D. MacHale - Raven Rise

“Could that be it?” Courtney asked. “Could that be the turning point for Second Earth? The acceptance of Naymeer’s vision by the UN?”

“This isn’t Naymeer’s vision,” Mark corrected. “This is pure Saint Dane. What happened on Third Earth could be the fate of every other territory. Saint Dane is revealing the existence of Halla through this Naymeer guy. This is the ultimate mixing of the territories. How can any society follow its own destiny when they’re aware that so much more is out there? Saint Dane is probably going to follow the same model on every other territory.”

“Then this is it,” Courtney said with finality. “This is the Convergence. Saint Dane is spreading this vision throughout Halla. He’s rewarding the strong and punishing the weak. If he succeeds, then what?”

The three fell silent, the weight of those words sinking in. Nobody wanted to ask the next obvious question.

Mark took the plunge. “What do we do about it?”

“I told you,” Courtney announced, jumping to her feet. “We travel. This is where it’s all coming down. Second Earth. We can’t handle this on our own.”

“Then why should we leave?” Patrick asked.

“To get Bobby. And anybody else who can help. Alder, Loor, Siry, Aja-“

“Aja’s dead,” Mark corrected.

“She’s dead on Ibara. Not on Veelox. If we went to Veelox, we’d find her.”

“And do what?” Mark asked.

“Bring them here! Saint Dane says it’s over. I don’t think it is. We still haven’t hit Second Earth’s turning point. Maybe this UN thing is it. I don’t know. But things are still happening. The Convergence might have started, but it isn’t finished. Naymeer is still gathering his power. We have to try to stop him. No way we can do it alone. The Travelers should be here. All of them.”

“What about Bobby?” Mark asked soberly. “What if he really meant it when he said he quit?”

Mark and Patrick looked to Courtney. She didn’t answer at first. She knew the importance of her next words.

“I can’t pretend to know what’s going through Bobby’s head after all he’s had to deal with, but you know him as well as I do, Mark. No, you know him way better than I do. He may have been frustrated. He may have been tired. He may have felt totally overwhelmed and needed a long rest. But in your heart, do you really believe that he quit?”

Mark and Courtney gazed into each other’s eyes for several seconds.

“No,” Mark finally said. “No I don’t.”

“Neither do I,” Courtney announced with confidence. “Let’s go get him.”

Mark looked up to Patrick and said, “Are you up for this?”

Patrick looked pale. “I’ve never been anywhere but the Earth territories. I–I’m not sure how I’ll do.”

“You’ll do fine,” Courtney said dismissively. “Besides, you’re a Traveler. We can’t use the flume without…” Courtney stopped in midsentence.

“What’s the matter?” Mark asked.

“I smell something.”

“Stop bagging on my room,” Mark whined. “I haven’t been here in months.”

Courtney frowned and walked quickly to the bedroom door. She felt the handle with suspicion, then threw the door open. Black smoke billowed into the room.

“Fire!” Courtney shouted.

“They found us,” Mark gasped.

Courtney tried to step through the door, but the smoke drove her back. She closed it quickly. “Can’t go that way,” she shouted.

Mark went for the door. “I’ve got to get my parents’ papers. And pictures.”

Courtney held her arm against the door, not allowing Mark to open it. “Are you crazy?”

“Courtney! My family’s life is in that room.”

“Your family’s life is on First Earth. They can’t come back, Mark. This place doesn’t mean anything to them anymore.”

Mark reached for the door again. “But I have to save-”

Courtney grabbed his arm. She looked him right in the eye and said with dead seriousness, “You have to save us.”

Mark thought and nodded. “You’re right.” He glanced around and ran for the window. “We can crawl across the roof and climb down the maple tree. I’ve done it a million times.”

“Wait!” Courtney shouted. “Whoever did this is probably out there.”

Mark weighed the problem, then yanked the window up. “I’ll see.” Quickly he ducked out onto the roof. Patrick didn’t move. “Go!” Courtney ordered.

The Traveler followed Mark. Courtney was right behind him. The shingled roof was sloped, but it wasn’t hard to maneuver. Rather than go for the maple tree, Mark scrambled up toward the peak of the roof.

“What are you doing?” Courtney yelled with a strained whisper.

Mark reached the peak and peered over the top in time to see a long black limo driving away. The loud blare of a fire-truck siren was heard in the distance. Help was coming. Mark quickly slid down the roof section on his butt, joining the others.

“It was the limo,” he said. “They took off, probably because the fire department’s on the way.”

“We’ve gotta be gone too,” Courtney said. “We can’t let them find us.”

Mark nimbly scrambled across the roof until he reached the edge, where the branch of a large maple tree jutted a few feet below. Using skills he hadn’t needed since he was a little kid, he grabbed on to the branch, swung his legs off the roof and over the top of the branch. He then shinned toward the trunk of the tree.

“Piece of cake,” he called back.

Patrick couldn’t move. “I’ve never done anything like that,” he complained nervously.

“You’re gonna do a lot of things you’ve never done before. Move!”

Courtney didn’t shove him, but didn’t back away from him either. Patrick gingerly followed Mark’s lead and made it out onto the tree. Courtney waited until he got to the center of the tree, then followed. Moments later all three were on the ground.

Flames leaped from the downstairs windows.

“I guess that’s the last of it,” Mark said sadly.

“Last of what?” Courtney asked.

“My life. Once the house is gone, there’ll be nothing left to tie me to Second Earth.”

Courtney started to say something, but stopped herself. Instead she put her arm around Mark with sympathy. “Gotta go,” she implored.

A loud horn told them the fire engines were almost there. The three rounded the house into the next yard and came out onto the street in time to see several red trucks flash by, headed for Mark’s house. They took a quick look back to see the place was an inferno.

“Why would they do that?” Patrick asked. “If they wanted to hurt us, they could have chosen a much more efficient way.”

“They didn’t want to hurt us,” Courtney said. “They wanted to scare us. It didn’t work.”

The cab was waiting for them, as requested, a block away. They got inside and told the cabbie they were headed back into the city. To the Bronx. To a subway station.

The cabbie shrugged and said, “Whatever you say. I was getting worried about you.”

“That makes four of us,” Courtney said.

Nobody spoke for the entire journey. Patrick stared out the window, wide eyed, at his home territory in-to him-the distant past. Mark and Courtney tried to nap. They knew they had to sleep when they could. Unlike Patrick, they had been to other territories beyond Earth. They knew the drill. It took nearly an hour to get to their destination. Mark nudged Courtney when they were a few blocks away.

“You’ve been to this flume, right?” Courtney asked Patrick. “On all three territories.”

“Then you know it’s dangerous. We’ve got to time the trains and get down onto the subway tracks without being seen… or run down.”