“Well, kiddo,” her father said, smiling sadly, “sometimes he’s the only one who’s hungry.”
NIGHT HAD fallen and it was finally quiet in the Newton household. Usually Casey would have relished being able to hear herself think, but after the day’s events, she didn’t want to hear anything her mind had to say. All she wanted was to fix things. And to do that, she needed to get her hands on that pin—which, inconveniently, was somewhere in her parents’ bedroom.
Careful not to wake Nate, she quietly opened her bedroom door and tiptoed down the hall. She could hear her father’s soft snore and the occasional rustle of a sheet as one of her parents turned inside their room. Taking a deep breath, she peered through the open door. Both her parents were fast asleep.
Good, Casey thought. Now for the tough part. Ever so slowly, she crept to her father’s nightstand and checked the top of it. Nothing. Frowning with concentration, she pulled out the nightstand drawer and blindly put her hand inside, rummaging around.
Whoosh!
Suddenly, the darkness of her parents’ bedroom gave way to a brilliant brightness. The smell of wheat filled Casey’s nose and she smiled. She was back!
She stood up and her eyes grew wide. In front of her was the huge city she had seen earlier. But now it was even closer, so she could make out more details. And what she noticed instantly was that this city was like nothing she had ever seen before.
Huge strangely shaped skyscrapers rose into the sky, their height seeming to defy gravity. Casey’s jaw dropped as she saw an odd bullet-shaped train rush past the outer buildings on a track that seemed to be floating in midair.
Where am I? Casey thought as she stared at the city, which looked like something out of a sci-fi film. Why do I keep seeing this city? What is happening to me? As more questions zoomed in her head like the odd bullet train, Casey started walking forward, eager to get closer. Her footsteps got faster and faster until—
Smack!
She slammed into something solid. As Casey staggered back, her hand hit something else that felt an awful lot like a nightstand. Turning, she saw nothing but wheat. Slowly she put out her hand again. And once again, she seemed to be touching something solid. It was a wall of some sort. That was when she realized she was still in her parents’ house. What she was looking at had to be some kind of amazing, super-high-tech hologram of some sort. How else could it seem so real?
Distracted by the city in front of her, Casey took a moment to notice there was something at the periphery of her vision. It looked like a power bar on a computer or a cell phone. When she turned her head, the bar stayed just at the edge of her vision. Who knew when the power would run out?
She began to move along the wall quickly, hoping to get to the city. Suddenly, the invisible wall disappeared. With a cry, Casey fell and the pin dropped from her hand, revealing that back in the “real” world, she was tumbling down the stairs!
With a thud, Casey landed at the bottom of the stairs. Wincing in pain, she held her breath as upstairs she heard her father getting out of bed to see what was going on. Luckily, her uncle had fallen asleep watching TV and her father wrongly assumed that was the noise. He yelled for her uncle to turn it down and then went back to bed.
Downstairs, Casey let out her breath. That had been too close for comfort. Clearly, using the pin inside the house was too big a risk. Scanning the floor, her eyes landed on the pin, and she smiled. She would just have to go find somewhere a little more isolated.
It didn’t take long for Casey to sneak out of her house, hop on her bike, and make her way toward an abandoned field. After making sure that no one was watching, Casey slipped the pin out of her pocket and closed her fingers around it.
Instantly she was back in the futuristic world—only this time, she was in the heart of the city. With awe she watched a pair of teenagers zoom by on jetpacks. Nearby, several more jetpacks were hooked up to what looked like a bike rack. Curiosity rushing through her, Casey began to move toward the rack. In the corner of her eye, the power bar went from green to yellow.
Walking faster, she almost ran into a handsome man in a slick business suit. But he didn’t seem to notice her. Instead, he was focused on the small hologram of a woman hovering above a band on his wrist. It was some kind of phone, Casey realized as he hung up. The man then released one of the jetpacks from the rack and strapped it on. Just before he zipped off into the sky, he turned and winked—at Casey!
