“Not just the poor and sick,” Patrick corrected. “It includes anyone whom Naymeer doesn’t consider to be exceptional. That means your average person will be treated as a liability to society.”
“What about old people?” Courtney asked.
Patrick shrugged. “If they don’t contribute to society in some significant way, they’re not part of Ravinia and will be treated as second-class citizens.”
D. J. MacHale
Raven Rise
Courtney added, “Wasn’t that kind of what the Nazis were all about? Creating a Super Race?”
“Yes,” Patrick answered. “At the expense of several million people who didn’t fit the profile.”
“How can people buy into this?” Courtney complained. “It’s just…wrong.”
“Not everybody does” was Patrick’s response. “There’s a whole countermovement to Ravinia. They call themselves the ‘Foundation.’ They’re fighting the cause of the common man, saying how everybody has value, and to follow Naymeer would lead to destruction. Look at this.”
Patrick looked to Mark’s computer and announced, “Play Gastigian.”
On the monitor screen, a video triggered. They saw the image of a dark-skinned man speaking directly to the camera for a TV interview.
“That’s the guy from the protest!” Courtney exclaimed. “The guy with the bullhorn.”
“Shhh, listen,” Patrick admonished.
The man on the screen spoke with passion. “Naymeer and the Ravinians are putting us on a dangerous course. To disrespect the common man, upon whose backs this world was built, is not only a grave act of injustice, it will certainly bring about the downfall of modern society. If the United Nations votes to accept and perpetuate the teachings of Alexander Naymeer, it will mark the beginning of the fall of modern man.”
The video ended on the frozen face of the passionate man. “Strong words,” Courtney said. “He’s predicting doomsday.”
“Who is he?” Mark asked.
“His name is Haig Gastigian. A philosophy professor from New York University. He’s the leading voice against the Ravinians. From what I’ve seen, he’s a hero to many, and an outlaw to the Ravinians.”
Mark shook his head in wonder. “What he’s saying is just common sense. You’d think everybody would see that.”
Patrick answered, “Many do. But Naymeer’s philosophy is pretty appealing to a lot of people. People with power. I guess people like easy answers, and he’s promising them a better world. It’s great, as long as you’re on the right side.”
Mark asked, “What’s this thing with the United Nations? Ravinia is going to be recognized as the spiritual voice of the world? How scary is that?”
“The UN General Assembly is voting on it soon,” Patrick offered. “It could very well be the beginning of the end.” Mark asked, “What do you mean?”
Patrick sighed. “It means Naymeer’s vision is wrong and dangerous. The proof of that is on Third Earth. It’s created nothing short of chaos and despair. I’m sure he hasn’t shown that particular vision to anybody.”
“Could that be it?” Courtney asked. “Could that be the turning point for Second Earth? The acceptance of Naymeer’s vision by the UN?”
“This isn’t Naymeer’s vision,” Mark corrected. “This is pure Saint Dane. What happened on Third Earth could be the fate of every other territory. Saint Dane is revealing the existence of Halla through this Naymeer guy. This is the ultimate mixing of the territories. How can any society follow its own destiny when they’re aware that so much more is out there? Saint Dane is probably going to follow the same model on every other territory.”
“Then this is it,” Courtney said with finality. “This is the Convergence. Saint Dane is spreading this vision throughout Halla. He’s rewarding the strong and punishing the weak. If he succeeds, then what?”
The three fell silent, the weight of those words sinking in. Nobody wanted to ask the next obvious question.
Mark took the plunge. “What do we do about it?”
“I told you,” Courtney announced, jumping to her feet. “We travel. This is where it’s all coming down. Second Earth. We can’t handle this on our own.”
“Then why should we leave?” Patrick asked.
“To get Bobby. And anybody else who can help. Alder, Loor, Siry, Aja-“
“Aja’s dead,” Mark corrected.
“She’s dead on Ibara. Not on Veelox. If we went to Veelox, we’d find her.”
