“We simply walk through the portal and we’re there?” Schmidt asked. “Most of the citizens of New Cambridge want to go back. Some want to stay.”
“Yes, you simply walk through,” Jeremy said.
“I think we need to prepare for you on the other side,” JJ said. “The island isn’t big enough to have everyone flocking in at the same time. Let us set up food, shelter, and transportation, and then you can start moving back to Earth.”
The four kings came back in the room.
“Okay, we will set up a port of entry on our side,” King Pankor said. “We would like some advisers to come and help us get set up.”
~~~
The Alliance, JJ, Trish, Rocky, Scotty, Jack, and Caroline were saying their goodbyes to the four kings and Slatel at the Tower of Master’s Keep.
“We need to get to the Safe Haven,” Jesse said. “We have work to do.”
“JJ, you and Caroline take the others, go through the portal, and head back to the West Coast,” Matt said. “I’m sure they can use your help. The Alliance will join you later.”
The Alliance put their fists out, thumbs up, and said in unison, “Bring the Safe Haven.”
A large oak tree materialized. The Alliance went up the ladder into the Safe Haven, and the tree vanished.
“Let’s go,” JJ said.
Chapter 55
Rules versus Principles
“Where are we?” Steve asked.
“I don’t know . . . limbo?” Jeremy said.
“It doesn’t matter where we are,” Matt said. “It only matters where we’re going.”
“The way I understand it, we can move from place to place in our present time,” Jesse said, “but we can’t move to a different time. So, for instance, we could travel like our fathers to and from Gandoral. We could travel to different places on Earth, but only in the present time frame—no real time travel.”
“I want to ask the pigmies some questions,” Steve said.
“That’s pretty funny,” Jeremy said. “You haven’t liked any answer they’ve ever given us, and now you want their advice?”
“Maybe we haven’t asked the right question,” Steve said as he went to the Visualizer. “Let’s get them to the table.”
They summoned the first Alliance, but they got a surprise when the top of the Visualizer filled with three or four hundred tiny people, all dancing and celebrating.
“Oar, Lindau, Ishmon, Gaska,” Jesse said. “Where are you?”
They watched as the crowd all turned and looked at them and began clapping and shouting praises. The crowd parted, and the four original Alliance members stepped forward.
“We need to talk to you,” Jesse said. “Please come to the Visualizer.”
The crowd faded away, and the first Alliance appeared at the table.
“You’ve achieved what the sixty Alliances before you haven’t been able to do,” Oar said. “You must be proud.”
“You were able to capture all nine Symbols of Power and push the queen and her horde behind the Gates of Horgon,” Ishmon said. “What a great achievement.”
“The entire planet of Gandoral is now free,” Lindau added.
“Earth has been saved from the tyrant of darkness,” Gaska said. “Your work is done.”
“You’re wrong,” Steve said. “Our work isn’t completed yet.”
Lindau looked at the others. “I told you so.”
“The Safe Haven is not a time machine,” Oar said. “You cannot use it as such. We’ve told you that in the past.”
“If there is a way to make the Safe Haven into a time machine, we don’t know how,” Lindau said. “It’s simply not possible.”
“That’s your problem,” Steve said.
“What’s our problem?” Gaska was defensive.
“You guys don’t know how to think outside the box,” Steve said. “You can only give us the information you know. You don’t connect the dots to a new and innovative solution. You know the rules. You’ve been sharing them with generations of Alliances. You know the rules well.”
“What’s your point, Steve?” Oar asked.
“We don’t want to hear the rules,” Jeremy said. “We want to hear the principles behind the rules. What are the principles that govern the rules, and who put the principles in place?”
“The last time we asked this question,” Jesse said, “you said the following, and I quote: ‘It was created by Cetrekap, the Grand Wizard of Gandoral, around 915 AD as a way to escape Gandoral. He couldn’t get it to work for several hundred years, but right before he died, he found the necessary combination of magic and potions. However, Torron captured him and executed him before he could use it. The Alliance that was active at the time helped him to get the Safe Haven activated, and they began using it from then on. At first it was used as a place to go to be safe from Torron. It wasn’t until the fourteenth century that the Alliance realized it could actually move through time. By trial and error, we learned how to use the Safe Haven to our advantage.’ You said there were no rules written down that govern the Safe Haven and that we might be able to get it to work like a time machine.”
