My head was exploding. I needed to talk to Nevva. She had to work her influence with the trustees to get rid of Veego and LaBerge. The games had to be shut down. We needed to get those two back to Veelox where they belonged. Quillan needed to be put back on its natural course. This had gotten bigger than Blok. This was about the future of Halla. I ran to the door. It was locked. My door was never locked. I threw my shoulder against it. It didn’t budge. I was a prisoner. A second later the door flew open. Standing there were three security dados.
“Is there something we can get for you?” one asked.
I slammed the door. I was trapped. Veego was going to keep a very close watch on Challenger Red.
Challenger Red. That’s right. The realization hit me. There was no way out of it. Tomorrow was the Grand X. I had to put these conflicting thoughts out of my head and focus. If I didn’t, I feared it might truly be the beginning of the end . . . not for just Quillan, but for Halla.
The only thing left for me to do was win.
JOURNAL #27
(CONTINUED)
QUILLAN
Compared to the excitement of the day before, the Grand X was kind of a letdown, at least as a spectacle. This wasn’t like a big sporting event with cheering crowds and cheerleaders and bands playing and whatnot. It was actually the reverse of what I was used to. With most sports you practice day after day with your team and your coaches, alone. Nobody watches. Nobody cheers. The payoff comes on game day when the crowds come out, everybody gets ramped up, and the excitement kicks in. With the Grand X, all the excitement was the day before with the parade through Rune and the rally at the Blok building. For the actual event nobody was there to watch and cheer. There were a bunch of dados keeping an eye on things, Veego and LaBerge, who told us what to do, Challenger Green, and me. That was it.
Of course I knew there were cameras everywhere that saw our every move and sent the images all over Quillan to be watched by millions. I had seen the crowds in the streets, their gazes riveted on the giant screens. I knew people would be watching and cheering, probably in numbers greater than ever before. But I didn’t see any of that. It was just me, Challenger Green, and the future of all existence.
Did I have butterflies? Oh yeah.
Fourteen came to my room as soon as the sun was up. I was dressed and ready.
“Is there anything I can do for you before the competition begins?” he asked.
“Yes,” I said. “Tell Miss Winter that I need to speak with her as soon as possible.”
If anything happened to me, Nevva needed to know what was going on with Veego and LaBerge. She needed to know that Saint Dane had brought them from Veelox and that they were importing items and ideas from other territories. As dramatic as everything else was that was happening on Quillan, Veego and LaBerge’s operation spelled the biggest trouble for all of Halla.
“Of course,” Fourteen said.
The two of us walked silently from my room, down through the castle, and out into the forest. The whole time I worked on staying focused on the games. As confident as I was, all that Veego revealed to me the night before had me rattled. If there were ever a time that I needed to keep my head on straight and not let anything distract me, it was then. But it was tough. I hoped that once the competition began, I’d be locked into the moment and all the other worries would go away. If they didn’t, I’d be in trouble.
Fourteen led me along a windy path until we came to a grassy clearing that was roughly the size of a tennis court. There was nothing special about the place. There were no markings or apparatus. Standing across from me on the far side was Challenger Green, along with his service dado, who looked just like Fourteen. I gave Green a slight nod. He scowled at me. He didn’t like that I had stolen his thunder. I hoped I could use his anger to my advantage. If we were going to be playing with emotion, I had to be cool. Anger led to mistakes. My confidence rose. . . .
Until I saw what the first game was going to be. Any hope I had of putting aside my worries about what impact this would have on the rest of Halla was shot to pieces. First off, this wasn’t a game that Nevva had prepped me for. But that was okay. I had played this game before many times. I was good at it. But that was also the bad news. I had played this game before . . . on the territory of Zadaa. As soon as I saw the equipment, I knew that Veego and LaBerge had been to Zadaa. It was another case of worlds being mingled.