How can he see me? she thought, glancing around to make sure she hadn’t imagined it. But no one was there. He had definitely winked at her. What was going on? If it was a hologram, it wouldn’t be interactive, would it?
There was a low hum and the ground beneath her feet began to rumble ever so slightly. Following the hum, she weaved in and out of people, no one paying attention to her. But Casey was paying attention to everything. Buildings towered over her, and structures that looked like something out of a Dali painting rose into the sky. And in the middle of it all was the cause of the rumbling hum.
A huge rocket ship hovered in the air, slowly descending to the ground. It was landing the same way a space shuttle would be launched—vertically. As it disappeared from view, goose bumps rose on Casey’s arm, and her heart nearly pounded out of her chest. That ship represented everything she had ever dreamed of—and more.
Without thinking, Casey broke into a run, trying to make her way to where she estimated the rocket ship had landed. She didn’t bother trying to hide her excitement—or herself—as she made her way deeper into the city. A moment later, she found herself inside a huge building. A massive atrium dominated the space, and everywhere she turned, there were scientists rushing about or conducting experiments. She could make out a team of scientists on one level wearing wet suits as they formed a miniature storm cloud that hovered in the middle of the room. Without knowing it, she had stumbled into what was known as the Hall of Imagination.
Focused on the visual, Casey was startled when a loud voice boomed through the hall. “The MAGrail will be arriving in one minute,” the voice announced. “Bridgeway Plaza and SpacePort…”
SpacePort? Casey thought. That sounded like something she needed to see. Following a crowd that was all hustling in the same direction, she soon found herself standing in what had to be the MAGrail station. It looked like a train station minus the tracks. Instead, two massive magnetized rings floated opposite each other. When a long bullet-shaped train-like vehicle pulled in between them, the rings allowed it to hover in the air.
The doors opened quietly and Casey could see the passengers inside. Some chatted together, while others looked down at holograms on their wrists. Another announcement informed passengers they were about to depart. In the corner of her vision, the power bar dropped further into yellow. Not wanting to miss this train and possibly never get to catch another, Casey walked on. A moment later the doors of the monorail closed with a hush.
“Northbound Line now departing,” the voice announced. “Next stop: Bridgeway Plaza.”
As the train zipped out of the station, the floor beneath Casey’s feet faded and became translucent. She could see the entire city rushing past beneath her! It was by far the coolest thing she had ever witnessed.
They stopped first at Bridgeway Plaza. From what Casey could tell, it was like an airport—on steroids. Instead of regular doors that would lead to a plane, huge gates hovered every twenty feet or so along the impressive terminal. As she watched, people went in and out through what looked like hazy glass, disappearing to a destination or arriving. And they were not heading to destinations close by. She heard the announcer mention Australia and Sweden before the doors closed again with a hush, the MAGrail hummed on, and Bridgeway Plaza disappeared behind them.
Casey’s pulse increased as the monorail entered a tunnel. Expecting the darkness of a tunnel back home, she was surprised to find that this particular tunnel was filled with what could only be described as a light show. Bright lights flashed and pulsed on the other
side of the glass, changing the interior of the monorail various shades of neon. Unlike Casey, the other passengers seemed used to this and continued going about their business.
Turning away from the windows, Casey noticed a young woman wearing a flight suit. Like everything in that place, it looked somewhat like something from back home, but different: modified and more modern. The suit wasn’t the bulky type that NASA’s astronauts wore on their space missions. This one was form-fitting and actually flattering. Casey felt a wave of jealousy. What she wouldn’t give to be in that girl’s boots. She smiled as she heard the girl promise her parents she would “transmit” every day, even when she was “out of range.” Casey’s smile turned to an astonished expression when she heard the girl add, “It’s not a big deal. We’re only going twenty light-years out.”
Twenty light-years? Had Casey really heard that? NASA had never sent anyone close to twenty light-years out.
Just then, the monorail shot out of the tunnel, the announcer called out their destination—the SpacePort—and Casey’s eyes widened.
