D. MacHale - The Quillan Games

“Really,” Courtney said. “And those two weird people, Veego and LaBerge. They had something to do with putting on that fight. Bobby’s being lured into that Toto competition.”

“Tato,” Mark corrected.

“Whatever,” Courtney snapped. “Bobby walked into a trap.”

“What else can he do?” Mark argued. “If he wants to find out what’s happening on Quillan, he’s got to be right where he is. Where Saint Dane asked him to be.”

Courtney took a deep breath. She knew Mark was right. But it didn’t make her any less anxious about it. “I guess,” she said, pouting. “I hate getting the story in short doses, and I hate even worse not being able to help him.”

“Yeah, well, that’s the deal,” Mark said.

Courtney tapped her foot on the floor. Her good foot. She was full of nervous energy. “There’s something I don’t understand,” she finally said. “Why doesn’t Saint Dane just kill him?”

“What?” Mark shouted in surprise.

“Don’t get all squishy,” Courtney countered. “It’s a legitimate question. With all of Saint Dane’s powers, you’d think he’d just swat Bobby down and be done with him. The same with the other Travelers. He’s had plenty of chances. I mean, if he spent all that time trying to get rid of me, you’d think he’d at least give it a shot.”

Mark stopped pacing and sat back in the chair. “I have to admit, I’ve wondered that myself.”

Courtney said, “You think maybe it’s because they can’t be killed? Like with Loor.”

“But they can be killed!” Mark shot back. “There’s a whole roster of dead Travelers as proof, and it’s getting longer.”

“Then what about Loor?” Courtney asked. “She was dead and then she wasn’t.”

“I don’t know,” Mark said, shaking his head. “Maybe it’s like Bobby said. It might have something to do with the power they have when they’re together. Bobby was there for Loor, and she survived. The Traveler from Quillan was alone, and now he’s gone.”

“So… could that be it?” Courtney asked nervously. “Is it finally happening? Is Saint Dane luring the Travelers to Quillan, separately, to kill them off one by one?”

The two shared a nervous look. The thought of a systematic Traveler execution was a grim one.

“Is this the Travelers’ last stand?” Courtney asked, surprised by her own conclusion.

Mark jumped up and paced again. “No!” He shouted. “N-No way. It can’t be that simple.” He was forming the ideas as he spoke. “I’ve studied every word of Bobby’s journals. I know everything that’s happened to him since he left home, and I see a pattern.”

“Which is…?”

“Saint Dane likes to play,” Mark answered. “He lures Bobby to a territory and gives him just enough information to get him thinking.”

“But the clues usually send him in the wrong direction,” Courtney pointed out.

“I think that’s part of it,” Mark said. “Saint Dane challenges Bobby. He forces him to make tough choices. Bobby never has a clear path.”

“So what’s the point?” Courtney asked impatiently. “Why does Saint Dane give Bobby any shot at all?”

Mark answered, “Because I think for Saint Dane, it’s more than just trying to tip a territory toward chaos. I think he wants to beat Bobby. No, I think he needs to beat Bobby. If he didn’t, why would he bother dealing with Bobby at all?”

“Because Bobby forces him to deal,” Courtney said. “He’s all over Saint Dane.”

“Yeah, Bobby and the Travelers keep messing up his plans, but Saint Dane keeps giving him opportunities. I don’t think anything that happens is by coincidence. I think Saint Dane has orchestrated everything, and part of it is to go head-to-head with Bobby whenever he can.”

“Even when he lost his cool and beat Bobby up on Zadaa?” Courtney asked. “And tried to kill Loor?”

“Especially then,” Mark answered. “Did he really lose his cool? Or was it just one more strand in the web he’s weaving to mess with Bobby and keep him off balance?”

“You’re making my head hurt,” Courtney said. “And thanks for nothing because it’s the only body part I’ve got left that doesn’t ache.”

“Sorry,” Mark said.

Courtney asked, “So you think Saint Dane cares more about messing with Bobby than about ruling Halla?”

“No,” Mark said. “Just the opposite. I believe that for Saint Dane, the road to Halla goes through Bobby. Until Bobby is defeated, he can never truly win. Just killing off the Travelers won’t be good enough for him. Everything he does has a bigger purpose.”

“Including setting up the Traveler from Quillan to die?” Courtney asked.

“Yeah, it’s sick, but that’s what I think,” Mark said with confidence.

Courtney glanced at the yellow pages of Bobby’s journal from Quillan. “You make it sound like it’s all one big game,” she said.

“It kind of feels that way,” Mark said. “With very big stakes.”

Courtney looked out the window again and said, “The more we learn, the less sense it makes.”

“I’ll make it even more confusing,” Mark said. “If I’m right about all this, then the really big question is, why? If this is all some big cosmic game, who made up the rules? What’s the point? Why is Bobby so important? What is Saint Dane trying to prove? And-“

“And who’s he trying to prove it to?” Courtney finished Mark’s thought.

“Exactly,” Mark said. “There’s nothing in Bobby’s journals that gives me a clue, other than what Gunny said-“

“Right,” Courtney interrupted. “He thinks that somebody out there chose the Travelers.”

“Yeah, but he doesn’t know who it might be and neither does Bobby. Which means all he can do is keep playing the game and hope for the best.”

“Courtney! Mark!” Mr. Chetwynde called from downstairs. “Dinner’s getting cold.”

“Coming!” Courtney shouted.

“So what do we do?” Mark asked.

“What do you mean?” Courtney shot back. “It’s not like we can jump into a flume and hop over to Quillan to tell him our theory.”

“No, I mean about you. Saint Dane nearly killed you. We both agreed that Bobby should know.”

Courtney stood up. “I changed my mind,” she said with finality.

“But-“

“It doesn’t matter anyway. Even if we wanted to tell him, how could we? We don’t know if the Traveler from Quillan had an acolyte. Who would we send the message to?”

“We could send it to one of the other acolytes, like Saangi, and she could tell Loor and-“

“And Loor would go to Quillan and do what? Tell Bobby that he’s gotta get home because Saint Dane is messing with poor Courtney? What if that’s exactly what Saint Dane wants? I’ve had a lot of time to wonder about why he came after me, and all I can come up with is that he wants Bobby to run home to protect me.”

“Yeah, I thought about that too,” Mark agreed.

“Look,” Courtney said. “We can’t travel to another territory, that’s a fact. We’re stuck here. But you know what? That’s a good thing. Saint Dane is going to come after Second Earth. What he did to me might be part of his plan for this territory, or maybe he was just trying to distract Bobby. We don’t know. But the fact remains, Second Earth is in play. It’s not our job to go to other territories and interfere. Our job is to help Bobby protect Second Earth. I say we hold off on telling him anything about what’s happened until the turning point on Quillan passes, no matter which way it goes. The battle isn’t on Second Earth right now; it’s on Quillan. That’s where Bobby belongs, and it would be wrong for us to distract him.”

Mark nodded.

“Now let’s eat, I’m starving,” Courtney said, and walked stiffly for the door. Conversation over.