Thomas Quantum in the Multiverse

By David Arthur Wisner

Synopsis for Thomas Quantum in the Multiverse
By David Arthur Wisner
Thomas Fairchild, a clever sixteen-year-old has just been through the worst month of his life. As an only child he lost his father in an accident. Bullied at school, he runs to visit the only person left on earth who really cares for him, his grandfather. His grandfather gives him a bewildering birthday gift that has come from Thomas’s father. The gift is a watch with a note attached. The note is a call for help from his father who is imprisoned in the capital city of a place called Ilarnia 4. Thomas is stunned and confused. He is shown a machine that can transport a person into the heart of an atom, where there exists another universe. His grandfather calls it one of the levels of the multiverse, a universe of universes. Suddenly his grandfather is seized by a heart attack. At the hospital the doctor indicates that his grandfather has died.
Desperate to escape greedy relatives, Thomas loses runs back to his grandfather’s house and to the machine. The settings are still blinking on the display. With nothing left to loose Thomas pushes the button. Immediately he is transported deep inside a mountain. A tunnel leads him into a room where slaves are working to extract crystals from the mountain. Thomas is captured and put in with slaves that are trying to lead a rebellion against their oppressors. Here Thomas meets three people: Didu, a forceful young man a little older than Thomas who is a leader in the rebellion, Mattie, his amusing younger sister, and Asfalia, an intriguing girl about Thomas’s age. Didu and Mattie’s father is also a prisoner in the capital city. Thomas is able to escape during a riot. He follows a stream which will eventually join the Great River and lead south to the capital. Once there he will seek to free his father.
Swept away by a flash flood, hunted by deadly creatures, and carried off by a flying reptile, this is just the beginning of his journey to save his father. Finding the Great River, he also finds a group of prisoners from the mines. This group includes the three he met in the mountain. Thomas is able to free the three slaves and lead them to the river where together they slip away on a small river boat. A fifth member befriends their group, a strange, ferocious-looking lion-dog. On the river Didu and Thomas make a startling realization —they are both seeking to save the same person, their father, Charles Fairchild! Confused and enraged, Thomas wonders why he was never told of this other family, but at the same time begins a relationship with a brother and sister he never had on earth.
The four of them and their new “dog” continue on an adventure which spans a continent. This journey takes them on a life and death struggle as they encounter challenges along the way. They also meet several different races: the stone builders of the desert, the underground Tyroonians of the mountains, and the winged Tilithians of the jungle, each secretly preparing to confront the oppressive Kakia and Ferugians. The races need Charles Fairchild to help unite them all. At one point the group is given a guide, Ouan Destar, who turns out to be a traitor. His plan to get Thomas’s watch is thwarted by a mysterious man, Cedrance Millowman. He now leads them on the last leg of their journey into the city.
This group incites the Ferugians and Kakians against each other and then move into the city. Toulong, a slave of the city, helps unite the other slaves. With a signal the armies attack. The attack catches the distracted oppressors off guard and the city quickly falls. Charles is reunited with his family and explains to Thomas his life on two worlds. With Destar having escaped into the multiverse Thomas must go back to earth. Full of heartbreak, he leaves his new friends and family and goes home. He returns to the hospital to mourn and is shocked to find his grandfather still alive and having made a deal with the relatives to b

• Language: English
• Publisher: David Arthur Wisner
• Release date: Jul 19, 2016
• ISBN: 9781370680511

David Arthur Wisner

David Wisner has been a teacher in public schools for over 20 years. He loves to hike, paint, bike, take photos, watch the stars, read great books, and travel this great world that God has given us. He loves to create, either with wood, paint, metal, mind or words. Thomas Quantum in the Multiverse is his first book with book number 2 on the way. Check out the first two chapters of Thomas Quantum - Guardian at the end of his first book.

Book preview

Alone

Golden flames simmered on the hearth of the large stone fireplace. Shadows shuffled back and forth across the dusty bookshelves that lined the walls of the darkened room. Mounted birds and stiff little furry animals stood frozen in the nooks and crannies unblinking in the shifting light. Everything was silent except for the occasional crackle of sparks, the tick of the old chime clock sitting on the credenza and the labored breathing of a boy slumped down in a soft old chair facing the fire. A dance of light showed there was twenty minutes left of this horrible day.

The orange glow of the flames pulsed unevenly on the boy. His sandy hair was matted, his lightly freckled face stained, and his teeth still clenched. His chest heaved deeply and he was drenched in sweat.

Thomas Fairchild’s gray eyes glared deeply into the flames. A wave of nausea washed over him as the events of the day whirled through his mind, causing his stomach to tighten. From morning to night it had been a disaster, except for one holy hour when he had been with his grandfather.

He could still see his grandfather’s wide contagious smile. Wrinkles had appeared across his rosy cheeks and into the corners of his twinkling eyes. His grandfather’s eyes always sparkled when he talked to Thomas, in spite of being confined to a wheelchair. He talked to Thomas like he had a secret tucked away, teasingly holding onto it until the perfect moment. This time, however, the smile of delight melted into a grimace of pain.

