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  As they emerged on the other side, Sam was ready. He powered the ship, the lights came on quickly and the controls returned.

  “Shit,” Merks said in a calm voice and steered the ship. They tilted even more to the side, and for a moment Tucker thought they were going to hit the planet or get pulled into its gravity.

  Merks relied on Sam’s help, and while it seemed like they just skimmed by and missed the planet, Tucker was sure they were farther away than it looked.

  “Clear,” Merks said. “That was close.”

  “Let’s you know how good Omni’s pilots had to be,” Sam replied.

  “Unless they didn’t make it,” Merks said. “They weren’t wearing their helmets when they went through, we know that from transmissions. Fourteen seconds without oxygen. What are the odds they woke up in enough time to do what we just did?”

  “It never dawned on me,” Sam said. “I didn’t think it would be this fast. I didn’t think the planet would be right there. It didn’t look it from the probe.”

  “Now we know,” Merks said. “At least everyone coming through after us is informed.” He raised his hands to the control. “Alright everyone, you can take off the suits and do the checks.”

  Tucker kept his mind on Omni-4.

  He hadn’t really thought too much or for too long before that moment about them going through the Androski and what happened when they emerged.

  To Tucker they went right to the planet, all well and fine. Just like they were now.

  He’d lived and breathed all knowledge about that mission. Followed all the fictional episodes that some production company created and aired. Tucker had watched them so many times they actually seemed real to him. It was a scary prospect and he could only imagine the terror the crew of Omni-4 must have felt. Unlike the Robinson Mission they had no idea they would lose power. They went in blind, passed out. Waking up to see that planet.

  Waking up to see just how close, how tight the pull was and how there was very little time to pull out.

  All those years, Tucker believed them to be alive. All those years he waited for the day when he would meet them on the Noah.

  Unfortunately, Tucker was facing the reality here: Omni-4 had crashed into Planet X, and the chance to meet them…would never come.

  ELEVEN

  Three of the crew, Merks, Gonk, and Jenny, hovered behind Sam as he pulled up images of the surface below. They came in fast and all Sam could do was organize them in a grid.

  Jenny asked, “What are we looking at exactly?”

  “Eastern hemisphere,” Sam replied. “That’s what’s below.”

  “They’re so dark,” Jenny said.

  “It’s night.”

  “No kidding.” Jenny lightly backhanded his shoulder.

  “We should be back around to the western hemisphere in about fifteen minutes,” Merks said. “We need to figure out where we are landing.”

  “We need Tuck, he’s about the closest we have to a geologist,” Sam said.

  “I heard my name,” Tucker said upon his entrance into the cabin. “What’s going on?”

  “We’re looking at images coming in from down below,” Sam said. “We hope you know what you’re looking at.”

  “Nope, haven’t a clue.” Tucker paused. “Just kidding, of course I do. Don’t you?”

  “Not really,” Sam replied. “None of us do.”

  “How are things in the back?” Merks asked.

  “Some air sickness, some nerves. Doc is handling things. Man, can you imagine how they’ll be when they find out we’re actually on Earth again.”

  “That kind of shock,” Merks said, “is what we’re trying to avoid. No Statue of Liberty moments for these people. We need to break it to them easy. And we’re looking for a place to land.”

  Jenny spoke up. “If I didn’t know better, I’d swear we went back millions of years.”

  “What makes you know better?” Tucker asked. “Did you see something?”

  “Actually…pull up that image again,” Merks instructed Sam.

  Sam did. “Looks like a community. Village or something. It’s pretty large, I mean, it’s not small.”

  “Can it be that we arrived after the ARC?” Tucker asked. “And that’s one of their communities.”

  “It’s possible,” Sam replied.

  Gonk pointed to the screen and another image. “This here was Russia, no?”

  Tucker just stared at him.

  Sam clarified. “It’s the eastern hemisphere, yes.”

  “Then it is, what they call…” Gonk said. “Pangea?”

