Chapter 1

Tony shook his head in an attempt to get the sweat out of his eyes. He had been cutting lodge pole pine logs into D shaped timbers for his log cabin. Giving up the effort to avoid wiping his face, he pulled out the already wet neckerchief and wiped the sweat out of his eyes again. Tony gave a look of resigned disgust at the pile of logs finished today. Only twenty logs for the cabin had been finished despite spending over 6 hours on the chore.

Going to the hand-made hoist Tony lifted the timber from the jig and managed to turn it over and back into the jig once more. Picking up his mallet he struck the end to make sure it was in the right position. Grabbing the jack handle, he pushed the log snug against the support of the cutout pattern. He wished that he had chosen a different pattern of joining the logs other than dovetail joints. Tony snorted, thinking, 'The guy who said you couldn't cut the dovetails with a jig didn't know what he was talking about.' He had spent a summer cutting the timbers to a uniform D-shaped size with a portable saw mill and then had crafted a jig to hold the logs securely while the joins were cut. This was Tony's third year working on the cabin during the summers and it was finally beginning to look like a real building. He just wished for some more help once in a while.

Tony was a schoolteacher from the Oregon bay area and had been coming to what his sister called "the hideout" for the last five years. His sister had always told him "Tony you need to be around new people when you aren't teaching. Go back and take new courses or a trip. You're going to be an old grumpy bachelor living by yourself otherwise!" Tony knew she worried about him but he had never been popular with women in a romantic way and had finally given up looking. He had always been a 'good friend' rather than a romantic possibility. He had been teaching close to twenty years and was looking forward to getting away from the noise and congestion of the city when he retired. Tony had never been married and had few close friends but lots of acquaintances.

Tony had purchased the property after a search to ensure that it was away from other people. He wanted complete isolation from people to rejuvenate from his teaching duties at middle school he told everyone and made sure that his cell phone was left behind. Actually Tony sometimes wished he could have lived back in the nineteenth century when looks weren't as important as the ability to protect and provide for a family was. He knew that there were other people around the area, but other than the occasional lost hunter, Tony rarely saw anyone. Tony had gone for over two months without seeing anyone this year. He was about out of food and gas and would have to make a trip to the nearest town soon to restock.

Tony drove in a small travel trailer and set up a solar energy array for the little power he needed while he built his cabin. For emergencies he had a small generator that he used during stormy days. This provided enough power to run his water pump and a low power light at night. His solar water heater provided enough warm water for his needs. A propane stove, a small refrigerator and his heating ran off the same tank. For entertainment Tony read or just enjoyed the view from the semi-completed porch of the cabin he was building.

Using the backsaw Tony began sawing out the dovetail joint. For the time, everything was golden, and the smooth sound of the saw was like balm to his nerves, jangled from dealing with 45 six graders for most of the year. The sounds of nature, with the exception of the saw's rasp as it cut through the log, were all he heard. Finished with the joints, he released the jacks and used the hoist to move the timber to the stack of completed ones.

Stretching out his arms, he contemplated starting another timber without enthusiasm, finally deciding to take a bath in his swimming hole instead. Looking around he gave a loud whistle. A head popped up and the dirty nose of his beagle, Josh, popped out of the large hole he had been digging.

"Haven't you found that critter yet? You've been digging there for the last two years!"

Tony had filled in the hole the first year, every time Josh finished for the day. This year he had given up and just let Josh dig it deeper every day. Tony didn't know what he was going to do once it was time to leave for the next school year, but figured that if nothing else it would serve as a place to bury the garbage.

Tony grabbed a rifle and started on his favorite route by the stream that ran through the property and over to the swimming hole. As Tony walked, he kept an eye out for bears and mountain lions. There wasn't much danger if they saw each other in time, but it didn't make any sense to take unnecessary chances.