Thomas’s body constricted into a scream that lashed through the night. The cry echoed its way across the hard wooden floors, down the large staircase, and got lost in the lower rooms of grandpa’s house. Hours earlier they had both been sitting in this study together. As the scream faded his grandpa’s silky voice still hung in the air.

Thomas, the universe is an incredible place. You are a special person and there is nothing that can stop you from doing what you are meant to do.

What had his grandfather meant? Thomas certainly didn’t feel very special at the moment. He felt exactly the opposite. Nothing made sense. He felt lost and desperately alone.

Thomas, this is your day, his grandfather had gone on, if you could wish for anything, what would it be?

He didn’t even have to think about it, I wish that dad was back.

Thomas’s dad had been in a deadly crash just about a month earlier. It had been a rude awakening on an April Fool’s morning. The picture had been in the newspaper, a blackened car that was all twisted up and smoldering. There had been a little blurb with a picture and all, Local man killed in fiery crash. but not much said about his dad, either there or in the short obituary. He was a man that had just faded from history. His funeral had been short. His mom hadn’t attended. His grandfather had taken him to the gravesite on that cool spring morning. His dad and mom had separated a year before and somehow Thomas had ended up with his mom. She hadn’t understood his dad and her love had long ago changed to bitterness. Now she directed that bitterness at Thomas and Grandpa.

At the cemetery Grandpa had said, Thomas, don’t believe everything you hear about your dad. There is more to him then anyone here might know. That’s all he had said at the time and Thomas hadn’t pursued it. He had hoped to talk more about it tonight…., with Grandpa. When Thomas asked him, his grandfather just glanced at him with that slight teasing smile and said, Perhaps, then pulled out a couple of packages.

Grandfather’s gifts to Thomas for his 16th birthday were curious. There was the peculiar package. Thomas had slowly taken it and with great curiosity turned it over in his hands. His grandpa always gave him interesting gifts, not typical ones at all. The package felt solid and heavy. Thomas knocked on it, shook it slowly from side to side and looked sideways at his grandfather. What is it?

You’re never going to find out like that, take the wrapper off, open it up.

Thomas liked surprises, at least the good ones, so he always prolonged the experience. Slowly he started undoing the tape.

Come on, hurry up boy. His grandfather had said, I’ll be dead before you get that thing open. Thomas had looked up and smiled then ripped the paper off. As the paper parted, it revealed a box, a solid hardwood box. There were symbols and hieroglyphic sort of writing along the sides. Now, Thomas really did slow down. He turned it around and around looking at the symbols and also trying to figure out how to open the box. It appeared to have no latch or hinge or any way to get into it.

Ok, Grandpa, I give. How do you open it?

Grandpa smiled as he reached over and turned the box around, slid Thomas’s hand along the right side until he came to a spot by the symbol of an hourglass. He took Thomas’s thumb and pressed it on the spot. Thomas felt a click and the lid of the box began to open slowly gradually revealing a bronze wristwatch mounted in the center. As the cover floated open the face of the watch came to life sending sparkles of light around the dark interior of the box. The display showed several different letters including the time in large numbers in the middle.

I’ve never seen a watch like this before. Where did you get it from?

It came from…., well, we’ll get to that later. Let’s just say it’s something your father wanted you to have.

My father? Thomas said as he almost dropped the box. How could my father…

Now, take it out, put it on, see how it fits, Grandpa quickly interrupted.

Thomas unwrapped the watch from its pedestal. The band was a leathery substance but it had no buckle, just two straps that hung down. Thomas shoved up his sleeve and placed the watch on his left wrist to see how it would look. Immediately the straps wound around his wrist. They tightened and loosened until the watch fit perfectly. There was a tingling sensation on his wrist. Thomas’s eyes grew wide and bright. He looked up at his grandpa with his mouth open and gave a one sided smile.

How… , he began to say and then stopped.

What kind of watch is this? What do all these numbers and letters mean? What are these buttons for?

Whoa, slow down there son, grandpa said with a smile. We’ll get to some of the details, later. Just remember, some things are not as they seem.

With that grandpa handed Thomas the next package. It was actually two packages wrapped separately but bound together. Thomas could tell what these were by feeling the sides.

All right, are these the instruction manuals for this watch? Thomas grinned.

Not quite, his grandpa said, but you’re pretty close.

Thomas undid the string and lay one package down on the reading table. He opened the paper of the other and saw it was an old book, the kind with a dusty brown cover. On the front there was a large triangle with two setting suns and three crescent moons embossed on it in gold paint. Thomas ran his finger along the smooth gold triangle. Then he leafed through the brittle pages of the book where there were again strange symbols that Thomas had no idea what they meant. Thomas shut the book and gave his grandpa a quizzical look. He picked up the other book and took the wrapping off. It looked almost like a duplicate of the first but with a newer binding. It had the same triangle with the double setting suns and the triple crescent moons, but as he opened this book and turned to the first page the writing was familiar, or at least readable.

