The Never War (15 page)

S
pader and I backed out of the room and quickly left Max Rose's penthouse. We took the stairs down to the sixth floor to avoid Dewey. We didn't want to explain the way we looked to him or anybody else. As soon as we got inside our room and closed the door, Spader let out a happy shout.

“Hobey, yes!” he yelled. “Rose is going to send his thugs to stop Farrow. We did it. The
Hindenburg
is safe.”

I stared at Spader, my anger slowly building. “I asked you not to tell him about Farrow's plan.”

“I know, mate, but I had to. That was our chance. You weren't talking so I had to take it.”

“And what if it was the wrong move?” I asked, trying not to boil over. “This isn't just about two gangsters who hate each other. We've got a whole territory to worry about.”

“C'mon, Pendragon,” Spader cajoled. “You know it was the right thing to do. We outsmarted Saint Dane. Again. We won!”

“Man, I hope you're right.”

I needed to be alone to think, so I left Spader and headed for the bathroom. I got rid of my burned clothes and stood in the warm shower to clean off the dried blood. The cuts and
bruises were nothing that wouldn't heal quickly. We were both very lucky.

As I stood in that shower, I wracked my brain for answers. Not just about the
Hindenburg,
but about Spader. He was driven by his need for revenge. Fine, I wanted to put Saint Dane out of business too. But though Spader and I were on the same side, we had different ideas on how to fight the war. I was afraid this would show up to bite us in the butt someday. Today was that day. Our butts had been bitten.

Still, I didn't want this to be an ego thing. I didn't want to be angry at him just because he didn't listen to me. Who am I? I don't know everything. Maybe he had done the right thing. Maybe the reason we were on First Earth was to do exactly what he had done. By uncovering Farrow's plot to destroy the
Hindenburg
and telling Max Rose about it, we might have saved the airship.

But that led me to the most troubling thought of all. As horrible as the destruction of the
Hindenburg
was going to be, we didn't know what it had to do with Saint Dane's overall plan. Saint Dane's goal was to find the turning point of a territory and push it the wrong way. The question was, what did the
Hindenburg
have to do with the turning point of First Earth? It was a German ship, but did it have anything to do with the coming war? Would saving the
Hindenburg
stop the war from happening?

There were too many unanswered questions for me to think our mission here on First Earth was over.

When I got out of the shower, Gunny was there. Spader had already told him how he felt sure Rose's gang would save the
Hindenburg.
Gunny wanted to be happy, but he had this confused look that told me he wasn't any more convinced than I was. It was time to put everything out there in plain language.

“Here's what we know for sure,” I began. “Max Rose has been working for the Nazis. They owe him a bunch of money. He needs the payment, bad, and it's coming in on the
Hindenburg.
Cash, diamonds, bonds, paintings, and who knows what else. It's all flying in over the ocean right now. Winn Farrow, Rose's enemy, knows how important the payment is to Rose, so he's going to blow the
Hindenburg
out of the sky.”

“That's an extreme thing to do, just to get revenge,” Gunny said.

“Farrow's an extreme guy,” Spader shot back. “But now Max Rose knows what he's up to, and he'll stop him from destroying the ship. The
Hindenburg
will be saved! Sniggers for everyone!”

“Maybe,” I cautioned.

“He'll do it,” Spader said with confidence. “You saw how scared Rose was. He'll do everything he can to stop Farrow.”

“But this isn't just about two gangsters who hate each other,” I said, trying not to let frustration creep into my voice. “This is about the turning point on First Earth. We haven't figured out why Saint Dane has his hand in any of this.”

“Sure we have,” Spader said, acting all sorts of cocky. “It's all about the big natty-do war that's coming, right? Isn't that the kind of thing Saint Dane is all about?”

“Yeah, but what's that got to do with the
Hindenburg
?” I asked.

“Maybe everything,” Spader shot back. “It's like Gunny said. One little event leads to another and another. I think Saint Dane wants to make sure the war is going to happen, and somehow blowing up that airship will do that. So if we stop them from wrecking that ship, we'll stop the war and Saint Dane loses.”

“Maybe Spader's right,” Gunny said. “If we can stop the war by saving the
Hindenburg,
it would be like beating Saint Dane.”

Spader looked at me with a proud smile.

“Yeah, maybe,” I said. “I just wish we could be sure.”

“C'mon, Pendragon! How can we lose?” Spader pleaded. “Even if it doesn't stop the war, we'd still be saving the people on the
Hindenburg.
Like you always say, this is a no-brainer.”

