"Hurry up, Marlon!" Sheryl shouted from the top of the boarding ramp. "I want to see our room before the safety briefing!"

The aging African-American man waved his wife's command away with one hand and paused to remove his Fedora with the other. He leaned against the ramp's railing, extracting a white handkerchief from his shirt pocket to wipe the sweat from his wrinkled forehead. "Hawaii's not going anywhere, Ms. Impatience. That hunk of magma's sat in the middle of the Pacific for six million years and it'll still be there whether I run or walk up this blasted ramp!"

Sheryl sighed. "Sure Marlon, take your time."

"That's specific, mister," said a young man emerging from the boarding passengers. He sported a long, sandy-blonde ponytail that flowed over his backpack like a horse's mane.

"What is fella?" Marlon asked, returning the hat to his balding head.

"Six million years, Hawaii's age."

Marlon narrowed his dark eyes at the stranger. "You know something about it?"

"You're Dr. Marlon Prevost, right? The famous geoarcheaologist?"

"Famous?" Marlon said with a laugh. "Hardly."

"I knew it!" the excited man exclaimed, jutting a hand toward the old man. "...name's Trip Mayfield, sir."

The old man accepted the gesture with a nod. "Nice to meet you."

"Pleasure's all mine!" Trip retrieved his hand and leaned down to pick up Marlon's old brown suitcase. "Mind if I help you with your luggage, sir?"

"That's very kind of you, young man." Marlon said, raising an eyebrow. "So, you read my book, then?"

Trip smiled. "Yessir, Dr. Prevost, cover-to-cover, twice!"

"Interesting," the old man said with a slanted grin. "Geology student?"

"No, sir. Professor of Geological Studies at San Diego University."

"Professor. Really?" Marlon blurted in astonishment.

"Yeah, I know I don't look the part...I'm on vacation," Trip said laughingly, pulling at his tie-dyed tanktop.

"I apologize, Dr. Mayfield, should've known better than to stereotype," Marlon said, slightly embarrassed.

"Nah, it's fine, and call me Trip," he replied. "...here we are."

"Thank you for carrying an old man's luggage." Marlon turned to his wife. "Sheryl, this is Dr. Mayfield, Geology professor from San Diego."

"Oh my! Well, thank you for putting that smile on Marlon's face, young man," Sheryl said happily. "For weeks, grumpy has complained about taking this trip."

"Glad to be of service, ma'am," Trip replied.

"Are you alone, doctor?"

"Sadly, yes. My trip to Hawaii is a working vacation of sorts."

"I see. Well, would you be interested in dining with us tonight?" Mrs. Prevost asked.

"I'd love to!"

_____________________________________________

"Isn't this fantastic?" Sheryl asked Trip. "In all my years, I never thought I'd see something as astounding as this ship!"

Trip took a sip of water and nodded. "Yes ma'am, it's an absolutely amazing feat of human engineering, Mrs. Prevost."

"Sheryl," the woman insisted.

"Sheryl it is," Trip said with a smile. "Well, I don't know about you guys, but I'm still reeling from the thought that this is the first commercial fusion-powered sea vessel."

"I understand it's supposed to be some safe, eco-friendly ship and what-not, but I still find the thought of riding on a mini-sun rather disconcerting."

Trip laughed. "Never thought of it that way, Marlon."

The old man shrugged.

"Seriously!?!!" Trip exclaimed as the lights flickered and went out.

"Oh my word!" Sheryl added.

"It's alright, sweetheart. Probably just the captain firing up that fusion generator," Marlon said reassuringly, patting his wife's hand.

With a pop, light suddenly filled the large dining room followed by a round of applause from the ship's passengers.

"Is that the generator?" Trip asked as he noticed a low, rhythmic pulse slowly growing in intensity.

Marlon nodded. "Must be. I suppose we are on our way, then."

_____________________________________________

The ship rumbled, waking Marlon from sleep. "What the...?" The old man rolled over and found the alarm clock's digital display flickering; the glowing blue numbers 03:30 slowly fading into the darkness.

"Marlon?"

"Yes, Sheryl?"

"Why is the ship so quiet?"

Marlon looked over his wife lying in the blackness. He could see the concern on her face; the expression revealed by moonlight flowing in through the porthole. "Don't know, honey, but I'm gonna find out. Get your rest, hon, I'll be right back."

"Don't be gone long."

"I won't." Marlon located his housecoat and made his way through the dark toward the cabin door.

_____________________________________________

Stepping into the salty, warm air, Marlon walked to the railing and looked up. He examined the familiar moon floating overhead, but paused when he noticed the cloudless sky. It was anything but familiar. The bright pinpoints of light he expected were only a hazy canvas of flickering luminous blobs. "That's strange..."

With a furrowed brow, the perplexed man traveled the darkened walkway, ventured up a flight of stairs, and then turned a corner. The shouts of several men snapped Marlon back to Earth as he found himself engulfed by throngs of passengers adorned in their bedroom attire. They filled the upper level of the craft, all complaining about the power loss.

An ocean breeze wafted over the deck bringing with it a rather familiar but unexpected odor. The retired scientist wrinkled his nose at the scent.

"Hey, doc!"

The old man turned and found Trip maneuvering his way through the chattering people.

"Do you know what's going on, Trip?" Marlon asked as the young man sidled up next to him.

Trip shook his head. "No sir, but have you looked at the sky?"

"I have, and it is very strange."

"And what is up with that Sulphur smell?" Trip inquired. "If we weren't in the middle of the ocean, I'd swear we're near a volcano or something."

"Yes, it is perplex..."

"Evenin' everyone! May I get ya'll's attention?" shouted a man with a southern drawl.

