The Panterra Chronicles

By Patricia Punch Barrett

Growing up as SuperTramp aerialists on the Cirque du Panterra family’s sprawling sheep station in Outback, Australia, is an amazing adventure filled with wonder and magic. 

Following the destruction of habitat from raging bushfires, Xtarla and Rick Panterra join in the search and rescue of injured wildlife. While sheltering in an abandoned opal mine from a hot spot flare-up, the team discovers injured koalas, which are transported to a field hospital and wildlife sanctuary, where they are found to be mutants. From there, the koalas are transferred to the family’s Panterra Xtar Rancho Habitat and Wildlife Sanctuary outside of Las Vegas for protection and further study.

The Panterra SuperTramps accompany the koalas as their handlers and begin to discover burgeoning superpowers along with uncanny code-cracking skills. Once they break into the storage vaults contained in the labyrinth underneath the old MobXtar Grand Marquis Hotel and Resort, their odyssey begins as they time-slip into parallel dimensions and they discover dual credentials into the galaxy.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Austin Macauley Publishers
• Release date: Apr 26, 2024
• ISBN: 9798886935202

Patricia Punch Barrett

Patricia Punch Barrett is a retired elementary school teacher living in Henderson, Nevada.

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About the Author

Patricia Punch Barrett is a retired elementary school teacher living in Henderson, Nevada.

Dedication

This story is dedicated to my parents, Willard Marvin Punch and Catherine McMahon Punch, who gazed at the stars with wonder and imagination.

Copyright Information ©

Patricia Punch Barrett 2024

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the publisher.

Any person who commits any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

Ordering Information

Quantity sales: Special discounts are available on quantity purchases by corporations, associations, and others. For details, contact the publisher at the address below.

Publisher’s Cataloging-in-Publication data

Barrett, Patricia Punch

The Panterra Chronicles

ISBN 9798886935172 (Paperback)

ISBN 9798886935189 (Hardback)

ISBN 9798886935202 (ePub e-book)

ISBN 9798886935196 (Audiobook)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2023921414

www.austinmacauley.com/us

First Published 2024

Austin Macauley Publishers LLC

40 Wall Street, 33rd Floor, Suite 3302

New York, NY 10005

USA

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Acknowledgment

Special thanks to the students and staff of Blackburn East Elementary School in Melbourne, Australia, and O’Malley Elementary School in Anchorage, Alaska, for inspiring this story. I also wish to thank the editors and production team of Austin Macauley Publishers, Janine Pyne, Paula Richter, Darleen Starry, Leroy Jeffery, Prince, H. MacKnuckles, Vonjia, and many others for their help and encouragement.

Chapter 1

Dual Reality

When the team had taken a trip the week before to the black opal mines of Lightning Ridge in Outback, Australia, the terrain had looked totally different. Drought conditions had parched the earth, but occasionally a kangaroo would bound through the grass, or koalas could be seen nestled in their gum trees. It had been a long ride through the Outback, and they had stopped to take pictures and videos to upload to social media and raise awareness of the crisis. The three friends had taken the dually off-road and kicked up walls of dust from the drought conditions in order to get dramatic photographs and footage of the crisis for wildlife. Today, however, the Panterra Xtar Xtation Search and Rescue team was volunteering to search for survivors of the apocalyptic bushfires that had ravaged Australia. Overhead, raptors circled like a frenzy of float planes following a school of fish. Directional signs to the opal mines stood like blackened, half-dead zombies near the highway, while macabre remains of fleeing animals littered the roadside. For the creatures whose lives and habitats were destroyed, Armageddon was here.

At first, the acrid air didn’t seem that obnoxious, just the normal sweet stench of death and destruction left after any inferno. But the three friends in the cab kept their bandanas over their noses to protect their lungs, looking like desperadoes fleeing a crime scene.

Last time we drove this road, we were on our way to the opal mines to see some recently mined potch, said Xtarla. Now the landscape looks like a filter for a low-budget horror movie.

Hey, I got my start in B movies, and some of those films have become classics! chided Duke.

