The Reality Bug

VEELOX

We were good to go.

Loor and I stood facing the three silver disks in the wall of the alpha jump cubicle, wearing our dark green one-piece suits. Loor had been through the prep routine. Her blood had been scanned and she was fitted with a silver control bracelet. I got my own control bracelet too, but after what had happened during my last jump, I wasn’t going to put a whole lot of faith in that thing.

Our safety was in the hands of Aja Killian. She had put the alpha grid that controlled Zetlin’s jump back online. She would now monitor our jump into Zetlin’s fantasy and yank us out if anything went wrong. At least, that was the plan. Once we were in Dr. Zetlin’s jump, the Reality Bug might have plans of its own.

“Any questions?” Aja asked us. She stood at the door of the jump cubicle.

“No,” Loor answered calmly.

What could Loor ask? This was a girl from a territory of primitive, tribal warriors. The idea of jumping into somebody else’s fantasy was about as alien to her as, well, I seriously doubt if there’s anything that comes close to being that alien.

Aja stepped back into the Alpha Core and sat in the big chair. She hit a few buttons on the silver control panel on the arm. Two of the three silver disks in the wall retracted, and the tables slowly slid out. These tubes were on either side of the center jump tube where Dr. Zetlin was lying. It was creepy to think ther was a guy in there, and we were about to leap into his mind.

I hoped there was room for all of us.

“Lie down on the table,” I instructed Loor. “Get comfortable.”

She did. Loor trusted me. Man, I hoped she wasn’t making a mistake. I walked out of the jump cubicle and went to Aja.

“Do you have any idea where we might find him?” I asked.

Aja frowned. “I’m sorry, Pendragon,” she said. “It all depends on the fantasy he created.”

She showed me a picture. It was the old-man version of the little kid in the oil painting outside. There was nothing unique about him. He just looked like a smart old man. He was bald and wore round little glasses. I memorized the face.

“So all I have to do is ask him for the origin code, right?” I asked.

“Yes. Tell him the main grid has been suspended because the processing code has been corrupted. Tell him we have to clean the string.”

“Origin code, corrupted processing code, clean the string-got it.”

“I doubt he’ll give it up easily,” Aja added. She leaned over my shoulder and glanced at Loor, who was now lying quietly on the table. “You may have to force him to end his jump.”

“Let’s find him first,” I said.

“Right,” she said.

There was something bothering me, and I had to say it. “Aja, if the Reality Bug is doing its thing, you might be in danger too. I mean, look what happened to Alex.”

Aja shrugged and gave a cocky reply. “I’m not Alex.”

Gotta love this girl. She wasn’t short on confidence.

“Just be careful,” I said, then turned and walked toward my jump tube.

“Pendragon,” Aja called to me. I stopped at the door to the cubicle and looked back at her.

“I’m glad you’re here,” she said.

It was the nicest thing Aja Killian had ever said to me.

“We’re gonna fix this, Aja,” I said, trying to sound as confident as she was.

“We don’t have a choice,” she replied.

She was right. If we were to have any hope of rescuing Veelox from itself, and from Saint Dane, we had to purge the Reality Bug. I walked back to the jump tubes and looked down at Loor.

“What do I do, Pendragon?” she asked.

“Nothing,” I answered. “Just relax. You’ll slide inside, it’ll be dark for a few seconds and then we’ll be together in the jump.” I called out to Aja, “Right?”

“Exactly,” Aja called back. “I’ll be watching it all on the monitor.”

I hopped up onto my table and settled in. My heart started to beat faster. It was game time.

“Hobey-ho, let’s go!” I called out.

Loor called out, “Aja? What should I be ready for?” I could sense the slight tension in her voice. Loor was the single most fearless person I had ever met. But this was scary, even for her.

Aja answered with one, simple word. “Everything.” Funny. That was exactly what I was afraid of. Everything.

I was hit with a blinding flash of light and threw my hand up to cover my eyes. My first thought was that something had gone haywire and I was floating in Umbo. But a second later I realized what had happened.

