by Gloria Gage
“Hey, dream-boy, are we doing this or not?” Josh demanded, bringing me back to the present and our immediate problem.
“Sorry! Okay, here we go. Josh and Chris, hold onto me. Amy, move back for now. I’ll press ‘Ctrl 4’ and we’ll find out if we can all three go at the same time. Amy, don’t forget to press ‘Ctrl 5’ so we can talk with you. But by 4:00—no matter what—you press ‘Ctrl 9’ and bring us back. If anything goes wrong, call my dad right away. Here, you keep my cell phone. And if my mom calls, tell her we’re doing fine, you know, make up some reason I can’t talk, and tell her I’ll call her later, okay?”
“Yeah, my mom might call too,” added Chris. “Just tell her we’re having fun, and I’ll call her later, okay?”
“Yes… I will,” Amy said tearfully. “But please—you guys be careful in there!” Chris and Josh held tightly to my arms as I touched the keyboard. There was a blinding flash, and then darkness. We held our breath, and as the light returned gradually, we found ourselves on the sidewalk again of this very strange city street, still holding tightly to each other’s arms.
Josh and Chris stared around in amazement. Enormously tall buildings surrounded us, each in a stunningly brilliant and different color. Those long sleek vehicles were still gliding silently above us, with only a very low hum to indicate traffic. And high above, I now noticed countless smaller flying ships darting in and out between the buildings, beneath the strange shimmer of those twin suns.
“Wow!” Chris said. “It’s amazing, isn’t it? We really are in another galaxy!”
“Yeah, but what now?” Josh asked. “How are we supposed to find Marty—or this Rats gang?”
I tried to think logically in spite of the panic I was feeling. “We’ll start by asking around first. Maybe the gang is known and someone can tell us where they hang out.” There were people walking past, but no one appeared to notice us at all. I tried to stop a woman to ask, but she ignored me, as if she didn’t even see me. Then Chris spotted a large man with a full beard, approaching with a pleasant look on his face.
“Let’s ask him,” she suggested.
“Excuse me, sir. Can you help us? My brother has been kidnapped and we have to find him. Do you know anything about a gang? They may be called the Rats?” I asked.
The man glanced around hurriedly to be sure no one was watching. “You should talk with the Mayor. He can help you!” He turned to hurry away.
“Wait!” I said, “Where can we find this Mayor?”
He pointed to a building down the street. “The green one, just there.”
I looked in the direction he had pointed and saw an iridescent green building no more than a block away. When I turned back, the man was already scurrying away. “Thanks,” I called after him, but he had already rushed around the next corner.
“Okay, guys. I guess we have an appointment with the Mayor!” I told the others.
Chapter Seven
We made our way down the street to the green building. A sign above the entrance said ‘Star Galaxy Hall’. Inside, a pretty lady dressed in a purple one-piece suit waited at a reception desk. “May I help you?” she asked in a kind voice.
“Yes. We’d like to see the Mayor,” I said in my most professional voice.
“Do you have an appointment?”
“Ah…no. But this is sort of an emergency,”
“I see,” she said in a rather doubtful tone. “If you’ll wait just a moment, I’ll see if the Mayor is available.” She typed a few words into what we assumed was a computer built into the desk.
We looked around at the smooth marble walls in shades of light blue, with no furniture other than the reception desk that appeared to be formed of black granite. There were no chairs, or any place to sit, so we remained standing anxiously, as the minutes ticked away toward our deadline.
At last, the receptionist smiled and said, “The Mayor will see you now.” She indicated double doors to her right, and as we walked up to them, they slid silently back into the walls on either side to admit us.
The Mayor was a short, rather round man. As we entered, he came around his desk and greeted us. “Hello, Logan. Welcome to Star Galaxy! I am Mayor Quest.”
“Hello, Mr. Mayor, sir. How did you…how is it you know my name?” I asked.
“Oh, as Mayor I must know everything. And I understand you have an emergency.”
