The Never War

FIRST EARTH

“I’m disappointed in you, Pendragon,” Saint Dane said. “I’ve left so many clues for you like breadcrumbs in the forest, and it’s still taken you all this time to uncover my little plot. Time is growing short. Are you losing interest?”

Saint Dane walked casually around the room with his hands clasped behind his back. Gunny and I kept our distance. It was like being trapped in a room with a wild animal. You never knew what this guy was going to do.

“I suppose the loss of your uncle’s sage guidance has made it all the more difficult for you to keep up with me.”

Oh, man. This guy loved to hit where it hurt the most.

He then added, “I must admit, you surprised me on both Denduron and Cloral.”

“Why’s that?” I asked.

“You were a force to be reckoned with. For that, I bow to you. And I must apologize for my own foolishness. It was a mistake to ask you to join me on my quest.”

“You got that right,” I said quickly. “No way I’ll ever join you.” Saint Dane stopped walking and smiled. He was enjoying this.

I wasn’t.

“You misunderstand,” he said. “My only mistake was asking you too early. It gave you the impression that I was somehow…vulnerable.” He chuckled. “I assure you, I am not. That’s why I chose to play out this latest game on the Earth territories. Yourhome territories. I wanted to demonstrate how easy it is for me to make you dance like a toy puppet. Mytoy puppet. In spite of what you may think due to our past encounters, I am in total control.”

“You aren’t in control,” Gunny said with authority. “Not anymore.”

Saint Dane let out a deep, bellowing laugh. I hated that.

“Such an amusing old man,” Saint Dane chuckled.

“Old enough to know how to handle the likes of you,” Gunny shot back.

“Oooh,” Saint Dane bellowed in mock fear. “Forgive me if I don’t feel threatened by an old man who doesn’t possess the courage to fire a weapon.”

“You think you’re bothering me,” Gunny said without missing a beat. “But you’re not.”

“Stick around, Gunny,” Saint Dane snapped back at him. “By the time we’re done, I promise, you will be very, very bothered.”

Saint Dane walked to the glass doors that led to the balcony. He threw them open, letting in a chilly wind. He stood with his back to us, looking out over the gray city.

“You see, Pendragon, my victory here on First Earth means much more than the toppling of three territories. What makes this all so wonderfully special is, you’re the one who is doing it for me.” That was a strange comment. I didn’t like it, one bit.

“We know what’s going on, Saint Dane,” I said. “We know what will happen if theHindenburgdoesn’t crash. We went to Third Earth.”

Saint Dane spun back to us and exclaimed, “Well, of course you went to Third Earth! I was counting on it. Iwantedyou to know what would happen.”

That wasn’t the reaction I expected. Gunny and I shot each other a quick look.

Saint Dane chuckled and said, “You still don’t understand, do you? I’ve been leading you and your band of merry men around like trained dogs. Everything that’s happened, every turn, every surprise, I’ve orchestrated. You knew to follow me to First Earth because of the bullets that killed your uncle. But to be sure, I first went to Veelox. That annoying Traveler girl thought she was being so clever by recording my arrival. I couldn’t have been any clearer in telegraphing my ultimate destination if I had painted a sign on my back.”

I thought back to the hologram that Aja Killian showed us of Saint Dane arriving at the flume on Veelox, then making a show of calling out “First Earth!” before leaving again. Now that I think of it, itwaspretty obvious.

“Once you were here, my only challenge was to make sure you discovered Winn Farrow’s plot to destroy theHindenburg. I knew that once you learned of his plan, you’d do everything possible to prevent that ship from blowing up. The idea of innocent lives being lost is just too horrible a concept for your righteous mind to accept.”

As Saint Dane spoke, I thought back to the events that led us to crossing paths with Winn Farrow.

“The gangsters in the subway?” I asked.

“I brought them to the flume to put you on the trail of Winn Farrow,” he answered. “Killing Press was a bonus.”

I forced myself not to let that throw me.

“But they tried to kill us. Twice.”

“They were supposed to warn you to stay away from Winn Farrow, which I knew would send you running to him like rats to garbage. Killing you was their idea. Idiots. That’s why I had to dispose of one of them. Or should I say, Harlow had to.”

“The gangster who fell from the hotel was pushed by Harlow? I mean, by you?” Gunny asked in surprise.

Saint Dane answered with a proud bow. Now we knew how Mr. Nasty Gangster died. It was Saint Dane.

“I couldn’t let him kill you,” he said. “Not before my drama played out. You might say I was your guardian angel, Pendragon.”

“In the slaughterhouse,” I said, remembering. “You left the door open so we could escape.”

“Again, guilty,” he said, gloating.

He then took a step back, and transformed. His body grew watery and in a few seconds he became…Ludwig Zell.

“You were Zell, too?” I shouted in surprise.

“Not until recently,” Zell/Saint Dane said. “Once Max Rose learned of the plot to destroy theHindenburg, I knew he would warn Herr Zell.”

Zell/Saint Dane walked over to a closet door.

“I couldn’t have our Nazi friend sending the zeppelin back to Germany, so I had to intervene.”

Zell/Saint Dane opened the door and a body rolled out. It was Ludwig Zell. TherealLudwig Zell. He was pretty dead. No matter how many times I see dead guys, I can’t get used to it.

“Poor Ludwig was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Max Rose thought he was giving his Nazi cohort the bad news, but he was actually telling me.”