I had to force that worry out of my head as Fourteen helped me on with the gear. He gave me stretchy bands that fit above my biceps and above my knees. Each of these bands had a round red peg attached on one end that was about ten inches long and stuck out like red horns. He also gave me a lightweight helmet with the same kind of peg sticking up from the top. I knew what the final piece would be before seeing it. It was a heavy wooden stave about six feet long. When Fourteen handed it to me, I felt its weight and thought it was a pretty good replica of the weapons they had on Zadaa. For all I knew, it had actually come from Zadaa.
“Good luck, Pendragon,” Fourteen said.
“Piece of cake,” I said, and winked at him. I had grown to really like Fourteen. Unlike everything and everyone else I encountered on Quillan, there was no mystery about him.
Veego and LaBerge appeared out of the forest, dressed for the big event. Veego had on her purple jumpsuit, but this one was trimmed in gold. LaBerge was much more flamboyant, with a multicolored robe that made him look like the king of Gumdrop Mountain. Neither looked happy. Even LaBerge wasn’t his normal, bubbly, annoying self. Veego motioned for her brother to go to the center of the clearing while she came to me. I didn’t like the look in her eyes. I couldn’t tell if it was anger or fear. Whatever it was, she was trying her best to keep her emotions in check.
“Nice day for a beating, don’t you think?” I asked cheerily.
“It won’t work,” she said through clenched teeth.
“What won’t work?” I asked.
“You won’t destroy these games,” she snarled.
“What’s your problem?” I said innocently. “I’m here, aren’t I? I’m ready to compete.”
“There has been next to no wagering . . . on either of you!” she said as her head started to shake with pent-up rage. Tears of anger formed in her eyes. But she stayed in control. “This is the Grand X! Wagering is normally tripled. It seems as if you’re insidious little speech had some effect.”
It took a lot for me not to smile. It wasn’t my speech alone that had done it. It was the revivers. They turned the Grand X into a contest that was about showing Blok they were ready to take back control of their lives. My confidence rose again. There was a real chance that the people of Quillan could turn things around. I decided not to say that to Veego.
“I don’t know what to tell you,” I said. “Maybe they’re waiting for later in the competition. You know, to see how things are going.”
“You had better be right!” she snapped as she turned and walked toward LaBerge.
Fourteen said, “I have never seen her so angry.”
“Stick around,” I said. “It’s early.”
When she got to the center of the field, Veego motioned for Challenger Green and me to join her and LaBerge. The two of us strode to the center of the grassy playing field from opposite sides. I saw that, like me, Green had his wooden pegs on. They were, of course, green. Duh. His eyes were locked on mine. He was doing his best to psyche me. I kept my face blank.
“I will explain the rules,” Veego said.
“Don’t bother,” I said. “I know how to play.”
I saw Green stiffen slightly. Oops. Maybe I had been too cocky. I didn’t want to tip my hand.
He snarled, “I know too. Let’s go.”
“Very well,” Veego said. “Begin on the horn.”
Veego and LaBerge walked away, but as they left, LaBerge stopped and gave me a confused look. “How do you know this game?” he asked.
“Didn’t you know? I’m an honorary Batu,” I said.
“You are?” LaBerge said with shock. He looked quickly to Veego for a reaction. She didn’t give any. Obviously LaBerge didn’t remember me from Veelox, and Veego didn’t bother to remind him.
I focused on Challenger Green. The guy had no idea what he was in for. I almost felt sorry for him. Almost. I had seen the Batu warriors of Zadaa play this game many times. I had watched Loor triumph. When she put me through training at the Mooraj camp, we played this game constantly. You know the rules. The idea is to use your wooden stave to knock the wooden pegs off your opponent. The first one to knock off all the pegs wins. Simple as that.
Green and I locked eyes. He said, “You shouldn’t have come back.”
“Why?” I asked. “Are you afraid of losing?”
I saw his eyes widen. I had touched a nerve. This was going to be fun. I clutched my stave and bent my legs slightly. I felt totally comfortable. It was like riding a bike.
