D. MacHale - The Never War

A second before, I had thought all was lost. Now I was standing right in front of the very people I came down here to stop. I still didn’t have any idea what to do, but at least I was back in the game.

I ran to Spader, grabbed his arm, and pulled him away from the car. This would be tricky. He was here to help Max Rose and his goons. I had to let him know that things had changed. Drastically.

“Hey, where you going?” Max Rose shouted.

“Be right back!” I shouted. I pulled Spader far enough away so we couldn’t be heard.

D. J. MacHale

The Never War

“What are you doing, mate?” Spader asked. “Don’t make him mad. He’s on our side, remember?”

“No, he’s not,” I whispered back. “Don’t ask questions; just listen. We’ve gotta let Winn Farrow blow up the ship.”

“What?”

“Max Rose has a spy network that’s working with the Nazis. If the ship lands safely, those spies are gonna help Germany build a terrible weapon and win the war. If that happens, three territories are going down.”

Spader looked confused. I didn’t blame him. It was a lot to swallow.

“I don’t understand,” he said. “How do you know that?”

“We saw it all on Third Earth. Look, it’ll take too long to explain, but believe me, it’s true. We have to make sure history plays out the way it’s supposed to. Winn Farrowmustblow up theHindenburg.”

“We’re leaving!” shouted Max Rose. His car was all gassed up and they were ready to roll. We had to go with them.

“You gotta believe me, Spader,” I said.

I then pulled Spader back toward the car. It was strange. I had never seen Spader act like this. Normally he would charge right out front, leading the way into whatever adventure lay ahead. But now, he seemed lost. I guess I couldn’t blame him. I had just hit him with some pretty confusing news. Everything he thought to be true had just been turned inside out. Hey, I knew the feeling. I could only hope that he’d get his mind around it fast, so we could come up with a plan.

But all we could do just then was get in the car with Max Rose, stay close to him, and be ready to move when the chance came. Ifthe chance came.

Spader and I got in the backseat with Max Rose. Two of Rose’s big thugs were in front. It was three on two. I hoped it wouldn’t come down to a fight between us, because we’d get pounded. The driver hit the gas and we were on the way to our date with a zeppelin.

“I owe you boys,” Max Rose said while wiping nervous sweat from his forehead with an expensive silk handkerchief. “Help me stop that rat Farrow, and I’ll take care of you. The deal I’ve got brewing is bigger than you can imagine.”

I could imagine it, all right. The deal he had going was to send the U.S. down the tubes by selling atomic secrets to the Nazis. There was a rat in this equation, but it wasn’t Winn Farrow.

“We know how they’re getting close to theHindenburg,”Rose continued. “They have uniforms and badges like the ground crew wears. Nobody will look twice at ‘em.”

“How’d you find that out?” I asked.

One of the thugs up front said, “We convinced one of Farrow’s boys to come clean.” The two laughed, like they were all sorts of proud for having squeezed that information out of him.

My guess was the guy who “came clean” was probably Saint Dane. He wanted Rose to know exactly what Farrow was up to. As always, he was pulling the strings, making us dance.

“I know every one of those boys,” Rose continued. “I’ll point ‘em out, then we take ‘em down.” He patted the gun that was hidden under his jacket. That was Rose’s plan. He was going to find Farrow’s men and shoot them. Simple as that. Bang bang. Not exactly a complicated Mission Impossible-style caper.

“How are we going to get inside the airfield?” I asked. “We don’t have uniforms.”

Rose pulled out a wad of cash. “We’ll get in,” he said. “We’re just some innocent tourists who want to see the big ship come in, and we’re willing to pay to get a good view. Money talks. Always has, always will.”

I stared out the window. Forty minutes to go. As I sat in that car, speeding toward destiny, I had no idea how this would play out.

Then something caught my eye. It was a street sign that showed we were traveling on Toms River Road. We then passed another sign. The intersection for Route 527 was coming up. That was weird. I had never been here before, but it seemed familiar. How could that be?

The car charged forward, headed for the four-way intersection. That’s when it hit me. I definitely knew this place. I’d heard about it in the library on Third Earth. History showed that Max Rose died in a car crash, 6:50p.m. on May 6. Intersection of Toms River Road and Route 527. I glanced at my watch. It was 6:50. Spader and I were in the very same car, charging toward a gruesome date with an innocent motorcycle cop.

We were only a few yards from the intersection now. I quickly glanced to the left and saw it. The motorcycle cop was speeding toward the same intersection. We were seconds away from getting T-boned into oblivion. There wasn’t time to warn the driver. I dove for the front seat and grabbed the wheel.

“Look out!” I yelled and pulled the wheel hard.

We skidded into the intersection, but were moving so fast that the car started to go over. The motorcycle cop hit us, but barely. He only grazed us from behind. If I hadn’t pulled the wheel, he’d have slammed us square on, and we’d be dead. The next few seconds were a blur. The car flipped. I don’t know how many times. All I could do was cover my head and close my eyes. We were all bounced around like we were in a washing machine. It was a jumble of arms and legs and screams. The sounds were hideous as metal crunched and squealed on the pavement.

Finally the car stopped moving and all was still.

I slowly opened my eyes, not sure if I was dead or alive. Amazingly, the car had ended up back on its wheels and the engine was still running. This was nothing like the wreck the computer had shown me. We had dodged a fat bullet. I was on the floor, wedged between the seat and Spader.

“Spader?” I called out tentatively.

Spader slowly opened his eyes and focused on me. “You all right?” he asked.

“I think so. You?”

Spader squirmed and flexed his arms to see if everything worked. “All in one piece,” he answered.

I looked around the car and saw that the driver was now in the passenger seat. He was dazed, but alive. Nobody else was in the car. Max Rose and the other thug must have been thrown out when we flipped.

Spader and I struggled to sit up. He kicked the door open and we had our way out. Carefully we crawled from the battered car. It wasn’t until later that I realized how many bruises I had. At the time I was too shocked to feel them. Besides, my head still hurt from getting conked back at the hotel. That hurt worse than anything else. I was a mess.

We stood up on shaky legs and checked out the accident scene. The motorcycle was on its side behind the car. The cop was next to it. I went to him quickly and saw that he was unconscious, but alive. Phew. The second thug was already on his feet. He staggered around like he was drunk, but it looked like he was going to be okay too. Finally we saw Max Rose on the side of the road. The big guy was struggling to sit up. It was hard to believe, but we all lived through the spectacular wreck.

I was amazed and grateful. But then a thought hit me. Max Rose was supposed to die in this accident. But now, because I had taken the wheel, Max was thrown from the car and he survived. I had changed history. Again. Now Max Rose was still able to stop Winn Farrow. If I hadn’t acted, he would probably be dead now and the Earth territories would be safe. By saving Max, I may have sealed Earth’s doom.