Reaching the swimming hole, Tony laid down the rifle and undressed. Picking up Josh, he jumped into the water, releasing him when they hit the water. Josh quickly swam back to the bank and gave Tony a reproachful look. Climbing onto the sun drenched rocks he shook himself, spraying water over everything nearby. Turning around several times Josh settled himself on the warm rocks and looked at the crazy person in the cold water.

Tony snorted at Josh's antics and reached for the soap on the rope hanging from a branch dangling over the water. The only thing Tony missed while working on the cabin was a decent bathtub. The small trailer had a shower but Tony missed soaking in warm water. Idly he thought, 'When I finish my twenty years I might want to buy a propane heated hot tub. It would be nice to have something like that on a cold day'.

Finished removing the sweat and sawdust, Tony got out and lay down next to Josh. Tony idly stroked Josh's wet back as he let the sun dry him. Josh promptly squirmed over onto his back and presented his belly to rub. "You silly dog! What do you think about going into town for a meal tonight?"

Tony contemplated getting dressed again but decided to just put on his shoes and pants. Leisurely he walked back to the trailer and dressed in cleaner clothing. Calling Josh, he waited for the dog to jump in; started the truck and headed to the town of Beatty. This was about thirty miles away, on forest roads for the most part. That was the biggest doubt that Tony had about living here anytime other than the summer. Tony had made trips to his land during the fall and spring months and remembered the experience without any fondness. "Mile long mud hole", was the kindest description he could think of to describe the roads in wet weather.

When he got to Beatty, Tony went into the beer hall/restaurant that dominated the small town. Beatty was one of the forgotten towns that dotted the far west parts of the high desert Oregon country. It consisted of a single row of buildings that served the passing traffic of seasonal hunters and people who were lost, together with the sparse population of ranchers and older hippies that lived here year around. A gas station where you could get propane, the restaurant, a very small store that sold the basics and a meat processor that was open during hunting season made up most of the town. On the other side of the road were the houses of the few people who worked in the businesses.

Ambling over to the counter Tony greeted the woman behind it, "Hello Marge. What you got cooking today?"

Marge, a fifty-ish woman who must have weighed 250 pounds or more, gave Tony a wave and continued talking to the younger woman who was trying to find out how to get to a parcel of land that lay along one of the forest roads. Finally she turned to Tony, "Tony, could you explain how to get to forest road 43? She", pointing with her thumb at the woman she had been speaking with, "wants to take pictures of old man Michael's property. Her agency is selling the place for his heirs."

"I can take her out there if she'll wait until I get something to eat and buy some more supplies for my place." Turning to the stranger he introduced himself, "I'm Tony and this is Josh. If you can wait for half an hour while I shop for supplies and would join me for a cup of coffee while I eat, I can show you the place. Otherwise I can show you on the map, but there are a lot of self-made roads out there that can confuse someone not familiar with the area."

The woman looked upset but then reluctantly shrugged her shoulders, "I guess I better have someone show me how to get there. I've already wasted most of the day trying to find it on my own."

Tony turned to Marge again, "Like I said, what you got cooking?"

"If you want something fast I have chili or if you want to wait for 20 minutes I can make you a steak and baked potato."

Tony's mouth began to water when she mentioned steak and quickly asked for one to be made while he got his propane tank filled and bought supplies. Tony left the woman talking to Marge and headed toward the small store. Quickly Tony went through the meager selection picking out flour, beans, bacon, and several other items he was low on or out of. Since many of the permanent residents were off the grid, the meat packer sold space in their walk-in freezer to store a limited amount of frozen food. He checked his freezer section and pulled out some of the frozen meat he had placed there at the beginning of the summer.

Driving to the service station, Tony had the propane tank filled and headed back to the restaurant for his steak dinner. When he got there he found the woman sitting down to a steak dinner. Marge was bringing in another plate as he came in. "Saw you were finishing up."

The stranger offered her hand to Tony, "Sorry about earlier. I've been looking for this place for the last three hours and I was about to give up. I'm Terry, from the Farm and Country real estate office out of Burns."