The horn sounded, and Green charged me so hard and fast that I didn’t have time to react. He drilled his head into my chest and knocked me flat on my back, hammering the air out of my lungs. Green tossed aside his stave and wrestled me to get at the pegs. I guess I could say that he wasn’t playing fair, but I didn’t think there was any such thing as fair in these games. If I didn’t do something fast, this fight would be over before it even got started. He had already pulled off two pegs and was going for the third, when I drilled my elbow into his jaw. He wasn’t expecting that and rolled off. I rolled the other way and scrambled to get back to my feet.
Green didn’t give me time to recover. He charged again, without his stave. This guy wasn’t about finesse. His plan was to use brute force to beat me. He was like an angry charging bull. I bent over as if trying to get my breath, but I was waiting for him. He screamed as he lunged. I drove my stave forward and caught him in the gut.
“Oooph,” he grunted in pain.
I pulled my stave back and expertly spun it left, then right, knocking off both his arm pegs. It was pretty clear how this fight would go. It was style versus strength. Green wisely backed away or it would have been over right there. He clutched at his gut and looked at me with fiery eyes.
“You use that weapon like you’ve been trained,” he said.
“You think?” I shot back.
Green scooped up his stave and came at me, more cautiously this time. He held the stave low, pointing one end at me like he was going to poke me with it. I almost laughed. The guy didn’t have a clue. He jabbed at me a few times, but I flicked his attacks away easily. I was getting my breath back now. All I had to do was wait for him to make a mistake, which he did pretty quickly. He took a few steps back, then threw the stave at me like a spear. He followed right behind it, charging at me while screaming out a horrifying war cry. Yeah, right. Nice try.
I knocked the spear away easily. When he lunged at me, I faked a swing, which made him falter. I then jammed the end of the stave between his knees and pushed. Green’s legs got tangled and he hit the grass hard. Before he had the chance to get up, I flicked away both pegs from his legs. All he had left was the peg on his head. He was about to roll and get up, when I jammed the end of the stave into his neck, pinning him to the ground.
“It’s done,” I said. “Drop the last peg and I won’t hurt you.”
It was like I had thrown acid on him. He let out an angry scream and pushed to get up. Too little, too late. I held the stave to his throat and kicked the final peg off his helmet.
A horn sounded. The match was over. Winner—Challenger Red!
I backed away from him, still holding the stave ready in case he tried coming after me. He lay there for a second, breathing hard. When he sat up, he gasped, “This will just make my victory even sweeter.”
“Yeah, whatever,” I said as I backed away. I didn’t dare turn my back on him. I walked backward all the way until I got to Fourteen.
“That was very good,” he said with no emotion.
“You think he’s mad?” I asked with a chuckle.
Fourteen said, “That was the first time Challenger Green has been defeated. Ever. I would say yes, he is angry.”
Green got up and stormed off the field toward his own dado. Round one went to me. I was happy that it was a fight I was familiar with, but the idea that it was brought there from Zadaa was disturbing.
Round two proved to be just as disturbing. We were brought in separate carts deep into the forest. When we finally broke out of the trees, I saw that we had come upon a giant round aboveground water tank. The thing was huge. It had to be three stories high and fifty yards in diameter. I knew it was a water tank because the sides were clear.
“What’s this?” I asked Fourteen. “A swimming race?’
“Not exactly,” he said. He led me to an open elevator that brought us up to the top. I was feeling nervous because, once again, Nevva hadn’t told me about any games that had to do with a giant tank of water.
“Have you spoken to Nevva Winter?” I asked Fourteen.
“I am afraid not,” he answered. “I have been with you the whole time.”
Oh. Right. As we rose higher in the air, I looked around to see if I could catch sight of Nevva. She was supposed to be here in case the worst happened. I figured she was nearby, watching closely, ready to jump in if things went south.
The elevator reached the top, where a bridge led to a platform in the dead center of the tank. Waiting for me there were Veego, LaBerge, and Challenger Green.
“Find Miss Winter,” I said to Fourteen. “Now.”
