The Traveler

“That’s right. We’re Travelers.” Michael nodded and touched his brother’s arm. “I was worried about you, Gabe. I’m glad you’re all right.”

“Father’s alive.”

“How do you know that?”

“I went to a place called New Harmony in southern Arizona. Eight years ago, Father met some people and inspired them to start a community living free of the Grid. He could be in our world-this world-anywhere.”

Michael paced back and forth between the reading tables. He picked up a book as if it could give him an answer, then tossed it away. “All right,” he said. “Dad’s alive. That’s an interesting fact, but it’s not relevant. We’ve got to focus on our current problem.”

“And what’s that?”

“At this moment, my body is lying on a table at a research center near New York City. Where are you, Gabe?”

“I’m at a deserted church camp in the Malibu hills.”

“Are you surrounded by guards?”

“Of course not.”

“When I return to the normal world, I’ll tell them where you are-”

“Are you crazy?” Gabriel stepped closer to his brother. “You were captured by the Tabula. They’re the same people who attacked our house and burned it down.”

“I know all about it, Gabe. A man named Kennard Nash explained everything. But that was in the past. Now they need a Traveler. They’re in contact with an advanced civilization.”

“What difference does that make? They want to destroy any kind of personal freedom.”

“That’s the plan for the ordinary people, but not for us. There’s no right or wrong about this. It’s going to happen. You can’t stop it. The Brethren are already putting the system into place.”

“Our parents didn’t see the world that way.”

“And what the hell did that get us? We didn’t have any money. We didn’t have any friends. We couldn’t even use our real names and we spent our entire lives running. You can’t avoid the Grid. So why not join the people in control?”

“The Tabula have brainwashed you.”

“No, Gabe. It’s the other way around. I’m the only one in the family who ever saw things clearly.”

“Not this time.”

Michael placed his hand on the handle of the gold sword. The two Travelers looked in each other’s eyes. “I protected you when we were growing up,” Michael said. “Guess I have to do it again.” He turned on his heels and hurried from the room.

Gabriel stood between the tables. “Come back here!” he shouted. “Michael!” He waited for a few seconds, and then ran out into the hallway. Empty. No one there. The door squeaked faintly as it closed behind him.

51

Michael sat on the surgical table in the middle of the Tomb. Dr. Richardson and the anesthesiologist stood back and stared at him while Miss Yang removed the sensors from his body. When the nurse was done, she took a fleece-lined sweatshirt from the tray and held it on the open palms of her hands. Michael took the shirt and slowly pulled it on. He felt exhausted and very cold.

“Maybe you should tell us what happened.” Dr. Richardson sounded worried.

“Where’s General Nash?”

“We called him immediately,” Dr. Lau said. “He was over in the administration center.”

Michael picked up the sheathed sword lying on the table beside him. Like a guardian spirit it had traveled with him through the barriers. The gleaming sword blade and the gold handle were exactly the same in the Second Realm.

The door opened and a thin shaft of light appeared on the dark floor. Michael returned the sword to the table as Kennard Nash hurried across the room.

“Is everything okay, Michael? They said you wanted to see me.”

“Get rid of these people.”

Nash nodded his head. Richardson, Lau, and Miss Yang retreated through the lab door underneath the northern gallery. The computer technicians were still peering down from the gallery windows.

“That’s all!” Nash said loudly. “And please switch off the microphones! Thank you very much!”

The technicians reacted like schoolboys caught peeking into the teacher’s room. Immediately, they moved away from the windows and returned to the glowing light of their monitors.

“So where did you go, Michael? A new realm?”

“I’ll describe that later. There’s a more important issue. I met my brother.”

General Nash stepped closer to the table. “That’s wonderful! Were you able to speak to each other?”

Michael swiveled so that he was sitting on the edge of the table. When he and Gabriel were traveling around the country together, Michael had spent hours staring out the windshield at the passing scenery. Sometimes he would concentrate on one particular object beside the road and hold that vision in his mind for several seconds until it disappeared. Now that same sensation had returned to him with an increased power. Images lingered in his mind and he could analyze the smallest details.

“When we were growing up, Gabriel never looked ahead or made any plans. I was the one who always figured out what to do.”

“Of course, Michael. I understand.” Nash’s voice was soft and soothing. “You’re the older brother.”

“Gabe gets a lot of crazy ideas. I need to be objective. Make the right choice.”