Jacob Wonderbar and the Interstellar Time Warp

by Nathan Bransford

  Mick and Catalina and Moonman and Stargirl and the king and Praiseworthy and the crazy space monkeys and even the mean spaceship Lucy. He might never have met any of them.

  Could he have passed up his life in space to keep his dad around on Earth? He still thought he might. It had been horrible when his dad left, the worst thing he had ever experienced. He still wanted to have a dad again.

  But now he wasn’t sure what he should do.

  Jacob’s dad cleared his throat. “I haven’t been a good father, Jacob. I hope you know how sorry I am. But I am so, so proud of the young man you’ve become.”

  As mad as he was, Jacob’s chest warmed when he heard his dad say he was proud of him. He was proud of himself too. He turned back to face his dad.

  “I’ve made lots of mistakes,” his dad said. “And I know you’ve had a hard time because of me. But the past makes us who we are.”

  Jacob remembered how Catalina had said he was confident and how Sarah had once said she was impressed with how he had been able to move on after his dad had left. So much of what made up his personality and his strength had come as a result of the pain he had endured. He knew, as hard as it had been to experience at the time, that it had made him a better, stronger person.

  But he still hesitated. The last two years had been so incredibly hard. Confidence and friendships aside, he wasn’t sure it had all been worth it.

  Jacob’s dad said, “I need you to help me stop all this Luger Smythe madness and save the Astral people. If you go back and stop me and you’re not the same kid you are now, I don’t know what could happen. It could mean the end of everything for us. Mick shouldn’t have tried to change the past. This isn’t the way history was supposed to unfold and we need to fix this. Let me have the time machine. I need to do my job.”

  Jacob felt the weight of his decision pressing down on his shoulders. Did he want to stop his dad from leaving and have the childhood he deserved or did he want to be the person he had become? Did he want the friendships he had made or the father he wished for? The childhood he should have had or the Astral people he had grown to love?

  It didn’t seem fair that he had to choose. He wanted both. He wanted his dad and he wanted the Astrals. He wanted his friends and he wanted to be a normal kid.

  But he grasped the time machine tightly and nodded to himself, knowing what he had to do. He was Jacob Wonderbar. He could do anything. He had made it through the hard times and he was strong. He felt hope again.

  It was up to him to save the Astrals.

  “I’m going to set things right,” Jacob said. “But I’m going to do it myself.”

  Dexter tried to ignore the rat in the corner. He had enough problems being locked up in a cell in the Tower of London where he was only fed something the guards called “gruel,” a lumpy, gray, watery concoction that Dexter felt was expressly engineered to be the most unappetizing and unappealing food imaginable, even worse than the congealed space dust on Numonia. He did not need a rather disgusting roommate with a long bald tail. His only consolation was that his cell had an expansive view of the castle courtyard, and Dexter spent most of his time staring out the window at the ravens and . . .

  Dexter shook his head. He must have been hallucinating. He thought he had seen a monkey scamper behind a bush.

  He glanced back over his shoulder. The rat was definitely looking at him.

  “Go away!” he shouted just as he thought he heard a screech in the courtyard.

  Was that . . .

  He looked back out at the courtyard and this time he definitely saw a monkey. It was Rufus, the small chimp Dexter had befriended his last time in space. He was wearing one of the medieval guards’ helmets.

  “Rufus!” Dexter shouted.

  Rufus looked up and spotted Dexter and his eyes widened in recognition. He screeched in happiness.

  But Rufus quickly ran away as a band of guards armed with rapiers came charging after him. He scampered around a corner and out of Dexter’s sight.

  “Leave him alone!” Dexter shouted.

  There was a commotion in the hall outside Dexter’s cell and the rat dove into a hole. Dexter heard shouts and clashes of iron and what sounded like several men being thrown against his door. Finally he heard a key in the lock and the door swung open. Dexter crouched and braced himself, unsure of what he was going to see.

