“Hi, and welcome to the future. Providence , RI , 2054. And I'm telling you everything is great. The air is clean. The water is clean. Even the dirt... is clean. Bowling averages are way up. Mini Golf scores are way down. And we have more waterslides than any other planet we communicate with. I'm telling you it's great. But it almost wasn't. You see, 40 years ago the two great ones ran into a few problems. So now I must travel back in time to help them out. If I should fail to keep these two on the correct path, the basis of our society will be in danger. Don't worry. It'll make sense. I'm a professional.”

The year was 2014. Greg Connelly and Ted Munter were sitting in a bar in Boston , sipping on some beers. They were discussing the hard times that had fallen upon Disco Inferno, the Brown Women's Ultimate team that they had coached for many years now. A team that had once gone to Nationals year after year was no longer placing high enough in its region to qualify for the UPA College National Championship. What has happened? they asked themselves. What has changed in our coaching, in the way the team plays? Have we lost that special something that made Disco different, that made Disco better than Yale or Tufts or Williams? What are we going to do now?

Just as Ted threw his hat to the ground in frustration, a vaguely familiar-faced man walked in the door and approached Greg and Ted's table. The man resembles someone we know, or once knew, they both thought to themselves. One of their questions was answered, and a hundred more posed, when the man began to speak.

“Greetings, my excellent friends. It's me, Calvin Wicks.”

“What?” Ted asks. “Excuse me? That's impossible, Calvin is only ten years old, and you have to be at least fifty.”

“Ah, yes. Well, I see where the confusion is. I should clarify. The Calvin Wicks you know is only ten. But, I'm Calvin Wicks from 2054. I've traveled back here from the future. I am here to help you with your coaching woes”

“What?” Greg laughed in disbelief. “How?”

Ted looked at the ground and shook his head. “Are you trying to tell me that you are from the FUTURE ? And you have TRAVELED BACK IN TIME ?”

“I know it sounds strange and perhaps impossible, but as you will find out in 2033, time travel is possible.”

“OK. Say that we believe that you are, as you say, from the future. What business do you have with us?” Greg asked.

“Well, I was sent to make sure that Disco makes it to Nationals this year. If Disco doesn't qualify, it will be disastrous for life as we know it in 2054. You see, eventually Ultimate will help put and end to war and poverty. It will align the planets and bring them into universal harmony, allowing meaningful contact with all forms of life, from extraterrestrials to common household pets.”

“I don't get it,” said Ted.

“If Disco doesn't make it out of the region this season, world peace may never be achieved. I don't want to tell you too much about what will happen to you in the future, but I'll let you in on this much. Through a strange and twisted series of events that are put into motion by Disco Inferno at Nationals this year, war is replaced by roche-ing and international law becomes governed by spirit of the game. I know it must sound ridiculous, but really it is quite lovely.”

“Please, excuse my shock and skepticism. But, being a curmudgeony old man, I am entitled to this reaction,” Ted said. “Let me get this straight: you are going to help us get Disco to Nationals this year so that we don't throw off the fate of the world?”

“Yes.”

“Well, if it gets us to Nationals…”

“So, Calvin,” Greg asked, “What's your plan?”

“Please, dudes, follow me outside.”

The three men approached a set of bicycles—one single- seater and one bicycle built for two.

“Greg, Ted, try to remember back to the spring of 2004. It was the season where you started to really focus on switching defenses. Man, junk, transitioning. Ted kept pushing the team to play cutting edge ultimate, to bring into the college women's game something new and to keep it exciting.”

“Oh yeah,” Greg remembered, “That was the year we introduced all that new nomenclature. You know, the numbers with the colors.”

“Exactly,” Calvin said. “One was flick; two, backhand. Three was a 1-3-3 ; four, a 4-2-1 . Five was clam, and six, what was six again?”

Greg and Ted looked at each other with puzzled looks, having no idea what defense six was. “I have no idea,” Ted said. “Did we even have a six call?”

