"Rick!" A.J. said to his brother loudly. "They're stopping just over there."

"Yea, well, maybe they're like us and just want to see what the shiny thing is," Rick suggested.

"Oh, I'll bet that is it," Ethel said. "Why, they probably mean us no harm."

"Of course not," said Lucy. "Fred, you can come out from behind that rock now."

"Yea, Fred," Ethel joined in. "We're safe. The car has stopped."

"I aint takin' no chances," Fred told them from behind the rock. "Are they gettin' out of the car?"

"Uh, yea, Fred, they are," answered Rick Simon. "Oh boy."

"Can't you think of anything else to say?" A.J. asked, irritated.

"A.J., don't you see that these new folks are even, uh, well, can't you see they're dressed more oddly even than these folks we've been talkin' to?"

"Of course I can see that, Rick," A.J. responded. "They're dressed, oh boy."

"They're dressed like people doin' a cowboy movie," Ricky Ricardo suddenly said. "That's how they're dressed."

The Simons exchanged glances and grinned. "Ah, now we get it," A.J. said, suddenly smiling warmly.

"We do?" His brother said.

"Of course we do, Rick." the younger brother stated. "We've been taken in. All of these people are out here to make a movie."

Rick looked sheepish. "Ah," he said, nodding his head. "Very funny." He then turned to the four people who said they were from New York. "You folks had us goin' there for a minute. Well, more than a minute, really."

"What my brother is trying to say," A.J. interrupted, "is that we really believed for a while there that you were from the 1950's. Like he said, very funny. We'll, uh, just be going and let you get on with your filming, or whatever you're doing out here."

"I dun no what you're talkin' 'bout," Ricky Ricardo said. "But we're not makin' a movie, I can tell you that."

"No, we dun no what you're talkin' 'bout," Lucy repeated after her husband. "but if these folks coming over here are making a movie--- Ricky, just think!"

"LUCY!"

"Oh, Ricky!" The red head bemoaned. "You never will let me be in show business!"

"You crazy dame!" Fred growled, coming out from behind the rock. "This is no time to worry about that. Wow, would you look at that big guy!"

"Yea, he's a big one, all right," Ricky Ricardo agreed. "He must be the star of the show."

Rick Simon grinned. "C'mon, you folks know who these people are. You're all in the movie. Must be some time capsule thing."

"Yes, that must be it," A.J. said. "Do you recognize any of them, Rick?"

"No, do you?"

"No."

"You got us all wrong," Fred related. "We're not in any movie. Ricky,

here, is in the business, and Ethel and I used to do vaudeville, but we're not in the business now."

The Simons exchanged looks again. "Sounds like he means it," A.J. said.

"Yea, well, we'd better hope this group comin' is in the business," Rick said. "'Cause if they're not, we may be in more trouble than we can handle."

"I wish they wouldn't stare at us like that," Audra Barkley told her family. "They look so---"

"Boy Howdy, Sis," Heath cut her off. "Don't say anymore. They can hear us now."

"It would be wise, young lady, to listen to Heath on this one," Jarrod advised. "Just smile and keep walking."

"Just hang on to me, Dear," Victoria told her daughter, taking the younger woman by the hand. "We'll all be fine. Why, I'm sure none of them can equal any of your brothers in strength if it should come to a fight."

"Fight!" Nick exclaimed. "Why, they wouldn't have a chance!"

"Uh, Rick," A.J. Simon began, "the big guy said something about a fight."

"Yea, I heard him," the older Simon said, grinning slightly. "But it's just part of a scene."

"I don't see any cameras," A.J. declared. "No, no camera. Just a rehearsal probably."

"I'm keeping my hand on my gun anyway."

"Good idea," Rick said.

The Barkleys walked, following Nick's lead, directly to the time capsule. None of them glanced at the group of people off to the side. "Allow me to get the door, family," Jarrod said. "And then we can all climb aboard."

Boy Howdy, I'll be glad to be on the thing," Heath said. "This has been some experience."

"That's a fact!" Nick said, more softly than he usually spoke.

When Jarrod had the door of the capsule open, he said, "Mother, you first."

The Ricardos, Mertzes, and Simons stood quietly, observing the Barkleys.

Lucy could not keep quiet. "Oh Ricky, can't I ask them if I can be in the scene, Honey? I mean, where could they get a cheaper extra? They wouldn't even have to pay me, I'd work for nothing. Maybe all of us could be in their picture."

"Will you keep that woman quiet, Rick!" Fred said in a stage whisper.

"Lucy, keep still," Ricky said. "If they're rehearsin', we don't want to bother them."

"But Ricky----"

The latest arrivals were about to enter the shiny thing. Rick Simon could not stamp out his curiosity. He turned to his brother. "A.J., what do you think?"

"I think they are actually going to get in that thing. It has a door."

"Yea, but what do you think about their makin' a movie, or rehearsin' for one? Do you think we're on target about that? These other folks are actin' like they really don't know this new bunch. And the clothes, well, they're straight out of the, oh, 40's anyway."

A.J. glared at his brother. "The forties! Rick, these people are dressed like they come from the mid to late 1800's."

"Well, the forties, I meant the 1840's."

Shaking his head, A.J. said, "Sure you did. Rick, what do you think we should do?"

"Do?"

"Yes, should we try to stop them---what?"

Rick Simon favored his brother with that short laugh of his. "Stop them, Kid? You don't really think they're goin' anywhere on that---whatever it is?"

Looking embarrassed, A.J. said. "Of course not! But I am wondering what they're up to! And with these others insisting they're from 1952---"

"Okay, okay, let's talk to 'em."

