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dig under it or climb over it."
    Robin leaned toward Tarla and murmured in her ear. "Sounds like one of those force fields in science fiction movies. I think we should bring Higgs in as a consultant. He's probably been right all along."
    Tarla was more tempted than ever to tell Robin her secret. However, under the circumstances, she was afraid revealing her knowledge of alien worlds might make the situation even more stressful.
    Matching their pace to Duncan's, they were only moving along an inch at a time, but Tarla could see they were headed toward another large wooden building similar to the barn. Four smoke-spewing chimneys protruded from the corners of the roof.
    Beyond the large building were rows of smaller ones. Every structure, including the barn, was painted white with red doors and roofs. The area looked like a cross between an army unit and summer camp.
    Duncan pointed to the smaller buildings. "Men sleep in those. New people have to build their own. No hurry though. Rainy season's over and colder weather's not due for months."
    "You have regular seasons?" Alicia, the helicopter pilot, asked.
    Duncan stopped and took a few breaths before answering. "After the big war, I lived in New York before I set off to see the world. We had seasons there. This place always reminded me of California. Never liked California."
    After the big war? Tarla guessed he was referring to Terra's World War II and quickly did some arithmetic. If Duncan was remembering his timeline correctly, he had to be a hundred ten or fifteen years old. It was likely that whoever healed her wounded soldiers also had the ability to extend life spans. Naturally she was aware of a whole range of alien civilizations that had such technology, but she'd never heard of any humanoid supportive planets so similar to Terra with green sky and blue trees.
    Duncan started moving toward the buildings again. "Kitchen's in the big house. Necessary room too. Don't have a separate room for women though. That might be a problem."
    Robin snorted. " Might be a problem? I'll guarantee it. How many men live here?"
    "Fifty-five... no fifty-four. Moishe passed on a few months ago."
    Robin made a face at Tarla. "Fifty-four, plus one hundred seventeen more. All using the same bathroom? We've got to find a way out of here fast."
    "Excuse me, sir?"
    Tarla turned to see Willy coming up alongside her. Duncan paused again to listen to the young man.
    "My name's Willy. Me and these other guys, well, we were half-dead on the plane and now we're walking around like nothing ever happened to us. We were hoping you could tell us how, or why, or something."
    Duncan sighed and looked at each of the men. "Half-dead, eh? Knew they could fix a broken bone good as new or heal a bad cut. Guess they could have fixed you fellas up before putting you in the barn."
    "Do you mean the ones you think are fairies healed these men?" Tarla asked.
    Duncan nodded and gave her a wink. "Don't know the how or why of it but when someone here gets sick or hurt, they go into the tack room in the barn and close the door. A while later they come back out all better."
    Robin voiced the question in everyone's mind. "What does the sick person say happened to them?"
    "No one ever remembers," Duncan mumbled and got moving again.
    "Here we are," he said as they reached the big house. Willy quickly opened the door and held it, while everyone entered.
    Inside were a dozen elderly men performing a variety of chores but one thing was instantly noticeable. There were no appliances. A hearth was in each corner with large cauldrons hanging over the smoldering fires. The man doing dishes was working a hand pump to get water.
    Not only had they been dropped into a strange world, the contradiction between advanced medical technology and a barely civilized farming community couldn't be ignored. Tarla suddenly recalled Higgs's theory that a superior race had put them all in a zoo of some sort suddenly seemed way too possible.
    Robin