There was a flash of color, a buzzing sound, and a rush of wind. George felt as if he were in a tunnel of some kind. It was dark, and yet not dark. There seemed to be color everywhere. Was the transporter working?

And then he stumbled through and onto the floor of the Protector’s home.

There was complete silence for a moment. The Protector was lying on the ground next to George, staring about him in wondrous disbelief at their surroundings. Emberly's fluffball shape sat on a chair not far away, and George’s father stood as if in a trance, gazing around at the Protector’s home in amazement.

Suddenly George let out a suppressed yell. “We made it!!” he cried joyously. He stood up, gazing around at the familiar surroundings—the refrigerator wearing a sweater, the screens hanging in the air, the fuzzy furniture with arms poking out of them to scratch the back of whoever sat down, the hat rack and mirror by the door floating in the air as if held up by an invisible force.

“We really made it!” he cried again. Relief flooded over George like a tidal wave. It was unbelievable. After all that had happened, they were back home again! On earth!

“Indeed, we did!” said the Protector happily, getting up and shaking the dust from his clothes. “I wasn’t sure the transporter would be real enough to work—but it did. We’re home! Although for some reason Emberly and I were not instantly transformed into our regular form like normal. But no matter. I can easily transform us later.”

George looked around and saw that it was true. The Protector was still in the form of the swarthy man, and Emberly was still a flibbet.

“Don’t want to be home!” said Emberly abruptly. She was rocking back and forth on the edge of a chair, her tiny flibbet head held dejectedly in her paws.

“But, Emberly—“ began the Protector.

“Don’t want to be home!” cried Emberly again, louder this time. “You took me away from my people! Where I was happy!”

“But Emberly, they weren’t real!” cried the Protector. “And if you’d have stayed, you’d be trapped there forever. You may have died! We had to come back.”

Emberly didn’t respond. She merely turned around in the chair so that her back was to them all.

Even Emberly’s bitter disappointment couldn’t dampen George’s spirits, however. “We’re home!” he kept saying over and over, pacing back and forth. “We really made it home! After all we've been through--being captured by those stupid teddy bears, then trapped by the Grak, and then nearly destroyed by planet L91--we're really back on earth!”

“It’s gone,” said George’s father suddenly, for no apparent reason. He was holding up his hand, looking at it as if he had never seen it before. “Completely vanished.”

“What’s gone?” asked the Protector curiously. George’s father looked up as if realizing for the first time that anyone else was even there. But he didn’t answer. He just kept staring with wide eyes.

“Dad, is anything wrong?” asked George in sudden worry. He stepped toward his father, holding out his hand.

His father took a quick step backward. “Don’t touch me!” he cried. His eyes looked wild, frenzied. Then they softened, and he looked around sheepishly. “Well,” he said suddenly, composing himself with great effort. His voice sounded as if he was trying to sound like nothing was out of the ordinary. “Here we are indeed.” He looked around curiously. “Is this your house, then?” he asked the Protector.

“It is,” said the Protector. George’s father walked over and peered closely at a clear glass box on a little table, with a mushroom stool in front of it.

“That’s the Snorkfinder,” offered the Protector. “It can bring up information on just about any subject you’d like to know about.”

“Fascinating,” said George’s father. He turned toward a plain glass screen with a slot beneath it. It was sitting next to the Snorkfinder.

“That’s the News Finder,” said the Protector. “It brings up news items from everywhere in the galaxy.”

George’s father reached out to touch it, then pulled his hand away. He looked up at the Protector. “You have some amazing things here.” He walked over to the transporter that they had just come through. Just like the one on planet L91, it looked like a door frame made out of some kind of gauzy, colorful material. There was nothing to be seen inside the frame but blackness.

“This transporter is incredible!” he said in awe. “To take us all the way from planet L91 to here in just a step or two!”

Suddenly, a burst of music shocked the room.

“Gorzubee!” cried the Protector, jumping around wildly, and looking frantically for the source of the sound.

The music continued. It was the tune, ‘You Ain’t Nothin’ but a Hound Dog!’ George’s cell phone was ringing!

“Mom is calling!” said George in amazement, taking the cell phone from his pocket where it had sat unused for the last several weeks—indeed, ever since they had left earth, captives of the teddy bears. “How did she know we just got back after all this time?”

“We haven’t been gone, actually,” said the Protector.

“Haven’t been gone?” repeated George dumbly, staring at the Protector. The cell phone kept ringing. “What do you mean?”

“I set the transporter to take us back in time, as well as through space,” replied the Protector simply. “It is now about 10 minutes later than the time we left, when we were captured by the teddy bears all those weeks ago. She has no idea you’ve been gone at all!”

George stared at the Protector in wonder. The cell phone kept ringing. “You can do that?” he said in awe. “Go back in time?”

