“When I looked inside I saw that most of the books had been pulled down from the shelves. The floor was littered with them. There were four men wearing dark red clothes. I can’t tell you what any of them looked like other than they all had their hair cut very short. They were”—Patrick stopped again and took a gulp of water before continuing—“they were pushing Richard around, taking turns throwing him against the bookshelves. He was an old man. He couldn’t defend himself. I was about to jump in to help him when one of them got in Richard’s face and shouted, ‘Where is it?’”
Mark held up the book cover. “This what they were looking for?”
Patrick nodded. “The hidden panel where Richard kept the cover was open. I don’t know how they knew it existed, but they knew. What they didn’t know was that it was gone. Richard had given it to me. He wouldn’t tell them either. For that he took a horrible beating. I’d never seen anything like it. He was so frail. One of the men lashed out and hit him with the back of his hand. Richard’s glasses flew off and his nose bled, but he didn’t say a word. I—I wanted to help him but—”
“But they would have gotten the cover,” Courtney said, finishing Patrick’s thought.
“That’s what I thought, honestly,” Patrick concurred. “That cover was the only physical link to the past. I couldn’t let them have it. I hope I was right, because that brave man paid a terrible price.”
“So you took off?” Mark asked.
“No!” Patrick answered, anguished. “I couldn’t even do that! I stood there, paralyzed. I didn’t know what to do. I’m not a coward. I’m not. But I’d never seen anything like that before. I was just…stunned.”
“We get it,” Courtney said reassuringly.
“Do you? It was horrible! They threw Richard against the wall. The poor man crumpled like a rag doll. When he hit the floor, he looked up and saw me. One of the men noticed and followed his look. He saw me standing there like an idiot, but he didn’t react. The others turned to look at me too. None of them reacted. It was chilling.”
“Were they dados?” Courtney asked.
“I don’t think so. They weren’t identical. The one who spotted me pointed to Richard and said, ‘This man is a criminal. It is forbidden to possess banned documents.’”
Patrick swallowed hard and continued. “When he pointed to Richard, I saw something on his forearm. It looked like a green tattoo about two inches across.”
“A tattoo of what?” Courtney asked, her eyes wide.
Patrick pointed to the book cover on Mark’s lap.
“The star?” Mark gasped. “He had a tattoo of this star on his arm? The star from the g-gates?”
Patrick nodded.
Courtney exclaimed, “That must have been what Richard was looking for when he inspected your arm. He wanted to know if you were one of them…whoever they are.”
“He knew they were watching him, and he wanted to protect this book cover,” Patrick answered. “To protect history. Whoever these thugs are, they’re trying to erase that history. I couldn’t let that happen. So I ran.”
“To where?” Courtney demanded.
“Anywhere. Away. It didn’t matter so long as they didn’t get the cover. I ran deeper into the library, dodging broken tables and scattered books. I had no idea where I was going, but I couldn’t stop because they were right behind me. I jumped down a stairwell and ran through an emergency exit that led to the derelict park behind the library. I skirted decaying statues and huge chunks of fallen walls, playing cat and mouse with my pursuers. They weren’t smart. They didn’t divide up to chase me. I eventually lost them in the maze and hid under a slab of crumbling cement. I stayed there for at least an hour. I think I’d still be there if not for what happened next.”
“What was it?” Mark asked.
“When I finally got the nerve to peer out from my hiding place, I saw black smoke billowing from the library.”
“Fire.” Courtney gasped.
“It was coming from the same area where I’d left Richard. Seeing that put me over the edge. I didn’t care about the book cover anymore. I had to go back. I retraced my steps into the building and found the central corridor, thick with smoke. I could barely see, but I found the room. The four men were gone. Richard wasn’t. He lay there unconscious, surrounded by burning books. They’d left him to die. I dragged him out of the burning room and pulled him up onto my shoulder. It wasn’t hard. He was so light. I made my way back to the front entrance of the library and out onto the steps. A crowd of people had gathered, but nobody made a move to help me. They were far more interested in the burning building. I expected a fire truck to come and battle the blaze. It didn’t. I’m not even sure if fire trucks exist on Third Earth anymore.”
