Tesseract

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Aboard the deep submersible Fievel, Al Giordino and Joe Zavala watched the depth gauge as they descended into the depths of the ocean. The depth gauge read 5,724 feet when they finally reached the bottom and began their way towards the S.S. Minerva. Upon finding the sunken ship they found a wide gash in the stern and maneuvered into the opening. They were inside a cargo bay of the ship and the outside lights of Fievel picked up one container that measured eight feet by eight. Using the controls of the manipulator arm Joe Zavala began the task of trying to open the container. After several minutes passed Joe had succeeded in opening the lid and as they stared inside, the lights picked up a strange octagonal cube that lay inside. Joe opened his mouth to say what he believed it was when the cube began to glow a bluish light. "Oh my god is that what I think it is?" blurts Al. Before the two men could begin to perceive the implications of what they had found, Fievel disappeared as the bluish light enveloped the deep submersible. Up on the surface, lay the NUMA Ship, Knightsbridge. Captain Regis Mandan stood behind Dirk Pitt Jr. as they saw the video feed of the octagonal cube with it's bluish light enveloping the deep submersible and then the video feed disappeared. Summer Pitt gasped and dropped her NUMA Mug. The Mug fell to the floor and broke into several pieces. "We need to check out what just happened and send down the DSV Titus to try and find the Fievel along with her crew" commanded Captain Regis Leigh Mandan to his DSV Coordinator, Hal Needham. Hal Needham rushed from the room down to the moonpool.

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1907. Dame Edna Knightsbridge swung the bottle of wine at the bow of the ship named in her honor. The bottle of wine was smashed into many pieces with the wine dripping from the bow. At the age of 44, Dame Edna was pleased with the life she has led. Born Edna Mae Troutwine in the small town of Ewen in the county of Gloucestershire in the year 1863. Edna had led an idyllic life as a young girl. At the age of 24 in 1888 she met and fell in love with the young Sir Galadriel Knightsbridge of Ewen Manor. Unfortunately, Galadriel did not have the mind to manage his finances and was only too happy to have Edna manage the estate he had inherited. Edna definitely had the mind for finances and soon multiplied their fortunes by investing in America. In 1914, Edna decided it was time to take a trip to America but did not want to take an ordinary Ocean liner, so she commissioned a ship to be built for their trip to the United States and named it the Minerva after her cat that she had as a young girl. While rummaging through the cellars of Ewen Manor one day she found a strange octagonal shaped box made of a strange metal she could not identify. After arriving in the United States she fell in love with the country and decided to stay. Edna began to do some research by hiring a young man, Andre Cristiano, to travel back to Europe with the strange box. Andre was onboard the S.S. Minerva as the ship made her way towards Europe when a german U-Boat fired a torpedo into the stern and the ship began to take on water, Andre and several crewmembers took to the life boat and escaped the sinking ship. Andre had noted the latitude and longitude before taking to the life boat and upon being rescued by an American ship called the MiOna and captained by a Mr. Walker Shelburne on her way to England, Andre knew he could use the sinking as an excuse to keep Dame Edna in the dark about his continued investigation of the strange box that had sunk onboard the Minerva. Andre did make some discreet inquiries and learned very little but left notes and letters for his family to continue looking into the matter. Indeed, his sons and grandsons learned a few things in their researches over the years.

