Stay tuned in with the continuing adventures of Justin Nicholas Thyme, his protegee Infinity Stairs, and all the cool members and agents of AlternityCorp. 'Across the stars!'
NEW! Hear Justin Nicholas Thyme's theme song on Soundcloud:
https://on.soundcloud.com/f8v34
https://on.soundcloud.com/f8v34
Marble Comics, Sept. 2023 ©
The New Adventures of Justin Nicholas Thyme
To Heal a Harpy
Infinity sat Indian style, cross-legged on the floor of Alternity Headquarters gymnasium. It had been a grueling workout and she was in the process of cooling down to soothing music. Outside the gym, two of her fellow agents cast stolen glances through the porthole observation window, enthralled by the magnetic beauty and pantherine movements of Infinity Staires. She pretended not to notice and allowed them their boyish foibles.
After a shower, she joined her best friend Nikki Night-Bird on the mess decks and they ate ravenously. It wasn’t often the agents had this much time to themselves and they filled their open calendar with welcome inaction. A soft bell rang from the intercom speakers, signifying the new agenda was ready to be viewed at the crew’s leisure. Infinity tapped her wrist apparatus and up jumped a shining colorful holograph of her immediate superior, Commodore Justin Nicholas Thyme.
“I trust you are all enjoying your space-cation, and I know it is well-deserved. Your galaxy owes you the world- literally- and I won’t be contacting you directly for a few more clicks. Just know the new agenda is posted and the mission is exactly the kind we like around here- dangerous! It seems the SETI scopes have received some unexpected bounce-back to the radio telescopes beginning about two hundred years after first transmission. The origin is not from a point in the sky we would expect, and we are being asked to travel to the western quadrant in AD8800. We have reason to believe this may be connected to the excursion we made to Kaleidoscope City during our last mission. The cause for concern is that a far future civilization may have tracked us back to Miocene Base, perhaps to avenge a few sonic aerial vehicles lost during a police chase of the Harpy. Twenty-four hundred centuries is a long cross-travel even for Kaleidoscope technology so that gives us about two more weeks to recoup and repair. Justin out.”
The girls both looked up and paused mid spoonful. ‘If Infinity’s not worried, then I’m not worried,’ Nikki thought to herself. But Infinity was worried. She knew the commodore and recognized that tone of his voice. And if he was worried, Infinity was worried. She gave Nikki a comforting smile and resumed her meal.
Next: On the wings of a Harpy
September Issue ©@JosephJohnRacano/9/09/23
Have you read the book? Order it here:
https://www.ebl.com/book/Chronopolis
The New Adventures of Justin Nicholas Thyme
To Heal a Harpy
Infinity sat Indian style, cross-legged on the floor of Alternity Headquarters gymnasium. It had been a grueling workout and she was in the process of cooling down to soothing music. Outside the gym, two of her fellow agents cast stolen glances through the porthole observation window, enthralled by the magnetic beauty and pantherine movements of Infinity Staires. She pretended not to notice and allowed them their boyish foibles.
After a shower, she joined her best friend Nikki Night-Bird on the mess decks and they ate ravenously. It wasn’t often the agents had this much time to themselves and they filled their open calendar with welcome inaction. A soft bell rang from the intercom speakers, signifying the new agenda was ready to be viewed at the crew’s leisure. Infinity tapped her wrist apparatus and up jumped a shining colorful holograph of her immediate superior, Commodore Justin Nicholas Thyme.
“I trust you are all enjoying your space-cation, and I know it is well-deserved. Your galaxy owes you the world- literally- and I won’t be contacting you directly for a few more clicks. Just know the new agenda is posted and the mission is exactly the kind we like around here- dangerous! It seems the SETI scopes have received some unexpected bounce-back to the radio telescopes beginning about two hundred years after first transmission. The origin is not from a point in the sky we would expect, and we are being asked to travel to the western quadrant in AD8800. We have reason to believe this may be connected to the excursion we made to Kaleidoscope City during our last mission. The cause for concern is that a far future civilization may have tracked us back to Miocene Base, perhaps to avenge a few sonic aerial vehicles lost during a police chase of the Harpy. Twenty-four hundred centuries is a long cross-travel even for Kaleidoscope technology so that gives us about two more weeks to recoup and repair. Justin out.”
The girls both looked up and paused mid spoonful. ‘If Infinity’s not worried, then I’m not worried,’ Nikki thought to herself. But Infinity was worried. She knew the commodore and recognized that tone of his voice. And if he was worried, Infinity was worried. She gave Nikki a comforting smile and resumed her meal.
Next: On the wings of a Harpy
September Issue ©@JosephJohnRacano/9/09/23
Have you read the book? Order it here:
https://www.ebl.com/book/Chronopolis
Marble Comics Presents:
The New Adventures of Justin Nicholas Thyme
October Issue 2023 – On the Wings of a Harpy
The girls awoke together with their eight arms and legs in a rather tangled mess. Infinity sat at the edge of the cot staring outside at the riot of stars through her large observation portal. Her best friend Nikki stood nearby, slender fingers working to open what seemed to be a thousand buttons on her flannel dinosaur pajamas. Reveille blared over the intercom, but these ladies were always ahead of the curve. The scent of toast somehow wafted through the containment hatches and the Officer of the Deck made the announcement that breakfast was being served on the mess deck. The girls scurried out of their compartment, still brushing luxurious hair.
On the bridge, Commodore Thyme stood directly behind their male counterparts, agents Terco and Fulton, monitoring the myriad colorful lights and flashers beaming along the curved sweeping console. Justin scowled at the acting quartermaster, slapping closed an errant toggle switch with a cluck of his tongue. “Missed that” Fulton said meekly. Justin playfully slapped his back and went back to reading the orders folder.
“Open the opera doors” ordered the commodore, and two mettalic alloy shields rolled back to reveal a large observation screen, allowing a fantastic view of the quadrant. Even after half a lifetime of commands, it still took his breath away. The quartermaster interrupted his morning checklist review to report a large green comet trailing east to west.
“Sir, we have a contact moving laterally at elevation angle three, on a westerly course.”
“Very well,” answered Justin. “Compute the speed of approach as quickly as possible.”
Justin could already tell the object was headed in their direction, although it didn’t at first appear so. This was due to a phenomenon known as a ‘reverse red-shift,’ that sometimes occurred when objects moved at very high velocity. “Heads on a swivel, boys,” said Justin.
“Objects in the mirror are closer than they appear,” quipped Terco.
Breakfast through, Infinity reviewed the finalized mission plan as Nikki Night-Bird strapped into the Harpy. She would launch in less than a minute, awaiting only the order from Justin, which came directly. “Nikki, we’ve loaded the data into your bird. Set the course for a close fly-by and check out if that green giant is trouble and if so, how much. Don’t take any chances, we don’t know much about that thing.”
“So, no hot-dogging it then?”
“Justin out.” The comm snapped shut, causing his hologram to withdraw back into Nikki’s wrist-worn apparatus, and the Harpy’s mission had begun.