  “Huh?” Tucker questioned, then got it. “Oh! No. No no.”

  “What do you mean, no?” Sam asked. “It’s all one big body of land and a few islands big and small.”

  “No, it’s not,” Tucker replied. “Don’t confuse millions of years of evolution with a change in oceans. Not saying it won’t be, but right now it’s not. When the big blue ball started making its way to us, that caused the disasters. Once it settled into orbit, it settled. It made some changes. The oceans are it. Look how nasty the Atlantic is.” Tucker whistled. “Not sure the Sharm could handle that. You have the moon pulling one side of the earth, the big blue ball pulling on the other…high tide is pretty interesting, I bet. All this”—he ran his hand down the edge of an image—“is beach that probably goes away at high tide, at least for a couple hours.”

  Sam laughed. “No way, that’s gotta be a hundred miles.”

  “Probably more. I told you the oceans are a mess,” Tucker stated.

  “I’m sorry,” Sam said. “You’re the big farming guy, but this looks like a lot of the continents came together.”

  Tucker tilted his head. “No. Well…okay, I can see how you can see that. I just wished this computer had one of those photoshop programs where we can pull up an outline of the United States and put it over this.”

  “I can pull up an overlay.” Sam clicked on the keyboard and an outline of the states appeared.

  “Now…just…move…” Tucker reached forward and placed his finger on the screen.”

  “It’s not a touch screen,” Sam said.

  “What?” Tucker laughed. “All this technology and you don’t have a touch screen. Man, is this that 1993 stuff you took from JAXA?”

  “Ha-ha. Where do you want it?”

  “Over…this.” Tucker pointed to the land mass. “Down a little, a little more, to the left, a bit more…Bingo.”

  “Whoa.” Sam sat back.

  “I see it,” Merks said.

  “The oceans really shifted?” Jenny asked.

  “They did. High tide brings some back, not all. For example, I’m guessing this is Jersey. Look how far inland it appears. By looking at this, the tide comes within fifty miles, but a bit north, well, it slams. Got an ocean shelf that is smooth so that tells me it goes under water a lot. On the other side of the country…” Tucker moved his finger. “Southern California is gone, so are parts of Mexico. Florida looks like it’s back. Most interesting is up here. Can you shift to Alaska?” he asked Sam. “Northern Canada?”

  Sam did as requested.

  “Look how green it is,” Tucker said. “Not a frozen tundra anymore, and in case you’re wondering, Alaska didn’t grow. That right there used to be the Bering Strait. Water doesn’t touch that. It’s connected now, and extends far into what we know as Russia. So, look, Gonk.” Tucker tapped him on the shoulder. “You can walk home.”

  “Speaking of home,” Merks said. “We need to land and soon. I don’t want to land too far from that village, but I don’t want to land too close to where these people will get their George Taylor moment.”

  “Ha!” Tucker blurted a laugh. “Look at you, Commander, knowing the name of the Planet of the Apes main character.”

  “Some of us do know that movie,” Merks said. “So here is where the village is. Any suggestions on where we can put this ship down. I want to send teams out. Leave two people behind.”

&nbs
p; Sam asked, “Maybe a team could head toward the village?”

  Merks nodded. “Maybe.”

  Tucker tapped his finger on his lip. “Sam, I hate to be a pest, but can you enlarge the area around the village, please?” He examined it when the area was enlarged for his benefit.

  “Anything?” Merks asked.

  “Yep. Found it. Right here.” Tucker pointed. “That looks like a good area. Far enough inland to be away from the tides. I’m not seeing any fissures from massive quakes, like I saw further north. Yeah, there.”

  Merks turned to Sam. “Plug in those coordinates. Tucker, will you go prepare the civilian cabin for landing.”

  “Absolutely.” He turned and exited the cabin.

  Sam’s hand moved as he punched in numbers.

  “I hope he’s right,” Merks said.

  “I’m sure he is,” Sam replied.

