October sixth, 1937.”
“First Earth,” I whispered.
“That’s it,” Courtney exclaimed. “He went to First Earth and brought Forge with him. He changed the course of history by introducing his simple computer years before it was supposed to be invented. No, forget simple. That thing was advanced, even by Second Earth standards. He jumped the natural evolution of computer science by, like, sixty years. That’s why Second Earth changed. That’s why Third Earth changed. That’s why freaking robots are everywhere. Mark changed the future by bringing Forge to the past.”
I wanted to say I was surprised, but it was exactly what I feared. By bringing his invention to the past, Mark had mixed the territories and changed the natural destiny of Halla. I didn’t say anything. My mind was working over the possibilities.
“What the matter?” Courtney asked impatiently. “This is exactly the kind of thing we thought happened.”
“Yeah,” I said. “But it doesn’t answer the bigger question.”
“What’s that?” Patrick asked.
“It doesn’t tell us why. Why did Mark do it? He knew how wrong it was. How did Saint Dane get to him?”
The three of us sat there, looking at our feet. None of us had that answer, and I doubted the computer would either, but I had to try. I stood up, strode to Patrick’s seat and hit the white button myself. “Computer!” I demanded. “What is the discrepancy?”
The computer answered, “There is no history of Dimond, Mark prior to the patent filing for his Forge technology in October of 1937.”
“Makes sense,” Courtney said. “He dropped in from the future.”
The computer continued, “There is no history of Dimond, Mark beyond the announcement of the Dimond Alpha Digital Organization partnering with KEM Limited in November of 1937.”
“What does that mean?” Patrick demanded to know. “Mark Dimond disappeared twice?”
Mark’s image vanished. We waited. Nothing happened. We stood silently, letting the reality sink in.
“So what happened to him on First Earth?” Patrick asked nobody in particular.
“We got what we came for,” I declared. “Patrick, keep searching.”
“For what?” he asked.
“For anything that will give us a clue as to what happened to Mark on First Earth.”
“And what’re you going to do?”
I looked at Courtney. “We’re going after him.” Courtney walked up next to me, looked me in the eye, and asked, “Are we on the wrong territory?” “Yeah, we’re on the wrong territory.”
(CONTINUED)
FIRST EARTH
Patrick drove us quickly back to the subway city in the Bronx. On the way we grabbed a quick bite to eat. If there was one thing I learned while bouncing through time and space, it was to eat when you could. You never knew when you’d get another chance… or find yourself on a territory where food tasted like shoes. We got the food at a drive-through. Or maybe it was more of a drive-under, since we had to go underground to get it. We ate cheeseburgers, fries, and sodas. Some things never change, no matter what century you’re in. We ate while Patrick drove. I took the time to fill him in on what had happened to me since I’d seen him last. The wins and the losses. The territories that were set straight, and those that were in trouble. I told him how Gunny and Spader were trapped on Eelong, how many Travelers had been killed, and how Nevva Winter, the Traveler from Quillan, had joined Saint Dane. I also told him about the mysterious Convergence that Saint Dane said was near. I told him quickly and succinctly, only hitting the highlights. Saying it all at once like that made the whole story seem so, I don’t know, impossible.
It also made me lose my appetite. So much for the cheeseburgers.
“KEM Limited,” I said. “That’s important. Mark wouldn’t have been able to spring his invention on the world by himself. He would have needed somebody to help him.”
Courtney asked, “So if we find this KEM company, we’ll find Mark.”
My mind ripped through the possibilities.
“Bobby?” Courtney pressed. “What are you thinking?”
“The turning point of First Earth has passed,” I said. “Saint Dane tried to get me to save the Hindenburg. I didn’t and history continued the way it was supposed to.”
“Old news. So what?”
“So when we step into that flume and call out First Earth, where is it going to send us? No, when is it going to send us? What if it sends us back too late to stop Mark? Or way too early? We might be totally spinning our wheels.”
Patrick gave me a dark look. Courtney thought for a moment and said, “You’ve written in your journals a thousand times how the flumes send the Travelers where they need to be, when they need to be there. It’s pretty clear we need to be on First Earth in time to do something about Mark.”
“Yeah,” I said, frowning. “That scares me even more.”
“Why?” she asked impatiently.
“If the flume sends us back in time to do something about Mark, does that mean First Earth has another turning point? Does that mean it’s possible for all the territories to have more than one turning point? Did the Travelers before us chase Saint Dane from territory to territory, constantly monkeying with turning points? What about after us? Is this battle going to go on forever?”
Courtney had an answer for everything. Not this time. All she could do was stare at me. Patrick didn’t even do that. He kept his eyes on the road. I knew what they were thinking. I could sum it up with one simple question: “What’s the point?”
“Stop,” Courtney snapped. “The point is to save Mark. Over and out. We can go nuts thinking about all the cosmic implications of what’s been happening, but that’s only going to make us more nuts. Worrying about anything else is a waste of time.”
“Or is this all just a waste of time?” I asked. “Are we killing ourselves to prolong the inevitable? If Saint Dane can’t be destroyed, and he can go back and tinker with territories we’ve already saved, there’ll be no end to this. Until he’s won.”
Courtney grabbed my shoulder and yanked me around until we were nose to nose. “I don’t believe that,” she said with passion. “Neither do you. You’re just feeling sorry for yourself. We’ve come too far and gone through too much to give up now.”
She was right, of course. We had no choice. The battle would continue. But I was discouraged. Was this going to be a never-ending struggle, with Saint Dane jumping through time, turning events on a whim, twisting the territories, and creating new turning points until Halla finally cracked?
“Are you with me, Bobby?” Courtney asked.
“You know I am.” I didn’t have the heart to tell her about the serious doubts I was having.
Patrick dropped us off at the green kiosk in the Bronx that led down to the subway city and the flume. He said to Courtney, “I’ve only known you a short while, but I can see why Pendragon wants you with him.”
“I should have been with him from the start,” she said. Classic Courtney. “We’re going to make things right, don’t worry.”
Patrick told me, “If I find out anything more about Mark Dimond, I’ll send a note to your acolyte.”
Courtney wiggled her finger bearing her Traveler ring. “That would be me.”
There was an awkward moment. Nobody knew how to say good-bye. It was Patrick who put the situation into perspective.
“It’s started,” he said. “Whatever the Convergence is, it feels like Saint Dane is pulling the pieces together by orchestrating events here on Earth.”
“Pulling the pieces together?” Courtney asked. “Or ripping them apart?”