I doubt that many actors would be willing to come out here on location here for a film shoot, said Maverick. You don’t have to worry about the paparazzi out here. They would never expect to find an A-list actor volunteer firefighting real fires and doing search and rescue for injured wildlife.

It seems normal for me, said Duke. I come from a long line of cattle ranchers in California and Hawaii. We have been battling wildfires for generations, long before drones and robots started assisting Hot Shot squads. Whenever my schedule allows, I volunteer. Right now, it’s not fire season in the Southwest, but it is Down Under. A lot of the best actors and technicians in Hollywood come from Australia, and they’ve been stepping up to help their brethren in California, Arizona, and Nevada.

Rick (Maverick) and Xtarla Panterra had grown up on their family’s Panterra Xtar Xtation sheep station, so they were accustomed to the long droughts and wild bushfires. But the destruction in recent years had gone to a level that no one had ever seen before. Their American firefighter friend, Duke Kaloa-Daley, had volunteered to come and help, just as Rick had done during the California wildfires when he was at the Panterra Xtar Rancho outside of Las Vegas.

As part of the Panterra Search and Rescue Xquad, the team followed their GPS in the dually truck to get to another disaster mop-up site. They were on a mission to locate wildlife and bring them back in the long bed of the dually to a triage tent for examination. So much of their natural habitat, upon which indigenous creatures were completely dependent, had been destroyed in the Outback wildfires. The bushfires were truly epic and tragic. It was fortunate that new-age drones would be able to replant trees at precisely the right depth after the monsoon season. The question was, Would it be soon enough?

Not only was the habitat being destroyed, but virtually all the remaining koala colonies had been decimated by a dreaded retrovirus. Remaining koalas have the disease in their DNA and have been¹ passing the disease on to their offspring. The rampant and deadly retrovirus has spread through virtually the entire remaining population. Combined with the loss of their habitat due to towering bushfires, this beloved animal species is suffering, dwindling, and at risk. Scientists are continually on the lookout for mutant koala specimens that are immune to the retrovirus so that they can be studied and a cure can be developed.

A few more minutes passed as the dually rumbled along, dodging debris, scanning for signs of life. Occasionally they had to stop and remove dead trees that had fallen across the road. Then Rick asked, Have we gotten any wildlife sightings from the drones?

Not yet. The main fire has been knocked down, but there are still hot spots and flare-ups. It would be too hazardous to hike in right now and get trapped before we could get to a safety zone. Even though I’m an actor, I still volunteer as a firefighter whenever I get a break from my schedule. I’ve never forgotten the sacrifice of first responders, especially the Hot Shots on the attack lines. The Loop Fire and the Yarnell Fire tragedies never should’ve happened. If a wind comes up and fans a spot fire, there may not be enough time to get out. Or, if the wind shifts direction, it can cut off an escape route, like with the Yarnell Fire, he commented ruefully.

There was a pause in the conversation while everyone reflected on first responders who had gone before – before satellite updates, drones, and improved safety precautions that came about because of the Loop and Yarnell tragedies.

Rick gamely continued, "After these tragedies², the training for hot spotting and spot fire attack improved for Interagency Hotshot Crews (IHC) in the U.S. When I’m at the Panterra Xtar Rancho outside of Las Vegas, I go on assignments with our crew to California and Arizona. Here at the Panterra Xtar Xtation, our Panterra Xquad has about 20 members and three squad leaders. Xtarla usually takes the lead on mop-up."

Rick then turned to Xtarla and asked, Xtarla, we’ve got our to-go pack back there, don’t we? I know we’re in the disaster mop-up phase, but hot spots can flare up.

No worries, Rick.

You’re a Hotshot, too? asked an astonished Duke. There’s a high level of physical fitness requirements that goes with being a Hotshot to ensure that crew members can reach a safety zone. Seriously?

Xtarla’s more than seriously physically fit, commented Rick in a matter-of-fact way. When she’s not volunteering for the Panterra Xquad, she’s a SuperTramp – and that takes tremendous fitness.

I’m confused, said Duke. What’s a SuperTramp? he asked, trying to keep a straight face.

