a stop, it would be so traumatically upsetting to some people." Everyone stared at her for a moment. "I.. asked Valsen the same question last night," she explained. "All right," Valsen said a few minutes later, "Let's get at it. Same sectors as yesterday. Make sure you search as thoroughly as possible--leave no stone unturned, you might say. It's been over a day now, and he's likely extremely frustrated at his inability to abscond. He might harm himself or someone near him in his anger. Hopefully, he will do something to draw attention to himself, and we'll be drawn right to him." They went their separate ways, returning to the sectors they'd been patrolling the day before. Their luck seemed to be about the same. "Did you hear Mitch and Bri and my sis last night after supper?" Brianna asked Jay to make some conversation. "No. What was up?" "Well, Mitch has decided to get Valsen to line her up for one of those techno- implants when this all gets sorted out, and Bri and Gina were kind of receptive to the idea too. Mitch says that Valsen says it's free to whoever wants it, and won't change them in any way, except that they'll be able to do a lot more just by thinking, rather than doing." Jason was silent for a moment, continuing to walk on, scanning the concrete canyon for Lendo. Finally, he said: "Promise me something?" "Hm?" Brianna said, looking down at him. He stared deep into her eyes as well. "Promise me, no matter what Bri and Gina and Mitch do, that you won't get an implant." "What?" she said, surprised. "Listen. I just.. well, I don't like the idea, and I will NOT be taking him up on this offer, and I'd really prefer it if you wouldn't, too.. it's only.." He sighed. "I don't like thinking of it this way, but please--do it for me, okay?" She smiled. "I understand, Jay. I have to admit, I WAS thinking about it, but I told myself I wouldn't go through with it unless you were okay with it." He smiled and nodded back, relieved. "Thank you." Later, while Bri' and Jay were occupying themselves with mindless banter, Asrial pointed to Brianna's watch. "Um.. your watch is flashing, did you know that?" "Huh? Oh!" Brianna said with surprise, looking at the wrist-radio-slash-watch. "I forgot I'd turned this down." She ramped up the volume to hear Brit calling frantically. "We're here, Cheets," she answered her sister. "What's up?" "You guys should come to the greeting area right lickedy-split!" Britanny blurted out of Brianna's radio. "And bring Valsen with you!" "What's up? Did you find him?" Jason directed to the device. Too late; she was gone. Jay wasted no time in pulling out the other radio, the one that they'd been given by Valsen's men. The three of them were picked up by Valsen's transporter beam and sent to the greeting area, to arrive simultaneously with Valsen and everyone else. As Jason materialized in the cavern, his jaw started to drop and he adopted a look of disbelief. "M.. my.." "Holy--" Bri' began, but Jason drowned her out. "MY TRUCK!" he roared, pointing. Wedged in between a couple of rocks at the point where the water column came out of the ceiling was the Tonka Truck Mark Two. It looked undamaged from their current position, but the water was definitely pinning it up against the stone outcroppings. Momentarily, the truck switched to road mode, and the tires spun against the rock, generating only smoke and steam. "He must be still in there!" Cheetah said, shouting over the noise of the howling wheels and roaring fusion turbine. "We figure he snuck in in the night and somehow figured out how to hotwire your truck. We can't get him to stop, though, no matter how we try to signal him!" "How did he get it GOING?" Jason erupted at no one in particular. He whirled to face Brianna. "Where's the pager??!" "Right here," she said, producing it off her belt. "No way he could've gotten it started without this." "Oh, my," Valsen said. The others turned to face him. "I take it that that is a proximity device, such that your vehicle will only function if the 'pager' is near it?" "Yes," Jason bit out, acutely interested in the explanation. "I'm afraid there's a peculiarity in the cavern here regarding radio waves.." Jason shook his head and muttered a couple of four-letter words. Then, he snatched the pager/remote from Bri' and entered the disable code. Immediately, the truck's engine quit. He looked up at the truck, which was nose-up, and therefore tailgate-down, suspended from the ceiling of the cavern. "Do you mind getting a bit wet?" he asked Brianna. "What do you have in mind?" she said. He pushed the tailgate release, and his and Brianna's (and Asrial's) armor fell the hundred or so meters to the surface of the water, splashed down, and began to sink. Brianna looked out at the water, looked at Jason, shook her head and rolled her eyes, and dove in. In a few moments, she had the three sets of armor retrieved and on shore. Jason climbed into his armor while Brianna tried her best to dry off. "I may need some help here," he said, "so I'll wait for you to suit up." "I'll need to suit up just to keep WARM," she muttered, climbing into the flight-suit part of her armor. "What's the plan?" Asrial wanted to know, not sure if she should put her own armor on or not. "I'm going to boost up there, enter the truck, decide whether or not to toss dickhead out