  It was Jacob Wonderbar. He was wearing a helmet and clutched a thin sword. And then Dexter saw Boris, the leader of the space monkeys. He chirped quietly at Dexter, scampered over, and slapped him on the shoulder so hard, Dexter almost fell over.

  “Hi, Boris!” he whispered.

  Jacob ran over and pulled Dexter up. “Are you good?”

  Dexter nodded. “I’m okay. Where is everyone else?”

  “Sarah and Catalina are safe. Some of the monkeys are guarding them. We have to go get Mick,” Jacob said. “You ready?”

  Dexter nodded. He tried to steel his resolve, especially because he knew that venturing outside his cell meant a marked increase in the likelihood he would encounter spears and swords and very mean medieval soldiers.

  They ventured into the hallway, which was littered with unconscious guards who had not gotten the better of their encounter with Boris.

  Jacob jerked his head toward one of them. “Want a sword?” he asked Dexter.

  “Um. No thanks,” Dexter said. He was not confident that he could wield a sword without stabbing himself with it.

  They ran down a stone spiral staircase.

  “I saw my dad,” Jacob said over his shoulder.

  Dexter almost tripped on one of the steps. “Your dad? As in your dad dad?”

  “My dad dad,” Jacob said. “I left him back in time.”

  “Whoa,” Dexter said.

  “I’ll tell you about it . . .”

  Boris screeched when they reached the bottom of the stairwell. Two soldiers with spears were waiting for them.

  “Halt!” they shouted.

  Two enraged space monkeys barreled into them from the side. They clattered to the ground in a heap and Boris bounded on top of them and gnashed his teeth.

  “Good idea getting the space monkeys,” Dexter said.

  Jacob smiled. “They’re the best.”

  They ran across the courtyard toward the gate that entered into the smelly river. Dexter had a feeling they were headed toward Luger Smythe’s lair. And he wasn’t confident they should go charging straight in, no matter how many space monkeys they had at their disposal.

  “Wonderbar . . . Wonderbar . . .” Dexter whispered. “Are you sure this is a good idea?”

  Jacob slowed. One of the ravens squawked at him.

  Dexter had an idea. “Let’s use the time machine,” he said. “Sneak attack.”

  Jacob’s eyes widened and he nodded. “Boris, over here,” he said. Boris ambled over. They grabbed on, and Jacob warped them straight into Luger’s office.

  When Dexter opened his eyes, he saw Luger in the corner, the tip of his rapier pressed directly against Mick Cracken’s throat.

  “Drop everything,” Luger said.

  Dexter looked down. He didn’t have anything to drop. Boris took off his helmet and let it clang to the ground. Jacob still held on tight to the time machine.

  “I said everything,” Luger said, pointing a long finger at Jacob while keeping the sword pressed against Mick. “Or shall we see how much luck this alien truly possesses?”

  “They know about the first Astral space launch,” Mick said, his neck straining against the sword. “He got it out of me.”

  Dexter saw Jacob whisper to the time machine, and the next thing Dexter knew, it was Jacob, not Mick, who was facing Luger’s rapier. Only he was now wearing what looked to be iron around his neck and a large chest plate.

 
; Luger whispered to his time machine, shouted “Warp!” and suddenly Luger had a blaster pointed at Jacob’s face.

  Jacob whispered to his time machine, shouted “Warp!” and Luger’s blaster had been replaced with a banana. Boris gasped, charged at Luger and grabbed the banana. Luger’s time machine clanged to the ground. Boris began eating the banana.

  Mick dove for the time machine, but Luger grabbed it just in time and held it up proudly. Catalina, Sarah, Chloe, and Rufus rushed into the room. Rufus ran over and tackled Dexter, nuzzling his face in his chest.

  “Not now!” Dexter shouted.

  “We’ve got this one!” Sarah yelled. She held up the second time machine.

  But they were still in danger. Luger clutched his time machine. Mick and Jacob circled Luger. A bead of sweat dripped down his pale face.

  “You won’t win,” Luger said, his voice strangely calm. “I have thought of everything.”

