The Ghosts

By Paco Jones

The fifth book in the Castaway Island series, the gang continues with many adventures and memories of past fun. It is a million years after first trip to the island and lots things have changed.

There are many new subjects as well as retrospective views of past escapades for friends who don't yet know the complete story.

The sun has evolved to a point where the Earth is no longer habitable so Jayna and Zardoc plan and then move all of the Earth to a new universe. Instead of just moving the people and other living things, they decided to use what they learned during the Swamlun move and leave it a ball of dirt and rock. They even moved the oceans and lakes to various localities in the multiverse creating many more "Castaway Islands" for others to vacation.

Nomtux is called upon to save two planets that are in the line of fire of a Cosmic Phase Transition. She is very nervous, but as Zardoc told her, "If Tar-el did not think you were capable, you would not have been asked."

In the end, Zardoc's body expires causing Jayna to freak out. Z kept assuring her it was only the container that expired and that as soon as the body was no longer capable of supporting her life, she would move to a new container. It wasn't her first transition, but Jayna's human brain couldn't wrap around the concept.

It turns out to be a "Charlotte's Web" ending of sorts with an interesting twist.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Paco Jones
• Release date: Nov 18, 2020
• ISBN: 9781005836078

Paco Jones

Dr. Paco Jones is an aging Hippie. One of his favorite sayings is: "I will always be a Hippie. It's not a changeable condition." Born in Los Angeles and raised in the San Francisco Bay area he is a true product of the 60's and is a firm subscriber to the cliché "If you can remember the 60's you weren't there." He served in the United States Navy doing a tour in Vietnam in 1969 and 1970.

Book preview

The Ghosts

A Castaway Island Story

Book 5

by Paco Jones

text copyright © 2020-2021 Paco Jones

all rights reserved

cover copyright © 2020-2021 Paco Jones

all rights reserved

cover image - Used with permission from the artist

cover image by - Egzon Muliqi

Smashwords Edition, License Notes:

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you are reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Disclaimer

This book is a work of fiction. All names, characters, events, and places are products of the author’s imagination and are fictional, Though some places may be identified because they are present on the Earth and the story has to take place somewhere, any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, incidents, or locales is entirely coincidental.

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Books by Paco Jones

These Girls Can Play (adult content)

Mile High and Beyond (adult content)

Teaching Deanna - Deanna book 1 (adult content)

Tara's Nightmare & Beyond - Deanna book 2 (adult content)

Craft Faire Love - book 1 (adult content)

The Tahoe Files - Craft Faire Love book 2 (adult content)

Jason & Alicia - A Craft Faire Love story (adult content)

Things to Come (adult content)

Irons in the Fire (adult content)

Castaway Island

Le Petite Castaway Island

Zardoc

The Pods

Return to Castaway Island

The Ghosts

It's All Over But The Shouting!

Vietnam: A Distant Memory

To all aliens and/or extraterrestrial biological entities throughout the multiverse, both in the present and the past. I see you.

Acknowledgment

Any author will tell you that an effort such as this is not a solitary endeavor. I'm a storyteller, but not an expert in English grammar ... hey I'm working on it. What writing has taught me is how little attention I paid to English classes in school. If it's going to be anywhere near readable, it takes a team and I am extremely thankful for my team. I can write it, but without them, you probably wouldn't really want to read it.

A special shout out to artist Egzon Muliqi for his kind permission to use the image on the cover of this book. It is so perfect for this series. Check out his other artwork - it's outstanding! Thank you, sir. I appreciate your support.

A quiet thank you goes out to Turbo and Strickland83, for their kind words of encouragement.

These gentlemen's kind words of advice have kept me on the straight and narrow. Okay, as straight and narrow as I get...

There are others out there in ether land that I owe a debt of thanks to as well. I'm afraid to start a list for fear I'll forget someone, but you know who you are!

I also have to send a heartfelt thank you to you, the reader. Without you, none of this would be worth the effort.

Thank you

pj 2020

Table of contents

Disclaimer

Acknowledgement

Preface

Prologue

Chapter 1 - Nomtux's Grand Project

Chapter 2 - Nomtux's Chaotic Strings

Chapter 3 - Sandy at Dulce ... Again

Chapter 4 - Dulce

Chapter 5- The Underground and the Sun's Rampage

Chapter 6- Earth Warming Again

Chapter 7- Evacuate the Solar System

Chapter 8 - Muggen and the Water Worlds

Chapter 9 - Muggen, the New Earth

Chapter 10 - The Old Humans

Chapter 11 - Did that Really Happen? Yes...

