Journal 14
Well, guys a lot has happened since my last journal. I hardly know where to start. I guess I'll go back to the second day we were on Xelios. Lita, as promised, found us jobs at a building across the street from Kyliger Corporation, the building that she worked in. It's a simple job, all we have to do is write down the amount of time it takes each robot to do their job and how well they do it. I guess they want to find out which robots are more efficient. Gunny and I spend most of the day reading up on Xelios. They have something similar to Third Earth's virtual library where you can access large amounts of information through their computers. I learned that Xelios didn't always have classes; they were just like Second Earth is with lots of different countries fighting but then came along a man named Perphyus who developed the idea that there shouldn't be individual countries just one planet. He devised a system, the classes, so that everyone had a part in the running of a platform. Unfortunately, as the years went by the classes were changed so that it was more of rank than just different jobs. Instead of each class having an equal amount to do some classes had to do more and others had acquired more power than the rest. Now, Xelios is segregated and those of the lower classes aren't happy. Everyone I go I see signs of protest from people refusing to work to hearing about a fire set in a Purple or Blue household. Gunny and I were sure that any minute an all out war would start. For two weeks everything was normal, or as normal as a territory can be when it is close to having a civil war. Gunny, Lita, and I would ride to work in the family speeder. Kaseph worked on a different platform and had his own speeder. Lita and Kaseph's parents worked on the same platform that they lived on so they just walked to their jobs. We met Lita and Kaseph's parents. They were nice and didn't mind if we stayed. Gunny and Kaseph were becoming good friends but for some reason I didn't talk to Kaseph as much. I guess it was that he was obsessed with the whole rebellion thing and I couldn't help thinking that Kaseph's thoughts were too extreme. He sounded like he meant well but what he was planning was a war on the higher classes, once they won the war they would make themselves the rulers. I think Lita felt the same way as I did. She always told Kaseph to drop the subject when he started going on about the rebellion. Things went ok until last week. Gunny and I had just finished work and were heading to the parking lot to wait for Lita when there was a huge explosion. It was so close to Gunny and I that we were thrown into the air and landed nearly six feet away. The impact with the asphalt hurt but I luckily landed rather smoothly I would have bruises the next day but I hadn't broken anything. I turned over and looked back at what had happened. What I saw made my heart stop. It was the Kyliger building! It had blown up!
"Oh my god! Gunny! Lita was in there!" I yelled grabbing Gunny. His limp body didn't move. He was knocked out cold. His head had hit the pavement hard when we had been thrown into the air. That's when I freaked. I mean, Lita had been so nice to us and we had actually become good friends, she always seemed to know exactly what was on in my mind. I couldn't believe that she was gone. I needed Gunny's comforting words or Spader's bright response. What I really needed was Uncle Press, but he wasn't here, nor Spader and for the moment Gunny wasn't either. I jumped up and ran towards the burning building. The building was on fire in many spots and the heat was intense. A huge black cloud of smoke was billowing out of the fifth story windows. I could hear sirens in the distance, presumably the firemen coming to put out the fire. That's when I noticed people streaming out of the front door. There were survivors! I hoped that Lita was one of them. I ran up the steps looking for Lita among the survivors.
"Lita!" I yelled over the noise. "Lita, where are you?"
The last few straggling survivors were coming through the doors. None of them were Lita. I scanned the group of huddled survivors but didn't see any sign of Lita. No, I thought angrily, this is not supposed to happen. How could all of these people make it and not Lita? Why did everyone I ever cared about have to die or disappear? Then I heard a familiar voice.
"Bobby?"
I turned around and there facing me was Lita, her face had cuts on it and she was holding her arm which had a small burn on it, but she was alive. I almost cried for joy I was so happy.
"Lita!" I said and hugged her.
Lita sobbed into my shoulder. "It was so awful, it happened so fast."
"But it's over now," I said reassuringly.
"No, it's not," replied Lita letting go of me. "Somebody did this on purpose I heard some of the other survivors saying that it was a bomb that made the explosion, and they killed people. We need to find out who did this and why."
