I wanted this over as quickly as possible, so without another word I jumped into the water and swam toward the bottom.
Three spinney fish were waiting for me. Such odd creatures. You’d think they’d take off once they sensed someone coming. Maybe they were blind. Or just plain stupid. I didn’t know. All that mattered was that I grab one and stay on for 13 clicks. I picked one that looked to be the smallest of the group and lowered myself toward it. The strange fish had no idea I was there. I took a breath, reached out with both hands, and grabbed the ridge.
It was almost over before it began. The fish moved so fast it nearly yanked itself out of my grip. My left hand flailed in the water. If I didn’t grab on with both hands, fast, I wouldn’t last for 3 clicks, let alone 13. I was able to bring my left hand down and hold on, just as the fish bloated. It threw my legs out wide, which made it even harder to hang on. It got so fat I had trouble gripping with my legs. I knew this ride wasn’t going to last long. The spinney twisted and bucked, then swam upside down! I was head down, but I wouldn’t let go. When I managed to hang on even though I was upside down, I had a faint glimmer of hope. I knew it wouldn’t be a long trip, but maybe it would be long enough. I only had to hang on for 13 clicks.
The fish spun me upright, then quickly spun back in the other direction. That did it. I had shifted all my weight one way to counter that first twist. As soon as it went the other way, I was gone. With a flap of its tail the fish squirted away from me and shot to the bottom. All that was left was for me to surface and check my time. I was confident. I felt there was a really good chance that I had hung on long enough.
When I surfaced, I saw that my time—including my head start of 10 clicks—was 20. Missed it by 3 clicks, however long that was. As I climbed onto the platform, I imagined the screens all over Quillan flashing: WINNER—CHALLENGER GREEN! What a depressing thought. When I pulled off my globe, I saw that Veego was smiling. She may have said she didn’t care, but she did. She wanted me to lose.
“That’s one event each,” she announced. “There is one more event before the rest period.”
After we took the elevator down and walked a fair distance through the parklike compound, we all stood on the edge of a dense forest of pine trees. There were so many trees, it looked unnatural. The branches began about ten feet off the ground, so I was looking at a sea of tree trunks. From where I stood, there only looked to be a few yards between each of them. The forest looked about a hundred yards wide. I couldn’t tell how deep it was. I figured that was part of the game.
Veego and LaBerge stood with their backs to the trees, facing Challenger Green and me.
LaBerge looked giddy. “This is my favorite game,” he said. “Hidden in this maze of trees are six flags. Three green, three red. The goal is to enter the forest, find each of your flags, and make your way to the far side, where we will be waiting. The first to arrive with all three flags is the winner!”
He clapped his hands and giggled. I couldn’t imagine why this would be his favorite game. There wasn’t much to it. On the other hand, it was another game that Nevva didn’t tell me about. I figured there were hundreds of Quillan games, so there was no way she could have covered them all. I just wished she had guessed right on one of them.
But the game didn’t seem so hard. It was all about finding the flags. They could have been anywhere, so the winner would be the one who was lucky enough to find them. Not a lot of skill involved, or danger for that matter. It all seemed so random, I didn’t think the 10-click advantage would mean anything.
Veego said, “Since Challenger Green won the last contest, he will get a ten-click head start.”
“Everybody ready?” LaBerge asked. “Go on the horn. Challenger Red, wait until we release you.”
The two stepped aside, the horn sounded, and Challenger Green sprinted toward the trees and disappeared.
“This is your favorite game?” I asked LaBerge. “I don’t get it.”
“You will,” he said slyly.
I didn’t like the way he said that.
“Ready, Challenger Red?” Veego asked.
“Just give me the go,” I said.
She counted down for me, “Three, two, one, go!”
Fum!
My left arm went numb. It was like I’d been shot by one of those dado guns, but it only affected my arm. I couldn’t lift it.
“Don’t worry,” Veego said. “The effects are temporary. Try not to get shot in the legs.”
