Kyle:

I don't know how normal humans do it. Sit in a car for hours on end with nothing to do but just that, sit. Yes, it took me a week to get to earth, but I could at least move around on the ship. After the first few hours, my legs were becoming stiff and I wanted OUT!

That's not to mention the narrow streets that just kept getting narrower with sharp turns that you could barely see around. How these people avoided accidents was beyond me. None of this really seemed to be a problem in the city, but on the open roads... sheesh. To make matters better, the driver kept going on and on about how he just loved an excuse to be out on the open road and how it gave him a sense of freedom.

Freedom? Open? The back of the car barely had enough room for me to stand up, which I couldn't do anyway, I could only imagine how a sane full-grown man would feel. It was barely wide enough for me to lie down either- not big enough at all with Jessica there. Again though, standing up or sitting down wouldn't work as the motion of the vehicle wasn't properly isolated against. If I stood up I would fall on my face as we turned a corner. I basically had to stay in one spot for hours and only move to look around. I'd feel less restricted in a cell!

I know a lot of folks might think it's a contradiction seeing as I'm an atheist, but I talk to God a lot. For instance, when we finally reached the beach and I heard we would all soon be getting out, I profusely thanked Him.

The car stopped and I needed no further signal, pushing the door open and stretching my legs for the first time in nearly four hours. What had Jessica been doing the whole time? Well, Jessica has her own reaction to being made to sit still for too long, falling fast asleep. I had to shake her for some five minutes and she still wouldn't wake up. I tried tickling, shouting, and snapping her forehead, nothing worked. Finally, I resorted to what I knew would always work on her. Pure insanity... guess her mind likes to be related to.

"Jess!" I shouted. "Quick, three pigs are flying on a buffalo!"

Her eyes flew open as every eye turned curiously to me, save for hers. "Really?!" she shouted. "I know where they're headed, they'll need directions!" She opened her door and took off running through the parking lot.

"Um..." the driver began, watching her go.

"Is she playing or..." Xao started, looking at me to finish.

"I seriously don't know. Don't worry she'll be back," I said as she disappeared over a small sand dune.

"Considering that isn't that WHY I would be worried?" asked the driver. Jessica ran back up to the car almost on cue.

"Alright, everything's good, they got the message, they're on their way to save the world."

"Course they are," I said, patting her on the head, chuckling at everyone's confused looks. It was great to see her in good spirits again and not making sense.

"Listen up you three," said the driver, "This keeps bugging me. That was a lot of money, and the amount alone is what kept me from turning you all over to a police station several times. Please tell me that somehow you guys are safe right now."

"It's nothing to worry about," said Xao. "We just needed to get out of town."

The man looked at him with concern. I decided at that moment, that Xao was terrible at cover-up stories and needed my help. "It's a cop we were running from sir. Our mom won two lotteries in a row and he kidnapped us to try to make her hand over the winnings. All you did was drive us to the docks where she has a boat waiting to get us all out of here."

"Guess that explains some things... you sure are articulate for your age..." Almost bit my lip hearing that. "How did this guy know which circles to scratch on the lottery ticket?" asked the man, thumbing at Xao.

"Magnifying glass," Xao responded.

"How does that work?" the man asked as Xao got out.

"That's something you're going to be thinking about the whole ride home." He tapped the top of the car saying, "thanks again, see ya."

The three of us walked away and he drove away. "You sure that guy isn't going to go to the police?" asked Jessica.

"And implicate himself?" Xao asked back. "He took a chance. But don't worry, he won't be a problem from here on out for us."

Jessica shook her head and we continued walking, following Xao towards a dock with several boats on it.

"So Kyle, is Jessica always acting crazy?"

"Why are you asking him if I'm crazy?" Jessica demanded.

"Okay then, I'll ask you, are you nuts?"

"And proud of it."

"Joking around of course right? But really, the buffalo thing..."

"What buffalo thing?" Jessica asked.

"You chased after three pigs riding a buffalo," Xao replied.

"I think Xao's mind is starting to flip," Jessica said, leaning in my direction. I nodded. "You hold him, I'll get the net."

Xao shook his head. "No, but really, is it all a ruse to belie your power?"

Jessica stopped walking. The two of us stopped to look back at her as we reached the edge of the parking lot. "That would be pretty clever of me wouldn't it?"

"Kinda," Xao said. "Could easily backfire."

"Good thing that's not really why I do it."

"Then why?"

Jessica shrugged. "Kyle's been with me over twenty years and he can't figure me out, so you expect the crazy one to explain it?"

Xao's mouth was ajar for a few seconds. He finally swallowed and replied, "You're making me think way too hard about this."

"It's fun," Jessica replied.

We walked for a while until we entered a small wooden shack near the dock. Xao looked around. He then took a small glass ball out of his jacket and threw it in the air and caught it saying, "Lights in the dark, come together and form one." A plume of smoke exploded into the room and a bright light flashed in it.

