The Bob-White station wagon continued down the road in silence. Each of the Bob-Whites of the Glen on this trip - Mart, Diana, Trixie, Honey and Dan - were busy with their own thoughts. Their guest and passenger, Bennu, contemplated each of them in turn.

Seventeen-year-old Mart Belden was behind the wheel. His close-cropped blonde hair covered a brain that was always busy. His frequent clownishness was merely a cover to hide his intelligence and the depths of his heart. Bennu watched as Mart took one hand off the wheel to reach out and squeeze the hand of the pretty girl next to him.

That girl, Diana Lynch, turned adoring violet eyes to Mart with a soft smile. She flipped her long, black hair over her shoulder as she turned back to face front. Bennu could sense that Diana had great talent that could allow her to soar to great heights. Her heart burned true with love for Mart, and for her friends.

Bennu's attention turned to the occupants of the seat behind him, Trixie Belden and Honey Wheeler. Both were 16, like Diana, but there the resemblance ended.

It was obvious to anyone who saw them that Trixie and Mart were siblings. Trixie's mind was just as busy as Mart's, always curious and always questing for answers. She didn't have Mart's memory for miscellany, but she had no less intelligence.

Honey, on the other hand, was tall and slender - willowy was a good term, not just for her figure but her over all looks. She looked like a wood nymph. However, wood nymphs are said to be flighty, and Honey was not. She was steadfast, loyal and true. Her mind was able to grasp details and organize them to make sense.

Bennu's thoughts turned at last to the young man seated next to him. Like Mart, Daniel Mangan was 17. In every other way the two were complete opposites. Dan's hair was a brown so dark it was almost black. His eyes seemed like opaque pools of black ink. Behind those black eyes, Dan was not as open and willing to trust as the Beldens - he continued to eye Bennu with suspicion. His mind was filled with the suspicion, and a questioning of Bennu's nature.

Bennu found it amazing how well these teens stuck together and supported one another. The motto of their club - the Bob-Whites of the Glen - was that they were all brothers and sisters together, helping each other, and helping those in need. At the moment, Bennu was the one in need.

Bennu mentally shook off his negative thoughts and looked out the car windows, trying to determine where they were, as the wagon slowed and pulled into an almost empty parking lot. He saw a sign proclaiming "Croton Dam" at the entrance.

Mart placed the car in park, switched off the engine, and turned in his seat to face Bennu.

"We need to decide where we're going, and what we're going to do," he said. "Before we can do that, I think we need some facts and details from you, Bennu."

Bennu found himself confronted by five pairs of eyes. He read mostly curiosity in four of those pairs. As expected, the fifth, and darkest, pair was a little hostile.

"Who exactly are you, Bennu?" Dan demanded, "and why is the National Security Administration after you?"

Bennu took a cleansing breath, wondering how much he would have to tell to satisfy them.

"I ..." Bennu hesitated, then continued. "I am here to help the people of Earth." He frowned. "The problem is, I don't know specifics of my mission - or anything else, really."

"Why not?" Trixie wondered, as Dan listened with growing skepticism.

Again, Bennu hesitated. Taking another deep breath, he told her, "My partner, Mira, has that information. That's what I was looking for, back there in the gorge. I need clues, information, to help me find her."

"Find her?" Mart asked. "What do you mean - is she missing?"

"In a way," Bennu answered. "She wasn't where she was supposed to be and I don't know where she is."

Dan burst out. "Wait a minute!" He turned to the other B.W.G.s. "Can't you see he's not telling us the truth? Or at least not all of it." He turned back to Bennu. "What do you mean, you're here to 'help the people of Earth?' Just who the hell are you?"

Bennu looked at each of the Bob-Whites. He realized that he couldn't hold back, couldn't withhold information, not if he wanted to win their trust and help. Nodding, he answered Dan directly, speaking plainly of his history for the first time since awakening in this world.

"I come from a planet called Eldebran. More than a thousand years ago, my people found the Earth. It was wild and primitive, and vibrant with life. The people, scattered in small groups around the globe, showed great potential for achievement. We wanted to help them, but we knew we had to be careful. We wanted the people to grow and learn, and not be dependent upon us. So, we introduced small things, showed them how to make better tools, taught them methods of growing crops," he paused, memories flashing across the screen of his mind.

The B.W.G.s stared at him, amazement opening their eyes wide. Dan continued to glare suspiciously.