Next: The Green Machine
©@JosephJohnRacano/9/15/2023
Artwork: David Bradley
Have you read the novel yet? Order it here:
https://www.ebl.com/book/Chronopolis
The New Adventures of Justin Nicholas Thyme
October Issue 2023 – On the Wings of a Harpy
The girls awoke together with their eight arms and legs in a rather tangled mess. Infinity sat at the edge of the cot staring outside at the riot of stars through her large observation portal. Her best friend Nikki stood nearby, slender fingers working to open what seemed to be a thousand buttons on her flannel dinosaur pajamas. Reveille blared over the intercom, but these ladies were always ahead of the curve. The scent of toast somehow wafted through the containment hatches and the Officer of the Deck made the announcement that breakfast was being served on the mess deck. The girls scurried out of their compartment, still brushing luxurious hair.
On the bridge, Commodore Thyme stood directly behind their male counterparts, agents Terco and Fulton, monitoring the myriad colorful lights and flashers beaming along the curved sweeping console. Justin scowled at the acting quartermaster, slapping closed an errant toggle switch with a cluck of his tongue. “Missed that” Fulton said meekly. Justin playfully slapped his back and went back to reading the orders folder.
“Open the opera doors” ordered the commodore, and two mettalic alloy shields rolled back to reveal a large observation screen, allowing a fantastic view of the quadrant. Even after half a lifetime of commands, it still took his breath away. The quartermaster interrupted his morning checklist review to report a large green comet trailing east to west.
“Sir, we have a contact moving laterally at elevation angle three, on a westerly course.”
“Very well,” answered Justin. “Compute the speed of approach as quickly as possible.”
Justin could already tell the object was headed in their direction, although it didn’t at first appear so. This was due to a phenomenon known as a ‘reverse red-shift,’ that sometimes occurred when objects moved at very high velocity. “Heads on a swivel, boys,” said Justin.
“Objects in the mirror are closer than they appear,” quipped Terco.
Breakfast through, Infinity reviewed the finalized mission plan as Nikki Night-Bird strapped into the Harpy. She would launch in less than a minute, awaiting only the order from Justin, which came directly. “Nikki, we’ve loaded the data into your bird. Set the course for a close fly-by and check out if that green giant is trouble and if so, how much. Don’t take any chances, we don’t know much about that thing.”
“So, no hot-dogging it then?”
“Justin out.” The comm snapped shut, causing his hologram to withdraw back into Nikki’s wrist-worn apparatus, and the Harpy’s mission had begun.
Next: The Green Machine
©@JosephJohnRacano/9/15/2023
Artwork: David Bradley
Have you read the novel yet? Order it here:
https://www.ebl.com/book/Chronopolis
Marble Comics Presents:
The New Adventures of Justin Nicholas Thyme
November Issue 2023 – Sudden Impulse
Commander Nikki Night-Bird shut her eyes tightly as the Harpy performed its characteristic front-end roll and cartwheeled from the mother ship out into space like an Olympic gymnast. When she opened her eyes again, she cocked her head to one side in order to peer through the ranging and targeting mechanism. Numbers symbols signs and numerals flashed across the base of the screen coalescing into a three-dimensional snapshot of information now available to the time pilot. Nikki noticed right away the one strange symbol that stood prominently from the others. She recognized it from a past/ future adventure during the rescue mission for Kaleidoscope City.
“ET phone home,” quipped Commodore Thyme, asking for an update.
“Stand by sir” she answered. There was a disorienting moment as she focused on the heavenly points of light rushing toward her. Each seemed to stretch out, bending like blue strands of spaghetti. Now she could see the green dot against the black void and it was growing larger with every passing second. “Object in view now, please stand by.”
She clutched the joystick in a leather-gloved hand, tassels bouncing from the vibration of the rapidly accelerating Harpy. By now the viridescent object shone as a bright emerald in space, rolling first this way than that. Gear-like mechanisms were visible among its obvious silicate construct, a technological melding of rock and machine. This gave Nikki an idea.
“Commodore, request permission to bypass target and deploy pulse,” she requested.
“What’s she doing?” asked Infinity.
Justin kept his piercing eyes glued to the overhead control board, answering her from the side of his mouth. “EMP! She wants to knock out their brain.” “Permission granted!”
Nikki drew the Harpy into a space lane that would bring the onrushing green machine within range as the two objects passed by on a near collision course. “Three, two, one…” she said, and alarms went off inside the mother ship signaling proximity conflict. Infinity’s face fell pale with concern for her best friend. “Deployed!” Nikki threw the toggle and let go an electro-magnetic pulse that instantly caused the green machine to go dark on its port side. The starboard power plant was still operating on full, causing the craft to curve away from its Earthbound trajectory and become caught in the gravitational orbit of Jupiter, to be sling-shot around the Jovian giant and back where it came from!
“OK, Nikk, good work,” shouted Justin. “At their speed, it will be a billion parsecs before they know what hit ‘em. C’mon home.”
Next: Kaleidoscope Highway ©JosephJohnRacano@10/5/2023
The New Adventures of Justin Nicholas Thyme
November Issue 2023 – Sudden Impulse
Commander Nikki Night-Bird shut her eyes tightly as the Harpy performed its characteristic front-end roll and cartwheeled from the mother ship out into space like an Olympic gymnast. When she opened her eyes again, she cocked her head to one side in order to peer through the ranging and targeting mechanism. Numbers symbols signs and numerals flashed across the base of the screen coalescing into a three-dimensional snapshot of information now available to the time pilot. Nikki noticed right away the one strange symbol that stood prominently from the others. She recognized it from a past/ future adventure during the rescue mission for Kaleidoscope City.
“ET phone home,” quipped Commodore Thyme, asking for an update.
“Stand by sir” she answered. There was a disorienting moment as she focused on the heavenly points of light rushing toward her. Each seemed to stretch out, bending like blue strands of spaghetti. Now she could see the green dot against the black void and it was growing larger with every passing second. “Object in view now, please stand by.”
She clutched the joystick in a leather-gloved hand, tassels bouncing from the vibration of the rapidly accelerating Harpy. By now the viridescent object shone as a bright emerald in space, rolling first this way than that. Gear-like mechanisms were visible among its obvious silicate construct, a technological melding of rock and machine. This gave Nikki an idea.
“Commodore, request permission to bypass target and deploy pulse,” she requested.
“What’s she doing?” asked Infinity.
Justin kept his piercing eyes glued to the overhead control board, answering her from the side of his mouth. “EMP! She wants to knock out their brain.” “Permission granted!”
Nikki drew the Harpy into a space lane that would bring the onrushing green machine within range as the two objects passed by on a near collision course. “Three, two, one…” she said, and alarms went off inside the mother ship signaling proximity conflict. Infinity’s face fell pale with concern for her best friend. “Deployed!” Nikki threw the toggle and let go an electro-magnetic pulse that instantly caused the green machine to go dark on its port side. The starboard power plant was still operating on full, causing the craft to curve away from its Earthbound trajectory and become caught in the gravitational orbit of Jupiter, to be sling-shot around the Jovian giant and back where it came from!
“OK, Nikk, good work,” shouted Justin. “At their speed, it will be a billion parsecs before they know what hit ‘em. C’mon home.”
Next: Kaleidoscope Highway ©JosephJohnRacano@10/5/2023
Marble Comics Presents:
The New Adventures of Justin Nicholas Thyme
December Issue 2023 – Message of Tomorrow
Exhausted both mentally and physically, Nikki fell asleep over a meal on the mess deck. Infinity Staires stuck out an arm keeping her from a face plant into the artificial mashed potatoes. “Turck, would you please get her up to her bunk before she hurts herself?”
