Raven Rise

SECOND EARTH

“Whatdoesitsay?” Alder asked, groggy, as he rolled over in his bunk.

I clutched the bloody note. The message was cryptic and hurried. It was barely legible. I hoped it was because Patrick only used computers and had lousy penmanship. I was kidding myself. Patrick was in trouble. Or worse. Blood is never an indication of something good.

“It’s from Patrick,” I answered.

Alder sat up, suddenly wide awake. “Did he learn something of Naymeer?”

I nodded and handed him the note. He looked at it carefully, feeling the moisture. He gave meaconcerned look and read Patrick’s words: “N. exiles enemies through flume. Begins w/Bronx Massacre. Patrick.”

Alder read the words aloud once, then twice. “‘N.’ is Naymeer?” he asked.

“That’s my guess,” I replied.

“What isaBronx?”

“It’s where the other flume is.”

“How can Naymeer send people into exile? The flume can only be used with a Traveler.”

“Unless the Convergence has changed things,” I said soberly.

Alder added, “Then where would Naymeer send them?”

I sat up and rubbed my eyes. I was tired and wired at the same time. “I don’t know. What if he doesn’t send them anywhere? Massacre and exile aren’t the same things.”

“The flume is not an execution device, Pendragon,” Alder corrected.

Reading Patrick’s note may have raised more questions than it answered, but it cemented something in my head.

“Patrick wrote this Bronx Massacre is where it begins,” I said thoughtfully. “Sounds like a turning point to me.”

Alder nodded. “Perhaps it is the first time that Naymeer will use the flume to exile his enemies.”

“Or murder them,” I cautioned.

“Whatever it is, we must stop it,” Alder declared.

I looked down. I didn’t like where my head was going. The last-ditch plan I’d thought of earlier suddenly felt a lot more like a possibility. Unfortunately.

“Tell me your thoughts, Pendragon,” Alder said softly.

“This is too big for us,” I answered. “You said it yourself. This is a busy territory. You have no idea how right you are. We’re not talking about primitive tribes or local conflicts here. The problem is global. I’m telling you, altering world events isn’t a simple thing. Naymeer has a huge following. His cult is about to get recognized by the United Nations. That’s a worldwide organization! It’ll be impossible for us to convince enough people that he’s leading them down a dangerous path. I wouldn’t know where to begin.”

“But we must try,” Alder muttered.

“Trust me, we can’t handle something that big. Our only hope is to think small.”

Alder nodded thoughtfully. “Have you an idea?”

I took a deep, uneasy breath and continued, “This is all about Naymeer. He’s the center of it all. Saint Dane may be pulling his strings, but Naymeer is the voice of Ravinia.”

Alder gave me a sober look. I think he knew where I was headed. I didn’t like it any more than he did.

I continued, “If we take Naymeer out of the picture, Ravinia might crumble.”

“Are you suggesting what I think you are?”

I nodded. “We should try and get him off Second Earth. If we remove the head, the body might die.”

“We would have to get him to a flume,” Alder said thoughtfully. “That will be difficult. He is protected.”

“It’ll be next to impossible,” I shot back. “Short of that, there’s only one other thing we can do.”

Alder said it first. “Are you suggesting we kill him? Kill a Traveler?”

Hearing the words made it sound even worse, but it was exactly what I was thinking. I nodded. I couldn’t believe it. I was actually thinking that we would have to kill Naymeer. “Unless you have a better idea,” I added hopefully.

Alder leaned back against the hull. I didn’t think I’d ever seen him look so centered. So serious. I waited for him to respond, but he stayed silent, lost in his thoughts.

“Talk to me, Alder!” I finally shouted. “Am I crazy?”

Alder was calm. He spoke softly, but with authority. “We have done many things that go against our mandate as Travelers. Killing would certainly be one of them.”

“We made the choices we had to make,” I said defensively. “If we hadn’t broken a few rules, the turning points of many territories would have gone the wrong way.”

“Would that have been so bad?” Alder asked quickly.

Icouldn’t believe what I was hearing. “Well, yeah!” I argued. “We stopped Saint Dane most every time.”

“To what end?” Alder asked. “He is on the verge of controlling Halla in spite of our efforts. I cannot help but wonder what would have happened if we had not broken the rules. Would we be in any worse of a situation than we are right now?”

Iwas getting angry. Alder was questioning everything we had done as Travelers.

“I don’t buy that,” I shot back. “Anything we can do to stop Saint Dane is justified.”

“Iwould agree,” Alder stated calmly, “if we had stopped him. We have not.”

Iwanted to argue, but he was right. All the battles up to that point didn’t matter. Everything was happening as Saint Dane predicted. In spite of all we had done, all our victories, he was on the verge of controlling Halla.

“So what do we do? Give up?” I shouted in frustration.

“No,” Alder answered quickly. “I am saying we should use every possible method at our disposal, before once again doing something we know is wrong.”

“Of course we will!” I shouted. “You think I want to kill somebody?”

We sat silently for a few moments. I had to cool down. Alder was on my side. Arguing wouldn’t help things.

“Taking a life is a frightening step,” Alder continued. “Maybe a step too far. If we murdered someone in cold blood, would we be taking the final step down to Saint Dane’s level?”

“Yes” was my honest answer.

Alder thought for a few more seconds, then said, “You have never taken a life, have you, Pendragon?”

I shook my head. I had been surrounded by death and destruction from the moment I became a Traveler, but never at my own hands. Even with the Hindenburg, it was Gunny who allowed the rocket to be fired. Not me.

I swallowed hard and admitted, “I’m not even sure I could.”

“You must not find out now,” Alder concluded.

“What other choice do we have?”

“Only one. If it comes to it, I will kill Naymeer.”

I hadn’t expected that. “What? Why?”

“It is wrong to take another life,” Alder explained. “However, if it would mean stopping the Ravinians and righting Second Earth, I believe it would be justified. If it would prevent a massacre, it would be justified. If it would end the Convergence and protect Halla, it would be justified. I believe that. But I also believe it would be disastrous for you to do it.”

“Why? What difference does it make?”

“You are the lead Traveler, Pendragon. You are the way. You have always been the way. You must rise above. If Halla is to be put right, many will look to you for guidance. I believe that is the way it was meant to be. If we are to believe that our way is the right way, you cannot become a killer. If it came to that, I believe Halla would truly be lost, and Saint Dane would have his ultimate victory.”

Alder’s words rang true. We were the good guys. Or so I always thought. Yes, we made mistakes and didn’t always play by the rules, but I always believed our intentions were right and our actions justified. This was different.

Deliberately taking a life, in cold blood, felt like it crossed the line. Even more so than mixing territories. I wasn’t sure it would be okay for Alder to do it and not me, but I was willing to accept the possibility. Saint Dane told me so many times that this was a battle not only for Halla, but between the two of us. He wanted to prove himself superior to me. I still didn’t know who he wanted to prove it to, but some higher power had to be involved. Maybe I was kidding myself by thinking that condoning a murder, without actually doing it, got me off the hook. That felt like a technicality. But if this were truly a battle between Saint Dane and me, I had to think that taking the high road and not actually having blood on my hands was the right way to go.

“All right,” I finally said. “We’ll try to get Naymeer off the territory. If we fail and have to do something more drastic, I’ll step aside for you, Alder. But not if it means losing him.”

“Very well. Please remember, though, that there may be a lot more to lose if you do not step aside,” Alder said.

With those ominous words in my head, I lay back down on the bunk and closed my eyes.

“I gotta sleep,” I said. “Tomorrow is going to be a long day. Wake me up in two hours. We have work to do.”