D. MacHale - The Soldiers of Halla

“They might have been,” I offered. “The Ravinians were sending people all over Halla.”

“I lost track of time,” Courtney continued. “I know this sounds weird, but I can’t say how long I was in there. It could have been hours or months. I truly don’t know. It was like I was suspended in time and space. I’d never experienced that kind of loneliness before. I kept expecting to be dumped at a gate, but it never happened.”

“But it did, when you arrived here,” Boon offered.

“Well, sort of. When things started happening, it was dramatic. The flume started to shake. It was definitely a new sensation, and it didn’t feel right. I heard this deep rumble, like an earthquake. The tunnel must have moved, because I was thrown against the side wall and spun around. It didn’t hurt, but I was sent tumbling. I was terrified. It felt like the flume was falling apart, almost like what happened here on Eelong.”

Courtney threw a pained look to Kasha. Kasha knew what she was talking about all too well. We all did.

“I had no control. Up until that moment the ride through the flume was like floating on a warm cushion of air. Suddenly it felt like I was being tumbled inside of a washing machine. I kept getting glimpses out beyond the crystal walls and began to see stars, which meant the images of Halla were disappearing. I won’t lie. I thought it was the end of Halla right then and there. It felt like everything was coming apart.”

I knew what Courtney was experiencing. I had witnessed the destruction of the flumes myself. As horrifying a sight as that was, I never thought that there might have been people traveling inside them when it happened.

“Then everything went white, and I was floating again,” Courtney continued. “I thought I had been killed. I really did. I even thought I heard the voice of an angel. It was a voice I recognized. A woman. My mind was still flying fast, and it took a while for me to focus on her words. I heard her trying to calm me down by saying things like ‘relax’ and ‘you’re going to be okay.’ I kind of hoped she’d say ‘welcome to heaven,’ but that didn’t happen. Then I saw her face.”

Courtney looked right at me and said, “It was Nevva Winter.”

I didn’t react. How could I? I had no clue as to how that could have happened.

“Where were you?” Kasha asked.

“I didn’t know. At least not at first. I felt the pull of gravity again, so I knew I was no longer moving through the flume. I think I was lying on my back. All I saw was Nevva’s face looking down at me. Under any other circumstances I would have jumped up and slugged her, but I couldn’t move. And besides, hers was the first face I’d seen since I was separated from those people in the flume. As much as I hated her, I was happy to see her. I would have been happy to see anybody.”

“Did she say anything else?” I asked.

“Oh yeah. She said that she had given us a gift. All of us. I didn’t know who the heck she was talking about. She promised that the territory wouldn’t be touched. As much as she believed in the new vision for Halla, she also believed that there was good in the old way. And for that, she was protecting Eelong.”

“Protecting Eelong,” Kasha repeated.

Courtney nodded. “She said we should build a new life and make the best of what we had. She also asked that we not judge her too harshly. That was it. She was gone. I lay there for a while, trying to understand what had happened. Slowly my physical senses returned. I realized that I wasn’t surrounded by white; I had been staring up into the sky. The first thing I recognized was the sunbelt. I knew then that I was definitely on Eelong.”

I hadn’t touched a bite of food while Courtney told us her story. After hearing about Nevva, my hunger was gone for good. I stood up. My mind was racing too fast to let me sit still. What had Nevva done? And when had she done it?

Did this happen before I brought Elli to Third Earth? Was it possible that Nevva had always questioned Saint Dane and his quest?

“What are you thinking, Pendragon?” Kasha asked.

“On Third Earth, Nevva panicked when I told her that Saint Dane was going to attack the exiles with an army of dados.”

It was Courtney’s turn to jump to her feet.

“Whoa! I thought that was a klee army headed this way. I didn’t know Saint Dane was behind it.”

“I’m not sure he is,” I replied. “At least, not directly. The Ravinians brought dados here, so it’s not like Saint Dane had nothing to do with it. But I don’t think he planned this attack.”

Courtney frowned. “But you said Saint Dane was going to attack with a dado army.”

“He is. I saw thousands of dados on Third Earth that Saint Dane said would be used against the exiles. Nevva said he was going to create a flume to move them. But he didn’t know that the exiles were here until recently. So I don’t think the army that’s on the way here has anything to do with the dados from Third Earth. I think this attack would have happened anyway.”

“Oh. Swell. That means there’s going to be another attack after this one?” Courtney cried.

“Unless the klee army does Saint Dane’s dirty work for him. However it happens, Saint Dane wants the exiles dead.”

“But Nevva didn’t,” Kasha said.

I said, “Strange as it may seem, it’s looking like Nevva did what she could to try and preserve one of the original territories of Halla. Why she picked Eelong, I have no idea, but that was her plan, and it looks like she somehow directed the exiles to be sent here to help keep the territory alive.”

Kasha added, “And it cost her her life.”

We all let that sink in for a moment, then Courtney said softly, “So if not for Nevva Winter, the battle for Halla would already be over.”

I smiled. “For what it’s worth, in the end, she did her job as a Traveler.”

“What about the exiles?” Boon asked. “When did they get here?”

We all looked to Courtney. She sat down and turned her thoughts back to the day she had arrived on Eelong.

“Once Nevva left, I collected my thoughts and realized I had to figure out exactly where I was on Eelong. I sat up, hoping to see something familiar. What I saw instead seemed impossible.”

She stopped talking, letting her mind drift back. Whatever it was that Courtney had seen, she was seeing it again in her mind’s eye and judging by the look on her face, it wasn’t a happy memory.

“I saw that I was lying in a huge, open area… along with thousands of other people.”

“What!” I blurted out.

“It’s true,” she continued. “I couldn’t breathe. There were bodies everywhere. Ail lying down. Some had their faces turned to the sunbelt, others were facedown. Many were in the fetal position. They all looked like they were sleeping, or dead. Right next to me was an old guy in jeans and a plaid shirt. On my other side were two kids. Twins. A woman who was probably their mother was at my feet. It was a sea of people. I can’t even describe the numb feeling it gave me. The sight of this many people was staggering, but the idea that they might all be dead put me into brain lock.”

“The exiles?” Kasha asked.

Courtney nodded. “Of course, I didn’t know that at the time. I sat there for a few seconds, dumbfounded. I didn’t know what to do. I truly thought I was going to lose my mind. That’s when the guy in the flannel shirt moved. I was so surprised that I yelped. But I saw him reach for his eyes and rub them. That little, natural movement was enough to calm me down. This guy was coming around the exact same way I had. Then the twins moved. All around me I saw the beginnings of this giant mass of humanity come to life like some giant creature. I hadn’t yet heard about what happened at Yankee Stadium, so the idea of this many people suddenly dropping in on Eelong still didn’t make sense, but I was glad to know I wasn’t in corpseworld.”