Max Quick

by Mark Jeffrey

  “What is this?” Jadeth said. “Why do you laugh and prattle on, in the midst of your defeat? What do you—”

  “You know, Jadeth,” Max said, cutting her off. “What is it with you and all the ‘thees’ and ‘thous’? After five years here on Earth, you’d think at least you would have learned how to talk right by now.”

  Jadeth’s lip curled. “Thou wilt taste my wrath. Mark my words!”

  “Oh, I’ll mock your words,” Max retorted. “I’m all about mocking your words.”

  Jadeth shook with fury. But now, there was a glimmer of suspicion in her good eye. She was missing something important . . .

  “You haven’t conquered anybody,” Max said. “You think this is the real world. But it isn’t.”

  “That is correct,” Mr. E said, now stepping into the light. At the sight of him, Jadeth was visibly startled.

  “Thou!” she said, her voice a quivering whisper.

  “Me,” Mr. E replied. Then he straightened himself and announced formally, “Jadeth, daughter of Enlil. For your crimes, you are hereby imprisoned in this false reality. There is no escape. I hold the only keys.”

  The words hit her like a physical blow. The realization that her triumph was actually a massive defeat spread through her in degrees, like cracks spreading through glass.

  Her good eye bugged wide.

  The glass shattered.

  Fury beyond a thousand exploding suns burned in her mind.

  “Nooooo!” she howled.

  Mr. E waved his arms and the foursome raced away from Jadeth with startling velocity. Her screams grew fainter and fainter, until she was just a pinprick of light at the end of a tunnel.

  And then she could be heard no more.

  Chapter 24

  Mister Blister Gets His

  The friends now stood in the long gallery in the Pyramid of the Arches.

  Ian spun. The passageway with the moon in it was gone. And the lighting was now exactly the way it was when they had first entered the pyramid.

  “It’s like a lobster trap,” Casey mused.

  Mr. E blinked. “Yes. It is rather like a lobster trap. Very easy to find your way in. Impossible to find your way out. Or in Jadeth’s case, you believe you have left the trap, yet you are still inside!”

  “So the Pendant wasn’t real after all,” Max said.

  “Of course it was real,” Mr. E replied.

  “No, I mean it’s not really a device that removes free will.”

  “It is exactly that,” Mr. E repeated. “Look at Jadeth. Does she look like someone with free will to you? I swore an oath to Enlil. And Niburians take oaths very seriously, as you should know from my tale.”

  “I don’t understand,” Max said.

  “The Pendant removes free will, but not from the people it is used upon. That’s impossible. You can’t take free will away from someone forcibly. They have to surrender it—of their own free will. That’s the only way it can happen.”

  “But what about the people in the Book that Jadeth was controlling?” Sasha asked. “We saw the Pendant take away their free will.”

  “But those weren’t real people,” Ian said. “They’re not alive. They’re like video game characters.”

  “Ian is correct,” Mr. E said. “The Pendant removes the free will of anyone who lusts to control the free will of others, by simply embodying the promise of such a power. Their obsession enslaves them, the way Jadeth’s obsession for the Pendant enslaved her. Hence, the Pendant is a device that removes free will. Just not in the way anyone expects.”

  Mr. E allowed himself a soft laugh at his cosmic prank.

  “In this way, I fulfilled my oath to Enlil and guarded against anyone evil enough to want to use such a device.”

  “So if Enlil had tried to use the Pendant . . .”

  Mr. E nodded. “The same thing would have happened to him. Enlil would have found himself in a false reality.”

  “But what will happen to Jadeth now?” Casey asked.

  “She’s imprisoned inside the simulacrum of my Book. But I have removed all the exits and entrances. The Word-magic is still here on this wall, but it no longer works. I have sealed that world entirely. And inside of that prison she will be compelled to live out the remainder of her days.”

  Max nodded.

  “Hold on,” Ian asked. “We’re outside of the Book now. How can we still see you?”

  “Your bracelets,” Mr. E said. “I’m using them to maintain a connection to your minds. But I won’t be able to do it for much longer.”