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Feeling funny after spinning what seemed like forever, Al and Joe found themselves in a canyon. "Where are we?" asked Al. "I believe we are somewhere in the American southwest" replied Joe Zavala. "Joe, do you feel funny and happen to notice the colors of our surroundings?" "Yes, I think I know what you're talking about. I feel kind of flat, don't you?" "Yes, definitely. It feels like, like a cartoonish setting" A noise was heard and they realized it was coming towards them and they ran to opposite sides of the canyon. A jeep appeared into the canyon and came to a stop almost in the center of the canyon. Joe walks slowly towards the jeep. "Hi, may I inquire who you are and how you came to be here in the jeep?' asks Joe. "Hello, I am Douglas Quest. I live nearby and noticed some shoe prints just outside of my property earlier and decided to come and investigate" "Hello, I am Joe Zavala and this is Al Giordino, we are with NUMA and find ourselves lost somehow after being dumped here in the Southwest" "Well, gentlemen, why don't you two hop on board and I will take you to my place" Later, after a nice repast of eggs, chili and potatoes, the men sat at the table and began talking about how they could have come to be in the desert of what they learned was New Mexico. "I am awaiting for my son, Benton and my grandson, Jonny to arrive today, along with their friends, Roger Bannon and Hadji. Joe gave Al a sharp, knowing look and Al thought the same thing. They decided to take a short walk together outside to walk off the lunch and talk. "You know, of course, that the names we just heard are cartoon names of our youth, right?" inquired Joe. "Yes, indeed, it feels like a cartoon with the colors and explains why we feel ourselves as if we are flat" comes back Al. "What are we doing here? Are we on an episode of Jonny Quest or are we in some weird dimensional world?" "You do recall that octagonal box just before it's bluish light enveloped us, right?" "Yes, of course. The word Tesseract came to my mind. Something to do with geometry and space-time dimension. Later, that night after spending some time becoming acquainted with Jonny, Roger, Benton and Hadji, Al and Joe talked briefly before falling asleep.

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"Thank you for flying us to California, Dr. Quest, we certainly appreciate it" said Joe Zavala as he and Al turn to step into the cab in front of the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco. Within seconds Al and Joe felt that spinning sensation again and woke up on a grassy strip in the middle of a parking lot. Both of them shook themselves to get rid of the dizziness as they stood up and found a sea of cars. Al was first to see the main headquarters building for the Nelson Institute for Marine Research. This time, Joe remembered the TV Show this organization was on and felt that they were about to take a trip down the land of television shows of their youth. "You do recognize that name don't you, Al?" "Unfortunately, yes, I do Joe" "Hey, you two!! What are you doing here!? Do you have a pass?" asked the Security Guard. "Here we go, again" mumbled Al. The Security Guard came up to them and pointed his gun towards the building as Joe and Al started walking that way. Inside, the Security Guard held his gun pointed towards them as he directed the receptionist to call security. The Security Guard, whose nameplate revealed him as Fred, talked on the phone for a minute. Within minutes the Head of Security and Admiral Harriman Nelson walked into the reception area.

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Joe and Al appreciated the setting as it was definitely the 1960s cold war era of their youth. Admiral Harriman Nelson introduced himself and was very informal with Joe and Al, letting them feel comfortable with his warmth and charm. "Let us take a seat over here" said the Admiral with Al, Joe and the head of Security, Rick Lassiter following him over to the group of chairs in the lobby. Soon, Joe and Al began to explain in a roundabout way why they were in the parking lot. "I see, well gentlemen, the way this is going to come down is this, you will follow Rick to the gates and you will be let out of the grounds and be on your way with no looks back, understood?" "Yes, sir" Joe and Al chimed together and stood up to leave with Mr. Lassiter. A few minutes later as they stepped just beyond the entrance gate, Al turned and asked Mr. Lassiter what city they were in. "Santa Barbara" Rick replied. That spell of dizziness overcame Joe and Al again as they felt themselves being hurtled again through some sort of vortex. When they came to they found themselves aboard what appeared to be a spaceship. "What in blazes!?!" asks Busby Birdwell as he spots Al and Joe on the floor. "What's going on?" asks Al. "You are trespassing on board a government craft!!" retorts Mr. Birdwell. "Who are these gentlemen, Busby?" asks Erica Lane as she steps through a doorway. "I wish to god I knew, Erica, but they just appeared out of the blue" "Obviously, these gentlemen are spies' says Guru, stepping through the same doorway where Physician Erica Lane had just stepped through. Commander Jonathan Kidd steps through the same doorway and looks at his crew as they form half a circle around Joe and Al.