Before Thomas could continue Grandpa handed Thomas the last package. This package contained a brown leather backpack. Inside the backpack Thomas found an emergency kit, some packages of energy bars, a water bottle and a pocketknife. He had looked at grandpa, puzzled. These gifts are great, but I’m really confused. You’ve got to tell me more.

Ok, Grandpa had said, I think it’s time to go to the lab. Get your things together and let’s go.

Thomas had a thousand questions tumbling around in his mind but thought that once they got to the lab these would be answered. He slid the two books into the backpack, slung it over his shoulder and followed his grandpa down the hallway. Grandpa proceeded to tell him unbelievable stories about a machine and about other worlds. He said there were quantum levels of space, crazy things. Thomas had thought grandpa was just making up stories until he went into the lab and saw the special room where a large bronze chamber ominously sat. Then grandpa said some things about Thomas’s father too, stories that his father might still be alive, but in trouble.

Thomas stopped when it was mentioned that his dad might be alive.

His grandfather went on to say some fantastical things about a resistance and of his father being captured and put in prison in the capital of some place called Ilarnia. Thomas was more confused than ever now and getting angry.

Why are you telling me these things? Dad is dead! Nobody has ever said anything different.

His grandfather seriously looked at Thomas, There will be a time when I will not be with you any more. When that day comes I want you to be prepared. That is why I am telling you these things.

How could that day have come so soon?

The ambulance lights still flashed in his mind, the crunch of the tires on the gravel driveway still lingered, the smells of the waiting room stank in his nose. He had watched his relatives huddle together, apart from him, on the other side of the waiting room. All they cared about was themselves, Thomas had thought. All they could talk about was what they would do with the land that grandfather’s house stood on.

It’s an ideal place for a station and a store, Uncle Stewart had whispered.

Right off the main highway out of town, Aunt Sarah added. We could make a mint if we do it right.

Thomas slumped down in one of the cold leather seats of the waiting room. His mother turned her back to him and bent in close to the others. We’ve got to keep Thomas close by, since the will is wrapped up with the inheritance.

When the doctor came in he didn’t even look at Thomas but instead went over to the others. He had whispered some things that Thomas could not hear. When their heads all mechanically hung down at once, he knew grandpa was gone. That’s when he lost control, shouted at them, screamed at them.

There, are you happy now! You got your wish! It’s MY birthday but you got your wish! Grandpa’s dead!

The ring of people had looked up at Thomas with their mouths open as he began to run for the door.

Thomas, his mother had shouted back, Thomas, come here right this minute!

Thomas ran out the door and kept on running into the dark. He had not even tried to hold back the tears that now stained his face. He ran fast, he ran to escape. The world felt like an empty place. Everyone that was close to him had been taken away. He felt like running from everything, forever. His feet kept on going and going, mindlessly thumping along the dark streets.

He had awoken from his thoughts and found himself back at his grandfather’s house, standing in the middle of the gravel driveway looking up at the old house. The large iron gate was still swung open from when the ambulance had left. A great stone pillar stood on either side of the drive. Each pillar had a rounded globe on top. The left pillar had a brass plate that said 1595 Hillview Road. The other pillar had the name Theodron Fairchild written in stone. The name flashed back to him. Theodron was not his grandfather’s first name, it was Theodore. He’d never really paid much attention to it before but this time it had struck him as odd. Thomas grasped the gate with both hands and it groaned as he pulled it back in place. Then he slowly plodded up the driveway to the house.

Now he sat in the study lost and alone. He slunk further into the chair, the fire crackled on the hearth. What’s his family going to do? What more was grandpa going to tell me? Could it really be true, those strange things grandpa was saying?

Thomas pushed himself out of the chair and walked down the hallway to the small elevator his grandfather used. He could still see his grandfather’s wheelchair rolling in front of him as they had headed for the lab. He had been in a wheelchair since his stroke several years earlier. Now, however, it was just Thomas. He pushed a button on the wall and after a moment the doors rumbled open and he got in. He pushed the B and the elevator lowered down into the lab which was situated below the house.

The lab used to be off limits to Thomas. When Thomas was younger he used to come to grandpa’s house often to play. It was the greatest place in the world for a young kid; trees to climb, a garden with a maze of box bushes, and a small pool with a statue in the middle. Behind the house Thomas could remember the days when grandpa would keep large gardens of vegetables; red and yellow tomatoes, cucumbers, strange carrots, and exotic things that would grow in the rich sandy soil. The liquorish smell of anis and the earthy sweet smell of marigolds would float through the hot afternoon air. Further back would be the strong odor of the chicken coops. Back there also was the tool shed filled with rusty old tools and a big gray grinding stone with a foot peddle. Grandpa had sheds and out buildings filled with all sorts of things he had collected from around the world. Some even looked foreign to this world. There were birds nests, huge eggs, exotic shells from distant shores, cones and seeds from trees he’d never heard of and books, hundreds and hundreds of books, books in boxes, books on shelves, dusty books, ancient and tattered books and books with gold embossed covers. This was Thomas’s paradise. As the years had passed, however, he wasn’t taken here as much anymore, no matter how much he begged. He would hear his mom arguing over the phone with grandpa and overhear his own name mentioned often. When he was younger he had cried himself to sleep because of the arguments. The wedge was set between him and his mom. The last time he was able to be here was one year ago today, on his 15th birthday.

