Chapter 2: Incoming!
In the Barnes' home, dinner was always served at around eight o'clock, so Robbie headed downstairs. As usual, he prayed his mother wasn't making one of her "specialties": meatloaf, chicken gizzards, or squid. The hours Robbie spent reading comics were nothing compared to the time he would spend on the toilet if he ingested one of these "savory dishes." Thankfully, she was making beef stir fry, which was one of her real specialties. Chinese was her best, even though she was 100% English.
He noticed the food first, then the strange expressions on the faces of his parents. This disturbed Robbie because between them they only had three expressions. His father: thoughtfulness, his mother: a cheerful smile, both: consternation when he did something wrong. This new expression looked like a mixture of fear and puzzlement. Robbie felt fear rise in his chest as he realized that he had never seen his parents scared or puzzled. Catherine saw him and immediately her classic smile returned. She motioned him to sit down as Dr. Barnes began to speak.
"You really should've watched the news with us Robbie."
"Yes," his mother chimed in," there was a fascinating story about a comet that is going to pass very near to the Earth. The meteorologist said it would be quite a spectacular show!"
"Also," Dr. Barnes continued, "this is a new comet that no one has seen before."
"Sounds exciting Dad," Robbie said, and then the conversation turned to more mundane topics. By eight-thirty they were finished. Robbie got up to do the dishes when his father stopped him.
"Don't worry about the dishes, your mother will take care of those tonight. Instead, I want you to go down to my study. There's something we need to talk about. I'll be down shortly." As Robbie turned to leave he heard his mother whisper to his father. He could barely make out the words.
"Are you sure we have to do this? He's only fifteen years old!" He could hear his mother crying.
"Yes, dear. He is the only one who can do this." Robbie was scared now. 'What are my parents talking about?' He wondered to himself. He knew he was in trouble, but for what he had no idea. The only thing that crossed his mind were the rats he had let into the girls locker room three days ago. The results of that were the entire girl's gym class had to stand out in the hall in nothing but their bath towels. But that was just a little prank! They wouldn't hold that against him? Would they?
"Robbie, come on," his father said. They proceeded down into the basement, past the laundry room, and into Dr. Barnes' well-furnished study.
"Take a seat." Dr. Barnes motioned to a large, padded seat in front of the desk, while he took his own seat behind the desk. To Robbie, this seemed too much like his numerous interrogations in the principle's office. 'Yup,' he thought to himself, 'I'm in deep.'
"Am I in trouble, Dad?" Robbie asked. Dr. Barnes sighed heavily, looked down, and then looked back at Robbie.
"No, but after you hear what I tell you, you'll probably wish you were. What you're about to hear is very sensitive and very important. Promise me you won't tell anyone what you're about to hear."
"I promise, Dad."
"Alright. As you know, I have many friends in different fields of science. One of these friends works for S.E.T.I., or Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence. Have you ever heard of them?"
"They're the ones with the radio telescopes that search for aliens, right?" At this point Dr. Barnes only smiled.
"Yes, good boy, I can see someone's been paying attention around here! Anyway, S.E.T.I picked up a signal two days ago from an unknown source somewhere near Pluto, and it was determined that the source was rapidly moving toward Earth. The news channels say it's a meteor, but the U.S. government has determined that it resembles a man, seven feet tall and weighing close to a ton. However, it was discovered that the man was made mostly of a strange metal and a few other unknown materials. This leads us to believe that this not a being of flesh and blood, but rather a cybernetic organism. In other words, we could be dealing with an android."
"I don't like the sound of that. Is it friendly?"
"S.E.T.I wanted to think so at first, and they sent a recording of a signal that they had intercepted to my lab for analysis. Upon decoding, though, the signal turned out to be a declaration of war on our world." In his shock, Robbie jumped up from his chair.
"No! You can't be serious…" He was silenced as his father's arms shot out and latched onto his shoulders.
"I am, Robbie, now be quiet and listen! This android is more powerful than any thing this world has ever seen before and can easily extinguish all life on this planet, and there is no army on Earth that can stand up to it. In short, we have no defense against this new threat."
"So that's it? Are you trying to say that there's no hope for any of us, that we're all going to be wiped out by some tin can with an attitude?!'
"There is nothing on our world that can stop him, no weapon, army, or technology to hold him at bay, but we do have one option for survival. That's where you come in." At this point, Robbie was completely scared and lost, and this new revelation did nothing to calm the hurricane of fear storming in his heart. Robbie could almost imagine his father strapping him into a walking battle machine to duke it out with the alien, and while it was a tantalizing thought, he knew it would never happen. "Dad, what could I possibly do?"
"Robbie, do you know what I've been working on at the lab for the past year?"
"Would it have anything to do with quantum physics?"
"Yes, I see someone has been sneaking into my study again." At this Robbie averted his eyes. "Oh well, you're right anyways. Do you know what quantum physics is though?
"No, not at all."
" It's the theory that there are multiple universes, parallel universes, beyond our own. For example, the universe of your favorite show, DBZ, has an Earth just like ours does. Except on their Earth, they have hovering vehicles, Dragon Balls, and dinosaurs. We have none of these things in our world, at least not in our time period. Also, the incredible powers of some of the inhabitants reveals that some of the laws of nature are different there, or the people have the ability to bend them which is more likely the case. My point is, DBZ may be a made-up world in our universe, but it exists in its own. Over the past year, I have been working on a portal to that universe, and now you must go through it."
"Dad, why me?"
"Not to inflate your ego, but you are in top physical and mental condition, plus you know more about this world and its inhabitants than anyone else I know. I am your father, and I would never put you in harm's way, but for this important task, for the survival of Earth, you are the only choice."
"Great. So what am I supposed to do when I get over there? Use the Dragon Balls and wish for the destruction of the alien?"
"Robbie! I'm surprised at you! You know as well as I do that the Eternal Dragon can't grant a wish that exceeds its creator's power. Besides, the Dragon Balls only work in that universe. They would have no effect on ours."
"I'm surprised Dad. You really absorbed a lot of DBZ."
"Of course. You didn't think that after watching so many episodes with your friends I wouldn't pick up something? Now, for our plans. Tomorrow we're going to the lab. Security's tight right now, so I'm going to get you in disguised as a package. Once in my lab, you're going to get out and go through the gate that I have invented. Then, your real mission begins.
"What is my mission?"
"Your mission, Robbie, is to seek out the Z fighters, find as many as you can, and get them to come back through the gate with you. At very least, bring back Goku or Vegeta, since they are the two strongest."
"But dad, what if the machine drops me off in the wrong time, like when Vegeta's on Namek and Goku's in the hospital? I won't be able to find any of the Z fighters then.
"I've already planned for that. The machine will use one of your videos to determine the time period, so whatever time period is represented by the video will be the time period you end up in. Now, what do you think will be the best time to go to?"
"That's easy. The best time to get them would be right before the androids attack, so the best video to use would be "Z Warriors Prepare."
"Alright then. Don't forget it when we leave for the lab tomorrow, and I think that's all I need to tell you. Now go get some sleep. You've got a big day tomorrow.
"Good night. I love you Dad.'
"I love you too, son."