“And do what?” Mark asked.
“Bring them here! Saint Dane says it’s over. I don’t think it is. We still haven’t hit Second Earth’s turning point. Maybe this UN thing is it. I don’t know. But things are still happening. The Convergence might have started, but it isn’t finished. Naymeer is still gathering his power. We have to try to stop him. No way we can do it alone. The Travelers should be here. All of them.”
“What about Bobby?” Mark asked soberly. “What if he really meant it when he said he quit?”
Mark and Patrick looked to Courtney. She didn’t answer at first. She knew the importance of her next words.
“I can’t pretend to know what’s going through Bobby’s head after all he’s had to deal with, but you know him as well as I do, Mark. No, you know him way better than I do. He may have been frustrated. He may have been tired. He may have felt totally overwhelmed and needed a long rest. But in your heart, do you really believe that he quit?”
Mark and Courtney gazed into each other’s eyes for several seconds.
“No,” Mark finally said. “No I don’t.”
“Neither do I,” Courtney announced with confidence. “Let’s go get him.”
Mark looked up to Patrick and said, “Are you up for this?”
Patrick looked pale. “I’ve never been anywhere but the Earth territories. I–I’m not sure how I’ll do.”
“You’ll do fine,” Courtney said dismissively. “Besides, you’re a Traveler. We can’t use the flume without…” Courtney stopped in midsentence.
“What’s the matter?” Mark asked.
“I smell something.”
“Stop bagging on my room,” Mark whined. “I haven’t been here in months.”
Courtney frowned and walked quickly to the bedroom door. She felt the handle with suspicion, then threw the door open. Black smoke billowed into the room.
“Fire!” Courtney shouted.
“They found us,” Mark gasped.
Courtney tried to step through the door, but the smoke drove her back. She closed it quickly. “Can’t go that way,” she shouted.
Mark went for the door. “I’ve got to get my parents’ papers. And pictures.”
Courtney held her arm against the door, not allowing Mark to open it. “Are you crazy?”
“Courtney! My family’s life is in that room.”
“Your family’s life is on First Earth. They can’t come back, Mark. This place doesn’t mean anything to them anymore.”
Mark reached for the door again. “But I have to save-”
Courtney grabbed his arm. She looked him right in the eye and said with dead seriousness, “You have to save us.”
Mark thought and nodded. “You’re right.” He glanced around and ran for the window. “We can crawl across the roof and climb down the maple tree. I’ve done it a million times.”
“Wait!” Courtney shouted. “Whoever did this is probably out there.”
Mark weighed the problem, then yanked the window up. “I’ll see.” Quickly he ducked out onto the roof. Patrick didn’t move. “Go!” Courtney ordered.
The Traveler followed Mark. Courtney was right behind him. The shingled roof was sloped, but it wasn’t hard to maneuver. Rather than go for the maple tree, Mark scrambled up toward the peak of the roof.
“What are you doing?” Courtney yelled with a strained whisper.
Mark reached the peak and peered over the top in time to see a long black limo driving away. The loud blare of a fire-truck siren was he
ard in the distance. Help was coming. Mark quickly slid down the roof section on his butt, joining the others.
“It was the limo,” he said. “They took off, probably because the fire department’s on the way.”
“We’ve gotta be gone too,” Courtney said. “We can’t let them find us.”
Mark nimbly scrambled across the roof until he reached the edge, where the branch of a large maple tree jutted a few feet below. Using skills he hadn’t needed since he was a little kid, he grabbed on to the branch, swung his legs off the roof and over the top of the branch. He then shinned toward the trunk of the tree.
“Piece of cake,” he called back.
Patrick couldn’t move. “I’ve never done anything like that,” he complained nervously.
“You’re gonna do a lot of things you’ve never done before. Move!”