Shot? Who was shooting? A flash of movement caught my eye. I looked at the forest and saw something skitter through the trees at ground level. Whatever it was, it was colorful. I thought I saw a flash of bright yellow and red. Was it an animal? What kind of animal was colored so strangely? And shot a tranquilizer gun? I wondered what territory Veego and LaBerge had taken such a strange creature from.
“Better get moving, Challenger Red,” LaBerge warned. “They’re very quick.”
I looked back into the forest and saw it. In that one sickening moment I realized why this was LaBerge’s favorite game. The flash I saw wasn’t an animal. It wasn’t from another territory, either. These things were homegrown. Peering out from behind a tree, no more than a foot high, was a mechanical doll. After seeing the quig-spiders at the gate, I had no doubt that this thing would be trouble. It could run, it could hide, and it could shoot. There was one more thing about it that gave me a cold shot of dread.
It was a clown.
Have I told you how much I hate clowns?
JOURNAL #27
(CONTINUED)
QUILLAN
They were sneaky-little-dado-clown-creeps. I didn’t stop to ask how they worked. If they could make life-size dados, it followed they could make small ones too. But dressed like clowns? LaBerge was a sick puppy.
“Run, Challenger Red!” LaBerge shouted with glee.
Freak.
I took off for the trees with my arm hanging dead at my side. If one of those clowns shot my leg, I’d be done. I hoped they were after Challenger Green, too. The clown who shot at me tossed his gun down and ran at me. He was quick, too. I sprinted through trees, desperate to keep ahead of that little monster. I was already getting feeling back in my arm. The effects were definitely temporary. It must have had something to do with the fact that the guns were so small.
I had no idea where to go. At least my legs were longer than the clown’s, so I put some distance between us. I reached a large tree, rounded it, and put my back to it, listening to hear the sound of his little red clown shoes pitter-pattering on the ground. It was quiet. I had lost him. Or he had lost me. Whatever. I turned to get my bearings, and saw another miniclown sitting on a branch just above my head with a golden gun aimed at me. His face was white and his eyes and mouth were red with clown paint. It was a nightmare. The thing grinned at me and fired.
Fum!
I dodged around the tree and heard the little bolt of energy crackle against the trunk. The little beast ran along the branch and got right in front of me. I had nowhere to hide. I was done. But he didn’t shoot. He dropped the gun and leaped at me! The fiend sailed down and landed on my shoulder. He grabbed me around the neck and started to bite! Yeow! I wrestled the thing off and tossed him against a tree, hard. The thing hit and fell to the ground. A second later he was back on his feet like nothing had happened, and he started after me again.
I ran. There were two things I learned about these monsters. One was that it seemed they only had one shot with their guns. That was good. But the other thing was, they liked to bite. That was freakin’ gruesome. I hated clowns now more than ever.
I ran wildly through the woods, always alert for little flashes of color that would mean I was about to be ambushed. All I could think about was getting away from those bozos. It was hard to run fast and dodge trees at the same time. I wasn’t even thinking about the game when I rounded one tree and saw a red flag. Yes! It was the size of a bandanna and tacked to a tree. I grabbed it, jammed it in my pants, and
continued running. It didn’t matter which way I went. I had no way to know where I was, or where the next flag might be.
Fum!
I heard it first, then I felt it. My left leg went numb. I fell to my knee, my good knee, and turned to see a little clown in a striped suit with big blue buttons charging at me, screaming like a banshee. I couldn’t run; I had to fight him. The little gremlin leaped at me, his sharp teeth gnashing. I caught him and threw him at another tree. The clown hit, landed on the ground, and instantly jumped up and attacked me again. I couldn’t stop these things. It was like they were made of rubber. Except for their teeth. The teeth were sharp.
Without a gun the thing wasn’t going to hurt me badly, but he was making my life miserable. Until the feeling in my leg came back I was going to have to deal with being semilame. He leaped at me again, I caught him, and rather than throwing him against a tree, I threw him as far as I could. I got lucky and the little banshee sailed between trees, screaming the whole way. As soon as I let him fly, I furiously rubbed my leg to get the circulation going and get rid of the effect of the stun gun. I grabbed a tree and pulled myself up, stomping my foot to get the blood flowing. . . .
