“You don’t have to look up. I got his flight path on my glasses in the LCD screen,” Kasia said.

  “Oh, okay,” Rahim said. They took a right and walked past a series of shops. Some sold fruit, others sold tourist items like T-shirts and baseball caps. As they walked down the street, cars flew by them and the sun reflected off their shiny surfaces. The sidewalk gave way to a gravel shoulder that ran parallel to the road. They passed more bungalows and houses packed together as tight as the houses back home in Philly.

  “Did you mean what you said? About this being harder than you thought?” Rahim asked.

  “Huh? Oh, for sure. Especially since somebody sent robots after us,” Kasia said.

  “Yeah. I mean, it is hard. It’s like I don’t try to think about it too much, but when it’s like the whole world depending on me, it’s … nice having you here with me.”

  “Yeah, we always got each other’s back,” Kasia said.

  Hope so, Rahim thought. “I wonder where those robots came from,” he said.

  “Didn’t our future selves say there were people trying to stop us from maintaining the time stream? The Chrononauts? Maybe they sent them.”

  “Yeah, but why? If the time stream gets messed up, things fall apart. Fast.”

  “I don’t know. Maybe we can ask them when we find them.”

  “Hey, you notice how Future Grown-Up You and Me didn’t care about that rock anymore? That seem weird to you?” Rahim said.

  “I mean, I guess. Maybe the repair with Obama is more important than the rock,” Kasia said.

  “That’s just it. Why send me after that rock at all? What was it for? And they been acting strange for a minute.”

  Kasia stopped. Above them Iago hovered in place.

  “What are you saying? You don’t trust … ourselves?” Kasia said.

  Rahim rubbed his forehead.

  “I guess I do, but they were acting weird. And who do we know that has the tech to make robots and androids?” Rahim said.

  Kasia put one hand on her hip and ticked off her points on her other hand.

  “First of all, we don’t know what they are going through. Things look real crazy in the future. Second, I can make robots. Iago is a robot. It’s not that hard if you have a genius-level IQ and the right equipment,” Kasia said.

  “Okay, I didn’t mean to make you mad, but that’s my point. You’re smart enough to do it right now at thirteen. What do you think you’ll be able to do twenty or thirty years from now?”

  “You think we sent robots after ourselves?” Kasia asked.

  “I don’t know. I just know that none of this feels right. Remember two summers ago when I was reading Sherlock Holmes? He said when you eliminate all options, whatever is left is the solution—even if it seems impossible. I know it seems cray to think we’d send robots to steal our own phone, but … something is not right, and I can’t think of any other answer,” Rahim said.

  “Look, I get it, okay, they acting strange, but what you’re saying makes absolutely no sense. We wouldn’t do that to ourselves. It’s illogical,” Kasia said.

  “Okay. Forget I said anything. I know I’m not the smart one.” He put his hands in his pockets.

  “Rahim, don’t say that. I just don’t know why you don’t trust us. It’s not just me. It’s both of us. We’re friends in the future, still a team. Doesn’t that make you feel like things are safe?”

  “I guess,” Rahim said. He didn’t, but he also didn’t want to fight about it.

  “I know that Future Me is weird sometimes. But I like the idea that you didn’t leave me behind.”

  “Me leave you behind? You been to school one day and you almost took it over. I should worry about you getting tired of me.”

  “That’s never gonna happen. Ever. So, when we get back are we doing the talent show?”

  “Oh my gosh … yes, yes, we will do the talent show,” Rahim said.

  “That’s good. I could say it’s double good.”

  Before Rahim could respond, Iago let out a long series of beeps.

  “We gotta keep going. They are almost out of his tracking range!” Kasia said. She and Rahim ran down the road and cut through a neighborhood that ended in a cul-de-sac. They ran through the backyard of one of the houses and jumped a faded white stucco wall. As they passed the windows of several homes, a few people glanced at them, but most ignored them. They cut through a parking lot for the Waikiki Elementary School. Kasia kept touching her glasses as they made their way through the tightly packed neighborhoods.

