Welcome to Infinity Ring, a daring adventure through time!
It all starts here in the books, where you’ll discover a world in which history is broken . . . and meet the three young people who must risk their lives to set things right.
At the end of this book, you’ll find your very own Hystorian’s Guide. The Guide has been created to help time travelers avoid the dangers that await them in the past.
And you’re going to need all of the Guide’s tips, hints, and codes when you experience history for yourself in the action-packed Infinity Ring game. Do you have what it takes to be a true Hystorian? Your skills and smarts will be put to the test as you undertake the Hystorian challenge!
Fix the past. Save the future.
scholastic.com/infinityring
For Ryan Byrne, warrior and reader.
— M.d.l.P.
Cover
Introduction
Title Page
Dedication
Prologue
PART ONE
1
Looking to the Sky
2
The Great Disappearance
3
What’s a Hystorian?
4
Bad Science
5
Apology Cheese
PART TWO
6
The Tang Dynasty
7
The Legume Thief
8
The Evils of Gunpowder
9
The AB Pacifists
10
The Rocket Launch
PART THREE
11
Tamales from Scratch
12
Scientific Superstar in the Flesh
13
The Trial
14
The Kick that Ended a Friendship
15
When It Rains, It Pours
PART FOUR
16
Who Will Do the Honors?
17
Double Duty
18
A Different Kind of Warp
19
Before the War
20
War of the Worlds
PART FIVE
21
A Pebble between the Eyes
22
Separate but Equal
23
Prelaunch
24
Trip to the Moon
25
Homecoming
Hystorian Challenge Hystorian’s Guide
About the Author
Copyright
Prologue
THE HEAT from the fire was unbearable as Dak Smyth tried to claw his way out of the elaborate seat belt. Sweat streamed down his face. It soaked his shirt and pants underneath his bulky suit. It even soaked the protective diaper he found himself wearing. He was glad Sera wasn’t around to see that.
Or even worse, Riq.
But the diaper was no laughing matter. The more sweat that collected in the suit, the more difficult it was for him to move around. He glanced at the fire inching closer to the control panel. Closer to him.
He needed to get out of the way now!
But there was nowhere to run. That was the problem with being in outer space. Well, one of the problems.
Fire didn’t behave the same on a low-gravity spacecraft. The flames didn’t shoot upward in a peak the way they did back home. Up here, they hovered around whatever was burning, a deep blue hue.
“Come on!” Dak shouted as the belt slipped out of his gloved fingers again. A drop of sweat ran into his right eye, momentarily blurring his vision. He blinked away the stinging sensation and looked to his left, where the two other astronauts — who weren’t much older than him — were now peering out the window, screaming like little babies. “Uh, little help over here?” Dak shouted.
They didn’t even turn around.
He heard a low buzzing sound, barely audible over the screams, but when he looked all around, he couldn’t identify the source.
When Dak was finally able to free himself, he drifted awkwardly out of the cockpit, toward the wall with the fire extinguisher. He snatched it in his gloves, removed the safety, and aimed the nozzle at the angry blue flame, which now claimed almost a third of the cockpit. Instead of shooting out straight, though, the white substance oozed out at an upward angle, toward the ceiling. He’d forgotten to take into account the lack of gravity.
Dak adjusted his aim accordingly and drew closer to the fire.
But just as he was starting to gain control of it, the guys near the window started screaming even louder, this time diving toward the center of the cockpit, ignoring the flames, holding on to each other.
Dak dropped the extinguisher and bounded over to the window to see for himself.
And suddenly he was screaming, too.
His eyes were bugging out of his head.
A massive asteroid, more than twice the size of their vessel, was spinning recklessly through space directly toward them. . . .
1
Looking to the Sky
THE FORCE of the impact slammed Dak against the floor.
He opened his eyes, gasping for breath, expecting to find a hole torn into the ship’s main control center, but all he found was a harmless stick lying on the grass next to his face. He stared at the gnarled thing for a few long seconds, trying to wrap his head around where he was — and when he was.
He looked up and found his best friend, Sera Froste, standing over him, grinning. A panting dog stood by her side. It looked like it was laughing at him.
“Oops. Sorry,” Sera said. But the “sorry” sure sounded sarcastic to Dak.
“What . . . happened?” he asked.
“Errant toss,” she said, picking up the stick. “My bad. Nice shoes, by the way.”
Dak rubbed the side of his head and sat up, looking at his new pair of checkered Vans as reality slowly crept back into place. He’d been hit by a stick, not an asteroid. And he’d fallen out of his hammock. “Dude,” he said, glancing over Sera’s shoulder, at his parents’ barn — the SMYTH FOR MAYOR signs still scattered throughout the large yard. “I just had the craziest . . . It was like a Remnant, I think. I was on this space shuttle with these two other astronauts, who were both kind of cowardly, to be honest, and out of the blue comes this asteroid. . . .”
“Yeah, that’s not a Remnant, Dak,” Sera said. “It’s called a dream. Happens when you sleep all day.”