Tony shook her hand and sat down. "I can understand how you got lost. It took me two years before I could be sure of finding my place after dark."

"How is it living out here?"

"I'm only living here in the summer right now. I'm building a log cabin and staying in a trailer while I build it. I retire in three years and then I plan on living here year round." He paused for a minute to swallow a piece of steak. "It's a lonely place, but I like it. It reminds me of how the land used to be a hundred years ago. There are times I've been out there for months without seeing anyone else."

Terry shuddered, "I don't know how you can stand it. I need to be around people. I'd go insane if I didn't see anyone for that long."

Tony had been eating steadily while listening and looked down at his plate. He had finished everything on it while she talked about her work for the agency. She lived at home with her mother following a messy divorce, while she restarted her life. Tony was used to people telling him about their lives. For some reason people just naturally confided some of their most intimate moments to him. Tony figured that his balding hair and somewhat stout figure gave him a grandfatherly look. He held up his glass for a refill of ice tea and waited for Terry to finish. She dug into her meal and soon the only thing left on the table was tableware. Terry insisted on paying for both meals and with a shrug, Tony let her. Tony snagged both steak bones for Josh before they left, with a wink at Marge as she handed him a bag to hold them. "I swear Tony, I don't know why that dog is able to walk, the way you spoil him."

"Josh is my family, Marge. He's just like a kid, every so often he deserves a treat."

When he went outside Tony saw Terry's car and wondered how she had gotten over the forest roads without getting stuck. It was a Buick Regal that must have had every gadget ever made on it. He turned to Terry, "Have you got a cell phone?"

"Yes, I do. Why?"

"I'm amazed you managed to drive over the forest roads with that without getting stuck or breaking something. You might want to get a four wheel vehicle before you try and find this place."

"I've wasted enough time trying to find this place already. I'll chance it."

Tony shrugged. No skin off his nose if she wanted to have a tow truck pick up the car. Tony got in the truck and started off, keeping an eye on the car behind in the rear view mirror. Reaching into the bag, he gave Josh the steak bones. Driving more slowly than his normal speed Tony listened to Josh contentedly chewing on the bones. They had gotten over two miles on to forest road 43, some 25 miles away from Beatty, when it happened.

Smoke began coming from under the hood of the Buick and it shuddered to a stop. Grabbing the extinguisher from its bracket, Tony parked his truck and hurried back. Cautiously he felt the hood and felt heat. Terry had gotten out of the car and was holding her hands in distress. "Pop the hood", Tony told her. When she did Tony began spraying the engine compartment with the extinguisher. Smoke and flames came from under the hood until Tony managed to extinguish the fire. When it appeared to be out Tony opened the hood completely and checked to see what damage had been caused. The oil cap had come off at some time and allowed the oil to splash out onto the hot block, igniting it. The resulting fire had melted the plastic pipes and the insulation off the spark plug wires. There was no way she would be driving the car out of here.

When she had seen the damage Terry had used her cell phone to call her office and Tony caught her end of the conversation, "What do you mean no one can get out here until tomorrow at the earliest? What am I supposed to do, sleep in the car? Damn it Bill! I came out here as a favor for you in the first place so you could go to your kid's game." She paused and finally listened to whatever the person on the other end was saying. Terry's shoulder's slumped and she seemed resigned to the situation, "If that's the best you can do, I guess I'll be here. It's not like there's a lot of places I could go."

She turned to Tony, "Is there a motel around here I could stay in tonight?"

"The nearest place like that is over a hundred miles away."

She yelled in her phone, "Bill, did you hear that! What the hell am I supposed to do, cook my dinner over a fire in a hubcap? You get that tow truck out here first thing in the morning!" She closed the phone up fuming.

"Look, you can stay in my trailer tonight and I'll stay in the cabin. Tomorrow morning I'll bring you back to your car and we can wait for the tow truck."

