D. MacHale - The Never War

“Maybe,” I cautioned.

“He’ll do it,” Spader said with confidence. “You saw how scared Rose was. He’ll do everything he can to stop Farrow.”

“But this isn’t just about two gangsters who hate each other,” I said, trying not to let frustration creep into my voice. “This is about the turning point on First Earth. We haven’t figured out why Saint Dane has his hand in any of this.”

“Sure we have,” Spader said, acting all sorts of cocky. “It’s all about the big natty-do war that’s coming, right? Isn’t that the kind of thing Saint Dane is all about?”

“Yeah, but what’s that got to do with theHindenburg!”I asked.

“Maybe everything,” Spader shot back. “It’s like Gunny said. One little event leads to another and another. I think Saint Dane wants to make sure the war is going to happen, and somehow blowing up that airship will do that. So if we stop them from wrecking that ship, we’ll stop the war and Saint Dane loses.” ”Maybe Spader’s right,” Gunny said. “If we can stop the war by saving theHindenburg, it would be like beating Saint Dane.”

Spader looked at me with a proud smile.

“Yeah, maybe,” I said. “I just wish we could be sure.”

“C’mon, Pendragon! How can we lose?” Spader pleaded. “Even if it doesn’t stop the war, we’d still be saving the people on theHindenburg. Like you always say, this is a no-brainer.”

Spader was making a really strong case, but something was keeping me from buying it a hundred percent. “I just wish we had more to go on,” I complained.

We all fell silent for a moment, then Gunny said softly, “I think I know where we can find out more.”

“Really? Where?” I asked quickly, grabbing at the lifeline.

“We’re Travelers,” he said with a matter-of-fact tone. “We can take the flume into the future of this very territory and look back on how things happened.”

My heart sank. As much as I loved the idea of going home to Second Earth, I knew it would be a waste.

“It wouldn’t help,” I said with disappointment. “Sure, we could go to Second Earth and do some research about theHindenburgand World War Two, but that wouldn’t tell us anything. We need to figure out what would happen if theHindenburg doesn’tblow up.”

“Who said anything about going toSecondEarth?” Gunny said with a mischievous smile.

At first I didn’t know what he meant. If we were going to look into the future of Earth, then of course we would go to Second Earth. That is, unless…

“Are you saying what I think you’re saying?” I asked, barely able to contain my excitement.

“What’s he saying?” Spader asked. Gunny said, “I’m talking about taking a trip toThirdEarth, of course.”

“There’s a Third Earth?” I asked, trying not to sound like a giddy geek. “Have you been there? When is it?”

“Yes,” he answered with a smile. “I’ve been there. The year, I believe, is 5010, give or take a year or two.”

I had to sit down. The idea of seeing what Earth was like threethousandyears in the future was making my head swim.

“I am all over this,” I said. “But seriously, why would going to Third Earth help us any more than going to Second Earth?”

“I told you, I’ve been there,” he answered. “I went with your uncle Press when he first told me about being a Traveler. It was like something out of a book of fantasies. They have libraries there. But not like the ones we know. There aren’t any books or papers or anything you can touch. All this information is kept on little tiny specs of nothing, no bigger than a grain of sand. They had the entire New York City public library on just one of those little things. Imagine that.”

Gunny was talking about some kind of computer. At home when you got a computer, it was already outdated. That’s how fast advances were being made. I couldn’t imagine how far things had gotten in three thousand years.

Gunny continued, “It seemed like they had every little bit of information about everything that ever happened on those little bits of things. I’m guessing if we went there and spoke to Patrick-“

“Patrick?” Spader asked.

“The Traveler from Third Earth. Nice fella. Smart, too. I’m thinking Patrick might be able to tap into all that information and maybe give us a little more idea of what we’re dealing with here.”

The man was incredible. How many times had Gunny bailed us out already? I’d lost count.

“I think that’s a great idea!” I shouted. “Let’s go right now.”

I couldn’t sit still. I had forgotten how bruised and banged up I was and started getting dressed for the trip. But then, in the next second, the air was totally sucked out of my balloon.

“I’m not going,” declared Spader.

“What do you mean? We’re all going!” I said.

“Not me,” Spader said. “There’s too much at stake here to go fluming off. We might come back too late.”

D. J. MacHale

The Never War

“It won’t be a problem,” I said. “Time between the territories isn’t the same, remember? We could be gone for a year, but then flume back here an hour from now.”

“It’s too big a risk, mate,” Spader said with conviction. “That airship is due early tomorrow morning. I want to be here when it shows up, just in case Max Rose doesn’t take care of Winn Farrow. You’re right, mate. We can’t rely on Max Rose to do our job. If he fails, it’ll be up to us to save theHindenburg.”He looked at Gunny and asked, “How far is this Lakehurst place?”

“About eighty miles, give or take,” Gunny answered. “It’ll take the better part of four hours to drive there. Longer on the bus.”

“See?” Spader said. “It’s going to take a while to get there. I don’t want to risk being late.”

“Spader,” I said. “I’m telling you, we’ll be back in time.”

“Sorry, mate,” he said stubbornly. “Can’t take the chance.”

We were slipping into dangerous territory. We were a team. I had to get Spader back with the program.

“Remember what you told me in that cab?” I asked. “You said we were all important, but I was the one who was going to hold us all together. Well, that’s what I’m doing now. I’m holding us together. The only chance we’ve got of beating Saint Dane is if we stay together. You’ve risked your life to save me, Spader. I need you to be there for me again.”

Spader thought about this for a moment. Was I finally getting through to him?

“If you’re right,” he said, “there won’t be a problem. You’ll get to Third Earth and back in plenty of time. We’ll hook up and take on Saint Dane and his gangster wogglies like you were never gone. But if you don’t make it back in time, then somebody’s got to be here to make sure they don’t blow up that ship. That’s why I’m staying.”

I didn’t know what else to say. He had made up his mind, and to be honest, I wasn’t completely sure he was wrong.

Spader then walked up to me and said, “Go to Third Earth. Find out what you can. It might be a big help. But let me stay here and take care of things in case something goes wrong.”

I knew Gunny and I would be back in time, but that wasn’t the point. What bothered me was that Spader was pulling away from me. He was always a guy who wanted action. Right now he had Saint Dane in his sights and didn’t want to let him get away, even if it meant going against what I thought was best.

“Have it your way,” I finally said. “We’ll meet back here and then we’ll all go to Lakehurst. Together.”

“Now you’re talking!” Spader said, then left us and went into the bathroom to clean himself up.

I didn’t want to look at Gunny. I felt as if I had messed up and the team was falling apart.