Lloyd was the first to recover.

"What, where are we?" asked Lloyd. He looked around the barren landscape. In the distance there was a large mine where a massive smoke plume rose out of a hole in a hill. There was no soil on top of the red stone and dust but there was a large green splurge in the far distance.

"Professor where are we? This doesn't look like Aerth. Professor? Professor wake up!"

He shook the Professor awake.

"Lloyd stop shaking me," The Professor looked around and went pale. "Lloyd where are we?"

"I was hoping you could tell me Professor." Virgil and Charlotte were just getting up off the floor.

"This is another planet obviously," said Virgil. "Possibly Mars or Sram both are mining planets for the LABick Empire and judging by the mine in the distance and the forest over there this is Sram."

The others stood agog.

"Where on Aerth did you learn that?" asked The Professor.

"Well, you are not the only one to read the old history books, you know."

"Professor," said Lloyd. "Professor there are probably people in that mine, we should head there."

"Yes, for once in your life you're right Lloyd."

"Hey!"

The four Aerthians got up and started their march for the mine. It was a long arduous slog covering a rocky outcrop, a desert like area and passing a small pond, the kind Aerthians kept as decoration only this one harboured a creature that looked like a cross between a frog and a shark. The further they travelled the further away the mine seemed. A sulphurous reek came from the numerous geysers and presumably the colossal volcano in the incredibly far distance.

As they reached the mine they saw the sign saying.

'Sram Iron Mine

This is an almost totally unmanned mine. Only the security guard lives here.

So thieves. PUSH OFF!'

"Oh it's unmanned. We're doomed to this planet forever!" cried Charlotte.

"Charlotte it's almost unmanned," said Lloyd. "The security guard will help. He must at least have a pen and paper with which we can write home."

The blood stained door opened with a rusty squeak. Rust powder poured off the hinges and an electric light switched on. All the teenagers gasped at what they thought of as bottled light but The Professor was merely surprised at the first light bulb she had seen for 50 years. Inside there was a stove, a chair, a pack of cards and a small table. There was a few stairs to an upstairs room. There was an incredible stench coming from under the door of the room Lloyd took to be a toilet.

"Hello," shouted Lloyd. "Is any one at mine?"

"What?" croaked a voice from upstairs. "If it's salesmen I don't want nothin'"

Both elves shuddered at the double negative as a creaking and banging came from upstairs. Soon a large grimy and stinking man in a grubby uniform climbed down the stairs belching and swearing. He also carried a low power laser, the first The Professor had seen for 53 years.

"Who the blooming hell are you?" he exclaimed. "You're not from round here are ya?"

"Of cause we're not. The only thing on Sram is this almost unmanned mine," steamed Virgil.

"Look I'm sorry about Virgil he's just a little tense right now," said Charlotte in her nicest and most silvery. "We just want to go home and we are currently stranded on this planet."

"Can't help ya I'm afraid," replied the security guard. "Official LAB building this. And there ain't no supply ships for another two years."

"TWO YEARS!" cried the Aerthians.

"Look you drugged up moron," Lloyd punctuated his words by pointing to the throat of the guard with one of his swords. "Do you have a way of getting a ship here earlier?"

"No I don't even have a hand radio and a ship would take weeks to get here. But hey you folks can at least have some nice bean casserole. I make it with nine kinds of beans."

All the Aerthians groaned at the idea of nine kind of beans prepared by this disgusting individual.

"No er… can we just take some food to go?" asked Virgil. "We need to find another way home."

"Yeah sure," said the guard. "Lets see we got tinned beans, baked beans, butter beans, green beans er… oh yeah and lots of jelly beans." While he said this he piled tins and bags and boxes into a bag. "Here ya're if ya run into another mine just tell the guard Fry sent you."

"Your name is Fry?"

"Did I say it was? Fry is just what my boss thinks I'm called." Said Fry. "Now off ya go."

"Thank you sir," called Charlotte as they left.

"No problem miss," he replied.

A feeling of gloom descended on the group as they walked away from the mine. There was no where for them to go and no way of getting home. There were not even Char trees to calm their nerves.

"How are we going home get home Professor?" asked Lloyd after the third hour of their walk.

"I don't know Lloyd," replied The Professor. "I don't even know how we got here."

"Well, it could have been the fact you said start on a blue disc which was under the Iron ring," said Virgil.

"Hey," said The Professor. "How was I supposed to know this would happen?"

"Well you're the professor," retorted Virgil.

"Look Virgil I'm 100 years your senior. You can't talk like that to me."

"Hey come on cool it you two," said Lloyd trying to stop the fight before it started.

"Shut up Lloyd!" said the elves in unison. Charlotte had not been with the group for some time. She was fixed on a point in the distance.

"Guys," she said then to be heard. "GUYS"

"What?" shouted the others mid brawl.

"If we came via the Iron ring; would it be possible to get by it?" Charlotte asked.

"Theoretically yes but the Iron ring is on Aerth where we want to go," replied The Professor.

"Not this one," said Charlotte. The others looked at the where she was pointing. There was another Iron ring on the far hill. It was very similar to the one on Aerth but probably only had twenty columns at the most. One here was also hewn in half.

"Could it be?" asked The Professor.

"Come on," said Lloyd as he, Virgil and Charlotte started for the ring. As they approached they saw the column hewn in half was covered in buttons and screens the kind of stuff The Professor was taught in school. The ring had never been covered and the blue disc was clearly visible, although here too the writing had been badly scratched.

"Could we get back through this?" asked Charlotte. The same thought had crossed through everybody's mind. "Well Professor, can you get us back? And what do all these buttons mean?"

"I'm not sure but they could indicate co-ordinates," said The Professor.

"What are co-ordinates?" asked Lloyd.

"They show where things are in numbers," replied Virgil before The Professor could answer. "I believe Aerth's co-ordinates 35,56,99,"

"No," argued The Professor as she pushed Virgil off the control panel. "It's 45.66.21."

"Hey," said Virgil pushing more buttons.

"Hey you two; you'll screw it up," cut in Lloyd. As Lloyd tended to do he cut in literally with his swords and started yet another brawl.

"At least we're safe as long as no one says that start word," commented Charlotte.

"What?" asked Lloyd in between punches.

"You know that word," she said. "It's something like flene or fleange."

"Oh cra-"