"We came to learn that there was also potential for great evil," he continued sadly. "Not just amongst the peoples of Earth, but also among our own people. We realized that we needed to minimize contact between us, to protect the Earth. We prepared to leave this world in peace." Bennu looked around at the BWGs who were listening raptly. He faced the continuing skepticism in Dan's eyes and continued.

"Before we left, however, two things happened. One of our prophets told us that something would happen in the future that would require the assistance and guidance from our people so that the Earth would not be destroyed. At the same time, we received word that a criminal from our home world had escaped - and might be on his way here."

Mart's eyes narrowed, and Bennu could almost hear the myriad questions seething through his mind. Trixie closed her mouth, trying to gather herself to be a detective, not a schoolgirl fascinated by a good story.

"It was decided that two of us - myself and my partner, Mira - would remain on Earth. We were placed in cryogenic slumber in life pods that would maintain our lives. All the information about our mission was placed in the memories of our life pods."

Bennu sighed. "Unfortunately, the memory banks of my life pod were erased. A joint team of American and Peruvian archeologists, working in a temple in Peru, came across the chamber where I slumbered. They found what they thought was a sarcophagus containing a perfectly preserved, and possibly still alive, man - me. In their overzealous efforts to learn more, they woke me prematurely. The process damaged my life pod, including the databanks. Since I never knew the details of the prophecy, or our mission, I am now forced to search for Mira, in hopes that she can tell me what it is we're supposed to do. I don't know exactly where she was buried - just it was to be somewhere north of the 24^th parallel - above the Tropic of Cancer."

"So that's what you were looking for!" Trixie exclaimed. "Gleeps! A real-live ancient astronaut!"

Bennu smiled at her enthusiasm, but Dan frowned. "That still doesn't explain why the NSA is after you," he said.

Bennu nodded. "It's all related. You see, the archeologists had removed my life pod to a facility in the United States to study it better. The Peruvians were not happy about that, and sent a representative along to safeguard their interests. When I awoke, I left that facility. The Peruvian scientist, who had become convinced I was some kind of god that belonged to Peru, made a bit of a fuss and got the authorities involved in searching for me. Unfortunately for me, the NSA got wind of it. Special Agent Preminger was assigned to look into the case. He decided that I'm either some kind of advanced guard for an alien invasion, or a complete hoax. In either case, he feels I need to be captured, and studied."

"Studied?" Diana grimaced. "That doesn't sound very ... comfortable."

Bennu smiled slightly. "I agree. Besides which, if I'm in custody, I can't complete my mission."

"How is it you speak English?" Mart spoke up, a thoughtful look on his face.

Bennu laughed. "I had to learn it - obviously, it isn't my native tongue."

Dan pushed the issue, not satisfied with the answer. "How long did it take you to learn it?"

Bennu turned to Dan, no longer laughing, no longer smiling. "You are right to be suspicious of me, Dan. You should always maintain that caution - but don't carry it too far. Don't fight your instincts - trust them."

"Trust my instincts?" Dan glared at Bennu. "With you, I'm not sure that's such a good idea. Somehow, I have a feeling you're manipulating us."

Honey gasped. "What do you mean, Dan?"

"He means that he thinks I have psychic abilities," Bennu stated, "and he thinks I'm using those abilities to manipulate you. That I'm changing your feelings."

"Well? Are you?" Trixie asked.

Bennu shook his head. "No." He smiled and added, "Not that I really expect you to believe me, just on my say so."

He took a deep breath. "The truth is that I do have psychic abilities. My people learned to use a higher percentage of their brain's capabilities thousands of years ago. We have access to abilities that you are only beginning to guess." He looked at Mart. "I learned English by reading the minds of those around me. It's not something I do on a regular basis. Reading minds takes a lot of effort. Emotions are different, though." He glanced at Dan before continuing. "People are always broadcasting their feelings. In fact, it takes effort and concentration not to pick up the emotions of those around me. Manipulating those emotions is a whole other story." Looking Dan square in the eye, Bennu challenged, "Would you agree to a small demonstration?"

Dan hesitated, but finally nodded firmly. "What do you want me to do?" he asked.

"Nothing," Bennu told him. "Just relax."

Dan took a deep breath, momentarily closing his eyes. When he opened them, he leaned back against the car door, and gave Bennu a lazy smile. "Do your worst," he told him.

Bennu continued to gaze at Dan, without any outward sign of the effort he was making, at first. Several minutes passed. Beads of sweat broke out on Bennu's forehead. Suddenly, Dan frowned, and began to fidget. With a sigh, Bennu slumped and broke his gaze, blinking. He looked pale and drained. Dan stopped fidgeting and his frown eased.