Before today, however, he had been forbidden to enter the lab. Thomas had only been in it once before, when he was maybe seven or eight. He had been on a make believe adventure with pirates and sea monsters, playing in the garden area, when he noticed the door. It had a lock on it but it was slightly ajar. It was a back entry door for delivery of heavy equipment. Behind this door was a freight elevator. Curiosity overcoming him, Thomas had stepped inside and pushed the button that took the elevator down. Very smoothly it moved downward and came to an even halt as the letter over the door showed B. As the large doors parted Thomas stood paralyzed. There was his grandpa in a white lab coat holding two chemical bottles. As the doors clunked open his grandfather’s head swung around with a look of great surprise.

What are you doing here! he shouted as he set the bottles down." Red faced he paced over to Thomas, turned him around by the shoulders, and pushed the first floor button. This was the only time Thomas had seen his grandfather mad, and he was furious. As the door opened he was led out by the hand.

Thomas, I want you to promise me you‘ll never ever go in there again! By this time Thomas was trembling so badly it was all he could do to get the words out, Yes, grandpa.

It took a while to recover from that, but later his grandpa apologized for being so angry. He still reinforced that he never wanted Thomas in there unless he was with him. Well, grandpa was with him earlier, but that was the last time he ever would be.

Now Thomas was here by himself. The door of the elevator slid open. Broken glass was still spread around on the floor from when Thomas had knocked a beaker off the counter when he frantically wheeled his grandfather out of the lab. Grandpa had clutched his chest and Thomas had called 911. Thomas stood for a moment and then crunched across the glass between the black lab counters to an opening on the far side of the room. Surrounding the lab were cabinets which held piles of equipment and items that had been collected; bugs, moths, butterflies, stuffed birds, hollow eggs, and various stuffed animals, things that looked strangely unfamiliar. From the corner the big round eyes of an owlish bird stared at him. Earlier, a stainless steel door had sealed off another room that was attached to the lab. Grandpa had placed his hand on a pad to the right of the door and it had swished open. The sliding door now stood as if beckoning him to enter. Grandpa’s golden machine crouched like a stalking lion inside. It was about once and a half as tall as Thomas and about three times as long. Canisters and tubes connected to the machine hissed as he slowly approached. Star charts and atomic diagrams lined the walls of the room and a computer terminal sat off to one side. To the right of the machine was a glassed in room that contained the large grayish rock that had triggered Grandpa’s talk about solar systems within the rock, the similarity of atoms to these solar systems, and quantum levels of space and energy. He had used a different word, what was it? Oh yeh, the Multiverse. Levels of the universe that go microscopic in one direction and then larger in the other, so that we’re an atom of another universe, very strange. The door of the machine stood open and a pulsating red light continued to pull him forward.

Thomas walked to the door and the big red digits that his grandfather had earlier entered into the consol glowed. Thomas’s new backpack and books, the gifts from his grandfather, all lay on the floor just where he had left them. He looked down at the new watch that curved around his wrist. What am I supposed to do? Could dad still be alive….somewhere? Thomas’s connections with this world were fading. He seemed to be cut off. The last person that really cared for him was now gone. Who would miss him if he were to disappear for a while? Maybe Leo, his pet cat, who liked to follow him around the house and swat at his legs as he went by, would miss him, maybe Freddie at school, or Cheryl his lab partner. Thomas picked up his backpack and slipped the books back inside that had spilled out earlier. He strapped the backpack on, went over to the red button next to the numbers and paused. This is it, there’s no turning back now. He slowly reached out his finger toward the button. He thought back to the horrible day at school, the argument with his mom at home, the run-in with the relatives, dad’s accident, and grandpa’s death. He jerked and gave the button a solid push and quickly stepped back to the square in the middle of the floor and closed his eyes, head up and shoulders stiff. He heard the door to the machine close behind him. There was a whirr and a sucking sound as if everything was being evacuated from the machine. Then he felt like he was being pulled from every direction at once. Slowly he began to rise. He was perfectly balanced. Slight prickles began to spark in his skin. They became stronger, like when an arm or leg is coming awake from having fallen asleep. Now a thousand needles stung all over his body, harder and sharper, and then there was nothing.

Chapter 2

The Crystal Mines

Thomas dreamed of floating in space. His body was gone, he just had consciousness. Streams of colors raced by; golds, reds, and yellows. This continued for some time and then the prickles came back again. He could feel them grow stronger until his whole body was stinging, accompanied by a paralyzed feeling. His sight began to return. As his body was lowered to the floor he began to move again. Touching down he let out a deep sigh, his legs shaking. Looking around everything was the same. Nothing had changed. He didn’t think things would change but he had hoped, at least a little, that this fantasy would be true and remove him from all the pain at home.