During the Simons exchange, the foursome from New York stood over to themselves. They could, however, hear the words spoken by the brothers. Ethel had something to say. "I don't know about you three, but I don't like this."

"Me either, Ethel," Lucy muttered. "Those people are in clothes straight out of a movie, but wouldn't they have said something to us about keeping quiet, if they are rehearsing?"

"Well, well, well," Fred offered. "Lucy finally says somethin' half way intelligent, and it has to be when we're stuck out in the desert forty plus years ahead of our time."

"Fred Mertz!" Lucy stomped her foot in anger. "How can---"

"All right, now," Ricky interrupted his wife's tirade. "Let's stick together. We don't know if we can trust the Simons, and we sure as heck don't know if we can trust these new people."

"I don't trust 'em," Fred said emphatically. "I can tell you that for sure."

"Well, the Simons are going to talk to them," Lucy said, calmed down a bit. "We'll just have to see what happens."

Inside the capsule, the Barkleys were feeling almost jubilant. Heath was the first to express their collective joy. "Boy Howdy, we made it! Those folks didn't try to stop us, didn't even say a word to us. We've got it made!"

"Oh yes!" Audra celebrated. "They can't harm us now! Nick, how soon can we be underway?"

"Wait a minute!" Nick blasted the ears of his family. "Be patient, will ya? I have to get everything ready to go. Jarrod, do you remember how we got it off the ground back home?"

Nick's family looked at him with concern clearly written on their individual faces. "You sayin' you don't remember how to get this thing off the ground, Nick?" Heath asked.

"Oh no!" Audra reacted to the possible bad news. "We have to get off the ground! Nick, please say you know how!"

"Let's remain calm, family," Jarrod suggested, a hint of worry in his voice. "I'll just assist Brother Nick here, and we'll come to a consensus on what to do."

"I have every faith in the two of you," Victoria said.

"Boy Howdy, I don't," Heath spoke up. "I can see you don't know diddly about it, Nick, and I know why."

"Is that a fact!" Nick roared. "Don't know diddly about it, you say?

Well, I'll show you diddly!"

With that the second born Barkley threw a switch. Nothing happened.

Victoria got up from her seat in the capsule and approched Nick. "Dear, is that how you got it to, uh,---"

"Yes, Mother, it is," Nick replied, when Victoria paused. "That's how the man told me to do it.

I just hit that switch, and off we went. But now, it won't do a thing."

"Oh, I wish Eugene was here," Audra sighed.

"Eugene!" Nick bellowed. "What could the college boy do about it?"

"Boy Howdy, Nick," Heath said. "That's easy. He could tell us what his professor told him about such things."

"Perhaps I can offer a possibility here," Jarrod joined in.

"If you can give us a possible way to get going in this thing, Pappy, I'd be much obliged," Nick told his older brother.

"No, I can't do that, Brother Nick," said Jarrod. "But I believe I know why it won't work at this time."

"And so do I," Heath said. "Like I said before, I know why you don't know diddly about it, Nick."

"Well, if you two know so much, fill me in, will ya?" Nick blared at his brothers.

"You first, Jarrod," Heath said tightly.

"I, of course, don't know what Heath's theory is," Jarrod began smoothly. "But I do know that when we left home, things were already set. Nick, you didn't have to do, uh, diddly, but throw the switch to get us going. All of that had been taken care of. Am I not correct?"

"Yea, Jarrod thinks just like I do," Heath told the group. "You didn't really do anything. It was all done by the fellow who helped send us here."

Victoria spoke up. "If that is true, what Heath and Jarrod say, then surely everything is set for our return trip."

"Of course it is," Nick agreed with his Mother. "It's all set and I don't have to do a thing but throw the lever. But when I throw it, nothin' happens."

"Oh, we'll be stuck here in this time forever," moaned Audra.

"No we won't, Sis," Heath said. "Boy Howdy, don't you see? We can go back at the time the fellow set things for."

"And when, may I ask, will that be?" Jarrod inquired.

"When did the fellow say we would be returning to our own time, Nick?" Victoria asked.

Nick began to pace the small capsule. "Uh, well, we figured, he and I, that we might wanta stay here a week."

"A week!" came a four voice chorus in response to Nick's statement.

"Well, I thought we'd be stayin' longer than it turned out we wanted to," Nick defended his decision. "I thought we'd have a good time here."

Victoria moved forward and patted her second son on the arm. "It's all right, Dear. No one is blaming you for this misfortune that's come our way."

"I'm blaming you!" Audra spat at her tallest brother. "It's your fault that we're all going to be killed here in this dreadful time."

"Is that a fact!" Nick blasted her back. "Sis, what makes you think we're going to be killed?

Why, we can get back into that, uh, automobile, and find someplace to go until the week has passed."

"Boy Howdy, I hate to do that," Heath lamented. "I don't like it in this time. Couldn't we stay right here in the capsule until we can go home?"

"Heath, Dear," Victoria spoke to the man she called her son, although he was her dead husband's love child. "I don't believe that would be wise."

"No, it's so hot in here!" Audra complained. "And we wouldn't have anything to eat, and---"

"Of course our sister is correct," Jarrod said. "We must get back in, or on, the automobile and find food and shelter for a week's time."

"Wait a minute!" Nick suddenly exclaimed.

"What is it, Dear?" Victoria wondered.

"If those people are still out there, they might tell us someplace to go."

"Boy Howdy, Nick," Heath shook his head. "They might kill us, too."

"Oh, they surely mean is no harm, Heath," Jarrod spoke up. "After all, they let us pass before without so much as a wayward glance."