Robert Terco was a fellow time agent and the vessel’s quartermaster. He was also one of the last graduates of Alternity Corp., class of 2067. Nikki’s living quarters were a throwback to the days of the American wild west. The bulkheads were adorned with framed lithographs of the great chiefs, and grainy black and white photos of the last buffalo. There were even opposing charts of the known heavens, next to a display behind the meanings of painted symbols on a long extinct appaloosa. Pure warrior blood ran through her veins. She slept through the following duty day.
Meanwhile, garbled static coming through the bridgecomm had the officer of the deck baffled. He listened to it curiously as he stood looking over the shoulder of Agent Jefferson ‘Photon’ Fulton, another of the same class of Alternity graduates. “What do you make of it?” he asked.
Photon shrugged his square shoulders without looking up at the officer, who happened to be Commodore Justin Nicholas Thyme, perhaps the most famous agent in the fractured dimensions. “I have a feeling I know what it is,” said Justin, “so find out if the origin is closing or opening.”
“Yes sir,” answered the agent, respectfully.
By now, a small crowd was gathered around the bridgecomm speaker, anticipating the translation to kick in and their timing was perfect. Infinity stood with her arms folded defiantly across her ample breasts, pressed tight to her body by a form-fitting unitard replete with epaulettes and campaign patches from all over the timeline. The garbled static slowly morphed into the strains of some unknown language that included clicks hums and whistles, making it harder to decipher from the garden variety electronic scratch.
*Zz-kshhhhh- Pzzz-csh-pop* it went. Then, the translator mode became fully functional and the buzzing and popping turned into, “Zerlom Narjer, renk terminseg.”
“Can you do better than that mumbo-jumbo, Photon?” asked Infinity.
A last button was depressed and Photon had the conversation flowing in English like the River Thames. “The humanoid time-ship caused our direction reversal and we will have to recharge in order to attempt remediation,” an alien voice spoke from a different end of the universe.
“Understood Zerlom. From now forward, maintain transmission silence,” spoke a voice of some authority. And all the transmission stopped.
The Alternity crew would begin scrutinizing the recorded conversation at once. Now out here at a point halfway between Earth and Kaleidoscope City, they would not risk leading these aggressive and apparently highly technologically advanced entities back to Miocene base.
©JosephJohnRacano/10/6/23
Next: Down the Garden Path
The New Adventures of Justin Nicholas Thyme
December Issue 2023 – Message of Tomorrow
Exhausted both mentally and physically, Nikki fell asleep over a meal on the mess deck. Infinity Staires stuck out an arm keeping her from a face plant into the artificial mashed potatoes. “Turck, would you please get her up to her bunk before she hurts herself?”
Robert Terco was a fellow time agent and the vessel’s quartermaster. He was also one of the last graduates of Alternity Corp., class of 2067. Nikki’s living quarters were a throwback to the days of the American wild west. The bulkheads were adorned with framed lithographs of the great chiefs, and grainy black and white photos of the last buffalo. There were even opposing charts of the known heavens, next to a display behind the meanings of painted symbols on a long extinct appaloosa. Pure warrior blood ran through her veins. She slept through the following duty day.
Meanwhile, garbled static coming through the bridgecomm had the officer of the deck baffled. He listened to it curiously as he stood looking over the shoulder of Agent Jefferson ‘Photon’ Fulton, another of the same class of Alternity graduates. “What do you make of it?” he asked.
Photon shrugged his square shoulders without looking up at the officer, who happened to be Commodore Justin Nicholas Thyme, perhaps the most famous agent in the fractured dimensions. “I have a feeling I know what it is,” said Justin, “so find out if the origin is closing or opening.”
“Yes sir,” answered the agent, respectfully.
By now, a small crowd was gathered around the bridgecomm speaker, anticipating the translation to kick in and their timing was perfect. Infinity stood with her arms folded defiantly across her ample breasts, pressed tight to her body by a form-fitting unitard replete with epaulettes and campaign patches from all over the timeline. The garbled static slowly morphed into the strains of some unknown language that included clicks hums and whistles, making it harder to decipher from the garden variety electronic scratch.
*Zz-kshhhhh- Pzzz-csh-pop* it went. Then, the translator mode became fully functional and the buzzing and popping turned into, “Zerlom Narjer, renk terminseg.”
“Can you do better than that mumbo-jumbo, Photon?” asked Infinity.
A last button was depressed and Photon had the conversation flowing in English like the River Thames. “The humanoid time-ship caused our direction reversal and we will have to recharge in order to attempt remediation,” an alien voice spoke from a different end of the universe.
“Understood Zerlom. From now forward, maintain transmission silence,” spoke a voice of some authority. And all the transmission stopped.
The Alternity crew would begin scrutinizing the recorded conversation at once. Now out here at a point halfway between Earth and Kaleidoscope City, they would not risk leading these aggressive and apparently highly technologically advanced entities back to Miocene base.
©JosephJohnRacano/10/6/23
Next: Down the Garden Path
Marble Comics Presents:
The New Adventures of Justin Nicholas Thyme
January Issue 2024 – Jack-in-the-Box
Once again the signals pulsed across the large overhead screen as the crew gathered on the bridge to watch. The object that had been repelled was now moving back in the direction of Justin Nicholas Thyme and this time it had not come alone. An entire quadrant of the night sky was speckled with shining objects, almost certainly silicate and heating up as they encountered a greater density of atmospheric molecules.
“No communication attempts?” Justin asked Infinity Staires, project captain.
“None commodore,” she replied. Shortly thereafter, Nikki Night-Bird radioed back to base, saying she had identified yet another, even faster object tracking in from deeper space.
“Moving like nothing I’ve ever seen!” she exclaimed.
Justin ordered all non-essential personnel off the bridge and sounded the alarm for general quarters, which set off horns and bells throughout the hull. Crew teams ran in criss-cross patterns around the living and work spaces, securing gear of all types. It was sure to be a rough ride as the Blue Chrona Mother Ship launched into full space, breaking from atmosphere to orbit and beyond.
“Commodore, there is some additional garble audible over the background static,” reported the navigator, a newly promoted agent named Photon Fulton. His partner, Robert Terco confirmed this noise, and had set about isolating it using a red-lit touchscreen apparatus.
“Got it!” he shouted and Justin came trotting over.
“Put it over the translators,” barked the commodore. Soon, the volume raised allowing the background to be discerned over the garble. It was the same alien dialect as last attack, and even then, there was yet another vocalization further in the background. Terco was unable to separate this one but Justin ordered him to keep trying.
A full frontal confrontation was imminent now, and all power was devoted to shielding the forecastle of the Blue Chrona. At the last second, Terco slapped a toggle, allowing the faint background vocalization to become front and center on the translator, and Justin recognized the voice right away to be Lucy Leung, Admiral of Space Station Armstrong, and the special woman in his life. “Lucy, what the hell are you doing here and how in the hell did you get here?”
“Offset Spatial Divergence, allowing me to get close enough to save your crew and that new toy of yours. Oh and it’s nice to see you, too, babe!” At that moment, the asteroid associated with Lucy’s voice opened up like a Jack-in-the-Box and released a barrage of red glowing projectiles, which struck every in-range target and then went bouncing out into interstellar space. The lights went out on each as they began spinning for the long, eternal ride toward the heliopause.