“So in order to get the Safe Haven to be a time machine, we need to know the principles behind the rules,” Jeremy said.
The first Alliance went into a huddle. They nodded their heads and waved their hands, then came out of the huddle.
Oar rubbed his forehead and shook his head. “This is not what you want to hear, but we only know the rules,” he said with a scowl. “We suppose the basic principles are, to be honest, loyal, and moral, the kind of principles that govern a good life. Cetrekap was a God-fearing and genuinely good man. He would have made the principles to be in concert with his own foundational principles.”
Steve chuckled and shook his head. “We’re on our own . . . again.”
“Thank you for your guidance over the past few months,” Jesse said. “We couldn’t have succeeded without your help.”
The first Alliance bowed and disappeared.
“We need to be good Boy Scouts,” Steve said.
The others gave him puzzled looks.
“Well, ‘On my honor, I will be loyal, strong, mentally sound, be moral and loyal to God and country’. Oh and, ‘be helpful, friendly, clean and trustworthy.’ Be a good Scout, and we can make the Safe Haven into a time machine. It’s simple.”
Jesse shook her head. “You don’t have it quite right. First, the Scout Oath is, ‘On my honor, I will do my best to do my duty to God and my country and to obey the Scout Law; to help other people at all times; to keep myself physically strong, mentally awake, and morally straight.’ And the Scout Law is, ‘A Scout is trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean, and reverent.’”
Jeremy raised his eyebrows and smiled as Jesse quoted the Scout Oath and Law word for word. “I don’t think Cetrekap had the Boy Scout Oath and Law in mind when he set up the Safe Haven.”
“We’re back at square one,” Matt said.
“Look, if Cetrekap used a combination of magic and potions to activate the Safe Haven, he must have kept a record of the event,” Jesse said. She dug around in her knapsack and pulled out the Book of Knowledge. “The combination has to be in here.”
“It’s probably written in code,” Jeremy said. “He would want it to be a secret, but still recorded.”
“I’ll read through the book and see if I can find something,” Jesse said.
“Try to eliminate the obvious pages,” Matt said. “There might be random pages that don’t fit in. Mark those. That way, in the end you’ll only have a few pages left to check for a message hidden somewhere.”
Jesse started flipping pages, about one every second.
“What are you doing?” Jeremy asked. “Skimming? You need to read the pages.”
“I am reading,” Jesse said. “I’m not only reading the pages, I’m memorizing them.” She continued to flip through the book. “One of my pow
ers, I’ve discovered, is a photographic memory. Give me a couple of minutes. Go make a batch of chocolate chip cookies.”
The boys left Jesse at the Visualizer and went to the kitchen to make cookies.
Before the cookies came out of the oven, Jesse yelled, “I found it! I found it! It was written on twelve different pages, as notes at the bottom. It’s not a combination of magic and potions. We have all the tools. Apparently Cetrekap was about to make the Safe Haven into a time machine when he was interrupted by Torron. Because of the interruption, the process wasn’t completed. Once completed, the Safe Haven will be a time machine.”
“What do we have to do to complete the process?” Jeremy asked.
“It can only be performed by a current Alliance,” Jesse said. “That’s us. We need all nine Symbols of Power, plus the Wand of Cetrekap and the Seven Stones of Honor.”
They laid the five Symbols out on the kitchen table.
“We need to summon the Quad,” Jesse directed.
The four put their fists out with thumbs up and touched their knuckles together.
“We summon the Quad,” they said together.
When the squatty pyramid appeared, Jesse picked it up and headed to the Visualizer. “Matt, place the seven stones in order, in the center of the Visualizer.”
Jesse carefully placed the Quad on top of the stones. She put her Symbol into its cavity, and the others followed suit.
