D. MacHale - The Never War

“You aren’t in control,” Gunny said with authority. “Not anymore.”

Saint Dane let out a deep, bellowing laugh. I hated that.

“Such an amusing old man,” Saint Dane chuckled.

“Old enough to know how to handle the likes of you,” Gunny shot back.

“Oooh,” Saint Dane bellowed in mock fear. “Forgive me if I don’t feel threatened by an old man who doesn’t possess the courage to fire a weapon.”

“You think you’re bothering me,” Gunny said without missing a beat. “But you’re not.”

“Stick around, Gunny,” Saint Dane snapped back at him. “By the time we’re done, I promise, you will be very, very bothered.”

Saint Dane walked to the glass doors that led to the balcony. He threw them open, letting in a chilly wind. He stood with his back to us, looking out over the gray city.

“You see, Pendragon, my victory here on First Earth means much more than the toppling of three territories. What makes this all so wonderfully special is, you’re the one who is doing it for me.” That was a strange comment. I didn’t like it, one bit.

“We know what’s going on, Saint Dane,” I said. “We know what will happen if theHindenburgdoesn’t crash. We went to Third Earth.”

Saint Dane spun back to us and exclaimed, “Well, of course you went to Third Earth! I was counting on it. Iwantedyou to know what would happen.”

That wasn’t the reaction I expected. Gunny and I shot each other a quick look.

Saint Dane chuckled and said, “You still don’t understand, do you? I’ve been leading you and your band of merry men around like trained dogs. Everything that’s happened, every turn, every surprise, I’ve orchestrated. You knew to follow me to First Earth because of the bullets that killed your uncle. But to be sure, I first went to Veelox. That annoying Traveler girl thought she was being so clever by recording my arrival. I couldn’t have been any clearer in telegraphing my ultimate destination if I had painted a sign on my back.”

I thought back to the hologram that Aja Killian showed us of Saint Dane arriving at the flume on Veelox, then making a show of calling out “First Earth!” before leaving again. Now that I think of it, itwaspretty obvious.

“Once you were here, my only challenge was to make sure you discovered Winn Farrow’s plot to destroy theHindenburg. I knew that once you learned of his plan, you’d do everything possible to prevent that ship from blowing up. The idea of innocent lives being lost is just too horrible a concept for your righteous mind to accept.”

As Saint Dane spoke, I thought back to the events that led us to crossing paths with Winn Farrow.

“The gangsters in the subway?” I asked.

“I brought them to the flume to put you on the trail of Winn Farrow,” he answered. “Killing Press was a bonus.”

I forced myself not to let that throw me.

“But they tried to kill us. Twice.”

“They were supposed to warn you to stay away from Winn Farrow, which I knew would send you running to him like rats to garbage. Killing you was their idea. Idiots. That’s why I had to dispose of one of them. Or should I say, Harlow had to.”

“The gangster who fell from the hotel was pushed by Harlow? I mean, by you?” Gunny asked in surprise.

Saint Dane answered with a proud bow. Now we knew how Mr. Nasty Gangster died. It was Saint Dane.

“I couldn’t let him kill you,” he said. “Not before my drama played out. You might say I was your guardian angel, Pendragon.”

“In the slaughterhouse,” I said, remembering. “You left the door open so we could escape.”

“Again, guilty,” he said, gloating.

He then took a step back, and transformed. His body grew watery and in a few seconds he became…Ludwig Zell.

“You were Zell, too?” I shouted in surprise.

“Not until recently,” Zell/Saint Dane said. “Once Max Rose learned of the plot to destroy theHindenburg, I knew he would warn Herr Zell.”

Zell/Saint Dane walked over to a closet door.

“I couldn’t have our Nazi friend sending the zeppelin back to Germany, so I had to intervene.”

Zell/Saint Dane opened the door and a body rolled out. It was Ludwig Zell. TherealLudwig Zell. He was pretty dead. No matter how many times I see dead guys, I can’t get used to it.

“Poor Ludwig was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Max Rose thought he was giving his Nazi cohort the bad news, but he was actually telling me.”

The truth was rushing at me way too fast. I was getting dizzy.

“But why?” I asked. “If Ludwig Zell warned Germany, theHindenburgwould be saved. That’s what you want, isn’t it? What difference would it makehowit was saved?”

Zell/Saint Dane’s attitude grew dark. He took a step toward me, and as he did, he transformed back into his evil-looking self. His horrid eyes locked on mine and he spoke through clenched teeth.

“Because this is aboutyou, Pendragon!” he seethed. “I don’t care what happens to that airship. I don’t care what happens to these pathetic Earth territories. I don’t care who wins their silly war or what they do with this useless world afterward.”

“You don’t?” I said, totally confused.

“In a few short hours the course of your world will be changed forever. The Earth territories will fall into chaos. And who will be to blame? You! If you hadn’t come here to stop me, history would have played out the way it was intended. But you couldn’t stay away. You put yourself into the equation and because of that, three territories will collapse. Yourhomewill collapse.”

I stared into Saint Dane’s fierce eyes. I’m not sure which I was more afraid of: him or the horror to come. Everything he said was true. If Spader and I hadn’t chased him to First Earth, theHindenburgwould be destined to crash, the way it was supposed to. But now, because of my meddling, there was a good chance theHindenburgwould be saved and the Earth territories doomed. This whole adventure was to prove how easily Saint Dane could manipulate us. Manipulateme. The amazing thing was, he was willing to destroy three territories to do it. Saint Dane then said, “How does it feel, knowing this was all for you?”

The two of us held eye contact. In that one, horrible moment, things became all too clear. I knew where the struggle between Saint Dane and the Travelers was headed. Someday, somehow, somewhere, it was going to come down to Saint Dane…

And me. That’s why he was doing his best to prove himself to me. What a sickening thought. The only thing that kept me from losing it was knowing that the ultimate day of reckoning wasn’t today. No, this was far from over.

“I’ll tell you how it makes me feel,” I answered with a very small voice. “I feel that as long as you’re trying to impress me, I can beat you.”

There was a frozen moment.

“You think you understand me?” he said. “You think you have the strength to bring me down? Talk to me again in a few hours, after you’ve gone to Second Earth to see the scorched world where your friends used to live. Everything you’ve ever loved will no longer exist, Pendragon. Your home will be turned into a charred pit of death… and it will be your fault.”

“We still have time,” I said. “We can still make sure theHindenburgcrashes.”

An odd thing happened then. Saint Dane smiled. It wasn’t like the sly, knowing smiles he usually threw at me. This was a genuine, wide, Cheshire-cat grin. The guy was actually happy. Being that it was Saint Dane, a sincere smile seemed all the more grotesque. It was totally creepy.

“Yes,” he said. “You still have time. Please, make the most of it.”

He backed away from me and walked over to the door. He turned the knob and gave a look of mock surprise. “Oh, no, it’s locked.” he announced. “Max Rose is so paranoid. He’s made all of these doors self-locking. But you already knew that, didn’t you?”