"Right! It's not. It didn't stick to me, Mahin, or Harlie, and real quicksand would. I think it's got whatever the Poof Traps were made out of in it."

"How?" White asked.

"Siler helped the sandshifter to seed the area we were standing in, that's my only guess." Wasn't sure if I should mention that Siler had been the one to blow up the combine, with the three people who'd attacked us inside. As with berating Mahin, maybe later. There was something else I needed to think about. One word. How.

"So you think burning it will work?" Gower asked. "How?"

This wasn't the "how" I was hoping to concentrate on. How did the combine get here? Felt sure that if Olga were here, she'd be confirming that this was the question.

"No," Chuckie said thoughtfully, "it could work. It might make it more liquid, both the sand and whatever the element or elements in it that make up the Poof Traps. Serene's team did a lot of research on those-extreme heat affected it. It's going to be tight, though, Kitty. The difference between warm enough and boiling is slight."

"But no pressure!"

"We are willing to be the first," Rahmi said. Rhee nodded.

"I don't think I can get to you two easily, because of the Peregrines. In fact, the only one who isn't blocked by a lot of animals and is also near the edge of the quicksand patch is Mister White."

"No way," Christopher said. "You're not using that near my dad."

White shrugged. "I'm in the best position, son. It will be fine. I'm willing, Missus Martini."

"Do you have any idea how to use that thing?" Tito asked.

"Um . . ." Before I could share that I had no actual clue, my music switched to, of all things, "Cool, Cool Water" by The Beach Boys. At the same time, the air near me shimmered.

"Who's coming?" Christopher asked. "No one's advised any of us that they're sending help."

Realized how everything had shown up here when, by all rights, Home Base should have spotted everything-javelina herd, dune buggy, and combine-and removed them well before we'd ever known of their existence.

"The bad guys are using gates somehow. I've seen shimmering around the areas where the dune buggy and combine have shown up." And around where I thought Siler and the sandshifter had gone. But they'd come back, because the combine had blown up with the guy I assumed was the sandshifter in it well after I'd seen that particular shimmering.

"That's impossible," Reader said.

"Nothing's impossible," Buchanan said.

"Especially because the technology has been here for decades," Chuckie added.

Turned toward the shimmering floater gate. "Please let this be help. Or else I'm going to use the flamethrower for something other than getting all of you out."

CHAPTER 43.

HAPPILY, it was the flyboys who stepped through, and extra happily, they were all equipped with ropes and harnesses.

Jerry shook his head. "We can't leave you all alone for a minute."

"All hell's breaking loose and here you all are, enjoying mud baths," Hughes said chidingly.

"Shocking disregard for what's important," Walker agreed.

"It's a good thing we're around to actually do the real work," Joe said as he dropped a thick lasso around White, who moved it to under his armpits.

"And you've brought the animals in on it, too," Randy said. "I'm ashamed of all of you, I really am."

"The levity's great," Jeff said dryly. "But some of us are actually up to our necks in this stuff. Speaking for myself and the animals, if you pull the others out, we all go under, so don't pull the others out."

"Don't make me flame you," I added. "Though, admittedly, I can see you as Johnny Storm, Jerry. At least based on attitude."

"I'm touched. But we can't lose a fine member of Congress," Jerry said with a grin. "Especially when it's one of the only members we like."

"Home Base is infiltrated," I shared apropos of trying to get them back onto the situation at hand.

"No, actually, it's not," Joe said.

"Yeah," Randy said. "It's actually worse. Presidential order was given to Home Base to not assist in anything going on out here."

"What?" This was shouted, or a variation, some with curse words, by everyone other than the animals and the flyboys. Even the princesses. Even Mahin. Happily, no one went any lower into the quicksand, but I didn't figured we'd be lucky twice.

"You guys! Stop distracting Mahin or everyone's going to go under!" Wasn't sure any of them would listen to me, but it was worth a shot.

"Oh, relax, it was faked," Hughes said.

"A very good fake," Randy added.

"But it took Angela a while to get that cleared up." Joe lassoed Chuckie and Buchanan who both followed White's example and put the thick leather around their chests and under their arms.

"Meanwhile, we weren't allowed over here," Walker added. "Dome was on lockdown and the presidential order kept it locked, despite Serene's screaming."

"She can really scream," Jerry added. "I may have permanent hearing loss."

"That's awesome, guys, but my husband and my pets are about to die, so consider me lacking in levity. And holding a flamethrower. Just sayin'."

More shimmering and Lorraine, Claudia, and Serene stepped through the floater gate, followed by Melanie and Emily, Lorraine and Claudia's mothers. They all had packs of equipment and such with them. "Actually, we don't think anyone's in danger now," Emily said briskly.

"Tell that to the javelinas and Peregrines," Jeff said. "And me. I'm not feeling all secure."

"I can barely keep them up," Mahin said. "And I'm all that's keeping them above the surface."

Serene shook her head. "We did some infrared and spectrum analysis from the Science Center-you should all just pull out without issue."

"Seriously, Jeff almost popped a vessel pulling me and Mahin out and when he got us out, everyone else went down. I think this stuff has to be superheated in order to release them."

"No," Lorraine said. "It needs to be superheated to be destroyed. You can relax," she told Mahin.

"I can still feel the weight," Mahin said.

"I'd personally appreciate being really certain before Mahin stops holding me up," Jeff said. "And I'm going to share that the animals all feel the same way."