“Well, not very easily,” said the Protector. “It only works if you’re traveling across many light years to another planet. As you know, the speed of light is closely tied to the passage of time. When you walk through the transporter across that great of a distance, you actually are going much faster than the speed of light. So, in that case, it’s possible to go back or forward in time a bit, if you want to.”

“Incredible!” said George. The cell phone kept ringing. “Aren’t you going to answer it?” asked the Protector. It had rung about 30 times, and showed no signs of stopping. When his mother called, she didn’t hang up until someone answered!

“But I don’t know what to say!” said George. He looked quickly up at his father, who had said nothing this whole time. “Of course, I need to tell her that you’re back …”

“No,” said his father firmly. He crossed the room slowly to face George, while the phone kept ringing. “Let me tell her. But not now.” He turned, and went over to a chair, where he sat down heavily.

“Why?” said George in a voice that sounded very small. “Why?” said George in a voice that sounded very small. It surpassed comprehension that his father would not want to talk to or see his mother right away.

“I’m sick, George,” said his father with a sigh. “You know that. No one can touch me. And with all that’s been happening on L91—I just didn’t think we’d be here this soon.” He paused, smiling slightly. “I know you want more than anything for me to come home and for us all to be together again. But I’m not sure right now is the right time. I need a little more time. Not much. Just another day, to sort out what I’m going to say, how I’m going to explain things …”

George stared at his father for a minute, while the phone continued to ring. “Sure,” he said slowly. “I guess that makes sense. After all, you’ve been through a lot, and you’ve been gone a long time.”

“You’d better answer the phone,” said his father gently. “But don’t tell her I’m here. I know that’s hard. But let me tell her in my own way. Tomorrow. I promise, I’ll do it tomorrow.”

“O.k.” said George in a voice that sounded far away. Slowly he raised the phone to his ear, and clicked the green button.

“George!!” cried his mother’s voice in his ear. She sounded near hysterics. “What’s wrong? Are you o.k.?”

“Yeah, I’m o.k., Mom,” said George, trying to sound as casual as he could. He couldn’t explain why, but he suddenly almost felt like crying. Having seen what looked like his mother on L91; having his father here; the weeks that had passed. It seemed impossible that he was really talking to his real mother on earth, over his cell phone, like he used to do all the time.

“You’re not o.k.!” she contradicted him hotly. “Or you would have answered before letting it ring 50 times!”

“Sorry about that,” apologized George. He tried to think fast. Where had he been all those weeks ago? Or rather, 10 minutes ago, in his mother’s time?

The orchard! Playing with Emberly and the Protector. “I was up a tree, but left my cell phone on the ground. I couldn’t get to the phone,” he lied. “I couldn’t climb down very fast, or I might have fallen.” That was a stroke of genius—a play on her sense of safety.

“Well, you shouldn’t be climbing such tall trees!” she cried loudly in his ear. “And if you do, you should take your cell phone with you. You know you’re supposed to carry it at all times, no matter where you are!”

“I’m sorry, Mom,” George said in a small voice.

“Anyway,” she continued, “It’s time to come home.”

“Aw, Mom,” said George in sincere dismay. Although part of him yearned to rush home as fast as he could, part of him just couldn’t go. Not now. Not with his father here, on earth again at last. And not after having spent so many weeks completely on his own, away from her control.

“No excuses!” cried his mother. “I want you here in fifteen minutes! Understand?”

George looked at his father and the Protector. They each shrugged their shoulders helplessly. “Sure, Mom,” he said. “I’ll be right there.”

“Make sure that you are,” she said curtly. “Good-bye!” There was a click on the other end.

Slowly, George put the phone back in his pocket. “I’ve got to go home,” he said simply.

“We understand,” said the Protector.

“Remember, don’t mention a word about me,” said his father. “I promise I’ll go home tomorrow. Meanwhile, I’m hoping the Protector will be kind enough to let me stay here for the night?” He looked at the Protector hopefully.

“Of course,” said the Protector with a smile.

George didn’t move. How could he leave now? Just a few minutes ago they had been on L91. Now he had to go home and pretend nothing was out of the ordinary!

“You’d better head for home, George,” the Protector said softly. “Come over first chance you get tomorrow. I’m sure your father will be ready then. And feel free to call me on the communicator ring tonight if you need to.”

“Sure,” said George, turning at last to go. This was crazy. But then, everything for the last several weeks had been crazy. He walked across to the door that would lead out to the floor of the passenger seat of the Protector’s car. Once he passed through it he would grow to his normal size, since they were now all shrunk to about 2 inches in height. Then he could open the car door and get out and go home.

Turning, he said simply, “I’ll see you tomorrow, then.” His father and the Protector said nothing. Emberly still had her back turned toward them all.

George swiftly turned the doorknob, plunged through and was gone.