down. There was no way I’d make it in time by being polite. I figured everybody’s evening was about to be ruined in a few seconds anyway, so why worry? I put my head down and started pumping my legs like a fullback. I blasted through a few unsuspecting bodies, and I’m embarrassed to say that a few of them were ladies. But it didn’t matter. I had to make it into the end zone and I would not be denied.
A few seconds later the final dancer between me and Rose’s table spun out of the way, and I had a clear shot at my target. Max Rose was sitting on the far side of the big, round table, laughing and puffing on a fat cigar. A quick glance to my left showed me that the gangster with the gun was getting closer. Spader was fighting his way through the crowd to get to the guy, but he was going to be too late. The assassin was only a few steps away from his date with Max.
I looked back to Max Rose and saw there was a whole bunch of table and glassware and even a flowered centerpiece between me and him. I had to make a snap decision. My blood was already boiling from my frenzied run across the dance floor, so the choice I made wasn’t a tough one. I kicked it into another gear, ran for the table, and launched myself over the top. It all happened so fast that the goons sitting at the table didn’t have time to react. I slid across the tabletop, pulling the tablecloth and everything else along with me.
Max Rose saw me coming and his eyes grew wide with surprise. The bodyguard sitting next to Rose went for his gun. But he was too late because just as he pulled the gun from under his jacket, Max Rose got slammed with a wave of tableware, flowers, and Bobby Pendragon, Undercover Traveler.
Rose had begun to stand up and that may have saved his life, because he was a little off balance. The force of me hitting him knocked him straight back. If he had been firmly planted in his chair, I probably would have bounced off him and he would have still been a target. But as it was, we both went over and he landed backward on the floor. He let out a huge grunt as I landed right on top of him. I told you, he was a big guy, and I swear I think I bounced off him like I’d hit a trampoline. The only thing missing was the sound of a timpani drum goingboing!
It was at that exact instant that I heard a gunshot. I winced, thinking that the bodyguard had shot at me. But it wasn’t the guard who fired the shot. As we fell, his gun had clattered down on the floor right next to my head. I must have knocked it away from him in my wild slide across the table. I quickly grabbed it. No way I wanted the bodyguard to pick it up and use it on me.
So where did the shot come from? I looked up to see Mr. Nervous Gangster standing near us, pointing his smoking gun. The look of surprise on his face was almost funny. He must have had Max Rose right in his sights, only to have me come flying through to knock his target away. He fired. He missed. Luckily he didn’t hit anybody behind us either.
A second later Spader leaped out of the crowd and knocked the gun out of the assassin’s grip. The guy was in shock. He had been a second away from success, only to have his whole plan explode before his eyes.
“Shoot him!” ordered Rose.
It took me a second to realize who he was talking to. It was me! I was sitting on top of him with the bodyguard’s gun in my hand. Max Rose wanted me to shoot his would-be assassin. I had never even shot a gun before, let alone one that was aimed at somebody.
“Do it, Buck, shoot him!” shouted Rose.
I was stunned and confused. I turned the gun toward the nervous gangster because that’s what I was ordered to do. The guy looked back at me and our eyes locked.
In those eyes I saw something I had never seen before and never wanted to see again. I had his life in my hands. He knew it. It was up to me whether he would live or die. That was a power I didn’t want, under any circumstances. It was a frightening moment. This gangster was my enemy. He tried to kill us down in the subway. Worse, he was one of the assassins who killed Uncle Press. Nobody deserved my revenge more than this guy.
But in spite of all that, there was no way I could take his life. That wasn’t something I had in me.
So I dropped the gun.
Instantly the gangster ran. You would think with so many people standing around, somebody would have stopped him. But all those fancy folks in tuxedos and gowns were in a state of shock. By the time somebody got their head together enough to shout “Stop him!” the gunman had already ducked out of a service door and was gone.
I looked around and saw nothing but stunned faces. The band had stopped playing and people were now slowly circling us to see what had happened. It was eerie. Nobody said a word; they just stared. I realized I was still sitting on Max Rose’s stomach. I looked down to see he was staring up at me with razor-sharp eyes.
“I told you to shoot him,” he said flatly.
I was too stunned to say anything.
“Did you hear me, Buck? I told you to shoot him!”
This was a crucial moment. Not only for my own survival, but for the future of our mission on First Earth. I felt like the whole ballgame was right here, right now. I couldn’t screw it up.
“Yeah, so what?” I said, trying to sound cocky.
It was a bold move. Max Rose stared right into my brain. I didn’t look away. My adrenaline was still spiked way too high to back off now.
“Wasn’t it enough that I saved your skin?” I asked. “I’m not hearing any thank-yous.”
A moment passed. I felt the hot stares of Rose’s bodyguards on me as they waited for Rose to tell them what to do.
After a painfully long few seconds, Max Rose…smiled. “Thank you. Buck,” he said. “Now would you please get off my stomach?”
Things got pretty hectic after that. People were either scared and jumping over each other to get to the elevator, or pressing in on us to see what had happened. The band started playing again. I guess they were trying to calm everybody down. Isn’t that what the band did while the Titanic was sinking? I was getting shoved around by the mass of people. All I wanted to do was get out of there, but it was impossible to move. I thought I was gonna get crushed.
Finally a strong hand grabbed my arm. I looked up to see who it belonged to, and was totally relieved to see Gunny.
“Time to go,” he said calmly. He had my arm in one hand and Spader’s in the other. He quickly pushed the two of us through the crowd and back into the kitchen and away from the hubbub. But we didn’t stop there. He wanted us out of that place as fast as possible, before anybody could talk to us. Again, once the police showed up there would be a lot of questions asked. The less they knew about us, the better, so it was a good thing we got out of there while it was still a madhouse.
A few minutes later, after a quick ride down on the service elevator, we were safely tucked back into our sixth floor suite, as if nothing had happened.
“Don’t come out of here,” ordered Gunny. “And don’t come to work tomorrow. I want things to calm down first.”
“No problem,” I said.
“We hear you, mate,” added Spader.
Then Gunny smiled nervously. “You were right, Pendragon. Wearejust getting started.”
“All in a day’s work, Gunny, my friend,” said Spader with a touch of his usual cockiness.
Gunny then left and we were alone. My heart slowly stopped sprinting. Spader and I looked at each other. Neither of us knew what to say. Finally we both burst out laughing.
“Hobey, Pendragon!” shouted Spader. “That was amazing!”
“You were great!” I shouted. “You didn’t even stop to think before taking off after that guy!”
“Good thing,” Spader said. “I probably would have run the other way if I gave it any thought. That was a natty-do, all right!”
“Yeah, yeah, it was,” I said.
The two of us fell into chairs, feeling proud of ourselves. We sat there for a while, enjoying the moment, enjoying the victory. It wouldn’t last.
Spader took a final deep breath, blew it out and said, “It’s back on, isn’t it?”
I knew exactly what he meant. “Yeah,” I said. “No more basketball.”
As I drifted off to sleep that night, it was with the realization that after weeks of sitting around and spinning our wheels, the curtain was finally about to go up on this show. The scary thing was, we still had no idea what to expect.