The crowd turned toward the voice and slowly parted as a man in a white naval cap and uniform passed between them carrying a flashlight. He waved the device around and whistled.

"Hello passengers, may I have your attention? Thank you. Now, I'm Captain Les Halter of the Festival Cruise Liner "Illiad" and I would like to personally apologize for the problems you've been experiencin'. I wish to assure you Festival Cruise Lines will compensate everyone aboard for this inconvenience."

"Inconvenience? When are you gonna get the power back on, captain?" a man shouted over several other grumbling voices. "My kids are freaking out!"

"Trust me, we're working on it!" the ship's captain replied.

"So, how much longer?" asked another, sparking more angry inquiries.

"Soon, I assure you. The engineers are addressing the issue as we speak," Les replied, generating a smile. However, the expression didn't last long, fading from his lips as he lifted his face toward a strange low hum accompanying a large object that darted over his head.

The crowd silenced as the thing's shadow passed in front of the moon and then slammed into some object on the dark ship. Whatever it was, fell and began flopping around on the deck. A woman screamed and the gathering moved away from it like a drop of soap in oil.

Marlon and Trip pushed through the crowd, meeting the captain at the front of the assembly.

Trip looked over at the old man. "Is that what I think it is?"

"A Meganeura." Marlon said. "Impossible!"

"A what?" the captain inquired.

Marlon turned to the captain. "It's a giant dragonfly called a Meganeura."

The officer observed the creature, its spastic movements slowing by the minute. "Where's it from?"

"Not sure," Marlon replied, kneeling to examine the insect. He lifted a large wing. "Amazing!"

"I'm Captain Halter...and you are?" the man said, extending a hand to Marlon.

Marlon stood with his assistance. "Geoarcheaologist Dr. Marlon Prevost and this is geologist Dr. Trip Mayfield."

The captain tipped his cap.

"Wow." Trip pointed toward the horizon. "Sun's coming up and it's only 4 am?"

"Land? Trip, does that look like Hawaii to you?" Marlon asked, stepping over the massive blue and green dragonfly. The scientist walked to the ship's railing, wishing to observe the two volcanoes revealed by the rising sun, plumes of gray smoke billowing from their craters.

Trip shook his head. "No way in hell, doc. We both know we couldn't have crossed the ocean that fast."

Marlon turned. "Listen to me captain," the geoarcheaologist said, sweeping a hand toward the tree-lined, rocky shore. "...that's not Hawaii."

"Okay guys, you're the experts. You tell me where we are then..."

"What are you thinking, Marlon?" Trip asked.

"Honestly? I don't think it's where we're at that's important, but, when."

"Huh?"

"Captain, I believe we're no longer in the year 2042. In fact, I think your ship's fusion generator must've somehow folded space-time and punched a hole through it."

Trip's eyebrows slammed down over his eyes. "Time travel, Marlon?"

"You're insane, Dr. Prevost!" the captain said with a laugh. "Time travel, seriously?"

"Insane? Then we're all insane, because we're standing next to a living creature that went extinct millions of years ago!"

The captain shook his head in disbelief. "That's just some big ol' bug from one of the islands..."

"Just a bug? Hardly, modern insects are incapable of attaining that size. You need an oxygen-rich atmosphere to produce an insect as large as that Meganeura...erm, dragonfly. In fact, it would take something approaching Earth's atmosphere that existed 200 to 300 million years ago."

BOOM!!!

The ship unexpectedly lurched to one side and then the next, tossing the passengers about like a fish in a sloshing bowl.

"Is everyone alright?" the captain asked.

"Captain! We've run aground on a coral reef, sir!" yelled a naval officer stumbling down the stairs from the bridge. "What're your orders?"

"Get that damn generator back online before we capsize!"

"Out of the way!" The frightened people parted as a man in oily, damp coveralls passed between them. "Where's the captain?"

"Over here, son! What's the matter?" the captain asked. "Why are you wet?"

"Is that a dragonfly?" the mechanic asked in amazement.

"Nevermind that, young man. What is it?" Captain Halter asked.

The man leaned in toward the captain and whispered, "We're taking on water on the starboard side, sir and...the generator core, it, uh, the chief engineer thinks we need to evacuate the people from the ship...just in case."

"Did you just say the boat's filling with water? Like the Titanic!?!!" yelled a man in plaid pajamas.

"Sir! You're not helping!" the captain said angrily.

"But is it true?" another passenger asked, the group's anxiety increasing.

A woman grabbed the captain's arm. "Tell us, please! My kids are sleeping on deck three!"

The captain turned, pushed his way through the nervous crowd, and then climbed the stairs halfway to the bridge to stand above the passengers. He looked down at the assembly; their worry-filled gazes affixed on him. The man sighed. "Okay, I need ya'll to calmly retrieve your loved ones and bring them to the fifth deck. I'm ordering an evacuation of the ship..."

_____________________________________________

Marlon, Sheryl, and Trip were observing several more lifeboats like their own splashing into the incredibly blue water when someone screamed. The trio turned their attention toward the shore.

"Oh Jesus!" Sheryl remarked as a handful of strange sabre-tooth creatures mauled the first people to land.

Trip's mouth fell open. "What are those?"

"Gorgonopsids, but I don't think it matters," Marlon said, listening to the sound of the ship's generator rumbling to life. He turned to Sheryl and gripped her hand. "I love you, sweetheart and I want you to know that I'm sorry I have been so grumpy with you."

"Why are you saying that?" the woman asked wearing a frown.

"Because, I think I know what happened at the end of the Permian age."

The color left Trip's face.

Marlon put his arms around his wife and Trip as the cruise ship groaned.

"What happened, Marlon?" Sheryl asked looking up at her husband.

"We did," the old man replied as the fusion generator exploded in a brilliant white light.