I walked across the bridge to meet my opponent while Fourteen went back down in the elevator. The three watched me with sour expressions. We had only finished one event, and I was already proving to be a pain. I liked that.
“Kind of a SeaWorld thing you got going on here,” I said.
Nobody reacted. I wasn’t surprised.
“This is a timed contest,” Veego explained to me, and probably to the rest of Quillan at the same time. “Whoever remains on top the longest is the winner.”
I figured this would be some kind of fight on the platform where we had to try to dunk our opponent.
It wasn’t.
LaBerge produced two clear globes that were very familiar to me, unfortunately.
“Where did you get those?” I asked with surprise.
They didn’t answer. They didn’t have to. I knew the answer. They were air globes from Cloral. This was even more disturbing than the game from Zadaa. You guys know how these air globes work. The material is created from minerals on Cloral. When you put it over your head, it becomes soft and formfitting, with an airtight seal. The silver device attached to the top is a breathing apparatus that converts carbon dioxide into oxygen. With these air globes you can breathe and communicate underwater. Having them on Quillan meant that Veego and LaBerge weren’t only bringing in ideas from other territories, they were introducing technology and material. These things shouldn’t exist on Quillan.
It got worse.
Veego said, “Since he won the first game, Challenger Red will be given a ten-click time advantage.”
Yay me.
Challenger Green wanted to get going right away. He didn’t like being behind. Without being instructed, he angrily grabbed one of the air globes and stuck his head through the hole. The globe melted and formed around him. My stomach turned. This was wrong. I couldn’t imagine what might happen to a territory if alien minerals were introduced.
“What exactly are we supposed to do?” I asked.
“You don’t know?” Veego said smugly. “You have to ride a spinney fish.”
I gritted my teeth in anger. Spinney fish were from Cloral too! They were bringing in creatures from other territories! I didn’t want to think what would happen to the habitat of one territory if organisms were introduced from another. This could be an ecological catastrophe in the making.
As for the game, I knew it. Spader called it “Spinney-do.” Remember? The fish were long and thin, like skinny dolphins.
You had to sneak up on one, grab the ridges that ran across its back, throw your leg over, and ride the fish like a bucking bronco. The trick was that once you grabbed a spinney, they swelled up like big blow fish, making it that much harder to hang on. The worst part was, I was terrible at Spinney-do.
Challenger Green jumped in the water feet first. There was a big screen on the far side of the tank that allowed us to see him. I figured it was the same image that was being broadcast throughout Quillan. Above the screen was a digital clock showing two zeroes. I watched as Green dove down and swam strongly to the bottom of the tank. There were several spinney fish there, grazing on the bottom. They were big, slow creatures. It wasn’t hard to grab one. The tough part came when they felt threatened.
Challenger Green maneuvered himself around, hovering just above one of the big fish. He got as close as he could without touching it, then quickly grabbed the ridge on its back and clamped his legs around it. The fish instantly blew up to three times its size and started bucking. Green gripped the ridge with both hands. He may not have been agile, but he was strong. As soon as the fish started to move, the clock did too. I didn’t know how long a “click” was—it seemed to be around a second. Green held on with both hands as the clock moved to 5. Then 10. One of Green’s hands flew off, but he held on with the other. He wouldn’t last much longer. Finally, with a quick snap of its back, the fish threw Green off and scooted away. The final time: 22 clicks.
There was no way I could match that.
“What about the penalty?” I asked.
I looked at the clock to see the number 22 disappear. It was replaced by the number 10—my bonus for winning the first contest. Big deal. It didn’t matter. Even with the extra 10 clicks there was no way I could hang on long enough to beat Green’s time. But it had been a long time since I’d played Spinney-do. I was a bigger, stronger guy. I had to hope I’d do better.
As Green climbed out of the water, LaBerge handed me an air globe. I put my head through the hole and felt the familiar sensation as the clear helmet molded to me. Challenger Green looked up at his time and punched his fist into the air shouting a jubilant, “Yes!”