  “Doesn’t matter now, I guess,” Merks said. “We’re locked in. We’re landing.” He looked to the faces of the crew still around him. “Welcome home…again.”

  <><><><>

  Tucker peered up to the sky, shading his eyes, before making a notation on a clipboard. They had been on the ground for about ninety minutes. Following the enthusiasm and fear from the civilians, Merks had instructed them they could disembark but they were not to go far until the teams returned.

  Tucker knew the translation of that. Merks wanted to check out the village, make sure it was safe and then figure out how to get everyone there.

  A safe perimeter was set up around the ship, and orange sticks that looked like the ones Tucker used to put out on the farm marked where they would mow. Only they weren’t just marking sticks, they had beams on them to sound an alarm should any animals or danger cross.

  Gonk set them up with Merks.

  Sam and Jenny were busy helping to get stuff ready for the scouting trips. They unloaded the solar buggies and put the finishing touches on them, while Tucker did his own thing.

  He was excited to get out there. He knew what he saw on the image, or what he thought he saw, and it was a good destination to search out.

  It would give him a glimpse into the final happenings on Earth, at least a little, and judging by the structural remains he saw on the scan, it wasn’t hit too badly. Tucker was curious as to why that was.

  Commander Merks and Pusk would be the ones to venture to the village. If it were a viable place to go and, of course, if they were invited to join the village, they would start moving the civilians. Tucker was still on the fence about joining an already established community, even temporarily. The reason for the relocation of the four rich families from an earth in danger was to colonize. To start anew and live.

  Sure it would be simple to just toss them into an established community, but something inside of Tucker longed to branch out. Not toss all the eggs—or people—into one basket.

  He and Sam planned a slightly longer journey with that in mind. Not only to see the ruins of the city but take a few days to see what was around. What was viable. Where they could start their own community near the village.

  After looking at the sky one more time, he tucked his clipboard under his arm and fixed his watch.

  “Really?” Merks walked up behind him. “You adjusted the time.”

  “Yes, sir, I did. Unless the sun changed I am gonna guess it’s about ten fifteen in the morning.”

  “Good to know.”

  “Did you see how pretty the big blue is in the sky? It’s like when you used to see the moon during the day.”

  “Looks pretty incredible, like we are on some other planet.”

  “Anyone making any guesses?” Tucker asked. “I mean, after seeing the movie that had to cross their minds.”

  “You know more than me, I saw you talking to them.”

  “That’s because I needed to know if anyone had some know-how. We’re leaving Gonk and he’s not very trained.”

  “In?”

  “Well, knowing the volatile history of this planet. I set up a seismograph and a barometer to monitor activity. We need someone to watch to see if we are getting increases or changes quickly coming in the weather.”

  Merks nodded, impressed. “Very good thinking. Did you find anyone?”

  “As a matter of fact, surprisingly one of the families has a daughter that wanted to be a weather girl,” Tucker said. “I know what you’re thinking, ‘oh boy, a weather girl, probably flighty and did it for the fame.’”

  “Actually, that wasn’t what I was thinking.”

  “Oh, okay,” Tucker said. “Maybe it was just me. But they actually have to learn the stuff. Had to give her some quick tips on the seismic activity but she seems pretty quick and smart. I gave her a tablet; she’ll watch the readings and let Gonk know if there’s a problem.”

  “Do you think maybe I should stay behind in case I should move the ship?” Merks asked. “What are your readings now?”

  “Good. I mean. I think we’re fine. I really do,” Tucker said. “Should take you a couple hours to get to the village. Jenny can handle any problems you two encounter on the road. Sam’s GPS system should lead you there with minimal problems. I think the only worry you should have is problems with the natives.”

  “True.

  “Maybe bring a gift,” Tucker suggested. “They’ve probably been there a while. We don’t even know if they’re part of the ARC.”

  “They could be descendants of survivors. Let me think on the gift. And, Tucker, it’s good to have you on the team.”