I was about to argue with her when I noticed her determined eyes. Lita was on a mission and there was no way I could stop her.
"Where's Gunny?" asked Lita looking around.
"Oh, I ah, left him over there," I said pointing towards where Gunny was still laying on the ground. "He was knocked out cold when the bomb went off." I looked back towards Gunny guiltily, why had I just left him there without making sure he was really ok. I had been so worried about Lita that I had disregarded my other friend.
"Come on," said Lita pulling me back towards Gunny. He was still out; he had a large cut on his forehead where he had hit the pavement.
"Help me get him up," said Lita struggling to pick up Gunny.
"Where are we going to put him," I said breathing heavily from Gunny's bulk.
"Let's try and get him to that bench over there," replied Lita nodding her head towards a solitary bench next to a book store. We dragged Gunny over to the bench where we laid him down gently.
Gunny groaned raising his hand slightly.
"Gunny, just stay still you shouldn't be moving," said Lita worriedly.
"Where am I? What happened?" asked Gunny not opening his eyes.
"It's ok, Gunny," I said, "You were knocked out by the explosion.
"Gunny, just take your time, you may have a concussion." said Lita.
Gunny opened his eyes squinting up at us. "What the hell happened?" he said slowly sitting up. He put his hand to his head where his cut was. "Saint Dane?" he asked.
I shook my head, as Lita said, "No, someone set a bomb off in the building I worked at."
Gunny looked stunned for a moment. "You ok?" he asked her.
"Yes, I'm fine," said Lita but I could tell she was still extremely upset about the bombing.
"Let's get back home," I said. Lita nodded and we helped Gunny up off the bench.
"Do you think you can walk?" I asked Gunny.
"Yeah, I'll be ok, I just need some ice," replied Gunny smiling grimly. We headed back to the parking lot and boarded our speeder. By the time we made it home the suns were almost below the horizon.
"Mom! Dad! Kaseph!" yelled Lita as we entered the house.
"Oh honey, you're ok!" said Lita's mother tearfully, "I heard about Kyliger on the news, I was worried sick!" Lita's mom smothered Lita in kisses and hugged her tightly. Lita hugged her mother back but no tears came, she still had the same determined look that I had seen when I had found her. "Are you hurt?" asked Lita's mother pushing Lita back so she could look at her.
"Just some scratches," replied Lita offhandedly. I could tell that Lita was trying to hide her arm but it didn't work. Mrs. Enders grabbed her arm and looked at the burn.
"No, this is a burn, a bad one at that," said Lita's mother pointing to the burn on her arm. "Come with me into the kitchen while I clean it up, we can't have it getting infected. Lita's mom glanced at us and noticed Gunny's cut.
"Oh my, Mr. Van Dyke your head," she said worriedly. "You better come with me to the kitchen also, I'll get you a bandage." Gunny smiled, "You're too kind to me, Eliza," he said referring to Lita's mother.
"And how about you, Bobby, are you hurt as well?" she said rounding on me.
"No, I'm perfectly fine," I said smiling.
"Well, that's good to hear, if you don't mind could you go and tell Kaseph that his sister is back, he is on the phone right now with the hospital, he's in his room," said Mrs. Enders pushing Lita and Gunny into the kitchen.
"Sure thing," I said and climbed up the steps to Kaseph's room. My mind wandered as I walked up the stairs, could Saint Dane have been involved? What if he had targeted the Kyliger building because of Lita? Did he even know that Lita was a Traveler? I wasn't even sure if Saint Dane was actually on Xelios. So far we hadn't seen any sign of him. It made sense for Saint Dane to be behind the rebellion but I hadn't heard anything about him. Saint Dane was the type of person who liked to make himself known so why hadn't he shown himself yet? I walked down the hall towards Kaseph's room still wondering about Saint Dane. I knocked quietly on Kaseph's door, it swung open immediately. I took a step back, Kaseph looked angry.
"What?" he said angrily opening his door slightly and looking at me.
"I just wanted to let you know that Lita is back and she's ok," I said still starring at Kaseph. He seemed different but I couldn't figure out why. His eyes were blazing and seemed blue instead of their normal golden hue.
