A large fallow field stretched out as far as the eye could see from the two story house that stood in its midst. Once the grains of the Midwest had swayed in the wind here. Once the barn had been full of the sounds and smells of animals, pigs and chickens that could complement the income of the farm. There had been laughter, cries of joy and irritation, and everything else that told of it being the home of a family.

Now there were only memories.

A lone figure stood in the summer sun. Habits of a lifetime urged him to get to work, to find chores to do, but the emptiness in his heart threatened to overwhelm him just as the paper in his hand made it all moot.

The barechested young man stepped back up to the porch and put the paper down on the table. He stared into a mirror that his mother had put up years ago. Stubble was forming on his jawline and chin. His green eyes looked hazy and unfocused, red from nights of crying in his sleep. His athletic build was starting to decay from lack of exercise and proper eating.

The light on the answering machine for the house's landline was on. There were five messages waiting for him.

"Mister Robert Dale, this is Adam Miller from the Kansas Farmer's Bank. We understand the tough times you are currently going through and you again have condolences from the Bank. We would like you to come in to discuss the remaining balance on your family's property and to arrange a new payment schedule or sale that would best benefit you..."

An angry hand smacked the skip button. "Hello, Mister Dale, this is Herb from Johnson Farming. We went over the list you sent and, well, I'm afraid the price you asked for is just too high. I..."

Another smack on the skip button. This time he only allowed the caller to get as far as "Mister" before he hit it again. "Oh Robbbb... It's Zack, buddy. C'mon, pick up man," the voice pleaded, its tone and sound comfortably familiar. The barest hint of a smile crossed the young man's face. "Tom and I are going to come and drag your ass out of that house if we have to, Rob. I know it hurts, but you've got to have a life and moping around your empty family house isn't going to cut it. We're your friends, man... we're worried about you."

The message ended. This time it was a female voice that came in, an alto that was just as familiar. "Robert, this is Angel. Julie and I have talked about it and we're coming over soon to check up on you. We can and will kick your ass if we need to, Robert. Don't you doubt it. I mean it. You're shutting us all out and it isn't right. We're all here for you, so stop being a hermit already!" There was a sigh. "Okay, like I said, we're coming over, and we're not taking 'no' for an answer."

The machine beeped again and went dead. Robert just continued to stare at the mirror until he forced himself to look away.

His eyes settled on a picture. It was ten years old, at a harvest festival. An old man with a balding head of white hair sat in the center, a wide smile on his face. On the one side was a man just shy of his 40s and a brown-haired woman in his arm. On the other was Robert, so much younger, and a little girl who shared the same hue of dark hair as his clutching his hand and smiling at the camera. The memory made him smile; his family, his closest family...

And now they were all gone.

Robert shook his head. He had to leave the room, before the memories drove him mad with grief again. Over and over the phone call from the county sheriffs replayed in his mind. The accident. The long-haul trucker with the heart attack. A sedan versus an eighteen wheeler... his family never stood a chance. His parents and sister all died at the hospital. His grandfather... they'd lost him years ago. And his grandmother even before that photo.

He found himself walking the property, along the path leading to the mound. It was an aberration to say the least; their region of Kansas didn't have hills or mountains or anything of the sort, but the mound had always been on the family land. His grandfather had reluctantly allowed people to use ground-penetrating radar on it once, looking to see if it was some ancient Native burial mound or the like, but there had been nothing of the sort within. It was just a fun little mystery here, barely thought about, barely considered.

Robert clambered to the top of it. He looked out at the farm he'd grown up on, the place he knew as home, the fields where he'd led his little sister on so many chases... and he simply fell to his knees. With tears streaming down his face, he felt like his heart was about to implode, like there was nothing to keep it going, nothing...

Then came the flash of light.

The roar of an engine reached the walls of the Dale home. The motorbike that came up was adorned with red and blue coloring, a sport competition model with a lone rider wearing a blue helmet. The bike came to a stop near the family car and the rider stood from the bike, a young woman in a light black rider's jacket and blue jeans that were flattering on her. When the helmet came off, blond hair cascaded down past her neck. Her green eyes looked toward the house. All she could do was sigh heavily. She went up to the door and knocked. "Robert?" When there was no answer she reached for the door handle and found it open. She walked in and looked around at the living room. She glanced toward the mirror for a moment and then to the family pictures. She was in a few of them, from the time she was little to a picture of her and Robert side by side, holding awards from school.

