Courtney looked at the canister like it was an alien creature—because it was.
“How did it get here?” she said in awe. “And how did it get in my pocket?”
“Something happened when you went through the flume,” Bobby said. “That’s the only thing I can think of.”
“But I didn’t do anything!” Courtney said.
“Somebody did,” Bobby said. “You came back at the exact same time you left, but things were different. Somehow, technology has changed.”
“But nobody else notices!” Courtney exclaimed. “That car seat was definitely not the same, but my father didn’t know it. And my mother doesn’t even know how to turn on the computer, let alone send video messages from work.”
“That’s because things haven’t changed, for them,” Bobby said. “But you weren’t here for it. You were in the flume.”
“Huh? What does that mean?”
“It means somebody’s been messing with the past,” Bobby said. “Let’s go.”
They got on their bikes and went right to the National Bank of Stony Brook, where Courtney put Bobby’s journals in the safe-deposit box with all the others. With that done, their plan was to go back to Courtney’s house, but Bobby wanted to take a quick detour. He wanted to ride by the spot where his house used to be. The house he grew up in. The house that disappeared when he left home. Courtney tried to talk him out of it, but Bobby’s mind was made up.
When they got to 2 Linden Place, Bobby saw why Courtney didn’t want him to come back. Someone had taken over the property. A house was being built. It was a modern-looking building, nothing like the classic old farmhouse where Bobby had lived with his family for the first fourteen years of his life. Bobby stood across the street, staring at the place that was so familiar, and so wrong.
“You okay?” Courtney asked.
“He said I was an illusion,” Bobby said softly. “Maybe he was right.”
“You’re not an illusion, Bobby Pendragon!” Courtney scolded as she grabbed his arm. “I can touch you. I can hear you. Everything you do has an effect on physical reality. That doesn’t sound like an illusion to me.”
“No?” Bobby asked. “Then what am I?”
Courtney started to answer, but stopped. The truth was, she didn’t know.
They pedaled back to Courtney’s house silently. Once inside, Bobby examined the strange new computer that had appeared in the living room.
“I’m not a computer geek,” he said. “But I’ve never seen anything like this.”
“I’m less freaked about the computer than I am about the cat,” Courtney said.
Bobby spotted the black cat lying on a windowsill, sunning itself. They both walked over to it. Bobby tentatively reached out and rubbed his hand across the cat’s belly. The cat purred.
“Nice,” the cat said dreamily.
Bobby whipped his hand back.
“That’s just creepy,” he said. He reached out again and rubbed the cat’s belly again. He didn’t so much stroke the cat, as examine it. After a few seconds he announced, “It’s not real. I mean, it’s not a living thing. Feel.”
“No thanks,” Courtney said.
“Go ahead, I won’t bite,” the cat said.
Courtney shot Bobby a look, then cautiously reached out and stroked the cat’s belly. “It’s not soft. It feels . . . stiff.”
“It’s mechanical,” Bobby said.
Courtney said, “I don’t know what’s weirder, a talking cat or a mechanical cat.”
“There’s no mystery,” Bobby said. “I’ve seen this. That pepper-spray weapon and this cat—they’re technology from Quillan.”
“Is that it?” Courtney said with surprise. “Has Saint Dane somehow brought Quillan technology to Second Earth?”
“I believe it,” Bobby said, pacing. “He’s trying to break down the barriers between territories. Whatever happened here, the natural evolution of Second Earth has been altered. Every time something new is introduced, a shift is bound to happen. This is nothing. What happens when he stumbles on something that causes a catastrophic change? He might create some mutant strain of disease, or natural disaster. One territory could effect the next and the next until—”
“The Convergence,” Courtney said.
“Yeah,” Bobby said. “The Convergence.”
“What could it be?” Courtney asked.
“I don’t know,” Bobby said. “But Saint Dane and Nevva were pretty sure that it was inevitable.”
The two fell silent.
Courtney had been standing with her hand on the cat’s belly. Suddenly she yelped and pulled her hand away.
