The alarmin' thought that our hometown of Burns was possibly in danger from driftin' radiation made my head pound. I couldn't catch a breath. I had ta tell myself, Wishes, breathe. Ya don't know for sure what's gonna happen. If'n ya do your job, atom bombs won't fall. War won't begin, and Burns is gonna be safe.

I was 'bout ta ask Freck if she was feelin' the same way, though I really didn't have ta ask at all. I could tell. I knew Freck so well that the grayish color of her face was sayin' aplenty. I reached out with my mind and said, "Freck?"

"What?"

"I was just wonderin' if'n yer scared as much as me?"

"I sure am, but I keep rememberin' what your daddy tol' ya. There's two kinda scares. The first kind is like what we felt when chased by that lairbeast in Howlin' Woods. We hid inside the dead fronds, and held on ta that cabbage palm for all we was worth. We didn't get kilt, but it was awful close. Think on this, if'n we died that day it woud'a been terrible, but we would'a gone on ta heaven. When ya think 'bout it that way, how bad could it be?

"The second scare is what ya feel for other people. Ya want 'em to stay safe. What if it is your sworn duty to keep 'em safe? How would ya feel if'n it was yer job, and ya blew it? Ya'd be crushed, wouldn't ya? You would never forgive yerself."

"Freck, I knows we're just talkin' what if's, but this is actual. There's nobody else who can fix it, and I don't see us makin' a darn bit of difference."

'Bout then Gee broke in, "Children calm down. If you pack your minds full of failure talk, you will fail. Success depends on believing that you can do it. If your mind is trying stop you, it is doing its job. The brain insists on keeping the body safe.

"Do you trust me?"

"Absolutely," I said, and Freck nodded.

"Do you believe me when I say, you will not fail? Remember, even though I am not in the airplane with you, we can still engage in co-operative cigam mind-to-mind. Whatever it takes to convince them is what we will do. We conquered the lairbeasts threatening Burns with your imaginations and my cigam. You are not all by yourselves. We are the Gee Team."

"Thanks Gee," we both said at the same time. He always had a way of liftin' our spirits.

"Wishes," Gee offered, "You could use your time travel ability to visit the near future. If you succeed with their Rule Makers, which you will, the people of Hollow Earth will be at peace. If you see panic, however, we call it all off and make plans to move you and your loved ones to somewhere safe."

Just then Captain Bobcat cried out, "Look out the cockpit window. Do you see what's coming straight at us?"

We looked outta the winda. My chin dropped, and my eyes was buggin'. "Freck do ya see what I'm seein'?"

Freck wiped her eyes like she couldn't believe what they was showin' her b'fore sayin', "Ever'body 'cept weirdo kooks, knows that flyin' saucers ain't real, right?"

"They look real enough ta me!" Two shiny chrome orbs was apprachin' fast. What was they? Then I recalled from Byrd's journal that they was called flugelrads.

As they got nearer, they slowed down. I asked myself, could a rocket do that? No way. As we was watchin', they split up. One went right, and the other left. They pulled up purty close on either side of Ol' Grizz. Now that they was near we could see that they matched every description Topside eyewitnesses ever gave. They was round like a wheel. They had a kinda funnel shape bein' thinner at the edges and thicker towards the middle. At the center was a big silver bubble. I supposed that's where their pilot sat, but I couldn't say for sure 'cuz there warn't no windas ta see inta.

They slowed to match the speed of Ol' Grizz. I figured they was escortin' not attackin'.

A message was sent through the cockpit radio, but Major Hoskins couldn't understand it.

Freck stepped forward. "'S'cuse me Captain. I know's what they's sayin'. Could you let me talk ta 'em?"

He was glad to release control of the radio. Freck put on the headset and spoke to 'em in their own language. "I apologize for the pilot. He doesn't speak Arianni, but I do. Please repeat."

The radio crackled, b'cause, you know, that's what radios do. Freck was noddin' her head while she listened. She turned to the Captain and said, "They want us ta follow 'em. We are about 45 minutes out, so they suggest we just relax and enjoy the ride. They also told me that they will take us as near as they can ta the ground. That way we can get a good look at the scenery."

"Did they say how close?"

"No Captain Bob, but I'll ask 'em. She did, and reported, "100 to 150 feet. They recommend you throttle back ta 120."

"Good gawd, at that speed, and altitude, any air pocket we hit would surely cause us to crash."

Freck spoke into the microphone, once again noddin' her head. "They tell me not ta worry. We's protected by an anti-gravity net. In a minute they will take over the controls. It's their solemn duty ta make sure we arrive at the capital—unscathed."

"Freck are you saying I have to release control of the plane to them . . . them . . . whatever they are?"

"I don't think ya gotta choice."

If'n we had 45 minutes, I was gonna go ahead and do what Gee suggested. I jumped forward in time. I believed the future blueprints would tell me exactly, one way or another. They didn't. I jumped back. Freck was beside me, so I said, "I transported forward in time, but cain't decipher what the blueprints say."

"What do ya mean Wishes? How far forward did ya go."

"I only went two days."

"Didn't ya tell us that the closer in time ya went the more definite the future b'comes?"

"I did, but this time it was different. There was two plans bein' built. One was if we convinced the Rule Makers, and the other if we didn't."

"How do ya like that?" She fretted, " Even the doggone future cain't makeup its mind."

"It's all on us, Freck, and we ain't no superheroes. We's just two kids from a small town in Florida." It was hopelessness I felt, and Freck reflected in her tslumped over posture. It waren't just the weight of the world on our shoulders, but maybe the future of all in-worlds too. There couldn't be no heavier burden.