  “Oh man, can we take a break?” Rahim said. “I need some water. I’m gonna have to wring out my shirt.” He bent over and put his hands on his knees as he took several deep breaths.

  “Yeah, sure. I don’t see any water fountains, though,” Kasia said.

  “There’s a store about a block back that way. Just let me rest for a minute,” Rahim said.

  Kasia touched the temple of her glasses. “Wherever the phone is, it’s been stationary for the past ten minutes,” she said.

  Rahim took a couple of deep breaths, then he and Kasia walked back to the store they had passed. It was a small shop with chips, cookies, chewing gum, and a metal cooler with drinks in it. Kasia stayed outside while Rahim went in the shop. He checked his pocket. He had a five-dollar bill. He went over to the cooler and opened it. He saw a bunch of different kinds of sodas. Some he recognized, but a lot were new to him. He grabbed an orange soda and went to the counter.

  “That’ll be twenty-five cents,” the clerk said.

  “Wow, really?” Rahim said.

  “Yeah, the price went up recently,” the clerk said.

  Right before he handed the clerk the five-dollar bill, he thought about whether or not that was a good idea. Would it somehow set off a huge disruption in the time stream? But he was so thirsty. He looked at the date on the bill. It was 2003.

  “You ain’t got nothing smaller?” the clerk asked.

  “No, sorry,” Rahim said.

  The clerk frowned but handed him his change anyway. Rahim walked out. Kasia was leaning against the wall of the shop.

  “I still wish I could take a look at that crater,” Kasia said.

  Rahim sipped his soda.

  “I know, but we gotta get our phone,” Rahim said between gulps. The heat felt like it was trying to strangle him.

  “Come on. Let’s go.”

  Rahim finished his soda. He saw a trash can that had a sign on it that said GIVE A HOOT—DON’T POLLUTE. He tossed the can and started following Kasia. They went back down the street, then crossed over at the intersection. Rahim still couldn’t get over how big the cars were. Huge steel and iron contraptions that roared by like dragons.

  “Down here. Turn left,” Kasia said. They walked past buildings that housed gift shops, auto repair garages, and a few diners and restaurants. Rahim noticed they were moving away from the congested part of the city to a more rural and lonely section.

  Finally they came upon what Rahim could only call a mansion.

  “This is the place,” Kasia said.

  When Rahim raised his head, he saw they were standing in front of the largest house he’d ever seen. A huge building surrounded by a wrought-iron black gate. Past the gates, down a long paved driveway lined by palm trees, the humongous house seemed to come right out of the ground like a mountain. It was topped by two giant spires that looked like the peak of Mount Everest.

  “What do you mean?” Rahim asked.

  “That’s where Iago says our phone is. In that house,” Kasia said.

  “I don’t think we are gonna just be able to walk up to the door and ask for it, do you?” Rahim said.

  “I kinda think we can knock on the door while Iago tries to find it.”

  “You’re serious, ain’t you?” Rahim said.

  Kasia turned her head and looked at him over the top of her glasses.

  “Yeah, you are serious. Oh boy,” Rahim said.

  9

  Professor reynolds was making himself a cup of tea when he heard a ferocious pounding at the front door. Yasmine, Rahim’s sister, ran down the stairs to answer. She’d come home for the weekend early. Professor Reynolds was happy to see her, but he had to admit he was a little disappointed he wouldn’t be touring the conservatory with Rahim. He had been looking forward to renting the car.

  “I’ll get it! It’s Stephanie!” Yasmine half sang, half shouted.

  She grabbed the doorknob and pulled.

  It wasn’t Stephanie.

  Instead, standing there were two huge men in gray suits. They both had short crew cuts and black sunglasses. Yasmine took a step backward.

  “Can I help you?” she asked.

  Professor Reynolds came to her side, holding his cup of tea.

  “Yes,” he said. “Can we help you?”

  Both men pulled identification badges out of their coat pockets. They flashed them for a moment, then put them back.

  “Sir, I’m Agent Brown. This is my associate, Agent Green. We need to speak with your son, Rahim, and his friend Kasia immediately.”