“The oldest member of the Alliance—that’s you, Steve—must wear the Crown of Witstal,” Jesse said as she took off the bracelet and handed it to Steve.
Steve looked puzzled, but he took the simple gold bracelet with four dragons on it and stretched it out over his head. The bracelet turned into a spectacular golden crown with the four dragons standing on their hind legs, their front legs resting on four huge diamonds.
Jesse handed Steve the Ax of Norrid and the Shield of Innocence. She handed the Wand of Wongate to Matt and the Wand of Cetrekap to Jeremy. She held the Dagger of Valdar.
“What now?” Steve asked.
“We surround the table,” Jesse said. “Matt, you, Jeremy, and I will point our wands at the Quad. Steve, you read the chant I’ve written on this piece of paper, three times.” She looked at the others. “Ready? Okay, Steve.”
Steve looked down at the paper on the table. “Roe, voe, voe, roe,” he said slowly and deliberately. “Roe, voe, voe, roe. Roe, voe, voe, roe.”
A low-frequency hum started, then a series of electric arcs emanated from the tips of the three wands. They concentrated on the top of the Quad, but then they began spreading across the table and down to the floor, then throughout the Safe Haven. As the arcs began to advance, the humming noise became more intense, and three laser beams shot from the tips of the wands and hit the Quad: yellow from the Wand of Cetrekap, blue from the Wand of Wongate, and red from the Dagger of Valdar. The lasers danced around the Safe Haven, energizing all the WindElys.
Once all the colorful WindElys were spinning at top speed, the Shield of Innocence spread out a pale green protective shield. The pale green shield detached itself from the Shield of Innocence and moved to the outer wall of the Safe Haven, then spread itself out until the entire outer wall of the Safe Haven was encapsulated. All the lasers stopped, and the Safe Haven went quiet.
“Okay then,” Steve said as he took the crown off his head. The crown transformed back into a bracelet, and he handed it to Jesse.
“Did it work?” Jeremy asked. “Let’s find out. Matt, get the logbook.”
Chapter 56
Oliver
“Timing is everything,” Jesse said.
“Jeremy is out of this discussion,” Steve said.
“Not a problem,” Jeremy said as he sat at the Visualizer.
“There’s an hour delay between travels, right?” Matt asked.
“We should go back one hour and fifteen minutes earlier than when we picked up Jesse’s dad, Marcus,” Steve said.
“We have to be careful not to get there before the Symbols are sent into the past by our fathers,” Matt reminded the others. “One hour and fifteen minutes earlier would be Saturday, September fifth, at eleven forty-five a.m. Steve, you do the honors.”
“Remember, we have to be back in the Safe Haven before the fifteen minutes are up,” Jeremy said. “Otherwise we’ll encroach on the timing to get Marcus. I’m not sure that’s an issue, but there’s no reason to test it out. Steve, go ahead.”
“Okay, here we go,” Steve said.
The Alliance inserted the four Symbols into the slots above the clocks. The glow from the Symbols began to pulse, first very bright. A grinding hum could be heard coming from the clocks. The lights and hum continued for about thirty seconds, then a drawer opened, revealing the time-travel clock.
Steve dialed in September 5, 11:45 a.m., and placed his hand on the black stone. “Take us to the NBC.”
When the four Symbols popped partway out of the slots, the Alliance put them around their necks.
“The NBC?” Matt asked as he put his Symbol around his neck.
“Yeah, the new base camp,” Steve said. “Jeremy, start the timer on your phone.”
“Do you think the Safe Haven knows what the NBC is?” Matt asked.
“Let’s find out,” Steve said as he opened the hatch in the floor.
A roaring sound came from the open hatch. Once on the ground, they saw that the Safe Haven was again set behind the RVs.
“What’s that roaring sound?” Jesse asked. “Look.” She pointed to the sky, where a pillar of pure white light rose up and hit an imaginary ceiling. A white cloud spread out from the pillar in all directions, covering the blue sky with a thin layer of white clouds. Then four colored beams—red, purple, green, and blue—began streaming in four different directions—north, south, east, and west. As quickly as the pillar of white light and the four colored beams appeared, they were gone. The roar ceased.
