"It's an instinctive response when we are startled or threatened."

"The slugs jumped at you."

"Exactly."

"I suppose I would have dispersed if I could have. So everyone from your realm does this?"

"All animals do in my realm."

"Must be hard to throw a good surprise party." She eyed Sam. "What about you? If your mind tricks aren't part of your evolution, what strange mutation have you brought into the world?"

"We don't fart." He stayed straight-faced for a second, then cracked up.

She looked at Ping.

He shook his head. "That's definitely not true. The boy is noxious."

Mara smiled, looked away from them in an effort to maintain her composure. When she was sure she would not laugh, she turned back to Sam. "Seriously, no slugs, dispersing, nothing?"

"As far as I can tell, I'm just like everyone else around here," he said.

"So all of the pa.s.sengers who survived the plane crash were replaced by someone from another realm?" She looked to Ping.

"That would be the logical conclusion."

"Do you think a lot of them have these unique hereditary traits?"

"I would imagine virtually all of them have something unique to them. They are from completely different worlds. If nothing else, they have unique memories and experiences. Many of them could be radically different, even dangerous, like the slug man. Some could be worse."

"That's over a hundred people running all over the place doing G.o.d-knows-what."

"That's just the beginning of the problem."

"What do you mean?"

Ping nodded at Sam.

"More people might be able to cross over if we can't find the Chronicle and make sure it doesn't fall into the wrong hands," he said. "Remember, that's how all those people got here in the first place."

"You mean all of you people," Mara corrected. "You guys aren't from around here either."

"If we can find and secure the Chronicle, we might be able to prevent more people from crossing over," Ping said. "As far as those already here, we may need to deal with them if they turn out to be dangerous."

"What do you mean, 'we may need to deal with them'?" Mara asked. "What are we going to do, call the alternate-reality border patrol? I'm not interested in getting involved with these people."

"You may not be interested in them, but it appears they are interested in you for some reason. Why do you think Mr. Reilly and his friends showed up in your shop? And do not forget, the police want to know why yours is the only body not recovered from the accident. They may not be able to prove anything, but they suspect you of something."

"I'm not sure what I can do about the cops, but I think I know why Reilly showed up at the shop." Mara reached down and placed the DVD carrier on the table. "He came looking for this."

"What is it?" said Ping.

"Open it up and see."

Sam unzipped the case, looked inside and his jaw dropped.

Ping sat up straighter in response, peeked into the case. "What is it?"

"It's the Chronicle." Sam said it with awe. "Where did you find it?"

"I had it all along. I thought the Chronicle was a ball of blue light. I had no idea it was a copper medallion that turns into a ball of light."

"So you've activated it?" Sam asked, excited.

"Well, no, not really."

"Then how did you know it was the Chronicle? You had to activate it to know what it was. That's the only way you could have known this medallion can become a ball of light."

"Okay, Mr. Prosecutor, I fixed it up, and it began to flip and glow, and it made this huge bubble in the shop, and it displayed a bunch of lines. But I didn't do anything with it. Nothing got blown up. The skies are safe for air travel."

Sam looked at Ping. "If she activated it, you know what that means."

Ping nodded, shifting his eyes to Mara. "She's a progenitor."

"A what?"

"Later," Ping said. "How do you know Reilly came for the Chronicle?"

"He said, if I gave it to him, he would leave me alone. He said he wanted to go home."

"How did he know you have it?"

"I have no idea. I didn't even know I had it until I fixed it on Monday and it started glowing. And, believe me, I didn't tell anyone about that."

"Well, someone knows you have it, and I suspect you are going to have more strange people knocking at your door, hoping to find a way home."

"You're wrong about one thing," she said.

"What's that?"

"I don't have it anymore. It's yours. I don't want it." She grabbed a doughnut and bit into it. Pulling it away from her lips, she scowled at Sam. "Did you do that?"

"No way, sis. Last time I tangled with a progenitor, we took down an airliner."

She pointed the doughnut at him. "I am not your sis."

CHAPTER 29.

MARA PUSHED THE DVD case toward Ping. He responded by looking at his watch, catching Sam's eye and then tapping it with his finger.

"Oh, come on. Can't I stay and help out here?" Sam asked.

"That's not the deal we made. Mrs. Zimmerman is waiting," Ping said.