  “Well, that’s nice of you to say now that we’re here.” Tucker smiled. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.” He looked over his shoulder. “I see Sam is ready. I wanna give this clipboard to Matty,” he said. “I want her to chart her readings.”

  “Sounds good.” He extended his hand. “Good luck, and though we don’t know if it’s possible, make sure you at least try to stay in contact.”

  “Will do.” Tucker shook his hand and, with that clipboard, sought out Matty to discuss readings one more time.

  Tucker was excited to get going. He wanted to see what was out there. They may have known where they were, but the ‘when’ was still up in the air. Tucker knew, just by the ruins that remained, they were nowhere near as far in the future as the landscape suggested.

  Hopefully with the exploration they’d get a good idea of how far into the future they’d jumped.

  TWELVE

  A strange, steady breeze made controlling the buggy difficult at times. It was odd to Merks, relying on a GPS that didn’t mention roads. Only an electronic sounding voice stating commands like ‘stay left’ and ‘in one hundred feet clearing moves to the right.’

  It was a good thing the system had imaging, which Pusk watched as Merks drove.

  At least six times they had to stop on the fifty-three-mile journey to look for themselves because it looked like they were driving right into a wall.

  “They travel outside their village,” Pusk said. “Carriages, horses…they’ve been this way.”

  “There are clearings.”

  She nodded. “Which leaves me to wonder if they are the only village, or if there are others.”

  “We didn’t spot any.”

  “Doesn’t mean that they aren’t there,” she said. “Stop.”

  “Why?” Merks asked as he brought the buggy to a halt. “Are we there?”

  “Not quite. Almost. But we can’t go any further,” she said. “There’s a wall.”

  “I don’t see it. Just trees.”

  “Another fifty feet it will come into view.”

  “Does the system say it’s a wall?”

  Pusk held up the small tablet. The images weren’t satellite images. They were real-time diagrams collected by the scanner on the buggy. Blue background with light blue 3D style line drawings.

  Merks continued driving, this time slower. The GPS didn’t call out any commands, there really wasn’t anywhere to go. It looked like a forest before them.

  He
pulled over then took a minute to disconnect the starter for safe keeping. He grabbed a backpack, Pusk grabbed hers, and they headed to the woods.

  “The wall is right ahead. I don’t know how we’re missing it,” she said. “Scan says it’s twenty feet high.”

  “The trees are thick. Are we headed in the right direction at least?”

  “We are. The village is a half-mile from where we are. Not far from the wall.”

  “If they built a twenty-foot wall, makes me wonder what they’re trying to keep out.”

  A snap of a twig drew Merks’s attention, and he extended his arm, stopping Pusk. “Did you hear that?” he asked.

  “I didn’t. Maybe it’s an animal.”

  Another snaping sound and within seconds, the crunch of footsteps carried their way.

  Before they could react or even comprehend what was happening, four men appeared before them. One carried a rifle, the other three bows and arrows.

  “Stop right there,” the man with the rifle said. He was a younger man, early twenties.

  Merk raised his hands. “We mean no harm.”

  “I know that,” he said.

  One of the men called out, “Is that more of them, Pyle?”

  “Looks that way,” Pyle replied. “Just not sure which ones.” He lowered the rifle. “You can put down your hands. I see the uniform. Though I’m not familiar with IRM.” Pyle referenced the patch on Merks’s jumpsuit uniform. “Merks? Does it say?”

  “Merks is my last name. Commander Robert Merks,” he answered. “IRM stands for International Robinson Mission.”

  “Not familiar with that either, maybe our leader is. This way.” Pyle signaled his men to go forward while he stayed close to Merks and Pusk, leading them through the woods.

  It wasn’t long before they reached the wall that Pusk had mentioned. It was constructed out of trees, and when Merks saw it he looked up. “This is taller than twenty feet.”

  “Makes you think of King Kong,” she replied in a whisper.

  “I didn’t want to be the one to say it.”

  Pyle whistled loud and short, and a portion of the wall slid open like a gate.