Chapter Seven: Off Course

Back at Bobby's, Tony was trying to help out by doing some chores. The phone rang, and no one was around, so Tony answered it.

"Tony, is that you?" Phillip asked.

"Yeah Phillip, what's up?" Tony asked.

"You've got to get down here to the library right away!"

"Why?" Tony asked. "What's up?"

"We're not on Earth! At least, not our version of Earth! We're stuck in an alternate version of Earth from one of your graphic novels!"

"Why do I have to go down there?" Tony asked. "Why can't you tell me anything I need to know over the phone?"

"Because I want you to see the proof! Just get down here!"

"I'll be right there after In finish sweeping up this kitchen. Bye!"

Tony finished what he was doing, then headed out the door, and walked to the library. He remembered the directions Bobby had given to Phillip, and got there within fifteen minutes. Once inside, Phillip ushered him over to a table piled with books.

"Do you see that map of the United States up there?" said Phillip. "There is a state called Remington that doesn't exist in the real world, and their constitution is different!" Phillip picked up the book on the U.S. Presidents. "Look at their current President! Instead of Barack Obama, it's some black guy who looks like Denzel Washington!"

Tony looked at the photo of their current president. "Yeah, that is weird!"

"Why did you create such a weird world?" Phillip asked. "Why did it have to be different than our world?"

"I write all my graphic novels by speaking into a recorder, then I write it all out afterwards," said Tony. "I think when I was working on the part of the story where I mentioned their version of Earth, I was drunk, and after I sobered up, I wrote it out and kept it as part of the story. I never knew it would come back to haunt me!"

"Look at this!" said Phillip. "Their eighth amendment is different than ours. They don't have a law protecting their citizens from cruel and unusual punishment!"

Tony looked through the book that listed the amendments of the U.S. Constitution.

"The reason I did that is because I have a story set in this world, but a hundred years in the future, after shrink-rays were invented. I needed to come up with a way for shrunken people to be sold as toys, so I just omitted that amendment!"

"This world is so radically different from our own," said Phillip, "that we need to be extra cautious here. We have to avoid getting arrested, until we know how different the laws here are!"

"Since we're not on our version of Earth," said Tony, "maybe I could hook up with a job as a comic book artist here in this world!"

Meanwhile, back on Dakadania, Caitlin was adjusting to her first day of school on this new world. As she passed other kids in the hall on her way to her first class, some of them were snickering and giggling at her as they walked by. Caitlin stopped one of them.

"Why is everyone laughing at me?"

"Because your captives escaped back to Earth!" said the boy.

"You're the first Dakadanian in the history of Dakadania to allow your captives to escape back to Earth!" said a girl who was a friend of the boy who was speaking to Caitlin.

"We'll get them back!" said Caitlin.

"Yeah, well lot's of luck with that!" said the girl, and both she and the boy she was with walked off giggling.

Caitlin walked to her first class, determined to get Tony and Phillip back in her possession.

When the last class was over, Caitlin met with Audrey, and they walked home from school together.

"People were laughing at me today!" said Caitlin. "We have to get those captives back to prove them wrong!"

"Well, we can't go to Earth to find them," said Audrey.

"Why not?" Caitlin asked.

"The people of both Thanatar and Dackadania keep our existence a secret from the people of Earth."

"Couldn't one of us shrink down to their size temporarily and go there to search for Tony and Phillip?" Caitlin asked.

"That's actually a good idea!" said Audrey. "No captive has ever escaped Dakadania to Earth until now, so I think that desperate times calls for desperate measures. I think you could sway the council to give you permission, but you would need an older girl to go with you."

"Why can't you go with me?" Caitlin asked.

"I'm only a year older than you, I'm in eighth grade. You would need someone sixteen or seventeen. Don't get discouraged just because something like this has never happened here, the solution you just proposed is in our charter, it just hasn't ever been implemented yet."

Back on the alternate version of Earth where Tony and Phillip were stranded, Tony and Phillip were just reaching Bobby's house after walking there from the library. Bobby pulled up in his pickup truck. He got out and greeted them.

"We found out this isn't our Earth!" said Tony. "The laws are different, you have a different president, and there's a ton of other differences."

"This isn't my world, either!" said Bobby. "I figured it out last night after we got here. There's a spot where I spilled paint in my garage six years ago, and it's in a completely different spot. It's a different color, too. And at work today, the office is designed with different upholstery, but it looks worn, like it wasn't installed recently."

"We may never get back to where any of us originally came from," said Tony. "We're just going to have to tough it out here!"

"Do me a favor guys, and don't tell my wife!" said Bobby. "She doesn't know that her real husband probably got devoured by a sadistic schoolgirl back on Dakadania, and I don't want to make her suffer through the loss of her husband a second time."

"No problem!" said Tony.

"Yeah," said Phillip, "that sounds like the best plan."