I was staring up at the sun.

I quickly looked down to see I was standing on hard-packed dirt. I didn’t think there was a sun or dirt in limbo, so everything was cool. A few seconds later my eyes adjusted, and I got the first look at my surroundings. I was standing in the center of a rocky canyon. The walls rose steeply on either side of me. In the distance, the canyon made a few gentle turns, and emptied out into a green meadow. Beyond that in the far distance were snow-capped mountains. Not bad. Dr. Zetlin’s fantasy took place on a warm, sunny day in the great outdoors.

“Where are we, Pendragon?” Loor asked.

Oh, right. Loor. I almost forgot. I spun around to see her standing behind me. I smiled and said, “Howdy there, buckaroo.”

Loor gave me a strange look that said, “What the heck are you talking about?”

I didn’t blame her, but I couldn’t resist, because Loor was now dressed like a cowboy. Or cowgirl. Or cow-Traveler. Whatever. She had on blue jeans, a deep red shirt, and black cowboy boots. Her long black hair was tied back in a tight ponytail that reached down to the small of her back. Tied around her forehead was a rolled black bandana. She looked great.

I was pretty much dressed the same way: blue jeans, a deep green shirt, and the same kind of black boots. I even had a bandana around my neck. Dr. Zetlin’s fantasy was something right out of the Old West, which raised a weird question. Was there an Old West on Veelox? I guess there had to be, because we were in it.

Loor knelt down and picked up a handful of dirt, then let it spill through her fingers.

“It is real,” she said. “How can that be?”

“It’s real because our minds are telling us it is,” I answered. “Or Zetlin’s mind is telling us it is.”

Loor stood up and gazed around at the canyon. “This is what the man Zetlin is thinking?”

“Yeah,” I said. “He must have wanted to be a cowboy when he grew up.”

“What is a cowboy?” Loor asked.

Before I could answer, I heard a sound. It was a rumble, like far-off thunder.

“You hear that?” I asked.

The curious look on her face told me she did. We both stood there, listening, as the rumbling grew louder.

“It is coming from that direction,” Loor said and pointed deeper into the canyon.

Behind us the canyon walls made a sharp turn. There was no way to know what lay beyond. But Loor was right. Whatever was making that sound was around the bend, and getting louder. That meant it was coming closer. I took a quick look in the other direction. The mouth of the canyon had to be at least a half mile away.

“Look,” Loor said.

I looked back the other way to see a huge, brown cloud of dirt drifting out from around the bend in the canyon. What was coming? A storm? A rock slide? Godzilla? The thunder grew louder. The sound bounced off the walls of the canyon. Whatever was making that sound, it didn’t seem happy. I took another quick look around to see if there was a place we could hide. But the rock walls to either side of us were steep and unforgiving. No way we could climb up. If we were in trouble, the only safe place would be out of this canyon… a half mile away.

I kept my eyes on the bend in the canyon, but started to back toward the mouth.

“I think we’d better get outta here,” I said.

“If this is happening in Zetlin’s head, are we in danger?” Loor asked.

“That depends,” I answered.

“On what?”

“On what’s coming around that corner.”

A second later we had our answer. Charging around the bend of the canyon, running full throttle, was a herd of cattle. There must have been a thousand of them, headed right for us.

“Stampede!” I shouted. “Run!”

Loor and I turned and sprinted away from the charging mass of animals. I took a quick look back and saw that the swarm of beasts was packed nearly wall-to-wall in the canyon, all snorting and grunting with wild eyes. I’ll bet the animals in front of the herd were just as scared as we were. If one of them went down, they’d be trampled by the others charging up from behind. No way they were going to stop. They were running for their lives. Just like us.

“What are they?” asked Loor breathlessly. “Do they eat meat?”

“No, but if they catch us there won’t be anything left to eat anyway!”

