The Quillan Games

QUILLAN

I had a restless night. You know that feeling where you can’t get to sleep on Christmas Eve because you’re so excited about all the great things that will be waiting for you in the morning?

It wasn’t anything like that.

Except for the not being able to sleep part. I was excited, but it wasn’t because I couldn’t wait to see what amazing things Santa had dropped off for me. I was more worried about finding out what Saint Dane had been cooking up in his diabolical workshop. Everything that had happened since I landed on Quillan kept running through my head. Unfortunately, nothing I thought of got me any closer to figuring out what Saint Dane’s plot was. The only hint I had that Saint Dane was even around was the original invitation he’d sent me through the flume from Veego and LaBerge. Though Saint Dane and I were enemies, he had never sent me on a wild-goose chase. Just the opposite. He wanted me to follow him. I suppose I should be grateful, but in truth it confused me. If Saint Dane’s goal was to tip each territory toward chaos, why did he always let me know where he was headed next?

The only explanation I could come up with isn’t a happy one. I’ve said this before, but with each new adventure I believe more and more that it’s true. For Saint Dane it isn’t only about tipping the territories toward chaos and ruling Halla. Yeah, I think that’s his ultimate goal, but given all that’s happened, I believe there’s more to it. I think he wants to control Halla all right, but I think he also wants to beat the Travelers… and me. Why else would he always let me know where he’s going next? He could easily sneak off to a territory and make it that much harder for me to track him. But he doesn’t. It’s like he wants to make a game out of it. Why is that? We’ve stopped him on five territories. Obviously we’re up to the challenge. Yes, we’ve paid a steep price and lost many Travelers, but the bottom line is, we’re winning. Still, things are never what they appear to be with Saint Dane. He sets the rules. All we can do is react. So even though we’ve stopped him five times, he’s still calling the shots. It makes me wonder. Are we really winning? Or is everything that’s happening just one small piece in some grand scheme of Saint Dane’s? I want to be happy about our successes, but I can’t help but think that in some way, he’s playing us.

I have to believe that question will be answered in time, but it doesn’t stop me from wondering. That’s why I couldn’t sleep. I was excited and scared. Excited that I wouldn’t have to sit around anymore, and scared because, well, I guess that’s obvious. Whatever was going to happen the next day, I had to believe it would bring me closer to Saint Dane.

I finally couldn’t take it anymore and got out of bed just before the sun came up. I showered, put on a clean set of Challenger Red clothes, and found that Fourteen had brought breakfast and put it by my bed while I was getting dressed in the bathroom. It was nice of him, but it also kind of creeped me out, like he was watching me and knew exactly what I was doing at every minute.

“Tell me about Blok and the trustees,” I asked my robot friend as I ate. “What is Blok? Is it the government? Do the trustees run the city? Or the country? What country is this anyway? Are there more trustees all over Quillan?”

Fourteen put his hand up, signaling for me to stop asking questions.

“We are instructed to see to your comfort,” he answered. “And to not answer questions concerning anything that happens beyond the confines of this compound. I am sorry.”

“Really?” I said, thinking fast. “But if you want me to be more comfortable, then you’ll answer my questions.”

Fourteen was in the middle of pouring me a cup of green stuff. He stopped and looked at me. I smiled innocently. For a second I thought my perfect logic had crossed his circuits enough to get him to give me some answers.

“I am a dado, Pendragon,” he said. “Not an idiot.”

I shrugged and said, “Oh, well, I tried.”

Fourteen continued, “There are a few subjects that we are forbidden to discuss. One of them is Blok. If we were to engage the challengers with such talk, we would be taken off line and scrapped.”

“Oh, sorry,” I said. I took a chance and added, “Are you allowed to talk about Mr. Pop?”

Fourteen didn’t respond. If was like he didn’t even hear that question. I didn’t press.

“When you are finished eating,” he said, “I will escort you down to the courtyard. From there you will be taken into the city.”

“Any idea what I should expect?” I asked.