Audra then said, "If they are show business people I don't want to talk to them."

Victoria patted her daughter on the arm. "Dear, your pretty nose is a bit too far up in the air for your own good. Now, if they are show business people, it won't hurt us to speak with them. After all, they might mean the difference between eating tonight and not eating tonight."

"Yes, Mother," Audra hung her head. "But----"

"I say let's get out of here and talk to 'em," Nick cut off whatever his sister was about to say. "I'm not too proud."

Heath muttered under his breath. "No, and you aint too smart either, or you'd never got us into this mess."

"Wait a minute! I heard that!" Nick roared.

"Uh, family, shall we alight from the capsule and engage those folks outside in conversation?"

Jarrod inquired. "And, perhaps I should do the talking as I'm trained to judge people. If I feel they mean us harm, I'll give some sort of signal and we'll make a run for the automobile. Everyone agreed?"

"Boy Howdy, I guess so," Heath frowned.

"I hope you know what you're doing," Audra mumbled.

"Of course he does, Dear," said Victoria. "Your father and I paid good money to send him to law school."

"First hint of trouble, Pappy, I'm takin' over," Nick asserted.

"All right, it's a deal," said Jarrod. "Now, shall we go?"

One by one, with Jarrod in the lead this time, the Barkleys climbed out of the time capsule. Observing the ritual were the Simons, Ricardos, and Mertzes. A.J. Simon pulled his brother aside as he had several times since arriving on the desert scene. "Rick, should we say something to them?"

"A.J., are you losin' it?" Rick grouched. "That's what we said we were gonna do just a minute or two ago."

"Yes, but I supposed we would approach them. They seem to be coming out on their own. Perhaps they plan to just leave and we shouldn't---oh-----"

"Yea, oh," Rick said. "They're comin' right over to us. Talk to 'em, Kid."

"Me?"

"Yea, you."

Jarrod Barkley and A.J. Simon came face to face. Behind Jarrod, his family stood close by.

Simon's brother stood directly behind him. A few yards away, the quartet from New York waited and listened. Jarrod broke the ice.

"Hello," greeted the oldest Barkley brother. "My family and I have run into a small problem--"

"Boy Howdy, Jarrod, it's not so small," Heath Barkley cut in to say.

"Uh, well, no, it isn't so small, as a matter of fact," Jarrod went on. "We were wondering if you could tell us where we might go to find food and shelter for the next week until our, uh, conveyance here can return us home."

The Simon brothers had refrained from glancing at each other during the other fellow's remarks, even when the guy behind the lead man spoke. Now, they made eye contact. Rick grinned ever so slightly and rolled his eyes as if to say this one takes the cake. With his baby blues, A.J. conveyed agreement, and then the younger Simon replied to Jarrod. "Uh, food and shelter, you say?"

"Yes," Jarrod said politely. "We are rather in a tight spot not having anywhere to eat and sleep for the next week. Of course, as you've no doubt noticed, we do have transportation, and since my brother Nick here has not found driving the automobile too difficult, we could easily follow any directions you'd care to give us."

Rick Simon laughed aloud in that short, high pitched chuckle he so often used. His brother turned to him and scowled. "Rick, I'll handle this."

"Yea, go ahead," Rick said. "I'm enjoyin' it too much to talk."

A.J. turned again to Jarrod Barkley. "Yes, well, of course there are many restaurants and motels fairly close. This is the desert, so you need to go closer to L.A. or take the interstate down to San Diego."

Again, Rick laughed. This time it was more of a guffaw. "A.J., you are out of your mind. These folks are just playin' with us, just like those people back there behind us are. They're all in cahoots, and we've walked into a nice little trap."

Before A.J. could form a response, Jarrod spoke up. "If I may say so, we are not playing with you, whatever it is you might mean by that."

"I'll say we're not!" came the robust voice of Nick Barkley from behind his brother. "Step aside, Pappy. Let me handle it."

"Oh boy," Rick muttered. "The big guy's gonna handle it now."

Ignoring his brother, A.J. said, "Well, there's no need to get upset. You don't mean us any harm, now do you? You're making a movie. You are a group of actors. You're just having some fun with us, right?"

With a quick move, Nick Barkley shoved his older brother aside and took the front position for the Barkleys. "We're not playin', Mister. We're askin' you folks nice if you could show us the way to food and shelter."

"Oh boy," said Rick Simon.

"Why does he keep saying that, Mother?" Audra questioned.

At the sound of the female voice, both of the Simons turned toward it automatically. "Oh, hello," A.J. smiled.

"A.J., for the life of me, I'll never understand you," Rick began a lecture. "You notice a pretty face, and you lose all direction."

"Me!" A.J. chuckled. "I'm surprised you haven't struck up a conversation with her before this.

Surely you noticed her when they got in that-----uh, whatever it is."

"I haven't got time to notice pretty faces at the moment," Rick shot back.

A.J. laughed. "Nothing could keep you from noticing a pretty face."

"Boy Howdy, Nick," said Heath, "I think these fellas are talkin' bad about our little Sis. Are you just gonna stand there and let 'em?"

The Simons were brought back to the problem at hand quickly. "Oh, no, we have no interest in your, uh, sister, did you say?" A.J. mounted an explanation. "My brother and I were just, uh, making conversation."

"Yea, just makin' conversation," Rick agreed, nodding his head. "Uh, you folks been here long?"

"Rick!" A.J. blasted.

"Just makin' conversation," Rick repeated.

"We've actually only been here a few hours," Victoria spoke for the first time. "We are from a different time period than you're living in here and, finding we don't care much for your time period, we had hoped to depart, but we have found, as my son explained to you, that there is a problem and we can't go home for a week."

