FOR THE TIME BEING

The ``Pubbers'' are whiz-kid students at Southwest Tech whose patented virtual-reality role-playing fantasy game software is so huge they have to hack into powerful computer systems—like that at Los Alamos—before they can run it. Then when Baron, Mitch, Jesse, Charlene, and the others are exploring the Bat Tunnels (steam pipes from a nearby experimental nuclear reactor), they're astonished to be confronted by large furry aliens—and within moments they find themselves aboard the aliens' ship! Why the kidnap? Well, it's all involved with a time machine that the Pubbers promised to build- -5,000 years ago! Lighthearted folderol, with enough on the ball that it just might attract role-players and virtual-reality fans from outside the usual small-press audience.