As the smoke cleared, I spoke up. "Okay, I've been meaning to ask something. Those incantations you guys use to be summoned, what do they mean?"

"It's not really magic, so it's not really incantations," Xao replied. "Really they're more like passwords for computer systems that activate our transportation devices."

"So they activate automatically?" Jessica asked.

"Yep," Xao answered as a young man looking to be about sixteen appeared in the room. The teenager had red hair and wore black jeans and a green shirt.

"Ever been summoned at an awkward time- how does one summon you?" Jessica asked.

The new figure grinned. "Explaining what we are to someone?" he asked. "If you're wondering, Xao's calling card is lighting a special kind of match. And yes, I have most definitely used it to summon him into a pile of trash a few times."

Xao glared at him. "You won't be bigger and stronger than me forever," he said snidely.

"Oh no, just for the next hundred years or so, that's all... certain things do stink about extended lifetimes eh?"

I smiled at the idea of Xao being summoned into a heap of trash, for some reason that appealed to me very much. "Still, why use such creepy sayings and not just made-up words or something?" I asked.

The new person shrugged. "More fun this way." He looked over at Xao. "By the way, why did the twerp summon me up?"

"This is Regent," Xao said. The older teen bowed. "He more or less owns the ship I was telling you about. We're actually pretty good friends and worked on the ship together. We made it after a bet we both had going with Darius when I was still aged eight, only one hundred sixty-two years old. He wagered there was no way to make an underwater vessel capable of outpacing the speed of sound."

"Why would you make a bet with Darius like that?" I asked. "I thought you hated each other," I said, wondering if I had him over a proverbial chopping block for this one.

"Well, I consider him an enemy... not so sure what he considers me. That was over a century ago really. Back then he was a pretty nice kid. We made that bet after the two-day battle between the civil warships of the Monitor and the Merrimack."

"The what?" I asked.

"He's talking about a famous showdown between the first two iron ships in American history," Jessica commented. "The Monitor was actually a submarine too."

Xao cringed. "I'll admit, we probably should have been more taken aback by the loss of life, but at the time, it seemed pretty awesome that we were witnessing such a mark in history. Finally, humans were building weapons out of something a little more solid than wood. I tell you, it was an epic battle to behold if you were there. Back then Darius and I were the best of friends along with Regent here. Darius was actually the leader of a small group we had between the three of us."

I folded my arms. "What did you do, go around harassing widows and orphans on the weekend?" I asked. Jessica elbowed me hard in the ribs for that.

"Actually we did something a lot like what you two are doing," Xao replied. "We tried to protect some of the normal humans, especially children, from the horrors of war and some of the more... enthusiastic armies that existed back then. They would turn whole cities into furnaces sometimes it seemed. And really, it wasn't a matter of which side; both were terrible to each other. Folks are so surprised to know that America never lost more lives in any war than that one, the Civil war. Trust me, if you were there, you would have believed it."

"Don't tell me somehow Darius was the Jessica of your group," I commented, starting to wonder if Xao was just laying it on thick. I didn't know too much about American history, but still, I could doubt Xao's involvement in it.

"I think I was the crazy one of the bunch really- not that crazy though. If our group is reflected in this expedition, then I would think of Jessica as me, me as Regent, and you... well, you would be Darius. He was the level-headed one who thought he knew everything. I don't mean to say he was mean about it, really he thought he was looking out for everyone despite the fact that both Regent and myself were considerably older."

Jessica looked at me, "So Kyle is like... can we stop talking about this?" she asked.

"Just cause something happened to him, it doesn't mean something will happen to Kyle," Regent said, shrugging. "Darius watched a whole city burn to the ground one time when he separated from us and wasn't able to save anyone. I think it pretty well destroyed his whole understanding of the world. It doesn't excuse what he's let himself become... but well, it does show that similar histories don't necessarily point to similar outcomes." Jessica and I shifted uncomfortably at this.

"How many people died?" I asked.

"Don't know," Regent said. "We never were able to get specifics out of him. He even stopped  talking for a few months." He cringed, seeming to look for something else to talk about with his eyes. He looked over at his younger friend. "So what's this about the ship I hear though? Is that why you came here?"

"We need a ride," Xao said. "We need to get to London and these two are on the run from... from who actually?"

"Pretty much all of the secret societies," I answered bluntly, smiling and nodding because-why not?

"Who are you hanging out with exactly these days?" Regent said, scratching his head.

"They seemed like okay guys to me," Xao answered back.

Regent shook his head and started walking out of the shack. "The vessel is actually underwater right now. We can't have it just sitting out ya know. We got it docked in a cavern about forty feet down. We'll need to get a boat to the area over it and get some scuba gear to go down there." Regent looked back at us. "You all did bring some decent swimming clothes right?"

