Dak wore a hat as well — low crowned with a wide bill — and kept straightening it, breaking into a smile every time. She knew that he was living a fantasy he would’ve never thought possible just a few days ago. Literally living history. She wished she could be just as excited — but all that occupied her mind was stress and worry.
“Time to check the SQuare for a hint, don’t you think?” Dak said after they’d spent a minute or two spying on the people walking through the streets ahead of them. “If we don’t find a Hystorian for help, we’re sunk.”
“That’s punny,” Riq whispered.
“Huh?” Dak responded.
“Never mind.”
Sera turned and sat down on the ground, then pulled out the SQuare. She flicked it on and the strange diagram — the Art of Memory puzzle — had been replaced by a short menu:
Access Granted
The First Break - Menu
Daily Journal of Activity
Hystorian’s Guide
Identify Break
Locate a Hystorian
Proceed to Second Break
“Seems simple enough,” Sera said. “Dak, you’re the history nerd in this group, so you’ll be in charge of keeping the journal. Just think, if we make all of this happen, you’ll be one of the most famous Hystorians ever.”
Instead of coming back with a smart aleck remark, he smiled pridefully. “That sounds like a job I can handle. But it makes me a little sad to think we’re changing the thing I love so much.”
“We’ll just be making it better. Right?”
Dak nodded, though he didn’t appear so sure.
Sera tapped the screen and frowned. “Wait. Something’s wrong.”
“What is it?” Riq asked. Dak seemed to be daydreaming about his potential role in history.
“I clicked on the ‘Identify Break’ option, and look what happened.”
Data Corrupted
Return to previous menu?
“That’s not good,” said Riq.
“When the SQ attacked,” Sera said, “everything went crazy, and Mari had to yank this thing right off of the main computer. What if she was uploading data? And what if the upload was incomplete?”
“Then we might be in trouble,” said Riq.
“Relax,” said Dak. “We know it’s got to have something to do with the Amancios. We can work it out.”
“Try something else,” suggested Riq.
Sera went back to the menu and tapped on “Locate a Hystorian” as Dak and Riq leaned in to see over her shoulder. A short message appeared, and Sera let out a sigh of relief.
If you’ve solved the puzzle to arrive here, in both time and place, the following riddle will help you find the person you need. If you’ve made a mistake and have gone somewhere else, then you are royally bunked. Good luck.
Sera had just finished reading it when the words faded away and were replaced with a poem:
A wee little bee flies through the sky
It stings your nose and makes you cry
And run on a road till it comes to a tee
Looks out at the bright and brilliant sea
It’s her, you scream, the way it ends
That’s how you must find your friend
“Hmm,” Sera said. The other two made similar sounds as they all stared at the six lines of the poem. Dak even went so far as to scratch his chin, purse his lips, and widen his eyes — he looked like a mad scientist.
“Any ideas?” Riq asked.
“I’ve got a few,” Dak replied, still not losing the comical expression. “Studying the Renaissance era was a hobby of mine for a few months back when I was six. I’m sure that’ll come into play here.”
Sera had to repress a groan — of course, she had no room to talk. She’d first discovered her love of quantum physics when she was four.
She’d also been raised speaking Spanish at home, but she was worried about Dak’s ability to interact with the local Hystorian when the time came. “What do we do about these translation devices in our mouths and ears?”
Riq gave a slight shrug. “Well, it would’ve been nice to train you on them for a while, but they’re not that hard. They’re linked together by radio frequency, and the earpiece can judge almost instantly what language it’s hearing. It’ll translate for you automatically, and trigger the tooth device to alter your words as they come out of your mouth — which means that in each new setting, you want to let someone else speak before you do. The speaking part’s a little tricky; it takes some practice to know how slowly to speak and when to pause, that sort of thing. But the translation of what others are saying — that works like a charm. Maybe let me do the talking as much as possible until you get the hang —”
“Well hello!” someone barked from behind them, cutting Riq off.
Sera turned her head to see an enormous man with a dark beard. He held a long iron bar in one fist, bouncing it in the palm of his other hand. Sera’s heart froze.
The giant took a few steps forward, then leaned down to sneer at them.
“I never thought I’d see it,” he said with creepy awe. “Visitors from the future.”
20. One-sided Conversation
DAK JUMPED to his feet, dragging Sera to hers as well. Riq stood right beside them as the man took another step closer. He could now reach them if he decided to swing that big iron rod in his hands. And probably not for just a love tap, either.
“Who are you?” Riq asked.
“Who am I?” the man responded gruffly. His lips didn’t move in sync with the words Dak was hearing, which meant the translator device was actually working. Even in the face of certain death by a barbarian, that was pretty cool. “Three little urchins show up in the streets of my town, dressed in ill-fitting clothes, looking as out of place as an anvil in a cooper’s shop, and you ask who I am?”