Claudia stuck something metal into the quicksand. She was near enough to be grabbed and pulled into it, but nothing happened. Presumably the dead sandshifter had to control that. So, one for the win column. She pulled out what was obviously a sample and Melanie took it and examined it under what I realized was a field microscope that was attached to goggles.

"You look like something out of a steampunk novel."

"Is now the time for the Kittyisms?" Christopher asked, voice strained.

"It's an alternative, eclectic aesthetic," Claudia said. "A reimagining of history."

"You should get out more," Lorraine added.

"I think it's quite cool, steampunk," Melanie shared. "But that's beside the point. This is now dormant."

"Doesn't feel dormant," Tim said. "I still feel amazingly trapped."

"You are, but we can get you out," Emily said. "We just need-"

"Cool water." Sent a mental message to Algar to make up his mind. Decided I was getting enough mixed messages and put my iPod back into my purse.

"Yes," Lorraine looked impressed. "Good call, Kitty."

"What were you going to do with the flamethrower, though?" Serene asked. Innocently. I knew she was faking the innocent and probably laughing at me. But she kept it all inside and had her Innocence on the Hoof look going strong.

"I was going to superheat the quicksand to get them out. Because it sounded like a workable idea at the time."

"If it was still active it would have been," Emily said. "Think of this element-which is not from Earth, but I'm sure we all knew that-as something similar to silicon. When it's heated it becomes malleable. Heat it enough, though, and it breaks down and literally burns away."

"Are the Z'porrah from a colder planet?"

"We think so," Serene said. "It would explain why superheating this destroys it, versus just changes its properties. But that's not the only possible explanation."

"Based on dinosaurs and lizards, them coming from a warmer planet would make more sense," Emily said. "But we haven't spent a lot of time on the Z'porrah, and what little we had was lost last year, so they've been a low priority data rebuild."

Wondered if Algar would agree with that. He hadn't been happy with anything we'd done this past year, perhaps this was another failing on our parts. Now, of course, wasn't the time to find out.

Claudia was on her phone. "Yes, cold water. Now. Or else I'll ask the head of the P.T.C.U. to personally come see why you didn't verify that 'presidential' order. Yes, she's quite upset. I think the phrase 'ready to put a cap in yo ass' about covers it."

"I'm so proud."

"It was a lot easier to deal with Home Base when Colonel Franklin was in charge," Lorraine muttered.

"Save that thought for later. And I do mean that I want us thinking about this later. But, you know, after everyone's out and safe and all that."

"Thanks so much, since I'm still in here up to my neck," Jeff said. "But I appreciate Angela's help. I'd appreciate everyone else having the same urgency. Right now, the only person who seems intent to keep me alive is Mahin. And I'm incredibly grateful for that, Mahin. Please ignore the others until everyone's out safely."

"Relax, Jeff, the water's on its way," Emily said. "It's a good thing this was going on here. It's night on the East coast."

"Not that it's going to stop all the accusations," Serene said. "It's bad. Cliff and Vander are trying to keep things controlled, but they're not having a lot of success. And with all of you here, it looks like we're trying to hide away or avoid the questions."

"No one knows what happened?"

"Well, yes, those with the right clearances. But it's not as if we can tell the general public that all of you were kidnapped and stuck in alien quicksand, now can we?"

"I suppose not. By the way, our enemies were using floater gates to get everything here, like the combine harvester and, I'm sure, the poor javelinas, too."

"How?" Reader asked. "We monitor all gate activity worldwide."

Serene jerked. "But not when the Dome is locked down."

CHAPTER 44.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN?" I asked. "We've used the gates when we were in lockdown. We do it all the time."

"Yes, but it's monitored differently," Serene explained. "When we're in lockdown, the Dome is considered our most strategic and vulnerable location. So while we can and do use the gates when the Dome is locked down, it takes itself off the grid, if that makes any sense."

"It does," Chuckie said. "The Dome becomes self-functioning and stops monitoring other locations, is that right?"

"Yes," Reader said. "That's why all airport gates are calibrated for the Dome-in case of lockdown, or any other emergency, they'll still work to get our people to safety. However, this means that if someone's using an unauthorized gate, we wouldn't spot it."

"They could run on a different frequency, too," Tim suggested. "The Dome would spot that under normal situations, but under lockdown, it would become almost impossible to spot."

"Assume that's what they've done, because I saw shimmering, just like for floater gates, behind the dune buggy and the combine."

"Should we even ask?" Hughes asked.

"I'd rather wait for Kitty to tell us about it," Walker replied.

"Everyone's a comedian."

The water truck finally trundled up and a couple of guys in uniform got out, attached a hose, and, under Emily's direction, carefully watered down the quicksand.

"Get the animals out first," Jeff said. "And that's an order."

Reader nodded. "I agree."

Once this stuff was wet, Jerry stepped on it. It held him and neither yanked him down nor trapped him. He pulled one of the Peregrines out. It slid out easily, cawed its thanks, and went to Mahin and Harlie.

I followed Jerry onto the now-hardened quicksand surface-it was like walking on wet sand at the beach in Cabo. Was fairly sure both Jeff and I would have preferred to be in Cabo right about now. Maybe later, if we all got a later, we could go there for a little family vacation.

While Jerry handled the Peregrines, I went to the Poofs. Harlie went small and jumped onto Mahin's shoulder. The other Poofs went small as well, making it really easy for me to pull them out, especially since I did it at hyperspeed. Finished up and helped Jerry with the remaining Peregrines. Received much telepathic animal love, which was nice.