Off to the side, Fred Mertz expressed his opinion of what he had just heard Victoria say. "Holy Toledo! What next?"

"I don't know," Ethel murmered. "The end of the world must have really put these people in a different time."

"Yea," Lucy wise cracked. "we just got moved up forty years. They must be out of kilter about a hundred or so."

"Ah, come on," Ricky said. "This can't be hoppenin'. There has to be some way to splain it."

"Well, splain it then, Dear," Lucy told him. "That woman sounds sincere to me."

"Me too," Ethel agreed.

"I wish I was home with Ava," Fred whined.

Ethel put her hands on her hips. "Fred Mertz! You're caught in another time, and you're worrin' about Ava Gardner! That's just like a man!"

"Shhhhh," Ricky said. "They're gonna talk again."

Victoria's small speech rendered the Simon brothers momentarily speechless. They glanced at each other a couple of times, both shrugging their shoulders. Finally, when neither of them spoke, Nick Barkley did. "Well, you heard my Mother! She told you how it is with us. Now, are you gonna direct us to food and shelter or not?"

Rick Simon replied. "Well, uh, sure, uh, we can do that, uh, like my brother said before, there are plenty of places around, uh, you're actually from another time?"

"Rick, that can't be!" A.J. exclaimed. "I don't believe it for a minute!"

"Wait a minute!" Nick roared like a lion. "Are you callin' me a liar?"

Heath stepped up beside of his brother. "If my hearing's as good as it usually is, Nick, that's what he's sayin'."

Rick looked at his brother. "Uh, Kid, I don't think these folks like to be called liars."

"No, I guess not," A.J. muttered, then said to the Barkley brothers. "And I wasn't calling you liars exactly. It's just that it's so hard to believe your story."

Victoria spoke again. "I don't know why that should be, uh, what are your names?"

"Uh, Simon," Rick said. "I'm Rick and this is my brother A.J."

"We're the Barkleys," Victoria told them. "I'm Victoria Barkley and these are my children Jarrod, Nick, Heath, and my daughter Audra."

"Audra," A.J. responded, acknowledging the introduction to the Barkley daughter, then turned back to her mother. "Well, Victoria, is it?"

"You'd best call her Mrs. Barkley," Nick suggested, hands on hips.

"Mrs. Barkley it is," Rick said. "You should call her Mrs. Barkley, A.J."

"Rick, will you please--------? A.J. started to speak to his brother, exasperation clearly evident in his voice.

Jarrod then moved forward again. "Perhaps I could speak to you gentlemen as my family's representative. I'm a lawyer by profession and---"

"Oh, you are?" A.J. interrupted, smiling. "I studied law in college, but decided to be a P.I. for now."

"A P.I.?" Jarrod questioned, obviously puzzled.

"Oh yea, you probably don't know the term," Rick offered helpfully.

"What my brother means is that he's a private investigator. Actually, we both are."

"I see," Jarrod said, looking as if he'd eaten something which didn't set well on his stomach. "That's interesting."

"Boy Howdy, can't you find out where we can go to get somethin' to eat, Jarrod?" Heath said.

"It's gettin' to be a while since we ate."

"I'm hungry," Audra said. "I'd like a place to rest too."

"We all would, Dear," Victoria stated, patting her daughter on the arm. "These gentlemen do seem reluctant to help, though. Maybe those other folks standing over there could be of more assistance."

"Boy Howdy, Mother, it's worth a try," Heath responded to the suggestion.

"Wait a minute!" Nick implored. "We asked these men. I think they should answer."

"Well, actually, uh, Nick, is it? Uh, we did answer you," A.J. said reasonably.

"Yea, we did answer you," Rick agreed with his brother. "We told you there were---"

Nick was having none of it. He lunged for Rick Simon and grabbed him by the green jacket Rick nearly always wore. "We need to have more specific directions."

"Oh, well, A.J., they want us to get specific," Rick told the younger Simon, shaking Nick off.

"Never mind," Nick growled. "I reckon we should ask the other folks," he said, looking directly at Rick. "You haven't got the manners your Mother taught you. You are no doubt a yellow bellied coward---"

"Nick!" Heath and Jarrod both yelled, then Jarrod spoke further. "No need to get into a fight with them. Let's just move over to the oth--"

"I'll fight with ya!" Rick declared.

A.J. moved in quickly and said to the Barkleys. "My brother is an ex-Marine. He's not afraid of a fight."

"There's no such thing as an ex Marine, A.J.," Rick said to his brother.

"I am a Marine."

"Mother, what is a Marine?" Audra asked.

"I don't know, Dear," Victoria answered. "But I do know it's time to move on. Nick, Dear, come along. These other people are probably much the kinder."

On the sidelines, the Ricardos and Mertzes heard the direction the conversation took. Lucy was the first to address the situation. She began to wail. "Ricky, they're coming over here. Ricky, do something. Let's make a run for it. C'mon, Ethel!"

"Ethel, don't you move," ordered Fred. "They haven't hurt anybody yet. Of course, the big one did grab Simon there, but he kinda asked for it."

"Ethel, are you coming with me or not?" Lucy demanded to know, her tears dried.

"Well," Ethel said in that whinny way she had of using the word. "I don't know, Lucy."

"Never mind now," Ricky said. "It's too late. Just stand behind me and I'll talk to them. It sounds like they're in kind of the same situation we are only worse."

"Yea, I don't think they'll harm us," Fred ventured. "You women just stand still, and I'll stand right behind you."

Ethel and Lucy looked to Fred in disgust and when they turned back around the Barkley family stood before them.