  Luger whispered into his time machine, shouted “Warp!” and he was gone.

  “No!” Chloe shouted.

  The children stood gasping in Luger’s study. Jacob threw his armor to the ground in frustration and Mick glared at the ceiling.

  But gradually they all realized they were safe for the moment, and they were finally back together once again. They all rushed together and hugged one another and high-fived. Dexter did not know what he had done to deserve the greatest friends in the universe, people who were braver than him and more confident and, in the case of Sarah Daisy, far smarter than him, but he was just thankful that they were his. He was also immensely grateful he would never again have to eat gruel in his entire life.

  “Where are we going to find Luger Smythe?” Sarah asked. “He still has the time machine.”

  Everyone looked to Jacob. Even Mick.

  “There’s only one place he’d go,” Jacob said. “And I need Mick’s help.”

  When they got their bearings after warping, the kids were standing on a grassy hill on a chilly night looking at a magnificent, ramshackle silver spaceship. A crowd wearing 1940s clothing was buzzing with excitement, and a man with wild white hair and a reedy voice was addressing the crowd.

  Sarah grabbed Jacob’s hand and held it tight. “Is that Albert Einstein?” she whispered.

  He nodded. She shivered a little against the cold night.

  “These are the first Astrals,” Jacob said quietly to Dexter and Chloe. “They’re my ancestors.”

  “Our ancestors,” Catalina said.

  “There!” Dexter whispered. He pointed over at another hill. Jacob thought he saw a pale figure tumble over to the other side in the moonlight. It looked like Luger Smythe.

  Jacob let go of Sarah’s hands and crouched on the ground. He had an idea. He signaled for Mick and Catalina to go to one side of the hill. Dexter and Chloe would go around the other side. And he and Sarah would take the middle. Between the three pairs, they could keep Luger cornered. Hopefully they could sneak up on him before he warped.

  Everyone nodded and they ducked down and ran into the darkness. Jacob heard Father Albert talking about the dark times they were experiencing and the better times ahead. He felt the same rush of hope, knowing that this was a crucial moment in his history, when his dad’s ancestors set out to make a better life for themselves. It was an incredible thing to start a civilization built around the love of life, and he felt proud that he had come from those brave people.

  Jacob and Sarah climbed slowly up the hill where they had seen Luger. When they reached the top, Jacob peeked over. He saw Dexter and Chloe on one side. Mick and Catalina on the other. And in the middle of the hill, staring straight at the spaceship, was Luger Smythe. He didn’t see them coming.

  Jacob charged over the hill and tackled Luger. They tumbled down the side of the hill, over and over, but Jacob didn’t let go, and when they landed with a thud at the bottom, Jacob found himself on top, with his hands locked on Luger’s wrists.

  “I’ve got you,” Jacob said.

  But Luger was smiling, his sharp yellow teeth glinting in the moonlight. “Do you?” he asked. “Or do I have you?”

  Jacob saw the flash before he heard the noise. Suddenly it was daylight and Jacob could see for miles, then he was blown to the side by a powerful shockwave and a tremendous blast. He looked up and saw a massive fireball rising into the sky. The people in the clearing shrieked as the wreckage of the spaceship tumbled to the ground in a massive heap. The pounded metal was twisted and sharp and glowing, and what had once been a beautiful, creaky spaceship was a smoldering mess. Jacob hoped no one had been hurt.

  They had lost. Jacob braced himself to disappear, to be swept into nothingness and wiped from existence. The Astrals had been stopped. The spaceship was blown to bits, the start of the Astral civilization had been prevented, and Jacob’s ancestors would never be born.

  But Jacob stared at his hands. He was still there. He couldn’t make sense of it.

  Luger took advantage of the distraction and upended Jacob. He landed on top of Jacob and pulled a dagger out of his robe and pressed it to Jacob’s throat. Sarah screamed.

  “Non!” Jacob heard someone shout.

  He looked over. It was Napoleon. He held a musket over his head. “Arrière!”