Chapter 12 - Zardoc's Original Goal

Chapter 13 - Caves, Keet, and the Circular Nature of Everything

Chapter14 - Makenna Talks History

Chapter 15 - Spreading the Word

Chapter 16 - Torrea, the Restoration and More

Chapter 17 - Castaway Island, the Boat

Chapter 18 - Pirates of the Pacific vs. The Ghosts

Chapter 19 - The Mexico Connection

Chapter 20 - Conrad's Dilemma

Chapter 21 - The Robot Worlds

Chapter Last -- Zardoc Expires

Epilogue

About the Author

Books by Paco Jones

Preface

Well, I guess I wasn't finished after all.

I suppose I knew it when I was finished with the fourth book, Return to Castaway Island, but I needed a break so that Jason & Alicia could happen. That was fun because it is kind of a prequel to the Craft Faire Love series, but through that entire book it was like pulling teeth ... I knew the story from the very beginning, but writing it was an ordeal.

Through the entire 'J&A' ordeal, Zardoc, Jayna, and Makenna, kept creeping into the thoughts and distracting me though Jason and Alicia actually do deal with EBEs in that story, so there are aliens everywhere. Each time they crept into the thought process, it created more notes and ideas for the story. I guess I could say that it's unfortunate because there is enough material for a sixth book, but at this point, I'm not sure I want to go there.

Some of this book is done as a retrospective, so if situations, verbiage, dialogue, and the like seem familiar, that is why. They've been around for a million years now and do talk about some of their past adventures when guests ask. Some are given in a lecture format, some in a casual round table format, but all use the holovision tool so guests, students, and others, can see what is being described first hand.

They're all fond memories to the group.

Zardoc has literally taken over my life and those who know me will understand. There is alien everything around here. Stickers for the car windows, infinite improbability power tag, alien skeletons, and skulls in the Halloween display, an alien in a box turns green and screeches when the power is applied and motion detected. I guess it would be considered quasi normal, but Halloween never comes down. It is always Oct. 31st here ... kind of a groundhog day with a ghoulish, ghostly tendency.

I've said many times before that since I was a young child I have never felt that the Earth is my true home planet. Oh, I was born here, but this is not where my true home is and the older I get, the more I have come to believe it is a truth.

I am still waiting for my Zardoc to come down, pick me up, and take me home.

I've been waiting a damned long time, Z...

There were some things in the previous works I really wanted to present, but they didn't fit in the story line, so were bypassed. I guess that's how I knew there would be a book five ... I have too much material to ignore. I just couldn't get into another Castaway Island book when I was finished with Return, but that's not the worst of it. I have enough outlined material for a sixth book. I'm not sure I want to go there, but that's what I said before book five and the crew has been tugging at me at a constant rate. I have other things to do.

As much as it will probably pain me, I want to delve a bit more into quantum mechanics as a subject for Gabby, Elena, and Vanessa to tackle. Nomtux and Ser-el are already there, so adding the others to the mix is a normal progression. The research I do in order to make the science sound as plausible as possible takes an immense amount of time, but it has been one of the best parts of doing the whole series. I can't do the math, but I can sure come up with some great ideas. Some might call them crazy, but I believe that if the human mind can think of it, given enough time, effort, commitment, and resources, anything can be done ... eventually.

Prove me wrong.

I just fall back on, the three phases of scientific discovery - First - ridicule, Second - strong opposition, and third - accepted as self evident, so I'm sure we'll paddle that boat for a time as well. Many things here are in the third phase in my mind, though science hasn't caught up with it yet. Compared to what is out there to be learned, what we know today wouldn't cover the bottom of a thimble. There is a long way to go, so if science will just get out of their theological straight jacket, humanity can make some serious progress. Or as Jayna has said many times, Come up to speed or become irrelevant.

Zardoc and Makenna need to spend some time talking about Puma Punku and all the stories surrounding that facility, which has been somewhat duplicated under Antarctica on a much smaller scale, but using the same material that Puma was constructed from. They had all the rubble, why not use it, so they did.

Aliens are rather efficient that way. Humans would have just left the debris pile where it fell because it would be too much like work to remove it. For humans it would certainly be a monumental task to clean it up making it far easier to just leave the pile and move along. Humans can be lazy like that, but not all of them.

We'll see if we get there during this excursion.

Makenna has been asked by Tar-el to record as much multiverse history as she can. She discovered there was no history of the Council written down, so she sat with Tar-el for many months interviewing him and others about the workings, past and present.

She actually interviewed the disgruntled Tan-ta to get his perspective on things. Once that interview was completed, it was quite apparent why Tan-ta had been replaced and in her record, Mak did not sugar coat it.