Justin liked the idea of being saved by a beautiful woman, and his broad smile lit up the bridge and reassured the crew. Lucy had been on her way inbound when she picked up a distress call broadcast in a multitude of languages and decided it was a good idea to engage OSD, or offset spatial divergence. This allowed her to use the new Armstrong Asteroid Reconnaissance Vessel to jump from one construct point in time to another with no space or time constraints. It was lucky for the crew of the Blue Chrona.
“Nikki, bring the bird home. Infinity, open the bay doors and welcome our lovely guest. We owe her a big one,” he said. The crew was happy to have her back aboard and hear the latest news from Space Station Armstrong about Kaleidoscope City.
Next- Alternity 3000
Joseph John Racano
Have you read the book yet?
https://www.ebl.com/book/chronopolis
The New Adventures of Justin Nicholas Thyme
January Issue 2024 – Jack-in-the-Box
Once again the signals pulsed across the large overhead screen as the crew gathered on the bridge to watch. The object that had been repelled was now moving back in the direction of Justin Nicholas Thyme and this time it had not come alone. An entire quadrant of the night sky was speckled with shining objects, almost certainly silicate and heating up as they encountered a greater density of atmospheric molecules.
“No communication attempts?” Justin asked Infinity Staires, project captain.
“None commodore,” she replied. Shortly thereafter, Nikki Night-Bird radioed back to base, saying she had identified yet another, even faster object tracking in from deeper space.
“Moving like nothing I’ve ever seen!” she exclaimed.
Justin ordered all non-essential personnel off the bridge and sounded the alarm for general quarters, which set off horns and bells throughout the hull. Crew teams ran in criss-cross patterns around the living and work spaces, securing gear of all types. It was sure to be a rough ride as the Blue Chrona Mother Ship launched into full space, breaking from atmosphere to orbit and beyond.
“Commodore, there is some additional garble audible over the background static,” reported the navigator, a newly promoted agent named Photon Fulton. His partner, Robert Terco confirmed this noise, and had set about isolating it using a red-lit touchscreen apparatus.
“Got it!” he shouted and Justin came trotting over.
“Put it over the translators,” barked the commodore. Soon, the volume raised allowing the background to be discerned over the garble. It was the same alien dialect as last attack, and even then, there was yet another vocalization further in the background. Terco was unable to separate this one but Justin ordered him to keep trying.
A full frontal confrontation was imminent now, and all power was devoted to shielding the forecastle of the Blue Chrona. At the last second, Terco slapped a toggle, allowing the faint background vocalization to become front and center on the translator, and Justin recognized the voice right away to be Lucy Leung, Admiral of Space Station Armstrong, and the special woman in his life. “Lucy, what the hell are you doing here and how in the hell did you get here?”
“Offset Spatial Divergence, allowing me to get close enough to save your crew and that new toy of yours. Oh and it’s nice to see you, too, babe!” At that moment, the asteroid associated with Lucy’s voice opened up like a Jack-in-the-Box and released a barrage of red glowing projectiles, which struck every in-range target and then went bouncing out into interstellar space. The lights went out on each as they began spinning for the long, eternal ride toward the heliopause.
Justin liked the idea of being saved by a beautiful woman, and his broad smile lit up the bridge and reassured the crew. Lucy had been on her way inbound when she picked up a distress call broadcast in a multitude of languages and decided it was a good idea to engage OSD, or offset spatial divergence. This allowed her to use the new Armstrong Asteroid Reconnaissance Vessel to jump from one construct point in time to another with no space or time constraints. It was lucky for the crew of the Blue Chrona.
“Nikki, bring the bird home. Infinity, open the bay doors and welcome our lovely guest. We owe her a big one,” he said. The crew was happy to have her back aboard and hear the latest news from Space Station Armstrong about Kaleidoscope City.
Next- Alternity 3000
Joseph John Racano
Have you read the book yet?
https://www.ebl.com/book/chronopolis
Marble Comics Presents:
The New Adventures of Justin Nicholas Thyme
February Issue 2024 – ‘Alternity 3000’
Justin Nicholas Thyme was Commodore and in command of several powerful time-conduits. As such, he had precious little time for himself and cherished every moment with his lover, Lucy Leung, herself a commander- of Space Station Armstrong. Situated in a far-future reality, Space Station Armstrong existed in one of many fractured dimensions. Awoken by a wrist worn holograph, Justin hopped out of the sack and landed with a mild thud on the cold metal flooring of the mile-long spacecraft called Alternity 3000, but informally known as ‘Big Blue.’
Orders had come forward from Miocene Base for a reconnoiter of Kaleidoscope City, where an alien race had somehow tracked a supposedly stealth Alternity Corp. craft back to the base and nobody was safe until it was discovered how it was possible. All timecraft were sent to many decoy locations before switching to silent-run during the very last ping pong. This was an idea brought in by Lucy Leung herself, patterned after the much-persecuted crows of 20th-century Earth, who learned to build several decoy nests they could visit before finally landing on their one true nest. It was a very effective strategy.
Justin left his lady sound asleep under flannel covers decorated with all the creatures of the Mesozoic. One last smile was all he allowed himself as he slipped into a freeze suit and stepped into the Chrona portal. With one wave of his palm, he caused an interruption of an amber light beam and the Chrona started to energize. All around him, the tunnel began to rotate, showing all brilliant colors of the spectrum. When the rotations increased to stasis, the colors morphed into images, reflections of all events, past current and future. Justin always liked to sit focused as the history of the Sagan Super-galaxy unfolded around him. Before the rotations came to a complete stop, Commodore Thyme was unbuckled from his station and hanging off the portal like a San Francisco Trolly commuter, marveling at twinkling lights amid the void. In the remote distance, he could see the green lights of Kaleidoscope City. He set the Chrona’s cloaking mechanism and hung it at a known Lagrange point for stability. He donned a freeze helmet, opened a jet on his rear-worn propulsion tank, and began the slow stealthy approach to this city of the future. He drew his wrist up to his mouthpiece, and whispered, “Chrona in stasis, now en route to the Emerald City. Justin out.”
Some parsecs away, the mysterious leadership of Kaleidoscope City watched the proceedings with mirth on a large screen not unlike a 1960’s lava lamp. “It’s Justin,” said one to the other. “He’s back again. And this time, we’re ready for him.”
Next: A Long Way from Home
©JosephJohnRacano/11/14/2024
The New Adventures of Justin Nicholas Thyme
February Issue 2024 – ‘Alternity 3000’
Justin Nicholas Thyme was Commodore and in command of several powerful time-conduits. As such, he had precious little time for himself and cherished every moment with his lover, Lucy Leung, herself a commander- of Space Station Armstrong. Situated in a far-future reality, Space Station Armstrong existed in one of many fractured dimensions. Awoken by a wrist worn holograph, Justin hopped out of the sack and landed with a mild thud on the cold metal flooring of the mile-long spacecraft called Alternity 3000, but informally known as ‘Big Blue.’
Orders had come forward from Miocene Base for a reconnoiter of Kaleidoscope City, where an alien race had somehow tracked a supposedly stealth Alternity Corp. craft back to the base and nobody was safe until it was discovered how it was possible. All timecraft were sent to many decoy locations before switching to silent-run during the very last ping pong. This was an idea brought in by Lucy Leung herself, patterned after the much-persecuted crows of 20th-century Earth, who learned to build several decoy nests they could visit before finally landing on their one true nest. It was a very effective strategy.