I could swear his black eyes softened. I know, robot. I was probably imagining it. But I felt as if buried somewhere deep in those diodes, there was a heart beating.

“There is no need to worry, Pendragon,” he said. “You are being taken to the trustees as a kind of… of…”

He was looking for the right words. I helped him out by saying, “Show and tell?”

“Yes,” he said. “That sounds right. Veego and LaBerge want to show the trustees how valuable they believe you are. It is nothing more than that. You will not be asked to fight again until-“

“Until I come back here.” I finished his sentence.

Fourteen nodded.

“Can you tell me what the Grand X is?” I asked.

“Yes,” he replied. “As you know, there are games played all the time, but once every two quads there is a tournament that pits the best challengers against each other. It is watched by more citizens than any other contest, because it is always the most exciting and closely challenged.”

“Sort of like the Super Bowl of Quillan games,” I suggested.

Fourteen gave me a blank look.

“Sorry,” I said. “You have no idea what that means.”

He continued, “Challenger Green has triumphed at the previous three Grand X’s, which has never happened before. Veego and LaBerge have been concerned that they might not find another challenger who has a chance of dethroning him-“

“Because if he always wins, nobody would wager against him,” I said.

“That is correct,” Fourteen said.

“So Veego and LaBerge want Challenger Green to lose?” I asked.

“I do not know,” the robot answered. “But I do know that it would increase the wagering if there was a chance that Challenger Green might lose.”

“That’s where I come in,” I said with finality.

Fourteen nodded and backed away. “I’ll wait for you in the corridor,” he said.

Great. I was the guy who was supposed to give the champion a good fight. Did Veego and LaBerge want to dethrone the champion? Or was I supposed to put up a good fight, only to be beaten in the end, kind of like that phony basketball team that always plays the Harlem Globetrotters. And to make it all so perfectly obnoxious, it was a Traveler who put me in this spot! More than ever I wanted to talk to Nevva Winter. She had some explaining to do.

I finished breakfast and went into my bathroom, where I had hidden the blocking diode Nevva had given me. I had no idea if I would need it on this trip, but I couldn’t take the chance. The loop on my arm may have been lightweight, but the idea of having something clamped on to my body that monitored my every movement made it feel heavier than it was. For the eight billionth time I tried to slip it off. For the eight billionth time it clamped tighter on to my arm as soon as I applied pressure. It seemed almost alive. I wanted to stick that blocking diode onto it right then, but that would have been stupid. I had to wait for the right time. I had hidden the diode inside an extra bar of soap in my bathroom. So long as nobody wandered in to take a shower, it was the safest and most secret place I could think of. I had to be careful taking it out, because I wasn’t sure if I was being watched. So I pretended to wash my hands in the sink, while digging the small clip out of the soap. I casually stuck it in my back pocket, and headed out.

Fourteen was waiting outside my door. We walked quickly down to the ground floor and the front entrance of the castle. Waiting outside for me was a black car that looked exactly like the car that had brought me to the castle originally. I hoped Nevva Winter was inside.

Fourteen said, “Veego and LaBerge have gone ahead. You will meet them at the Blok building. The dados will escort you.”

On cue, two police goons stepped out of the front seat and glared at me.

“You’re not coming?” I asked Fourteen.

“We service dados do not leave the compound,” Fourteen answered. “Do not worry, as long as you do as they say, you won’t have trouble with the security dados.”

Security dados. That’s the first time I heard what those creeps were called. I took a breath and walked down the steps toward the car.

“I’ll bring you back something special,” I called back to Fourteen.

“Special?” he asked, confused.

“Never mind,” I said. “It was a joke.” I forgot, dados didn’t get jokes. One of the security dados opened the back door for me and stood there, expecting me to get in. A quick glance inside showed me that Nevva wasn’t there.

“How ‘bout if I drive?” I asked the doll-faced robot.

He didn’t react.