  “Sir, could we have a chat for a moment?” Phil said in a gentle voice as he stepped up to Napoleon. “Let’s talk about your anger. I’m concerned that you are resorting to violence to resolve your inner turmoil.”

  Napoleon shouldered his musket and aimed it at Luger, who scrambled off of Jacob and dashed over a hill. Jacob quickly ducked away as well. He didn’t trust Napoleon’s aim.

  The Astrals had scattered around. Some were braving the flames and trying to save items from the wreckage and others were staring at the smoldering metal, crying. But Jacob saw determination in their crossed arms and firm jaws. He knew they wouldn’t let this setback stop them. They’d build another spaceship, and another after that one if it didn’t work.

  That’s why he was still there, he realized. One setback couldn’t stop the Astrals. They would find a way to space no matter what.

  But they were all still in danger as long as Luger had the time machine.

  Jacob regrouped with Sarah and Mick and they charged after Luger. As they ran over a hill, they saw him standing on a craggy rock, holding his rapier in front of him. He smiled.

  “I would be thrilled to see what would happen if you were to come closer.”

  Suddenly the caveman appeared. “Eedot!” he shouted. He held his club and tapped it on his hands.

  “The path to nonviolence is like water flowing over rocks,” Phil said as he stood beside the children. “It is the—”

  “We know, Phil,” Sarah said.

  Luger stepped off the rock and crept menacingly toward the children. “You may think you have won, as the Astrals haven’t perished. You may believe you can stop me. You cannot. I will do everything within my power to make sure every Astral—”

  Jacob saw a blinding flash of prehistoric green. In a flying leap, Nelly lunged for the key in Luger’s hand, wrested it from his hand, and sped away with it. Nelly suddenly stopped and stared at the children with the key in his mouth. Then he spit it out and ran away.

  Luger started running toward the key, but Napoleon cocked his musket and aimed.

  “Halte!” Napoleon shouted.

  “Oo!” Eedot yelled.

  Luger stopped and turned back to face them. He didn’t dare make a move toward the key. His shoulders slumped and his face was pale.

  Jacob knew they had won.

  “Children . . .” an adult said.

  Jacob looked over. It was Sarah’s parents. They looked shaken, and Jacob knew they had seen everything that had just happened, including the spaceship exploding and Luger threatening them with the sword. J
acob wondered for a second if Sarah’s parents would try to grab the time machine and give it back to Luger if their belief in the Strangers was really that strong.

  Mick made a dash for the time machine and Sarah stepped over to Jacob and put her arm around his shoulder. “You can’t stop me from being Jacob’s friend.”

  “Yeah,” Chloe agreed.

  Sarah’s parents exchanged a glance. “Your mother and I have a lot to think about,” Sarah’s dad said. “We thought Luger wanted to save Earth from Astrals, not . . . wage a war.”

  Everyone stood for a moment in silence before Sarah’s dad stepped over and gave Sarah and Jacob a hug.

  “But we’re just glad you’re safe.

  Jacob set to work in the past.

  He went back to prehistoric times and warped Phil and the caveman to the Astral launch in the 1940s so they would be there to help him defeat Luger. He went back to France with Dexter, who explained to Napoleon the danger they were in, and warped him forward so he’d be there too. He snuck up on Sarah’s parents and warped them so they could see precisely how horrible Luger Smythe really was.

  He warped to the clearing in the forest on May 16, and found himself face-to-face with Nelly, who twitched a little and stared at Jacob with alert curiosity in his lizard eyes. Nelly blinked. Jacob blinked.

  He lunged for Nelly, who tried to bolt away, but somehow Jacob was able to grab hold of one scaly foot. He warped him back to the 1940s too.

  Jacob went back to the morning of May 16 and found Chloe skipping toward school. He stopped her and told her that he was sending her back in time and to tell him that they needed to keep an eye on her. Everything depended on it. She just rolled her eyes and clearly didn’t believe him, but he warped her anyway so she would meet them in the past at the right time and they would bring her along on their adventures.