“Yes. C'mon,” Calvin urged. “Try to remember. I did some research on your team from this season. A write-up in the UPA Newsletter from August of 2004 outlined your defensive strategy, pointing out those five calls and then a sixth one that was unidentifiable. It was that sixth defense that you ran in your semis game at Nationals that totally shut down UCSD's offense. No one could figure out what kind of junk you had thrown, but it certainly was impressive. Your team was on fire that game. It was Disco at its finest, some say. People were talking about it for months. It was legendary. A club team or two tried to adopt the defense the following season, but with no avail. The story goes that you then abandoned defense six that fall in an effort to streamline your defensive strategy and keep it simpler for the players.”

“Now that you mention it, it does ring a bell. But I can't for the life of me remember any of the specifics,” Greg replied.

“That, my friend,” said Calvin, “is why we have these.” He pointed to the bicycles. “These are the sweet time machines that are going to take us back to the spring of 2004, to the weeks before Nationals, so we can find out what defense six was.”

“Why are we going to do this?” Ted asked.

“You know as well as anyone, Ted, that defense wins championships. Are we trying to win Regionals or not? If you have any shot at Nationals this year and we have any shot at achieving world peace, we need to get that defense. Jump on your bicycle built for two, boys, and set the dial to May 2004. And don't forget to put your helmets on. Time travel can get a bit bumpy. Brace yourselves, amigos. Gentlemen, we're history.”

“Calvin, where are we, dude?” Ted asked.

“These are the Circuits of History, gentlemen. They'll take us to any point in time we wish.”
”How?” Greg asked.

“Modern technology,” Calvin answered.

“Whoa,” both Greg and Ted marveled.

The three time travelers arrived in the year 2004, making a smooth entrance on their bicycles down Brown Street .

“Where are we headed first, Calvin?” Ted asked.

“ 195 Brown Street , dude: the residence of some of your former players. This is the house they used to throw all those crazy parties at. You know, the ones you'd always be making fun of them about.”

Greg and Ted laughed, nostalgically. “We leanred to play that drinking game here,” Greg said dreamily. “You know, the one with the ping-pong balls. I was so good.”

They parked their bikes on the corner of Brown and Barnes Street . “Here,” Calvin said, handing them a bike lock. “I hear you'll need this.”

They rang the doorbell, and Jen Kim answered the door. “Hi! Uh, hi. What are you doing here? Who's he?” she asked, pointing at Calvin.

“Oh, I'm not even born yet.”

“What?”

“ Nevermind .”

“ JenKim ! Long time no see!” Greg said, smiling.

“What are you talking about, Greg? I saw you guys last night at practice. Although you're looking a little grayer and wrinklier.”

“Hi, Jen,” Ted said. “Believe me, what I am about to say is as strange to me as it is going to sound to you.”

“Okay?”

“Greg, Calvin and I have traveled here from the future . We need to do some research about our old defensive strategies, so we can, eventually, save the world.”

“ Burp .”

“Nice,” Calvin said.

Jen thought for a minute, “Wait, Ted, I don't get it.”

“Yeah, well, neither do I, but you are just going to have to go with it. You do want to save the world, don't you?”

Jen held up one finger and turned her head to the side “ Cough cough cough cough . Yeah, I guess.”

“So,” Greg said, “We need to talk to you about defense.”

“Defense?! You want to talk to me about defense? Maybe in your ‘time travel' you forget that I'm on the O line.”

 “But you still know all our D-calls, right? Can you tell us what the sixth defense is?”

“Let's see,” said Jen chewing on her rhine-stone studded red sunglasses. “One is man flick…Two is backhand…three is 1-3-3 …four is 4-2-1 , and five is clam. Six is…hmmm. I should really know this since we went over it in practice. Maybe Blake knows. You guys come in and I'll get Blake.” Jen led them inside to the living room where they sank into one of the couches. Jen stood at the foot of the stairs. “BLAKE!”

“YEAH?” a voice floated down from the top floor.

“TED AND GREG FROM THE FUTURE ARE HERE.”

“WHAT?”

“JUST COME DOWN.”

“OKAY.”

After a racket on the stairs, Blake stood before the guests dressed all in orange.

“Hi,” she waved as she walked in the room. “What are you guys doing here? We don't have practice again until Saturday. Don't you have school to teach, Ted? And don't you have a job, Greg? And…wait…who are you?”