“Man, you’ve gotta lighten up,” I said, and sat down in the car. I gave Fourteen a quick wave and saw him wave back an instant before the dado slammed the door on me. I didn’t bother to try to see if it was locked. As much as I didn’t want to be held prisoner by these sadistic monsters, I needed to be there. I wasn’t going to try to escape. Yet.

We drove out of the courtyard, across the wooden bridge, and along the winding road that led through the forest. I had gotten to know the grounds pretty well on my runs. It was a vast green oasis in the center of the gray city. I’d even say it was beautiful, if it weren’t for the fact that it was a staging area for games of death.

The elaborate golden gates that led to the city slowly swung open as the car approached. A moment later I once again found myself in the middle of the dark, depressing city of Rune. As we drove through the busy streets, I tried to memorize the route, but it was impossible. Every building looked like every other building. I didn’t even see street signs.

“How the heck do you know where you’re going?” I called to the dados up front.

They didn’t answer. They didn’t even turn around. Are you surprised?

“Hey!” I said. “Hit the radio. Let’s have some music.”

Still no reaction. I decided to stop trying to get a rise out of the security dados.

We drove for around twenty minutes. The only thing interesting to look at were the huge screens on top of the buildings. Each one showed the exact same thing, so it wasn’t hard to keep shifting my look from one to the next. What I saw was pretty much the exact same thing as when I arrived. There were moving multicolored geometric shapes, occasionally broken up by a talking head blabbing about the weather or something else just as boring. I was beginning to realize how important the games were to the people of Quillan. From what I could tell, the games were their only source of entertainment.

After we made one last turn, I finally saw something that was out of the ordinary. The long, wide street ended at a building. It was a huge structure that was much bigger than any of the surrounding towers. The thing was massive and dark, as if it were carved from a huge black stone. I didn’t have to ask the dado boys what it was. It was all too obvious. Near the top of the building, looming over the street, were shiny silver letters that had to be ten feet high. They reminded me of the silver signs that marked the various stores on street level. I’ll give you one guess as to what it said. Yeah, you’re right. blok.

I wasn’t sure if I should be impressed, or scared, or excited that I was finally going to get some answers. The car zipped right up to the building and screeched to a stop. A wide set of stairs led up from the sidewalk to the huge front doors of this imposing building. I took a peek out my window and gazed up at the massive structure. Everything I guessed about this Blok thing made me believe that whatever it was, it held a lot of power here on Quillan. This building only confirmed that. Blok = power. Power = control over people’s lives. Control over people’s lives = Saint Dane. I was getting closer.

My eyes traveled down from the giant silver letters to the top of the stairs, where I saw a welcome sight. Nevva Winter. She stood there looking very efficient, with a clipboard of some kind in the crook of her arm. I had to believe she was waiting for me. At least I hoped she was.

“Now what?” I asked the dado dudes.

Without a word the guy on the passenger side got out of the car and opened my door. I pulled myself out and glanced up at Nevva. She didn’t acknowledge me. Fine. I didn’t acknowledge her, either. The sidewalks were busy with people, yet as crowded as they were, none walked on the sidewalk in front of the big Blok building. Everybody stayed on the far side of the street, even though walking in front of the building would have been much easier because it wasn’t crowded. It was like they feared a plague was on this side of the street.

As big as the building was, nobody exited or entered. The sight gave me a little shiver. What was the deal? Were people afraid of the place?

The driver dado joined his pal and the two looked at me with those blank doll eyes.

“Thanks for the lift, guys,” I said. “Wait here for me, okay? I won’t be long. Keep the engine running.” I started up the stairs. The two dados followed right behind me. I guessed they were making sure I didn’t bolt. Just to mess with them, I stopped suddenly. I hoped they would be surprised and stumble or something. They didn’t. The instant I stopped, they stopped. I took another step, they took another step. It was like these two were wired to me. I took a step, then quickly whipped around and stared at them. They didn’t flinch.

“What are you guys? Robots?” I said.

They didn’t react. Oh, well. At least I was amusing myself.

“Challenger Red,” Nevva called. “Please hurry. We’re running late.”