Dak was about to argue but lost his train of thought when the mutt began licking the side of his face.
“I think she likes you,” Sera said.
“Gross,” Dak said, nudging the dog away and climbing to his feet. He wiped the slobber off his cheek and forehead with his shirtsleeve. “What’s the deal with the pooch?”
Sera tossed the stick and the dog took off after it. “Long story.”
“Oh, I forgot,” Dak said, giving her a little sarcasm of his own. “We have so many other important places to be right now.” He paused for effect. “Not.”
Sera rolled her eyes and called for the dog. “Here, Zoe. Here, Bella. Come on, Maxie.”
Dak couldn’t help but give Sera a hard time. After fixing all the Breaks in history, thus steering the world away from the horrors of the Cataclysm, they’d been safe and sound at home for over a month now. No more history-saving anxiety. No more running from the SQ’s thugs or being forced to wear crazy ancient outfits like loincloths or togas. No more warping into dangerous situations, the stress of which h
ad probably taken years off Dak’s life of cheese connoisseurship.
In other words, he was bored out of his mind.
Dak and Sera had been arguing for the past two weeks about whether or not to take the Infinity Ring out for a little joyride. All their previous warps had been business trips, Dak argued. Didn’t saving the world warrant a “time vacation” or two? Maybe a quick trip back to ancient Hawaii, before anyone had set foot on the islands? Or what about the grand opening of Disneyland in 1955, where they could ride all the rides with the original Mouseketeers? Dak told Sera he’d even consider a more science-oriented trip. Anything to keep him from sleeping away the rest of his days in his parents’ itchy hammock.
But Sera believed traveling without a purpose was irresponsible. What if they inadvertently altered some minor detail that set off a chain reaction that changed the world forever — after they’d just spent all this time and effort fixing it? She even went so far as hiding the Ring from him.
Before falling asleep, though, Dak had come up with a brand-new argument. And it was perfect. If this one couldn’t get Sera to change her mind, nothing could. He just needed to find the right moment to spring it on her. After all, “timing” was everything. Dak grinned a little at his clever internal wordplay.
“What’s so funny?” Sera asked.
“Nothing,” Dak told her, wiping the grin off his face. He thought he heard a subtle buzzing sound, like the one he’d heard in his dream, but when he turned toward the barn, he didn’t see anything. “Seriously, though,” he said, focusing on Sera again, “give me the lowdown on the canine. She looks a little . . . Do you know if she’s had her shots?”
Sera gave Dak a dirty look and whistled for the dog to bring back the stick. “Fine,” she said. “On my way home from the store yesterday, I found her sitting in the middle of the street, staring up at the clouds like she was in some kind of trance. And then a car came barreling around the corner. I dropped my groceries and sprinted out into the street and tackled her just in time. Both of us went tumbling to the side of the road. I’m not kidding, Dak, that car whizzed right by my nose.”
“See?” Dak said, excitedly pointing at her. “It’s not so easy to give up being a hero, is it? It’s in our blood now, Sera. It’s who we are.”
“You seem to be doing just fine,” Sera fired back at him. “Unless your lying around in a hammock somehow benefits humanity.”
“Just waiting for my next call to action, Sera.”
Sera gave him a little smirk as she pried the stick out of the dog’s mouth and gave it another toss, toward Dak’s parents’ barn this time, where she had been spending the majority of her free time these days. Dak still wondered why she wasn’t spending more time at her place now that she had her parents — even if they were sort of weird. Wasn’t that all she ever wanted?
Or maybe it was just human nature to take family for granted. Even Dak’s own parents, who had seemed so thrilled to have the family back together at first, now spent all their free time campaigning for Dak’s mom to become mayor. All he heard around the house was political jargon like bipartisanship and unemployment rate and approval ratings.
“Anyway,” Sera said, “now she follows me everywhere I go. Don’t you, Fido? Harriet? Stella?”
“I take it she didn’t have a tag?” Dak said.
Sera shook her head. “I keep trying out different names, but she doesn’t seem to spark to any of them.”
“You’ve just got to find something that reflects her personality. How about Weirdo?” Dak said, realizing this was the most excitement he’d had in weeks. A lost, nameless dog. Possible flea infestation. Yee-haw!
“She is pretty strange,” Sera said. The dog was now sitting near the barn with the stick in her mouth, staring up at the sky.
“What the heck is she looking at?” Dak asked.
“No idea.” Sera put her hands on her hips, still watching the dog. “Every once in a while, she just stops everything and stares into space. Literally. I wonder what’s going through her head?”
“Hate to break it to you,” Dak said, “but it’s not a whole lot. Dogs have brains the size of Hacky Sacks.”
When Sera didn’t answer, Dak looked into the sky, too, recalling his dream. It had seemed so real. The fire. The asteroid. The slippery seat belt buckle. Even the adult-size diaper. Why would he have a dream about being in space? Did it mean he’d reached a whole new level of adventure withdrawal?
Dak turned back to Sera, deciding now was as good a time as any to roll out his brand-new time-warp argument.
