"There!" Dasma excitedly pointed to the screen of her
monitor. Rogo immediately leaned forward to look at the
display. The display clearly showed a surge of power, the
nature of which was unknown but it was a great power indeed.
Their computer attempted to measure it but it was clear that
whatever it was, its intensity was beyond their charts.

  "Dasma. Grat." That was all it took. Dasma punched a
button, which shot the coordinates of the power surge to the
monitor located at the driver�s side of the van. Grat
immediately engaged the transmission and pulled the black
van they were all in into the mid-morning Tokyo traffic.

  Grat took another look at the coordinates, which were now
superimposed on a city map of Tokyo. "Rogo, the power surge
is in Tokyo Disneyland. That�s two hours from here."

  "Just get us there." Rogo said as he punched inquiries
into his computer, trying to decipher the nature of the
power surge.

  "You�re the boss." With that, Grat concentrated on the
traffic and left his leader alone with his work.

  "This is incredible," Rogo said aloud but to no one in
particular. The statement, however, drew the attention of
both Dasma and Crata.

  "How so?" Crata asked. Crata was the technology expert on
this small expeditionary team from Ramar. She already knew
that the power registering on their scopes was clearly
beyond their charts but she also knew that Rogo had insight
about these things, which was, she supposed, why he was the
leader.

  "Not only are we not able to accurately quantify the
intensity of this power, we are also unable to determine the
composition." Rogo�s brow creased in concentration. "The
energy output has some elements of light, electricity, fire,
wind, water...in other words, the computer cannot identify
it."

  It was clear from Crata�s facial expression that the
concept of an unidentifiable type of energy was completely
alien to the technology expert. All forms of energy can be
identified, catalogued, and measured. As a matter of fact,
all forms of energy used by Ramarians and their technology
were already present on Earth, albeit some of which are
still unknown to the latter. Crata has been a resident of
this planet for five years and it was clear that in terms of
technological advancement, this planet was way, *way* below
that of Ramar. The fact that Ramarian civilization has
existed for far longer than Terran civilization, something
like a fetus compared to a middle-aged man, did not alter
Crata�s contempt for earthlings. Seeing an as-yet-to-be-
identified form of energy on Earth, which was more powerful
than anything Ramarians already have, totally unnerved the
technology expert.

  "Relax Crata," Rogo said. "This is not a common form of
energy. It is isolated. Else its peculiar existence would
not have been reported in their newspapers at all." Rogo was
of course referring to a news item a few days ago about an
"unusually bright light" that appeared in Tokyo Tower. It
was purported to have temporarily dazed several of the
Tower�s visitors that day. The computers at the plush
apartment the team had in downtown Los Angeles in the U.S.
had already registered it even before it broke out in the
news the next day.

  For reasons that the team did not yet know, Rogo ordered
all of them to pack up and fly to Japan immediately
thereafter. It was indeed strange to the rest of the team
that Rogo would decide to "stake out" an "unusually bright
light", especially considering they had to fly out to the
other side of the planet. Every member of the team was aware
that strange occurrences are common on Earth. More so with
the Japanese apparently, since they tend to be
superstitious. A good number of the citizens in this country
held beliefs in magic in one form or another. Magic happened
to be another concept that was completely alien to this
expeditionary team, since there wasn�t even a word for it in
the Ramarian vocabulary.

  "For all we know, it could be that �magic� thing these
people believe in," Dasma snorted in derition. "I can�t
believe these creatures consider themselves to be sentient
at all. Magic, bah!"

  Rogo did not make comment. Something in him told him that
Dasma was right and that his decision to leave the United
States was rather hastily made. Nevertheless, another part
of him couldn�t shake the feeling that there was a lot more
to this than meets the eye. Rogo reached into the inside
pocket of his jacket and retrieved a clipping of the news
item. The item stated that three junior high school students
from three separate schools seemed to have reacted rather
differently from the others after the "unusually bright
light" had dissipated. Apparently, three popular, rival
schools had their field trip in Tokyo Tower on that same
day. Students from the different schools were interviewed
and they each thought it strange that these students who did
not know each other previously would end up hugging each
other and crying after the light touched them.