“What about Richard?” Mark asked with trepidation.
“He was battered, but alive. I sat beneath the stone lion, holding his head in my lap. He looked up at me with cloudy eyes and smiled. He actually smiled and said, ‘Find the truth, Teacher. It’s what they fear.’”
Patrick was doing all he could to control his emotions as he added, “He looked back at the library. Flames were leaping from every window. Richard looked pained, and it wasn’t because of the beating he took. He turned away, not wanting to see any more, and said, ‘Our history is all we have left. Don’t let them destroy it.’”
Patrick fell silent, letting the horror of his story sink in. Or maybe it was to take a break from having to relive it.
“Some people finally showed up who said they would take Richard to a hospital, but I didn’t have much confidence in that. Who knows what hospitals are like now on Third Earth? But I had to trust them, because I couldn’t take Richard with me. Not with what I had to do.”
“What was that?” Courtney asked.
Patrick sat up in bed and looked straight at her. “I had to find Pendragon. He had to know what happened. He still does. The last I heard he had gone to Ibara, but when I tried to contact him through my ring, it wouldn’t work. I left Richard and found my way to the flume and tried to travel to Ibara myself, but the flume wouldn’t let me. My only other choice was to come here.” Patrick was getting worked up. “This is where the two of you came when you left Third Earth. It was the only place I could think of coming. What is wrong with the flume? Why can’t we contact Ibara? Where is Pendragon?”
Courtney took a deep breath. She knew that what she was about to tell Patrick wouldn’t make him feel any better, but he had to know. She filled him in quickly about what happened on Ibara and the dado battle for Rayne. For Veelox. She told him about the origin of dados on First Earth and Mark’s Forge technology. She ended the story by telling him how Bobby had destroyed the flume on Ibara, trapping himself and Saint Dane…which was probably why Ibara was cut off.
Mark listened without adding anything until the end, when he told Patrick how he had given his Traveler ring to Nevva Winter in exchange for his parents’ life. He said he thought it wouldn’t matter because he would still be able to communicate with Bobby through Dodger’s ring, but Dodger’s ring didn’t work—just as Patrick’s ring didn’t work.
Patrick listened to it all, his shoulders growing heavier with each new revelation. “Why won’t the rings work?” he asked.
“They do work,” Courtney corrected. “They just won’t let us contact Bobby on Ibara.”
Mark said, “The real mystery is why Nevva wanted the ring. I can’t help but think it has something to do with the events that led up to those changes on Third Earth.”
“Gee, you think?” Courtney asked with a trace of sarcasm.
“I’ll tell you what I think,” Mark announced, standing up. “I think it’s finally time.”
“For what?” Courtney asked.
“For the event we’ve been fearing from the very beginning. Everything points to it.”
“To what?” Patrick asked, confused.
“Third Earth has changed. Again. Patrick, you ran into some guys who were trying to destroy all evidence o
f specific events that happened during the first part of the twenty-first century. Second Earth. That can’t be a coincidence.”
“My god…,” Courtney whispered, the realization hitting her.
“Yeah,” Mark said. “Whatever happened on Second Earth must have led to the horrible changes on Third Earth.”
“So it’s finally here,” Courtney gasped.
“Yeah,” Mark agreed. “The battle for Second Earth.”
“It’s on, Courtney,” Mark said with finality. “We’ve got to go home.”
“But we can’t use the flume without a Traveler,” Courtney countered.
Mark looked at Patrick. “Good thing we’ve got one.”
Mark called another family meeting in his parents’ suite at the hotel. That family included Dodger and Courtney. He and Courtney laid out all that Patrick had told them. Every last disturbing detail. He said how he still wanted his parents to stay on First Earth, not only because of the danger with Nevva, but to stay in touch with KEM. There was still the hope of scuttling the dados. Dodger would be their guide to the past. Mark added that they would all get a good night’s sleep, if possible, and then leave first thing in the morning for the flume. Mark had it all figured out, except for one thing: In spite of all that he had been through, in his mother’s eyes he was still her little boy. Hearing what he was about to jump back into, no matter how logical it might seem, was too much for her. She started to cry.