Because there, in front of her, just feet away, was her biggest dream come to vivid life. Dozens of spectacular spaceships in a variety of sizes and colors were docked alongside platforms that floated high above the activity below. Stepping out of the monorail, Casey moved in a haze, her brain trying to wrap itself around everything she was seeing. She saw the rocket from earlier on her right. Men and women in matching uniforms were stepping off, carrying cages full of various specimens—some animal, some vegetable, some mineral. None Casey had ever seen before.
Still walking forward, not sure where she was going but not caring, Casey saw spaceship after spaceship, all active, all amazing. That was what NASA was supposed to have been. That was the future President Kennedy had envisioned years earlier when he had started the space program. That, Casey realized with a surge of sadness, was everything NASA would never be.
Caught up in her thoughts and the sights around her, Casey almost didn’t notice that the young woman from the monorail was walking beside her. The girl came to a sudden stop. Behind her, the coolest-shaped ship Casey had seen yet was mounted on what looked like a track for a roller coaster. The track went up and banked to the left before going down and ending in a ramp that shot straight up, the tip of the track pointing to what was clearly the ship’s destination—the stars beyond.
Longing filled Casey as she watched a group of kids, all around her age, begin to board. God, she thought, I would give anything to go with them.
At that precise moment, the girl from the monorail turned and smiled at Casey. “We saved a seat just for you,” she said warmly, as if she had heard Casey’s thoughts.
Casey blinked. She pointed to herself to be sure, and the girl nodded. Is this really happening? Casey asked herself. Yes! Yes, it is. So stop wasting time and get your butt on that ship before it is too late!
But it was too late.
When Casey tried to walk forward, her feet wouldn’t move. It was like she was stuck in place. It almost felt like someone was pulling on the bottoms of her pants, stopping her in her tracks. And then, out of the corner of her eye, she saw the power bar. It was now very red and blinking frantically. She was almost completely out of power.
“No!” Casey cried. “Wait…no! Please.”
Her words went unheard. The spaceship became blurry and then disappeared altogether. A moment later Casey found herself standing in the middle of a field, the stars above her twinkling mockingly. She was home. And the pin in her hand was dead. Casey let out a deep, sad sigh. Seeing the possibility of her dreams had been the greatest tease ever. She was going to need to figure out a way to get back—soon.
CASEY NEWTON knew that without another pin, there was no way she was getting back to that amazing place. She also knew that without another pin, she would never be able to prove she wasn’t crazy. So Casey Newton knew she needed to get her hands on another pin.
Luckily, while her world may not have had amazing spaceships, it did have a pretty fast Internet. And, Casey reasoned, if you ever needed to find something that was rather, well, out of this world, the Internet would be the place to start.
It turned out she was right.
With her brother’s help, a quick search for “vintage pins” brought them to the home screen of a store in Houston, Texas, called Blast from the Past. The site was old and dated-looking, but Casey didn’t care. It said the store was looking for her pin. A banner at the top read EXPERTS AND PURVEYORS OF THE MOST EXTENSIVE SELECTION OF SPACE-AGE COLLECTABLES IN THE WORLD . She pulled out a piece of paper and began to write down the address.
Nate watched his older sister curiously. “Are you going to Houston?” he asked when she finished writing.
Leaning down, Casey looked her brother straight in the eye. She nodded. “You are going to tell Mom and Dad that you woke up and saw me leaving,” she said softly. “You don’t know where to, but I told you I was fine and I’d call tomorrow. Can you do that? Please?”
It had been a long time since Nate had seen enthusiasm in his sister’s eyes. She had been so defeated lately. And while he would never admit it, he loved Casey more than anything. He just wanted her to be happy. So he nodded. “But only if you tell me what’s going on.”
Casey hesitated. She honestly didn’t know what was going on. “I think I saw the future,” she finally said.
“Was it cool?” Nate asked, instantly believing her, even though it sounded crazier out loud than in Casey’s head.
“It was awesome,” she answered. The next time she went, she was going to bring Nate with her. And her father and mother.
