A Mutiny in Time (Infinity Ring #1)

Dak’s parents were due home around seven o’clock that evening. His grandma figured he was a big boy and could take care of himself between dinner and their arrival, so she packed up, gave him a creaky hug, and went home. Dak loved her to death, but she had barely moved out of her chair in the guest room since showing up, so he wasn’t quite sure why she was there in the first place. In case he needed a knitted sweater out of the blue?

The last half hour waiting for his mom and dad to walk through the front door was agonizing. He and Sera sat on the couch in the living room, the tick tick tick of the clock on the wall the only sound.

Dak’s hands were slick with sweat. There just wasn’t any way that this could go down without getting ugly. He tried to think about how he’d break the news, and nothing sounded right. Not a single historical anecdote seemed appropriate to soften the blow. Taking the keys alone was enough to make his dad turn beet red and get his mom shrieking like a diseased monkey.

Three minutes after seven the door opened.

His mom stepped inside, holding a small suitcase in one hand and a giant purse in the other. His dad followed with the rest of their luggage. He shut the door with an elbow, then both of them noticed Dak and Sera sitting before them in silence.

“Well howdy do!” his dad said, a little too loudly. Dak didn’t think anyone would ever need to know anything else about his father except that the man often said the words Well howdy do! That pretty much said it all.

“What are you two little munchkins up to?” his mom asked as she put her things down. “How nice of you to greet us — our own private welcoming committee! Where’s the band and the cocktails?” She snorted a laugh, something that sounded like a pig getting tickled.

And these two people were geniuses. Well, Dak thought, gotta love ’em.

“Now where are my hugs?” his mom said with a mock hurt face. “Don’t just sit there all day like two bumps on a pickle! Come over here.”

Dak stood up . . . and suddenly had an idea. There was only one way to tell this story and survive to see the next day: backward.

“Mom, Dad,” he said, hoping to make it clear that he had something serious to tell them.

Both of them had made it about halfway into the living room, but now they stopped and stared. They’d sensed it all right.

Dak smiled, trying to show what good news he had. “The Infinity Ring works now. She’s all ready to go.”

Dak’s mom and dad both had confused looks on their faces, as if they mostly thought he was kidding but weren’t completely sure.

“Come again?” his mom finally asked.

Dak stuck with telling the story backward — he wanted to leave that little tidbit about him stealing their keys until the very end. “It took all weekend, but Sera was able to fill in your missing piece, and now it works.”

Sera was fidgeting beside him, still on the couch, her knees bouncing. His parents shared a look that he couldn’t quite read.

Dak decided to keep going, thinking this just might work without an explosion of rage, groundings, unnecessary murders, stuff like that. “Look, we can fill in all the details later — but this is exciting, right? We need to get out there! Sera can explain, but the Infinity Ring is ready to be tested!”

“Who else knows about this?” Dak’s mom said. Her voice was flat and commanding — it actually scared Dak a little.

“What . . . what do you mean?” he asked. Sera stood beside him now, and he could tell she sensed the bad shift in the mood.

Dak’s mother put her hands on his shoulders. “This is important, son. Did you tell anyone what you were up to? Anyone at all? Your grandmother, maybe? Sera’s uncle?”

“No,” Dak said. He looked over at Sera, who shook her head. “Mom, what’s going on?”

Dak’s dad drew the curtains closed, his face pinched with worry. “This isn’t a game, Dak. What on earth were you thinking?”

He yelled that last bit, something Dak had never, not once, experienced before.

“I’m sorry, Dad. But . . . we figured it out.”

“You also might’ve signed our death warrants,” his mom replied.

“We can’t waste another second,” his dad said. “Show us.”





THE NEXT couple of hours were a complete nightmare. First, Dak had to sit through Sera’s explanations on how everything worked and how she’d figured it out. His parents were short and bitter as they asked questions and demanded answers. Then Sera’s uncle came over and caused a major scene when he started screaming and yelling. Somehow Dak’s dad was able to calm the old geezer down, convince him that Sera desperately needed their help with an important homework project, and send him on his way.

Then there was another hour of scientific mumbo jumbo that just about drove Dak over the edge. Just when he thought he couldn’t take any more, he heard someone say his name. His head jerked up and he realized he’d been staring at the floor.