She looked at Tony considering his appearance. Tony wasn't young but he wasn't an aging hippie either. Tony looked like what he was, a somewhat middle aged schoolteacher. "Let me call my mother to let her know where I am and then I'll be happy to accept." She dialed a number and spoke on the phone, explaining what had happened, "I'm going to be staying with some guy named Tony tonight. No Mom, it's nothing like that. My car broke down and I'm staying at his cabin until a tow truck can pick up my car tomorrow morning. Could you let Bill know and have him call me when he can get someone out here? Thanks, Mom."

"Tony, could you show me the property I'm supposed to photograph? I may as well take care of that as long as I'm here."

When she finally saw the place she was supposed to photograph she shook her head, "It'll probably cost more to repair my car than we'll make selling this place. " She shot several pictures of the place trying to find views that didn't look too bad.

They stopped back at her car and Terry picked up a bag from the trunk. She saw Tony looking at the bag, "It's my workout clothes. I go to the gym after work or I'd never be able to fit in a car after a while."

When they got to Tony's place he got out a sleeping bag and air mattress for the cabin and gave Terry the key to the trailer. She took in the groceries while he hooked up the new propane tank. Tony went to the small kitchen garden and picked out the ingredients for a salad. Tony knocked on the door and asked Terry to hand out two steaks and his barbecue tools. He handed Terry the salad ingredients and turned to start the barbecue. While he waited for the coals to get white Tony drank ice tea and relaxed on the front porch of his cabin. He could see Terry wandering around inside the trailer doing something in the small kitchen. Tony put the steaks on the barbecue and called out, "How do you like your steaks?"

"Medium well done." Terry answered as she came out of the trailer. In her hands she carried a large salad bowl and a bottle of wine he had kept under the sink. She placed the items on the porch and returned to the trailer to fetch plates and glasses. "I couldn't find any wineglasses", she apologized.

"Don't have any around here. I don't normally drink anything but coffee and ice tea."

Terry blushed and began to take the bottle back to the trailer. Tony held up his hand, "Don't worry about it. I don't have anything against drinking in moderation; I just don't drink too much when I'm by myself."

Tony took the steaks off the barbecue and placed them on the plates. Together they ate and Tony made sure that he saved the bones for Josh. Finishing up Terry took the plates back to the trailer. "Josh!" Tony called. Josh didn't come. Tony whistled. Still Josh didn't show up. Now Tony was beginning to worry. Josh never went far away when there was food around. He began calling more loudly and Terry came out of the trailer drying her hair while wrapped up in his robe.

"What's wrong?"

"Josh isn't coming when I call him. He never goes very far from me when there's food around."

"Do you want help looking for him?"

"Could you get the flashlight by the stove and bring it to me? I'm going to check his hole."

Terry looked confused at the mention of a hole but brought the flashlight after getting dressed in her gym suit. Tony took off for the cabin with Terry following. As he went he continued to call, "Josh! Josh where are you?"

When he got to the hole he looked into it. He didn't remember Josh having dug so far down last year. It looked like it was at least five feet deep from what he could see in the light from the flashlight. He thought he saw a flash of white at the bottom of the hole. "Josh, come here!" The white spot never moved. Tony's heart skipped, fearing that Josh was hurt. Tony began to climb into the hole. He started to slip and Terry rushed forward to grab his arm, colliding with him as he lurched up trying to gain his balance. This caused both of them to stumble and together they rolled into the hole.

Time stopped.

The AI became aware of more specimens arriving at the seldom-used portal. "A breeding pair!" he thought with a mechanical equivalent of delight. As he examined the specimens his delight dampened. "They need a lot of repair but I might be able to manage to get them into shape for transplantation in to the biota." For a time measured in an interval that was either too small to measure or almost forever the AI debated if it was worth the repair time needed. It had been a long time since he had seen a breeding pair from this location though. He began.

Tony woke up laying on something flat. His head hurt and the bright lights made it hard to see. He tried to move and found that his arms and legs were fastened to the surface of whatever he was laying on. He felt a cool sensation on his neck and everything went black again.