Gee had sumpin' ta say, "Remember, it is up to all three of us. You are not alone."

◽️◽️◽️

Since there warn't anythin' else ta do, but mope, we turned our attention ta outside. At 150 feet going 120 mph ya couldn't see much more than green blurs as we sped past. Lookin' ahead was better. Holl'a Earth was an overgrown jungle, like the canopies in Locci Woods. We caught sight of some dairy animals ahead. They was familiar, but somethin' warn't quite right. "Freck, what's wrong with them cows?"

By the look in her eyes, I saw she was confused too.

Captain Bobcat helped, "Those cows out there grazing, look like ours, but notice their legs."

Freck remarked, "Them legs are too long. They gotta be twice as tall as cows Topside."

She was right. They had legs long enough ta step right over a fence. Ta milk 'em ya'd hafta stand up. Maybe even use a ladder. That was weird, but not as weird as the birds we passed. They was all bigger than what we was used ta. An eagle swooped down. Holy heck it was almost as large as Ol' Grizz. Out of reflex, I ducked.

In his diary, Admiral Byrd wrote that he saw a Wooly Mammoth. "Freck," I shouted ta be heard over the plane's noise, "do ya think there's dinosaurs down there?"

She was glued to the winda. "I'm not sure, " she replied, talkin' outta the side of her mouth so's not to take her eyes away from the view. "I did glimpse sumpin' that was gray, and bigger than the trees. We's goin' too fast to get a good look. It coulda been a dinosaur.

Forty-five minutes goes by quick when yer fascinated by stuff ya ain't never seen before.

Captain Haskins hollered, "Buckle up. It looks like we're landing."

So we strapped in good and tight. Freck asked me, "What do ya feel?"

"Nuthin'."

"Me neither. Ever' landin' we made b'fore was bumpy, right?"

"Right . . . "

"But this one's different. It feels like we're landin' on cotton balls."

"Yeah it does. I wish they was all like this," I said. "Those bumpy landin's make my hands sweat."

Once we came ta a complete stop, the Captain lowered the rear exit stairs. At the bottom Freck tested the runway surface with her foot, just ta make sure we didn't sink inta an ocean of cotton balls. I did it too. Contrary to the feel of the landin', it was firm, so's we took our first step forward.

We was gawkin' 'round when I spotted a small group of people comin' towards us. It didn't take 'em long ta reach us 'cuz of their stretched out legs. I wondered if evey creature here had those same kinda gangly legs.

Once the group arrived, a dark haired man with a full beard nearly down ta his waist, stepped forward. His eyes were sparklin' and he had warm smile. In fact, all of them were smilin' like they was greetin' long lost friends. The dark haired man welcomed us to Shangri-La and introduced himself as Finny, the Arianni gentleman Freck spoke over the radio.

Freck was real happy to meet him in person. She scurried over, and hugged his knees. Finny had ta sit down ta get more eye-to-eye with us. The Ariannis warn't giants exactly. They was very tall, and thin. Giants like in "Jack and the Beanstalk" was more like overgrown professional wrestlers. These people reminded me of stretched out taffy. They was so friendly ya couldn't help but like 'em. I walked over and joined Freck who was standin' next to the now sittin' Mister Finny. Even on his b'hind he was still taller than us. Just then I had a funny thought. I pictured Finny playin' basketball in the NBA. He'd tower over anyone on the team, even if'n they was seven footers. All's Finny would have ta do is hold the ball up real high to keep it out of reach. Can ya just imagine NBA'ers jumpin' up and down tryin' to touch the ball? I could, and it made me laugh, out loud.

Freck gave me a cockeyed look and said, "What ya laughin' 'bout?"

I didn't wanna embarrass anyone, so's I tol' her, "I really cain't believe we actually got here after all our attempts. It's such a relief."

'Bout that time Finny stood up and announced that we had ta get goin'. We obviously had urgent matters ta take up with the Rule Makers. He told Captain Bobcat ta stay with the airplane while they took us ta the capital. The major b'gan ta argue, "These children are here with me. I am responsible for their safety. I'm not gonna let them . . . "

Finny stopped him by raisin' his huge hand and spreadin' his fingers, "Even though I can see you are concerned, you do not speak our language. That's a handicap. How would you know if someone meant to harm them?" Freck translated Arianni for the Captain. "Furthermore they are now protected by me and these others. No harm will come to them. I will personally see to it."

Even though the Major was clearly unhappy 'bout the situation, ya could tell that he understood. He grumbled, "If they are harmed in any way, I'll see to it that you all pay a heavy price."

What else could he say? It didn't look like any of 'em was offended. Thank goodness.

With them long, long legs anyone could tell we wouldn't be able ta keep up. They brung along a two wheeled cart with two cushioned seats. It reminded me of those, whatcha call 'em, rickshaws, but not so gussied up. One of the group introduced himself as Shing, placed a footstool to help us get on. Shing was a bit shorter than Finny and his hair was blonde. He held out his hand for us to balance ourselves while climbin' onta our seats.

Once we were settled Shing grabbed a'hold of one pole, and someone else got the other. Finny asked us, "Are you ready? Have you buckled the seat belts?" He double checked, just in case.

We thought we was good ta go, but when the group started runnin' we was goin' faster than an Indy 500 race car. My face was pullin' toward my ears and my head pushed so hard 'gainst the headrest I could barely lift it. We was headed ta the city. Once we got there, they slowed down so as not to run over anybody. Finny pointed out the capital building and said, "That is where we are going."