But right then, she needed to get going. Houston wasn’t close and she didn’t want to waste one more second away from the world she knew held her future.
The next morning, as Casey sat on a bus, making her way across state lines, Athena stood on Casey’s front porch, ringing her doorbell, a box of cookies in her hand. Nate opened the door.
“Hello,” she said, smiling sweetly. “Is Casey Newton home?”
Nate shook his head. “Uh, no. She’s out.”
“That’s too bad,” Athena said, trying not to sound frustrated. She really, really needed to see Casey. Holding up the box, she added, “She ordered some cookies and I’m delivering them.”
Nate cocked his head. “You’re a Girl Scout?” he asked, looking at her clothes. “Why aren’t you wearing a uniform?”
“It’s at the cleaners,” she replied quickly.
“Those are Oreos,” Nate pointed out.
Finally, the smile on Athena’s face faltered and frustration flashed in her eyes. “Could you please just tell me when Casey will be back?” When he told her Casey had gone camping with her friends and wouldn’t be back for a few days, Athena sighed. “No, Nathan, that’s not true.” When Nate opened his mouth to protest, Athena raised a finger. “Don’t ask me how I know your name. I know it the same way that I know you are lying to me.”
Nate gulped. How did the girl know those things? And then he had a thought. “Are you”—his voice dropped to a whisper—“from the future?”
There was a pause as Athena processed Nate’s words. Clearly, Casey had shared something with her younger brother—which was not good. “Because she has taken matters into her own hands,” Athena said, concern lacing her voice, “your sister is, quite likely, in serious danger.”
“Danger?” Nate repeated.
Athena nodded. “Yes, danger. Now, where is she?”
At that moment, unaware of any impending danger or of a little girl looking for her, Casey was staring up at a giant rocket. Unlike the ones she had seen in the other place, that rocket was plastic and far from spectacular. It sat on the roof of a small building, advertising the store below in big letters that read BLAST FROM THE PAST. Casey had finally made it to Houston.
Casey opened the door and stepped inside. Every nook and cranny of the store was filled with sci-fi memorabilia. There was everything from campy
posters to classic NASA paraphernalia. If she had had the time to geek out over it all, Casey could have spent hours exploring.
“Sale this week!” a voice called out, causing Casey to jump. “Seventy percent off!”
Casey saw a woman standing behind a counter. She was wearing baggy, bright clothes and her thick, wavy hair was pulled back into messy buns. Big, chunky homemade jewelry adorned her neck and wrists, and she wore a long flowing skirt. Looking at her, Casey stifled a laugh. The woman was clearly embracing the theme of the past. She would have fit right in at Woodstock!
Casey quickly composed herself and approached the counter. “I’m not here to buy anything,” she said. “I was hoping you could tell me about this.” Casey gently placed the pin on the counter.
The woman looked down at the pin. Then she did a double take. Her expression, which had been up until that moment rather blank, suddenly grew serious. Then she screamed out, “Hugo!”
Behind her, an odd-looking door in the wall began to slide open. There was a grumble from behind it and then an arm appeared, pushing it the rest of the way.
“Thank you for the help, Ursula,” the man, whom Casey assumed was Hugo, said insincerely. Like his female counterpart, Hugo looked as though he had stepped straight out of the sixties. His long dark hair was dreaded and he wore a psychedelic vest over a bright red shirt. Turning his attention to Casey, he plastered on a smile, clearly ready to play salesman. “Pardon my wife. I’m Hugo Gernsback. How may I help you?”
“She has a pin,” Ursula hissed before Casey could answer.
Hugo looked down at the pin on the counter and blinked. Then he blinked again. “Where did you get it?” he finally asked, reaching toward the pin. But before he could touch it, Casey put a protective hand over it.
She wasn’t stupid. The pin would stay in her possession until she got answers. “What can you tell me about it?” she asked.
Hugo pulled back his hand and frowned. “I can’t tell you anything until you tell me who gave it to you,” he said unhelpfully.
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