“What?” Bobby asked.
“I must have hit something,” she said. “Look.”
A panel had ejected from the cat’s belly, like a drawer. It was a flat white panel with writing on it.
“What is it?” Bobby asked.
Courtney leaned down and took a close look. The cat continued to purr, oblivious.
“Man, this is strange,” she said. “It’s product information. There’s care instructions, it says where to call for service, and—”
Courtney stopped talking. Bobby watched her, waiting for her to continue. She didn’t.
“What?” Bobby finally asked.
Courtney spoke slowly, saying, “There’s a trademark. It has the name of the company that built this thing.”
“Yeah? What is it?” Bobby asked impatiently.
Courtney’s voice was quivering. “Maybe it’s a coincidence.”
“Tell me!” Bobby insisted.
“The name of the company that made this cat is the Dimond Alpha Digital Organization.”
“Dimond?” Bobby repeated. “Spelled like—”
“Yeah, spelled like Mark,” she said.
Bobby paced nervously. “It could be a coincidence,” he said hopefully. “Dimond’s not a hugely common name, but it’s not unheard of, either.”
“Are you not getting it?” Courtney complained.
“Yeah, I’m getting it!” Bobby said. “Dimond, Mark Dimond. We can’t jump to the conclusion that Mark had anything to do with this.”
“Bobby!” Courtney yelled with frustration. “Maybe Mark had something to do with this and maybe he didn’t. But look at the name of the company.”
Bobby leaned down to the cat and read the trademark. “Yeah, I heard you, Dimond Alpha—” Bobby cut himself off. He looked at Courtney.
Courtney finished the thought, “Digital Organization. D-A-D-O. Dado.”
The two stared at each other for several seconds, then Bobby said, “I’m going to the flume.”
“To go where?” Courtney asked.
“To find Mark,” he said.
“I’m going with you,” Courtney said.
“You can’t!” Bobby argued.
“Yes I can!” Courtney shot back. “I read what Saint Dane said. I can use the flume as long as I’m with a Traveler. That’s you.”
“Courtney, first off, I don’t want to put you in danger.”
“I’m already in danger!” she countered. “I spent a whole lot of months in the hospital, remember?”
“And you’re still recovering.”
“I’m fine.”
“Your place is here, on Second Earth,” Bobby argued.
“It’s not just about Second Earth anymore, Bobby!” Courtney shouted. “It’s all coming together. I know what you’re thinking. Whatever Saint Dane did with Mark, they somehow altered the course of events on Second Earth. That’s why things are different. If I’m going to help you protect Second Earth, we’ve got to find Mark, and Mark . . . isn’t . . . here.”
“If you went with me, I’d be no better than Saint Dane,” Bobby said. “I’d be mixing the territories too.”
“They’re already mixed!” Courtney shouted. “This freakin’ robocat is proof of that. And I hate to say that Saint Dane’s right, but every time you go to a territory, you’re kind of mixing things up yourself, aren’t you?
”
Bobby stared at Courtney. Her words were harsh, but hit him. “Is that true?” he said. “Did I do exactly what Uncle Press told me not to do?”
“I don’t know, Bobby—”
“But if we can’t do anything, what’s the purpose of the Travelers?”
“To stop Saint Dane,” Courtney said. “Any way you can. Any way we can.”
Bobby paced nervously and said, “Is it really possible that he convinced Mark to join him?”
“I don’t know,” Courtney said. “But I don’t think it’s that simple. Mark was vulnerable. His parents were killed. I can’t imagine where my head would be if I suddenly lost my parents.”
“Nevva lost her parents,” Bobby said. “It’s one of the things that drove her to Saint Dane.”
“We’ve got to find him, Bobby,” Courtney said. “You can’t go alone. I read how tough it was for you to be alone. Don’t do it again.”
Bobby rubbed his eyes angrily. He looked to Courtney like he wanted to scream.
“He’s my friend too,” Courtney said.