Justin left his lady sound asleep under flannel covers decorated with all the creatures of the Mesozoic. One last smile was all he allowed himself as he slipped into a freeze suit and stepped into the Chrona portal. With one wave of his palm, he caused an interruption of an amber light beam and the Chrona started to energize. All around him, the tunnel began to rotate, showing all brilliant colors of the spectrum. When the rotations increased to stasis, the colors morphed into images, reflections of all events, past current and future. Justin always liked to sit focused as the history of the Sagan Super-galaxy unfolded around him. Before the rotations came to a complete stop, Commodore Thyme was unbuckled from his station and hanging off the portal like a San Francisco Trolly commuter, marveling at twinkling lights amid the void. In the remote distance, he could see the green lights of Kaleidoscope City. He set the Chrona’s cloaking mechanism and hung it at a known Lagrange point for stability. He donned a freeze helmet, opened a jet on his rear-worn propulsion tank, and began the slow stealthy approach to this city of the future. He drew his wrist up to his mouthpiece, and whispered, “Chrona in stasis, now en route to the Emerald City. Justin out.”
Some parsecs away, the mysterious leadership of Kaleidoscope City watched the proceedings with mirth on a large screen not unlike a 1960’s lava lamp. “It’s Justin,” said one to the other. “He’s back again. And this time, we’re ready for him.”
Next: A Long Way from Home
©JosephJohnRacano/11/14/2024
Marble Comics Presents:
The New Adventures of Justin Nicholas Thyme
March Issue 2024 – ‘A Long Way from Home’
The mighty craft faded in and then out of the dictates of time, shifting its’ consistency from solid, to something akin to a bowl of Jello. One moment it was a gelatinous blob, shimmying and shaking in the vibrations of space, the next, it was a disappearing vapor. Then it hardened to a cobalt-blue metal, cold against the void. Inside the mile long time-craft sat Justin, one hand on the trapezoid yoke steering wheel, the other on an 8-ball he humorously had screwed to the end of a joystick that allowed him to shift the craft’s mode from linear to time travel. One of the crewmen brought a cup of Venusian tea up to the cockpit, and the Commodore chose to enjoy it in this distant reality, done easily enough by simply exiting the time stream.
With a twist of his large gloved hand, he brought the Alternity 3000 to a standstill and shed the trappings of invisibility. Outside the blue behemoth, he observed an Earth-like planet turning slowly. He watched it do so from high orbit. With the press of a large red translucent square, Justin brought the port observation window into a clear focus on the planets’ surface. Peering now through a steamy jungle mist, the small worlds’ flora and fauna could be seen, as the alien planet revealed itself to be in a dinosaurian age, bathed in the warmth of a main-sequence star. Large beasts thundered across the jungle openings, chasing down leggedy prey, and they in turn, being chased by others.
Justin Nicholas Thyme was a hard working and dedicated agent, but he knew to rest, and this lesson in pre-history provided a unique opportunity to do just that. Far below he saw the designs often created by the pressures of natural selection- the sauropods, the therapods, the bony-plated herbivores. “Your attention please,” he spoke into the hand-held system, his words piped throughout the ship. “Below, we are witness to our own cretaceous Mesozoic, with all the teeth and scaly bells and whistles.” Crew members gathered at the portholes, oohs and ahhs flowing like the wriggly creatures of a warm shallow sea. At once, a large Tyrannosaur look-alike pounced on the serpentine neck of a sauropod ten times his weight, and began feasting on the still-alive beast. “I can arrange for a shuttle to the surface if anyone is interested in a closer look,” he quipped. There were no takers.
Justin sipped the last of his tea and announced departure. The crew strapped into their stations, Justin hit the joystick and the craft turned into a mile of loose blue jello. They would shake all the way to Kaleidoscope City.
end
Next: Monocore
©@JosephJohnRacano/11/26/2024
Artwork by Radosveta Zhelyazkova
The New Adventures of Justin Nicholas Thyme
March Issue 2024 – ‘A Long Way from Home’
The mighty craft faded in and then out of the dictates of time, shifting its’ consistency from solid, to something akin to a bowl of Jello. One moment it was a gelatinous blob, shimmying and shaking in the vibrations of space, the next, it was a disappearing vapor. Then it hardened to a cobalt-blue metal, cold against the void. Inside the mile long time-craft sat Justin, one hand on the trapezoid yoke steering wheel, the other on an 8-ball he humorously had screwed to the end of a joystick that allowed him to shift the craft’s mode from linear to time travel. One of the crewmen brought a cup of Venusian tea up to the cockpit, and the Commodore chose to enjoy it in this distant reality, done easily enough by simply exiting the time stream.
With a twist of his large gloved hand, he brought the Alternity 3000 to a standstill and shed the trappings of invisibility. Outside the blue behemoth, he observed an Earth-like planet turning slowly. He watched it do so from high orbit. With the press of a large red translucent square, Justin brought the port observation window into a clear focus on the planets’ surface. Peering now through a steamy jungle mist, the small worlds’ flora and fauna could be seen, as the alien planet revealed itself to be in a dinosaurian age, bathed in the warmth of a main-sequence star. Large beasts thundered across the jungle openings, chasing down leggedy prey, and they in turn, being chased by others.
Justin Nicholas Thyme was a hard working and dedicated agent, but he knew to rest, and this lesson in pre-history provided a unique opportunity to do just that. Far below he saw the designs often created by the pressures of natural selection- the sauropods, the therapods, the bony-plated herbivores. “Your attention please,” he spoke into the hand-held system, his words piped throughout the ship. “Below, we are witness to our own cretaceous Mesozoic, with all the teeth and scaly bells and whistles.” Crew members gathered at the portholes, oohs and ahhs flowing like the wriggly creatures of a warm shallow sea. At once, a large Tyrannosaur look-alike pounced on the serpentine neck of a sauropod ten times his weight, and began feasting on the still-alive beast. “I can arrange for a shuttle to the surface if anyone is interested in a closer look,” he quipped. There were no takers.
Justin sipped the last of his tea and announced departure. The crew strapped into their stations, Justin hit the joystick and the craft turned into a mile of loose blue jello. They would shake all the way to Kaleidoscope City.
end
Next: Monocore
©@JosephJohnRacano/11/26/2024
Artwork by Radosveta Zhelyazkova
Marble Comics Presents:
The New Adventures of Justin Nicholas Thyme
April Issue 2024 – ‘Monocore’
Monocore
Justin Nicholas Thyme arrived on the hinterspace of Kaleidoscope City, unannounced and undetected. This, despite the superior technology of Monocore, considered by Alternity Group to be the most dangerous threat in the known Universe. He left ‘Big Blue’ moored outside the Kaleidoscopic field of gravitation and set the cloaking device, which amounted to an organic coating of the ships hull dense with chromatophores. Almost immediately, the mysterious leaders of Kaleidoscope City sensed a field disruption and sent a droneprobe to investigate. The area in question was scrutinized from every angle but any and all observations were foiled by Justins’ craft, which mimicked the stars planets and constellations necessary for detection avoidance.
Meanwhile, Justin rode the mini to the surface, shut it down and set out on foot. Maintaining radio silence, he was positively bursting with excitement at the marvels of this far-flung timeline fracture and his need to describe it all back to Miocene Base. But silence, he knew, was the best policy, at least for the present.