  “Now, wait just a minute,” Professor Reynolds said. “You said you are agents, but for what entity? And what do you want with my son and his friend?”

  Agent Brown took off his sunglasses.

  “Sir, it’s important we talk with your son as soon as possible. Our director, Dr. Evelyn Jackson, has gone missing. Kasia and Rahim may be our only hope of finding her.”

  “What? How is Rahim involved in this? He’s just a boy. How long has this doctor been missing?” Professor Reynolds asked.

  Mrs. Reynolds joined the group. “Dr. Jackson is the director of that center that Kasia went to over the summer,” she said. “She was interning there—her mother told me about it. Some program for gifted children.”

  “Sir, due to the sensitive nature of our work, I don’t believe we can go into any further detail,” said Agent Green. “Just let us speak to your son and his friend and we will be on our way.”

  “He isn’t here,” Yasmine said.

  Professor Reynolds stared at her.

  “I mean … we don’t know where he is,” Yasmine said. She shrugged her shoulders apologetically at her dad.

  “Professor Reynolds,” Agent Brown said, “I don’t think I’m explaining the situation correctly. We work for the government in a very special division. It’s part of the program your wife was describing. Most of the time we can find anyone we want whenever we want. But now that we need to speak to your son and his friend, we can’t find them anywhere. On Earth. That, along with the disappearance of our director, concerns us. A lot. Now, please, where is your son supposed to be? Because there is more at stake than you can possibly imagine.”

  Professor Reynolds set his cup of tea down on the coffee table.

  “I think we should get Kasia’s parents,” he said.

  * * *

  A few minutes later, Mr. and Mrs. Collins were in the Reynoldses’ house, too, sitting in the living room, talking to Agent Brown and Agent Green.

  “I’m going to give you a lot of information in a very small amount of time,” Agent Brown said. “You just need to listen to me. Hold off on judging what I am saying.”

  All four parents nodded.

  “Last winter,” he went on, “your son and your daughter inadvertently stumbled upon a top-secret scientific experiment having to do with time travel and teleportation. Thanks to your children and our director, we were able to rectify that situation without anyone getting hurt. Some very drastic changes in our world were averted.”

  Agent Green spoke up. “You might wonder how we know of those changes if they never happened. Well, thanks to an implant developed by our director, we are able to retain our memories of the alterations in the time stream.”

  Agent Brown frowned. He seemed like he had been working up a head of steam and was unhappy to be interrupted. “Yes,” he said. “An implant. At any rate, your children, it seems, are still meddling with things they don’t understand. Now our director is missing and there seem to be more … disturbances in the time stream.”

  “Time stream?” Mr. Collins said.

  Agent Green spoke again. “The flow of time and space.”

  “Look,” Agent Brown said. “There are issues with it that we need your children’s help to correct. In addition, we need to find Dr. Jackson. So now I’ll ask you again. Where are the children?”

  Mrs. Reynolds reached out and took Mrs. Collins’s hand.

  “They were headed to Rahim’s music lessons together,” Professor Reynolds said.

  “And yet we cannot detect them anywhere,” Agent Brown said. “Who is his instructor?”

  “Mr. Luis Alves,” Mrs. Reynolds said.

  “I think we should go see Mr. Alves,” Agent Brown said.

  “I agree,” Agent Green said.

  The two agents went to the corner and began to tap on their phones. Professor Reynolds looked at Mr. Collins.

  “Time travel? Really?” Professor Reynolds said.

  “She’s very curious about … everything,” Mr. Collins said.

  “It’s the X-ray glasses all over again,” Mrs. Reynolds said wistfully.

  * * *

  “My word, Rahim,” Mr. Alves said. “You’ve made … remarkable progress with your scales. But it feels a tad bit … robotic? You have the notes down, but there is a lack of passion in your playing. An absence of feeling, you might say. Do you want to listen to some Jay-Z? The edited versions, of course. He has quite a few songs with horn arrangements. Perhaps that will help recharge you.”

