Third Earth

Pendragon's Journal

As I climbed up the stairs of the Taj Mahal, I took in all the differences from what I imagined this place to be when I was a child - something that I have longed to be once again for what seemed like ages now - to what this place has become in the year 5012.

My uncle Press has told me that now that Saint Dane was destroyed, this place is just an alternate dimension now, that will continue to live out it's life once we leave, but we could never go back to this grief-stricken territory. Er, planet. It's difficult getting used to the whole Solara-is-the-center-of-Halla ordeal.

"Hey Bobby," Courtney said as she walked up to me. I put my arm around her waist as we looked at the Mona Lisa, live and in person. She looked several years older than me, but we actually went to Junior High together in a small town of Stony Brook, Connecticut. Best place to get fries, if you're looking for a place to stop by for a quick snack.

"You know, we never got to finish that kiss…" I smiled, mentioning the kiss we had when we were both fourteen, and then my uncle came in and interrupted it. Sometimes I like to wonder what would of happened if he never did that.

We kissed for a good thirty seconds. It felt like we were fourteen again, standing in my living room, the night before the biggest event of my young life. It was a beautiful thing.

And, just like that night, my uncle just had to interrupt.

"Bobby, we got bad news," I said, making the two of us break apart from our lip-lock. "We got some readings from Solara that are off the chart. Seems like Saint Dane is back, and gaining power at a ridiculously high rate."

I sighed, and started to walk towards my uncle. "Maybe someday we can finally finish that kiss, huh?"

Courtney half smiled, rubbing her arm pitifully. We waved good-bye to each other before walking our separate ways, possibly never to see each other again.

"So, what's new?" I asked as we walked through the halls of this magnificent building.

"He's targeting two different places in different times on Earth. Man, this planet gets targeted a lot."

The other nine Travelers were gathered around in a circle, quietly chatting amongst themselves until we walked into the room. They fell silent as we joined their circle.

"Hobbey, mate, what's the tum-tigger this time?" Spader, an aquaneer from Cloral, asked us.

"It's a real natty-do, Spader," I said to him, crushing his hopes that it couldn't be something as easy as drinking an entire barrel of sniggers, as I heard under his breath.

"Saint Dane is back according to scans done by Mark Dimond, and targeting two specific places and times on Earth." A hologram of the United States appeared in front of all of us.

"He's targeting a camp near New York City," a red dot appeared on Long Island, "and another camp near San Francisco." Another red dot appeared, but this one closer to San Francisco, or where I think it is.

"So, what's the plan, Pendragon?" Aja Killian asked me, pushing her wire rimmed glasses up her nose. She still wore her green jumpsuit, even though she hasn't worked for lifelight for years.

"We'll split into two groups, one to tackle the issue in NY the other for San Fran. Uncle Press, what time periods are we looking at, exactly?" I delegated, using my head-Traveler skills to come up with a plan.

"San Francisco is closer to this time, off by a few hours. NY is your time."

I nodded, a plan forming in my head. I tapped my foot as I thought.

"Patrick, you'll do better in this time than any other, considering you don't know how to work a toaster. Alder, Gunny, Eva, and Kasha, you go with him. Rest go with me."

Everyone seemed content with that, except Kasha. "Umm… I'm a klee, remember? Don't exactly fit in here on Earth. What do I do?"

I smiled, having already considered her species as an option. "Night observation. You can connect the rest, if they are unable to. I'll check up on how things are going as soon as I can, understand?"

I looked at my uncle, who seemed surprised that I had come up with a plan like that in a matter of seconds. I was ready for anything at this point. "Our Solara powers are gone. What do we do now?"

"Use the new flume to get to your territories. Because it was in this alternate dimension that the flumes got destroyed, you'll have them back once you arrive to your territories."

He handed Patrick, the designated leader for his mission considering he was the only one who knew the time, and me a piece of paper saying our territory names.

"What in Halla is CHB?" I asked myself as we walked through the deserted streets of New York, having been destroyed in the war a few years before.

"CJ!" Patrick yelled as his group jumped into the oversized flume. His was an acronym too? I followed suit, but the only difference was the name of the territory.

As we sailed through time and space, we began to get divided like the exiles had. I went in front of everyone, and can only assume that I was the first to arrive.

After the end of the blinding light, I was in a forrest, standing by myself.

"Ahh! I'm blind!" a girl screamed.