D. MacHale - The Quillan Games

I said, “Because they have no idea how right they are.” The party was over. Or maybe it was just beginning.

(CONTINUED)

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.