Xao scratched his head nervously. "Ya know, that didn't really cross my mind and really, I've kinda been running the show for a while."

Regent motioned back to the backpack Jessica was carrying on her shoulders. "What do you have in there?" he asked.

"Some meds and a few other supplies," she replied.

"You have socks in there right?" he asked. She nodded, "You want swim clothes and a waterproof bag right?" he asked further. Jessica nodded. "I don't know why, but I want to see a five-year-old's sock." Jessica slowly reached into the bag, giving Regent a confused look. She showed him one of my spare socks.

He turned and continued. "So you see, while I was talking to you, I waved my hand through the air in a certain way, activating several microscopic cameras around me. I said the supplies I wanted and what for and a pharaoh at HQ just heard. He input the information into a computer, and a team teleported the equipment into a certain room and..." Regent snapped his fingers and a small waterproof duffel bag appeared in the air and dropped on top of Xao's head. It took him a few seconds, but Xao finally scrambled out from under the load grumbling against his old friend. "Deal fulfilled," Regent said with a grin. "Really just a basic requisition network, sure you guys have dozens on Triad- I explain because I'm bragging about how awesome me and the rest of the tricksters are... well mostly me."

Xao rolled his eyes and looked out over the dock. "Probably should have wished for a boat," I commented.

"Why?" he asked. "There's like twenty parked along the dock here."

"Yes but none of them belong to us," I replied.

"I assume you have a point but I'm missing it," Xao said, walking out over a wooden ridge to a nearby small sailing vessel. "It's only about a five-minute ride if I remember, right Regent?"

"About," Regent answered. "You never did say what you three were up to."

"Guess I didn't," Xao replied. "A nine-year-old kid was taken by some unsavory individuals and whisked away to Great Britain. We're trying to get him back before something happens to him."

Regent chuckled and walked over to Xao, grabbing the boy in a headlock and drilling a knuckle into his forehead for a few seconds. "See you haven't changed much, still got a soft spot for little human kids eh?" He released Xao, at which point I suppose the smaller trickster finally saw an opening and pushed him into the ocean water. "HAHA! You're gonna get it when you come back, twerp."

The teenager grabbed the edge of the dock and pulled himself back up. Xao shook his head and motioned to the boat. "All aboard?" he asked, starting to get on himself.

"Do you have any idea who that boat even belongs to?" I demanded.

Xao looked around the vessel. "Nope. You getting on?"

"That's stealing!" I shouted.

"Not so loud brat!" Regent snapped.

Xao sat down near the stern of the small vessel. "Put it this way to ya. I seriously doubt this is anything but a weekend relaxation ship. Even if someone does miss it, so what? All they'll want it for is a little sunbathing. We're trying to save a nine-year-old boy's life. I think in the grand scheme of things we have a bit of a carte blanche here. Now get on."

"Need I remind you all that I'm in charge of this expedition?" I insisted.

"I didn't know anything about that," Regent answered. "How exactly did that happen?"

"He's the son of a major shareholder back on the homeworld," Jessica explained, which was close enough to the truth anyway. "I'm his bodyguard. So technically he's my boss." Jessica shrugged at me. "So... I mean it's just a five-minute ride out and Regent returns the ship right?" Regent nodded. "Not sure what the problem is here. Time is running out for Tommy I would guess."

I shook my head. "It's not so much taking the boat, it's who we're taking it with," I replied. I waved my hand at Xao. "Go ahead and get on, guess we need to get moving." Jessica folded her arms at me for a few seconds but got onto the ship anyway and I followed after.

Regent piloted the vessel out. Thankfully the vessel had a lower deck for Jessica to change. Us guys changed above, save for Regent who wasn't going with us. Dressed in a blue pair of swim trunks and a re-breather strapped on my back, I took up our new duffel bag and stuffed mine and Xao's clothes in it. Jessica came up in a one-piece and with her own air tank.

The three of us dived into the water, Xao leading the way. As I looked into the blue depths I saw nothing but an ever-approaching darkness as I dived deeper and deeper. Finally, I started to see a glowing shape take form along a wall of rock under the water. A smooth red egg-like design stuck out from the rocks, looking about forty feet long. I approached the object and noticed it was about twenty feet tall. Looking to the rear of the egg I saw what looked like two massive turbine engines, both individually larger than the entire egg shape and seeming to be fighting for position, a mess of heavy cables attaching them to the form.

Xao continued to swim down around the egg form and I followed along with Jessica. Under the large red vessel, Xao pointed up. Looking up I saw a large four-pronged vault handle placed under a large circular door cut into the vessel. He swam up and seemed to have to use all his strength, even using whatever momentum he could garner underwater, to turn the handle. He turned the handle several times and finally the door slowly dropped open. Xao waved to Jessica and I and we followed into the vessel.