Diego and the Rangers of the Vastlantic

Diego looked back at the board. If he could assemble the parts needed to construct the gravity board, what else could he make? “What’s the best thing you’ve used the Sight for?” he asked.

“I’m not sure. I never really thought of it like that.”

“Come on,” Diego said. “Did you ever enhance the fighter planes, like with better engines or weapons? Or, like, what about robots that could seek out the Aeternum to defeat them once and for all?” Diego remembered the picture of his uncle Arden and his parents. “Then maybe Uncle Arden wouldn’t have died in the Battle of Dusable Harbor—”

“No,” Santiago said. He’d stiffened, his gaze lost in the table. “During the Dark Years, my first instinct was to build machines to match the violence around us, and to save lives. I saw so many terrible things in the Chronos War: Mid-Time towns gouged apart by Steam-Time cannon fire while their armies were laid waste by Mid-Time missiles, so much violence brought on by people’s hatred of each other’s time culture. But the thing was, there were so few humans left, a superior weapon might have ended the conflict, but it also would have caused unforgivable destruction, and I didn’t think humanity could survive it.

“I realized that to survive in this world, what we really needed was each other. Mid Timers and Elders needed the Steam Timers. And as much as they hated to admit it, Steam Timers needed us, too. The Steam Timers had technology that still worked, the Elders had their advanced science and medicine, and the Mid Timers could bridge the gap.

“Now, years later, this world faces an enemy more dangerous than we ever faced during the Chronos War. We can beat the Aeternum, but not through the creation of superior weapons. It must be through our prosperity and by making a stronger world. Does that make sense?”

“Sort of,” Diego said. “But just making the world more prosperous won’t stop the Aeternum, will it? Not like a better fighter plane. Why not show them how powerful you are? Then they would fear you.”

Santiago sighed. “In my experience, fear never leads to freedom. This was proved true all too often in the world before the Time Collision. Making the world more prosperous will rally the people to stand against those who’d take their future away from them.”

“Could you build defenses then? Instead of weapons. You know, like shields, or . . .”

“Diego, that’s not the point. I understand where you’re coming from, son, but the power has to be used carefully,” Santiago said. “There are those who would use it toward selfish ends, and still others who would fear what we can do and want to destroy us because of it.”

“Destroy us?” Diego repeated. “Who would want to do that? You mean like the True Believers?” The True Believers were Steam Timers who had become time supremacists. They wanted to form a society free of Mid-Time and Elder influence.

“Perhaps,” Santiago said. “By combining their technology with that of the Mid Timers and Elders, I do what they are sworn to stop. And we know how ruthless they can be.”

“There’s more of them around town now, too,” Diego said. “There are even Believer gangs at school these days.”

“Yes,” Santiago said. “That is why, for now, you must keep this power secret, as I have. For our safety, for our family’s safety.”

“But for how long?”

“Until the world evolves. We are still a civilization healing from a traumatic wound. Much of the hatred comes from people’s fears. They want to hold on to what little is left of what they know rather than embrace what they could learn.”

“Was your old time better than this one?” Diego asked.

“No,” Santiago said. “It was different: in some ways better but in other ways much worse, despite what the Believers say.”

They both fell silent. The din of the outside streets bled in through the walls. Diego gazed at the gravity board, trying to comprehend everything he’d just learned.

A rolling sound reached his ears, and Daphne barked.

“Heads-up!”

Diego turned as Petey Kowalski swept through the door on an old skateboard. He swerved to avoid Daphne, who hopped excitedly on two legs.

“Good girl,” Petey said. He bent down as he passed and tried to rub Daphne’s head, but lost his balance and stumbled off his board. He careened into the table, catching himself against the edge as the skateboard shot across the room and smacked into the far wall.

“Whoa!” Petey said, breathing hard. “Almost lost it.”

“Almost?” Diego said.

“Well, I mean, I was just—Oooh, no way!” Petey spied the gravity board.

“Birthday present,” Diego said.

“And we are going to ride it to school, right? Tell me we are going to ride it right now!” Petey exclaimed.

“The board is only safe for one rider,” Santiago said.

“Dad,” Diego said, “could we bring Mom’s board to school so that Petey and I could both ride during lunch?”

“Hmmm.” Santiago scratched his chin as if deep in thought. “You do deserve some birthday fun. Okay. If you promise to be careful with it, and if you clean up these tools before you leave.”

“Definitely!” Diego said.

“It’s not like you haven’t tried the boards out before.” A smile played at the corners of Santiago’s mouth.

“Um . . . ,” Diego said.

Santiago laughed. “It’s okay, son. You’re old enough now to pilot one yourself anyway.”

“Oh hey,” Petey said, “I ran into your mom on my way down. She’s looking for you, Mr. Ribera.”

“I wouldn’t want to keep her waiting.” Santiago gave Diego a meaningful glance and then patted him on the back and headed for the door. “Have a good day at school. Remember, the power plant. Don’t be late.”

“Right,” Diego said, knowing that glance had been about the Sight. Telling no one included Petey, which would be tough. “And thanks again!”

“Whoa, D, look at this, huh? This board is berries!” Petey ran his fingers over the smooth surface.

“It’s pretty great,” Diego agreed, gathering the tools scattered across the workbench and sliding them into drawers. “It flies real smooth.”

“I thought you just got it?”

“Oh, right,” Diego said. He’d been thinking about his dream. “I mean, I’m sure it’s going to.” He crossed the shop and started hanging tools in their correct places on the far wall.

“What’s this bot doing back here?” Petey’s voice was coming from a different spot. Diego turned to find that he’d climbed up into the cockpit of an eleven-foot-tall robot that Diego had nicknamed Marty. “I haven’t seen him since you built him last summer.”

“Yeah, with Dad’s help. Now be careful; he’s back in the shop for repairs.”

“Okay, sheesh, settle down.” Petey put his boots up on the controls and laced his fingers behind his head. “He’s fine, but not nearly as cool as Redford.”

“Yeah,” Diego said. “Redford came out great.”

“That still blows my mind,” Petey said as Diego coiled a hose from the floor. “You saw that old red tractor and turned it into a giant robot. Someday you’ll be even more talented than your old man.”

“Mmmm,” Diego said. “Actually, Marty could do circles around Redford, but yeah, Redford has the best origin story, for sure.” They’d discovered the tractor out past the perimeter wall, searching for parts in the northern wild lands.

“Yeah!” Petey agreed. “Hiking along, keeping our eyes peeled for Algonquin warriors. And then running into that dimetrodon. I’m still pinching myself to make sure we survived that! It was like being Bartholomew Roosevelt, or a mercenary explorer or something.”

“I know,” Diego said. Actually, it had been terrifying, but if Petey hadn’t walked across that angry giant reptile’s nest, they would’ve never run and hid in the pile of abandoned tractors where Diego had found Redford.