The truth was rushing at me way too fast. I was getting dizzy.

“But why?” I asked. “If Ludwig Zell warned Germany, theHindenburgwould be saved. That’s what you want, isn’t it? What difference would it makehowit was saved?”

Zell/Saint Dane’s attitude grew dark. He took a step toward me, and as he did, he transformed back into his evil-looking self. His horrid eyes locked on mine and he spoke through clenched teeth.

“Because this is aboutyou, Pendragon!” he seethed. “I don’t care what happens to that airship. I don’t care what happens to these pathetic Earth territories. I don’t care who wins their silly war or what they do with this useless world afterward.”

“You don’t?” I said, totally confused.

“In a few short hours the course of your world will be changed forever. The Earth territories will fall into chaos. And who will be to blame? You! If you hadn’t come here to stop me, history would have played out the way it was intended. But you couldn’t stay away. You put yourself into the equation and because of that, three territories will collapse. Yourhomewill collapse.”

I stared into Saint Dane’s fierce eyes. I’m not sure which I was more afraid of: him or the horror to come. Everything he said was true. If Spader and I hadn’t chased him to First Earth, theHindenburgwould be destined to crash, the way it was supposed to. But now, because of my meddling, there was a good chance theHindenburgwould be saved and the Earth territories doomed. This whole adventure was to prove how easily Saint Dane could manipulate us. Manipulateme. The amazing thing was, he was willing to destroy three territories to do it. Saint Dane then said, “How does it feel, knowing this was all for you?”

The two of us held eye contact. In that one, horrible moment, things became all too clear. I knew where the struggle between Saint Dane and the Travelers was headed. Someday, somehow, somewhere, it was going to come down to Saint Dane…

And me. That’s why he was doing his best to prove himself to me. What a sickening thought. The only thing that kept me from losing it was knowing that the ultimate day of reckoning wasn’t today. No, this was far from over.

“I’ll tell you how it makes me feel,” I answered with a very small voice. “I feel that as long as you’re trying to impress me, I can beat you.”

There was a frozen moment.

“You think you understand me?” he said. “You think you have the strength to bring me down? Talk to me again in a few hours, after you’ve gone to Second Earth to see the scorched world where your friends used to live. Everything you’ve ever loved will no longer exist, Pendragon. Your home will be turned into a charred pit of death… and it will be your fault.”

“We still have time,” I said. “We can still make sure theHindenburgcrashes.”

An odd thing happened then. Saint Dane smiled. It wasn’t like the sly, knowing smiles he usually threw at me. This was a genuine, wide, Cheshire-cat grin. The guy was actually happy. Being that it was Saint Dane, a sincere smile seemed all the more grotesque. It was totally creepy.

“Yes,” he said. “You still have time. Please, make the most of it.”

He backed away from me and walked over to the door. He turned the knob and gave a look of mock surprise. “Oh, no, it’s locked.” he announced. “Max Rose is so paranoid. He’s made all of these doors self-locking. But you already knew that, didn’t you?”

He then reached into his pocket and pulled out an old-fashioned brass key. He waved it at us, taunting us.

“But no fear,” he said. “I’ve got the key.” Saint Dane walked out on the balcony. “Do you think you can stop it, Pendragon?” he asked. “If I let you out of here, do you think you can stop Spader? And Rose? Could you let theHindenburgcrash?”

“We can try,” I said.

“Of course you can,” Saint Dane said as he backed toward the edge of the balcony. “And I want you to. I want you to come close. I want you to feel as if you’ve beaten me one more time, because that’s when victory is the sweetest…when your opponent feels as if he actually has a chance to win, just before it all comes crashing down.”

He looked out over the city and said, “I think I’ll return to Veelox and see what trouble I can stir up. That little girl Traveler is even more sure of herself than you, Pendragon. She’s in for a big surprise.” He was at the edge of the balcony now.

“Good-bye, my friends. Enjoy your afternoon.” Saint Dane gave an exaggerated bow, and in one graceful move, jumped up and off the balcony!

Gunny and I gave each other a quick, unbelieving glance, then ran for the railing. Just as we were about to look over the side, a huge, black raven rose up from below. I swear, it was the biggest crow I had ever seen in my life. It was more like the size of an eagle. The bird rose as if riding on thermals. Then with one quick snap of its wings, it turned and sailed off. But the instant before it left, I saw that it was holding something in its curved beak. It was only a quick flash, but I was certain I had seen it.

It was an old-fashioned brass key.

“You don’t think-?” Gunny asked.

“I don’t know,” I answered. “I don’t care. We’ve got to get outta here.”

I ran back into the apartment and over to the door. I tried the knob to make sure it was locked. It was. I took a quick look around and saw another door. I ran to that one. Yeah, it was locked too. Those two doors were the only way out of this room.

“We’ll have to break ‘em down!” I announced.

I was all set to put my shoulder to the door and start bashing away, when Gunny warned, “Don’t!”

“We have to!” I shouted.

“We’ll never break those doors down,” Gunny said. “Max Rose had them reinforced with steel. This was his fortress. You couldn’t knock them down with a battering ram.”

I quickly scanned the living room, looking for another way out…and saw the telephone. I grabbed it, only to find it was dead.

“He cut the phone lines,” I announced. I then looked at my watch. It was almost noon. “Gunny, we’re running out of time.”

TheHindenburgwas going to arrive in nine hours.