She warped herself to all corners of the multiverse to study and document the different civilizations she found. She, Zardoc, and Jayna, even visited one robot civilization where no trace of biology could be found anywhere. There are millions of like robotic civilizations throughout the multiverse, so Mak had a new set of marching orders. Both she and Jayna found the robot worlds fascinating.

Elena and Gabby may bring in Alicia and Mary to talk about star stuff and how everything we can see or touch was once in the belly of a star. Alicia will relate it to a phase transition explaining how it starts or ends in rebirth. I'm sure Nomtux can chime in on all of that.

To cross into other works, the Castaway Island group will talk with Tahoe Bob and Sandy about their experiences with the EBEs in Dulce, New Mexico. It was before they were Bob and Sandy, but that's another story. Yeah, it's a shameless plug for Jason & Alicia.

Why Tahoe Bob? There are three Bobs on the island now, Tahoe Bob, Island Bob, and Girls Bob, so we have to try to keep them straight. When someone says, Bob, they usually get three responses if everyone is together. Zardoc finds it amusing because she is the only Zardoc on Zandhar.

It's easy to do the interview because the entire family is living on the island now and since air restrictions were lifted on Castaway Island they are able to fly from their corner of the island, to one of the pads near Castaway Island and the original settlement. Yeah, they could warp over, but they enjoy flying their helicopters.

I'm going to try to get as many of the other items put to bed as I can. I don't rule out a book six anymore, but I think it may be getting a bit old. I'll know more about that as I proceed on this book. As I noted, this work is going to contain a lot of retrospective, so this may be the last hurrah for the Castaway Island series, but we shall see.

Though this is a work of fiction, you can and should take some of the concepts to the bank. Much of science has closed its collective minds to alternative theories, so it's up to alternative theorists to put forth new ideas with valid data. New ideas won't generally come out of mainstream science until they are forced to 'see it'. Even then, they shy away from dealing with it because it doesn't fit in their neat little box. Despite what they'll tell you, science does not embrace change ... easily.

Science still insists on bullshit explanations for things that happened in the past that they don't know how it could have happened or worse yet, don't want to explain. There is no possible way many of the archeological explanations can be valid based on the physical evidence you can put your hands and eyes on.

You already know, that for Makenna and me, Puma Punku is a major smoking gun, but realistically there are smoking guns worldwide. It's right under our noses, but because the true explanation is so fantastic, it is feared, so ignored.

That and if the real truth came out, most all religions would collapse under the weight of their own bullshit. Thankfully, humans are not the pinnacle of intelligent life, though they enjoy putting themselves on that pedestal. Choosing myth over science is punching a ticket to yet another extinction event, and I'm afraid it could be coming in the real world a lot sooner than many might expect. Given present day realities, there isn't a lot of cause for optimism. Human extinction isn't inevitable but it is certainly probable given today's apathy and lust for money.

Well, it is inevitable and that is dealt with in this work, but the eventuality can be put off for many millennia if we listen to science, put aside the mythology, and stop worshiping false prophets and money.

Jayna and Zardoc saved humanity from global disaster by moving humans to other places while Mother Nature healed herself.

I'm afraid there is no Zardoc or Jayna who will save us from ourselves, so we have to accept the facts and act appropriately. If we don't, we will go the way of the dinosaurs and considering how humans have treated their home planet, deservedly so.

Humans are no more than a minor surface irritation to the Earth, and when she is tired of us, she will shake us off like so many fleas. Humans need to elevate their game ... a lot.

It has been said that the truth will set you free, but most find the truth to be so implausible they refuse to believe it.

Like facts, the truth is the truth whether you choose to believe it or not.

Enlightenment or ignorance ... The choice is yours.

pj 2018/2021

Prologue

This whole adventure happened because Jennifer Lockwood died at the very beginning of the saga and this trip started out as a celebration of her life.

As it has turned out, it continues to be quite a celebration.

If you recall the final few words in Return to Castaway Island, you know that Jennifer was eminently proud of her husband, daughter, and baby sister, for making such a huge difference for all of humanity.

What a difference it has been, so Jennifer, you have good reason to be proud.

When last we talked, the Ghosts had just made a permanent move to the island from the much changed, new, and improved, planet Earth. That said, it has been a million years since they began their work when Zardoc first captured Jayna, Makenna, and Bob aboard Lovely Jenny on their way to Mazatlan.

They'd had an all hands meeting and found everyone agreed with their assessment and a move was actually desirable. It wasn't that they didn't like or appreciate the Earth any longer, it's just that the Earth was no longer an Earth they recognized. Everything, including the human occupants, has changed ... evolved.