  Then Casey remembered something. “The Archons! You were under attack . . . ?”

  “Oh, them.” Mr. E sniffed. “I know it didn’t look so good when you left. But I took care of them. For the time being, anyway.”

  “But what about the real world?” Ian asked. “And the centurions in New York? And the Pocket?”

  “All being taken care of as we speak,” Mr. E said. “Jadeth isn’t the only one with a Whispering Stone, you know. I sent out a call, friends have since arrived in Sky Chambers of their own. They have rounded up most of the centurions and are presently freeing the Serpents and Mermaids. When they have finished removing the Sky Chambers from the Great Lawn, they will end the Pocket. Time will resume, and humans will be none the wiser that any of this happened at all.”

  “Wait a minute. You’ve had the ability to call friends on Nibiru this whole time? So why didn’t you just have them take care of Jadeth?” Max asked. “Why did you even need us?”

  “For several reasons. First, they couldn’t get here quickly enough. Remember, Time moves differently on Nibiru than it does here. Second, I needed someone to lead Jadeth into the trap!” Mr. E leaned in close like he was telling them a secret. “It took bravery and cleverness and heart on your part. You did all the hard work. All I did was sit in my Tower and hope for the best.

  “And lastly, Max—or should I say Damiz?—I knew that you were the one I handed the Pendant to all those years ago. There was no way to change that sequence of events. The tyranny of the page is absolute, even for me.

  “Now”—Mr. E sighed—“it is time for you all to return back to where you came from, and for us to part ways.”

  A centurion suddenly walked into the chamber. Max leaped to his feet and his heart jumped in his chest.

  Mr. E laughed. “No need for alarm. Not all centurions from Nibiru are wicked! This one is a friend. He is Abdiel.”

  The centurion removed his faceplate, and they found themselves looking up at a rugged man with a smiling face. “You have no need to fear me. In fact, it is I who should fear you, from the tale I have just heard of how you took down the daughter of Enlil!”

  “Abdiel will take you back to where you were when the Pocket began,” Mr. E said.

  “Many of those Serp kids are already back where they belong,” Abdiel said to Mr. E. “A year older, maybe or maybe not a year wiser. Certainly a lot happier than they were under Jadeth, though, that’s for sure.”

  Mr. E nodded. “Well, then. Max, Casey, Ian, and Sasha. I thank you for what you have done, and wish you well.”

  “Will we see you again?” Casey asked.

  “I should hope not!” Mr. E replied. “If you do, it will only mean there is more trouble.”

  “Well, maybe on a school vacation, we’ll find a Book and come visit you anyway,” Casey said.

  “After this, I’m going to have all the Books rounded up and hidden for good,” Mr. E replied. “But if you can find one, feel free to try! Farewell!”

  And with that, Mr. E disappeared.

  Abdiel took the children from the Pyramid of the Arches and brought them aboard a small Sky Chamber. From there, Max had a sense of déjà vu: As they broke the surface of the real Loch Sheil, and then headed back out across the Atlantic ocean, it seemed they had already done it before.

  Yet this time, they did not fly toward New York.

  Instead, they veered south, hitting the continental United States some
where over South Carolina. They continued overland westward until they came at last to the town that the Serpents and Mermaids had taken over in central California and set down the Sky Chamber.

  “This is where I leave you, Ian,” Abdiel said. “I’m going to take you to your house. Then, I’m going to put you back into normal Time. I’m going to remove your ability to remain in the Pocket.”

  Ian nodded.

  “We managed to clean up most of what the Serps did there . . . the green paint, the hats, the clothes—or lack thereof. But some of it was just plain . . . unfixable. The people who live in this town—other than the Serps, I mean—will always speculate about what exactly happened on this day.”

  They all left the Sky Chamber and walked toward Ian’s house. “Weird to be going back to normal life again, just like that,” Ian said, finally getting sad. “Guess this was what I wished for, though.”

  “Yeah.” Max nodded. “It is very weird.”

  “Good-bye Max!” Ian said and grabbed him in a hug. They embraced for a moment. “Make sure you stay in touch!”