“Blake, this is future Ted and Greg, and Calvin Wicks has brought them here” Jen explained for them.

“Whoah.,” Blake said.

“So, Blake, we've come back with the help of Calvin, to find out our sixth defense. We need it to get to nationals in 2014. Neither Ted nor I could remember it for the life of us, and we thought you could help us.”

“And it's imperative that Disco goes to nationals in 2014 – the fate of the world depends on it,” Calvin elaborated.

“Wait. Slow down. First off, how'd you get here?”

“Time travel was discovered in 2033,” Calvin Wicks said. “And shortly after the discovery they adapted the technique to simple vehicles like bicycles.”

“That's amazing,” said Blake. “And you…right now you're not even born yet! That's nuts! So you rode here from the future on bicycles that were given to you by the unborn child of Nathan Wicks? This changes everything I've thought about in religious studies. The people at Harvard divinity school will never believe me.”

“Really just one bicycle,” Ted mumbled.

“Anybody want a pop-ice?” Jen yelled from the kitchen. “They're yummy!”

“Can I see your bicycles?” Blake asked.

“What's pop-ice” Ted scratched his head.

“Let's go outside so you can see the bicycles and then you can tell us what Disco's sixth defense is,” said Greg; they all stood up and filed outside. Just as they reached the foot of the porch steps, Ted caught sight of a young woman carrying something, coming down Brown Street in their direction. She waved.

“Oh, I forgot to tell you Celinda's coming over,” Jen said. “She can tell you about defense number six.”

“I thought that was Celinda,” said Greg.

“We haven't seen her in years.”

“Hey guys! What are you two doing here?” Celinda asked Greg and Ted as she reached 195 Brown. “I brought you all cupcakes. There are twelve and the one's on the right are chocolate and the ones on the left are vanilla,” she said proffering the pan of immaculately iced cupcakes placed in four perfect rows of three.

“Oooooh. Thank you,” said Ted taking one gleefully and chomping into it.

“No thanks,” said Greg.

“Are you crazy? Who doesn't like a cupcake?” Ted said

“Whose bike is that?” Celinda asked pointing to the two seater.

“It's my bike, that I have lent to Ted and Greg,” Calvin said stepping forward and offering his hand. “I'm Calvin Wicks.”

“What?!” Celinda's jaw dropped. “Oh, you have the same name as someone…” she rationalized.

“Nope! I'm the one and only, the one you think I am.”

“But…but…but…you're not even born yet.”

“Don't worry,” Jen said. “He's from the future. And these are future Greg and Ted. They traveled here on those bikes to ask us about our sixth defense.”

“But that's impossible,” Celinda said. “People can't travel to the past. We haven't even discovered a cure for diabetes yet.”

“Not to worry,” said Calvin. “The cure for diabetes was discovered long before time travel. Doctor Gourd will discover the cure in 2010, whereas time travel won't be discovered until 2033.”

“Wait, who discovered the cure for diabetes?”

“Oh, nevermind,” said Calvin. “Ted, Greg, let's not forget why you're here.”

“Right,” said Greg. “Celinda, can you tell us about Disco's sixth defense?”

“Ted should know it since he invented that crazy defense. It's hard to explain, but it's essentially a variation on the clam, yet very similar to man, except there's a cup too. And when you yell aquamarine…ummm…I know that means some kind of transition but I don't remember exactly what to do. Or is the call Munter? I can't remember exactly.”

“I'm surprised this defense worked so well if none of us knew how to run it,” Greg laughed.

“We need Shirley to tell us,” Jen said.

“Yeah she's great at strategery,” said Blake. “Where is she?”

“I think she's in her room.” They all filed back inside to the living room and Jen called Shirley downstairs.

“SHIRLEY! WE NEED YOU. FUTURE TED AND GREG ARE HERE!”

On the table in front of them was Boggle , the game. “Clearly, Shirley Wu lives here,” Ted commented. “Uh-oh, we should hide that before Shwu comes down…”

“Hi Ted!” Shirley said appearing in the doorway.