“Alternity 3000, this is Miocene Base, do you read, over?” Infinity stood silent, hoping for a response but heard only the intergalactic static of background radiation. “Justin, can you hear me?” Again, nothing.
Justins padded feet pranced along, barely making contact with the ground due to low gravity. It was fun discovering from one stride to the next just how far he could float. But always, he would have to make that occasional landing, causing a slight shaking of his freeze suit tackle. It was for this reason he used the old duct tape method that kept his dog tags silent on as much of his gear as possible. There was safety in silence.
High above, the droneprobe continued its circuitous inspection of the suspicious area, where within whose parameters lay hidden the Alternity 3000 Timecraft, known as ‘Big Blue.’ The surface of the craft bubbled, boiled and roiled with thousands of tiny pigments, frustrating the inquisitors.
From parsecs away, the dark forces of Monocore used a more powerful technique of their own to scan the area of space considered a celestial underground railroad being used by myriad civilizations to move goods and services through the quadrant, sans detection, and therefore, tolls and tariffs. From that distance, chromatophores were useless to avoid detection methods relying on audiovisual. And Big Blue was discovered directly. With the broad scope of its mission to spread monoculture throughout the universe, it was highly unusual that Monocore would take such an interest in the minor affairs of men. The fact they were interested at all revealed a great concern and deep respect for the prowess of our famed super-agent now bounding across the open tundra on the outskirts of Kaleidoscope city. They watched his advance closely, with designs on his time tech, something Monocore did not yet have.
Soon, Justin came to a stop beside a low-gravity thicket, where enourmous Ravens sat watching from perches high atop large red boulders. Justin was so fixated on these corvid giants he almost missed the petroglyphs carved in the vermillion stone.
Joseph John Racano
©12/17/23
Next: Message of the Scarlet Stones
The New Adventures of Justin Nicholas Thyme
April Issue 2024 – ‘Monocore’
Monocore
Justin Nicholas Thyme arrived on the hinterspace of Kaleidoscope City, unannounced and undetected. This, despite the superior technology of Monocore, considered by Alternity Group to be the most dangerous threat in the known Universe. He left ‘Big Blue’ moored outside the Kaleidoscopic field of gravitation and set the cloaking device, which amounted to an organic coating of the ships hull dense with chromatophores. Almost immediately, the mysterious leaders of Kaleidoscope City sensed a field disruption and sent a droneprobe to investigate. The area in question was scrutinized from every angle but any and all observations were foiled by Justins’ craft, which mimicked the stars planets and constellations necessary for detection avoidance.
Meanwhile, Justin rode the mini to the surface, shut it down and set out on foot. Maintaining radio silence, he was positively bursting with excitement at the marvels of this far-flung timeline fracture and his need to describe it all back to Miocene Base. But silence, he knew, was the best policy, at least for the present.
“Alternity 3000, this is Miocene Base, do you read, over?” Infinity stood silent, hoping for a response but heard only the intergalactic static of background radiation. “Justin, can you hear me?” Again, nothing.
Justins padded feet pranced along, barely making contact with the ground due to low gravity. It was fun discovering from one stride to the next just how far he could float. But always, he would have to make that occasional landing, causing a slight shaking of his freeze suit tackle. It was for this reason he used the old duct tape method that kept his dog tags silent on as much of his gear as possible. There was safety in silence.
High above, the droneprobe continued its circuitous inspection of the suspicious area, where within whose parameters lay hidden the Alternity 3000 Timecraft, known as ‘Big Blue.’ The surface of the craft bubbled, boiled and roiled with thousands of tiny pigments, frustrating the inquisitors.
From parsecs away, the dark forces of Monocore used a more powerful technique of their own to scan the area of space considered a celestial underground railroad being used by myriad civilizations to move goods and services through the quadrant, sans detection, and therefore, tolls and tariffs. From that distance, chromatophores were useless to avoid detection methods relying on audiovisual. And Big Blue was discovered directly. With the broad scope of its mission to spread monoculture throughout the universe, it was highly unusual that Monocore would take such an interest in the minor affairs of men. The fact they were interested at all revealed a great concern and deep respect for the prowess of our famed super-agent now bounding across the open tundra on the outskirts of Kaleidoscope city. They watched his advance closely, with designs on his time tech, something Monocore did not yet have.
Soon, Justin came to a stop beside a low-gravity thicket, where enourmous Ravens sat watching from perches high atop large red boulders. Justin was so fixated on these corvid giants he almost missed the petroglyphs carved in the vermillion stone.
Joseph John Racano
©12/17/23
Next: Message of the Scarlet Stones
Transtemporal Comics © (Formerly Marble Comics) Presents:
The New Adventures of Justin Nicholas Thyme
May Issue 2024 – ‘Message of the Scarlet Stones’
Stories based on the novel by Joseph John Racano
Read it here: https://www.ebl.com/book/chronopolis
Artwork ©by Radosveta Zhelyazkova
Message of the Scarlet Stones
Justin finally reached his chosen point of operations wedged beneath the twisted roots of a Tamirak Tree. This was considered a perfect hideout because it was also the favorite denning area of the Kaleidoscopic Werecat, the outer time limits answer to the wolverine. Using a standard issue field shovel from his freeze pack, he lay flat on his stomach, casting the extra dirt sideways, making sure not to create a pile. Watchful eyes took it all in from a vast distance, where the Monocore enjoyed technology that allowed them to see while not being seen themselves. Soon enough, the sensors of Kaleidoscope City homed in on the anomaly now motionless within their city borders. Thus alerted, the mysterious leaders of this future civilization activated the A.I. security and it immediately sent probes in Justin’s direction.
While all were welcome to visit Kaleidoscope City, a certain well-established protocol was required and scofflaws were not tolerated. The probes arrived in the blink of an eye and now circled the Tamirak Tree menacingly in ever-tightening orbits. Justin called back to Miocene Base, apprising them of the situation and it was the Gyro Cosmique who was strapped into the Chrona for the mission. Not many miles away but perhaps a hundred thousand years hence, Justin heard the low caw of the giant ravens, now dive-bombing the probes circling Justin’s make-shift base of ops, much to the chagrin of Kaleidoscope city leaders and the amusement of Monocore. Nearby, the petroglyphs in the stone began to glow, casting a pale scarlet light on the area. Justin listened as word came in from Miocene base of Cosmique’s impending arrival. And the closer she got, the deeper red glowed the petroglyphs. The probes by now lay strewn hap-hazardly around the Tamirak tree in various states of disrepair. And now, enforcement apparatus was inbound from Kaleidoscope City.
With little time to spare, the space-time continuum surrounding the battle ground began to pop with electrical sounds and scents, blurring the vision of all observers of the conflict. A circular field of disruption shown like a cosmic whirlpool for a meter, then ten meters around, soon congealing into a sharp image of the Chrona portal, inside which sat the Gyro Cosmique. She was now closer to her home planet of Magna than she had been since leaving home to join Alternity Corp. With mysterious leaders of Kaleidoscope City inbound from one direction, and space lasers from Monocore now inbound at frightful speed from another, the power of a Gyro to temporarily pause the timeline was needed and quickly. And so, Cosmique, the Gyro from Magna, and special time agent of Alternity Corp. stepped forward from one fractured dimension, through a field of disruption, and into another. She raised her right hand high above her head, thumbed her chronometer, and time stood still.