It’s like doing trampoline tricks, only on a narrow see-saw board, replied Rick. "We’ve had some of the best gymnastics coaches in the world at the Panterra Xtar Rancho and the Panterra Xtar Xtation. They’ve competed in the Olympics themselves and stay active in their sport by working and coaching in the various cirques. Teeterboard³ flipping is an extreme and dangerous sport, done with safety equipment and spotters. Mostly we practice flips on the trampoline. We’ll show you a new routine when we get back to the Xtation. But hey, don’t try this at home! It takes years of training with professional coaches, special equipment, and spotters. Even then, one bad landing and it can mean a broken neck or back and being paralyzed for life."

Several of the Panterra Xtar residents joined the Cirque du Panterra after years of training as Olympic hopefuls, added Xtarla. Some even medaled in their events, and their skills carry right over to modern circus acts. In fact, our parents met at Olympic training camps, and they like to tell everyone that they ran away with the circus. The ‘net result’ is that we’ve been trained by the best coaches in the world. It’s just part of what we do for fun at the Xtation.

Suddenly Xtarla seemed distracted and exclaimed, Look over there – you can see an abandoned opal mine entrance! Our family’s sheep station is a working sheep station, but there are abandoned opal mining operations all over the place. It’s also home to the Cirque du Panterra, a traveling circus troupe that performed in Australia, Europe, and the Americas before circus acts fell out of favor with the public.

Rick continued, The Panterra Xtar Rancho outside of Las Vegas was purchased decades ago when no one could see the value of sleepy ranch lands in the Mojave Desert. The Cirque du Panterra needed a home base for their animal actors and storage space for their equipment. Because the traveling circus concept with animal acts was losing audiences, the Panterra Xtar Xtation and the Panterra Xtar Rancho were both largely converted to animal and habitat sanctuaries. Much of the Cirque du Panterra’s collection of circus equipment and memorabilia was shipped to the Panterra Xtar Rancho to protect the historic legacy from the raging infernos.

I love going to the Panterra Xtar Rancho and seeing the animals, said Xtarla. Plus, the scenic beauty of the desert is spectacular, and there are great trails to ride horses or go on hikes.

The desert landscape at the Panterra Xtar Rancho is a perfect natural backdrop for film production, and not that far from the studios in Hollywood, said Rick. "That’s what brought you out to the Rancho in the first place, Duke. But back in the day, the actors would come from the Los Angeles area to fabulous Las Vegas because gambling was legal in Nevada. Now they come for the scenery and the wildlife!⁴"

That old MobXtar Grand Marquis Hotel and Resort was a great set, said Duke. Did they ever finish the script? What’s it being used for now?

Originally, the MobXtar Grand Marquis was envisioned as an oasis by the Mob and funded by the Mob when they ran the resorts. The Grand Marquis, Mortsleam Cosmorghli, was going to prison anyway for income tax evasion, so he lost the MXGM in a high-stakes poker game to a ringmaster from the Cirque du Panterra. It didn’t matter at the time because the resorts were owned by the Mob and couldn’t be bought or sold like a business. Then the laws changed, and the Panterras bought the surrounding desert land for back taxes while Mortsleam was in prison. No one could see the value of desert land miles away from the Las Vegas Strip, and the MXGM was too far away from the glamorous neon lights of the Strip to attract many guests. The old MXGM was used for storage of circus memorabilia, but it still looks majestic against desert sunsets. Film producers noticed and wanted to use it for film shoots, said Rick.

It’s not up to building codes, said Xtarla, but we can show you around the next time we all meet up at the ranch. We’ll go through the old loading docks and then through a speakeasy. You’d probably enjoy seeing the vintage décor and circus collections. There’s also a painting of the charter MobXtar Marquises. They had a grand meeting room where the ‘Famiglia’ would have secret meetings. It was reputed to be like a black hole in space – the dons of the ruling families would go in through the speakeasy, and some would never come out.

It would be great to go inside on a tour of the old hotel, said Duke. I’d get a kick out of going through a real speakeasy. Are you on winter break now, or are you a remote learning student?