Looking around she spotted a piece of paper. Curiosity prompted her to pick it up even as she overheard the crunching of gravel down the road. The text of the paper made her draw in a pained breath and close her eyes, setting the paper back down. Tears were starting to form when the door opened. "Hey, Julie, I see you beat us."

Julia Andreys looked up and into the hazel eyes of Angel Delgado. Angel's light bronze complexion was a few shades darker than Julia's tanned Caucasian, an indication of her Latin descent. As was fitting Angel, she was in a green sleeveless shirt that was almost a tank top, baring finely muscled arms, and the insignia of the county's only martial arts gym emblazoned on the front. While Julia had full blue jeans, Angel had jean-material shorts that ended above the knee, showing part of her muscled thighs as well. She looked around the empty house. "So, where's Rob?"

"Probably out on the farm somewhere." Julia looked past Angel to a figure standing in the doorway. "You brought Cat?"

Angel looked back and smiled. "Yeah."

Caterina Delgado waved at Julia with more than a touch of the shyness Julia knew her for. The slight smile of greeting made dimples form on the corners of her mouth; considering the eyeglasses over her hazel eyes, being barely past one hundred pounds even when soaking wet, and being about five foot four to her sister's five nine and Julia's five eleven, it made her look like a cute geek girl... which, of course, she was, as proven by her dark blue shirt and the decal on it of a lab-coated silhouette holding a bubbling beaker with the caption: "Stand back! I'm using SCIENCE!"

Before anything more could be said the sound of a vehicle backfiring resounded through the air. They all looked out to see another vehicle, a beat-up sedan, pulling up behind the smaller coupe that Angel had driven. A well-built, brown-haired young man jumped out of the driver seat, looking at the rising smoke coming from the hood. "Oh God dammit!", he shouted angrily, kicking the wheel.

The other doors opened. In the front seat a thinly-built figure jumped out, his red hair cut to the nape of his neck. He gestured wildly to the driver. "Well, open the damn hood already! I told you I heard..."

Angel broke out laughing. "I see Zack's car is finally giving up the ghost. Do you think Tom can get it working again?"

"Bet you ten dollars he does," Julia replied with a smirk. "But only after someone goads his ego. Otherwise he'll just gripe that he's an engineer, not a mechanic."

"Engineering student, I thought?", Caterina asked quietly.

"Try telling him that," Angel said.

By this point the third occupant of the broken down car had gotten out. He was closer to Zack in build, wearing a plain T-shirt with a medical school logo on it and long shorts to the knee, his dark hair cut close to his scalp. Unlike the fair complexions of Julia, Zack, and Tom, or the tanned bronze of Angel and Caterina, his dark complexion spoke of his African ancestry, not a common sight in the Midwest. "Leo?", Julia asked, walking out toward them. "My God, Leo, you're back already?"

Leo Gillan looked over and grinned at them. He accepted a hug from Julia. "Yeah, my classes are out. Three years down, five to go."

"'Doctor Gillan' has a good ring to it." Julia stepped back and let Angel have a hug as well.

"Hey Cat." Zack looked over to Caterina, who was standing further back. "It's been a while."

"Uh, yeah," Caterina answered.

Zachary Carrey gave the young girl a smile and stepped up to her. "You're looking good. Still the brainiest, cutest girl in the county."

Angel crossed her arms. "Zack, I know you can't help yourself around girls..."

Zack looked back to her, a gesture of surrender. "Hey, just saying 'hi'."

Their exchange was interrupted with a hoarse, "Your belt is shredding and you've got an oil leak, why the hell are you still driving this thing you dumbass?!" Thomas Barnes pulled his head away from the hood of Zack's car.

"Well, because I usually have a best buddy and wingman who fixes it for me," Zack answered, smirking.

"Oh, yeah. Because you seem to think 'engineer' means 'mechanic'", Barnes retorted angrily.