  They all nodded.

  “I will,” Sasha said out loud, and kissed him on the cheek. “I promise.” Ian’s cheeks flushed crimson.

  Abdiel took Ian inside. A moment later, Abdiel was back. “Ian’s been returned to normal time.”

  “What do you mean?” Max asked.

  “Well, from your perspective,” Abdiel replied, “he is frozen in time, like the rest of the world. He is no longer in the Pocket. But from Ian’s perspective, time just started back up again. He is saying hello to his father for the first time in a year, for Ian is actually a whole year older now! Same with you, Sasha. You, Ian, and the rest of the Serps aged in the Pocket, you know. If you were twelve before, you are actually thirteen now—though nobody will believe you if you tell them that!

  “Now for you, Sasha.”

  Abdiel dropped Sasha off at a town a few minutes north by Sky Chamber.

  Casey and Sasha talked for a few minutes alone in front of Sasha’s house before they left.

  “I’m—” they both said at once. “You go,” they both said again, and then laughed. Then Casey said, “I’m really sorry. I’m sorry we didn’t get along better. It was my fault. Especially after you explained everything about the Serps to me. I should have been nicer.”

  Sasha nodded. “No, I was really mean to you when you first showed up. I take it all back. Here.” Sasha ran inside and got a pen and paper from her own house. “Call me. Promise?”

  Casey took it and grinned. “Yes. I totally promise.”

  “You have to help me find Vreen wallpaper for my room!” Sasha said. “I wasn’t kidding about that.” Casey laughed.

  “Are we through?” Abdiel groaned impatiently. The girls nodded. “Great. Come with me, Sasha.” He took her inside and emerged a few minutes later.

  “Okay, you two are my last stop.”

  As they approached Starland, Max felt a foreboding deep in his gut. There was much here he had completely forgotten about.

  Now, it was all about to come back to life again.

  The Sky Chamber landed near the Jitteratti Café.

  “Abdiel,” Max said. “Can you drop us both off here.”

  The centurion nodded.

  Max nodded. “Thanks.”

  “One more thing,” Abdiel said. “I put a big mattress underneath that guy you knocked over at the Starland Museum of Antiquities. On the stairs. You know, the deliveryman? So he doesn’t break his back when time starts up again.”

  “Oh!” Max jumped. He had completely forgotten about that guy. “Thanks,” he said sheepishly.

  “No problem. And the packages. I stacked them up. They won’t be damaged when time starts again.”

  Max nodded again. “Thanks.”

  “And one last thing. Enki asked me to tell you to call this number.” Abdiel handed Max a piece of paper. “You started a bank account back in the early part of this century. It seems you’ve amassed quite a bit of wealth with just the interest alone over the last hundred years. It’s well into the hundreds of millions of dollars now.

  “Enki has arranged for you to be able to access your money through one of his contacts, a man named Domitian Crux. He’ll make certain you have no trouble. You know, no awkward questions about how a twelve-year-old kid could have started this account a hundred years ago, that sort of thing.”

  Max nodded, stunned.

  “You don’t have to stay at the Starland Home for Boys anymore if you don’t want to,” Abdiel told him quietly, as though this were a secret someone might overhear. “Enki wanted you to know you’d earned the right to do whatever you wanted to do. We’ll make sure you have the means needed to make whatever choice you want.”

  Max looked at Casey. “Did you hear that?” She nodded. “Good! I wasn’t dreaming it!”

  Without warning, Abdiel brought a blue gem up to his eye. He looked through it at Max and Casey. His eye appeared distorted, swollen by the lens.

  He blinked.

  And just like that, Max and Casey heard noise around them. The noise of cars. Of people talking, walking. The ambient noise of every day—a sound they had not heard in weeks.

  Time had started up again!

  The Pocket was gone. People were moving around, talking. Abdiel and his Sky Chamber had disappeared as if they had never existed.

  “Max Quick!” a voice bellowed almost immediately. Mr. Blister.