Trixie could wait no more. "Well?" she demanded. "What happened?"

"I'm not sure," Dan said slowly. "I started feeling anxious - like there's something I'd forgotten, something important that I need to do." He thought hard for a moment, then shook his head. "It just stopped, suddenly. Now it's gone."

Trixie looked at Bennu. His color seeming to be coming back, but there was still a tightness and a tiredness around his eyes. Bennu met her eyes with a slight smile.

"That small change in Dan's emotions was about the limit of what I can do without some sort of help, and it was only for a very brief moment." He looked back at Dan. "Do you really believe I'm manipulating all of you into accepting me? And that I've been doing it since I met Trixie and Honey yesterday afternoon?"

Grudgingly, Dan shook his head. "I guess not."

"Now that it's settled that we can trust him," Trixie looked at the other B.W.G.s, "we still need to decide what we're going to do."

"Not so fast, Trix," Dan interrupted. "I don't know about trusting him."

"What about that criminal from his world?" Mart asked. "Is he here, on Earth?"

Bennu hesitated, unwilling to answer.

"Well?" Dan demanded. "Is he?"

Honey leaned forward to lay a restraining hand on Dan's shoulder. "Give him a moment," she said.

Giving Honey a thankful smile, Bennu answered. "Yes. He is here. His name is Yago. He has appeared to me in visions as a wolf. How he will appear as a human, I cannot say."

Diana shuddered. "What are we going to do? What will he do to us?"

"Don't worry, Diana," Bennu calmed her. "He is not ready to do anything, yet. He wants to dominate the people of Earth, and use the resources of this planet for his own goals, but he isn't ready to put any plans in motion. I'm certain that stopping him is a large part of my mission. You need do nothing, I will take care of him."

"Very convenient," Dan said. "There's no way we'll know if this enemy is real, or if you actually manage to stop him."

Bennu frowned. "What can I do to convince you I tell the truth?" he asked Dan.

Dan gazed at him, thinking. Finally, he shook his head. "I don't know that you can." He allowed a small smile to relieve the somberness of his face. "But for now, until I am shown otherwise, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt."

"Yea!" Trixie cheered. "Now, can we finally get on with it? We need to determine what to do!"

"No," Bennu declared. "Not 'we.' You have done enough already. You've warned me how close the NSA is to catching me - I need to disappear again. I'll get out here, and I'll wander through the woods to throw them off course." He gazed steadily at each of them in turn. "I trust that you understand you can tell the NSA none of what I've told you."

Trixie and Honey were both shaking their heads. "You can't just leave!" Honey exclaimed. "It may not be winter yet, but the nights still get really cold. Besides, you can get lost in these woods. We know!"

"Don't forget about the mountain lions, copperhead snakes and who knows what else that live in these woods!" Trixie added.

Diana closed her eyes and shuddered at the thought.

"Thank you for your concern," Bennu told them, "but I'll be alright. I can convince the animals not to bother me, and I'll be able to survive the cold easier than you could." He smiled. "You needn't worry, I'll be fine."

"What about your mission, and stopping Yago?" Mart asked. "Or finding Mira?"

Trixie chimed in. "Yeah, what about Mira? Did you find anything in Croton Gorge that would help you?"

Bennu frowned. "No. I found only an illusion ... Yago had been there."

He paused, taking a deep breath. "I will fight Yago when I have to, and do my best to keep him from gaining power whenever I can," Bennu told him. "In the meantime, I will continue to search for Mira." He looked at Dan before saying, "As for the NSA and Preminger - he's not a bad man, just misguided in his apprehensions about me. So I will just do my best to avoid him."

"But it's wrong for them to hunt you like this!" Diana chimed in. "Have you tried talking to Preminger - telling him the truth about yourself?"

Bennu's face grew sad. "Yes. He was unwilling to change his mind."

"I've known people like that," Dan said. "Narrow-minded - and they refuse to believe what's right in front of their faces most of the time."

"Don't be too hard on him, Dan," Bennu advised. "He's truly just trying to do his job - to do what he thinks is right."

Trixie shook her head. "Going through the woods might get the NSA off you for today, but what about tomorrow? And the day after?"

Bennu looked at them with amazement. "Are you saying you want to help me with that? With all of that?"

The B.W.G.s exchanged glances, nodded as one and chorused, "Yes!"