Thomas leaned over to massage the life back into his legs. As he was doing this the whirring of the machine ceased and the door clicked open. Immediately there was a smell, this was not the distinctive smell of his Grandpa’s sterile lab; this was a wet damp smell. It was dark outside the machine. There was no shinny room. Something HAD changed!

As Thomas slowly stepped out of the machine he saw that the walls of this room were made of rock. The machine gave off a soft glow that slightly lit up the stone room. Thomas circled around the enclosed room and it seemed like there was no way out. As he stood still he felt a slight draft across his face. The floor was wet with moisture. He walked up closer to the walls to see if there were any passageways. Behind a rock that was close to the wall was an opening in the rock floor. He bent down to get a closer look, but as he did this he lost his footing. With a jarring thud he went sliding down a shoot. Grabbing and clawing at the sides he continued downward. As he went, a roaring noise as of rushing water got louder and louder. Suddenly there was nothing under him for several feet and he fell hard on a path that seemed to be cut out of the stone. He was still within the cave. The path hung over a torrent of crashing water that was cascading through this tunnel and then disappeared around a bend. Thomas slowly straightened up and brushed himself off. He covered his ears because of the deafening roar of the water. As he turned around to see where he had come from he noticed a single triangle carved into the rock. He decided to go to the right, away from the most violent part of the river, and head upstream. The water must have eaten through these rocks for centuries, carving the softer areas and making the river twist and turn its way through the softer parts of the rock, here crashing down from above and there twisting around a corner. Gradually the sound became less and the river branched away from the tunnel that the path followed. As the sound faded into the distance Thomas kept walking onward, not knowing just what to do or where he was going.

As he continued he heard a different sound, not the sound of water, but a mechanical sound, a sound of machinery. The machinery sounded like the kind that you’d hear in a stone quarry; rocks being crushed and transported on belts and conveyers. The picture in his mind became clearer as he came closer to the sound. A section of the tunnel opened up into a huge underground cavern. Thomas entered onto a balcony-like ledge so he had an excellent view. As he gazed across the room, he saw people, or things, both he guessed, creatures maybe. Those working down low in the cavern seemed to be people, humans, much like Thomas. These people looked tattered and worn, young and old. They were working the rock, breaking it apart, loading it on belts that took it away to the machines. Around the edge of this area were the creatures, strange creatures that seemed like guards. Their skin was a silvery grayish green. They had a smooth rippled covering that went up their necks to a face that had all the features of nose, eyes, and ears but almost molded like plastic around them.

The guards had long sticklike probes in their hands. One of the guards was looking around in Thomas’s direction. Thomas ducked down. He slowly looked back up over the rock railing. The guard had moved down among the workers. One in particular seemed to not be working as fast as the guard thought they should. The probe went out and the worker, a youth really, crumpled to the floor. These people are not treated like workers; they’re treated more like prisoners, or maybe even slaves, Thomas thought. He heard the crunch of rocks behind him and before he had a chance to turn around he felt a hard prick on the back of his head and everything went black.

Thomas woke up some time later. He had a terrible headache. As he rubbed the back of his head he also noticed that his wrist was extremely sore. He looked down and saw that his watchband had marks on it like someone had tried to cut it off his wrist. He now noticed that beside him was his backpack with the books scattered on top.

As Thomas continued to look around he could see that he was in some kind of round stone room, like a cell room. There was some sort of light coming in the room from above. He sat up, rubbed the back of his head, and then picked up the top book. He leafed through it, but this was the one that made no sense to him so he put it down and picked up the other one. He leafed through the second book until he came to the end. A folded piece of paper slipped out of the book. Thomas picked it up and turned it over. It was a letter….. to him! In slanted handwriting it said:

Dear Thomas,

I must make this very short. I am being closely watched and I will send this letter out with a trusted friend. They have a long journey ahead to get it to the machine. I am instructing my father to give this to you if he feels you are ready to receive what it says. That you are reading this letter now is a miracle in itself. Times are difficult and the way is treacherous but I feel you need to know and deserve to know the truth.

The books I’m sending will explain much so I will not go into the details of the machine and the place in which I live. Leave these books with your grandfather. They must be protected for they are sought after by men bent on evil. Your grandfather will store them safely. He will also be able to answer most of your questions.

Thirteen years ago something happened to me that changed my life forever. I came to a people that needed help. They were captives of another race. Together we were able to gain freedom. I became a part of these people, emotionally attached. They needed me and I needed them. For once in my life I felt like I really made a difference. But the solution wasn’t complete. We were free for a time but then waves of political change swept across the planet. There were horrible wars with great and terrible destruction. We were able to avoid it for the most part until the warring tribes stopped fighting each other. The two warring factions were both evil but they made a treaty so they could rebuild and prosper. When the wars ended they turned their efforts in different directions, and we were there. They needed us to help rebuild. So they took us from our great land that we had worked hard to build. Those in control aren’t many, but they have the power.

