“You know about it?” Mark asked, surprised.
Courtney wanted to laugh. Did she know about it? She knew more than she ever wanted to know.
“There is so much to tell you,” she said quickly. “But we don’t have time. They’re probably hunting for us right now. I’ve wrestled over a million different ways of how to get you to understand what really happened. Or what’s about to happen. What I finally realized is that none of it matters, except for one single fact. It’s the most important thing I can get you to believe, because everything else follows from it.”
“What is it?” Mark asked.
“What I told you before is the truth. Andy Mitchell is Saint Dane. From the day we met him in kindergarten. This story didn’t begin when Bobby left home. Saint Dane has been setting us up our whole lives. Setting you up. He got you to fear him. Then he seduced you by suddenly revealing he was a genius. Then he got you to trust him when he helped you rescue me after the accident in the mountains. It was all planned, Mark. You know what he’s done on other territories. You know how he works his way into people’s confidence to get them to make mistakes. That’s what he’s been doing on Second Earth. He’s been working us. You have to believe me, Mark.”
Mark didn’t take his eyes off Courtney. She tried to read his mind. She hoped he was moving in fast forward through everything that got them to this point, looking at it from a new perspective. Mark was brilliant. He may feel used, he may feel betrayed, he may even feel like an idiot, but she felt sure he would understand and accept what happened. There was no other explanation.
“You’re wrong,” Mark finally said.
“But-“
“There’s only one fact that matters to me. If events played out the way they were supposed to, my parents would be dead.”
“But they are!” Courtney shouted. “I mean, I don’t know what I mean, but I saw Second Earth after the past was changed. After you changed it. Your parents still went down with that plane.”
“Then why are they here, right now, dancing in a spotlight?”
Courtney faltered. She didn’t have an answer.
“Courtney!” Dodger called as he jogged up to them.
Mark stiffened.
“It’s okay,” she said. “This is Dodger. He’s Gunny’s acolyte.” Dodger stuck out his hand and shook Mark’s. “Pleased to meet you, chum,” Dodger said amiably. “You’re a tough one to get hold of. But now everything’s fine. Right?” Mark and Courtney both looked down to the deck. Dodger frowned. “You told him about Saint Dane, right?” “He still doesn’t believe me.” “What proof do you have, Courtney?” Mark asked. “You can read Bobby’s journals,” Courtney said weakly. “That’s not enough,” Mark barked. “I have my parents. Here.
Alive. You’re asking me to destroy Forge, right? That’s like saying you want me to kill my parents.” “I know, it’s hard,” Courtney said.
“Hard?” Mark shouted. “That doesn’t come close to describing it.”
“Mark, something isn’t right!” Courtney countered. “By introducing Forge to First Earth, you’re going to set off a chain of events that leads to the creation of a technology Saint Dane is using to topple Halla. That’s a fact. You don’t know. You haven’t read the journals.”
“Maybe the journals are wrong,” Mark countered. “You’re saying how Saint Dane was able to fool us our entire lives, and fool me into starting Armageddon, maybe he was smart enough to monkey with those journals. Did you think of that?”
“No,” Courtney said, shaking her head furiously. “You know that can’t be right.”
“But your version isn’t true!” Mark barked. “My parents are proof. All you have are words on a page. I have living proof.”
“But I was there!” Courtney cried, tears of frustration welling up. “I saw how Second Earth was changed.”
“I’m sorry, Courtney,” Mark said. “I think Saint Dane must have a hand in this somewhere, but it looks like you are the one he’s been working. Like he did at that Stansfield Academy. I’m going to deliver Forge to that company in England. They are going to do with it whatever they will and begin a series of events that will save the lives of my parents. I don’t know what Saint Dane did to you, but your version of events is not the way it was meant to be. We’ll figure this all out once we get to London.”
Mark touched Courtney on the shoulder warmly and began to walk away.
“Stay right there, Mark,” Dodger said.
Mark looked up in surprise to see Dodger standing in his way, holding the pistol he had taken from Sixth Officer Hantin.
“Dodger? What are you doing?” Courtney exclaimed, stunned.