the open back hatch, and get my truck unstuck and return it to shore." "We'll be here if you need us." "Thanks." With that, Jason and Brianna launched themselves into the air. They arrived at the truck and Brianna turned on the forcefield generator; now they were inside its protective egg-shaped field, and the truck was no longer being held in place by the water. Unfortunately, the forcefield, which was firmly attached to the truck dimensionally, was. Jay opened the driver's door to reveal an infuriated Lendo. "Good afternoon," Jay said. "You're under arrest for auto theft and whatever else I can think of in the next few minutes." "Don't you dare talk to me that way, you.. you amateur!" Lendo retorted. "If you'd built this heap right, I'd've been home free by now!" Brianna opened the passenger door and Jason said across to her, "Aw, how cute. It called me an amateur." He turned back to face Lendo. "Where're the Orbs?" "They're my property now! You can't have them! I wouldn't tell you, anyway." "Uh-huh," Jason nodded. He flipped up his visor, so that his voice was no longer amplified by the suit's built-in mike; only he and Lendo heard him say, "Keep it up, asshole, and I might forget to grab hold of you when I release the seatbelt in about ten seconds." Lendo wisely shut up while Jay wedged himself into the cab. Bri' was already in, having closed the rear hatch, looking for the Orbs. Jay tossed Lendo into the back of the truck unceremoniously and made himself fit into the driver's seat. "Bingo," Bri' said, holding up a canvas bag of sorts that was a common carry- all in Tolum. She peered inside, then held it open for Jason to see, and there were the twelve Orbs. "Excellent," he Monty-Burnsed. "Hang on tight." Through the use of rocket systems, underwater control surfaces, and creative manipulation of the shape of the force field, the two of them were able to make the truck pry itself free of the rock wall with little damage, and tumble back into the lake. Once the vehicle righted itself again, floating on the surface once more, Jay started driving to shore while Bri' checked out the Orbs. "Wow, lookit this." "I'm kinda DRIVING here--" he began, but then cut himself off. The sphere she was holding was slightly smaller than a golf ball, and was blue-green in color, with white swirls on its surface here and there. As he watched, Jay realized the swirls were clouds, and the blue and green areas water and land. It was the Orb that stored all the information about Earth. "Wow." "They're saying this holds the equivalent of a billion yotabytes of info," Bri' said. "Think about it." Jay was too busy dividing his time between driving and trying to determine if he was really seeing the clouds on the Orb moving around. "Quickly," Valsen said to a police officer once Brianna had handed over the Orbs, "take these to the Governor in the technical services center." "Sir," the officer nodded, and vanished promptly. Three other officers moved in to take Lendo into custody. He fought while Valsen spoke to him. "Rivalsan Lendo, you are guilty on twelve counts of theft of an artifact of immeasurable value, one count of eluding arrest, and one count of theft of a vehicle. You showed a flagrant disregard for not only our laws, but your colleagues' and your own safety. The penalty for such crimes is life imprisonment. However, I feel it necessary to make an exception for you, to show pity for, as one of your colleagues put it, an 'ignorant twit'. I hereby release you to the custody of your peers, until such time as Tolum is raised to the surface, at which time you shall be banned from the city of Tolum and never permitted to enter it again." The policemen released Lendo, and he stood there, totally unable to comprehend what'd happened. "And now," Valsen said, changing the subject abruptly and looking at the others, "we have something rather important to witness." Once again, they were transported to another place. This place in particular appeared to be a fairly tall building in the center of Tolum. They were atop the roof, hearing rumbling noises coming from as far as 500 kilometers away. Seismographs all over the planet picked up unusual activity. Ones close to northern Ontario, Canada, extrapolated that a 14.9 quake was underway, with its epicenter somewhere west-northwest of Kapuskasing. "How are you doing this?" Gina shouted as the rumbling got louder. "The Orbs, when linked together, are the 'keys' to activate the raising of the city," Valsen answered. "But how do you raise the city?" Gina said. "Is there a big piston underneath, or what?" "What?" Valsen said. The noise was nearly deafening now. "I said--" "Let it go, Gina," Jay said, from much closer. "Let's just accept that it's a kind of magic." The trees around the waterfall topside fell over; interestingly enough, none of them wrecked the myriad of vehicles parked there. The vehicles, trees, and waterfall were gently shoved aside by the sudden appearance of a slope, pushing its way up out of the ground. The slope grew larger and larger, until it ate up the entire area; then, it still continued to expand, the cars, trees, now-still water, and remaining soil resting on one part of it. Finally, after a half-hour of shaking and rumbling, it all stopped. The slope was actually part of a dome, more than five hundred kilometers across, which momentarily started to slowly recede back to Earth after pushing aside most of its covering. Whenever the dome material touched ground, it dissolved in a puff of dust, leaving no trace of its presence. It did, however, reveal a city millions of years old, with countless cheering citizens and sixteen astonished 'topsiders' now standing on the roof of a building that rose two hundred stories above the ground. 