I have been captured. I reside in a prison cell in the capital city and I don’t know how much longer I have to live. My people have also been captured and put in bondage. I often hear of the great cruelty with which they are being treated.

I truly apologize for these circumstances and for not having you with me these many years. I regret that from the bottom of my heart. I hope you will forgive me for this.

Son, I offer you this challenge. You are old enough to make the decision for yourself. You can make a difference here. Come to me. Your grandfather will prepare you. Trust no one that does not offer you the sign of the triangle. Beware, use your power very carefully.

I must go now. The time is drawing near. I will pray for your safety and success,

Your Father,

Charles Fairchild

My father is alive! Thomas whispered, My father is actually alive now, or at least when he wrote this. How long ago had this been written? What did he mean, not having you with me for many years and use my power carefully? What power do I have? Why had I been told he was dead? Why all the lies?

This letter stunned Thomas. A whole new wave of emotions now filled him. Now he had a father. But he had just had a dead father. There was bitterness there. Why had he left? Why had his father left HIM?

Thomas read the letter over and over. The same phrases kept standing out, Come to me, and, trust no one. And I will pray for you. Thomas had never known that his father was a praying man. Thirteen years?

What am I going to do? Thomas thought, What can I do? Grandfather had not prepared him for this.

Thomas heard approaching feet in the hallway. There was a rattling at the door, as it was unlocked. The door was pushed open and two of the guards stood in front of him. They each had probe sticks in their hands. They moved apart and a third guard was behind them. He seemed to be the one in charge, perhaps an officer. This one approached Thomas. Thomas sat up and stared at the officer. The officer began to speak. The language was completely foreign to him, nothing like he had ever heard before. It seemed to be a series of whistles and hisses. Obviously the officer was expecting an answer but Thomas could give none. The officer got louder, but all Thomas could do was stare in silence. The officer grabbed a probe stick from one of the guards and pointed it toward Thomas. He shoved it toward Thomas’s chest as if threatening him.

Maybe he wants to know my name, Thomas thought.

Thomas was just about to speak when the probe touched his chest. Screaming pain shot through his entire body. He had never felt anything even remotely like this pain. His body stiffened and his teeth clenched. It was not like an electrical shock, it was more like intense burning. Thomas fell back to the floor, his heart was racing and his breath was quick and shallow.

Thomas lay frozen on his back until his muscles relaxed slightly and then slowly sat up. The officer pointed the probe at him again. Thomas quickly responded this time. My name is,… then he stopped, he thought for a moment. If his father went by the name Fairchild, and these things could understand him at all, it may not be wise to use the same last name, he thought. As he finished the sentence he grasped for the odd word his grandfather had used as he spoke about the levels of space. My name is Thomas, Thomas Quantum.

The officer talked with the guards and pointed to the backpack and books. He slowly moved the probe to Thomas’s wrist. Thomas quickly moved his hand away. The officer’s eyes snapped to Thomas’s. With a cold look that told Thomas, Leave your hand still, the officer moved Thomas’s sleeve up and again probed Thomas’s wrist to get a better look at the watch. This time there was no searing pain. He let the officer look.

They talked some more and then motioned for Thomas to get up. Thomas slowly got up and began to pick up his backpack. One of the guards grabbed the backpack. Instinctively Thomas gave the backpack a jerk. He cleanly pulled it out of the grasp of the guard with such ease that it surprised both Thomas and the guard. The other guard started to move over with his probe but the officer motioned for them to leave it be and to move ahead. They moved out through the door pushing Thomas ahead of them. As they walked down this tunnel some sort of alarm went off in the distance. The creatures looked at each other then started moving rapidly down the path pushing Thomas on ahead of them.

Thomas could hear a great deal of commotion coming from the tunnels in front of them. As he was moved along he was shoved in with a group of humans that were being herded into a stone chamber. He was pushed along to the back wall and as the room filled up he could hear the door being secured.

As Thomas looked around at the faces that surrounded him he began to feel the eyes of many staring at him. Several of the people had moved back and were looking him over. He was dressed different and he was a stranger amongst them. As he glanced around at the questioning eyes he noticed a small girl that had her back against the wall. Her face was dirty, her clothes ripped and soiled like the others, but what he noticed the most were her eyes. They were sad eyes, pretty and brown, but terribly sad. Her eyes looked up through her sandy colored hair and into his. Thomas noticed some blood on her arm. She must have scraped it when she was shoved through the door. Thomas knelt down and slowly lifted the girls arm up to get a better look at the wound.

Just then Thomas heard a scuffle of people behind him. A boy just a little older then Thomas came bursting through the crowd and charged Thomas and gave him a shove.

Stay away from her, the boy said as Thomas went up against the wall. Without thinking Thomas whirled around and gave the boy a shove with both hands. To Thomas’s great surprise the boy went flying back hard against the people behind him knocking four of the others down. The boy had looked solid enough but felt much lighter. He gathered himself up and came charging back at Thomas enraged, but stopped short. With anger burning in his eyes he said, Stay away from that girl!