“This is our last chance, Courtney,” Dodger said. “Once he leaves, we’re both going to get pinched by the crew and spend the rest of this trip in the brig. It’s now or never.”
“Put that away!” Courtney ordered.
Dodger didn’t waver. Mark backed toward the rail nervously.
“He doesn’t believe you!” Dodger complained. “You know what’s going to happen if he leaves. Is that what you want?”
“No!” Courtney exclaimed. She turned to Mark with tears. “Please. Mark. I’m telling you the truth. I can’t explain why your parents are alive, but if you don’t destroy Forge, you could be destroying Halla.”
“I believe you believe that, Courtney,” Mark said. “I don’t.”
“Please don’t make me do this,” Dodger begged. His voice was nearly as shaky as Courtney’s. His gun hand wasn’t too steady either.
“I’m going to deliver Forge,” Mark said, his voice growing more confident. “And I am going to save my parents.”
He took a bold step toward Dodger. Dodger wavered. Courtney grabbed the gun out of Dodger’s hand and held it on Mark.
“Stop!” Courtney commanded, crying. Her hand was shaking, but the gun stayed on Mark.
“C–Courtney?” Mark stammered as if his brain wouldn’t accept what his eyes were seeing.
“There’s more I haven’t told you,” Courtney said through the tears. “Bobby and I went to Third Earth. We looked back through history. Everything I said was true, Mark. Even this. Your body washed up on shore with a bullet in it. The computers didn’t know who the killer was, but I think that mystery has been solved. It looks like it was… me.”
“N-No,” Mark stuttered. “I don’t believe you’ll shoot me.”
“I love you, Mark,” Courtney said, sobbing. “But I can’t let you do this. I can’t let you change history.”
Mark stood frozen. Courtney cocked the pistol. Mark backed into the rail. There was nowhere to go.
“I love you too, Courtney,” Mark said softly. “I guess this is the way it was really meant to be.”
Courtney raised the pistol, squinting through her tears. Mark tensed up. He closed his eyes. Courtney took aim. She tightened her finger on the trigger. Nobody moved. The moment stayed frozen for an eternity. Courtney blinked, took a step to her right, and tossed the pistol overboard. It fell into the dark ocean, lost in the swirl of the ship’s wake. Mark let out a breath he had been holding for a long time. Courtney ran to him and hugged him. Both let out the rush of emotions through their tears.
“Courtney!” Dodger shouted. “What are you doing?”
“I think I’m changing history,” she answered. “Mark was killed on this ship. Now he’s safe. Maybe I just bought us some more time to make things right.” She looked at Mark and added, “I’m sorry.”
“I am too,” he said. “But I’m not going to change my mind.”
“About what?” came a woman’s voice.
Mr. and Mrs. Dimond approached the group, arm in arm.
“Is everything okay?” Mr. Dimond asked.
“Everything’s fine,” Mark said, though it didn’t sound to anybody as if he meant it.
Mr. Dimond said, “We’re still trying to understand all this, Courtney. We want to help you, and help Bobby. What can we do?”
Courtney looked
at Mark. Mark looked away. She looked at Dodger, who gave her a helpless shrug. “It’s your show.”
The Dimonds huddled close to each other, waiting for Courtney to speak. Courtney had gotten to know the Dimonds once she and Mark had become acolytes. She thought they were terrific. The idea that she would want them to die, no matter how right history said that would be, was painful to Courtney. She wanted everything to be better and for the Dimonds to live their lives the way they were meant to. As she stood on the back of that ship, feeling hopelessly lost, a thought came to her.
“Maybe you can help,” she said. “Maybe you’re the only ones who can help.”
“Anything,” Mrs. Dimond said.
“You said Mark told you everything? About Halla and Saint Dane and the Travelers, right?”
“We’re still in shock,” Mrs. Dimond said.
“How much did you tell him? I mean about what happened with the flight to Florida?”
The Dimonds looked at each other with confusion.
“There isn’t much to tell,” Mr. Dimond said. “We didn’t get on the plane. If we had, we wouldn’t be here, right?”