Spader was making a really strong case, but something was keeping me from buying it a hundred percent. “I just wish we had more to go on,” I complained.

We all fell silent for a moment, then Gunny said softly, “I think I know where we can find out more.”

“Really? Where?” I asked quickly, grabbing at the lifeline.

“We're Travelers,” he said with a matter-of-fact tone. “We can take the flume into the future of this very territory and look back on how things happened.”

My heart sank. As much as I loved the idea of going home to Second Earth, I knew it would be a waste.

“It wouldn't help,” I said with disappointment. “Sure, we could go to Second Earth and do some research about the
Hindenburg
and World War Two, but that wouldn't tell us anything. We need to figure out what would happen if the
Hindenburg doesn't
blow up.”

“Who said anything about going to
Second
Earth?” Gunny said with a mischievous smile.

At first I didn't know what he meant. If we were going to look into the future of Earth, then of course we would go to Second Earth. That is, unless…

“Are you saying what I think you're saying?” I asked, barely able to contain my excitement.

“What's he saying?” Spader asked.

Gunny said, “I'm talking about taking a trip to
Third
Earth, of course.”

“There's a Third Earth?” I asked, trying not to sound like a giddy geek. “Have you been there? When is it?”

“Yes,” he answered with a smile. “I've been there. The year, I believe, is 5010, give or take a year or two.”

I had to sit down. The idea of seeing what Earth was like three
thousand
years in the future was making my head swim.

“I am all over this,” I said. “But seriously, why would going to Third Earth help us any more than going to Second Earth?”

“I told you, I've been there,” he answered. “I went with your uncle Press when he first told me about being a Traveler. It was like something out of a book of fantasies. They have libraries there. But not like the ones we know. There aren't any books or papers or anything you can touch. All this information is kept on little tiny specs of nothing, no bigger than a grain of sand. They had the entire New York City public library on just one of those little things. Imagine that.”

Gunny was talking about some kind of computer. At home when you got a computer, it was already outdated. That's how fast advances were being made. I couldn't imagine how far things had gotten in three thousand years.

Gunny continued, “It seemed like they had every little bit of information about everything that ever happened on those little bits of things. I'm guessing if we went there and spoke to Patrick—”

“Patrick?” Spader asked.

“The Traveler from Third Earth. Nice fella. Smart, too. I'm thinking Patrick might be able to tap into all that information and maybe give us a little more idea of what we're dealing with here.”

The man was incredible. How many times had Gunny bailed us out already? I'd lost count.

“I think that's a great idea!” I shouted. “Let's go right now.”

I couldn't sit still. I had forgotten how bruised and banged up I was and started getting dressed for the trip. But then, in the next second, the air was totally sucked out of my balloon.

“I'm not going,” declared Spader.

“What do you mean? We're all going!” I said.

“Not me,” Spader said. “There's too much at stake here to go fluming off. We might come back too late.”

“It won't be a problem,” I said. “Time between the territories isn't the same, remember? We could be gone for a year, but then flume back here an hour from now.”

“It's too big a risk, mate,” Spader said with conviction. “That airship is due early tomorrow morning. I want to be here when it shows up, just in case Max Rose doesn't take care of Winn Farrow. You're right, mate. We can't rely on Max Rose to do our job. If he fails, it'll be up to us to save the
Hindenburg.
” He looked at Gunny and asked, “How far is this Lakehurst place?”

“About eighty miles, give or take,” Gunny answered. “It'll take the better part of four hours to drive there. Longer on the bus.”

“See?” Spader said. “It's going to take a while to get there. I don't want to risk being late.”

“Spader,” I said. “I'm telling you, we'll be back in time.”

“Sorry, mate,” he said stubbornly. “Can't take the chance.”

We were slipping into dangerous territory. We were a team. I had to get Spader back with the program.

“Remember what you told me in that cab?” I asked. “You said we were all important, but I was the one who was going to hold us all together. Well, that's what I'm doing now. I'm
holding us together. The only chance we've got of beating Saint Dane is if we stay together. You've risked your life to save me, Spader. I need you to be there for me again.”

Spader thought about this for a moment. Was I finally getting through to him?

“If you're right,” he said, “there won't be a problem. You'll get to Third Earth and back in plenty of time. We'll hook up and take on Saint Dane and his gangster wogglies like you were never gone. But if you don't make it back in time, then somebody's got to be here to make sure they don't blow up that ship. That's why I'm staying.”

I didn't know what else to say. He had made up his mind, and to be honest, I wasn't completely sure he was wrong.

Spader then walked up to me and said, “Go to Third Earth. Find out what you can. It might be a big help. But let me stay here and take care of things in case something goes wrong.”