  But Max only rolled his eyes. Blister was laughable compared to what he had faced down in the last few weeks. Blister approached, hunched forward like an oversized praying mantis.

  Without a word, he tried to take Max by the arm and lead him away.

  But Max shrugged off his hand. “No. I’m not going with you.”

  “I am your legal guardian, Master Quick,” Blister replied icily. “You will accompany me this instant.”

  “I said no.” Max repeated. “You’re not my guardian anymore.”

  Something about Max’s tone rattled Blister. Mentally, he retreated.

  “When you get hungry, you’ll be back. Then you’ll beg for your old bunk at the Starland Home for Boys,” Blister said, before turning and leaving.

  In a moment, he was gone.

  Max and Casey went to Casey’s home, where her mom was mostly confused about where Casey had vanished to for the past half hour. “But I missed you so much!” Casey said. Her mom was of course baffled by all this.

  When Casey introduced Max as “Max Quick,” Casey’s mom blinked and looked him up and down like he was a figment of her imagination. “Huh. That’s funny. My mother Petunia used to tell me stories about a Max Quick she knew,” she said.

  Later that day, Max called the number on the slip of paper Abdiel had given him. The delightful gentleman who answered was most helpful and knowledgeable. He had been expecting Max’s call, and was looking forward to meeting “this extraordinary young man,” his client, whom a mysterious yet very wealthy “Mr. E” had told him so much about. The man immediately set Max up with a debit card that he could pick up from a branch office, and some pocket cash.

  Over the course of the initial conversation with the man, Max learned about his various accounts and investments—and one in particular caught his attention immediately.

  After some pointed inquiries, Max hung up the phone, certain of his position.

  Less than an hour later, Max was at the Starland Home for Boys, knocking on the door of one Mr. Blistierre.

  “Ha.” He sneered, opening the door to his office. “I told you that you’d be back.”

  Max entered the office, and two men entered with him. His attorneys.

  “What is this? Who are you two?” Blister blubbered, sensing trouble.

  “These,” Max said, indicating the gentlemen with him, “are the representatives of the Trustees of the Starland Home for Boys.”

  One of the attorneys cleared his throat and continued: “As you may or may not know, this institution was f
ounded in 1963 with the express purpose of creating a safe haven for orphans and homeless children who otherwise have no place to go. The money behind this institution was provided by the generous contributions of a single donor, from whose account a monthly amount is withdrawn to pay the salaries as well as all the bills and maintenance, etc. etc. Do you know, Mr. . . . Blistierre, is it? Do you know who that single donor was?”

  Blister had been listening to all of this with stark horror plain on his face. He shook his head no.

  “It was provided by Maximilian Quick, Senior, the late father of the Maximilian Quick, Junior, whom you see before you.”

  Blister gulped. He hadn’t known this.

  “Furthermore, all control of the nonprofit corporation, StarlandHomeCorp Partners, passed upon the death of Quick Senior to Quick Junior. Because the sole controlling entity, Max Quick, is a minor, we are here to carry out his will, Mr. Blistierre.”

  “Yes?” Blister managed to choke out.

  “And that will is: You’re fired,” Max finished. “You’ve tortured enough kids here over the years. So, you’re done.”

  Blister turned paler than Johnny Siren.

  “But—but—you can’t! You have no authority! You’re just a kid!”

  Security police officers quickly entered and stood at either side of Blister.

  “Please empty out your desk. We’re here to escort you off the premises.”

  Within a half hour, Blister had been evicted from the Starland Home for Boys. Ice cream was served in heaping amounts in the cafeteria to the cheering and hollering boys, who were overjoyed at finally being freed of the tyranny of Mr. Blister’s reign.

  Max presided over the celebration, smiling like a hero.

  Domitian Crux purchased the old Borthwick Estate on the edge of Starland, per Max’s instructions. And this was where Max and Domitian, as his legal guardian, would live from now on.

  Ian, Sasha, and Casey came for a weekend visit.

  “This place is amazing!” Ian said to Max.

  “We’re still buying the furniture and setting it up,” Max said. “But did you know there’s actually an old bowling alley in the basement?”