There was no place to go for protection. We had to get out of that canyon. But it was too far away. No way could we outrun this charging herd. I looked back again and saw that they were catching up, fast. It was like racing against an avalanche and we were losing. I started to feel the prickle of grit on my neck from the cloud of dirt they were stirring up. In seconds we’d be roadkill. Or canyonkill.

“There!” shouted Loor.

She pointed to the canyon wall ahead of us, where I saw a single, brown vine that snaked down from somewhere above.

“Follow me!” Loor ordered, and ran for it.

There was only one vine. Even if it was strong enough, which I wasn’t sure about, there was barely time for one of us to climb. The herd would be on us in seconds.

“Jump on my back!” Loor commanded.

What? Was she crazy?

“Now!” she demanded, and grabbed the vine.

I wasn’t about to argue. I could feel the ground rumble with the thumping of oncoming hooves. Loor grabbed the vine and I grabbed Loor, wrapping my arms around her neck. She climbed, hand over hand, with her boots on the wall, walking up. I dangled from her neck, hoping she had the strength to do this and hoping the vine was strong enough to hold us both.

The cattle were on us. But we were high enough to be out of harm’s way. They charged past as if we weren’t even there. The mass of animals thundered by only inches below us. I could feel the heat coming up from their bodies. Or maybe it was my own sweat.

“You okay?” I asked Loor.

Loor gave a quick nod. No problem. I could feel the strength in her shoulders and arms. I shouldn’t have doubted her. This was cake for her. Now all we had to worry about was whether the vine would hold until the herd was past.

The cattle kept coming. I couldn’t believe how many there were. Finally, after what felt like a lifetime, the herd started to thin, so they weren’t close to the canyon wall anymore.

And the vine snapped. Loor and I tumbled to the dirt. Luckily I broke Loor’s fall. Lucky for her, that is. It wasn’t so hot for me. She landed on me full force and knocked the wind out of my lungs. Ooof! It took me about a minute to catch my breath, but I didn’t care. We had survived. I glanced up and saw a few straggling cattle trotting after the herd. The rumbling sound of hooves grew faint. I glanced to the end of the canyon and saw the herd spreading out over the green meadow.

“How do you feel?” Loor asked. She was sitting in the dirt, barely winded from the ordeal.

“I feel like a genius,” I said.

“A genius?”

“We’ve only been here two minutes and you’ve already saved my butt. I knew it was the right move to bring you along. Thanks, Loor.”

Loor stood up and helped me to my feet. We started to brush the dust off our clothes when we heard: “What in blazes are you two doing here?”

We looked up to see two cowboys on horseback trotting up to us. These guys were definitely out of the Old West, complete with cowboy hats, leather chaps, and coils of rope around the horns of their saddles.

Neither looked like Dr. Zetlin.

One cowboy asked, “Are you all right?”

“Yeah, we’re fine,” I answered.

“We checked the whole canyon before we drove the herd through,” the other cowboy said. “Where did you two come from?”

“We must have wandered in right after you checked,” I said. It was sort of the truth.

“You coulda gotten killed! What’re you doing all the way up here?”

“We’re looking for somebody,” I answered. “Up here? In the pass?” the first cowboy asked, totally confused.

“Yeah, well, we got lost,” I said. “His name is Zetlin. Do you know him?”

The first cowboy looked at the other and asked, “That the name of the fella staying down in Old Glenville?”

“Could be,” the second cowboy said with a shrug.

The first guy then looked at me and Loor and said, “There’s a man living down in town who might be the one you’re looking for. You been through there?”

“No,” I said with growing excitement. “Could you point the way?”

“Sure,” he answered. “Where are your horses?” Loor and I looked at each other and shrugged. “We lost ‘em,” I said. Wow, could I have given a more lame excuse?

“Lost your horses?” the second cowboy exclaimed. “How did you go and do that?”

“Long story,” I said. “We can walk.”

“It’s too far,” the first cowboy said. “We’ll lend you horses.”

“Really? That’s great!”

“Climb on,” the second guy said.