I knew Gunny and I would be back in time, but that wasn't the point. What bothered me was that Spader was pulling away from me. He was always a guy who wanted action. Right now he had Saint Dane in his sights and didn't want to let him get away, even if it meant going against what I thought was best.

“Have it your way,” I finally said. “We'll meet back here and then we'll all go to Lakehurst. Together.”

“Now you're talking!” Spader said, then left us and went into the bathroom to clean himself up.

I didn't want to look at Gunny. I felt as if I had messed up and the team was falling apart.

“When he's got his mind set on something,” Gunny said softly, “I don't think it's possible to change it.”

“Saint Dane is strong and smart, and he's got way more
power than any one of us,” I said. “The only chance we have to beat him is by staying together.”

“We'll be back in plenty of time.”

“Yeah, probably. But I'm afraid Spader is on his own mission now.”

Gunny fell silent. He knew I was right.

I wanted to leave right away, but Gunny said I should get some rest. It had been a busy day and I was beat up pretty badly. Suddenly the idea of a little sleep sounded really good. He left the room, saying he'd be back in a few hours, ready to head uptown.

I lay down on the couch and closed my eyes, ready for sleep. But it didn't come. Even though I was dog tired and needed to recharge my batteries, my mind was working in too many directions to let me nod off. So I got up, hit the typewriter, and finished this journal.

I'm excited and scared at the same time. I can't believe I'm going to see Earth in 5010. How cool is that? I wish this were a trip about fun and discovery, but it isn't. I've got a very bad feeling about the way things are unfolding here on First Earth.

If there's one thing I've learned about dealing with Saint Dane, it's that just when you think you've got things figured out, he changes the rules. He did it on Denduron. He did it on Cloral. Question is, will he do it again here on First Earth?

That's what I hoped to find out on our trip to Third Earth.

I know this is going to sound totally bizarre, but the next time I write to you guys, I will have seen the future. I can only hope that it's a happy one.

 

END OF JOURNAL #10

T
his may be the most important journal I've written to you guys.

I'm back on First Earth now. I wrote most of this journal on Third Earth, but I'm adding this little bit to the beginning because I want you to know right away how valuable these pages might end up being. I know, you treat all my journals like they're important, but this one might be the topper. Handle it like gold.

Gunny and I are on a subway train headed back to the Manhattan Tower Hotel. We've returned from Third Earth and we're running out of time. We've got to hook up with Spader and get to New Jersey before the
Hindenburg
arrives. But it's critical that I write down what we discovered on Third Earth because, just as I feared, Saint Dane has changed the rules. No, that's not exactly right. He didn't change the rules. We weren't smart enough to figure out what the rules were. But now we know and I can't begin to tell you how scared I am.

What we found on Third Earth was beyond horrible.

I hope you're reading this, Mark and Courtney. I know I've written that before, but I mean it now more than ever. Because
if we fail today, history will be turned upside down, and there's a very good chance you two will never be born. I'm serious. You will not exist. Neither will most anything else as we know it. I don't mean to scare you. In fact, if you're reading this it means we've won. But if you're not reading this, then the journal I'm writing now may be the only record that Mark Dimond and Courtney Chetwynde of Stony Brook, Connecticut, ever existed.

That would be tragic, but only the beginning of the horror to come if we don't stop Saint Dane.

Most of this journal has already been written. I've tried to include every little detail, because in many ways, I'm recording history.

After finishing Journal #10, I put it safely in the desk where I was keeping Journal #9. Gunny planned on taking the journals to have them bound and covered, but not right away.

We first had to take our trip into the future.

Once the pages were put safely away, I closed my eyes and tried to get some sleep. Spader was already conked out. Just as well. I was getting tired of worrying about what he would do next and warning him to be careful. I hoped I could count on him in the future, but right now I didn't want to talk to him.

The plans were set. Gunny and I would flume to Third Earth, and Spader would wait here in case we didn't get back in time. As nervous as I was, I think I caught a few z's. Man, I needed it. But it couldn't have been for long, because before I knew it, Gunny was gently shaking me awake.

“Ready to see the future?” he asked with a smile.

“Absolutely,” I answered, wide awake.

The idea of jumping three thousand years into the future had me totally jazzed. Though I wished we were doing it for less intense reasons. Gunny and I took the subway to the
Bronx. We changed trains twice and found ourselves back at the familiar station that I had been through so many times before. It was still kind of strange to see it open for business though. When I thought of this place, my mind always went to the first time I came down here with Uncle Press on Second Earth, when the place was abandoned. Was that a million years ago? It sure felt like it.

