Chapter 2: Into the desert of the past...

July 13, 2004; 1403 hours

Ayers Rock, Northern Territory, Australia, Planet Earth, Solar System, Milky-way Galaxy

The blazing heat from the sun seemed to blind all 7 members of the club. Weeks of begging, manipulating, and negotiating has finally paid off, and all member were able to go. A big grin showed up on Kevin's face as the mud-caked jeep went up the trail to Ayers Rock. He could see the majestic behemoth shine in the afternoon sun. He looked back at everyone else; 4 guys and 2 girls. He noticed Jay was again eyeing him strangely. But then again, he did have every right to.

After the phone call, Jay said that the ship signal began to take notice of a different direction along with Ayers Rock. It seemed to have pointed towards LA. And although he couldn't pinpoint the exact location, Jay discovered that it was pointing in their neighborhood of Canoga Park, before weakening and returning to Ayers Rock. Kevin, of course, didn't say anything about what had actually happened, but did say that he heard something happened on that day, which was true. It seemed that a few strange occurances happened near the other member's areas. For example, a recently joined member, Samantha, said that a newly bought TV blew while she and her older brother were watching a program that he liked and she didn't. After further questions from Kevin it seemed that she had been fighting a losing battle with him, and was really frustrated. Stuff like this happened with most, if not all, the members in the club.

"Earth to Kevin, come in Kevin" joked Joe, thrusting Kevin back into reality. He hadn't noticed himself staring at her, and everyone else noticed it. His face turning redder than the rock itself, he turned back to Ayers, as it shadowed the jeep. The vehicle came to a quick stop, throwing clouds of dust into the air. The whole club got out, and Kevin went back to the driver. The driver turned and smiled at him. "Here we are, mate. You sure you dont wan me to be staying here for ya?" Kevin just shook his head, "No, we'll be fine." "Alrightly then, mate, that'll be 15 americans." Kevin gae a twenty, and told him to keep the change. "Whoo hoo, mate, thanks, well, g'day to yas!" And on that note, the driver took off, throwing dust everywhere. After a few minutes of silence and awe, it was another girl in the group, Ally, who spoke with the most obvious question. "So, uh, what do we do now, Mr. Leader?" Kevin stood motionless for a few seconds, realizing the sheer size of their problem. "Ok, um, we have the rock climbing gear, let's start at the top. I don't think we'll be noticed if we hurry and scale this." Easier said than done, he thought, this will take all day.

Through the soaring heat, and dusty winds, they climbed, fearing that what they're looking for wouldn't be there. It seemed like hours before they finally reached the top, and before they knew it, it was already 6 in the evening. The cold air of winter didn't help much either. "Ok, we've made it up here, now what?" said his 3rd in command, Steve, through chattering teeth. They had hope to find something, but the top was as bare as the desert around them. And it was getting dark. "I really don't know anymore. Maybe it's just this cold, I don't know, let's just set up camp, there is nothing I think we can do now." He quickly glanced around at his group. Every one of them was freezing, that is, everyone except Joe. He seemed to be calm, and almost as if he was...sweating? Kevin walked over the where Joe was, and felt warmth almost instantly.

"Hey guys, I think I found something over here, besides, it warm!" The group came over, and instantly felt relieved. Jay crouched and examined the the floor of the rock, but it was Kevin who spoke first. "It's some sorta vent or something. There must be something under here. I don't even think that this is a rock!" Jay wiped the sand off, but by doing so a small cross-shaped crack appear, knocking them off their feet. Kevin crawled back and examined the new hole. He looked down and viewed the inside. From what he could tell, there was something down there, and the "rock" was just here to cover up from any one peeking. But how to open it? There had to be a way. "Jay, get over here. What did you do?" Jay was silent. "Jay!" He got up and clrawled to where Kevin was. "I don't know, I just waved my hande to wipe the sand and..." he shrugged.

Steve was the one who came up with an answer. "That's it! That's the final piece to the Star Wars puzzle!" Evidentaly, no one understood. Steve walked over to the crack. "You remember the Jedis wave their hands to use the force. And if we have the force, we can use it!" He waved his hand over the door. It moved a little, but not enough. One by one they tried it, but the door still wouldn't move much. Finally, it was Kevin's turn. "You know guys, maybe we just aren't that Force sensitive" he said, trying to get out of making a fool of himself. He thought he would rather sleep near the exaust, since it was getting colder, and he could hear storm clouds in the distance. But to no avail, he was soon forced in front (or actually on top of) the door, held there by Steve and Jay.

With a sigh and a fear of embarrassment, Kevin slowly held his hand and waved it in front of the door. Once again, it budged a little, but not enough. With a sense of relief, he walked away from the door, now trying to figure out what to do. After a few seconds, it seemed like an earthquake had erupted, sending all of them to the ground. Kevin looked up in time to see the door slowly creak open, and the panels they were on descending down into the rock. After what seemed like hours they landed, and slowly got off into the large cavern underneath.

It seemed like something out of a Star Wars convention. Speeders, blasters, rusted droids, an advanced computer...even lightsaber crystals, though there were no cases for them. And in an open container far off in a corner, they could see robes, Jedi robes. Along with other clothes, yes, some uniforms, smuggler and scout clothes, but the kids could only look at the robes, it was awe defying. An hour into their observation, the giant computer screen at the far wall started to hum, and glow, though Kevin could see the foot-thick layer of dust around it. everything wust have been worn out, so when something like this started, you bet the kids were startled. It wasn't until a few minutes later was their questions answered by a light, kind vioce behing them.

"Welcome, my friends."