I think it's time we return to the island permanently, announced Jayna. I know we did it once before, but so many things changed, it was a viable option to return to the Earth at the time.

She added, "This time, things have changed so much on the Earth we really don't fit in anymore.

It's not as if we can't make visits back like we have always done and we all still have homes ashore here in Cabo, but it will end up completely different this time.

With a chuckle, she finished, This time when we show up, we really will be the ghosts.

We've been the ghosts forever, Jay, noted Makenna. If you look at things realistically, we haven't fit in here on the Earth since our first couple trips to the island.

Nodding in agreement, Jay said, Ghosts is actually a perfect description.

-----

Word got around that the ghost boat, Castaway Island, was leaving Cabo San Lucas and probably would not be coming back to the Earth. The ghosts were going home to stay this time, so with that word, came all the well wishers on the dock, waving and having their private parties, celebrating the ghosts, and bidding them a fond farewell.

The ghosts would be missed because every time they showed up anywhere, good things happened. They were always the bearers of positive energy and made sure they passed it around for everyone's benefit.

Once the move began, everyone who was aboard moved to the dockside railing to acknowledge those who had come to send them off, and when the time came, Christophe and Jorge yelled down for a couple of the partiers to release the hawsers from the bollards on the dock so they could haul them aboard. With the electric propulsion systems operating at full efficiency, Bob began slowly moving the large boat out of the marina at Cabo San Lucas one last time.

Jay would make sure that the marina was set back to its previous configuration ... to a time before it was made so much larger to accommodate Castaway Island. There was no longer any need for a dockside mooring to handle a 257' boat. More space would be available for the smaller fishing type boats that flocked to Cabo all year 'round. Cabo was still known as one of the premier ocean fishing localities anywhere in the world.

Not only there in Cabo, but worldwide these days, catch and release was the byword throughout the fleets, so there were no longer any fishes in danger of extinction. Yes, people still ate a lot of fish, but most of it was farm raised.

As the boat made its way out of the marina, everyone migrated to the after deck to get his or her one final view of the home they'd known, on and off, for nearly a million years. Each was in their own individual world of memories.

Looking back, Jay whispered almost unintelligibly, G'bye Cabo San Lucas, it's been great and I'll miss you a lot, but you're just not the same anymore.

Realistically and to be fair, the entire planet was not the same anymore and the ghosts are some of the very few who would remember what it was before the evacuation and repopulation so long ago.

It was time to move on.

-----

Now, they were all back on the island and this time, the plan was for it to be a permanent move. Jay never set anything in stone, so she always had options open if things changed in the future. Things always changed over time, so it was always a good idea to have options.

The bottom line was, the group moved to the island permanently because they didn't feel like they fit in any longer. For the most part, they were right. Evolution had changed the human physiology to a point they all looked a lot like gray aliens. The original Earth was not the only place evolution had made significant changes to humans. The same could be found on the copies that Jay and Zardoc had made of Earth, Torrea, and Uulat, but each was unique in its own right.

The earth had changed a lot over the million years, so it was time ... and now they were living on the island full time. Most made trips back and forth to continue whatever work they were doing, but it wasn't usually a daily occurrence. There were now labs on many planets, in many universes, so the original group acted as advisors to the thousands of protégés they'd trained over the aeons. Zanfur also had a lab built on the island so she and Sabrina could continue their work right there. Sab and Zanfur were very much like Zardoc and Jayna ... joined at the hip and had been for many aeons.

Tar-el still makes calls from the Council and Zardoc has projects she works on throughout the multiverse ... just fewer of them these days. It's her choice and like the others, she has trained many thousands of others to perform the tasks that, in the past, she felt she had to do on her own. Jayna convinced her to spread the wealth so she could take breaks and relax. Relaxing wasn't a concept that Zardoc was familiar with, but Jayna showed her the path and insisted she walk it.

Over the years, Jay had become one of Zardoc's master students and was doing a good amount of training herself to free up Zardoc for some other projects. She was considered an extremely competent geneticist after many centuries as Zardoc's student. In her mind, mastering genetics was an even greater accomplishment than mastering the Physics because she started from ground zero with genetics.

Jayna really enjoyed the precision required for the genetic work and more than anything else, it is what held her interest. The how and when were easily mastered, but knowing if you were off by one microscopic switch, it could literally throw a monkey wrench into the work for that generation. She felt it was a daunting responsibility, but she was such a perfectionist she was perfect for the job and Zardoc had noted that right away.

Like Jayna, Tim and Dave didn't make many trips anymore and allowed their students to carry the ball. It was a good feeling, but it left them with a lot of time on their hands.