Loor and I each climbed on to the back of one of the horses, behind the cowboys. A second later we were trotting out of the canyon. It wasn’t exactly comfortable, but way better than walking.

When we reached the mouth of the canyon, I got a full view of the beautiful mountain pass. It was awesome. The dry, rocky canyon gave way to green, rolling meadows that stretched out as far as I could see. The mountains in the distance were immense. I had never seen the Rockies, but this was what I imagined they looked like. It was another example of Veelox looking like Second Earth. Or at least an example of Dr. Zetlin’s fantasy looking like Second Earth. Whatever. It was great.

The two cowboys rode us over to a wagon where they had two more horses hitched. While they saddled up the fresh horses, they explained that they were bringing in the herd for the winter, and often stayed up in the mountains for weeks at a time. That’s why they had four horses. If one got hurt, they didn’t want to have to go back into town to get a replacement. They said that they were nearly done for the season, so they wouldn’t mind lending us these two. They told us to leave them with the blacksmith in town. They’d be down in a few days to pick them up.

Man, these guys were pretty trusting. But then again, this was Dr. Zetlin’s fantasy. Maybe he only put trustworthy people into his jumps.

I had ridden horses a couple of times, at summer camp. So I was comfortable enough to mount up and trot along. But I wasn’t sure about Loor. Did she know how to ride? The answer came when Loor jumped up on her horse like a pro, tugged the reigns, and got her horse to spin in a circle one way, then the other. Show-off. I should have known.

“Follow the worn trail down out of the pass,” the first cowboy explained. “It’s pretty well traveled; you won’t miss it. You should reach town before sunset.”

“Thank you,” Loor said.

“Yeah,” I added. “You really saved us.”

“Aw, heck,” the second cowboy said. “It’s the least we could do for nearly getting you killed back there.”

After a few more thank-yous, Loor and I were on our way to town. It was an awesome ride. The slope was gentle, the air was warm, and the countryside was spectacular.

Loor didn’t look half bad, either. Ever since I first met Loor, I had been trying to prove myself to her. She was an athlete and a warrior. I’d seen her battle guys twice her size and make them look bad. Next to her, I was a total weenie. But she wasn’t all about muscle. Loor had a strong sense of right and wrong. She totally believed in the Travelers and our mission. Her mother died battling Saint Dane’s evil, and I think that made her even more dedicated. But after all we’d been through, I didn’t know how Loor felt about me. Yeah, she was on my side because we were both Travelers, and I know she respected me for some of the things I had done, but I think that’s as far as it went. I thought of Loor as a good friend. I think she only thought of me as a teammate.

We had a long ride into Old Glenville, and there was a lot I wanted to talk to her about. I figured this was as good a time as any.

“When I was on First Earth,” I said to her, “things didn’t go too well.”

“Saint Dane failed,” she said. “That is all that matters.” “Did he?” I said. “We saved the territory, but no thanks to me.”

“And how did that make you feel?” she asked.

“Like I never want to let him get the better of me again,” I said. “And I won’t.”

Loor looked at me and said, “I know you, Pendragon. Your heart is in the right place, but you have been unsure of yourself, and of our mission.”

I wanted to argue, but she was right.

“It sounds to me as if Saint Dane tried to take away your confidence, but instead made you more determined. If that is the case, he made a very bad mistake, for all he managed to do was bring you fully into the conflict. He will regret that.”

In that single moment, things became incredibly clear. I had been struggling with my failure. But now, Loor made me believe that my weakness at that critical moment on First Earth might actually have been the best thing that could have happened. Any doubt I had up to that point about wanting to battle Saint Dane was taken away. Uncle Press always said that this conflict was about more than a single battle. Heck, even Saint Dane said that. By facing my own weakness, maybe I was now ready for the long haul.

“I missed you, Loor,” I said. I wanted her to tell me she missed me, too.

She didn’t. “I will always be there when you need me,” she said. “As I know you will be for me. That is our destiny.”

Okay, maybe not exactly a statement of undying friendship, but it was better than nothing. I guess.