“Why yes, sir,” I answered, unsure what to call him. “We’re trying to find my brother. He was kidnapped, we think by the Rats gang.”
“Oh, my—that is just dreadful! Those wicked RATS have brought such misery to our world. I’m so sorry, Logan.”
“Can you help us find them? Do you know where they might have taken my brother? They’re demanding we bring them some keys, but we don’t know what they’re talking about.”
“Well, dear me, let me see.” His heavy eyebrows moved rapidly up and down as he concentrated on the problem. “I have something here that should be helpful.” He walked over to a bookshelf against the wall and removed a briefcase that he placed on a chair near his desk. As he opened the case, we could see an untidy mess of papers crammed in at all angles. He took a whole stack and handed them to Chris. “Would you mind holding these, Chris, my dear?” He plopped the unruly stack in her arms.
The Mayor rustled through his case, scattering forms and crumpled sheets of paper in all directions, while Josh and I tried to rescue those that threatened to slip away. “Now I know I have it here somewhere,” he muttered. While he searched, tossing papers in every direction, Chris held tightly to her bundle, then noticed a strange reflection in the window behind his desk.
She was amazed by what she saw. There she stood, while we scrambled about picking up papers, all looking quite normal. But Mayor Quest’s reflection looked very different. In the window, he appeared tall and distinguished, with lots of wavy dark hair. Yet, she recognized his face. The kind features were the same, but elongated, and much more handsome than the small, chubby man stooped before her. “How strange,” she whispered.
“Aha! Here it is,” he said at last. He stood up waving a crumpled paper sealed in plastic and folded over several times. It looked as if it might have been run over by a few trucks. “This map will help you,” he said. “But the journey is a very dangerous one, and only one with a true and honest heart will be able to follow the path. It will lead you to your brother, but you must find each of the six keys that will appear on the map in order to accomplish your mission. If you should take the wrong path, or if you fail to find all of the keys, you’ll never reach your goal. Martin’s counting on you, you know. Good luck!” He pressed the map into my hands.
“Thank you, Mr. Mayor,” I said. “But…wait, how did you know our names? Have you seen Marty?”
“Oh dear, no, I haven’t seen him. But there are many of us here who want to help you. Some are too afraid of Gniktar and his evil gang. But you must be very careful not to trust everyone you meet! There are some who would try to stop you. You must especially beware of the ‘Faceless Ones’.”
“The Faceless Ones?” Chris asked. “Who are they?”
The Mayor looked suddenly very serious. “The Rats Gang brought evil into our land. A very small group of our citizens have allowed greed and envy to cloud their judgment. They have become very dangerous. They will try to stop you because they want the keys and the treasure all to themselves.”
“Why do you call them the ‘Faceless Ones’?” Josh asked.
“They can only be identified by their reflections. Because our mirror images show only the truth that is inside us, these few have allowed their souls to become clouded by evil. They look quite normal in person, but in a mirror, their faces have become cloudy and you can see no features at all. That’s why we call them the ‘Faceless Ones’.”
“Then, how can we tell who to trust?” I asked, greatly concerned.
“You’ll know, my friends,” the Mayor assured us. “The keys are the only way to defeat them. They are the
weapons you must use to destroy their evil. Only someone from another galaxy with a pure heart, such as yourself, can read the signs on this map. You’ll be okay if you follow it and trust your heart. And don’t forget—you must find all six of the keys!”
Chris thought of a question, “That tall building, sir, the one with STAR printed at the top? Is that where the Rats are?”
“I’m afraid not. Unfortunately, they claim our entire galaxy as their own. I’m sure you’ll find them—and your brother—in their castle that is beyond the river and past the woods. The map will lead you there, but you must find the keys along the way if you hope to rescue Marty.”
He began to cram all the papers back into his case. Chris handed him the stack she’d been holding, and Josh gathered the last loose sheets still scattered across the floor. The Mayor slammed the case shut with several pages still sticking out around the edges and began to usher us out the door. “Ahem, you’ll have to excuse me now. I have a most important meeting to attend.”
