Chapter 11

Rich and Bill Marshall were in deep trouble. They were virtually immobile and Rich had a feeling that time was short. He could hear a grinding sound and that made him think that whatever was suspending him and his son between worlds would soon stop, likely killing them. He also heard an occasional car horn, but considering his predicament, he was more concerned with his and Bill's safety than with anything else. He thought about the matrix table on the wall to Bill's left. He desperately wished he could reach over and put the three green crystals back where they belonged. He still had one in his hand but the other two had fallen to the ground. Even if he could move his arms, the table was just out of reach. Time was running short.

Suddenly Rich heard something strange. People were coming toward him. "Maybe we're close enough to Earth that someone can help us," he thought. But as the humans approached, Rich was surprised to see that the people walking toward them looked exactly like himself and Bill.

Rick's Holly had indeed been successful in leading her family to the cave where their counterparts were trapped. Unfortunately, the remnants of her link with her double severed completely, rendering the youngest Marshall too emotionally distraught to enter the cave. Rick and Will realized that they had to go in without her. They searched the area until they came into a room with a green wall, astonished to see Rich and Bill stuck about eight feet up.

Rich realized immediately that he was looking down at his Beige Universe counterparts. He was not sure how they knew what happened, but he was glad that they were here. "If only I could just tell them what to do," he thought.

"Aw no," a stunned Will said softly. He turned to his father and asked, "Are they…WE, real?" Will started toward them only to be grabbed by Rick, who reminded his son not to touch the other Marshalls. Rich listened as Rick and Will discussed how he and Bill were almost identical, with subtle differences, such as wearing different clothes from a bag they had lost when they went over the waterfall.

Although Rich was helpless, the sight of his counterparts offered him a glimmer of hope. Somehow, their presence was not a coincidence. They knew too many facts. They knew not to touch him and Bill. They were actually looking for them. Rich and Bill might not have been able to help themselves, but their doubles were the next best thing. The cavalry had arrived. Though Rich still could not speak, he was fascinated at Will's and Rick's conversation.
"I think we're looking at a mirror image of ourselves in another dimension," Rick concluded. "We're here in this Land of the Lost and they're in some other Land of the Lost. And our worlds are interlocked and grinding against each other." As if on cue, the walls made a grinding sound as Rich and Bill moved slightly.

"DAD! They moved!" said Will.

Both Rich and Rick knew that time was of the essence. "Whatever we're gonna do, we're gonna have to do it now," Rick decided.

"But what?" asked Will. Then, to Rich's delight, Rick saw the crystals lying on the ground.

"It's got to be the green crystals," Rick stated. "Now there's two of them on the floor, and there's one up in his hand. And there's three empty spaces in the matrix table. That's got to be it."

Rich could not believe it, but apparently, Rick and Will had figured out exactly what to do. His feelings of hope turned to excitement as Will picked up the two crystals on the ground, carefully got up on Rick's shoulders and placed them in their slots on the table. If this worked, Bill would be all right. If this worked, they would hopefully find Holly. If this worked, maybe Rich could still find a way to reunite his children with their mother.

The men heard a humming sound, indicating that they were doing the right thing. But now, everyone was nervous as the hardest task was yet to come. Rick had to hoist Will on his shoulders, and the teen had to carefully take that last crystal out of Rich's hand and place it onto the table. Rick reminded his son not to touch Rich, theorizing that their counterparts were made of antimatter. Though Rich's past experience with Rick's Holly in the Moongiver Pylon had taught him that Rick was not exactly correct, he was just glad that his counterpart knew that Will's touch would indeed be deadly.

Rich wished he could simply drop the crystal on the ground but he was just unable to do so. Will was nervous, but as Rick encouraged him, the younger Marshall carefully reached into Rich's hand and successfully grabbed the crystal without making contact with Rich. Will placed it on the table and suddenly a loud noise was heard.

Rick and Will looked up to see that the room had changed. Their trapped counterparts were gone, and the matrix table which was on the wall, was suddenly on the floor. Realizing that they had done all that they could, they returned to their cave.

As soon as Will put the green crystal back in its proper spot on the table, Rich heard a booming noise and felt as if he was being pulled through time and space. But when the feelings of disorientation ended, he opened his eyes and he realized that he was back in Enik's cave. Luckily, the black Sleestak was nowhere to be seen. "I can move," he said while patting himself on the chest to make sure he was in one piece. Rich noticed that Enik's time doorway was severely damaged, presumably by what had just happened with his family. Immediately, he checked on Bill, who like his father, was slowly getting up.

"Bill! Are you ok?" Rich asked, rushing to his son's side.

Bill slowly stood up. "Yeah. I feel like I just got hit by a truck, but I'm not hurt. Dad, what do you think happened in there? Were those our doubles?"

"I can't say for sure son, but it does look that way."

"But, how did they know?" Bill wondered.

"Daddy!" a voice called from the distance. Suddenly Holly came bursting into the cave, and she ran right into her father's arms. She was crying.

"It's ok honey," Rich said.

"I thought I was going to be alone." Holly responded.

"You should consider yourself fortunate, Rich Marshall," S'Latch commented, as he also entered the chamber.

Rich walked toward his friend. "S'Latch, do we have you to thank for this?"

"I believe that you owe most of the gratitude to your daughter," he replied.

Rich smiled at Holly. "It sounds like you have an interesting story to tell, honey."

Holly answered. "Right now, I just want to go back to the cave."

"That sounds great to me," said Bill, "I've had enough of the Lost City for a while." With that, the Marshalls said goodbye to S'Latch and returned to High Bluff.

Back in the cave, Rich, Bill and Holly were finishing up dinner when they started to talk again about the incident with their counterparts.

"Dad," Bill asked, "do you think we'll ever see the other Marshalls again?"

"Your guess is as good as mine Bill," Rich answered.

"I still don't get why Enik turned out to be so bad," Bill commented.

"Yeah, I'll never trust that mean old black Sleestak again," said Holly.

"Well, we didn't know his true colors until it was too late, but that's a mistake we won't make again. I know how badly we all want to get back to your mother, but we have to be more careful. But in a way, we have Enik to thank for our rescue." Rich added.

"What?" asked Holly and Bill, simultaneously.

Rich continued, smiling. "Well, a while back, Enik helped us save the other Holly from entering our universe. Had that not happened, she would have died. Our Holly would have had no double to communicate with, and we wouldn't have been able to escape from that wall. Enik's plan would've worked." Bill and Holly nodded, understanding.

"I just feel bad we didn't make it home," said Holly.

"Don't worry, honey. We were close this time. But that reminds me of something else I wanted to talk to you two about. Enik doesn't know we made it back here, and I say we should keep it that way. With the time doorway in the Lost City damaged, there's really no reason to go there anymore, so we'll just have to find another way home. But thanks to the other Marshalls, we still have hope."

On that note, the family spent a few more minutes talking, and soon went to bed.