“Today, we’re going further into the future than ever before to visit a lost civilization,” Captain Nathaniel announces.

“What about the Marthon?” Haticat asks.

“There is one civilization never overrun by the Marthon. Do you know the story of the Graykar?” Nathaniel asks.

“I’ve never heard of it,” Haticat responds.

Nathaniel explains. “The Graykar were a powerful race of humanoids in the first five hundred years of existence. They lived on the planet Graykar, which circled a very unusual star that was cold, dark, and had a solid, wrinkled surface. They were able to become so powerful by controlling access to the star’s millions of energetic volcanos. What they did not know is that this star of theirs was created during its 506-year cold phase and their power was temporary. Eventually, it went hot and became in most ways a normal star. The radiation was so intense that travel to and from Graykar quickly became impossible. The homeworld became separated from its colony worlds and no one has heard from it since. Nearly one thousand years went by before a clever Saurornithosaur boy scientist figured out that the star’s hot phase was also temporary. He predicted that it would end 40,068 years after it began, returning the star to its cold, wrinkly state, and making it safe once again to land on Graykar. I want to see if the civilization still thrives.”

“I’ll calculate a spacetime interval,” Haticat declares.

“I’m receiving a distress signal,” Haticat reports.

“From what?” Nathaniel asks.

“It looks like a small craft of Footpip make caught in the accretion disk of a neutron star. It has Chijug registration signatures,” Haticat reports.

“Well, let’s help out. Anything for a survivor of Chijug,” Nathaniel comments.

A well-placed charge fired into the concentrated gas disk blows the ship into an elliptical orbit, but its engines are damaged and Nathaniel must quickly dock his ship to the Footpip’s ship in order to rescue him. They close the airlock and pull free from the superhot vortex just in time to avoid irreversible damage to the ship from the onslaught of x-rays and other radiation. Doctor Bill treats the adult Footpip for minor genetic injuries in the medical compartment when Nathaniel stops by to visit. It tells him, “Don’t worry; it’s all over. There’s nothing to be scared about.”

“Good. We’ll drop you off on the nearest inhabited planet. We should be there in a few days,” Nathaniel says.

The green-furred adult suddenly sweeps his hand past Nathaniel’s snout and then makes a fist. “I got your nose.”

“Huh? You never touched me,” Nathaniel says.

“Look.” The Footpip shows Nathaniel the tip of his thumb poking out of his fist.

Nathaniel is confused. “That’s not my nose; that’s your thumb.”

“It’s your nose. I pulled it off,” the Footpip says.

Nathaniel pauses, unsure how to proceed. Was this creature insane? “I can see the ridges of your thumbprint. My nose is still on my face.” He touches his claw to his snout just to be sure.

“Don’t cry. It was only a joke. See?” It opens his hand to show an empty palm.

“I’m not crying. I knew it wasn’t my nose. I would have felt it being pulled off and there would have been blood,” Nathaniel states.

“Don’t cry. It was only a trick. I tricked you,” it says.

“I was never tricked,” Nathaniel responds.

“Yup, I tricked you good,” it continues, chuckling to itself.

Why were adults always so stupid? No wonder this one had flown into a neutron star. “I’ll drop you off on the nearest inhabited planet. There’s a Hammer-Face colony there. They’ll help you.”

“That’s okay. There’s no reason to be scared,” the Footpip says.

“Right,” Nathaniel says, and walks away.

Nathaniel is sick. His healing power can restore him once an infection or injury is over, but not necessarily while it is ongoing. This is a strong pathogen. Thinking back to his latest expedition, he guesses that he picked it up from the jungle of the popping leaves. Every leaf he brushed against would pop and release small amounts of sticky slime. It was a weird planet.

Every joint aches. He is simultaneously too hot and too cold. He wants nothing more than to stay in bed and remain perfectly still, but he itches too much. The urge to scratch is unbearable. He scratches his skin raw and loses half his feathers. Meanwhile, his play-starved Stuffians lie lifeless on the floor. Finally, he rolls over, and walks to a computer terminal. “Where is the best hospital in the galaxy?” he speaks into the microphone. The computer digs through its extensive historical records downloaded from the future. The results show on the screen: Ratula 35, year 4664. He sets the time machine. Within an hour, he is registered and in bed.

“I found a mystery for us to solve,” Captain Nathaniel says, placing a history book on the round table at the very center of his spaceship.

“I like mysteries,” Doctor Bill says.

“I know you do,” Nathaniel responds.

“What is it?” Haticat asks.

“The Gortrons of today are strong fighters known for their bravery and loyalty to allies, but one hundred eighty-seven years ago they had no ships and did not know that other planets existed. This changed when they were invaded by scary aliens with superior technology. The Gortrons repelled the invasion, but the event changed them. Having learned of other races, they developed their own space program and built their own weapons. This one event changed the trajectory of history,” Nathaniel says.

“So what’s the mystery?” Haticat asks.

“Who were the invaders?” Nathaniel asks.

Everything about Nathaniel’s new spaceship is super comfortable. The brightness, noise, gravity, humidity, and temperature adjust with his moods. The bed is amazing. He peeks between the covers to watch the sun rise. Finally, he gets up and puts on his shoes. His Gruezhling crew wakes too, feeding off his play-energy.

This is the day that they travel through time back to the ten years of prohibition on planet Ninosa, which ended long before Nathaniel was born. In those days, the adults decided that salsa was too spicy, candy was too tempting, and that straws and dancing were too dangerous – dancing with straws even more so. Fortunately, guns and scissors were still allowed. Nathaniel plans on helping the boys of the planet by sneaking in supplies of salsa, candy, soda, and straws. He watches the countdown to arrival on the time machine.

Pop! The cross-shaped ship appears on top of a dune in the Ninosan desert. Nathaniel and his crew step outside and look around. There are no adults in sight. There are footprints going right up to the side of the ship, though. “Jasit! Not so fast.” Two boys run around the side of the dune and stop when they see the ship. “Wow.”

“Hi, I am Captain Nathaniel. I’m from the future and I brought candy.”

“We’re not allowed to eat candy,” the first boy says.

“That’s why I brought it,” Nathaniel says.