Joseph John Racano
Transtemporalcomics/@JosephJohnRacano/©1/5/2024
The New Adventures of Justin Nicholas Thyme
May Issue 2024 – ‘Message of the Scarlet Stones’
Stories based on the novel by Joseph John Racano
Read it here: https://www.ebl.com/book/chronopolis
Artwork ©by Radosveta Zhelyazkova
Message of the Scarlet Stones
Justin finally reached his chosen point of operations wedged beneath the twisted roots of a Tamirak Tree. This was considered a perfect hideout because it was also the favorite denning area of the Kaleidoscopic Werecat, the outer time limits answer to the wolverine. Using a standard issue field shovel from his freeze pack, he lay flat on his stomach, casting the extra dirt sideways, making sure not to create a pile. Watchful eyes took it all in from a vast distance, where the Monocore enjoyed technology that allowed them to see while not being seen themselves. Soon enough, the sensors of Kaleidoscope City homed in on the anomaly now motionless within their city borders. Thus alerted, the mysterious leaders of this future civilization activated the A.I. security and it immediately sent probes in Justin’s direction.
While all were welcome to visit Kaleidoscope City, a certain well-established protocol was required and scofflaws were not tolerated. The probes arrived in the blink of an eye and now circled the Tamirak Tree menacingly in ever-tightening orbits. Justin called back to Miocene Base, apprising them of the situation and it was the Gyro Cosmique who was strapped into the Chrona for the mission. Not many miles away but perhaps a hundred thousand years hence, Justin heard the low caw of the giant ravens, now dive-bombing the probes circling Justin’s make-shift base of ops, much to the chagrin of Kaleidoscope city leaders and the amusement of Monocore. Nearby, the petroglyphs in the stone began to glow, casting a pale scarlet light on the area. Justin listened as word came in from Miocene base of Cosmique’s impending arrival. And the closer she got, the deeper red glowed the petroglyphs. The probes by now lay strewn hap-hazardly around the Tamirak tree in various states of disrepair. And now, enforcement apparatus was inbound from Kaleidoscope City.
With little time to spare, the space-time continuum surrounding the battle ground began to pop with electrical sounds and scents, blurring the vision of all observers of the conflict. A circular field of disruption shown like a cosmic whirlpool for a meter, then ten meters around, soon congealing into a sharp image of the Chrona portal, inside which sat the Gyro Cosmique. She was now closer to her home planet of Magna than she had been since leaving home to join Alternity Corp. With mysterious leaders of Kaleidoscope City inbound from one direction, and space lasers from Monocore now inbound at frightful speed from another, the power of a Gyro to temporarily pause the timeline was needed and quickly. And so, Cosmique, the Gyro from Magna, and special time agent of Alternity Corp. stepped forward from one fractured dimension, through a field of disruption, and into another. She raised her right hand high above her head, thumbed her chronometer, and time stood still.
Joseph John Racano
Transtemporalcomics/@JosephJohnRacano/©1/5/2024
Return to Kaleidoscope City
Spacetime Agent Nikki Night-Bird was a study in concern as she sat monitoring the broad board for any sign of change. On occasion the amber lights would be interrupted by the flash of an aquamarine LED light, signifying the deep-space passage of an interstellar vessel from some far-flung cosmic reality or other. She tapped her fingers lightly on the console, drumming out the heartbeat of her home planet, Mother Earth. This activity always served to soothe the savage within her, as her soul still dwelt amid the sacred bison of the great plains there. She often spent her leisure time on venture-vacations by mooring the amazing Harpy spacetime craft hanging suspended high above the endless fields of impossibly tall grasses waving in the winds of pre-European contact North America. Counting bison bear and bog sedated her in the most appealing way, and she spent hours that way, floating weightless like an astronaut.
With Cosmique out on a rescue mission to the far future assisting Commodore Justin Thyme, and Infinity Staires busy with her new duties as President of the local group of galaxies in the Quadrant, Nikki was basically home alone, with nothing to do but throw a coat of wax on the Harpy. She kneeled at the bulkhead, working a rare cotton rag in a circular motion, and adding extra wax over the beautifully painted native symbols that made the futuristic craft resemble the painted horse of a mighty tribal warrior.
She worked through the day on every part of the superstructure, listening intently to the garbled audio transmissions on the intercom of the mother ship. Justin had got himself into a spot, pinned down by hostiles, and Cosmique’ the Gyro arrived in time to throw up a time pause, allowing for them both to abscond with their gear to Kaleidoscope City.
They stood outside the giant alloy portals waiting for a response from the occupants. The mysterious elders of the city watched from inside with some amusement and a bit of contempt for the brash manner of the time agent Justin Thyme. “He seems to know himself,” said one to the other. “Open the portal!” he commanded to no one in view. The giant doors rolled open on a cushion of compressed air, coming to a halt with the sound of an explosive device in a large cavern. “Enter, Justin Nicholas Thyme, Agent of Alternity Corp., we’ve been waiting for you.”
Cosmique’ clutched Justins arm tightly, nearly drawing blood. “Ouch!” he laughed trying to put her at ease. They entered through the doors which closed quickly behind them and found themselves in an altered reality where time moved backward and also forward, soft winds swirled ‘round and voices spoke from the shadows in inaudible whispers.
“Welcome back to Kaleidoscope City,” they said.
To be continued…
©JossephJohnRacano/1/19/2024
The Continued Adventures of Justin Nicholas Thyme and Infinity Staires and company. Story and characters based on the novel
by Joseph John Racano https://www.ebl.com/book/chronopolis
Art by Radosveta Zhelyazkova
Spacetime Agent Nikki Night-Bird was a study in concern as she sat monitoring the broad board for any sign of change. On occasion the amber lights would be interrupted by the flash of an aquamarine LED light, signifying the deep-space passage of an interstellar vessel from some far-flung cosmic reality or other. She tapped her fingers lightly on the console, drumming out the heartbeat of her home planet, Mother Earth. This activity always served to soothe the savage within her, as her soul still dwelt amid the sacred bison of the great plains there. She often spent her leisure time on venture-vacations by mooring the amazing Harpy spacetime craft hanging suspended high above the endless fields of impossibly tall grasses waving in the winds of pre-European contact North America. Counting bison bear and bog sedated her in the most appealing way, and she spent hours that way, floating weightless like an astronaut.
With Cosmique out on a rescue mission to the far future assisting Commodore Justin Thyme, and Infinity Staires busy with her new duties as President of the local group of galaxies in the Quadrant, Nikki was basically home alone, with nothing to do but throw a coat of wax on the Harpy. She kneeled at the bulkhead, working a rare cotton rag in a circular motion, and adding extra wax over the beautifully painted native symbols that made the futuristic craft resemble the painted horse of a mighty tribal warrior.
She worked through the day on every part of the superstructure, listening intently to the garbled audio transmissions on the intercom of the mother ship. Justin had got himself into a spot, pinned down by hostiles, and Cosmique’ the Gyro arrived in time to throw up a time pause, allowing for them both to abscond with their gear to Kaleidoscope City.