We rode for a long time, mostly in silence. I was beginning to think those cowboys had pointed us in the wrong direction, when…

“Look!” Loor exclaimed, pointing ahead.

I looked to see the tops of buildings peeking up over some trees. This had to be Old Glenville.

“Last one there buys the sniggers,” I exclaimed. “The what?” Loor said.

Too late. I kicked my horse into action and galloped toward town. Loor probably could have beaten me, but I had gotten such a head start that there was no way she could catch up. A few minutes later, I rode straight down the center street of Old Glenville.

It was a ghost town. I pulled up my horse and Loor stopped right beside me. The two of us sat there in the middle of the dirt street, looking around at the empty town.

Old Glenville was something right out of an old-time Western movie. There were two-story wooden buildings down either side of the main street, with wooden sidewalks and hitching posts in front. I saw painted signs on the stores that identified them as: general store and dry goods; barber and dentist; sheriff; telegraph office; and even one that said: coroner. At the end of the street was a church with a tall steeple that dwarfed the rest of the buildings. It was the perfect little frontier town. The only thing missing was people.

“Here we go again,” I said. “Just like Rubic City.”

I kicked my horse into gear and we walked slowly down the center of the street. I listened for any sign of life, but there was none..

“I’m surprised there’s no tumbleweed blowing through,” I said.

“What is tumbleweed?” Loor asked.

As if on cue, a big piece of brown tumbleweed rolled past us. This was getting strange, in more ways than one. I guess I could believe that another territory was just like Earth, but this meant the territory of Veelox also had the same kind of history as Earth. This town of Old Glenville was exactly like a typical town from the Old West in America. Very strange.

“There,” Loor said. She pointed to a barnlike building that was off the main road.

There was a hand-painted sign leaning against a fence that said: BLACKSMITH. This was where we were supposed to leave the horses. We rode over to the barn, but didn’t find a soul. Even stranger, all the tools of the trade were lying around. There were hammers and nails and coal and all the stuff you’d think a blacksmith used. The barn even had a few horses in stalls, but they were the only sign of life. This town looked like it had been recently abandoned.

We tied the horses to a hitching post near the barn. I was about to suggest that we start on one end of town and work our way down the street, searching each and every building, when we heard something strange.

“Music,” Loor said.

It was old-fashioned, honky-tonk piano music, which is the exact kind of music you’d expect to hear in a Western town. “I’ll bet you a dollar there’s a saloon around here,” I said. “What is a saloon?” Loor asked. “I’ll show you.”

Not that I had ever been in a saloon, but I had seen enough Western movies to know that’s usually where the music was played. And since everything about this town smelled of the Old West, I had no doubt we’d find a saloon. So we took off walking back to the main street. The closer we got, the louder the music became.

Sure enough, across the street I spotted a sign over a balcony that said in fancy gold letters: Old Glenville Saloon.

We walked across the dusty street like a couple of gun-slingers headed toward the O.K. Corral. The music was definitely coming from the saloon. As we got closer I saw a set of swinging doors in front. Classic Western. We got as far as

222 230 the wooden sidewalk and were about to step up, when the piano suddenly stopped. Loor and I did too.

We then heard the sound of a chair scraping across the floor inside, as if someone were standing up. It was followed by the sound of footsteps walking across the floor, headed for the swinging doors, and us.

Loor and I didn’t move. Whoever was inside, we were about to meet them. I really hoped it was Dr. Zetlin.

It wasn’t.

When the swinging doors flew open, I saw something that made me question whether this was Dr. Zetlin’s fantasy nightmare… or mine. Because standing in the door before us was Saint Dane.

He wore black from head to toe, like a gunfighter. On his hips were twin six-shooters. His gray mane of hair fell down to his shoulders, topped off with a black cowboy hat. The demon acted as if he were expecting us. He smiled a yellow-toothed grin, stared at us with those cold blue eyes, and said, “Looks like it’s time to liven up this dead little town!”

(CONTINUED)