“So,” he said, “I’ve been thinking a lot about Riq.”
2
The Great Disappearance
“WHAT?!” Sera shouted. “I can’t believe you’d go there, Dak!” She gave him a look of pure fury and started walking toward the barn.
“Wait,” Dak said, following behind her. “What’d I say?”
Sera stopped suddenly, causing him to run right into her. “That’s a low blow, Dak. Even by your standards. Preying on your supposed best friend’s emotions just so you can get your way?”
“I just thought —”
“Maybe you should stop thinking.” Sera planted her hands on her hips. “Because sometimes I wonder if it’s your brain that’s the size of a Hacky Sack.”
“— you might wanna check on Riq,” Dak said. “We know he’ll be in Anatolia in 333 BC, right after Alexander the Great wins the Battle of Issus. My history books say so. Couldn’t be simpler. How was I supposed to know you’d blow a gasket?”
Sera reached down to pet the dog while continuing to shoot daggers at Dak. It was understandable for the guy to want to dust off the Ring and warp somewhere for fun. Sera wanted to transport herself back into history somewhere just as badly as Dak. Especially given how things had been going with her parents. But it was risky. And irresponsible. And the fact that Dak would use Riq as a pawn to get her to change her mind . . . that was just wrong.
Riq had sacrificed everything to fix history. He had knowingly uprooted his own family tree for the good of the world and been forced to stay behind in ancient Greece. Treating the Infinity Ring like a toy would be like spitting on his sacrifice.
“Okay, okay,” Dak said, running a hand down his face. “Sorry I brought up Riq. It’s just . . . in two weeks, school starts back up.”
“So?”
Dak cleared his throat. “Sitting in some classroom, surrounded by a bunch of philistines throwing spitballs at one another . . . It doesn’t exactly sound like our ideal learning environment. Not when we could be out there in the field, Sera. Reading about history is great, but we could live it again.”
Sera scoffed. “History almost killed us, if you don’t remember. Now, are we done here?”
“For now.”
“Good,” Sera told him, “because some of us have work to do.”
“Ooh,” he said, holding out his hands and pretending they were shaking. “More tinkering in my parents’ laboratory? I bet it’s something really important.”
Sera was so aggravated now, she wanted to shout again. But she didn’t. That would be playing right into his hands. Instead she slapped her hip for her new best friend to follow her, and they both set off toward the barn.
“And another thing!” Dak called out behind her. “I’d invest in a pack of flea collars if I was you! Because that new mutt of yours is a straight-up pest factory!”
Sera didn’t bother looking back. She and the dog continued inside the barn doors, where she was confronted by her latest scientific failure. It was a petri dish of what was supposed to be tachyon fluid, the most vital ingredient in time travel. When Riq had smashed to pieces the SQ’s Eternity Ring in ancient Greece, Sera had seen the green liquid splatter onto his arms and face. She needed to determine its effects on living cells. But so far all she’d done was create some kind of thick green sl
ime that was totally worthless.
Dak didn’t know just how close he’d come to winning her over. Of course she wanted to check on Riq. She worried about him constantly.
Then she heard Dak calling to her from outside.
“Sera!” he shouted. “You gotta come see this! There’s a pterosaur in the tree above me! I’m not making this up!”
Sera almost burst out laughing.
“Are you listening to this guy, Olive?” she said to the dog. “A pterosaur? Has he officially lost his mind?” She shook her head, trying to imagine how a prehistoric flying reptile played into what was obviously another strategy to get her to dig up the Ring. Dak was getting desperate.
“Sera, hurry! You’re not gonna believe this!”
He’s got that part right, she thought. I’m not going to believe it for a second. “Say hi for me!” she shouted back. Then she took a deep breath and looked at her last empty petri dish. “Am I ever gonna be able to do this?” she said out loud.
She peeked down and found her dog furiously scratching behind her floppy left ear.
3
What’s a Hystorian?
WHEN DAK was about four, he got on a huge dinosaur kick and read every single book about prehistoric life he could get his hands on. It fascinated him to no end that for one hundred thirty-five million years dinosaurs were the dominant terrestrial vertebrates roaming the Earth. What an amazing run, considering humans hadn’t even been around for five million years.
That’s why Dak’s heart was slamming so hard against the inside of his chest now. In the tree above him was a real-life adolescent pterosaur. He was sure of it — even though it was technically impossible. But just look at that long, toothy jaw, he told himself. And that tail. Look at that furry coat — which he knew was made up of hairlike filaments known as pycnofibers. This wasn’t some fake, man-made replica in the Smithsonian. It was the real deal. The pterosaur was young, but Dak could already tell it was going to be huge, which meant it was either a Quetzalcoatlus or Hatzegopteryx.
Dak caught a whiff of something unpleasant. It wasn’t coming from the animal, though. It seemed to be coming from him. He looked down at his new Vans, and his heart sank. With his eyes up on the trees, he’d managed to step right in the mess the pterosaur had left behind. He would have been completely grossed out if it wasn’t for one simple fact: He’d just stepped in dinosaur poop!
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