her on either side, inches away. Courtney held her breath. If they turned around, they’d see her. Courtney wanted to kick herself for getting so close. She watched as the two hurried away through the crowd without looking back. Courtney started breathing again. Now what? Was this her chance? Should she confront all three Dimonds? She liked Mr. and Mrs. Dimond. Maybe they’d listen to her. Or maybe they’d call the authorities, and she’d land back in the brig. She figured she had to take the chance. She was about to round the pillar when the band stopped playing and the bandleader stepped up to the microphone.
“We have a special request,” he announced. “A spotlight dance for a happy couple who we understand are celebrating a very special occasion. Let’s bring up Mr. and Mrs. Dimond. Where are you folks?”
The audience applauded and looked around, searching for the mystery couple. Courtney smiled. She knew that Mr. Dimond would be mortified. He wasn’t a very good dancer. She also knew that Mrs. Dimond would drag him onto the floor anyway. She loved to dance. Courtney also knew that Dodger was a very crafty guy.
The room went dark. A spotlight kicked on and scanned the diners until settling on the Dimonds. The crowd continued to applaud as Mrs. Dimond dragged Mr. Dimond up to the dance floor. All eyes were on the Dimonds. Courtney slowly peered around the pillar to see Mark sitting alone, his chin in his hand, drumming his spoon absently on the table.
“Ten minutes,” she said as she walked toward him. “That’s all I’m asking for.”
Mark jumped as if there were an electric charge in his seat.
“C–Courtney? How d-did you-“
“You’re stuttering. That means my Mark is still in there. Please come with me.”
“I c-can’t,” Mark said, looking sheepish.
“Yes, you can, Mark,” Courtney implored. “You have to.”
“Please, Courtney,” Mark begged. “You can’t ask me to do anything that might hurt them.”
They both looked up at his parents, who danced alone in the spotlight. Courtney thought they looked radiant and happy.
“Hurting them is the last thing I want to do. But you have to know what’s going on. There’s a lot at stake here. You of all people should know that. Or did you forget everything that’s happened over the past three years?”
Mark’s glance darted nervously from his parents to Courtney.
“We don’t have a lot of time,” Courtney said. “Bobby is about to go to war, and you’re the only one who can stop it.”
Mark’s eyes focused. Courtney knew that look. She’d seen it many times as they read Bobby’s journals together and puzzled over the realities of time and space. She’d seen it as they were about to step into the flume, when they saw Black Water for the first time, and when the flume was created before their eyes in the basement of the Sherwood house. She knew she hadn’t lost him.
“You gotta get back in the game, Mark.”
Mark glanced at his parents. A sad smile crossed his face. He took a breath, tossed his spoon on the table, and stood up to face her.
“Hobey-ho,” he said.
(CONTINUED)
They moved quickly through the ship, avoiding crowds, taking routes that kept them away from curious eyes. Courtney knew they didn’t have much time. She figured that when everyone returned to the table to discover Mark was gone, they’d probably give him a few minutes, assuming he went to the bathroom or something. That would be it. Saint Dane and Nevva would know something was wrong. Soon they’d have the whole ship looking for Mark. They’d discover Courtney had escaped. It was all going to fall apart very quickly. Courtney figured she had a small window to save Halla, and Mark.
They broke outside on A Deck and ran to the stern of the ship. The deck was empty. Nobody would bother them. At least not for a while. They hit the rail and stopped. Courtney looked down to the frothing ocean that was being churned up in the wake of the massive ship. It was a long way down. She turned to Mark, and for that one moment, she saw the little boy she had known for so long.
“I miss you, Courtney,” Mark said.
The two hugged. Courtney squeezed her friend tight, allowing herself to think for that one moment that everything was going to be okay.
“You’re freezing,” Mark said, and took off his tuxedo jacket. He wrapped it around Courtney’s shoulders.
“Thanks.”
“A lot’s happened,” Mark said sadly.
“You have no idea,” Courtney replied. “I’ve got to make sure you do. Mark, I understand what you told me. I understand why you did what you did.”
“You say that like it’s already done,” Mark said. “We haven’t gotten to England yet.”
“That’s why I’m here,” Courtney said. “That’s why the flume sent me back to before you brought Forge to that KEM company.”
“You know about it?” Mark asked, surprised.
Courtney wanted to laugh. Did she know about it? She knew more than she ever wanted to know.
“There is so much to tell you,” she said quickly. “But we don’t have time. They’re probably hunting for us right now. I’ve wrestled over a million different ways of how to get you to understand what really happened. Or what’s about to happen. What I finally realized is that none of it matters, except for one single fact. It’s the most important thing I can get you to believe, because everything else follows from it.”
“What is it?” Mark asked.
“What I told you before is the truth. Andy Mitchell is Saint Dane. From the day we met him in kindergarten. This story didn’t begin when Bobby left home. Saint Dane has been setting us up our whole lives. Setting you up. He got you to fear him. Then he seduced you by suddenly revealing he was a genius. Then he got you to trust him when he helped you rescue me after the accident in the mountains. It was all planned, Mark. You know what he’s done on other territories. You know how he works his way into people’s confidence to get them to make mistakes. That’s what he’s been doing on Second Earth. He’s been working us. You have to believe me, Mark.”
Mark didn’t take his eyes off Courtney. She tried to read his mind. She hoped he was moving in fast forward through everything that got them to this point, looking at it from a new perspective. Mark was brilliant. He may feel used, he may feel betrayed, he may even feel like an idiot, but she felt sure he would understand and accept what happened. There was no other explanation.
“You’re wrong,” Mark finally said.
“But-“
“There’s only one fact that matters to me. If events played out the way they were supposed to, my parents would be dead.”
“But they are!” Courtney shouted. “I mean, I don’t know what I mean, but I saw Second Earth after the past was changed. After you changed it. Your parents still went down with that plane.”
“Then why are they here, right now, dancing in a spotlight?”
Courtney faltered. She didn’t have an answer.
“Courtney!” Dodger called as he jogged up to them.
Mark stiffened.
“It’s okay,” she said. “This is Dodger. He’s Gunny’s acolyte.” Dodger stuck out his hand and shook Mark’s. “Pleased to meet you, chum,” Dodger said amiably. “You’re a tough one to get hold of. But now everything’s fine. Right?” Mark and Courtney both looked down to the deck. Dodger frowned. “You told him about Saint Dane, right?” “He still doesn’t believe me.” “What proof do you have, Courtney?” Mark asked. “You can read Bobby’s journals,” Courtney said weakly. “That’s not enough,” Mark barked. “I have my parents. Here.
Alive. You’re asking me to destroy Forge, right? That’s like saying you want me to kill my parents.” “I know, it’s hard,” Courtney said.
“Hard?” Mark shouted. “That doesn’t come close to describing it.”
“Mark, something isn’t right!” Courtney countered. “By introducing Forge to First Earth, you’re going to set off a chain of events that leads to the creation of a technology Saint Dane is using to topple Halla. That’s a fact. You don’t know. You haven’t read the journals.”