Shortly after, Courtney sat at her kitchen table with a pen and paper to write the impossible. She had to say “good-bye” to her parents. As she sat staring at the blank notepad, she had no idea how to put what she felt into words.
“We should go,” Bobby said.
Courtney wiped away her tears, gripped the pen, and simply wrote: “I love you both more than I can say. Try not to worry about me. I’ll see you soon. Courtney.” She folded the paper in two, placed it on the kitchen table where it was sure to be seen, and looked around the room. She wondered if she would ever see it again. Or her family.
“Second thoughts?” Bobby asked.
“Let’s go,” Courtney said.
Half an hour later the two were standing at the mouth of the flume, staring into infinity.
“How do you feel?” Bobby asked. “I mean, physically. You’ve been through hell.”
Courtney took a second to answer, as if she were doing a mental inventory of her injuries. “You know what I feel like?” she asked.
“Tell me.”
“I feel like all the work I did to heal was getting me ready for this,” she said with confidence. “I am so ready.”
Bobby smiled. That was pure Courtney.
“How is this gonna work?” Courtney asked.
“I don’t know,” Bobby said. “I guess we should just hold hands.”
Bobby held out his hand.
Courtney took it and laughed. “Remember when we all went to the movies after that inter-city Little League game?”
“You mean the game I hit the homer off of you?” Bobby replied.
“And I struck you out three times,” Courtney shot back.
“Yeah, I remember.”
“I worked it so that I could sit next to you in the theater because I was going to try and hold your hand,” Courtney confessed.
“But you didn’t.”
“I was scared.”
“You? Scared?” Bobby said jokingly. “I’ll bet that was the last time.”
Courtney laughed too, then got serious and said, “It wasn’t the last time. I’m scared right now. I’m going to do my best, Bobby, but I’ll never be like Loor.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Bobby said. “Neither will I.”
They both chuckled at that.
“Do you really think Mark is on First Earth?” Courtney asked.
“Maybe,” Bobby said. “It would fit. But I wouldn’t know where to start looking for him, especially with Gunny gone. I think we’re doing the right thing, at least to start.”
“Me too,” Courtney said. “I’m scared, and totally excited.”
“Then let’s go,” Bobby said. He looked into the flume. “Ready?” he asked.
Courtney nodded.
Bobby called out, “Third Earth!”
The flume came to life. Both tensed up, fearing that the tunnel would crack the way it did the last time Courtney traveled. The light appeared from far in the distance and grew quickly. The jumble of sweet notes grew louder. The gray walls melted to crystal. . . .
And the tunnel didn’t crack.
Courtney stepped closer to Bobby and put her arms around him.
“I want to see the future,” she said.
“Good thing,” Bobby said. “You’re about to.”
The light engulfed them. Courtney squeezed Bobby tighter and said, “Hobey-ho. Let’s go.”
The light flashed white, and a moment later they were gone.
To Be Continued
SIMON & SCHUSTER BOOKS FOR YOUNG READERS
An imprint of Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing Division
1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York 10020
www.SimonandSchuster.com
This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real locales are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2006 by D. J. MacHale
All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.
SIMON & SCHUSTER BOOKS FOR YOUNG READERS is a trademark of Simon & Schuster, Inc.
The text of this book was set in Apollo MT.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
MacHale, D. J.
The Quillan games / by D. J. MacHale.—1st S&S ed.
p. cm.—(Pendragon ; bk. 7)
Summary: With more questions than answers about Saint Dane, Bobby travels to the territory of Quillan and is forced to play games where only the winner survives.
ISBN-13: 978-1-4169-1423-5 (hardcover)
ISBN-10: 1-4169-1423-4 (hardcover)
ISBN-13: 978-1-4169-3449-3 (eBook)
[1. Adventures and adventurers—Fiction. 2. Diaries—Fiction. 3. Fantasy.]I. Title. II. Series: MacHale, D. J. Pendragon ; bk. 7.
PZ7.M177535Qui 2006
[Fic]
2005029902
D. J. MacHale, The Quillan Games
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