“But, Mr. Mayor, sir,” Josh called. “Wait…”
“You’ll do well, my friends. Just remember… Determination will get you there!”
Chapter Eight
An instant flash blinded us for a second and we found ourselves back on the sidewalk outside the building. I looked at my friends and suddenly felt totally confused and scared. I was overwhelmed, merely thinking of the journey that lay ahead of us. As I stared at their faces, both watching me for guidance, I shook my head and sighed. “How will we ever manage to make our way across this weird, foreign place, and find a bunch of mysterious keys? And then we have to defeat an evil gang—plus some weird enemies, called the Faceless Ones, that we can’t even recognize without a mirror?”
Josh suddenly grinned at me. “We beat the Skyhawks, didn’t we? And they’re the best baseball team in the league! If we can do that, Logan, then we can ace this. No sweat!” He punched my shoulder with his fist, and none too gently either, I might add. But his grin made me feel like maybe we really were up to the task. “Besides, we don’t have much choice but to go for it!”
“Then, let’s do this thing!” I said, with a lot more confidence than I felt. I unfolded the map carefully, while Josh and Chris looked over my shoulder. “Look! There’s a drawing of a key right here. This must be what the Mayor was talking about,” I said, pointing to the small sketch of a key highlighted on the map.
“Let’s hope we find the map less confusing that the people here!” Josh said.
“Look, guys! Remember what the Mayor said?” Chris called out, pointing toward the street sign on the corner just behind them. Printed in large block letters, the sign read, Determination Street.
“And here’s Determination Street on the map, but I can’t tell which way we should go? We can’t tell north from south. And both suns are directly overhead.” I looked around in confusion. “We better check with Amy and see if she can help us. Amy, can you hear us?”
“I read you loud and clear, Logan,” she answered a moment later.
“We’re going to need your help to find these keys. The first one is shown on the map. It looks like it’s inside some kind of museum. It looks like it’s close by, but I can’t tell which direction we need to go from here.”
“I see it,” she answered quickly. “There’s a History Museum about two blocks down. When I move the cursor ahead of you, I can see the street signs and names printed on the buildings. Go to your right, Logan, and the museum is at… Rambling Street and Determination.”
“Thanks, Amy.”
We found the building easily. It was as tall as the others, with all-glass walls, and appeared to cover about half the block. Looking up, each floor looked slightly smaller than the lower one, reminding me of building blocks stacked in layers with ten on bottom, then nine, then eight, and so on. There was no way to tell how many floors reached upward, but they finally ended with a giant pinnacle like a dunce cap perched high at the top. We paused a minute to gaze up at it, just as the rays of the two suns broke through the clouds and reflected off the glass, sparkling like a thousand diamonds and almost blinding us with its brilliance.
“Wow,” Josh said, shaking his head. All three of us blinked our eyes for a moment. Then I led the way up to the front of the museum where automatic doors slid open silently as we approached. We were startled as we stepped inside…into a virtual rainforest. Everything looked and felt like a jungle. There were towering trees reaching up at least three stories high, and a soft mist kissed our faces with moisture. We heard loud birdcalls and jumped as brightly colored wings sailed through the branches above our heads.
We wandered along a dirt path in awe, trying to take it all in. Suddenly, a jaguar stepped out of the bushes in front of us. We froze, and Chris gasped in shock. But the cat simply gazed back at us with a disinterested look and sauntered off into the forest.
“Cool!” Josh said breathlessly.
“Is any of it…real?” Chris asked.
“No, it can’t be,” I assured her.
Josh reached out and touched the leaves on a tree. “It sure seems real,” he added.
A beautiful dark-skinned girl appeared out of nowhere. She wore a brightly colored sarong dress and a necklace of white shells. She looked like an island princess, right down to the flower in her hair. “May I help you?” she offered softly.
“Oh, hello,” I finally managed. “You have a fascinating museum here.”