“Our timing is perfect,” Jesse said. “Quick, we have to get Brian and get back into the Safe Haven.”
They rounded the RV and found the four fathers celebrating, giving each other high fives.
“High fives?” Steve said.
The fathers were stunned.
“You threw us to the wolves without warning, and you’re giving yourselves high fives?” Steve was livid.
“Steve, focus,” Matt said.
Jesse ran to Brian. “You need to come with us right now,” she insisted.
“What’s going on, Jesse?” her father asked.
“Trust us,” Jeremy said. “We don’t have time to explain. We’ll be right back for the rest of you.”
“Dad, you’re next,” Jesse said to Marcus.
“Right back?” Steve asked.
“Yeah, in their time, we’ll be right back,” Jeremy said. “Right?” They headed back to the Safe Haven.
Brian went up first, and the Alliance followed.
“Twelve minutes and thirty-two seconds,” Jeremy announced as he closed the hatch.
They spent the next two hours explaining what had happened and why they came back to save Brian first . . . or was it last?
~~~
“Oliver is next,” Jesse said. “I’ve waited the longest. Oliver is next.”
“Okay,” Matt said, looking at his logbook. “The drawer is already open. When we came back to the Safe Haven from trek number one, the clock read sixty-two days, twenty hours, thirteen minutes, and forty-two seconds.”
Jesse was standing in front of the time machine clock. “The clock isn’t set up to input the running hours of our Safe Haven clock. It’s set up for a date. What date do we enter? We don’t know the date in the thirteenth century when we left.” Tears began to well up in her eyes. “We can’t go back if we don’t know the date.”
“We used a date to go back to get our fathers,” Steve said.
“Yeah, of course,” Matt said. “We knew the date and time we entered the Safe Haven the first time, so that date was easy.”
&n
bsp; “The only reference we have is the start date of our treks and how much time has passed since the start date,” Jeremy said. “We need to figure out a date from those two pieces of information.”
“What did the Earth time clock read when we entered the Safe Haven for the first time?” Jesse asked.
“September fifth at eight hours, thirty-two minutes, and seventeen seconds,” Matt said. “What actual date should we use for the time-travel clock?”
“Well, if you take the original date, September fifth at eight hours, thirty-two minutes, and seventeen seconds, and add sixty-two days, twenty hours, thirteen minutes, and forty-two seconds, you get November seventh at four hours, thirty-five minutes, and fifty-nine seconds,” Jesse said. “When entering, we should add ten minutes to get there after we left.”
“You did that in your head just now?” Steve asked, surprised.
“Yeah, I did,” Jesse said. “My brain goes into automatic and out comes the number.”
“Okay then, Jesse, this is your trip,” Matt said. “You put in the date.”
Jesse stepped up to the drawer, but Jeremy interrupted. “Wait. The Earth time clock started back up when we went back into present time and to get Steve to come back into the Safe Haven, right? The Earth time clock is running along with the Alliance time clock. The Earth time clock is currently reading Wednesday, September twenty-third, one hour, twenty-two minutes, and seventeen seconds, and counting.”
“Your point?” Steve asked sarcastically.
“My point is, we have to time travel into the future to November seventh in order to travel to the past,” Jeremy said. “It doesn’t make sense. We really don’t know the date and time when we left the thirteenth century. We only know the date and time from the Safe Haven’s point of view.”
“It wasn’t an issue going after our fathers because they actually were in the past from the Safe Haven’s point of view,” Jesse said.
“I’m getting confused,” Steve said.
“Look, we only know what we only know,” Matt said. “Jesse, set the clock and let’s go.”
Jesse set the time-travel clock to November seventh at four hours, forty-five minutes, and fifty-nine seconds, laid her hand on the black stone, and said, “Take us to the last place we were at the end of trek one.”
Winds of War Page 32