“Why?” she asked. “Why is this happening and why are you the ones responsible for stopping it? Can’t we just call the police? Or the president? Or…or…somebody!”
Mark sat down next to his mom and put his arm around her. It was the kind of loving gesture his mom had offered him countless times in the past. Things were different now. It was Mark’s turn to be strong.
“I don’t know, Mom,” he answered sincerely. “I don’t know anything, except that we’ve been given the job to help the Travelers stop Saint Dane. We don’t have a whole lot of choices here.”
Mark’s dad added, “I still want to go with you.”
“I know, Dad,” Mark replied. “You can’t.”
Mr. Dimond nodded. He knew.
Nobody slept much that night. Patrick bunked in with Mark in Gunny’s room, resting fitfully on the easy chair. He and Mark shared stories, mostly about Bobby Pendragon. By the time they nodded off, Patrick felt as if he had a much better picture of the lead Traveler. Mark felt as if he had made another friend and ally. He knew that he and Courtney were going to need all the friends they could get.
The next morning everyone went to the Dimonds’ suite to enjoy a feast of a breakfast that Dodger had ordered from the hotel’s kitchen. There were heaping trays of scrambled eggs, pastries, bacon, potatoes, pancakes, and fruit. “Can’t jump through time on an empty stomach” was his reasoning. Mark knew he was right. He had no idea what they would find on Second Earth and when they might eat again. In spite of the fact that nobody had much of an appetite, they ate. It wasn’t a celebratory feast like the one they had enjoyed on their final night aboard the Queen Mary. To Courtney it felt more like a pregame meal. Butterflies were flying wild. Nobody said much. Their minds were elsewhere.
When they were finished, Dodger excused himself, saying, “I’ll let you all say your good-byes.” He shook Patrick’s hand, and then Mark’s, promising, “I’ll take good care of your folks.” Mark replied with a nod.
Dodger then stood in front of Courtney and gave her a mischievous smile, holding out his arms for a hug. “You know something?” he quipped. “For a skirt, you ain’t too shabby.”
Courtney replied, “That’s dame to you, pal.”
They both laughed and hugged. “Thanks, Dodge,” Courtney whispered in his ear. “Gunny chose well. You were spectacular.”
“I was, wasn’t I?” Dodger quipped. He pulled away from Courtney, quickly pushing aside a tear. “Take care of yourself now, would you, sister? If you ever get back here again, you know where to find me.”
“I’m sure you’ll be running the hotel by then,” Courtney said with a smile.
“Hey, I run it now!” The bellhop tipped his cap, backed away, and left after giving them all one final, “Good luck.”
“We should go,” Mark announced.
Patrick shook hands with the Dimonds, saying, “Someday you’ll know how much those two kids have been through.”
“I’m not so sure I want to,” Mrs. Dimond replied.
Courtney hugged both the Dimonds. “Don’t worry about us. Worry about messing up KEM.”
Mark stood in front of his parents. Nobody quite knew what to say. “Shouldn’t you pack something?” Mrs. Dimond asked.
“No, Mom. We can’t bring things between territories, remember?”
Mrs. Dimond nodded quickly. She hadn’t.
Mr. Dimond said, “I feel as if I’m sending my only son off to war.”
Mark shrugged, but said nothing. The truth was, that’s exactly what was happening.
“We’ll be in touch if we can. Try not to worry. And watch your backs. We still don’t know what Nevva is up to.”
“We will, son.” Mr. Dimond hugged Mark.
Mark then gave his mother a big hug. She was crying.
“I want to see you again” was all she could get out.
“You will,” Mark answered with authority. “I promise.”
They traveled to the flume in silence, taking a cab north to the subway station that held the gate. They descended the stairs to the station and walked quickly to the far end of the platform. Luckily, it wasn’t busy, so they wouldn’t have to worry about being seen when they climbed down onto the tracks to make their way to the flume. Before they descended, Patrick stopped and looked around at the First Earth subway stop.