  It was a long shot at best. But. But if his hunch was
correct, that bright light was actually a wormhole and it
transported those three students somewhere. The concept of a
wormhole was not new, even to the relatively low-tech
terrans. The theory of it was also easy to explain: if the
universe was a magazine spread, one way of traveling from
one end of the page to the other end would be to fold the
spread in half. When both edges of the page touch, the
distance between the ends would be nullified. That
nullification is often illustrated as punching a hole into
the spread while folded; the person needing to travel the
distance would therefore just go through the hole, hence the
term wormhole. Of course, while the theory was easily
described, its application was a different story altogether.
For one thing, you would need a tremendous amount of energy
in order to fold the space/time continuum, something that
was beyond even the technology of Ramar.

  There was one more implication that tugged at Rogo�s
technologically enhanced brain. If, in fact, this was a
wormhole, then the three students must have traveled to
another system. That system and not Earth, was somehow
responsible for the wormhole technology. The news item
stated the bright light lasted only a few seconds and yet
there seemed to be a profound effect on the three students.
This pointed to a lapse of time. It was frightening to
consider but it seemed that this other system had the power
to not only fold the space/time continuum but also to
disrupt it in such a way that time advanced in that system
but stop here on Earth.

  *If we, Ramarians, can duplicate this technology, then we
can easily be the masters of the entire universe.* This
thought caused Rogo�s enhanced heart to beat slightly
faster. He had to calm down. Everything was still a big
"IF".

  "How much farther, Grat?"
  
  "Nine zero minutes."
  
                          * * * * *
  
   As soon as Hikaru stepped out of the portal, she knew
that something was wrong. Surrounding her were a crowd of
people, men, women and children, all having a stunned look
on their faces.

  "Oops." Was the only word Hikaru whispered.
  
  "Oops is right, Hikaru. Where have you taken us!?" Umi
replied, clearly dismayed by what she saw.

  "It appears we are in an amusement park," was Fuu�s
reply, as always, using her calm, clinical voice.

  For several heartbeats neither the crowd nor the Knights
said or did anything. Out of nowhere, a single child in the
crowd clapped his hands. "Wow, that was soooo cool!" Pretty
soon, everyone was applauding the Knights. It was clear that
everyone thought it was part of the attraction. With nothing
else to do, Umi and Fuu smiled sheepishly and shyly waved
back, bowing as they tried to move away from the crowd.

  "Boy, that was close," Umi sighed, relief clearly painted
on her face.

  "Yes, Miss Umi, I quite agree." Fuu said. She turned to
face where she thought Hikaru would be. "Miss Hikaru, I..."
Fuu stopped mid-question when she realized the person she
was supposed to be talking to was not there. Fuu snapped her
head around to look at Umi. They locked eyes and then
together looked back to the crowd. Twin jaws dropped at what
they saw.

  "Thank you! Thank you!" Everyone was still applauding and
talking to Hikaru, who in turn was basking in the attention.
"I�m glad you enjoyed it. What�s that? How did we do it?"
She turned to address a young boy who obviously asked her a
question. "Um, well that�s a secret." This she delivered
with her usual disarming charm that pleased the crowd.

  "Hikaru!"
  
  "Miss Hikaru!"
  
  Hikaru snapped her head around at the sound of her name.
Her face showed embarrassment as if she was caught with her
hand in the cookie jar. Turning back to the crowd, she said:
"Well, I have to go. Thanks for coming! I�m glad you enjoyed
the show!" With that she turned and ran in the direction of
her companions.

  When she reached the two other Knights, she found Umi
fuming although Fuu was clearly amused.

  "Hikaru, what kind of stunt was that!? And where are we?
How did we get here?" Umi�s fists were clenching at her side
not knowing whether to strangle the pigtailed girl because
of exasperation or hug her because of relief that she was
okay.

  "It appears we are in Tokyo Disneyland," Fuu said looking
around.

  "So do you mind telling us how we got here, Hikaru?" Umi
crossed her arms on her chest, clearly daring the petite
redhead to come up with an excuse that would appease her.

  "Um, well, see, I ah...well, I�ve wanted to visit
Disneyland again so it was the last thought I had in my mind
when I created the, ah, portal," replied Hikaru sheepishly,
obviously embarrassed.