“Yeah, but why didn’t you get on the plane?” Courtney asked, her mind racing. “Mark thinks that by coming to First Earth he set in motion a series of events that saved your lives. I want to know what that was. What stopped you from getting on that plane?”
Mr. Dimond shrugged. “It was Nevva Winter. She caught us just as we were about to board. I thought Mark knew.” Courtney shot a look to Mark.
Mark slowly shook his head and said softly, “I didn’t know that.”
Courtney closed her eyes and smiled. It was such a feeling of relief that she wanted to fall to her knees and cry.
“Is it that important?” Mr. Dimond asked.”It’s everything,” Courtney said. “Mark, that’s your proof. Nevva knew what was going to happen and stopped your parents from boarding. She’s from another territory. Nothing you’re going to do here will have any effect on her. Or on that plane. It’s still going to crash. Your parents are alive because Saint Dane saved them, in order to convince you to do exactly what you’re doing.”
Mark leaned back against the railing, staring at the deck but seeing nothing. Courtney desperately hoped that things would finally start to click into place.
“Mark,” Courtney said boldly. “You can put things right, and your parents don’t have to die. Please. Help Bobby.”
Mark shot a pained look to Courtney and asked a simple, poignant question. “What have I done?”
“Nothing,” Courtney said quickly. “Not yet, anyway.”
Mark left the rail and pushed past the others, heading forward.
“Where are you going?” Mr. Dimond asked. Without stopping, Mark said, “To destroy Forge.”
(CONTINUED)
“There they are!” shouted Andy Mitchell from above.
He was at the railing of the Promenade Deck, looking down on the Main Deck, where Mark had just left the others. With him were Nevva and two ship’s officers.
“Go!” Courtney shouted.
Mark started running. Courtney and Dodger took off after him.
“Slow them down,” Courtney ordered the Dimonds.
Mark disappeared inside the ship’s structure, followed right behind by Courtney and Dodger. Andy led the officers down the outside stairs in pursuit, only to run into the Dimonds, who blocked his way at the bottom of the stairs.
“Hi, Andy,” Mr. Dimond said jovially.
“Get out of the way!” Andy ordered.
The Dimonds held their ground. “I think you’ve got some explaining to do,” Mrs. Dimond scolded.
Andy gave her a cold look that nearly knocked her off her feet. For a brief moment his eyes flashed blue with anger.
Mrs. Dimond gasped. Andy reared back as if to hit someone, but the ship’s officer arrived behind him.
“Here now,” the officer commanded. “No need for that. They’re on a ship. They can’t hide for long.”
Andy spun to the officer, ready to lash at him. He saw Nevva standing on top of the stairs behind the officers and motioned for her to go back the other way. Andy pushed past the officer, headed back up the stairs.
Mrs. Dimond looked to her husband and said, “Can life get any stranger?”
Mark sprinted down the passageway of the Main Deck. He didn’t double back or take a route that was hard to follow. It was all about speed. Courtney and Dodger were right behind him. They no longer cared about being seen. Spending the rest of the voyage locked up no longer mattered. It had come down to this. A race. They had to get back to Mark’s suite before anyone else. Before Andy or Nevva. It was the final leg of their mission.
They had to destroy Forge.
Up ahead of them, a group of elegantly dressed passengers strolled out of the dining room, laughing and singing.
“Get out of the way!” Mark screamed.
He didn’t wait for them to obey. He ran straight at them. Men dove away, women scattered. Courtney would have laughed if she weren’t about to hit them herself. Just as the passengers gathered their wits, Courtney arrived at full speed.
“Get out of the way!” she yelled as the surprised passengers flung themselves to the walls. Courtney and Dodger flew past with no apologies.
Mark sprinted down a long passageway that was lined with elegant, white doors. He slowed down enough to focus on the door numbers, which allowed Courtney and Dodger to catch up.
“Is this it?” Courtney yelled. “Is this where your suite is?”
“Yeah,” Mark answered, gulping air while digging in his pocket for keys.