Bennu shook his head. Warm feelings of gratitude threatened to flood his control, but he had to continue on alone. He fought to marshal his thoughts, but before he could say anything, Diana interrupted.

"Can we pause this discussion for a few minutes, please? I really need to use the restroom."

Honey and Trixie agreed, and everyone decided that a break sounded good. They piled out of the station wagon, and headed for the concrete block building that contained restroom facilities for the park.

"C'mon!" Preminger pounded the dashboard. "They can't be that far ahead!"

George didn't spare him a glance as she said, "Relax, Special Agent. I'll catch them."

"I've come so close to Bennu before - I don't want to lose him again," he told her.

"You didn't have me working with you before," George said. "I've never lost a man yet."

Preminger snorted. "Bennu is different."

"Why?"

"He's an extraterrestrial."

"Excuse me?" George glanced sidelong at Preminger, her tone frankly disbelieving.

Preminger nodded. "Yup. He's not from this world. He's a visitor from outer space."

"Tell me another one," George scoffed.

Preminger shrugged. "You'll see."

The girls went into the ladies room, giggling and gabbing all the way. The small building proved to contain four stalls, so each of the girls was able to complete their business quickly. They were washing their hands at the sink when Trixie heard a light clatter on the tile floor behind her. Turning, she saw a canister rolling away from the fourth stall, smoke erupting from its end. She drew a breath to call a warning, but before she could say anything she slowly collapsed to the floor. Honey and Diana fell right behind her.

In the other side of the restroom building, Dan and Mart had already washed their hands and walked out. Spying Bennu out by the dam, they sauntered over to join him.

As they approached, Bennu opened his eyes to glance at them before facing across the dam. He spoke softly as they joined him.

"It would be easy, to disappear here," he said. "Those woods are thick, and don't reveal their secrets easily."

"We talked about that," Dan scolded gently. "It's not a good, long term, answer."

"Besides, you cannot deny Trixie the chance to solve your mystery," Mart quipped. "No one wishes to risk such wrath as would ensue."

Bennu smiled, amused at the thought of fearing the blonde's anger. Then he sobered, and nodded. "You have no idea how much I'm touched by your offer of help. I'm very grateful. But I'm not certain that this is the best idea."

"We'll see what we can work out," Dan said. "I'm sure Trixie'll come up with something - she always does!"

"Speaking of which," Mart said, glancing back toward the restrooms, "the girls are taking an awfully long time in there. We better go see if we can roust them out."

As one, the three turned and ambled toward the restroom. As they drew near, a large, white, windowless, van that was parked nearby, came to life and drove out of the park.

Standing at the entrance to the Ladies' Room, Mart called out, "Hey! What's keeping you girls so long?"

The silence met them, not even broken by a giggle. Dan and Mart exchanged worried glances.

"Trixie?" Dan called out. "Honey? Diana?"

Still no answer.

"I'm going in," Mart declared. He quickly went through the door, followed by Dan. They realized the place was empty, but did a thorough search just the same.

When then returned to the entrance, they found Bennu gazing at the ground around the small building, moving in ever widening circles.

"They're not there," Mart said unnecessarily. He rubbed his hands over his head, rumpling what little hair he had. "Where could they have gone?" he asked blankly. "What happened? Where are they?"

Dan put his hand on Mart's shoulder, stopping Mart's display of escalating worry. "Take it easy, Mart," he said. "We won't find any answers by getting upset. We need to stay calm."

Mart nodded. "I know. But ..." he turned an anguished face toward his best friend.

"I know, Mart. I know," Dan murmured.

Bennu straightened. "They didn't walk out of the restroom," he announced. "I don't see their footprints moving away, at all. That means they must've been carried."

"Carried?" Dan asked. "Can you see footprints of whoever carried them?"

"Yes. It looks like there were three men, all of them at least six feet tall and weighing about 180 pounds."

"Carried where?" Mart demanded.

"To the parking lot," Bennu answered. "Unfortunately, blacktop doesn't show footprints, so I can't tell exactly where they went from there."

"The van," Dan said, suddenly.

"Van? What van?" Mart asked.

"The white one," Dan explained. "It was parked right there," he pointed to a spot very close by, "and it left just as we walked back here from the dam."

Mart moved toward the B.W.G. station wagon. "Let's go after them!"

The other two followed him toward the car. Before they got there, another car pulled into the parking lot. Bennu stopped short.

"Preminger," he said.

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