  "I think it�s wonderful that you brought us here, Miss
Hikaru," Fuu cheerily announced, as she was wont to do which
further infuriated the statuesque, blue-haired Knight.
Hikaru could only smile at that.

  "Wonderful?! You�ve got to be kidding me, Fuu!" Umi
fumed. "We are hours away from home. How are we going to get
there from here when we don�t have enough money!?"

  "Calm down, Umi," Hikaru pleaded. "I think I can conjure
up another portal that will take us to, say, Tokyo Tower.
I�m sure when we get there, our money will be enough to get
us home."

  "Well what do you mean �I think�? Can you or can�t you
create a portal?"

  "I *can* create the portal." Hikaru put up a confident
front.

  "May I suggest, Miss Hikaru, that you conjure up the
other side of the portal to open somewhere where there will
be no one to witness our arrival."

  "Good thinking, Fuu," Hikaru nodded. "We wouldn�t want a
repeat of what just happened, now would we?"

  "Fuu and I won�t. I�m not sure about you though," Umi
rejoined good-naturedly. It was impossible to remain angry
with her diminutive best friend. Both Hikaru and Fuu
laughed.

  "Okay guys, let�s look for a more private place." The
three had to walk a considerably distance until they spotted
a relatively private area. It was one of the smaller roller
coasters that was down for maintenance. The three girls
walked behind the maintenance shed.

  "Okay guys, here goes." Hikaru closed her eyes and almost
immediately the portal opened, much to the surprise of all
three. "Hey, I guess I�m getting good at this. And to think
that we�re on Earth and not Ceph--"

  "Hikaru! Go already!"
  
  "Oh, of course!" Hikaru once again smiled sheepishly and
stepped through the portal followed closely behind by Fuu
and Umi.
  
                          * * * * *
  
  "By the powers that be!"
  
  "What is it Dasma?" Rogo straightened up on his chair and
tensed.

  "There are now two power surges!" Dasma replied as her
fingers flew over the computer keyboard. She felt Rogo
peering over her shoulder, which all the more spurred her
fingers to frenetically command the computer to display
statistical information about energy formation. "One is in a
slight different location but still within Tokyo Disneyland.
The other is in Tokyo Tower!"

  "Grat! How far to Tokyo Tower?"
  
  "10 minutes! I�m on it!" Without waiting for the order,
Grat stepped on the brakes and turned hard on the wheel
causing the van to fishtail before doing a complete 360 on
the highway. Horns and screams from both motorists and
pedestrians alike could be heard. Everyone else in the van
had the quick reflexes to hold onto something stable lest
they get buffeted against the delicate equipment they
brought along.

  When the van finally stabilized, Crata began her own
analysis of the surges. "The energy output of the portals
are still off our charts but as you can see," Crata traced a
finger on the bright lines denoting the energy outputs, "the
bars are less bright indicating a lesser output than the one
we saw earlier." Rogo merely nodded at that and sat down in
front of his own computer.

  Crata and Dasma looked at each other as they saw the
program that their leader was opening. "Rogo, what are you
doing?" Dasma queried.

  "I�m sending a priority message to Higon."
  
  "Isn�t that a bit too hasty, Rogo?" It was Crata this
time. "After all, we still don�t know what this really is."

  "I�ll explain later." Rogo�s own fingers flew over the
terminal interface as he sent a two-word message:

  "WORMHOLE DISCOVERED."

--------------------
NEXT:
Chapter 2 - Alternate Plans

--------------------
AUTHOR'S NOTES:
If you haven't yet noticed, this story takes much of its
influence from the anime instead of manga. Nevertheless,
there are some aspects of the manga that I decided I like
better than the anime, like the fact the Knights can
come and go as they please between Cephiro and Earth.

As the story progresses, you will notice other aspects
of the manga that I've included in this story. Other
than that, I try my best to stay faithful to the
characters.

C&C are very welcome. Please e-mail them to
darkhrse0714@yahoo.com

--------------------
DISCLAIMER:
Magic Knight Rayearth and all the characters in that
anime/manga are properties of CLAMP.  These are used here
without permission.


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