And got jumped by two more dolls. I lost my balance and crashed to the ground as they clawed at me and viciously bit my shoulders. I pulled them both off and jammed them together. In their frenzy, they started biting each other! Idiot clowns. I turned and heaved them as far as I could. By then I had gotten enough feeling back in my leg that I could start limping. I had gotten a few yards when I saw the next red flag! Unbelievable! I pushed myself forward, dragging my leg behind me. I hadn’t heard any horns go off so I had to believe Challenger Green was having as much trouble as I was. Hopefully more. I was still in the race.
I got closer to the flag. No clowns were in my way. I reached out, and was about to grab it when I got a faceful of fist. Challenger Green had returned. He’d been hiding behind the tree with the flag on it, waiting for me. I never had a chance to defend myself. He hit me so hard that I was knocked off my feet, though I suppose that wasn’t so hard, since one of my legs was almost useless. The guy leaped on me, jammed a knee into my chest, and stuck his nose right in my face.
“I’ll kill you before I let you win,” he snarled.
He pulled out the same knife I’d seen him use to saw the rope and kill his last opponent. He held it to my throat. “Or maybe I’ll just kill you now and be done with it,” he said, his spittle spraying me.
“We’re not alone,” I said. “All of Quillan is watching. Is this how you want to win? Kill me like this and everybody will know you only did it because you knew you couldn’t beat me. Is that how the great Challenger Green wants to be known? Not good enough to win, but good enough to murder?”
I saw his confusion. He may have been ruthless, but he had an ego. He liked being champion. He pulled the knife away and jammed it back in his boot. He then stood up and grabbed my red flag off the tree.
“You want to win?” he taunted. “Then you’ve got to get this from me.”
He laughed and took off into the trees. I sat up, rubbing my throat. That was too close. I had no doubt he would follow through if he got another chance to kill me. This wasn’t a real competition. This was survival of the fittest. Or the most ruthless. Or craziest. I cautiously stood up and tested my leg. I was okay. But the game was over. I had no chance. The only thing left for me to do was keep away from those clowns until Challenger Green made it to the far side with his flags. I started walking in the general direction of where I thought the far side was. Maybe the clowns knew I had given up, because they didn’t bother me anymore. I actually found the next red flag, too. I was going to leave it, but took it anyway. Just because.
A few minutes later I heard the horn that signaled the end of the game. Winner—Challenger Green. Good for him. The rest period was coming up. I needed it. And I needed to talk to Nevva.
Fourteen was waiting for me when I finally made it to the far side. We got in the electric cart, and he drove me back toward the castle.
“It is two games to one,” he said. “What’s important is that you are still competing.”
“Yeah, I feel really great about that,” I said sarcastically. “Did you find Nevva Winter?”
“She isn’t here,” Fourteen said.
“What do you mean?” I said with surprise. “She said she would be here for the competition.”
“I inquired with Blok,” Fourteen said. “They told me that she was observing the Grand X with the trustees in the city.”
I stared straight ahead, trying to compute what that meant. She was supposed to be there! She promised me she would be there! Something must have happened that she couldn’t get away. Was she all right? Was she revealed as a member of the revivers? Nevva was a Traveler. She knew how serious this was. Then again, she wasn’t there when Remudi competed, and that turned out about as badly as possible. Things were coming to a head here on Quillan, on all fronts. I wondered if her triple life had finally caught up with her. There had to be a good reason why she wasn’t there, but I couldn’t come up with one. I decided not to let it freak me out. It didn’t change what I had to do. I was down. Two games to one. Challenger Green had the upper hand. I had to keep my head in the game. Or the games. Or whatever.
When we arrived back at the castle, Fourteen led me back up to my room and stopped at my door.
“I will try to learn more about Miss Winter,” he said. “It seems to be of great importance to you.”
“Thank you,” I said. “You’ve been a real friend.”
“Friend,” he said. “No one has ever referred to me as a friend.”
“Yeah, well, you are. How much time do I have?”
“I do not know,” he replied. “I will return shortly to let you know. Please try and get some rest.”