At that moment another girl stepped up behind the boy and put her hand on his shoulder. She had long deep dark red hair. Her face showed a gentleness that Thomas had not seen in the others and her eyes were an incredible dark green. Softly she spoke to the boy, Calm down, let’s not be too hasty to judge this stranger.

Thomas had been crouched over, prepared for the next attack, but at this he slowly straightened up and stared at the girl.

How do you speak English? Thomas asked.

I speak English because it is my native tongue, the boy interrupted, Why shouldn’t I? Who are you and where did you come from?

Looking more at the girl then the boy Thomas said, My name is Thomas Quantum and I came from…from a long way away. Now looking at the boy he asked, Who are you?

With a great deal of distrust the boy said, My name is Didu, and this is my sister, keep away from her. As he said this, his eyes drifted down to where he saw the blood dripping from his sister’s arm. His eyes quickly glanced up at Thomas and then back to his sister then slowly at the red haired girl.

The girl bent down and began to dab the blood off of Didu’s sister.

Thomas, the tension having left his voice, asked the boy, Where are we?

Didu replied, You are a strange boy, you ask where you are, yet you are here.

I can’t explain it myself, Thomas said, but I am very confused.

The red haired girl spoke up, You do look familiar, like you belong here, but there are different things about you. My name is Asfalia and this is Maturia, Didu’s sister. We call her Mattie.

The girl, Asfalia, looked straight at Thomas, and gave a slight smile. Thomas blinked and began to look toward the ground but then stopped and saw in her eyes something he’d missed before. Now he could see it, he was sure. There were sparkles that shown in the dark green, as if her eyes were filled with hundreds of specks of glitter.

Asfalia swept her eyes away from his. She pulled a small bottle from a string around her neck and went back to tending Mattie. Thomas, a bit embarrassed for staring, turned his attention back to Didu, Why are you here? What is so important about the rock in this cave that you are digging it out? Where are your parents?

Didu put up his hand to slow Thomas down and then said, One question at a time. First, how we got here is a long and terrible story. For now let’s say that we were once a strong people that had a land of our own. It was a land we had made into a paradise, a land that yielded enough food to satisfy all of our people as long as we took good care of it. It was a land of lakes and waterfalls, green pastures and sturdy forests. Mountains surrounded our wide valley. Springs of fresh water flowed throughout our land. But then, the Kakia overran our defenses and destroyed our land, killed some of our people, took some captive, and enslaved the rest.

"How can you stay here and work under them? Thomas asked.

Even now, Didu replied, we have a resistance that is at work. The rock that we work contains the crystals that the Kakia use in their industries. It is a vital commodity for them in the cities. They take the rock down the river on the barges to the capital where it is refined.

The capital! Thomas interrupted.

Yes, Didu said, The capital is a long way off and the only safe way to get there is by the river, but even that isn’t very safe. There are odd and dangerous beasts that lurk in and around the river. The river gets wide in places and narrow in others. It cuts through mountains, plains and deserts. There are also nomads and races of various sorts that live in the vast expanse between here and the capital, and for the most part they are not friendly.

Thomas soaked in all that Didu was telling him. This indeed is a different world and he will need all his wits about him if he is to survive and have any hope of seeing his father, if his father was even still alive.

You had one more question, Thomas, Didu said, You asked where our parents are. Asfalia does not know where her parents are. They were separated six months ago and she has not heard of them since. For Mattie and I, we do not know where our mother is but we do know where our father is. He is a prisoner, a prisoner with many others in the capital.

At this Thomas’s mouth dropped open. I believe my father is a prisoner in the capital too, Thomas said, but before he could say anything more there was a loud siren and the door swung open. Several guards came charging in with their sticks and Didu disappeared into the crowd yelling, Rally the resistance!

Thomas was grabbed by the back, swung against the wall, and then dragged out the door. Although the guards seemed muscular and strong, the grip they had on him was not especially tight. In the tunnel, Thomas yanked his arm free, did a quick 180-degree spin until he was behind the guard and took off running. He easily outdistanced the guard along the tunnel path and soon began to hear the rushing of the water. He had no idea if this was the best direction to go in but he really had no choice. Snapping his backpack, he ran as fast as he could until he came up next to the river. A large black shape emerged suddenly from the shadows. Thomas tried to veer out of the way but on the slippery rock it was too late. He caught the shoulder of this thing, knocking it to the side. At the same time, however, the force sent Thomas up and over the stone railing. Thomas yelled as he went head first into the freezing cold torrent of rushing water. Swinging his feet to the front he was tossed back and forth. He was at the mercy of the stream. Yanked from one side of the torrent to the other, his knee banged against the stone wall. He did a twist and then a dip caused his head to go under water and then pop up again. Suddenly, a flood of light blinded him and he felt himself shoved up onto a rock. The powerful force of the river that was shooting out of the rock face and into the daylight had pushed him up on a ledge in the middle of the tumbling stream. The water was surging to either side of him. Thomas blinked, unbelieving. He was in the middle, looking over a cliff that dropped out of sight before him. One look down and his gut seized and his teeth clenched. He felt his body become as rigid as the rock he was sitting on. He stayed that way for a time and then saw the rainbows glowing in the mist in front of him. Two rainbows, side by side, incredible in their beauty. Thomas shook his head squeezed his eyes shut then slowly opened them. Raising his head he still was seeing double for there were two separate suns in the sky. The fear that had come over him like a wave began draining from his body. Slowly, ever so slowly, he stood. Thoughts flashed through his mind as his heart continued to drum against his chest. Something washed up on the rock and hit against his ankle, just enough. With a startled jerk he lost his footing on the slick rock. Arms rotating, his feet went out from under him and he fell backward into the icy water.