Courtney didn’t shove him, but didn’t back away from him either. Patrick gingerly followed Mark’s lead and made it out onto the tree. Courtney waited until he got to the center of the tree, then followed. Moments later all three were on the ground.
Flames leaped from the downstairs windows.
“I guess that’s the last of it,” Mark said sadly.
“Last of what?” Courtney asked.
“My life. Once the house is gone, there’ll be nothing left to tie me to Second Earth.”
Courtney started to say something, but stopped herself. Instead she put her arm around Mark with sympathy. “Gotta go,” she implored.
A loud horn told them the fire engines were almost there. The three rounded the house into the next yard and came out onto the street in time to see several red trucks flash by, headed for Mark’s house. They took a quick look back to see the place was an inferno.
“Why would they do that?” Patrick asked. “If they wanted to hurt us, they could have chosen a much more efficient way.”
“They didn’t want to hurt us,” Courtney said. “They wanted to scare us. It didn’t work.”
The cab was waiting for them, as requested, a block away. They got inside and told the cabbie they were headed back into the city. To the Bronx. To a subway station.
The cabbie shrugged and said, “Whatever you say. I was getting worried about you.”
“That makes four of us,” Courtney said.
Nobody spoke for the entire journey. Patrick stared out the window, wide eyed, at his home territory in-to him-the distant past. Mark and Courtney tried to nap. They knew they had to sleep when they could. Unlike Patrick, they had been to other territories beyond Earth. They knew the drill. It took nearly an hour to get to their destination. Mark nudged Courtney when they were a few blocks away.
“You’ve been to this flume, right?” Courtney asked Patrick. “On all three territories.”
“Then you know it’s dangerous. We’ve got to time the trains and get down onto the subway tracks without being seen… or run down.”
“What about quigs?” Mark asked.
“Oh, right,” Courtney said, deflated. “There’s that.”
“Stop the car!” Mark shouted.
The cabbie jammed on the brakes, making everybody nearly fly out of their seats.
“Jeez!” he shouted. “What’s the matter?”
“Yeah,” Courtney said with equal surprise. “What was that for?”
Mark reached for his wallet, pulled out a wad of bills and tossed them to the cabbie.
“Whoa, chief. That’s too much. You got change comin’.”
Mark didn’t wait. He jumped out of the car.
“Keep it,” Courtney said.
“Thanks! I knew you guys weren’t Ravinian creeps.”
Courtney crawled out of the cab, followed right behind by Patrick. As the car pulled away from the curb, they found themselves at the familiar intersection in a rundown section of the Bronx that Mark and Courtney had been to several times before. Mark stood staring. Courtney joined him and asked, “What is your problem?”
Mark didn’t answer. Courtney looked to where he was staring, and her jaw dropped.
“What?” Patrick asked, confused.
“It’s the wrong corner,” Courtney said.
“No, it isn’t,” Mark corrected.
“What’s the matter?” Patrick asked impatiently.
Courtney slowly looked to him and said, as if in a daze, “The subway station is gone.”
Patrick looked to where they were staring. “You’re right. That wasn’t there when I came through here with Press.”
Courtney asked, “So then, what is it?”
“I don’t know,” Mark answered. “Let’s find out.”
He stepped off the curb, headed toward the corner where the green subway kiosk used to be. Everything about the neighborhood was the exact same, except for that block. In place of the kiosk was a tall stone building that looked like a medieval castle. Hanging from the second story was a line of flags.
Red flags.
Flags with stars.
SECOND EARTH
(CONTINUED)
The three stood on the opposite corner, staring at the mysterious structure. It looked to Mark like a library. There were high arches and heavy marble columns. Wide marble stairs led up from the sidewalk to the many entrances.
“I’ve seen this before,” Patrick announced.
Mark and Courtney shot him a surprised glance. “Where?” they said in unison.
‘Third Earth. Everything changed, remember? When I went to the gate, instead of the underground complex I found this. The flume was inside.”