"Hello," greeted Ricky Ricardo.

"Good afternoon," Jarrod returned. "We were wondering, my family and I, if you could direct us to someplace where we could stay over for a week, someplace where we could also take our meals."

"We're sorry, mister," Fred spoke up. "We heard what you told the Simons there and we're rockin' along in the same boat."

"Is that a fact!" Nick came to the front as he had in the earlier conversation with the brothers Simon. "In a boat, are ya? Well, let me tell you somethin', old fella, we're not in a boat, and it don't look like you folks are either."

"Old!" Fred blasted the desert air. "Who are you callin' old?"

"He called you old, Fred," Ethel said. "And I suggest you agree with him."

"Oh, yea, well, I'm gettin' on, yea," Fred said, obviously not pleased to be admitting it.

"We're not here to discuss age," Victoria stepped up to say. "We're only hoping to obtain directions to food and shelter."

"Well, if you get directions, will you let us know?" Lucy then said. "You see we're not from around here either, that is, you see, we thought the world ended, well, you see, we ended up here with our furniture, that is to say, Ricky's and mine, Ricky is my husband, and---where did you say you were from?"

The Barkleys stared at the woman with the fiery red hair. "Boy Howdy," Heath mumbled. "If I ever get home, I'll kiss the ground and vow never to leave the Barkley ranch."

"I dare say," Jarrod agreed. "We all will."

"Did you think the world had ended too?" Ricky questioned Jarrod.

"Uh, no, we didn't think that. You see, we came in the time capsule there."

"You actually rode in that thin?" Ricky continued.

"He means thing," Lucy jumped in to explain. "He means, did you actually ride in that thing, that capsule over there, with the shine on it----you actually came---"

"Wait a minute!" Nick proclaimed. "You folks are worse than those other two back there.

You're making fun of us!"

"They are, Nick," Audra said. "And I'll bet they are in show business."

Ricky's eyes bulged out and he glared at Audra. "And what's wrong with bein' in show business, young lady?"

"Yea, what's wrong with it?" Lucy asked, also glaring.

"Oh my," Audra muttered.

"My daughter has a certain distaste for show business," Victoria explained. "But it doesn't matter to us who's in what business at this point. Can you not help us?"

"Just hang on there!" Ricky exploded, his latin temper showing. "I wanta know what's wrong with show business people!"

"Hey Rick," Fred spoke up, touching his friend's arm. "maybe they didn't mean much by it."

"Well," Ricardo reflected. "maybe not, but I want you to know I'm in the business and proud of it."

"Yea, he's proud of it," Lucy snarled.

"Boy Howdy, this is crazy," Heath could be heard to say. "Can't anybody here just tell us where we can eat and sleep?"

"No, we can't," Ethel answered. "We're from another time too. In our world it was 1952 and now those fellows over there say it's 1999. We're strangers here just like you are."

"Oh my, we'll never get anything to eat," Audra whispered sadly.

"Boy Howdy, Sis," began Heath, "I kinda think you're right about that."

"It just could be the way of it," Victoria joined in. "Of course we have the automobile, and we can get back in it and see if we can locate someone else who might help."

"Mother, you make good sense with that suggestion," Jarrod said, then turned to the Ricardos and Mertzes again. "Are you folks also wanting to go back to your own time?"

"That's a stupid question!" Fred exclaimed. "Of course we are!"

"Wait a minute!" Nick yelled. "Don't be callin' my brother stupid."

"Dear," Victoria began, patting Nick on the arm. "Your brother did ask a rather stupid question."

"That's a fact, Mother," Nick admitted.

"And I apologize for asking it," Jarrod smiled at his new acquaintances.

"Well," Lucy smiled back. "I suppose we can forgive them, can't we Ricky, Ethel, Fred----"

The Simons, standing together next to the capsule, had been listening intently to the discussion between the groups of people who claimed to be from other times. "Well, looks like they're getting along okay now. We'd better hit the road." This from A.J.

Rick stared at his brother. "Hit the road? You mean, just leave these folks to fend for themselves?"

"Rick! Their plight is none of our business! I still believe they are playing some sort of game.

Let them play. Let someone else help them, if they really need help. I'm leaving."

"A.J., I don't believe this!" Rick exploded. "We can't just leave them. We have a group of people there from 1952 and a group from, well, they didn't say, but a long time ago. Now, they're helpless, those folks. That someone else you talk about just might decide to turn them in to the police, or worse, eliminate them."

A.J. met his brother's gaze. "Rick, don't start preaching to me. You surely don't believe them. Do you?"

Rick grinned slightly. "I know how to check 'em out. At least, the Barkleys."

"How?"

"We climb in this shiny thing and see if it's really a time capsule."

"What!"

Rick waxed enthusiastic. "We climb in it while they're chattering away. Look at 'em. They're all talkin' up a storm over there. They won't miss us."

"Rick, you are----you are---you are the most----"

"Yea, I know," Rick stopped his brother before he could find the words he wanted to use. "I am all of that and more, but let's worry about that later. You comin' on board with me?"

So exasperated he couldn't speak, A.J. Simon only nodded his agreement to follow his brother into the capsule. Meanwhile, the two groups of people from different time periods were still getting acquainted. Ethel was now speaking.

"What year did you say it was when you left your time period?" asked Mrs. Mertz.

"The year was 1879," Victoria replied. "We're one hundred twenty years behind this time period."

"Yea, and it aint much fun," Heath murmered.

"Well, I can see your point there," Fred told them. "Forty some years is bad enough for me."

Audra complained. "I do wish there was something to eat here in this time. Do you suppose they don't eat at all?"