While that exchange continued, Leo shook his head. "Some things never change, do they?"

"Unfortunately, sometimes they do." Julia looked back at the empty Dale house.

Leo saw where her eyes went and nodded. "I heard. I... I just can't believe it. Rob's family were great people, I can't imagine how much pain he's in."

"I can," Julia sighed. "But what's important is finding where he walked off to and..." She saw Leo look past the house and looked that way as well.

Soon everyone was, as they watched Robert run up to them. He was almost breathless when he reached them, an almost wild look in his eyes. "Jeez, man, are you alright?", Zack asked.

As Robert leaned against Angel's car, catching his breath, Leo moved up to him and examined him. "Robert, look at me," he commanded. When he did so, Leo checked his pulse. "Okay..."

"Come with me," he wheezed. "I need to show you something."

Julia stepped up. "What? What is it, Robert?"

"I don't know. I... I just need to know I'm not losing my mind," he answered.

The others all looked at each other. There was sympathy in their expressions as they each gave a nod. "After you've had some water," Leo said. "I don't want you dehydrating."

Caterina ran ahead of them into the house, coming back a moment later with a water bottle from the fridge. Robert drank so greedily from it that streams of water went around his lips and ran down his neck and chest. Leo pulled the bottle away after a couple of moments. "Okay, show us whatever this is," Julia said to him.

Everyone followed him across the farm. Everyone knew what it should look like at this time of year; the fact that it was mostly fallow was just another indication of how terrible things had become. There were no words to be had.

They were all familiar with the mound. Robert led them to the very top of it, from which they could see the entire farm and adjoining properties. He got on the ground and looked like he was looking for something. "It's here. I know it. I... I triggered it."

"Rob?" Julia was the first to go up to him. She knelt beside him and put a hand on his shoulder. "What are you looking for?"

"I don't know what it is. But I know it's here."

She got closer and gripped his arm. "Robby, please..." He looked up at her at the use of his childhood nickname. "Talk to me. I know what you're going through, but you're starting to scare us."

Robert stared at her for a moment and looked down at his dirty hands. "I... I think I might be going crazy, Julie."

"What did you think you'd find up here?"

"I... I don't know what it was. But..." He reached a hand over and adjusted his knee. "It was..."

His weight shifted onto the knee he just moved.

Light erupted from the ground at the base of the mound. Everyone cried out in shock as the light formed a ring around them. Energy seemed to surround them all...

And suddenly they were somewhere else. Lights came on around them, showing a sterile gray chamber and a sliding door at the far end. Everyone was looking around with astonishment. "Okay... that was crazy," Zack muttered.

"It's like some kind of... teleporter, like in sci-fi shows," Caterina murmured. She was the first to step outside the circle. "We must be deep underground, too deep for ground-penetrating radar. Maybe even under the Aquifer."

"Well, I've got good news Robert." Leo patted him on the shoulder. "You're not crazy."

"Or we all are," Angel murmured.

Robert gave a nod and a smile to Leo and walked past the others toward the door. As he walked up to it a pair of green lights converged on him, running over his body. There was a series of chirping and beeping noises from a module above the door. They ended with a loud tone and the door light turned blue. He looked back to his astounded friends. "So, want to come in with me?"

A couple of eyes glanced back toward the ring in the chamber. Julia kept her eyes on Robert. He'd been almost wild-eyed before, but now there was a calm sense in his eyes. A cool confidence, a realization that he was not insane and that there was something wonderous inside. "Let's go," she said firmly.

"This is already beyond awesome," Caterina said, stepping forward beside Julia. Amazement had removed all of her habitual shyness.

"Hell, I want to know what else is down here too," Thomas insisted, stepping forward.

"I'm behind you." Angel stepped up between her sister and Julia.

Zack and Leo each gave a nod and a grin. They stepped up too. "Let's see where this rabbit hole takes us," Leo remarked.

"Hopefully to something that won't eat us," Zack added.

Robert grinned widely. "Well everyone, let's see what's in there." He stepped up to the door and it slid open without a sound. After a quick collective breath to gather their courage, the seven friends stepped into the unknown...

Big Steve Presents...

Undiscovered Frontier
"A Time For Heroes"