*Before…

“You call me later tonight, we can like talk?” I say.
“Aren’t you going to be asleep?”
“I’m leaving early for Halifax so not likely and especially after this.”
“Okay.”
I look at her when we break the hug. “You going to be okay?”
She nods and sniffles. “Yeah, hey when you get back maybe you can come up and like hang out and stuff?”
She looks at her mom who is giving her this look and Penny signs something to her and she looks and me and she signs and does that deaf talking thing. “It’s cool with me, we’re all good.” and she does that close her mouth thing and turns the key and tosses it away thing.
I look right at her and say so she can read me better. “Thanks Aunt Maggie.”
She hugs me and Penny does too and they head out right after that since it’s late enough and it’s still like a two hour drive for them to get home and I go and I actually try and help mom with cleaning stuff up and avoiding the he’s gay looks from the gousins that are getting read the riot act from Great Uncle Peter who’s taking keys and going off about drinking and driving.
Soon…soon I’ll be out of here.

*And Now…

“Urgh,” I moan as I wake up from a dreamless sleep, only to grimace as I feel the front of my pyjamas to discover that whilst I may not have had a ‘normal’ dream, I certainly had another type of ‘dream’ during the night. I sigh as I wash my face, before pulling on my school uniform and slinking down the stairs, where my parents are waiting with a wide smile on their face, as are all three of my sisters… And my new baby brother.

“Morning, Ashley!” Dad chuckles in an artificially deep voice, light-heartedly mocking the fact that my own voice has recently deepened a lot.

Chapter 1
The move

Spring break wasn’t as much fun as it could have, that is, should have been. You’d think that when your mother won the lottery for 1.7 million dollars, that you’d be doing something really great on spring break. But no, my sister, Lucy, and I were packing boxes. Mom had this really weird idea. She grew up on the farm and thought there was nothing more wholesome than living on a farm. She sold the house and between her first year's annuity check and the equity in the house, she bought twenty acres with a house and an old fashion barn.

“I’m on the run, nowhere to go. Living where I can.” Those are the thoughts that are running rampant in the head of 7 year old Kyle. Kyle tries to forget what happened to his family, but he cannot out of fear for his life. What does life have in store for Kyle? Will he find the meaning of life? Or will he live in agony for the rest of his life?

Chapter One:

Sydney Moya

© 2016

Synopsis

A man left his home town years ago as a teenager. Now he returns but is very different from the person who left years ago.

The crew of the Vasco da Gama have discovered that Anmar keeps a secret, that Vast, Multidimensional Beings colonized it long before humans on Earth even had written language - and are still doing so. It seems there is a threat to the galaxy and long-term plans have been made to defend it. Some of the audience is naturally skeptical. Then King Keren makes things worse by inviting a long-dead Queen to tell them what is really happening, and the crew learn that everything they thought they knew bears little resemblance to the truth.

Somewhere Else Entirely

by Penny Lane

Epilogue 3 - The Great Plan

*Before…

I finish my lessons and skip ahead with two of the ones that are the most tedious for me and that’s calibrations and drive signatures and because they’re tedious I push myself a little harder because the things I like I tend to learn really fast and see through and I even ask the system for a quiz in each before setting my alarm in my OBC to wake me in plenty of time to catch my shuttle down to the surface.

New Ithaca… I wonder what it’s really like down there instead of the vids and the sim stuff. It’ll be my first of The Zodes that I’ll have set foot on and there’ll be deviants or deviations there right in the populace.

I’m not nervous but it’s still very, very different.

It also makes me wonder about my first contact friend, where are they and what are they doing?

*And Now…

Cleo said, “Astrid he knows who we are?”

“Yes I know. Tinkerbell has gone to watch what he does.”

“Look he is approaching.”

Alexis pulled a map of Europe out and looked. “Yes that would be feasible as Innsbruck is not too far away and there are certain sites I would like to visit.”

Goldie, “Am I included in the visit?”

Max carried a very tired Lucy to the stateroom while Louise pushed her sister Lucinda. "You know Lucy is correct about the family. You and Max are ideally placed to both log all those affected and give them a full medical at the same time."

An interstellar survey craft arrives in a previously unexplored star system to begin to evaluate the resources which may be available. At first, everything proceeds smoothly but then the unexpected happens, and even the most outlandish theories struggle to explain the bizarre circumstances facing the explorers.

Somewhere Else Entirely

by Penny Lane

Epilogue 1 - The Impossible World

Author's Note: This chapter is set 206 years after the events in Chapter 138.

With sincere apologies to the talented Ellie Dauber. The characters used are from her stories Slow Justice and Triple Play

No sooner had they merged with Alexis than Angela entered the room and said, “Our help is needed again this time in Kashmir.”

Astrol, “Mum the Giant Tortoise spoke to us.”

And she said, “Bring my children to me so we took all the tortoises that had been recovered from the fire.”

Draco, “I would like to see the giant Tortoise.” Alexis and the others went to the paddock.

The giant tortoise, “Greetings Lord Draco, I thank your children for their help in recovering my family.”

Young Battenberg was the first into the doctor’s office. He looked around rather scared and saw Rose & Anne Marie. He stood to attention and passed all the initial tests.

“Strip completely," said the doctor, "Did you not here me I said strip completely. I have seen enough naked men before."

"But sir I am not a normal naked man."

Lynn, “We need you to help look after your mummy. So you will have to tell us all she likes. Also you will have to go to school and there you will make friends of the same age as your self. I would not tell them you are to be a queen though that will be our secret for the time being."

“Will you and grandpa take me and collect me as I might get lost on my own?”

“Mistress I recognise that scene it is from Star wars.”