With so many people hanging around, it was a tricky thing to sneak down onto the tracks to get to the gate. We didn't want people going all nuts and calling the police because two lunatics had jumped down onto the subway tracks. But Gunny had done this before. We walked to the far end of the platform and waited for the next train to show up. When the train came in, the doors opened, passengers got out, passengers got on, the doors closed, and the train began to roll out of the station. This was the perfect time for us to move because the station was then pretty empty. As soon as the train cleared the platform, we jumped down onto the tracks and ran for the gate.

Nobody saw us. Nobody yelled. Success.

“After you,” Gunny said, pointing to the wide mouth of the flume. We had decided to flume separately. Gunny was too big of a guy to flume tandem with and neither of us felt like knocking heads while rocketing across time and space. Besides, I liked fluming solo. It gave me time to think.

“Is there anything I should be ready for?” I asked. “I mean, is there anything on the other end I've got to watch out for?”

“There's plenty to watch out for,” Gunny said. “But nothing you have to worry about.”

I then stepped up to the mouth of the flume. I have to admit, I had goose bumps. This wasn't an ordinary flume ride—if any flume ride can be described as ordinary, that is.
No, this was more like stepping into a time machine. Next stop: three thousand years from now.

“Third Earth!”
I called out.

The flume growled to life. The sparkling light could be seen far in the distance, headed this way. Along with it came the familiar jumble of musical notes that would lift me up and take me into the future of my own territory. I was thrilled, nervous, and terrified all at the same time. Then again, that pretty much defined my life as a Traveler.

“Enjoy the ride!” Gunny shouted.

An instant later I felt the tingling of energy, a slight tug, and I was pulled into the flume.

The ride was uneventful, or at least as uneventful as rocketing through a tunnel headed to a different time and territory can be. It felt good to be alone with my thoughts for a while, and I tried to imagine what Earth might be like in the year 5010. Would it be all Jetson-like and modern? Or did the human race evolve back into monkeys, like in
Planet of the Apes
? I didn't worry too much about the ape thing. Gunny would have filled me in on that little nugget of information.

I don't know how long the trip took. Actually, now that I think of it, it took around three thousand years. Time sure flies when you're having flume. Of course, it only felt like a few minutes. I felt a slight pressure on my chest, then seconds later I found myself standing in a surprising spot.

I was back at the mouth of the same flume, inside the same gate, looking at the same rocky room I had just left.

Huh? Did I make a mistake? Did I say “First Earth” instead of “Third”? Did I somehow make a U-turn somewhere in flumeworld? That's when I heard the musical notes sneaking up behind me. Gunny was incoming. I jumped to the side as he landed in a flash of sparkling light.

“Uhhh, did we make a mistake?” I asked. “We're back on First Earth.”

“Nope, everything's fine,” Gunny said.

He walked over to the side of the cavern where a pile of clothes lay. I hadn't seen them when I first landed. I was too busy being confused. “Only looks like First Earth,” he said as he sorted through the clothes.

Hearing that made me relax a little. We weren't going to step into some bizarro new world. But I have to admit, I was a little disappointed, too. I kind of wanted to step into a bizarro new world.

“I have no idea how these show up,” Gunny said as he looked through the clothes.

I joined him and looked through the clothes for myself. “Uncle Press told me it's the acolytes.”

“Acolytes?” exclaimed Gunny. “What's an acolyte?”

“I'm not sure. I've never met one. But Uncle Press once told me they're people from the territories who help the Travelers. Beyond that, I haven't got a clue.”

I was glad to see the clothes weren't all weird and futuristic. I picked out a pair of normal-looking khaki pants and a navy blue turtleneck. There were even regular old socks and boxers, too! The shoes were the most futuristic thing there. They didn't even look like shoes. They were more like big, white doughnuts. That is, until you slipped them on your feet. As soon as your foot was in, they molded to you and made a perfect fit, kind of like the air globes on Cloral. One size fits all. Cool.

Gunny put on a regular old white shirt with buttons, and a pair of black pants. He chose a black pair of doughnut shoes. White shoes weren't his style. He also put on a black jacket that finished off the look nicely. He then reached into the
pocket of his jacket and took out a small, silver square that was about the size of a baseball card.

“What's that?” I asked.

“Some kind of telephone thing,” he answered.

“Telephone?”

“Uh-huh. It's how we get in touch with Patrick. Don't ask me how it works—it's all magic to me.” He pressed a button on the card and a red light on top blinked twice. It then blinked green and went out. “He knows we're here,” Gunny announced. “He'll come get us.”

