Prologue

“Our people have traveled among the stars since the beginning of recorded history. It was many millennia ago when we learned how to use the time warps and travel to other planets. We did this in our quest for knowledge and allegiance with others like ourselves. In our travels, we came upon the third planet from the sun, or at least that is what the people on this planet called the star they worshiped.

“They called us Gods and were amazed when we built many landing pads for our crafts as well as many fortifications and buildings. We had a good relationship with these people. They worshipped us and in return we taught them many of the skills we’d perfected. These skills were medicine, mathematics, and language, both written and spoken.”

Nina looked up from the words of the history book the university had uploaded to her e-reader. “If we taught them so much, why did we have to leave?”

Her father, Dragger, smiled, as he usually did before answering her questions. “There was a war being fought here on Plantas, our home planet, and those who were sent to what the natives called Earth were required to return to fight in the war. We felt we left them well prepared to populate their planet and grow in their knowledge.”

“If they have been growing all these years, why are we going back now?”

“Because my darling daughter, we have been sending scouts back over the years to check on their progress. From what they have told us, the people on Earth have reached a point where they are ready for us to return.”

Nina felt the cold fingers of fear clutch her heart. “Are you telling me you will be leaving here to go to some unknown planet? Who all is going? Will I ever see you again?”

“Never fear, daughter, the journey is a safe one, much safer than when our ancestors took to the heavens. We have the technology that will make a journey of many light-years in a matter of months by using the time warps. That brings me to the reason I asked you to study the history of the ancients. You are one of our top-ranking accredited scientists. You will be of the utmost importance to our mission. Once we land, we will need someone of your beauty and intelligence to communicate with these people. Through you and the others of our party we will let them know of our peaceful mission.”

Nina took a deep breath. “What if I do not want to embark on such a journey?”

Her mother, Moorea, joined the conversation. “I know it is a lot to ask of you, but this is for science, for the continuance of our people and…” Moorea started to cry as she said the words.

“What your mother is trying to say is that many of our people will be making this journey with us. The star that controls our planet is dying out. We’ve known this for many generations, but our people have not wanted to admit it. Now there is no denying what will eventually happen. Our people will be returning to the planets we worked with in the past and build a future for ourselves. Since we have been to these planets before, we know their atmosphere is compatible with us and we hope we will be welcomed.”

Nina watched as her parents left her alone in the study, to return to reading the ancient history of her people. She thought about what her father said about their sun dying out. Throughout her lifetime she’d been told there was a return to the ice age that she read about in the history books. Now she realized it was because the source of their warmth was dying.

She continued to contemplate her future. Will the people on Earth welcome us or see us as enemies?

Rather than continue her studies, she dressed to go out. She needed to meet with her friends at the club and see if they knew what her parents were talking about.

~ * ~

As soon as Nina entered the club, she saw Ragnar waiting for her. With all her heart, she prayed he would tell her whatever her father said was untrue. They would not be leaving Plantar and their lives could go on as they had been in the past.

“I assume you have heard of the evacuation of our planet. I have been told to prepare for a journey to Seros,” Ragnar greeted her.

Nina’s heart sank. Instead of reassurance, Ragnar was confirming what her father and mother told her earlier in the day.

“Seros? Father said we are going to Earth. Can it possibly be true we could be going to separate planets in the Galaxy?”

“I’m afraid so, Nina. Father told me a third of our people are going to Seros, a third to Nalo, and the remaining third to Earth. No matter how many light-years separate us, I will never forget you. Did your father tell you when you will be leaving?”

Nina shook her head, tears forming in her violet eyes. “He told me I should study the history of the ancients. When I questioned him about it, he told me we would be going to Earth. Now you tell me not everyone is going to the same place. This is an outrage. What if I refuse to go with my parents and go with you?”

Ragnar got to his feet and pulled her into his loving embrace. She wanted this security to last forever. To her dismay, he broke their embrace and held her at arm’s length. Even though she knew what he was going to say, she wished it could be something else.