-----

Over the many aeons, plate tectonics moved things around while a few mini ice ages changed the surface of all the continents. New lakes were formed, old lakes were emptied into the new lakes, rivers were rerouted, and many other changes happened during that time. It was just an indication that Jayna had been correct a million years prior when she said the Earth was not a static thing, but a living, breathing entity. Even without the theologians to muddy the waters, some humans had a very difficult time with that concept.

By this time, humans were permitted to travel through the multiverse, though thankfully, most still chose to go with a guide. There was no stigma attached to traveling with a guide because everyone knew it was the prudent thing to do. Everyone understood that landing in the wrong spot could be extremely dangerous. There were a few times that the humans on Earth needed to be moved to one of the other Earths, but with three to choose from it was easy for everyone to spread out. The difficult part was convincing them to move back.

Evolution had progressed normally on all the planets they had created to diversify the species. The goal was to ensure humans were on more than one planet. All of the humans on the Earths, Uulats, and Torreas, were all looking a bit like Zardoc and some of the other EBEs these days. Interestingly, they all evolved a little differently because their environments were slightly different. It was an interesting study in the environmental evolution Zardoc had predicted centuries before Jayna and Makenna came on the scene.

While humans evolved normally, the Castaway Island group, along with their original group of friends, did not. They all still had the appearance of a twenty-first century human. For the time being, they were all that was left of the former human physiology, which realistically is one of the reasons they moved this time.

It was another interesting study for Zardoc, who was ever observant. Even after all of the aeons she had been with them, she still found humans a fascinating, but sometimes confusing, study. She would laugh and tell them that the confusion is what kept it fascinating.

Humans are much different now which in and of itself, is not a bad thing. That level of evolution was all part of Zardoc's original plan. When she first started working with the Earth's occupants, there was little hope before she lambasted Tan-ta, ultimately causing him to be replaced.

Jayna observed they were the only ones left anywhere that still look the way humans did a million years ago, but that's only because they were essentially frozen in time at the start. Their eyes are very flexible now and she believed their heads are slightly larger, but nowhere close to the way humans evolved on all the other Earths. Laughing she told Zardoc that there was another project to put on the list.

During one conversation, Zardoc said, Something that must be noted is that the Earth will someday be uninhabitable. The sun is already quite a bit hotter than it was a million years ago and it is adversely affecting human life. It is probably there already, and in some corners, the science people are saying that soon life on the Earth will be impossible. Moving to the island now, is not such a bad thing.

It is already pretty hot, admitted Jayna. I won't miss the heat.

Looking at Jayna, she continued, Young Jayna, it may be time to begin planning on the permanent evacuation of the planet Earth. We have some time, but if we can have the Council make another planet available that is compatible with Earth's life forms, we can move everything now before it gets any hotter. In that way, we will not have to worry about the ongoing solar expansion or that the solar system will be gone someday. It is already quite uncomfortable for the occupants, so it may be something we want to do sooner rather than later. We must also consider Torrea in all that planning. Though not as critical, Torrea will be affected eventually, so it would be prudent to take care of it at the same time.

That is true, Z. We see changes a bit differently than all the rest of the civilizations, but I think everyone realizes that things are getting a lot warmer and once again, it's only a matter of time.

With a chuckle, she added, It's funny, but this time nobody is denying that the planet is getting warmer and the climate is changing.

Smiling, she finished, Okay, it's on the list ... very high priority.

-----

Jayna, Makenna, and Bob loved having Ser-el, Zarot, Zanfur, along with Sabrina, and a few others aboard. If they wanted, there were places ashore for them to stay while they were visiting, which kept Castaway Island and Lovely Jenny from being overcrowded when everyone decided to visit at the same time. From that group, it was usually only Sabrina and her latest companion because the three aliens would return to Zandhar much of the time.

Ser-el also spent a lot of time with her Swamlunian friend, Nomtux. Often, they could be seen walking on campus between buildings, deep in conversation. On occasion Zanfur would join them for the exercise, but she was always fascinated with the two youngster's topics of conversations. You could always identify Zanfur in the crowd because she was usually the only one in a pressed, amazingly pristine, white lab coat. Today was no exception.

Many times you would see them sitting on a grassy hillside surrounded by students who were riveted, listening to whatever it was the aliens were lecturing about that day. Most of the time it was an impromptu lecture predicated on a question one of the students had asked while the two were walking the campus. It did Jayna and Zardoc's hearts good to see the acceptance of other life forms by the humans. They had worked millennia to make that happen.