They stood outside the giant alloy portals waiting for a response from the occupants. The mysterious elders of the city watched from inside with some amusement and a bit of contempt for the brash manner of the time agent Justin Thyme. “He seems to know himself,” said one to the other. “Open the portal!” he commanded to no one in view. The giant doors rolled open on a cushion of compressed air, coming to a halt with the sound of an explosive device in a large cavern. “Enter, Justin Nicholas Thyme, Agent of Alternity Corp., we’ve been waiting for you.”
Cosmique’ clutched Justins arm tightly, nearly drawing blood. “Ouch!” he laughed trying to put her at ease. They entered through the doors which closed quickly behind them and found themselves in an altered reality where time moved backward and also forward, soft winds swirled ‘round and voices spoke from the shadows in inaudible whispers.
“Welcome back to Kaleidoscope City,” they said.
To be continued…
©JossephJohnRacano/1/19/2024
The Continued Adventures of Justin Nicholas Thyme and Infinity Staires and company. Story and characters based on the novel
by Joseph John Racano https://www.ebl.com/book/chronopolis
Art by Radosveta Zhelyazkova
The Continuing Adventures of Justin Thyme (July 2024)
Note: (Please use link below to play theme song before reading):
https://soundcloud.com/emcee-neapolitan/justin-thymewav...
Justin held the Gyro steady, her arm trembling as the two agents entered the Portal of Imortality, where the ever-mysterious elders of Kaleidoscope City floated dreamily on a bed of creamsicle-colored fog. “We have come…” started Justin, who was rudely interrupted by an Immortal.
“We are well aware of why you have returned to Kaleidoscope City Mr. Thyme. You have a question and you assume we have the answer. Fortunately for Alternity Corp, we do. But everything comes at a price, and ours is protocol. Not even the famous Justin Thyme may trespass on our sacred land without permission and a bit of reverence. What say you?”
“Friend, please allow me to offer humble apologies for my brash decision this day. I would also offer my solemn and iron-clad word that in the future it will never again be so,” said Justin. The Immortal smiled with a cluck of the tongue and answered wryly, “This is the future Mr. Thyme. But enough.” With a wave of an oblong crystalline apparatus, the orange fog cleared, revealing before them a beautifully set one-piece table and seating for two.
“First, take drink and slake your thirst of a trillion light years and a few odd parsecs then again. The hunger in your Gyro’s eyes betrays your need.”
The two sat and did their best to act civilized against such a backdrop of hunger and thirst. Justin saluted from his forehead in a manner both thankful and friendly. Back on board the Alternity 3000, the crew monitored the scene from the comfort and anonymity of the bridge deck. Agents Terco and Fulton followed the movements of all nearby craft, as well as incoming search waves from a source in the distance too far to pinpoint. They knew for sure it was they who were being monitored now, and the only source powerful and advanced enough was Monocore.
“Mr. Thyme, please ask the Gyro to release the hold on space time and relent to the true continuum.”
Justin looked at Cosmique and with a nod, she stood from the table and made a large revolution of her right arm. Instantly, the area became well lit as before, gear returned to its normal function and equipment resumed clicking buzzing beeping and humming.
“Thank you,” the Immortal smiled toward Cosmique, obviously pleased and quite amused if not wholly impressed. Gyros hailed from one planet only in the entirety of the observable universe, Planet Magna, and so their abilities were rare. “Now, you come to inquire what is the goal of Monocore. And I tell you this simply. In order to dispense monoculture and plainness across the cosmos, one must not only control the future of things. But more importantly, one must erase the past. This, Mr. Thyme, is our true peril. Monocore is a machine, programmed by a well-intentioned race long ago but now that race is gone to stellar dust. And the machine is run amok. Beware, Mr. Thyme. Do Beware.”
With that, the portal doors floated open once again and the two agents made their way back across the ethereal wild tundra of Kaleidoscopia. Justin wisely elected to maintain radio silence for the time being.
Joseph John Racano©@1/31/2024
The Continued Adventures of Justin Nicholas Thyme and Infinity Staires and company. Story and characters based on the novel by Joseph John Racano https://www.ebl.com/book/chronopolis
Art by: JBrown67
Note: (Please use link below to play theme song before reading):
https://soundcloud.com/emcee-neapolitan/justin-thymewav...
Justin held the Gyro steady, her arm trembling as the two agents entered the Portal of Imortality, where the ever-mysterious elders of Kaleidoscope City floated dreamily on a bed of creamsicle-colored fog. “We have come…” started Justin, who was rudely interrupted by an Immortal.
“We are well aware of why you have returned to Kaleidoscope City Mr. Thyme. You have a question and you assume we have the answer. Fortunately for Alternity Corp, we do. But everything comes at a price, and ours is protocol. Not even the famous Justin Thyme may trespass on our sacred land without permission and a bit of reverence. What say you?”
“Friend, please allow me to offer humble apologies for my brash decision this day. I would also offer my solemn and iron-clad word that in the future it will never again be so,” said Justin. The Immortal smiled with a cluck of the tongue and answered wryly, “This is the future Mr. Thyme. But enough.” With a wave of an oblong crystalline apparatus, the orange fog cleared, revealing before them a beautifully set one-piece table and seating for two.
“First, take drink and slake your thirst of a trillion light years and a few odd parsecs then again. The hunger in your Gyro’s eyes betrays your need.”
The two sat and did their best to act civilized against such a backdrop of hunger and thirst. Justin saluted from his forehead in a manner both thankful and friendly. Back on board the Alternity 3000, the crew monitored the scene from the comfort and anonymity of the bridge deck. Agents Terco and Fulton followed the movements of all nearby craft, as well as incoming search waves from a source in the distance too far to pinpoint. They knew for sure it was they who were being monitored now, and the only source powerful and advanced enough was Monocore.
“Mr. Thyme, please ask the Gyro to release the hold on space time and relent to the true continuum.”
Justin looked at Cosmique and with a nod, she stood from the table and made a large revolution of her right arm. Instantly, the area became well lit as before, gear returned to its normal function and equipment resumed clicking buzzing beeping and humming.
“Thank you,” the Immortal smiled toward Cosmique, obviously pleased and quite amused if not wholly impressed. Gyros hailed from one planet only in the entirety of the observable universe, Planet Magna, and so their abilities were rare. “Now, you come to inquire what is the goal of Monocore. And I tell you this simply. In order to dispense monoculture and plainness across the cosmos, one must not only control the future of things. But more importantly, one must erase the past. This, Mr. Thyme, is our true peril. Monocore is a machine, programmed by a well-intentioned race long ago but now that race is gone to stellar dust. And the machine is run amok. Beware, Mr. Thyme. Do Beware.”
With that, the portal doors floated open once again and the two agents made their way back across the ethereal wild tundra of Kaleidoscopia. Justin wisely elected to maintain radio silence for the time being.
Joseph John Racano©@1/31/2024
The Continued Adventures of Justin Nicholas Thyme and Infinity Staires and company. Story and characters based on the novel by Joseph John Racano https://www.ebl.com/book/chronopolis
Art by: JBrown67
Below is a slideshow showcasing the evolution of all our Chronopolis characters (and time-travel vehicles) created by me, Joseph Racano, and ably drawn and painted by the fabulous artist, Radosveta Zhelyazkova!
ABOVE: These are some different versions of the ALTERNITY 3000, Justin's personal time craft, that is basically an evolution of the original 'CHRONA' featured in the novel Chronopolis. All art by Radosveta Zhelyazkova.