"Because of our interests and bi-coastal lifestyle, Panterra students have the option of online learning with mentoring by scientists at the Panterra Xtar Institutes. It’s especially practical for residents because many of the parents are research scientists at the institutes anyway. The sheep station was found to be an ideal location for subatomic quantum particle research because of the abandoned mining shafts that already existed. There’s no natural light interference deep in the old mining shafts, which is important for particle-tracking experiments⁵."

Some of the research being done is secret and privately funded, but most of the research is done by scientists coming from all over the world to participate in experiments and share their findings, continued Rick. "They’ve been working on xenon gas experiments as fuel for deep space missions because xenon is non-combustible. Probes are already being sent out into deep space to defend against asteroids potentially heading toward earth. Scientists are also trying to figure out how to fuel long-haul space trips to neighboring constellation Alpha Centauri on a mission to find planet doubles in the sweet spot for terrestrial life. You can’t exactly travel the vastness of space dragging a fuel tanker from our planet’s fossil fuel era. There’s big money involved in research to crack the quantum codes that will lead to a whole new era of space exploration and colonization. Whoever figures out how to use dark energy to travel faster than light [FTL] will have a huge advantage in the Billionaire Space Race⁶. Investors are spending big bucks searching for the answers, so some of the research is kept private because it’s extremely valuable to companies in competition.

They invest the big bucks – and wait in the joyful hope of a Megabucks or Powerball payday.

Amazing, said Duke. With this kind of destruction from Outback droughts and wildfires, we do need to be looking at alternative energy sources. From the surface of this lunar landscape, the abandoned mine shafts just look like burned-out caves, but the science going on deep below is like entering a new dimension of scientific exploration and discovery.

Yes, it’s a great cover for the scientists to work privately and in peace. Governments and corrupt organizations would try to capture them if they thought they were onto something important. Who’s going to menace a bunch of cowboys and circus clowns? said Rick.

We have to stay out of the private research areas, said Xtarla, but that doesn’t mean we can’t hack our way in!

What? asked Rick. You’re not messing around with your robotics team friends, are you? If you leave a trail of crumbs in the encrypted quantum computing systems, it could get us in major trouble.

It’s unlikely that we could bypass all the layers of security, said Xtarla, but some of the best hackers in the world are 12-13 years old because they haven’t been informed of what’s impossible. Young people are solving equations that were long thought to be unsolvable, so you never know. Often the solutions are beautifully simple.

Just be careful, admonished Rick. We don’t want some goon squad abducting our clowns and cowboys.

And cowgirls, corrected Xtarla with a smile.

A few more miles went by when Rick slowed the vehicle. Watch for the slightest movement, he said. There could be a rock wallaby behind a boulder or outcropping. Their populations have been decimated by the bushfires, and much of their habitat in Victoria and New South Wales has been burnt out. There have been local extinctions, and the remaining populations are threatened by foxes and feral cats. The rock wallabies survive by hiding in caves and behind boulders or outcroppings.

I’m starting to feel like a wildlife commando, said Duke.

We are, but we don’t take prisoners; just offer water, comfort, and medical care to injured and homeless wildlife. Even if they survived the inferno, their habitat has been wiped out, and they cannot sustain their ‘lifestyle choices’ without our help. Once the animal refugees are ready for re-wilding, we return them to their natural habitat, explained Rick.

Stop the truck! declared Xtarla. I definitely saw something – a shadow just moved inside that old mine entrance. She pointed to the outcropping surrounded by boulders.

Could a rock wallaby have gotten that high up? asked Duke.

Rock wallabies are as agile and clever as mountain goats. They’re usually nocturnal but may have entered the mining cave to escape the bushfire coming up the ravine, said Rick. Their feet are adapted to holding onto ledges, and they have coarse-textured pads to help keep their traction on climbing surfaces.

The animals could have entered the old mining labyrinth through a connecting tunnel, added Xtarla.

That must’ve been quite a mining operation back in the day, said Duke. It sounds like there could be an entire underground city in there.

"Actually, there’s a town famous for being built entirely underground using abandoned opal mines. The miners simply lived in their mine shafts because it was cooler. Before air-conditioning, the miners