The Earth was a different place when everyone returned from the pods. Nature had healed, so water was clean, air was fresh, and there was an abundance of food already on the vine. The human psyche had been modified to a point that humans were accepted into the multiverse communities. Interestingly, Uulat's humans had evolved to be acceptable, but had done it naturally. Well, maybe a little.

Nomtux joined them some of the time, but continued to maintain her home on Swamlun. She enjoyed staying at Lost Island or Castaway Island because of the company, but Swamlun was her home and she never lost sight of that.

Swamlun will always be my home, she said before the trip, but this is my family now. Ixmatl and Valmat understand that and encourage me to branch out, but they are my elders, and Swamlun is my home. I will still visit Swamlun regularly and as I have been doing with the Earth, I will sometimes stay for extended periods.

Speaking of Nomtux, she and Ser-el still had their sights set on quantum gravity. Elena and Gabby were usually part and parcel to the efforts, but all had diverse interests to go along with the common things they all worked on together. They all went their own way some of the time so they could pursue some paths that the others weren't necessarily interested in, but there were never any bad vibes if one decided to go off on her own for a time. The others knew she'd be back and would have interesting stories and data to impart. One never knew when a tid-bit of data found while on a solitary path would help the group on their quest in the quantum world. Like with Jayna's physics so many aeons ago, data was shared for the betterment of all.

At one point Nomtux went off to pursue quantum entanglement and was on her own for quite some time. Jay thought she might be on to something so continued to follow the path. They had all been sitting around trying to determine what path to take next on their search to marry quantum mechanics with general relativity. They had all accepted Jayna's hypothesis that there was no common thread and that the two paths didn't converge, but they never considered giving up the search.

Jay told them a million times that even though she didn't think they would ever find a solution, she would never discourage them from looking. She also insisted they keep her up to date.

Guys, I could be wrong. It's happened before, Jay would tell them with a laugh.

Chapter 1 -- Nomtux's Grand Project

Sitting around the deck one afternoon, Jay decided to pick Nomtux's brain.

So how's the entanglement world, Nomtux? asked Jay with a smile. Making any headway?

Entanglement is insane, Jayna. It is a fact that it is there, but I am no longer interested in how it gets there. I have been back to gravity for a few years now.

Ahh, is that why we haven't seen much of you?

Blushing slightly, Nomtux replied, Yes, I have had my head buried in my research. I have not even seen much of Vanessa, Gabrielle, or Elena, in quite some time, but I know they are still working on it as well.

You don't even see them on Lost Island? asked Makenna.

Much of the time, we seem to pass in the night. I go to relax and they're already gone, off working on something or other, and when they are there, I am not, so it is only a matter of schedule.

Jayna smiled and vanished. Makenna had a pretty good idea where she had gone, but kept quiet. She and Nomtux continued the conversation, but it was only a few moments before Jay reappeared with Elena and Gabby tagging along.

It was like old home week when they saw Nomtux.

Nomtux, squealed Elena, I can't believe you're here.

It is so great to see you, said Gabrielle. It's been far too long.

Nodding, Nomtux accepted their hugs and said, Yes it has. Since I stopped my work on entanglement I have been doing more work on quantum gravity.

Nodding with a wry grin, Elena said, We know, Nomtux. We hope you are making some progress.

With a sad look and shaking her head, Nomtux said, No. I have not made one step forward in all these years. I have put an 'X' through many dead ends as you have probably noticed, but gravity is still perplexing and quite honestly, it is really starting to piss me off.

Showing eyes the size of dinner plates, Gabby, Elena, and Jayna burst out laughing at Nomtux's pronouncement. It's so out of place with her, but she pulled out one of the many language things she's picked up hanging out with humans.

Zardoc has been known to pull one out on occasion and she was laughing along with Nomtux.

So quantum gravity is finally pissing you off, Nomtux? Zardoc chuckled.

To a nodding Nomtux, she continued, In all candor, I will have to admit that it has been pissing me off for millennia, which is one reason I no longer pursue it. I am in young Jayna's mind frame that there is a high probability no solution is to be found.

Adding quickly, I would never discourage you from continuing your search, but I think we all can understand your consternation.

With a smile, Jayna told them, "You three have done more research on quantum gravity than any group of physicists anywhere in the multiverse, keeping in mind there are universes who have laws of physics different and sometimes contrary to ours, and you have had no more luck finding an answer than anyone else. I don't discount Ser-el's working with you either, but she's more in tune to other things and strangely enough, phase transition is one of them. Nomtux, you have had a very positive effect on Ser-el and her curiosity about that cosmic phenomenon, so she and Alicia have made some good progress.