06 NOVEMBER 1997 BROUGHAM COMPLEX Jay and Bri' relaxed comfortably in their home. Brianna was tinkering away with something, as usual; Jason was playing on the computer, also as usual. He was attempting to document all their findings of the past week or so, but he didn't know where to begin. He sat back and tried to put it in perspective. Tolum had been raised. The 'topsiders' involved in its discovery and raising were hailed as heroes and would be interviewed by all kinds of media for months to come. After the initial shock, the people of Earth figured that Tolum was good for them, and it almost immediately became the capital city of Earth. The Tolum technology was dispensed throughout the world, and it acted like a miracle answer to nearly everything: Rampant crime, disease, homelessness, everything that was considered 'a bad thing' evaporated almost overnight due to the rapid implementation of not only Tolum technology, but the Tolum way of thinking. Once people started doing things the way they HAD to be done, rather than the way some committee arbitrarily WANTED them to be done, the world shaped up rather nicely. By the third of November, words of congratulations on 'growing up' as a planet were received from dozens of other worlds. A new government was formed, with Governor Karlek Lim at the helm. Key people from various countries around the world--and not necessarily government people--were selected to join Lim in running Earth, after they'd been educated on the way things were going to be from then on. As was said earlier, Earth experienced a phenomenal technological boom in a matter of days. Everything was universally accepted, and things were explained fairly simply, so that everyone could understand. One of the more interesting things to get wide acceptance nearly overnight was the tech implants Jason dreaded so much. Brian and Gina went ahead and had them installed, immediately raving about how much easier it made things and how Jay was just being old-fashioned. Mitch also got an implant, and also elected to stay in Tolum with Valsen, after having a good long talk with Jason about it. Valsen remained in charge of security of the Orbs, and Mitch chose to open a museum that showcased the history of Earth. She used some of the technology of Tolum to help tell Earth's stories; with Tolum's version of virtual reality, you didn't read about an event in history, you participated in it, in whatever role you desired. One could watch the sinking of the Titanic unfold from the perspective of a survivor--or a person doomed to drown aboard it. Needless to say, from topsiders and Tolumi alike (who considered themselves part of the same race now, and rightly so), Mitch's museum got rave reviews, as did everything else from Tolum that helped bring Earth into a new era. Gina, Brian, Jay, and Bri' naturally would continue to adventure; while the Orbs unlocked many of the secrets of Earth, there were still many, many more yet to be told. One thing the foursome did do right away was cancel their contract with the government; the raising of Tolum had made the four friends quite well off, in the monetary sense as well as in terms of resources; they'd no longer need to depend on government assistance to get the job done, that's for sure. (Well, in a way, they always had government support, since Governor Lim promised that all of Tolum's resources would be available to them whenever they needed them, day or night; but anyway, on with the story.) "So?" Brianna asked Jason, walking into the room. "So?" Jason echoed. "How do you like the new Earth so far?" "It's gonna take some getting used to, but I think it'll turn out okay," Jay said. "At the very least, it'll be prosperous for a few thousand more years than it would've before." "Never expected things to turn out this way this time around, didja?" Jay chuckled. "Not so much." He shut off the computer's holo-screen. "I feel like going adventuring." "Where?" "Tell you what: You go start packing, and I'll walk over to the map and fire a dart at it. We'll go where ever the dart lands." "Good old-fashioned modern technology," Bri' laughed, standing up. She tossed over her shoulder as she headed for the bedroom, "You better not hit the legend, or the mileage chart, or something like that again." "Trust me," he returned. "This time for sure." She carried on to the bedroom, and he got up and walked to the map. A suction- cup dart was on it from the last time he'd been angry, and tried to imagine a huge dart crushing, entirely at random, most of North Carolina. In any case, he backed up a few meters, shut his eyes, loaded the dart into the toy gun, and waved it all around all four corners of the paper representation of Earth. SWUCK! He opened his eyes and grinned. "Bri'," he said, "Pack for really warm, really nice weather." TO BE CONTINUED IN 'OVERTURE' BOOK NINE OF DIMENSION OUT OF RANGE