“That, my dear, is impossible. My parents are going to the planet where our people started their civilizations. I have to go to Seros just as you have to go to Earth. Your ancestors were the ones to first work with the people there. It is only fitting you would be the people to return and see how the work of your ancestors have progressed.”

“Is it true we have sent people to these planets to monitor their progress?”

Ragnar smiled at her question. “It is very true. My brother just returned from a mission to Seros. He told me wonderful stories about the planet. I’m sure you will find you have family who have also traveled to Earth. Your father has sheltered you too much for your own good. He should have told you about these plans years ago. Face it, Nina, you will be embarking on the adventure of your life. I’m looking forward to seeing a new planet and meeting new people.”

“I don’t want to leave here, leave you. I always thought…”

“You thought wrong. It’s not that I don’t love you, Nina, but I want adventure in my life. Besides, we’re much too young to be committed to one another.”

“Men,” Nina declared as she stormed out of the club.

~ * ~

Watching her leave tore at Ragnar’s heart. He wanted to follow her and tell her how much he loved her, but the die had been cast. Unfortunately, neither of them would be able to change it.

His destiny was at one end of the Galaxy and hers at the other. Last evening he’d told his father about his feelings for Nina. His father was adamant. Their family belonged on Seros, while Nina’s family belonged on Earth. It was only right. Nothing either of them could say or do would change the inevitable.

If only I could tell you how I feel about you, Nina. Once we leave this planet, we will not be able see each other again. I swear I will never forget you or the love I feel for you. If I could I would go to Earth with you, but it is impossible. For now, it must be good-bye.

Chapter One

“I think you’ve lost your mind, Rand Jacobson,” Cynthia Adams screamed. “I’m sure you’ve been watching too many of those Ancient Aliens shows on TV. Why in the hell do you think you need to run off to Peru? If you do, don’t expect me to be waiting for you when you get back. I have better things to do than to wait for you to go gallivanting off to South America and play archeologist.”

Rand listened to Cyn’s rant long enough. “Look, Cyn, you know I’m studying archeology and this is an important project. I’m honored to be asked to go to Peru, especially since I don’t have my doctorate yet. As for you waiting for me, I know I’m only your boyfriend of the month. I’ve been told you are getting cozy with Jack Pearson. I doubt you’ll be crying about me leaving for too long. From what I hear Jack will be graduating and going into his father’s law practice. He’ll be more than happy to take care of you.”

“Why you…you bastard. How dare you accuse me of something like looking for a new boyfriend while I’m dating you? Well, since you won’t be around I’ll need someone who is more stable than you are. I hope you get sunstroke or poisoning from the water at that god-awful dig. Have a nice life, Rand. I’m certain I will.”

Before he could stop her, she raised her hand and slapped him hard on the cheek. Rand knew she had a temper, but he didn’t expect her to slap him in the face. After she landed her slap to his cheek, she stormed out of his apartment, slamming the door in her wake.

“That didn’t go too well, did it?” Rand’s roommate, Paul Mathews, said, coming out of the bedroom.

“I didn’t expect it to.”

“Did you have to throw Jack in her face?”

“Why not? It was Jack who told me she was planning to break things off with me. I just beat her to the punch, is all. As far as I can see Jack can have Cyn. I hope he can handle her. I thought I’d found heaven on earth when we first got together. It didn’t take long to hear all the rumors about her. She’s high-maintenance and I can’t afford someone like her in my life.”

“So, have you heard when we’ll be leaving for Peru?”

“I was going to tell you when Cyn showed up. I got the letter today. It says we’re going to be leaving a week from Saturday. Do you think you can be ready that soon?”

Paul smiled.

They’d met when they were freshmen in college and formed an immediate friendship. Rand knew he and Paul were going to be roommates as soon as they were able to leave the dorms and live off campus in their junior year. After graduation, they’d both applied to the master’s program with the university to pursue their degrees in archaeology. Being able to go on this dig in Peru was a dream come true for both of them.