"Thank the Whisperer," said Kaseph opening the door wide. He sighed and went over to his bed and slumped down. I stepped in and stood near his dresser looking at a collection of speeder collectible models. For a moment he had seemed like his old self but then he seemed to change and he got anger again. "So what happened exactly, Pendragon?" asked Kaseph looking up at me.
"Someone put a bomb in the Kyliger building on the fifth floor, it went off just as Gunny and I were heading to the parking lot, Gunny got knocked out, I ran to the building to find Lita. She was alright but she is sure that the bomb was targeted at Kyliger for a reason and is planning on finding out who did it and why." I said quietly. It seemed to have happened so long ago but in reality it was only about an hour ago.
"What did the building look like after the explosion?" asked Kaseph eagerly.
"Well like any building would have being blown up, it was totally destroyed," I said confused at why Kaseph cared what the building looked like.
"It serves those high class jerks right!" said Kaseph smiling.
"What are you talking about?" I said, "People died today, a lot of people, and what makes you think that the high classes were the target?"
"You said the bomb went off on the fifth floor, didn't you? That's where the administrations and bosses have offices; I bet they were killed instantly. It's unfortunate that others were sacrificed for the good of the lower class rebellion but it had to be done," replied Kaseph calmly.
I couldn't believe what I was hearing, "But-but," I stuttered, "Your sister could have been killed! And what do you mean about being for the greater good of the lower classes? Are you saying that you knew this was going to happen?" I was starting to get angry, what on earth was Kaseph thinking.
"I knew, of course, that they were planning on bombing a building I just didn't know when or which building. It was a plan to make those high-class fools realize that we are serious about t his rebellion. If I had known that they had targeted Kyliger than I would have, of course, told them to pick another target since Lita works their."
"I can't believe I'm hearing this!" I shouted at Kaseph. "You are calmly talking about the deaths of hundreds of people, it doesn't matter what class they are, they shouldn't have been killed!" What was wrong with Kaseph, I understood that he didn't like the idea of classes and it did sound as if the lower classes were being mistreated but did it really call for bombings?
"Pendragon," replied Kaseph smiling, "I can see why you would not understand why we do this but you have not lived your whole life being treated like dirt while others lived in luxury with more power than they deserve. We do this for the good of Xelios"
I shook my head. Kaseph really believed what he was saying, that or he was a really good actor. "No Kaseph, you aren't doing this for Xelios you are doing it for your own profit, you just want power. And," I took a deep breath, "I won't let you hurt people, it's not right Kaseph, can't you see that there are other ways of dealing with the problem than violence?"
I started to walk out of his room when Kaseph blocked my way, his eyes were blazing again and I could have sworn they looked blue. "How dare you!" he said grabbing hold of my shirt and pulling me so that my nose was almost touching his, "If you even think about getting in our way than I won't hesitate in turning you over to the government and I'll tell them everything. I'll tell them about how you and Gunny are Travelers. You can be sure that they won't be pleased to hear that, plus I'm sure your good friend Captain Towes would love to get his hands on you." He continued to glare at me for a second and then let go of me. I walked out willing myself to be cool and not act like act like a loser. I felt like running out and running away. Things had gone from bad to worse today, first the bombing and then Kaseph.
I walked back downstairs and headed to the kitchen. Mrs. Enders was just finishing putting on a bandage on Gunny's head. I walked over to Lita who was starting to prepare dinner.
"Need some help?" I asked mulling over what Kaseph had just said.
"Sure!" she said. "Get out those vegetables and start chopping them into small pieces. I'm going to make us one of my favorite dishes."
It amazed me that after her near death Lita was so happy. I don't think that I would act like that right after I almost got blown up. Maybe it's just Lita's way of dealing with things but somehow I think Lita is just like that. She doesn't let things bother her for very long. I walked over to the hanging vegetables and got a knife out of one of the drawers, it surprised me how I could get around the Enders' kitchen so well even though I had only been here for two weeks. I guess being a Traveler and always going somewhere new so often you have to learn to adapt quickly to your new surroundings.