Chapter 3

The River

Thomas was grabbed by the water and then flung into the air. Everything seemed to stop. He felt weightless, and all was quiet. It was like he was suspended in motion, yet falling, silently, like a raindrop falling to earth. Then the noise snuck upon him and got louder and louder. He could hear the pounding of water against… something. His arms started rotating to keep him balanced. Feet down, smack, he was underwater, bubbles and foam tumbling all around him. Struggling to come to the surface, Thomas pulled with his arms and all his might. He was being sucked down further and further. His foot touched something. He gave a great push with his legs. This was enough to overcome the pull on him. Making his way toward the surface he broke through, gasping for breath. Choking and gagging he swam over to the gravel shore at the edge of the large pool that encircled the base of the waterfall.

Gagging the last of the water out of his lungs Thomas sat up and looked at the water that was tumbling from up above. He then looked away from the waterfall and could see the vertical walls of the valley rising high above him. The river crashed and bounded off the boulders as it escaped the pool and wound its way through this narrow part of the valley. Slowly he stood up and, feeling every bruise on his body and taking shallow breaths because of his aching ribs, he moved over to a large boulder. He climbed up the boulder and as he kept his balance he slowly raised himself up. He lifted his eyes to look down the valley and the most incredible landscape spread out before him. He was at the end of the valley. The cliffs went up on either side, up at least a thousand feet. The valley floor spread out and became flat and was maybe a quarter mile wide. Lush green meadows rolled into the distance until the valley made a slow curve to the left. Several more waterfalls plummeted from the top of the cliffs to the valley floor. These added to the river that rapidly grew as it curved its way through the valley.

Thomas stood for a moment on the boulder soaking in the beauty of the sight that surrounded him. Shading his eyes from the sun he quickly glanced up into the sky and realized why he saw double when he came out of the tunnel. In the sky, right next to each other, there actually were two suns! As he was looking up he lost his balance and jumped down from the boulder. Quickly he unclipped the wet pack off his back and opened it pulling out the two books. He flipped one of the books over and stared at the cover. There was the triangle with two suns in it! Thomas glanced quickly back up to make sure he really saw it. Then he looked down and saw the three moons on the cover. What will the night bring, he thought.

Opening up the wet books, the printed one in the strange language was fine, but the one that was hand written in ink was blurred and smudged. Some pages were fine and others almost completely unreadable. Great, he thought. I’ve had this book less than one day and already ruined it. So much for leaving them safe with grandpa. Thomas closed the books back up and slipped them into his backpack. Pulling out a hat, he popped it into shape and set it on his head. Then he took a pocketknife out and looked it over. Along the side he noticed some letters engraved into the handle, C.F, Charles Fairchild, his father. Thomas sat back down and began to think about his father. This must be the river that leads to him, he thought. It doesn’t look like a river a barge would go down though. Maybe it grows bigger or it might join another river that was larger. I’ve got to follow the river; wherever it goes I’ve got to follow it to the capital city. I have to find my father, and see if he is alive. Then Thomas remembered what Didu had said about his own father, he was a prisoner in the capital city also. There must be hundreds or maybe thousands of prisoners in the capital city, Thomas thought. The journey ahead sounds very long and it could be a dangerous one. There was also the empty water bottle in the backpack. A plastic pouch held the energy bars, some dried fruit, and hard candies. Thomas took out one of the bars, unpeeled the wrapper and ate it ravenously. He hadn’t realized how hungry he was. He would have eaten more but thought he better save the rest. He didn’t know how long it would be before he would find food. Last, Thomas pulled out the emergency kit: matches, thread, needles, a lighter, and safety pins. This stuff could really come in handy. Either Grandpa or Dad must have known what I was going to be up against.

Thomas closed up his backpack and flipped it over his shoulder. As he did so his stomach made a loud growl. There was plenty of water here, but he’d have to keep his eyes open for anything that looked edible. In this place, though, he didn’t even know if he’d recognize something that was edible. As he began to walk, Thomas came to a path that led along the river. What kind of things may have used this path? he wondered. It looks much like any path that you’d find along a river back home. As he walked he thought over the many things that had happened to him, How did this world all fit together? What part had his dad played here? How do these slaves and guards come into the scene? What kind