“So this thing is going to last for three thousand years?” Courtney said in awe.
“It wasn’t the exact same,” Patrick pointed out. “I guess changes were made over the years, and it was crumbling, but it was essentially the same structure.”
“What is it?” Mark asked.
“I don’t know,” Patrick answered. “All I cared about was getting to the flume.”
“Look at the flags,” Mark announced. “Obviously this is all about the Ravinian cult. Maybe it’s headquarters.”
“We gotta check this out,” Courtney said, and walked toward the strange new building.
All three walked closer with trepidation, while scanning around for any Ravinian red shirts. The street was busy with people, but not crowded. If somebody was looking for them, they’d be seen. They walked up the marble stairs to a long row of glass doors that was the entrance. Courtney tried a door to find… it was open.
“This doesn’t change anything,” she said. “We still have to flume out of here. Whatever this is, we’ll have a better shot of getting to the flume here than sneaking into Naymeer’s house back in Stony Brook.”
Patrick and Mark nodded in agreement. Courtney pulled the door open and stepped inside. Just inside the entrance was a large open area with a marble floor.
“Slick,” Courtney said, impressed.
Fresh flowers in vases were placed along the walls. The star symbol was prominent on the wall to the right, a portrait of Naymeer faced it on the wall to the left. Directly ahead was an archway that led farther into the building.
“Doesn’t seem like anybody’s here,” Mark commented.
Courtney walked to the archway to find a wide set of stairs leading straight down. She stood on top and stared toward the bottom. There was no clue as to what they might find below.
“What are the chances of this being some fancy new subway station?” she asked over her shoulder to the others.
“No chance,” Mark answered.
“I didn’t think so.”
The three started down slowly, shoulder to shoulder. With each step they saw more of the floor below. It seemed to be one big room. A few more steps down revealed a long row of green theater-style seats that stretched out to either side, facing away from them. It was followed by another row and another and another. A wide center aisle separated the seats into two halves. Left and right.
“This is no subway station,” Courtney muttered.
&nb
sp; “It looks like a big theater,” Mark replied.
The room was huge. There looked to be enough seating for several hundred people. The rows of seats all faced the same direction. When they reached the bottom, Courtney saw why.
“This is no theater,” she gasped.
There was no stage. No movie screen. No performance area. Mark, Courtney, and Patrick stepped down onto the floor and saw the truth. On the far side of the vast space, facing the seats, for all to see, was the flume. To the right of its mouth was a red star flag on a pole in a stand. On the opposite side of the mouth was a U.S. flag.
“I can’t swallow,” Mark croaked.
“It’s like some kind of shrine,” Courtney murmured.
Mark walked to the first row of seats and picked up a thick book that was all too familiar. “Or a church,” he said, holding the book up for the others to see.
The cover was deep read. The word “Ravinia” ran vertically down one side in gold letters. Next to it was the star symbol. It was the exact same cover that Patrick had brought from Third Earth. The cover that Richard, the librarian, was willing to die to hold on to. Every other seat had the exact same book.
“I guess the mystery is solved,” Patrick commented. “It’s the Ravinian Bible.”
“Yeah,” Courtney quipped. “The Bible according to Naymeer.”
“According to Saint Dane,” Mark corrected.
Mark tossed the book back onto the seat. The three slowly drifted down the wide center aisle. Far ahead of them, the flume loomed large.
“It wasn’t out in the open like this on Third Earth,” Patrick commented. “A similar structure was aboveground, but the flume was behind a series of doors.”
“Like they decided to hide it again,” Mark commented.
“Exactly,” Patrick agreed.
Courtney asked, “What’s the point? Do they all sit here staring at a tunnel, reading about Naymeer’s twisted philosophies?”
“Maybe it’s like what we saw at the rally,” Mark offered. “Maybe Naymeer somehow produces images of Halla.”
“Yeah, like a movie,” Courtney agreed. “Unbelievable.”
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