“Oh hello,” said Ted frantically grabbing the Boggle box and thrusting it behind him

“You didn't tell me we were having a meeting,” Shwu said. “Ooh what are you hiding?”

“Oh it's nothing” Greg said.

“GASP! I've been looking for that! Where was it?” said Shirley. “Hey while you're here, we should all play a few games.”

“Oh all right,” Ted replaced the game. “But afterwards, will you tell us about Disco's sixth defense?”

“Sure,” she said as she handed everyone a piece of paper and a pen. She shook the lettered blocks into place with a loud plastic rumble and set the tray on the table. “Everybody ready? Go!” And she flipped the timer.

From then until the sand ran out, Shirley wrote furiously. The others wrote less frequently. Ted scratched his head. Greg licked his lips. Calvin wrote quietly. Blake stared at the board. Celinda bit her lip. Jen kept groaning in ways that cannot be represented with letters on this paper.

“Time's up!” Shirley said, and everyone put down his or her pens. “I'll read mine first,” Shirley volunteered. “Did anyone get fire?” The rest all shook their heads. “Fiery?” Again they shook their heads, and Shirley wrote a check next to ‘fiery.' Two minutes later she was still reading. “Gumption? Heart? Juice? Desire? Roof? Ham? Tricksy? Love? And that's all. Unless ‘apropos' counts, but I figured it didn't since it's French.”

“That's ridiculous,” Ted said throwing his hat on the ground.

“You destroyed all of us. Remind me not to play Shirley Wu in Boggle again!” Greg said, breaking his pencil. Then Ted's. And Jen's. And Celinda's as well.

“If it makes you feel better,” Calvin whispered, “Shirley Wu becomes the Boggle world champion in 2017. But let's get what we came here for,” he nodded at Greg.

“Okay, Jen, Blake, Celinda, and Shirly,” Ted began. “This year 2004 was the beginning of Disco's greatness. You don't know this yet, but we revolutionized ultimate with our sixth defense. Unfortunately ten years later, Disco has been having trouble. There's little difference between us and the top teams in our region so we need something special to help us win the bid to nationals.”

“And in case you didn't know,” Calvin interrupted, “the fate of the world depends on Disco's nationals appearance in 2014. Through a strange and twisted series of events that are put into motion by Disco, war is replaced by roche-ing and international law becomes governed by spirit of the game. I know it must sound ridiculous, but really it is quite lovely.”

“So we need to know this defense number six to understand how Disco revolutionized the sport of ultimate. We need defense six to understand how it made disco great,” Greg concluded. “So can you guys help us?”

The seniors were silent for a moment. Then Jen began. “Don't you see? It's not just one defense that makes our team great. It's the way we play, with heart and desire, that will make our team great.”

“Yeah,” Blake agreed. “Defense number six doesn't make us great. We make defense number six great by the way we play it.”

“I agree with them, Celinda chimed in. “Disco players have more fire in their hearts than any other team. Every D we play –1 through 6 – is great because of that Disco heart.”

“You don't need a sixth defense to be get to nationals in 2014. I know that for sure,” Shirley said. “All you need is fire in your heart to revolutionize the sport of ultimate. Here.” She handed something to Greg. He looked at it.

“Hey! I found something like this in my shoe once!”

“It represents Disco's fire. Take it with you as a reminder of what makes Disco great. And ten years from now, I'll be looking for Disco at nationals,” Shirley said.

Greg, Ted, and Calvin thanked the seniors, put on their helmets, and got on their bicycles. They waved as they began to pedal down Brown Street . Before they reached the doggy park, they disappeared in a flash of light.

They arrived back in the year 2014 at Ted's house.

“How can we ever thank you, Calvin?” Ted asked as they dismounted from the bicycle.

“Well, you can start by signing autographs for my kids. They're big fans of yours.”

“What?” Ted said in disbelief.

“Everyone is. Disco ultimate is the foundation of our society.”

“No way,” said Greg.

“Yes way, Greg. That's why I was sent to make sure you made it to nationals. If you guys didn't make it, it would have been disastrous for life as we know it.”

“Whoa” Ted and Greg said in unison.

“Greg, my friend,”

“Yes, Ted, my friend?”

“This has been a most excellent adventure.”