7

One month before present time

“War is bad,” Bill said, his bright young face clouding over at the thought. “I remember my father going off to fight in the Middle East when I was young.”

Bull tilted his head sympathetically. “Guys, please know this: In Utopia we do all we can to prevent war. Other than Beast, the Land of the White Sun is a Paradise. There is no crime, for instance. But there are some basic rules that are obeyed by all, even by the powers of Evil.”

“Really?” Rebecca said. “Please, tell us what those are.”

“Of course! Listen well. Utopia never initiates Lomani. The powers of Evil always start it, but they always warn us in advance. Neither side takes prisoners or attacks unfairly or treacherously.”

“Okay! And what about...” Samantha started.

Bull raised his hand and smiled, cutting her off as he stood up to his full seven feet.

“I’m sure you’ve got many more questions, but we’re currently landing on auto pilot. You’ll all have plenty of opportunities to ask me more later and to get to know each other.”

“What? We’re here? Already?” several young Orizons asked in one voice.

“But we’ve only just left!” Samantha protested.

“How can that be?” Rebecca asked.

Bull’s chuckle was a warm, merry sound. “Think of it this way - it’s like surfing TV channels! Each channel makes up a different spatial dimension. This ship is like a TV tuner that has been re-tuned from Earth to The Land Of The White Sun. We didn’t travel through space, we simply changed dimension.”

He touched a sensor panel on his control deck and the front wall of the ship became transparent.

“We’ve landed at our Cosmodrome! Welcome to your homeland!”