peaceful, positive event. Maybe everyone was on good behavior because the world was watching. Or maybe they knew they were fighting a losing battle and this was their last party. There were TV cameras all around us, mostly on the backs of camera guys who ran around catching the flavor of it all. It was an amazing, impressive spectacle. I hoped it would stay that way.
Alder and I ran to the truck and climbed the few metal stairs that led to a door. Inside we saw it was a TV control truck. One whole wall was taken up with small video monitors that showed the feeds from the various cameras roaming the stadium. Some were on the guy with the guitar, but most of the cameras were trained on the faces of the people. As different as they all were, they shared the same sad, frightened look. They all feared that their world was about to change, and not for the better.
A couple of technicians sat in front of the monitors, with a guy I figured was the director because he was calling out camera changes.
“Camera One, pan left. Let’s see some faces. Take! Ready four, pull back from the guitar. Take. Dissolve to three. Dissolve to six. Nice!” He went on and on like that. It would have been interesting if I hadn’t been thinking about imminent genocide.
“Pendragon! Alder!” Professor Gastigian bellowed.
Haig strode toward us from the far end of the truck. In his hand he grasped a handful of papers. The guy was totally lit up with excitement. His eyes sparkled.
“Isn’t this wonderful?” he announced. “Seventy thousand plus. They have to be taking note of this at the UN. They have to be listening.” He held up the pages. “Look. E-mails. Hundreds of them. Thousands. From all over the world, offering support for us and condemnation of the Ravinians.”
“Professor,” I said, “we have to talk about something important.”
“What’s more important than this? Look!”
He led us back to the TV monitors and pointed at the screens on the far right side.
“Look there,” he said. “The UN.”
On several video monitors were shots of the protest happening in front of the famous United Nations building.
Hundreds of people marched with signs, chanting. It was as peaceful and impressive as the event at Yankee Stadium. “Yeah, it’s terrific,” I said. “But there’s a chance that-”
“Look at them. Five thousand strong at the UN alone,” Haig declared. “These images are being sent all over the world, live. Every network is carrying it. Live. The news channels too.”
“When is the vote?” Alder asked.
“It’s happening right now,” Haig answered. “They should make an announcement at any time. The eyes of the world are on us. I have to believe that goes for the General Assembly as well. This has to give them pause.”
“Professor, listen, these people might be in danger-”
“Of course they are! That’s what this is all about!” He leaned down to the TV director and said, “Be sure to get lots of close-ups in the stands. We have to put a face on the Foundation. We want the world to see that we’re all just regular people.”
Haig was too wired to listen to anything I had to say. He was like a Ping-Pong ball bouncing around the trailer. But I had to try.
“Something might happen here. Right now.”
“I certainly hope so,” Haig replied. “Are you ready to go out there and talk to them?”
Talk? I’d forgotten all about it. Haig wanted me to speak to this crowd. To the world. He wanted me to tell them about Halla. I wasn’t ready for that.
“No, listen, we saw buses with red-shirt guards outside and-”
“Intimidation tactics. Nothing more. Are you sure you won’t speak? Now is the time.”
“Professor! I’m trying to tell you that Naymeer might be planning something to hurt these people right here! Right now!”
Haig finally focused on me. I had gotten through.
“You have my attention,” he said soberly.
“Alder and I heard about an event called ‘the Bronx Massacre.’ After what we saw Naymeer do to his enemies last night, who’s to say he wouldn’t try something just as horrible right here? He has seventy thousand of his enemies together, all in one place. He’ll never have another chance like this.”
Haig looked shaken. I’m sure he was thinking the same thing we were. If something nasty was going to happen, how could they quickly evacuate so many people? It would be impossible.
I looked to the many TV screens and the thousands of faces. I couldn’t imagine the nightmare. The guitar guy had finished singing, and there was now some actor dude and his actress wife onstage, talking about the evils of Ravinia. The people had stopped their chanting and singing. All eyes were focused on the couple. I watched as one camera panned a row of people who were all looking at the stage. As the camera moved past them, I saw so many different people with so many different lives that-according to the Ravinians-were worthless. I imagined the same happening all over Halla. There would be Batu and the gars. Milago and Novans. The worlds would change, but the frightened looks would be the same.
How could Saint Dane consider these people to be worthless? Maybe they weren’t geniuses. They might not have had any special talent or calling. They might not be leaders. Or visionaries. But they cared. Their being at that rally proved it. These were people who had families and friends. They cared about their futures as much as any of Naymeer’s “chosen.” They had come from all over the world to show just how much they cared. Didn’t that count for something? As I looked at their faces, I realized that Naymeer had gotten it wrong. Saint Dane had gotten it wrong. These people were the chosen. These ordinary people were the life and soul of the world. Every world. There is no such thing as perfection. Anywhere. No world is perfect. It is the spirit and heart of people like these- the ordinary people-that keep it all from falling into chaos. These people are the backbone of Halla.
That’s why Saint Dane wants them gone. I had been witness to countless horrors unleashed by Saint Dane. It wasn’t until that moment, as I watched the faces of his next victims, that I fully appreciated how truly evil a creature he is.
I watched as one camera continued its slow pan across the many faces. Oddly, it moved past a guy who wasn’t looking in the same direction as everyone else. It was so strange that it nearly made me jump. He was actually looking right into the camera, as if he knew it was there. He even had a little smile on his face. The camera continued past him and on to more people, who were focused on the stage.
“Go back. Go back!” I shouted to the people at the control panel.
One guy wearing a headset glanced back at me. “Go away!” he barked, and went back to work. I got right into his face and shouted, “I have to see somebody on that camera!” I pointed to the screen where I had seen the strange guy.
The man with the headset looked to Haig. “Who is this guy?” he asked, meaning me.
I answered, “I’m the terrorist. Do what I say or I’ll terrorize you.”
The guy focused on me. I saw a look of recognition as the color drained from his face. “It is you,” he gasped. “The one who disappeared.”
“Yeah, nice to meet you. Get that camera back where it was.”
“Do it, please,” Haig chimed in.
The guy was shaken. He ran his fingers over the buttons in front of him as if not sure what to do. “Uh, uh… which camera?”
“That one,” I screamed, pointing to the monitor.
“I can play back what you saw,” he mumbled nervously.
“Do it!” I demanded.
The guy fumbled with a few buttons as we all stared at the screen. He finally got the right one, and the picture did a quick rewind.
“Stop!” I shouted. “Go from there.”
He hit play. We all watched the same shot I had been staring at a few seconds before. The camera panned across the sea of faces that were all looking in the same direction. It then moved past the guy who was looking right into the camera.
“Whoa, that’s kind of creepy,” the technician muttered. “Freeze it!” I shouted.