“If we’re leaving in a little over a week, we both have a lot to do,” Paul said. “I guess I’ll be going out to see my folks this weekend and break the news to them. What about you?”

Rand thought for a moment. He wished he could say he had parents to bid farewell to, but they’d never been in the picture. He’d been taken away from them as a young boy and put in the system. Over the years, he’d been shuffled from family to family until at last he landed in the home of Bridget and Matt Scott. At the time, he was thirteen and very rebellious. Matt was strict, but he was also the one who instilled a love of archaeology in Rand. Even though Matt didn’t have a degree, he and Bridget spent two weeks every summer on a dig somewhere in the United States.

Although Bridget and Matt wanted to adopt him, the foster program told them he was too old to give up the surname of his birth parents. They even insinuated it was possible they would, maybe someday, decide they wanted to reconnect with him and wouldn’t be able to do so if he no longer carried their name.

The first summer, Rand had been reluctant to go with his new foster parents, but in the end, he fell in love with their summer excursions. Matt awakened a love in Rand he never thought would be possible. With his foster father’s guidance, he’d excelled in school. Unfortunately, while he was still in college, Matt contracted pancreatic cancer and passed away within months of the diagnosis. Six months later Bridget passed away. Although the doctors said she had a massive heart attack, Rand knew she died of a broken heart.

I wish I could come home and tell you all about the plans I have for the next few months. I know this dig is one you would love to come on with me. I’m doing this for both of you.

“Earth to Rand. Earth to Rand. Are you here or somewhere off in lala land? You didn’t answer my question. What are you planning to do?”

“Sorry about that, Buddy. I think I might go along with you. I don’t have anyone to say goodbye to. Hopefully your folks will welcome me with open arms.”

“You know they will. Haven’t you ever thought about looking up your birth parents?”

Paul’s question took him off guard. “You know my background. As far as I’m concerned, Matt and Bridget were my parents. They were the ones who paid for my college and post-grad education. They also left me their entire estate when they died. To be truthful, I wish they were here so I could tell them about this opportunity. They’d love to go on this trip with me. I like to think they’re watching over me.”

You know we are, Rand. We will be with you all the way on this trip. Something tells me you will get more out of this trip to Peru than you ever expected.

Rand shook his head. He was unsure if he actually heard Matt talking to him within the confines of his mind. He’d heard people talk about hearing from their loved ones once they passed away, but he honestly didn’t believe it would ever happen to him.

After hearing Matt’s unexpected voice, Rand thought about the people who had given him life. Was it possible they might try to find him someday? If they did, how would he react to them stepping back into his life? He didn’t remember his father and barely remembered the mother who had been declared unfit to raise a child. If they did reappear, would he find he had brothers and sisters? The thought of family other than Bridget and Matt was intriguing and at the same time frightening.

“You know the folks will enjoy having you come with me. What are we waiting for? We’re done with our classes for the semester, so that means we’re free as the birds. You don’t have anything holding you here. Cyn is out and adventure is in. I’m more than ready to blow this pop stand. Our lease is up at the end of the month, so why wait to move out?”

“I agree. Since the furniture came with this place, we only have our personal belongings to move out. Hopefully the landlord will give us back our security deposit.”

Paul laughed at Rand’s suggestion. “He will if we get this place cleaned up. It’s not like we have been having tons of wild parties. I think we can have everything cleaned up and packed by the weekend. I’ll give Mom a call and let her know to expect us on Sunday.”

~ * ~

By Saturday afternoon they were waiting for the landlord to make his inspection. With everything packed in Paul’s Jeep they were ready to leave as soon as they got the final approval of the work they’d done.