"Interesting. I need to increase the dosage. The specimen shouldn't have woken up."

When Tony next became aware he was lying on the ground. The first thing he noticed was how clear everything was. Tony had been wearing glasses since he was eight years old and it had become second nature to find his glasses before he did anything else. Next he became aware of someone next to him and a cold nose that was trying to press itself between his arm and his body.

The cold nose won and he found that Josh was standing next to him. Josh licked his nose and Tony grabbed him in his arms. "Josh! I don't know whether to kill you or pet you! Why didn't you come when you were called?"

He suddenly noticed that his arms were pale white and cuts he had gotten while building the cabin were gone. A noise from the other side brought his attention to that side. An attractive young woman who looked somewhat familiar was about to wake up. That's when he realized that both of them were naked and the surroundings looked nothing like the high desert woodlands he had been in before falling into Josh's hole.

The area had what looked like tropical vegetation but it didn't feel as warm as it should have been if it was in the topics. That was all he had time to notice because then the woman next to him woke up and screamed in his ear. She crab-walked away from him and acted like she was looking for something to defend herself with. Quickly before she could find anything Tony spoke up, "Miss, I'm not going to hurt you. I just woke up here like this too. I don't know where we are, do you?"

"Tony?" she stopped moving and stared at him.

"I'm sorry, do I know you?"

"I'm Terry, from the real estate agency. Remember I was staying in your trailer while we waited for the tow truck to pick up my car. Where are we and why do you look like that. She looked down at herself, "Why are we naked?"

Suddenly a burning bush appeared before them and a voice came from the surrounding area, "I am your God!"

Tony and Terry looked at each other in confusion. They weren't sure of what was going on but neither was inclined to believe that God had picked them out for some reason. Tony reached toward the bush and his hand went through it. Terry was looking around for speakers at the same time.

The specimens weren't supposed to react this way. The last time he had seen specimens from that planet's portal they had reacted with fear and tried to get away from the hologram. Quickly, and for an AI of his power this was quick indeed, he scanned the recordings he had made from the minds of the specimens. He reacted with astonishment. "These are not the same type of specimens I obtained last time. These are almost rational."

In a time too short for Tony or Terry to react to, the AI had changed his entire plan for the specimen placement. The burning bush disappeared and an elderly figure from the scanned memories appeared. This time the voice came from the figure. This was not the real shape of the AI but he had used similar shapes for communicating with other specimens of this type. "My apologies. I had accessed your cultural sophistication from old data. I hope this figure meets your comfort level better." He observed the specimens relaxing when they saw the figure. He was pleased that he had more closely identified the cultural level this time.

Tony looked at the hologram and tried to keep from laughing. The figure was a dead ringer for Yoda from Star Wars. He glanced at Terry and saw her fighting a giggle. Somehow it was hard to feel threatened by a two-foot high doll. He cleared his throat, "Who are you and why are we here?"

The figure appeared to stop for a moment almost too briefly to notice, then answered, "I cannot answer that question. Your memories have no term for the location we are at. We are in a biota that you were to be part of for educational purposes. Unfortunately I can see that you are not suitable for this location and I'll have to look elsewhere for new specimens to complete the exhibit."

"I have no name as you know it. I am an artificial intelligence charged with maintaining biota for the education of a species that you don't know about."

"What happens to us now?" Terry asked.

"You will be transported to another location more suitable."

"Can't you send us home?"

"Your return would cause a disruption with the natural evolution of your species: either toward rationality or destruction."

Terry began to cry, "What gives you the right to play God! How can you just take people away from everything they know? What about my family?"

The figure shrugged its shoulders; "I have no need or reason to justify myself to you. Do you ask permission to transport animals from one location to another?"

"We're not animals! We're people!"

"You are not rational and according to my programming that means you are not "people" by definition. You can to remain a part of the exhibit with modifications to adjust your mind to fit into the biota or I can send you to a new place where you will be able to survive. This will require you to provide your own subsistence and protection instead of it being provided to you. I will give you one of your time periods called an hour to decide."

