Bradley Davis' voice, snobbish and demanding, reached Tom's ears. "...no idea. He had a whole bunch of luggage and crap, like he was expecting to get here."

Tonya's voice now, stubborn, a bit whiney. "But the lightning; they were all found after a lightning storm."

"That's not important. That kid's...bizarre."

"They're all bizarre." An unfamiliar person spoke. "This whole damn business is bizarre! We need-"

"Answers, yes, sir-"

"No, Davis. Enough answers. We need _progress_. The whole point of the APA project was to weed them out. Exterminate them. The hospital board is talking about shutting it down." The others gasped. "Not that they don't believe...they feel just as strongly about this as we do. But they're starting to think we're wasting our time. The only reason we aren't getting fired as we speak is because those crazy kids keep ending up here. We need to find out how they're getting here and _stop_ them."

Thomas tried to understand it all. Some of this sounded familiar.

~Wait a second,~ he thought. ~Are they going to close the portal?~ His train of thought was interrupted by Janet.

"The Magus might know. We could ask him."

"How many times must I tell you, Hillson? The Magus is only to be consulted on strategical matters! Now get started on that research trip!"

~Who the heck is this "Magus" guy? And what trip are they talking about?~ Thomas glanced at his watch. ~Omigosh! 4 o'clock. I'd better sleep on it.~