There was a long moment of silence before Sera said, timidly, “Yes?”
The man let one end of his rod fall to the ground and he leaned on it like a cane. Then he laughed, a deep bellow of a noise that almost made Dak look up to see if it was going to rain.
“We can explain everything,” Sera said. “It’s not what you think.”
“Not what I think!” the man roared. “I just said you were from the future and you didn’t bat an eye or protest! That something you think people go around talking about?”
Dak reached out and pulled on Sera’s hair. Talking to this guy was craziness — they needed to run. She looked at him sharply then returned her glare to the stranger.
“I’ll tell you who I am,” he said. “I was trained by my father, who was trained by his mother, who was trained by her father, who was trained by his mother. From there it goes three mothers in a row and then a string of fathers. Way, way back is my point.”
“Trained to do what?” Dak asked.
“To look for the likes of you, that’s what. I’m a Time Warden of the SQ, raised to the Watch when I was only fourteen. But if I’d known the people we’ve been looking for all these centuries were nothing but a few weaned babies, I’d have left the honor to my little sis. Who has one arm. And no legs.”
That pricked Dak’s pride. “Well, if it’s any consolation, we were hoping you’d be shorter,” he grumbled.
“Why are you here?” the Warden asked. “What do you know?”
Sera opened her mouth then closed it. She seemed to be considering reasoning with the giant.
“Look,” she said at last, “we know who you work for. They don’t care about anybody but themselves. We are from the future and, trust me, they make a mess of everything.”
“Who cares about the future?” the man rumbled. “They’re paying me well now.”
“We can pay you!” Dak exclaimed. “Do you accept, um, currency from a country that hasn’t been established yet?”
“What I want from you is your reason for coming here. What are you planning?”
If only they had a plan. But that reminded Dak: They did have the riddle. He was confident he could work it out, and that would mean they’d have an ally in the village. But he needed to buy some time. And some distance would be nice, too.
“Speak!” the man shouted. “Speak or I’ll start breaking faces with my toy!”
“Okay, okay,” Dak said. He felt a funny flutter in his mouth when he spoke and something like a double-echo in his ears. His translation tool would need some practice if the goal was to fit in — assuming they survived the next five minutes. “We can tell you everything you need to know.”
“You sound funny, boy.”
“Dak, what’re you doing?” Sera whispered fiercely to him.
He just winked at her in response. Then he stepped forward so that he was directly beneath the angry glare of their visitor. He held his hands up. “I’m using a translation device, so if I sound funny, it’s his fault.” He jabbed a thumb back at Riq. “You’re right — we did come from the future, and we came in a very complicated travel machine. It’s hidden under the sand out on the beach. We’ll take you there if you promise not to hurt us.”
“And we have laser guns,” Riq blurted out. “Touch us and we’ll zap you. Zap you to death!”
Dak spun to give him a hard glare. “Um . . . yeah, those. Very dangerous.” He turned back to the Time Warden. “So the time machine’s that way.”
The man’s face hadn’t so much as twitched during the exchange. “Time machine? Laser guns? What is this nonsense?”
“We’re from the future,” Dak responded. “What do you think we did, snapped our fingers and poof? Time is a river; we came in a boat. It’s that way.”
When the man finally let down his guard and turned to look in the direction Dak had indicated, Dak went for it. He lurched forward and slammed his shoulder into the Time Warden’s side, knocking him off balance as the iron bar rattled to the ground. Then Dak pushed him again, and the man toppled over.
As the Warden roared in rage and scrambled to get up, Dak grabbed Sera and Riq by the hands and yanked them in the opposite direction. Without looking back, the three of them sprinted away and around the nearest corner, into the busy streets of Palos de la Frontera.
21. A Pile of Boxes
SERA COULD hear the shouts of the Time Warden behind them like the rumble of thunder as they ran, causing all the people bustling about to stop and stare at the commotion. Sera and the others pushed and dodged and zigzagged their way through the crowd. There were men and women, many of them carrying baskets or sacks. Carts and animals, children chasing one another, sellers hawking their wares. She kept one eye on Dak, hoping he had some kind of plan — besides “run!” — in that precious brain of his.
They passed a shop with cuts of meats displayed in the windows and approached a tavern, where a large group of people had just exited, filling the street. They’d just started shoving their way into the mass of people when Riq was suddenly lifted off his feet and backward. He shrieked in surprise, and Sera spun to see what had happened. The huge bearded man had caught up to them, had grabbed Riq by the back collar. He slammed the teenager to the ground and lifted a fist to punch him.