Sam got up and stomped out of the kitchen, heading for the front door of the bakery.

"Don't slam the door," Ping called after him.

The front door banged closed. Ping smiled at Mara.

"Where's he off to in a huff?" Mara asked.

"School. I hired a tutor for him. Can you believe he has never been to school before?" Ping shook his head. "I may not be a professor in this realm, but I'm not going to sit back and house an illiterate boy, no matter how much he hates the idea."

"Never? Where are his parents?"

"It's a long story. I think I should let him tell his own story. You should sit down with him sometime and get to know him better."

"I don't know. I don't want to make him think, you know."

"What? That you could ever consider him your brother?"

"He's not my brother. It's not a matter of what he or I consider. It just isn't so. It's just a fact. We are not siblings. Let's not have this debate again."

"Okay then. Let's have a different debate," Ping said, pushing the DVD carrier back toward Mara. "You need to keep this. It is your responsibility."

"How did it become my responsibility? I don't own it."

"There is a reason you ended up with the Chronicle. You have a role in what is happening, and you can't simply walk away. You will make things worse if you do. It is something you will have to face."

"To be honest with you, that thing scares me, and having it scares me. If people, or things like the slug man, are going to show up demanding it, I want nothing to do with it." She wrapped her arms around herself, fixing Ping with a defiant look. "I am not taking it. Besides I don't have a safe place to keep it."

Ping stood up, opened the carrier and removed the copper medallion. "I'll keep it in my safe for the time being. I'll give you the combination in case you need to get to it."

"Why would I need to get to it?"

Ping did not answer. He walked to his office and returned a moment later with a piece of paper with five numbers written on it. As he handed it to Mara, a loud knock came from the front of the bakery.

Ping jumped from his seat and disappeared into the front of the bakery. Mara heard a m.u.f.fled exchange before Ping leaned back into the kitchen.

"Mara, Special Agent Suter and Detective Bohannon are out here. They want to talk to you."

Suter snapped his head to face Mara as she stepped through the swinging doors from the kitchen to stand behind the counter. No lights had been turned on in the public area of the bakery, and the overcast day provided only muted light. A trick of light and a prominent brow made the FBI agent's eye sockets looked blacked out. Bohannon stood beside him, rolling his broad shoulders and nodding when Mara approached.

"I'll let you talk," Ping said. "I've got some work to do in the back."

"We would prefer if you stayed, Mr. Ping. This involves you as well," Suter said, his tone indicating it was not a request.

"Very well." He raised an eyebrow at Mara.

"Where is the boy, Sam?" Suter asked.

"He's at school. Why do you want to know?" Ping asked.

"Why are you answering? Isn't she the sister?" Suter asked.

"He's at school. Why do you want to know?" Mara repeated.

"Why aren't you in school, Ms. Lantern?"

"I wasn't aware the FBI enforced high school truancy." She paused for a beat, decided being flippant might not be a good idea and said, "I graduated early thanks to a few community college courses."

"We did some looking around, and, come to find out, you don't have a brother, at least not a live one. There's a death certificate on file for a Sam Lantern, who apparently died three days after he was born almost fourteen years ago, to your mother, Diana."

Ping raised an eyebrow in Mara's direction. She avoided his eyes.

"Who was that boy in your shop the other day?"

"He is my responsibility," Ping said.

"Okay, I'll ask you. Who is he?" Suter asked.

"He's my nephew, actually the son of a very close friend, not technically a relative. He's staying with me for a while."

"What's his name, and why is he telling people that he's her dead brother?"

"Sam Bolton. He can be somewhat inappropriate sometimes, especially with authority figures such as yourselves." Ping nodded toward them. "He meant no harm, I am sure."

"I see," Suter said. "Maybe we will have better luck with you." He turned to Mara, wiped the sweat from his forehead. A twitch pulsed under his left eye.

"Are you okay? You don't look so well," Mara said.

"Don't worry about me, Ms. Lantern. You've got enough to worry about," he said. "Let's talk about what you remember from your flight to San Francisco. I don't believe you told us the whole story the last time."

"What in particular do you want to know?"

"Where were you when the explosion occurred aboard the airplane, Ms. Lantern?"

"I told you, I don't remember an explosion."

"You went to sleep and woke up in the hospital. That's all you remember?"