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'Well, obviously we can't keep them on board but neither can we kick them off while on our mission. I will have to contact CMDF Headquarters and notify them of our situation and due to lack of space they will have to share quarters with us" says Commander Jonathan Kidd. "Do you feel that flatness again, Joe?" Al asks sotto voce. "Yes, and I think I just remembered what CMDF means, Al. We are on another cartoon and it is the Fantastic Journey, if I remember right. " Al looks at Joe and vaguely recalls the cartoon. Then both of them feel the spinning feeling coming over them again. When they come to they find themselves looking up at a group of people. Al and Joe look at the two very attractive women and slowly recognize what show they must be on when looking at all the faces. "Hello, I am Alexander Fitzhugh" says the heavyset man and pulls Al and Joe up off the ground. The young boy steps up to Al and Joe and introduces himself as Barry. The redhead beauty introduces herself as Valerie and the Blonde introduces herself as Betty. The man in the red clothes introduces himself as Captain Steve Burton, followed by his copilot, Dan Ericson. Mark Wilson introduces himself to Al and Joe. Al and Joe introduce themselves to the group.

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Barry's dog barks and Captain Burton listens intently as he recognizes the bark to mean a giant human is approaching. A man towering well over 200ft tall approaches and everyone runs. Joe and Al are running too when they feel the dizziness sweeping over their minds. When they come to they find themselves in Outer Space but are confused as to why they are able to breathe when they spot a swirling mass of celestial bodies hurtling towards a circle of darkness and they realize they are looking at a Black Hole. Again the dizziness comes over them and when they come to they find themselves hurtling through a multihues swirling dervish and after what seemed like forever they exited the wormhole. Floating in Outer Space they realize what they had just gone through and feel the dizziness again. When they come to, they find themselves in a dark green space that seems to go on forever. They stand up and begin to see geometrical patterns throughout their surroundings and are puzzled for quite a while. Joe begins to form an idea slowly and is reluctant to say it out loud.

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After what seemed like an eternity walking around the strange dimension they begin to see the geometrical patterns begin to change and the dizziness comes over them again. When they come to they find themselves in the year 1776 and looking at the people of Williamsburg milling about in their 18th century clothes. Joe and Al feel out of place.

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The Troutwine family of Gloucestershire county had been agents of the Montini-Cristi family of Montealagre during the eleventh century, doing many assignments for the wealthy and mysterious Montini-Cristi's, including a mysterious exploration of the America's that disappeared with a ceramic jar that had been entrusted to the Troutwine family. Dame Edna had read about this in the family journals but thought nothing of it when she had hired Andre Cristiano to investigate the mysterious cargo she had laid in the holds of the Minerva. What Dame Edna did not know was that Andre Cristiano was a descendant of the Montini-Cristi family or of the Knightsbridge family as members of the Atlantean Magi that were in a bloody feud with the Atlantean descendants of the engineers/scientists clans that the Montini-Cristi family were members of for many thousands of years.

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Following the Watery planet Aquarius, the mysterious spacecraft with her resident humans onboard watch as Aquarius nears a molten planet that is third from it's Sun. Aquarius begins it's hydrodynamic force as she deluges the molten planet and the humans onboard the spaceship watch in fascination. Talon, the commander of the spaceship receives a note from a messenger that informs him of the succesful completion of the Tesseract device in the laboratory. Talon walks over to Ava, his wife and tells her he is heading to the lab. Once inside the lab, Talon is shown the device in the bay where it was constructed. Alois, the chief scientist in charge begins to explain that the device will be able to help in the terraforming of the planet they have come upon. "As soon as Aquarius is finished with her cooling of that molten planet we can begin to create a planet that will be suitable for human habitation. Ever since we left our Atlantean home planet, I do believe we will be successful here with this planet compared to our previous attempts at terraforming. With the Tesseract we will be able to do all kinds of scientific and magical wonders."

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Indeed, Earth would become a gem of perfect terraforming with her natural wonders that would be the envy of many intergalactic empires. The Atlanteans would eventually settle upon the planet, naming it Earth. The massive continent that had formed would be named Pangaeia. Over time it would be the home of the descendants of the first settlers and would become enmeshed in a civil strife between those of magical powers and the scientific/intellectual clans. As time would pass, the Earth and her settlers would face many tests and struggles. Many times the Atlanteans would barely survive massive tragedies that would wipe out many families, leaving few to survive. Other Atlantean spaceships would come to help repopulate Earth.

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One of the numerous elements used in the Terraforming technology was Cusslerite. It was used in the forming of the Tesseract gem that would send Al Giordino and Joe Zavala on their weird and mysterious journey.