  R-2 held the instrument in his hands as K-2 sat in a fold-up chair near the window.

  “No, I would like to learn the trumpet as planned, Mr. Alves,” R-2 said calmly.

  “Well, let’s at least hear something that might get your blood flowing. How about DJ Shadow?” Mr. Alves reached for his phone just as a knock came on the door. The Reynoldses, the Collinses, and the agents came through without waiting for an answer. Agent Green was looking at his watch and shaking his head.

  “We need to speak with these young people,” said Agent Brown.

  “You are people,” Agent Green said. “But I’m not getting any biorhythmic signals.”

  “Yes,” Agent Brown said. “That’s consistent with our earlier suspicions. Perhaps the children cannot be located because they are nowhere.” He turned to the parents. “Mr. and Mrs. Reynolds. Mr. and Mrs. Collins. Would one of you ask your children a question only they would know the answer to, please.”

  At first no one said anything. The room was quiet except for the ticking of a large grandfather clock in the corner. Agent Brown and Agent Green were staring at R-2 and K-2. Mr. and Mrs. Collins were staring at the agents. Mrs. Reynolds was looking at Professor Reynolds.

  Finally Professor Reynolds spoke.

  “Rahim, what was the first scary book you read on your own?”

  R-2 stared at him for a little while. It seemed as though he might be thinking of an answer. Then, without warning, he threw his trumpet in the air. At the same time, K-2 jumped out of her folding chair and threw it through the window. She jumped through the shattered pane of glass as R-2 followed her.

  Agent Green ran to the window and started to climb through it.

  “What’s wrong with our kids?” Mrs. Reynolds cried.

  “I don’t think those are your kids,” Agent Brown said.

  “I don’t really think it’s a good idea for Rahim to continue his lessons here,” Mr. Alves said. “I can return you your money.” He had caught the trumpet before it hit the ground, and he was clutching it like a teddy bear.

  10

  Rahim stood next to Kasia in front of the enormous black door to the mansion. There was a huge brass door knocker in the center of the large door. Kasia grabbed it and banged it against the painted wood.

  “I don’t think this is gonna work,” Rahim mumbled.

  “It will if we can keep them occupied long enough for Iago to get inside,” Kasia whispered back.

  “What if they just tell us to get lost?” Rahim mumbled under his breath.

  “They won’t. Who wouldn’t want to help two lost kids?”

  “And aren’t the people in here probably the ones who took the phone?”

  “We don’t know anything for sure except that our phone is here, and we need it, and we just have to try.”

  Kasia kept knocking. Finally, the door opened.

  A tall young Black man with a mini-Afro stood in the doorway. Behind him the house loomed like the caverns Rahim had visited with his family in Virginia when they went on vacation a few years ago.

  “Can I help you?” the man asked.

  “Hello, sir,” Kasia said. “We are looking for our missing dog. His name is Harry, and he is a poodle. He is very friendly.” Kasia held her hand waist high.

  “I’m sorry, I haven’t seen any dogs,” the man said. He started to close the door. Kasia touched the side of her glasses.

  “Are you sure?” Kasia said. “He was headed this way when we last saw him.”

  “I’m sure,” the man said.

  “Okay,” Rahim said. “Can we at least use your telephone to call our parents to come pick us up?”

  “I guess that would be okay,” the man said. He let Rahim and Kasia come in, and he closed the door behind them.

  He led them past the foyer into a hallway. They followed him to what appeared to be a kitchen, but it was four times bigger than any kitchen Rahim had ever seen. It was as big as his entire house.

  “Could I get a glass of water for me and my sister?” Rahim asked.

  The man filled two glasses from the sink. “Here you go. Anything else?”

  “No, sir. I’ll just call our parents now,” Rahim said. He went to the old-fashioned phone on the wall. It had a dial, which he only knew how to use because his father liked to talk about the way things used to be. He dialed his mother’s cell phone number, which he knew wouldn’t connect, but he pretended to speak to someone on the other end of the line anyway. “We need to be picked up,” he said, and then he said “yes” and then he said “okay.”