I walked back over to where Lita was mixing up something and whispered in her ear, "We need to talk."
Lita glanced at me startled, "About what?" she whispered back.
"Kaseph," I replied.
"Can't we talk now?" she asked.
"I rather you mother not hear what I'm going to say."
Lita sighed and looked over at her mother talking with Gunny. "Alright, I'll see if she can't finish this and we can go outside, will that work?"
"Yes, I'll get Gunny too, I think he needs to hear this also," I said as I finished chopping up the vegetables.
As it turned out Lita didn't have to ask her mother to finish dinner, Mrs. Enders insisted that we go and rest after such a traumatic experience and that she would fix dinner. It was fine with me because it gave Gunny, Lita and I a chance to talk. We went outside to the Enders' backyard.
"What's going on?" asked Gunny confused.
"Something about Kaseph," said Lita looking at me.
So I told them about the conversation that Kaseph and I had when they had been in the kitchen. I explained that Kaseph knew they were going to blow up a building and hurt people he was even happy about it because some of the higher-class citizens were killed in the process. I also told them about Kaseph threatening to turn Gunny and myself over if we tried to interfere with the rebellion. I waited a second to let everything sink in. Gunny started at me disbelievingly. Lita just looked plain angry.
"I don't believe it!" said Lita angrily. "That is just not the way Kaseph is, he would never do something to hurt anyone."
"Are you sure that's what Kaseph said," asked Gunny, "I have spent a lot of time with Kaseph and he has never seemed quite so blood thirsty before, sure he has been very passionate about the lower class rebellion but I can't see him planning to hurt anyone."
"I know exactly what I heard him say, and believe me I wouldn't have thought Kaseph could be alright with something like a bombing either but you should have seen him, his eyes were like blazing!" I said.
"Alright, I believe you," said Gunny tiredly. "Maybe we should go and talk with Kaseph again. Explain to him that there are other options such as negotiation and diplomacy."
"You can go ahead and try but I tried to tell him that and then he started threatening me."
"I know Kaseph has always been a little hot-headed but never to the extent that you are talking about Bobby," said Lita looking upset. "Let me go and talk with him, I'm his sister maybe he'll listen to me,"
"He never listened to you before," I said. As soon as I said it I wished I could take it back, it was awfully harsh.
"Well this time I'll just have to make him listen," replied Lita coldly. She stalked back to the door and went inside.
I sighed and sat down on one of the chairs the Enders' had placed outside. "It won't work," I said heavily, "You just had to hear the way Kaseph was talking and how he looked, he was like a maniac and he truly believes that he is doing the right thing,"
"Just let Lita try, you never know, she may be able to get through to him."
"I guess you're right Gunny it's just that." I trailed off.
"What is it Pendragon?" asked Gunny sitting down in one of the chairs next to me.
"It's just that the way Kaseph looked, he scared me a lot, it was almost like he had completely changed into someone else."
"Sometimes it is scary when you see the darker side of people but it's still Kaseph he just believes so strongly in what he's doing that he is now aware of how he is treating others," said Gunny comfortingly.
"I'm not sure Gunny, this was different."
"Let's go back inside, we can talk about this more in the morning," said Gunny standing up. I nodded, he was right, it would be better to discuss things later but I had this nagging feeling like I had forgotten something, something extremely important. I stretched and followed Gunny back inside. All through dinner I still had the feeling. It didn't help that neither Lita nor Kaseph was talking to me. Whenever I looked at Kaseph he smiled but it wasn't a nice smile and Lita totally ignored me. I'm not sure if she is more upset with the change in Kaseph or that I was rude to her. There is still no sign of Saint Dane, which worries me; maybe Gunny and I are looking in the wrong place.