“Cool. Can we, uh, take a look around?”

Gunny smiled. He knew I was dying to see what the future looked like. “That's what we're here for,” he said. “C'mon.” He led me to the wooden door that was the gate.

Before he opened it, I asked, “Any problems with quigs?”

“Quigs? You mean those yellow-eyed dog things? Nah. If they know you're not scared of them, they don't bother you.”

That wasn't what I wanted to hear. I
was
scared of those yellow-eyed dog things. I hoped Gunny gave off enough brave vibes to counter my fear vibes. Gunny then pulled the door open and we stepped out of familiar territory. I expected to see the subway tunnel of First and Second Earth. But that's not what was waiting.

It was a subway tunnel all right, but nothing like the one I was used to. First off, it was bright. White light came from long tubes than ran along the ceiling. The walls were white and shiny and totally clean. This was nothing like the subways I was used to. Along the floor were two silver rails about ten feet apart. I guessed the subway train of the future was a monorail, like at Disney World.

The tunnel stretched far off in each direction. I could see ahead to the lights of the station. It was still there. I wondered
if it had reopened since being abandoned in my time of Second Earth.

We then both heard a loud
click
and turned quickly to see the gate had closed behind us. If I hadn't known better, I'd say the door had disappeared, because it was absolutely flush with the wall. You had to look really close to see the outline. Weird. The inside of the gate was the familiar, wooden door. But the outside was shiny white like the rest of the tunnel. There was only one clue that it was even there. Carved into the wall was the familiar star symbol that marked all the gates.

“We best get moving,” Gunny said. “Don't want to get caught by a train.”

I ran ahead of Gunny because I was so excited. When I got to the platform, I quickly jumped up, then helped Gunny when he caught up with me. I turned around and got my first look at a subway station, Third Earth–style.

What I saw blew me away.

The station was there, all right, and it was definitely open for business. It wasn't very crowded. Only a handful of people wandered about, waiting for their trains. They all looked pretty normal, too. People hadn't changed at all in three thousand years.

But the subway station sure had. I walked a few yards away from the track and was hit with an incredible sight. Standing at a railing, I looked down onto a massive, underground mall. It must have gone down fifty floors below train level! Imagine the biggest mall you've ever seen, then multiply it by like forty times, and you'd have this place. And it was all underground! We were on the very top and could see down to multiple levels that had tons of shops and restaurants, and even a whole section that looked like private entrances. They must have been apartments or something.

People moved around on every level. Some walked, but many rode these odd two-wheel scooters that silently and quickly moved them along. Looking all the way down to the bottom, I saw a humongous pool. It was practically an indoor lake, where people swam and played ball. It was even big enough for people to paddle kayaks around.

This was an enormous, underground city in the Bronx. Or should I say
under
the Bronx.

Gunny had walked up behind me but didn't say anything at first. I think he wanted me to get over the shock.

Finally he asked, “What do you think?”

“Amazing is a good word,” I said in awe.

“The way I heard it,” Gunny explained, “they were running out of space, so they decided to move into the only unexplored area left on Earth.”

“Underground,” I said.

“That's right,” Gunny said. “From what Patrick tells me, this is nothing. There's whole cities like this all over the world.”

I watched as people went about their business, like this was normal or something. I guess to them it
was
normal but…wow. I also saw all sorts of people of every race. This wasn't a segregated neighborhood. Maybe people had finally learned how to get along with one another.

“It gets better,” Gunny said.

He led me to the escalator that would take us up to the surface. As we walked, I saw a subway train pull into the station. Gone was the clash of wheels on metal and the screech of brakes. The train slid smoothly into the station with a quiet hum. Very cool. Very Disney.

We hopped on the escalator and I had to stop myself from running up faster. I was dying to get my first look at the outside world of Third Earth.

As we rode up Gunny said, “I guess people got smart somewhere along the line. It stopped being about building more and bigger. People began to understand they had to respect what they had or it wouldn't be around for the future.”

“So what did they do?” I asked.

“Look,” Gunny said.

We had reached the top of the escalator where I was expecting to step out into the middle of the normal, busy Bronx. Well, we were in the Bronx, all right, but it was far from normal.

The first thing I saw was grass. Lots of it. It looked like a park! There was a vast lake where people were fishing under the shade of leafy-green trees. The terrain wasn't flat, either. There were hills and rocky rises and even a footbridge over a stream that fed the lake. The sky was clear blue on this amazing, sunny day. I even smelled something familiar. It smelled like—