I was beat. Not tired. Beat. It’s not like I wanted to lie down and go to sleep or anything. I just needed to catch my breath, and my thoughts. I dragged myself over to the bed and lay down on my back. I actually hoped this rest period wouldn’t be too long. I didn’t want to stiffen up or lose my psyche.
Be careful what you wish for.
No sooner did I settle in and focus up at the ceiling, than my bed fell through the floor! A trapdoor had opened and swallowed up my bed, with me in it! I looked up to see the door close above me, cutting out all the light. I was falling in pitch darkness. I quickly grabbed on to either end of the bed, not knowing when I’d hit bottom. The fall only lasted a few seconds, and it turned out that it was more of a controlled fall than I thought. The bed had actually been lowered quickly. I landed with only a minor thump.
I didn’t move. There was nothing to see. Absolutely nothing. I was in total darkness. The room sounded big, though.
“Are you ready, Challenger Red?” came a teasing voice that echoed through the emptiness. It was LaBerge. His voice was amplified.
“Ready for what?”
LaBerge laughed and said, “Ahhh, that’s your penalty for losing in the Clown Forest.”
“Clown Forest.” That’s what he called that game? What a geek.
“What do you mean? What’s my penalty?” I called out.
“Your penalty is . . . we’re not going to tell you the rules to this next game.” He chuckled. “Good luck.”
There was no rest period. Game number four had already begun.
JOURNAL #27
(CONTINUED)
QUILLAN
I had been here before. I knew what it was like to be in the dark and vulnerable. Loor had trained me in the dark. She taught me how to use my other senses. To listen and feel. I knew what to do. I lay flat on the bed and kept my breathing shallow. If Challenger Green was out there, I would feel him before he got close enough to attack.
I heard nothing. I felt nothing. It was like I was floating in limbo. But I didn’t panic. Moving would be a mistake.
I heard a sound. It wasn’t a living thing, it was . . . something. Something quick.
It sounded like it flashed by overhead. It couldn’t have lasted for more than a second. Whatever it was, it gave off a high-pitched ring as it sped by. I heard another one. It came from a different direction. The sound flew over me and disappeared quickly. There was no question, something was flying above me in the dark. Another one flew by, this one was barely over my head. I felt the slight ripple of air as it sped past. Whatever it was, it was moving fast. I didn’t want to get hit, so I stayed on my back, listening.
I heard a few more passes, some close, some distant. All fast. What was it? Though I wasn’t told the rules for this game, something didn’t make sense. I was in total darkness. How could the rest of Quillan see what was going on if there was no light?
As if in answer, the world suddenly came alive. White light filled the room. It was so bright that I was just as blind as when it was dark. At the same time, music started playing. It was loud, upbeat, electronic music like they played at the challenger parties. It was so loud that I could no longer hear the thing flying around the room. This was worse than darkness. I now had two senses taken away. I forced myself to stay on my back. Looking around, my eyes adjusted enough that I could make out shapes. The room itself was totally white. Floor, walls, ceiling, everything. The bright lights were on the high ceiling, and they were moving in time to the music. There were hundreds of them, all flashing in different directions. They were painting the room with light, making it impossible to see.
I saw a flash of silver a few feet above my head. It had to be what was making the sound, though I couldn’t hear it over the music. I lost it in the lights. What was it? I started feeling a little too vulnerable by lying on the bed like that, so I quickly rolled off onto the floor, but crouched down low, using the bed for protection. I peeked my head up over the mattress in time to see another silver flash. This one I locked on to. It was headed in my direction, about five feet over my head. I followed it as it shot over me, continued on, then stuck into a wall only a few yards away. What was it? I was close enough to that wall that I felt confident enough to crawl to it. I got down on my belly and crawled, commando style, across the floor to the wall. Looking up, I saw what was making the sound . . . and my heart sank. It was a silver disk. It didn’t look much different from a CD. But it was embedded an inch into the wall. CDs weren’t sharp like that. I realized that the sound I was hearing wasn’t from a single source. Whatever the game was in this white, noisy room, to play it meant you had to dodge sharp, lethal Frisbees that were randomly fired in all directions.