I am extremely pleased that none of you have really given up on gravity, though I'm sure each of you has a probable conclusion in mind.

Zardoc added, You have ruled out an incredible number of possibilities and saved many millions of physicists untold hours by already labeling the paths. When you have labeled a path as a dead end, you always provide all the data showing why you have reached that conclusion. Others can follow if they wish, but you have eliminated millions of steps along the way.

I think we all understand that, Zardoc, but it is no less frustrating to not be able to come to some conclusion.

But you have come to a conclusion, young one. You have concluded that there is no definitive conclusion you have been able to find. That is a very valid finding considering all the data you all have reviewed.

Thanks, Z, I think we all appreciate it, said Elena. Me and Gabby have been working with Einstein's model for gravity and all the extensions Jayna added.

Problems? asked Jay, raising an eyebrow. I haven't heard anything, so I would guess you haven't found any flaws.

Nope. No flaws, but it seems like there is something missing.

Yeah, it's like you felt when you came up with your extensions, Jayna ... there was just something that wasn't adding up even though all the equations were perfect and the results solid.

It was just a gut feeling on my part, replied Jay. It all worked, but there just seemed to be ... I don't know, some big piece was missing and it was driving me crazy. Turns out I was right.

It's the same kind of gut feeling we both get, Jay. We've been looking at it for years and it all works without any question, but it just seems like there is at least one small piece missing. Perhaps more, once the little piece is found.

Could that piece be what we need to continue our pursuit of quantum gravity? asked Nomtux.

Don't know, Nomtux, but it sure would be interesting if the solution was in a missing piece. The standard model of gravity sure fits well in the quantum equations so perhaps it really does fit if the small pieces are fleshed out.

Now you've got my curiosity up, Jayna said thoughtfully. I've never even considered that as a possibility.

In keeping with the philosophy of sharing everything so it may help someone else find a path, the discussion continued until Maria rang the lunch bell.

Some of the discussion continued at the lunch table with Bob, Mary, Samantha, and Makenna adding their two cents. Bob and Mary were up from their last tour assisting a few different species in their development of advanced bioelectronics.

Bob observed that it was interesting there were some species in some of the younger universes that were nearly at the same level of evolution as humans were when they returned from the island the first time. The difference is that all of the different groups all got along and helped each other, so that part of the battle didn't need to be pursued. It was just a matter of passing the information and providing examples, which would lead to their eventual evolutionary advancement.

Because humans were such a successful experiment, in many places we were using the base human hyper-advanced hybrid to kick start life on other planets, noted Zardoc. We have also been using a stock of other animals, fishes, and insects, to populate new solar systems. It has been working very well, and though they are all human hybrids, they evolve separately due to the diverse environments we put them in, so after a few hundred thousand years, some resemble humans of that same evolutionary stage, but many do not.

So you're using humans to populate the multiverse? asked Makenna. Why haven't I heard about it to note in their history?

Yes, Makenna, we are using humans, but only on planets that are compatible with human needs and we are not using the extremes because we may need them in the future. There are hundreds of trillions of compatible planets, so it is not as if we will have a shortage any time soon, but many other types of species require a completely different environment. Some planets house nothing but reptiles of various types. Others have very large mammals both in the water and on the land. The multiverse is extremely diverse, as you already know.

Yeah, I do, Z, but when these kinds of things are happening it would be nice to get in at the very beginning with their history. Is someone keeping track of that so it all gets recorded?

I do not know, Makenna, but I would guess that Tar-el has assigned someone in each instance. You will have to ask him directly.

Nodding with a smile, Makenna replied, Good. Tar-el is very history aware and he knows I want everything, so he does assign groups to journalize their history. Every so often, they upload it so that it can be reviewed, formatted, and put into the database. It has been working very well.

You review all of the history? asked Elena, shocked.

Oh, hell no, laughed Makenna. There's no way I could do that, sweetie. We have multiple review boards set up that will evaluate the inputs and make recommendations. They all know what my standards are and if they have any questions they'll ask, but usually the group has someone who will input all of the data.

-----

While everything else was marching on in step, Nomtux received a summons from the Council initiated by Tar-el. She wondered what it was all about, but it was not uncommon for Tar-el to request she review something the Council is considering. Over the many aeons, like Jayna and Makenna, young Nomtux has become a very valued asset within the Council.

Nomtux, the Council needs your kind assistance in a very time sensitive matter that I am sure you will relate to.

To Nomtux's questioning look, Tar-el continued, Zardoc and young Jayna are off on multiple projects, so though they have the appropriate expertise, I have hesitated to bring them in. I feel that you also have much relevant experience.