I jogged up the rest of the stairs. She greeted me with a small smile. A very small smile.

“Good morning. Challenger Red,” she said formally.

“Where have you been?” I asked, trying to sound as irked as I felt.

Her answer was a quick glance to the dados. I got it. She was saying, “Don’t talk in front of the robots.”

“We must go right to the trustee chambers,” she said. “Veego and LaBerge are already there.”

“Sure,” I said. “Wouldn’t want to keep Pete and Re-Peat waiting.”

Nevva started for the front door. I followed. The dados didn’t. I figured their job was done once they handed me off to Nevva.

“Bye, kids,” I said cheerily to the robots. “Go get yourselves an ice cream, on me.”

The dados didn’t react. We entered the building through a grand revolving door. Inside was a massive lobby that soared three stories high. On the wall directly in front of us was another huge silver sign that said: blok.

“What’s with the big signs?” I asked. “Are they afraid they’ll forget who they are or something?”

“The trustees like to maintain an impressive presence,” Nevva answered without breaking stride.

“Yeah, no kidding,” I said. “Are you gonna tell me what’s going on?”

Nevva took a quick glance around. I wasn’t sure why; there wasn’t another person to be seen. The place was huge and empty. Our footsteps echoed back at us.

“Everyone is observed. Always,” Nevva said under her breath. She didn’t look at me as she spoke, in order to give the illusion we weren’t talking. “The meeting here will answer some of your questions. Did you bring the item I gave you?”

“Item?” I didn’t understand what she was talking about at first. She gave me a quick, stern look… and I remembered. “Oh yeah, right. The item. Yeah, I’ve got it.” She was talking about the blocking diode.

“Good,” she said. “You’ll need it.”

“Want to tell me why?” I asked.

“No,” she answered flatly. “I told you, we’re being watched.”

Okay, I figured it would be best to play it her way. We were on her turf. She was a Traveler. I had to believe she knew what she was doing. She led me to an elevator that was already open, waiting for us. Usually in big buildings like that there’s a whole line of elevators. Not only one. We got in and the door closed instantly. I saw that there were no buttons to push. The elevator rose on its own.

“How does it know where we want to go?” I asked.

“This elevator only goes to the chambers,”Nevva answered.

“So anybody could come in here and head on up?” I asked.

“No,” she said. “As I have told you now three times, we are being watched.” Oh. Right.

“What’s your job here?” I asked. “You can answer that, can’t you?”

“I am the special assistant to the trustees of the company,” she answered professionally. “I schedule their appointments, handle their correspondence, and generally make sure that their every need is met while they are working.”

“Company,” I said, my mind spinning. “Working? Blok is a business? I thought it was, like, the government or something.”

Nevva chuckled. “Blok is the largest company on Quillan. It is larger than any government on the territory, and far more powerful.”

“Wow,” I said. “A company that’s more powerful than a government. That’s… scary. What do they do? I mean, what’s their business?”

“Blok has many enterprises,” she answered. “But above all else, it is a store.”

The elevator doors opened and Nevva stepped out. I didn’t. Had I heard right? Blok was a store? A store? Like, where you bought stuff? I remembered back to the plates I’d found in that warehouse. They were all marked with the Blok logo. The products on the shelves of the stores had the Blok logo as well. I couldn’t get my mind around the concept.

“Please follow me. Challenger Red,” Nevva said firmly.

I drifted out of the elevator, trying to make sense of what Nevva had revealed. We were in a bare room that had no furniture and a single door on the far wall across from the elevator. On either side of the door were big Blok logos, no surprise. Nevva hurried over to the door and turned to me.

“Don’t ask questions,” she said. “Answer only if you are asked directly. This shouldn’t take long. Do you understand?”

I said, “Understand? You’re kidding, right? I don’t understand anything.”

Nevva leaned in to me and said softly, “You will.”

With a quick wink she opened the door and stood aside for me to enter and meet my future… and the future of Quillan.

(CONTINUED)