"They said, that is the Simons did, that there were places to eat around here." Jarrod offered.

"Yea, but they didn't say where," Nick joined the discussion. "Not very helpful, those two."

Lucy had an idea. "You have guns. You could force them to help us."

"Lucy!" Ricky Ricardo hollered, looking daggers at his wife. "You stay out of this!"

"But Ricky," Lucy began, "I'm as hungry as these folks. We all are. We outnumber them."

"She's right," Ethel said. "Let's rush 'em."

"Yea, you Barkleys look tough. You can surely make 'em take us to water." Lucy smiled as though she was enjoying the possibility of a conspiracy with the newcomers.

"Is that a fact!" Nick exclaimed. "Just rush 'em, you say? Why, that's a crazy idea, if ever I heard one!"

"Boy Howdy, Nick," Heath ventured. "I think it's as good of an idea as I've heard today."

"Yes, I quite agree, Heath," Jarrod said. "Brother Nick, why do you not think it would be a good idea to rush the Simons?"

"Because they're gone," Nick stated.

"Gone!" the others reacted in one voice to Nick's announcement.

"Yep, look over there. They've left us here," Nick said.

"Oh my, we'll surely starve now," Audra whimpered.

"Yes we will," Lucy began to wail. "We'll all die here and they'll find our bones. We'll be just one big pile of bones."

"Boy Howdy, that's not true," Heath told them. "We've got the automobile. No need to panic yet."

"Heath speaks the truth," said Jarrod. "We only have to get back in it and hunt food and shelter."

"Yes, well, is there room for all of us?" Ricky asked.

Inside the capsule, Rick and A.J. looked around in awe. "Would you look at this?" Rick said.

"A.J., the technology it took to build this thing would knock your socks off."

"I'll say," A.J. agreed. "It really is a time capsule."

"Yea. So that means those folks out there, the Barkleys anyway, are tellin' the truth." Rick went on.

"As hard as it is to believe, it looks like it," the younger Simon agreed.

The two of them continued to look around at all the buttons and levers.

Suddenly, Rick grabbed A.J. by the arm roughly. "Kid, look at this!"

"What is it?"

"It's the settings."

"Settings?"

"Yea, the settings."

"The settings for what?"

Rick sighed. "A.J., for a college graduate, sometimes you're as dense as a stump. The settings to determine when and where this baby travels, that's what settings."

"You're kidding," A.J. said, but began to study seriously the panel of buttons his brother had pointed out to him.

"No, I'm not. Look what they say now."

A.J. leaned closer. "They say 3:00 P.M. They say Tuesday, February 25, 1999."

"And that's a week away. Remember, the Barkleys claim they can't leave for a week. That's because this thing is already set. To go back to their time, all they need to do is change the settings to whenever they want to go and they'll be on their way."

"Rick, I don't like what you're thinking," A.J. said.

"You don't know what I'm thinkin'," Rick responded, a broad grin on his face.

"Yes, I do," A.J. disagreed. "I know exactly what you're thinking. You're thinking that you'll change the dials on that panel, put the Barkleys back on this thing, and send them on their way."

"Well, that's close, Kid."

"Close? What did I get wrong?"

"Nothin'. You got nothin' wrong as far as you went," Rick told the younger man.

A.J. stared at his partner and brother. "Rick, NO!"

"Yea, kid. I'm gonna take 'em home. You're welcome to come along. In fact, I wish you would. It wouldn't be much fun without ya."

"Richard Simon, you are nuts!" A.J. proclaimed.

"Ah, nuts," Rick nodded.

"Ah, ah, nuts," A.J. went him one further. "Ah, ah, ah, nuts!"

"Can you give me one good reason why we can't do this?" Rick asked.

"I can give you thousands of reasons, but one is enough!" A.J. yelled.

"We don't know anything about it! We're liable to end up in----"

"In where?"

"In space forever, Rick."

"These people came here without any trouble, Kid," Rick offered softly.

"Then why can't they go home alone?" said A.J. "You can set the dials for them. It's worth a try."

"No, A.J. This is my big chance. I'm gonna take the New Yorkers back to '52, then the Barkleys back to their year. Then, I'll set the dials and come home, come right back here to the desert in 1999. I can do it, A.J. I'm sorry you won't come with me."

A.J. Simon rolled his eyes upward, then cast them on his big brother.

"Okay, Rick. You know darn well I won't let you go alone."

Rick pounded the other man on the back. "Let's go tell 'em, Kid. They'll be thrilled, I know."

Ricky Ricardo had asked a question of the Barkley family. He'd asked if there was room in the Barkley automobile for himself, his wife, and the Mertzes. If the latest arrivals to the desert scene were going in search of food and shelter, the folks from New York wanted to ride along. "Well, is there?" Ricardo demanded when he received no immediate reply.

"I dare say, that would make us all a bit crowded," Jarrod Barkley finally answered. "Wouldn't you say so, family?"

"That's a fact," Nick quickly agreed with his brother.

"Boy howdy, we've been crowded when it was just us," Heath added. "Of course, it was better without Eugene, but---"

"Heath, Dear," Victoria cut in. "If you recall, I asked you not to mention that name."

"Then you won't take us with you?" Lucy wailed.

"No, they won't," Ethel said. "We'll just be left here to die."

"For corn's sake, Ethel," Fred mumbled. "Don't be so dramatic."

"I'm very sorry," Jarrod began, "I wish the Simons hadn't left us."

"Yea, if they were here, I'd say shoot 'em," Lucy said.

"Wait a minute!" Nick roared. "What's that noise?"