“Fast is our friend,” Courtney cautioned. “Going as fast as I can,” Mark snapped back. He stopped at a door and worked to get the key in the lock. “Mark, stop!” came a screaming voice from behind them. Andy Mitchell appeared at the far end of the passageway. “Gotta hurry, chum,” Dodger implored. Mark fumbled with the key.
“I’m too f-freaking nervous!” Mark shouted. “There!”
He twisted the key and threw the door open. All three jumped inside. Dodger closed the door behind them and locked it. Mark dove for the small wooden dresser and yanked the top drawer open, digging through socks.
Dodger turned around and whistled. “Wow, nice digs.” He plopped himself down on a couch and put his arms behind his head. “Might as well enjoy it, seeing as we’ll be spending the rest of the trip in irons.”
Courtney stood behind Mark, watching nervously. “Tell me it’s still there,” she begged.
“Got it!” Mark announced.
He held up the innocuous little device that was about to change history. Courtney remembered it all too well. To her it looked like a small ball of Silly Putty. Inside was a complex skeleton that was controlled by an advanced computer of Mark’s design that changed shape in response to voice commands. The plastic skin Saint Dane had stolen from Third Earth. The computer technology was all Mark’s. He called it “Forge.” It was the brainchild of the Dimond Alpha Digital Organization. It was a little ball of clay. It was the grandfather of the dados.
“Kill it,” Courtney commanded.
Mark held his invention up and stared at it like a loving parent.
Dodger jumped up and put his ear to the door.
“They’re coming,” he said calmly. “Now would be good.”
“I’m sorry, Courtney,” Mark said softly. “I didn’t mean for any of this to happen.”
“We’ll have all the time in Halla to talk about it later. Do it!”
The anguish on Mark’s face was obvious. He dropped the high-tech ball onto the deck, closed his eyes, and stamped his foot down. Courtney heard the satisfying crack and crumble, as Forge was crushed into history. At the exact instant Mark’s foot destroyed Forge…
Courtney’s ring came to life. She held it up for the others to see.
“Does this mean things have changed back?” Mark asked.
“I think we’re about to find out,” Courtney answ
ered.
She took the ring off and placed it on the deck.
Dodger kept his ear to the door. “I don’t hear them coming anymore. Do you think they know?”
“I guarantee they know,” Courtney replied.
Mark twisted his foot into the carpet, making sure every last bit was pulverized. He scooped up the remains and tossed them out the porthole. Forge was no more.
The ring grew as light flashed through the room. Dodger joined the other two and watched the show. Moments later the ring returned to normal. Next to it was a rolled parchment.
“That didn’t take long,” Courtney said nervously.
“Time flies when you’re flying through time,” Dodger said.
Courtney picked up the pages and clutched them to her chest. “I guess we’ll read this in the brig. I’m proud of you, Mark.”
She leaned over and gave him a kiss on the cheek. Mark stared at the floor.
“You did the right thing, chum,” Dodger said. “Sorry for, you know, nearly shooting you before. I didn’t want to.”
D. J. MacHale
The Pilgrims of Rayne
Mark didn’t react. He kept staring at the floor. “Are you okay?” Courtney asked.
“I don’t know,” Mark answered. “I won’t know until I find out if my parents are still alive.”
IBARA
This is my last journal.
I know I’ve written words like that before, but it was always out of fear that something might prevent me from writing. That’s not the case here. Nothing is going to happen to me. Not anymore. I made sure of that. As I write this journal, I feel safe for the first time since I left home to become a Traveler. It wasn’t easy getting to this place. In fact, it was a nightmare. But it’s over now. Sort of. I’m going to have to relive it in these pages. Part of me wants to skip writing it all down, because it’s too painful. That wouldn’t be fair. Not to you, Courtney. Not to the other Travelers. Not to Uncle Press. I have to finish what I started, just as I did here on Ibara. After looking back on all that’s happened since I wrote my last journal, there is one thing I can say with absolute certainty. The battle for Halla is over. How that happened will be related to you here, in my final journal. I hope I can find the right words to paint the picture as it happened. As I saw it. As it was meant to be.
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