Julie Mendez

Norton

AP Lang

5.20.17

Intrappolare

Mr. Lane Guish watched as the morning sun began slowly seeping its way through the

haphazardly closed curtains. The rising sun marked the end of his tormented night, as it had for

the past year since the passing of his beloved wife. With a sigh, Lane got himself out of bed,

knowing that the maid would soon be coming in with a cup of coffee and the morning paper. As

he entered his private study, Lane could hear the maid speaking with someone in the hallway and

heard her say, For his sake, I hope its good news this time. Within moments, Mrs. Benne

Vullente entered the room, politely said, good morning and placed his coffee next to him on

his desk. As she handed him the newspaper, Mrs. Vullente said, Mr. Kyser is here to see you.

Would you like for him to come in?

Yes, tell him to come in, he replied promptly. Looking over, Lane saw his assistant

enter. What is it? What were Team 4s results? He asked anxiously. Keenly avoiding eye

contact, Kyser delivered the bad news. Im sorry sir. They too have said its just not possible to

time travel. Lane Guish sank back in his chair. No one made a sound for a few minutes.

Suddenly, Lane was overcome with anger and pounded his fist against the desk, spilling coffee

on his papers.

NO! I will not take no for and answer! How many more teams have yet to reply?

Just one. Team 6 is still running tests and have not given us their results.
 OK, then. Raise the stakes. Tell Team 6 that if they can find a way to go back in time,

the team will get two million dollars - double my original offer. And tell them that if they

havent brought back any good news by the end of fall, theyre fired.

Very well, sir.

For the reminder of the day, Lane Guish sat alone in his study, contemplating what he

would do if he ever got the chance to reunite with his wife.

fe fe fe

The math just doesnt work! Weve gone through this a hundred times and keep coming

back to the same results. It cant be done. So, what do we do now? Averi Shous, the Team 6

solar energy systems engineer, asked her fellow members.

After a moment of silence, Couve Tuss spoke up. Averi, you said we keep coming up

with the same results. Thats because we keep asking the same questions and using the same

formulas. What if we get some help? Someone with a different point of view?

Shicane Ir chimed in. How about that one kid that keeps contacting us? Aps Aps

something. Was it Tate Aps? You know, the math prodigy from MIT? I started looking over

some of the work hes sent us, and his formulas and theories are astounding. Maybe he can

provide a new perspective.

Fine, said Larse N. Err after a short pause. Ill give him a call. But, if he proves useful,

do we plan on giving him an equal share of the money?

The other team members exchanged glances. No, I didnt think so, said Larse. After

all, hes just a kid, no matter how smart he is. What would he do with that kind of money

anyway? Besides, he should count himself lucky just to work with us. That should be reward

enough for him.

 Within two and a half weeks, Tate had proved himself more than useful. In fact, he had

come up with ideas, theories, and formulas that had never occurred to any of them before. The

four scientists were frequently overwhelmed and found it hard to keep up with Tate, although

they would never have dared admit it to themselves or each other. Pretty soon, they had all

stopped checking Tates work for accuracy and merely did as he instructed. Couve Tuss, the

aerospace engineer, was assigned the task of modifying a salvaged Virgin Galactic North Star

spaceship. Shicane Ir, the logistics engineer, was in charge of finding the best course, date and

takeoff site for their test mission. Larse, the geospatial information scientist, and Averi Shous

mapped the current and previous location of the planets and stars.

Their test mission was planned for mid-October. Initially, it was decided that only Larse

and Averi would attempt to travel one hour back in time. However, Tate adamantly insisted that

he had to be the one to go on the test mission. He argued that he was the only one capable of

recalculating the coordinates in case they overestimated their destination. Otherwise, they may

not be able to come back to the present. Although his arguments were sound, Larse and Averi

were not willing to let someone else steal their glory. They wanted the fame and fortune of being

the first time travelers. In the end, however, it was decided that Tate would accompany Larse and

Averi on the test mission.

On the day of the mission, Larse, Averi and Tate stepped into the spaceship with their

equipment, and Tate began setting the coordinates. Are you sure that it will only take three

hours to reach the wormhole, if its even there at all? asked Larse.

Like Ive explained before, yes. All of my research indicates that a wormhole large

enough to fit the spaceship is there. Once we enter the wormhole, Ill have to make sure that we

exit at the right moment to set us back one hour.

 Well, for your sake itd better work. Otherwise, you can forget about going back to

MIT, sneered Averi. I have my reputation at stake and several opportunities that depend on the

success of this mission.

Itll work. Just let me focus on what Im doing. Otherwise, I may accidentally set us

back one year instead of one hour.

With that, they took off. Tate occasionally checked their coordinates to make sure that

they were on the right course. When they had been traveling for about three and a half hours,

tensions started running high. Larse and Averi anxiously kept looking at the clock, computer

screens and out of the two small windows on the side of the spaceship. Tate ignored them and

their questions and continued concentrating on the navigation panels. Suddenly, a smile crept on

Tates face and he said, At last, there it is!

Larse and Averi looked out of the cockpit window and saw what looked like small ripples

in front of them. As they approached the ripples, they could feel the spacecraft begin to tremble

until it felt as though they were in the midst of a violent earthquake. As soon as they passed

through it, everything suddenly went still and there were blinding, multicolored flashes of light

all around them. The phenomena was overwhelming and left Larse and Averi speechless.

Unbelievably, Tate hardly seemed to notice that anything strange was happening. As soon as the

lights had appeared, his fingers began flying over the controls. Somehow, he seemed to know

how to navigate through the wormhole and appeared to be directing the spacecraft to a specific

location. Suddenly, they made a sharp turn, and the spacecraft exited the wormhole.

Everything felt overwhelmingly still, silent, and dark. Once their eyes adjusted to the

darkness, they could see a distant blue planet resembling earth. However, as they approached it,

they sensed that something was different. Something was not right. The landmasses did not look
like any of the seven continents with which they were familiar. The earth-like planet also had

two moons and somehow looked as though it was emitting its own light source.

When are we? asked an astounded Averi.

Tate kept looking straight ahead and quietly replied, Not when but where.

Wait, what? What do you mean where? What does that mean? When are we, where are

we, and what is that? Larse asked, frantically trying to release his restraining harness.

Tate slowly turned to look at him and with a slight smile reaching his eyes plainly stated,

My home.