"What noise, Dear?" Victoria asked.

"I hear it too, Mother," Audra said. "It sounds like---"

"It sounds like it's comin' from our capsule!" Nick raved. "Hey, the Simons are gettin' out of it!

They haven't left after all!"

"Rush 'em!" yelled Lucy with enthusiasm.

"Yea, go get 'em!" Ethel joined the chorus for Simon blood.

The Simons, leaving the capsule with nothing in mind but to take up the issue with the Barkleys, Ricardos and Mertzes about helping them go back to their individual time periods, were caught off guard by what was occurring outside the conveyance. "Hey!" A.J. hollered. "What do you think you're doing?"

"They're comin' at us with guns drawn, Kid," Rick announced. "What does it look to you like they're doin'?"

"That's what it looks like," A.J. said.

Coming their way were the three Barkley men, Jarrod, Nick, and Heath.

Each of the three had a pistol pointed at the Simons. Behind the trio were the two women with them, the older one and the pretty blonde. And then, behind them, came the Ricardos and Mertzes.

All were screaming what sounded like war cries to the Simons, especially Lucy Ricardo.

"Get 'em! Tear 'em to pieces! Whip 'em! Beat 'em up!" cried Mrs. Ricardo with gusto.

"What the hell is wrong with you people?" asked Rick Simon, his hands in the air and watching the three guns carefully.

"We've had about enough of you two!" Nick Barkley declared, standing between his two brothers. "What were you doin' in the capsule?"

"I'll bet they've done something in there, something that will make it impossible for us to go home," Audra moaned dramatically.

"Well, we'll see about that!" Lucy said, tough sounding.

"Lucy," her husband told her. "You stay out of this."

"I wanta go home, too, Ricky," the red head wailed. "And if they won't let the Barkleys go home, they won't let us."

"No, they're mean, these two," Ethel put in.

"Stay out of it, Ethel," Fred told his wife.

"Boy Howdy, if you two have messed up that capsule," Heath Barkley spoke up. "I'll personally see to it you'll never do another thing the rest of your lives."

"Uh, A.J.," Rick Simon addressed his brother. "I think he means it."

"Is that a fact!" Nick Barkley's voice boomed across the desert. "You think he means it, do ya?

Well, I got news for ya, he means it all right. Now, what were you doin' in there?"

"Rick, tell them what we were doing in there," A.J. suggested.

"Yea, well, you see, we were tryin' to help, yea, see, and we can help. Now, if you guys will just put those guns away, see, well, then we can talk business. Those guns, well, they make it a little hard to concentrate. Don't you agree, A.J.?"

"Yes, they do. They make it hard to concentrate. And if we can't concentrate, we can't help you. And we can help. Honest."

Jarrod voiced an opinion. "What do you think, family? Shall we give them a chance to prove themselves? They seem sincere."

"Is that a fact! Pappy, you are not thinkin' clearly! They've probably gone in there and fixed it so we'll have a devil of a time gettin' back home." This from Nick.

"I agree with Nick, Jarrod," Heath said. "I don't trust them."

"Mother? Audra?" Jarrod calmly said. "We need your opinions on this. After all, it is a family custom of ours to get everyone's opinion on important matters."

"Well I certainly don't believe them," Audra quickly complied with the request for her opinion.

"Mother?"

Victoria stepped forward and spoke directly to the Simons. "It would be easy, of course, to go along with those in my family who lead with their impulses and not their heads. My son Jarrod leads with his head. Therefore, I cast my vote for giving you two a chance to prove yourselves. I am a fair minded woman."

"Are you crazy?" Lucy Ricardo spat from her place behind the Barkleys. "They can't be trusted. Look at their faces. They look like criminals, especially the one with the moustache."

"Hey, lady!" Rick Simon objected. "I'm no criminal."

A.J. laughed. "Even folks from another time can see through you, Rick."

"Would you shut up!" Rick growled at his brother. "We're in enough trouble."

"Yes we are," A.J. agreed. "But it seems to me this nice lady, Mrs. Barkley, has just offered us an opportunity to get out of trouble. Now, if she can get her family and the others to agree, we're all set."

"For corn's sake everybody," Fred Mertz then said. "Give 'em a chance, will ya? They seem like good Joes to me."

"Fred Mertz!" cried Ethel.

"Ethel, we're here forever if these guys don't help us," Fred said. "Let's not bite the hand that might be gonna feed us."

"Oh, I am so hungry," Audra complained.

"Boy Howdy, me too," Heath agreed.

Nick Barkley lowered his gun. "All right, we'll give you a chance. How is it you can help us?"

"Is it okay if we put our arms down now?" Rick Simon asked.

"Yes, we can explain better if we're not feeling under pressure," A.J. added, smiling his beautiful smile at the group.

"Yes, of course. Do put your arms down," Victoria granted the Simons' request.

"Boy Howdy, Mother," Heath said. "Are you sure about this?"

"Heath, Dear, put your gun away," Victoria said. "Now, gentlemen, how is it you can help us?"

"And us," Lucy put in, then spoke directly to the Simons. "You are going to help us too, aren't you? I mean, even though we didn't point a gun at you---"

"Lucy!" Ricky Ricardo implored. "Just be quiet, will ya, Honey? Be quiet and listen."

"That'll be the day," Fred mumbled.

"Wait a minute!" an impatient Nick roared. "It's time for these two to explain themselves. Get on with it!"

"Yea, let them splain," Ricky said.

"Okay, splain," said Lucy.

Rick Simon and his brother exchanged glances, then Rick spoke. "You tell 'em, Kid. You're better at splainin', uh, I mean, explainin' than I am."

