D. MacHale - The Soldiers of Halla

“Water?” she asked.

Elli. Where was Elli? I forced myself up to my elbows and scanned the room. Another body was lying against a far wall. Her face was covered, but I saw the end of Elli’s gray ponytail poking out from beneath the blanket that was over her. She was here, but still unconscious. I hoped that the effects of the blast hadn’t hurt her.

“No,” I answered.

Nevva walked toward me. “Why did you come back?”

I put on my best smile. “I missed you.”

Nevva didn’t appreciate the sarcasm. She glared at me. “It’s over, Pendragon,” she said with a touch of impatience. “Halla has fallen. Anything that you and the Travelers do now is futile.”

“So then you won’t mind that we hang around a little longer,” I replied.

“You can do whatever you like, but why would you bring Mark here and put him in jeopardy? That’s just irresponsible. He’s your friend.”

I gave her a surprised look and said, “Wow. Do you really care?”

Nevva grimaced and turned away. It struck me that she hadn’t said anything about Elli. Did she even know that her mother was lying only a few feet away? It didn’t seem like it.

“Leave, Pendragon,” Nevva said. “Take your friends with you and find someplace safe for them to live.”

She said “your friends.” She didn’t know that Elli was one of them. I had to figure out a way to use that to our advantage. I also had to figure out a way to learn what Nevva knew about the exiles.

“Sorry,” I said. “Monkeying with Saint Dane is a hard habit to break. I think I’ll keep at it.”

“But it’s over!” she repeated with a touch of frustration. “Surely you understand that. You’re fighting a war that has ended. The territories are no longer. Every world in Halla has been cleansed. There’s nothing left to do now but rebuild.”

I sat up. “Cleansed? Is that what you call it? What you mean is that the people Saint Dane considers worthy are living the life, and everybody else has either been killed or will be soon.”

“We have rewarded excellence,” Nevva said patiently. “That has been the vision from the beginning. Nothing has happened to the rest of the people of Halla that they didn’t bring about themselves.”

“You’re kidding, right? Saint Dane manipulated the people of seven worlds into making decisions that led to their own destruction, and you’re saying it’s their fault? That’s like pushing a puppy out into traffic and saying it was his own fault that he got hit by a car. Give me a break!”

Nevva took a breath. She was trying to control her emotions. “I know you don’t feel that a guided future is right. You believe that people should be free to choose their own destiny. But time and again the people of Halla have chosen poorly. And not just where Saint Dane was involved. The people of Halla were flawed, and I have no doubt that if Saint Dane never intervened, their destruction would have occurred anyway. This way, we have separated those who are worthy of rebuilding Halla and protected them from those who are not. I know, the worlds of Halla are in shambles, but it was necessary. This is only the beginning. We are going to make it right this time, Pendragon. We are going to create Utopia.”

I stood up. My head hurt and my legs weren’t working that well, but I didn’t want to be sitting on the floor to have this discussion. I wanted to be on Nevva’s level.

“What about the dado attack on Ibara?” I asked. “Did the people of Ibara bring that on themselves?”

Nevva blinked. She didn’t answer right away. I had struck a chord.

“They created the situation that allowed for it to happen,” she finally answered.

“No, they didn’t!” I shot right back. “They saw that their society was in trouble, looked ahead, and did exactly the kind of thing that you’re talking about. They created Ibara as a way to save Veelox. And they were going to succeed, until Saint Dane convinced the Flighters to attack and destroy the pilgrim ships, and then invaded the island with dados. Where was his grand vision there? The dado attack was sent as a conquering army. Plain and simple. It wasn’t the people of Veelox who let that happen. It was all Saint Dane. How do you explain that?”

For the first time since I’d known her, Nevva looked unsure of herself. “It… it was about you, Pendragon. It was intended to put you to the test, and you failed.”

“So what if I did? I’m not even from Halla! What was I being tested for?”

“The ends justified the means,” she complained.

“No!” I shouted back at her. “You can’t tell me this is all about doing what is best for Halla. Maybe at one time that’s what Saint Dane thought. Maybe on some philosophical level he was right. Who knows? But it’s not about that anymore. It’s about his own selfish goals. He wants to be king, Nevva. No, he wants to be a god. He wants to create his own Halla. It’s the ultimate power play. He’s living in a palace. He likes being human. Look how he’s changed himself. He’s developed vanity. He wants to look good. Don’t you see that? That’s why he sent conquering armies, and that’s why he’s built another army of dados to do it again. Whatever noble thoughts he may have had at one time have been corrupted. If you think he’s got any other goal than to be a god, you’re kidding yourself.”

Nevva looked stunned. I couldn’t believe that my words had hit her that strongly. No way. She was too firmly committed to her mission to let a little argument like this change her mind. But something I had said got through, and shook her.

“What do you mean, ‘he’s built another army’?” she asked tentatively.

“Oh, please,” I shot back. “Don’t pretend like you don’t know.”

“Don’t know what?”

“We saw the factory, Nevva. Where do you think we got shot by the dados?”

“You were found in the helicopter plant.”

“Yeah, the helicopter plant that also happens to be building about eighty thousand dados. What do you think they’re for? Washing windows and doing all the little chores you Ravinians think are beneath you? I’m not an idiot.”

Nevva was shaken. Really shaken. I didn’t think she was a good enough actor to fake that. And why would she want to? As far as she was concerned, the battle was over.

“Are you serious?” I asked without sarcasm. “You didn’t know about the new army of dados out there, all polished up and ready to go?”

Nevva’s eyes told the story. She really didn’t know. It was a total surprise to her. She was about to get another one.

“Nevva,” came a thin voice.

Nevva didn’t look at first. She kept looking at me, but I saw the change in her eyes. She had heard a voice from the past. One I’m sure she never expected to hear again, and certainly not in a dim room on Third Earth. She held my gaze, silently asking if what she had heard was real. I motioned for her to look. Nevva had trouble turning away from me. It was as if she were fighting the pull of a magnet that wouldn’t let her turn. But she had to.

Slowly Nevva turned to face her mother.

Elli was on her feet. She stood across from Nevva, tall and straight. Mother and daughter. It was like looking at the same person, though one was several years older. They locked eyes. Nevva opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. Elli looked strong. Stronger than I’d ever seen her. As tough as it must have been to be reunited with her daughter this way, Elli was up to it. I was proud of her. My fears about her not being able to handle the situation were gone. Elli didn’t say another word. I think she wanted Nevva to speak first.

Nevva was finally able to croak out, “Why are you here, Mother?”

Elli’s answer was to haul off and slap her daughter across the face.