“Thank you,” she said. “We have many of the ancient cultures represented. Here is a brochure of various civilizations you’re welcome to visit.” She handed the brochure to Chris, along with a small device that looked like a remote control. “You may push the ‘Call’ button at any time, and someone will instantly be available to assist you.”
“Thank you,” Chris murmured, then gasped again as the girl seemed to fade and disappeared right before our eyes.
Chapter Nine
“She’s a hologram!” Josh said in disbelief. “I bet the jaguar was too. This place is amazing!”
“What’s a hologram?” Chris asked.
“You know, like at Disneyland?” Josh explained. “It’s like a three-dimensional video done with a laser or something. But if that’s what these are, they’re amazing. They’re so realistic.”
“You can say that again! I wish we had more time to look around,” I said. “But we have to hurry. We have to get to Marty. Chris, is there an Egyptian level in that brochure?”
“Yes. It’s on Level 3, but where do we find an elevator?” Instantly, the girl was beside us again.
“You’ll find the elevator just beyond the waterfall.” And she disappeared again.
“Is this place something or what?” Chris asked.
“Wonder if I could ask her for a Cherry Coke?” Josh joked.
“C’mon guys,” I urged, as I led the way through the jungle toward the sound of rushing water. We dodged a few low flying parrots, and paused to admire a deer drinking from a pond. Josh was behind us engrossed in watching a monkey as it bounded from limb to limb. When he shouted in alarm, Chris and I turned quickly to see what was wrong. Josh was cowering on the ground struggling with a huge anaconda that had slithered from the jungle to wrap itself around his leg.
“Help! Logan, get it off me!” he yelled.
Not sure exactly what to do, I reached down and grabbed the tail end of the snake and pulled. Chris suddenly remembered the remote in her hand and pushed the ‘Call’ button. The island princess appeared again, and at the same instant, the snake vanished. Since I was pulling as hard as I could on the reptile when it disappeared, I fell over backwards to the ground near Josh. “Ow!” I couldn’t help but groan and rub my hip.
Chris was biting her tongue and trying not to laugh at the sight of her two brave heroes sprawled in a frightened heap.
“I’m sorry,” the princess said. “Sometimes there are small malfunctions.”
“Yeah! Just a small malfunction,” Josh said, brushing himself off and a
djusting his glasses.
“I think we’re okay now… Thanks!” I managed.
She bowed and faded away.
“That reptile had a pretty real grip for a hologram!” Josh insisted. Chris still struggled to muffle her giggles as we walked ahead.
“This place is unbelievable,” I said. “I guess that’s the elevator over there by the waterfall.” I pointed to a round glass-sided cylinder just ahead. A soft voice said, “Please speak your request.” The doors were wide open, so we stepped inside.
Chris said, “Three, please.” And before we could blink, or feel any movement at all, the entire scene before us changed into a busy marketplace in a desert village. A woman was arguing with a merchant in a language we couldn’t understand.
“Second floor, ancient Persia,” the elevator voice announced.
“Third floor,” Chris said again, more firmly this time. An instant later, we were staring at a dining room with a family sitting around the dinner table. There were three children and they were all laughing, as the father appeared to be sharing a funny story.
Seeing the family gathered around the table was somehow startling. I couldn’t help but think of my own family, the four of us at dinner. It wasn’t always as cheerful as this family looked. I remembered last week when Dad was worried as he talked with Mom about money. The hot water heater had to be replaced, and the dentist said I needed braces.
Mom was upset because Marty’s teacher had called to discuss his behavior in class. Sometimes, he’s difficult to handle, like when he has to wait his turn on the computer. He gets easily frustrated and sometimes throws a tantrum. Mrs. Nelson doesn’t like tantrums, so Mom is trying to help Marty find another way to deal with his frustrations. That night I needed help with a report for English. I was supposed to ask my parents some questions about our family history, but I could see it wasn’t a good time to bring that up.
“Fourth floor, planet Earth,” the elevator voice announced calmly.