"All right," said A.J. "I will. While my brother and I were in the capsule, we, or, to his credit, my brother, located the panel where the setting buttons are that would enable us to change your departure time to now, if you so choose."

"Is that a fact!" Nick said. "Just what the blazes are you talkin' 'bout?"

"I believe, Brother Nick," Jarrod began, his thumbs hooked in his vest, "That Mr. Simon is referring to the way the time was set for us to go home. I believe we determined that we could not leave for a week. Correct me if I'm wrong, Mr. Simon, but I take it you are saying that can be changed?"

"Yea, that's what he's sayin'." Rick answered for A.J. A.J. looked daggers at his brother, then continued, "Uh, yes, as my brother says, that's what I'm saying. The settings can be changed and you can go home immediately."

"Boy howdy, if that's true, I'll be eternally grateful to ya." This from a hopeful Heath.

"Oh, that would be so wonderful," Audra added to her brother's praise.

"It, indeed, would be," Victoria joined in. "Can you, perhaps, demonstrate to my sons how to make the changes?"

"Oh, we don't need to that," Rick hurried to say. "I'll make the changes for ya. See, first we'll take these other folks back to New York in 1952, then we'll go on----"

"Wait a minute!" Nick scowled. "That sounds like you plan to go along!"

"Yea, that's how it sounds," Rick admitted. "'Cause that's how it's gotta be, big guy. My brother and I will go along, take you all home, then we'll bring the capsule back here and pick up A.J.'s car. What do you say?"

"I say let's get packin'," Lucy offered, starting to walk toward the capsule.

"Oh Lucy, do you really want to ride on that thing?" A reluctant sounding Ethel said.

"Ethel Mertz!" Lucy blasted. "Do you wanta sit out here in this hot sun forever? Now, come on, girl!"

Rick looked at his brother. "Well, some of 'em are willing."

A.J. nodded but said nothing. Audra was the next to speak.

"I do want to go home, but with so many in the capsule? It will be so crowded. So hot. I don't think I'll be able to bear it."

"Boy howdy, little Sis," Heath frowned. "You are spoiled, you know that?"

"Now, now, family," Jarrod jumped in to soothe possible ruffled feathers. "We can endure whatever hardships come along on the trip. It will be worth it to get back to our time."

"There's a man speaking the truth," Fred offered.

"Well, I'm sure we'll all be fine," said Ricky Ricardo. "If we get grouchy, I'll just sing you all a song. I'm a singer, you know?"

"Yea, a few choruses of Babaloo oughta cheer 'em up," Lucy said.

"Well, let's load then," the older Simon brother said, clapping his hands in anticipation. "You're ready, aren't ya, Kid?"

A.J. Simon rolled his eyes toward heaven, but said nothing.

Back to Larry King Live

"We're back from the break," said King. "We've just got one segment left in tonight's exciting show. Rick and A.J. Simon have been here for the full hour and before the break they had just taken us to the point where they all were going to board the time capsule. Did you do that, Rick? Did you all get on board?"

"Sure did, Larry. We all crowded on there. I changed the settings and off we went."

King waxed skeptical. He addressed the younger Simon. "You really did take off, A.J.?"

"Oh yes, Mr., uh, Larry, we did, and we landed in New York in no time at all."

"You did?" King asked, raring back in his chair, then leaning forward again. "And was it 1952 when you got there, Rick?"

The Simons exchanged glances. Rick spoke sheepishly. "Well, we thought it was, but then, when we knocked on the closest door to our landing sight, see, we landed right in the middle of a street, when we knocked on a door, this woman came to answer----"

"And?" King prodded.

"Well, all of us stood on her doorstep, Larry," A.J. took up the story.

"The Barkleys, the Ricardos, the Mertzes, and my brother and I. When she saw us, she got all excited and started yelling to her family. They all came running to the door."

"Well," Rick continued where his brother paused. "Two of 'em came running. See, there was this curly headed gal named Gloria and her husband, Michael. The other guy there, the woman's husband, he came to the door kinda slow. And then the lady of the house, she said 'Oh Archie, look! We have company!' And then ole Archie he says, "Ah, Jeez, Edith, who're all these people here?'"

"And?" King urged. "Did they say it was 1952."

The Simons again exchanged glances. A.J. replied. "No, as a matter of fact, when I asked,

Archie said, 'This aint 1952 here. This here's 1972 and R for Richard, M for Milhouse, N for Nixon is our beloved president!'"

"So you were in the wrong year?" King wondered. "We only have a minute left."

"Uh, yea, Larry," Rick explained. "But it all worked out. Didn't it, Kid?"

"Yes, it did," A.J. said. "We got back in the capsule, Rick corrected his error, and we left the Ricardos and the Mertzes in their own time."

"Without their furniture, of course," Rick added.

"And then," the younger Simon went on, just as though his brother hadn't spoken. "We took the Barkleys back to their time and left them there. We rode the capsule back to California to 1999, and here we are to tell about it."

Larry King leaned over close to the Simons. "We only have thirty seconds. You know, of course, that there are a lot of people who think you made this story up for publicity?"

"No, we didn't make it up," A.J. said, emphatic.

"No, it happened, Larry, and we can prove it." Rick said.

"Ten seconds," said King. "How can you prove it?"

Rick shifted his eyes toward his brother. "How can we prove it, Kid?"

"The capsule, of course. We left it in the desert." A.J. said.

"Yea, Kid, but we went to look for it later, remember? It was gone."

"Yes, it was," A.J. said sadly. "I'm sorry, Mr, uh, Larry, I guess we can't prove it."