“There was something strange,” he declared. “On Third Earth.”
“More strange than what you’ve already told us?” Courtney asked.
Patrick looked around, his mind trying to grasp a fleeting idea. “It was at the gate. I knew it would be different from what I was used to, since all Third Earth was different. But the changes to the gate were just…odd.”
“How so?” Mark asked.
“I took me nearly a day to find it,” Patrick explained. “I just had my memory of being on Second and First Earth to go on. I figured the gate looked something like this, only derelict, like the rest of Third Earth.”
“It didn’t?” Courtney asked.
“No. If it weren’t for my ring glowing, I never would have found it. The flume was under a collapsed building. It wasn’t underground.”
“You mean it was out in the open?” Courtney asked, incredulous.
“No, but it seemed as if at some point it had been unearthed, and the only thing covering it was the wreck of the building.”
“What do you think that means?” Mark asked.
Patrick shrugged. “I don’t know. But I think we’re going to have to find out.”
A few minutes later Mark, Courtney, and Patrick stood in front of the flume beneath the streets of the Bronx. They stood shoulder to shoulder, staring into the dark tunnel.
“Last thoughts?” Mark asked.
He looked at Courtney. Courtney gave a shrug and said, “This has been coming for a long time. At least the wait is over.”
Mark looked to Patrick, who was staring into the depths of the flume. Mark thought that he looked pale.
“You okay?” Mark asked.
“I may be the Traveler here,” Patrick said with a shaky voice, “but you two have been through a heck of a lot more than I have.”
Courtney gave him a friendly punch in the arm. “Don’t worry, we’ll get you through this.”
Mark added, “And who’s gonna get us through this?”
“Still working on that one,” Courtney said. “Let’s go home.”
Patrick stood up straight and called out, “Second Earth!”
The flume came to life. The three didn’t budge as they waited to be swep
t away.
“I wish Bobby were here,” Courtney whispered to Mark.
And they were off.
JOURNAL #33
IBARA
I hope you’ll read this one day, Mark.
Courtney too.
I know that’s probably impossible. Still, I’m going to continue writing these journals as if I’m writing them to you. It helps me feel that we’re not so far apart. Even if I’m pretending. It’s hard to accept that we may never see one another again, though it’s even harder to imagine how we ever could. The gate to the flume is buried under a mountain of volcanic rock. The second gate in Rubic City is just as inaccessible under the wreckage of the destroyed buildings. Bottom line? I’m not leaving this territory.
Then again, neither is Saint Dane.
I don’t know if that’s the way it was meant to be, but that’s the way it is. Halla is safe, and for that I don’t regret anything I’ve done.
But don’t get all “poor Bobby” on me. I’m okay. Seriously. I’m happy. Maybe happier than I’ve been since I left home with Uncle Press. Let me fill you in on some of the major things that have happened since I sealed the flume. I have to tell you, it’s all good.
Well, mostly good. There is one significant problem that I’ll tell you about. In time. I first want to tell you how great things have become.
As I wrote before, the village of Rayne was devastated by the dado battle. Or maybe I should say it was destroyed by the tak. Surveying the carnage, it really gave me second thoughts as to whether it was all worth it or not. Most of the village was devastated. Homes were lost. Common structures were leveled. Food supplies were obliterated. People had to sleep out in the open. There were a few tropical storms that came through, making it all the more miserable. It wasn’t a fun time.
Still, the village survived. Ibara survived. That’s the most important thing. No, the most important thing is that Saint Dane lost this territory. He threw everything he had at us, and we stopped him. His plan for creating the dados that began with weaseling his way into your life, Mark, was for naught. I’m not proud of what we had to do to stop him. Mixing the territories the way we did was a risk, but I didn’t see any other way. I think the results proved it was the right move. Not only did we stop his attack on Ibara, I was able to trap him here. Saint Dane has been shut down. End of story. End of his quest to control Halla. If the price for that was the destruction of Rayne, I don’t think it was such a bad deal.