Meanwhile, back on Dakadania, Audrey and Caitlin arrived home to find an urgent message waiting for them on the computer monitor in the living room. Audrey activated the computer, and the Collector herself was sitting at a desk.

"As you know, I am known as the Collector. I am the creator of the world of Dakadania, and I established the rules of this world to protect runaways, to give them a safe place to grow up before they are returned to Thanatar. An event unheard of in Dakadanian history occurred recently when some of your captives escaped to Earth. Notify me at this return number when you receive this message."

The message ended, and Audrey called the Collector on the video phone. The Collector appeared, and said hello to Caitlin and Audrey.

"Have you figured out a way to get our captives back?" Caitlin asked.

"I've been in a meeting with the Supreme Council for several hours," said the Collector, "and we have come to a conclusion. The captives can be retrieved, and it is imperative that they are as soon as possible. If captives find out others of their kind have escaped Dakadania, it could cause civil unrest among the tinies. It could threaten our way of life!"

"What do you propose we do?" Caitlin asked.

"We have already dispatched several androids to the version of Earth where the captives escaped to. The androids have been reduced to human size to blend in with the humans. The captives are currently under surveillance. We need a girl from Dakadania, preferably one of you, since you are partially responsible for all of this, to go with an older girl who will be fitted with fake identification and currency, to shrink down to human size and infiltrate that society and try to manipulate the former captives into fleeing back to Dakadania!"

"Why would humans flee to a world of hungry giants?" Caitlin asked.

The Collector lifted a booklet in the air. "Our master computer has already come up with several different scenarios that you could use. I'll e-mail this to you immediately, and I want you to read it all the way through before we send you to Earth."

"When I'm shrunk, I won't lose what makes me who I am, will I?" Caitlin asked.

"The theory involves phasing most of the matter composing the quarks, gluons, and electrons of the atoms of your body, and placing it in a higher dimension. The only part of your body that will be visible on Earth is the part of you that gives the illusion that you exist on human scale. When you return to Dakadania, your body will be restored to normal."

"Good!" said Caitlin. "Then I'll do it!"

"You leave in an hour!" said the Collector. "Study the information I sent you, and the older girl who will accompany you will arrive at your door soon." The screen went black and the message was over.

Meanwhile, back on the analog of Earth where Tony and Phillip were currently residing, Tony and Phillip were seated at the dinner table eating a meal prepared by Bobby's wife, along with Bobby, his wife, and Peter. Bobby's wife got up to put her plate in the sink, when she noticed something outside.

"Bobby, I think I see a man out there with a camera!"

Bobby, Tony and Phillip all got up to look out the window, but the man was gone.

"I'm going to take a look!" said Tony, as he headed out the door. Tony ran across the property, and when he reached the street, he saw a man running in the distance. Tony tried to chase after him, but the stranger was too fast. Tony returned to Bobby's house.

"I think it's an android from Dakadania!" said Tony.

"How can you be so sure?" Bobby's wife asked.

"I created the graphic novel that Dakadania is based on!" said Tony. "When I wrote the story, I had mentioned that no one had ever escaped from that world, to create drama and a sense of suspense. I know how the ruling body of Dakadania is set up, and I know they would come after us eventually, if we were the first ones to escape! The Collector would want to set a precedent so no humans ever escape a second time!"

"Are you sure about this?" Phillip asked. "You did create that society, but do even you know how the fabric of their society truly functions?"

"I can't be one hundred percent sure of anything, just like with the eighth amendment, I had forgotten about that completely when we arrived here. But I do know that we can trust that the Collector will send people after us! It's just a question of how and by what means!"

"Can't we just use the lamp?" Phillip asked. "We could wish ourselves away from here!"

"I don't want to use the lamp unless we're in a no-win situation." said Tony. "Remember, we only get a total of three wishes each, and once they're used up, that lamp is useless to us!"

"But we could wish ourselves to some world where life is a paradise, or a utopia!" said Phillip.

"If we did that, there might be unforeseen consequences and we could be stuck in a place like that if we used our last wish to get there," said Tony. "At least here or on Dakadania, I know enough about these societies because I created them that it gives us a distinct advantage!"

"What plan of action would you suggest?" Phillip asked.

"We need to blend into this society as much as possible, in an effort to try to make a name for ourselves. If I can get a job as a comic book artist, I might become well known enough that the Collector won't be able to target me without drawing undue attention on us!"

"That plan seems a little out there," said Phillip, "but seeing as to how we don't have a lot of choices, I guess I'll just follow your lead!"

Tony grabbed the classified section of a newspaper and showed it to Phillip. "There are actually positions open here for comic book artists that pay forty grand a year! And that's just starting salary! On this world, comic book artists are treated like rock stars!"

"I find that hard to believe," said Phillip.

"He's right!" said Bobby. "On this world, teenage girls hound the outside of comic book studios hoping for an autograph!"

"I'll believe it when I see it!" said Phillip.

"I'll take you with me to the comic studio tomorrow," said Tony. "You can see for yourself!"