While Paul would be able to store his vehicle with his parents, Rand didn’t have the same option. He’d been relieved when he was able to sell his VW with an ad he’d placed on the bulletin board at the student union. As much as he hated to see his car go to a new owner, he was relieved not to have to pay storage fees for the time they’d be gone.

“I didn’t think you’d really go through with this craziness,” Cyn called as she came into the apartment.

“I didn’t expect to see you today,” Rand said, trying to keep the surprise out of his voice. Even though he knew she was ready to dump him, he still harbored feelings for her.

“You don’t know how much you hurt me when you decided to take on this crazy project. I was hoping you’d say you’d changed your mind and wanted to be back with me again.”

Paul rolled his eyes and Rand knew exactly what he was thinking. Through the grapevine they’d heard how Cyn left their apartment and went directly to Jack’s townhouse only to find him there with another girl. It was evident Cyn didn’t want to be without a man in her life for any length of time.

“Our plans are made and we’re just waiting for the landlord to come over to sign off on our clean up and return our security. You have to understand Cyn, it was over even before I told you about our plans. You’ll do fine. I’m sure you and Jack will be very happy.”

As though on cue, Cyn broke down and cried. “I went to Jack’s place to tell him we could be together and he…he was in bed with another woman. How could he do this to me?”

She threw her arms around Rand’s neck and buried her face against his shirt, wetting it with her tears.

Rather than embrace Cyn, as he was certain she wanted, he held up his hands in surrender. “Your dramatics aren’t going to change my mind, Cyn. As soon as we’re cleared on this place, we’re leaving to spend the next week with Paul’s parents before we leave for Peru.”

Gently, he disentangled himself from her unwanted embrace. He steeled himself for the slap he knew would be coming. Instead, she turned off her tears as though they were controlled with a faucet and hurried to her car. “Have a good life, Randsom Jacobson. I’m sure I will. You don’t know what you’re giving up. Just don’t look for me to be waiting for you when you get back from your little adventure.”

She squealed her tires as she pulled out of the parking lot of their apartment building.

The car no more than turned the corner when the landlord pulled in. “A friend of yours?” he asked.

“Not anymore,” Rand replied.

It took only a few minutes for the walk through with the landlord. Within the hour, they were on the road driving toward Paul’s parents’ ranch, their security deposit in hand.

The adventure of their lifetimes had begun.

~ * ~

The plane touched down at the small airport not far from the dig. They were met by Dr. Irvin Clark who told them to call him Irv.

It didn’t take them long to make the trip from the airport to the dig and to get settled in. The real work wouldn’t begin until Monday morning, so they had time to acquaint themselves with the people they’d be working with for the next several months.

“How far are we from the Nazca Plains?” Rand asked.

“I’m glad you asked. I was hoping to take the two of you up there to see them next weekend. It will give you time to get acclimated to the area. We aren’t far from there and it’s something you should see. You do understand this is a teaching dig. We have been working it for a long time and the two of you have come highly recommended from the University. Part of the education is taking you to some of the better-known locations in the area. This is something we do with the new arrivals on their first weekend. Who knows, one of these weekends we could get lucky and be contacted by aliens.” Irv winked mischievously.

“You’re kidding, right?” Rand said, his mind reeling with the possibilities.

“I wish I was. I’ve seen lots of strange lights in the sky. Some people say there has been a lot of UFO activity in the area over the last couple of years. One never knows what could be happening to us.”

Rand was certain it was all something Irv told each new group of students who came to work at the dig. Even so, he wondered if any of it could be true.

It would be a dream come true if it did happen. Matt would be thrilled to hear about anything supernatural happing during my stay here.

These are exciting times, Rand. You will be seeing the beginning of a new age and you will be on the cutting edge of everything. I always knew you were destined for great things. Now the fates have confirmed it. How I wish I could be there with you, but of course my spirit is always by your side. You know Bridget and I have always loved you as our own. Make us proud.

The sound of Matt’s voice was comforting as well as confusing. What could he know from beyond the grave about what the future held?