Tony glared at the figure, "Send us back, damn you!"

"That is not possible. Your return would destroy the present culture that now exists by providing knowledge it is not ready to accept. Your cultures have almost become rational and that my programming does not allow me to chance the destruction of societies that may become rational."

With that the figure of Yoda disappeared. The AI focused a small part of his attention on the figures and turned the remainder on the maintenance of the biota under his control. A chlorine biota was showing signs of stress and needed adjustment.

Tony sat next to Terry while Josh tried to climb between them. He was stunned at what had happened. Things like this didn't happen. From what he could gather there was no chance of going home, so the only decision they had to make was to remain part of an exhibit or take the chance that they could survive in an unknown location. Neither had any desire to have their minds 'adjusted' so the only decision they had to make was what they could do now. Finally they decided that they could only accept the choice of a new world.

"Look, Tony, I'd rather die than become some zombie for the amusement of some damned voyeurs." Tony couldn't argue too much as he felt much the same way. Together they talked about what they needed to do to be able to survive.

The portion of the AI observing them was struggling itself. This was in one of the gray areas of his basic programming. If the specimens had been rational, they would receive any assistance they asked for and sent onward to his creators. Specimens who were clearly not rational would have been placed where needed regardless of what they wanted. The few times that the specimens were on the cusp of being rational they required special handling. They could receive assistance if they asked for it, but only what they had asked for. The AI was required to ensure that they were placed in a momentarily safe location but was prohibited from interfering after they left that location. They could be used to kick start species that had reached a plateau or regressed to unacceptable levels. However, they would have to do so with whatever aid he was able to provide before they left. At the end of an hour the figure of Yoda reappeared in front of Tony and Terry.

"Have you decided on your placement?"

Terry spoke up, "We're damned if you'll 'adjust' our minds. We'd rather be dead. We'll take the place you offered where we can survive. We need to look like the other people around and be able to communicate with them."

Tony added, "You need to give us some sort of weapons with the ability to use them if we need to, knowledge of how to survive in the environment and supplies that will let us do so. Otherwise you may as well just kill us now."

In a period of time that was too short to measure to the humans and almost endless to the AI, it considered the options for transplanting the specimens. It considered the various portals available to him and ran simulations of what would happen to the specimens. In most they survived only days before dying from either natural hazards or the irrational inhabitants. Only a few remained where the specimens had a chance at survival for long periods. Next it considered where they could be best used to kick start the inhabitants toward rationality. Finally the AI decided. The figures of Tony, Josh and Terry vanished from the biota. The attention of the part that was monitoring them returned to the consideration of what to do to return the chlorine biota to perfect health.

Another part of the AI considered the bodies of Tony, Josh and Terry and determined the best method of giving them a chance to survive in the place they were to be sent. Changes would have to be made and additional items added. A plug from their skull was removed and a small computer installed in their brain. Into this computer the complete range of knowledge known to the AI for the place they were going was added. Knowledge of the immediate area where they were to be placed was imprinted onto the memory of the specimens and motor memory installed to allow the use of the weapons and tools provided. Finally all the changes were made and the specimens were placed at the portal leading to the place determined to be where they would be most useful. A pulse of energy and they were gone. A small portion of the AI set up a sub-routine to periodically query the computers installed in the specimens to see how they affected the evolution of the native species. After that the AI returned its attention to more important matters.

When Tony woke up this time he was laying in some sort of tent. His skin was a burnt amber color and the woman next to him was the same color. Both bodies seemed human to him, although the bodies that resembled those of body builders. Josh was the most changed. Instead of Josh being only 14 inches tall, he now stood over three feet and must have weighed over a hundred and fifty pounds. He opened his eyes and yawned revealing that his teeth had changed as well. They were at least two inches long and looked like they could crush a bone with a casual bite. He still tried his best to stick his nose between Tony's arm and body, and acted like he was till the same size as before.