What can I do for the Council, Tar-el? I will do my very best to accommodate your needs.

Thank you, youngster, the Council appreciates your willingness to assist.

He continued, There is a universe, q863tm42 to be specific, that has experienced a phase transition and there are two occupied planets in the path. You are aware of the necessity of speed in removing them from their homes and putting them into new universes.

I will do my best, Tar-el, responded an obviously nervous Nomtux. I believe it can be done in a very short time once planets are in place to move them. May I use Luctoo and his staff as movers?

Nodding, Tar-el said, Yes you may and they are already standing by awaiting your instructions.

I will use the same plan that Jayna and Zardoc used for Swamlun, Tar-el. It worked perfectly and it only took a couple days to move everyone. If we need deviations, I will address them at the time.

Rmatzk has one planet already configured and ready, but still has a little work to be completed on the second. It will not be long before it is ready as well.

Let us get moving then, said Nomtux. We can begin with the group that is ready as soon as Luctoo gets the word.

From the Council chamber they all heard, Thank you, Nomtux. We appreciate your sense of urgency.

I have been there, said Nomtux with a nervous smile. Are you the representative of the planet or Universe?

I am sorry, Nomtux. It is Malexr from Xamtun. Shenho is presently home notifying everyone that they will be moving very soon. He is not sure if it will be in time, but he is keeping his people optimistic. All know of the impending situation.

Luctoo and six of his staff appeared in the Council chambers standing next to Nomtux, We are ready to execute at any time Nomtux. I understand that Xamtun will be first since Rmatzk has already finished that new planet.

Malexr, are all of your people ready? asked Nomtux.

Yes they are. You may begin at any time.

There is your word, Luctoo. I am very pleased that you will be leading the effort because you and your team have many aeons of experience.

Bowing slightly, Luctoo said, Please let us know when the second planet is ready so we may start on that. I have asked Monnal to head that move with Tarmal and Qtang.

The second planet's Council coordinator appeared with a nervous smile and said, We are ready any time Tar-el. Our people are staged so as soon as there is a new planet for us, you may proceed with all possible haste.

Understood, Shenho, replied Tar-el. Nomtux has crews to move you at her disposal. We only await word from Rmatzk.

I understand, Tar-el, thank you, said Shenho, and then looking to Nomtux said, I am very happy to know you are on the job, Nomtux. You of any know the urgency involved.

Yes I do, Shenho. There is a crew already working on Xamtun, but as soon as your new planet is ready, Luctoo has already assigned persons to break off and move Cannofo.

Looking at Tar-el, Nomtux asked, Has anyone done the calculations on how much time we have? Remember, on Swamlun we were wrong by a very large margin, but still managed to get everything moved in plenty of time.

Xamtun is the most urgent, Nomtux, with about ten months, but you are already working on that planet. Cannofo gives us a little additional time as it will not be in eminent danger for a few years, but it is still in the eventual path, as is everything in that universe.

Nodding, Nomtux looked to Shenho and said, If time estimations are even close, we will have you moved long before the gravitational waves arrive.

Bowing slightly, Shenho replied, Thank you, Nomtux. We will await your notification.

Shenho vanished from the chambers and Nomtux turned to address Malexr, With six movers working, you should be moved in a matter of a day, maybe two, Malexr. I am very happy that we were able to use Luctoo and his group.

Then as an afterthought, Are there any underground civilizations on either Xamtun or Cannofo?

None on Xamtun, Nomtux. They left the planet around fifty thousand years ago.

To Nomtux's questioning look, she said, I have no idea why they left and there is no written record. All we seem to know is that they were there and abandoned Xamtun long ago.

Okay, as long as we don't forget to move anyone. I can tell you that once the phase transition passes there will be little if anything recognizable left behind. It's been a million years since we had to leave our original Swamlun, and I look at the holo tool every so often to see if anything has coalesced into anything meaningful yet. So far, the answer is still, no.

Nomtux continued, Malexr, you may want to go to your new planet to meet people as they arrive. I am sure there are already many to greet.

Then she added, If there is any discrepancy in the planning, Malexr, please let us know immediately so Rmatzk or Luctoo can address it. Planets are complex organisms and sometimes things can get overlooked, but they are always rectified as soon as possible.

Nodding with a smile, Malexr vanished from the Council chambers on her way to the new planet. Nomtux was relieved that things were going so well, but she was following Zardoc and Jayna's plan, so thought it should go well.

You are doing well, Nomtux, Tar-el told her.

I am very nervous, Tar-el. Many lives depend on us doing our jobs well, and as you know, we can only control what we can control.

"Nomtux, I would not have asked you to take on the