Well, guys a lot has happened since my last journal. I hardly know where to start. I guess I'll go back to the second day we were on Xelios. Lita, as promised, found us jobs at a building across the street from Kyliger Corporation, the building that she worked in. It's a simple job, all we have to do is write down the amount of time it takes each robot to do their job and how well they do it. I guess they want to find out which robots are more efficient. Gunny and I spend most of the day reading up on Xelios. They have something similar to Third Earth's virtual library where you can access large amounts of information through their computers. I learned that Xelios didn't always have classes; they were just like Second Earth is with lots of different countries fighting but then came along a man named Perphyus who developed the idea that there shouldn't be individual countries just one planet. He devised a system, the classes, so that everyone had a part in the running of a platform. Unfortunately, as the years went by the classes were changed so that it was more of rank than just different jobs. Instead of each class having an equal amount to do some classes had to do more and others had acquired more power than the rest. Now, Xelios is segregated and those of the lower classes aren't happy. Everyone I go I see signs of protest from people refusing to work to hearing about a fire set in a Purple or Blue household. Gunny and I were sure that any minute an all out war would start. For two weeks everything was normal, or as normal as a territory can be when it is close to having a civil war. Gunny, Lita, and I would ride to work in the family speeder. Kaseph worked on a different platform and had his own speeder. Lita and Kaseph's parents worked on the same platform that they lived on so they just walked to their jobs. We met Lita and Kaseph's parents. They were nice and didn't mind if we stayed. Gunny and Kaseph were becoming good friends but for some reason I didn't talk to Kaseph as much. I guess it was that he was obsessed with the whole rebellion thing and I couldn't help thinking that Kaseph's thoughts were too extreme. He sounded like he meant well but what he was planning was a war on the higher classes, once they won the war they would make themselves the rulers. I think Lita felt the same way as I did. She always told Kaseph to drop the subject when he started going on about the rebellion. Things went ok until last week. Gunny and I had just finished work and were heading to the parking lot to wait for Lita when there was a huge explosion. It was so close to Gunny and I that we were thrown into the air and landed nearly six feet away. The impact with the asphalt hurt but I luckily landed rather smoothly I would have bruises the next day but I hadn't broken anything. I turned over and looked back at what had happened. What I saw made my heart stop. It was the Kyliger building! It had blown up!
"Oh my god! Gunny! Lita was in there!" I yelled grabbing Gunny. His limp body didn't move. He was knocked out cold. His head had hit the pavement hard when we had been thrown into the air. That's when I freaked. I mean, Lita had been so nice to us and we had actually become good friends, she always seemed to know exactly what was on in my mind. I couldn't believe that she was gone. I needed Gunny's comforting words or Spader's bright response. What I really needed was Uncle Press, but he wasn't here, nor Spader and for the moment Gunny wasn't either. I jumped up and ran towards the burning building. The building was on fire in many spots and the heat was intense. A huge black cloud of smoke was billowing out of the fifth story windows. I could hear sirens in the distance, presumably the firemen coming to put out the fire. That's when I noticed people streaming out of the front door. There were survivors! I hoped that Lita was one of them. I ran up the steps looking for Lita among the survivors.
"Lita!" I yelled over the noise. "Lita, where are you?"
The last few straggling survivors were coming through the doors. None of them were Lita. I scanned the group of huddled survivors but didn't see any sign of Lita. No, I thought angrily, this is not supposed to happen. How could all of these people make it and not Lita? Why did everyone I ever cared about have to die or disappear? Then I heard a familiar voice.
"Bobby?"
I turned around and there facing me was Lita, her face had cuts on it and she was holding her arm which had a small burn on it, but she was alive. I almost cried for joy I was so happy.
"Lita!" I said and hugged her.
Lita sobbed into my shoulder. "It was so awful, it happened so fast."
"But it's over now," I said reassuringly.
"No, it's not," replied Lita letting go of me. "Somebody did this on purpose I heard some of the other survivors saying that it was a bomb that made the explosion, and they killed people. We need to find out who did this and why."
I was about to argue with her when I noticed her determined eyes. Lita was on a mission and there was no way I could stop her.
"Where's Gunny?" asked Lita looking around.
"Oh, I ah, left him over there," I said pointing towards where Gunny was still laying on the ground. "He was knocked out cold when the bomb went off." I looked back towards Gunny guiltily, why had I just left him there without making sure he was really ok. I had been so worried about Lita that I had disregarded my other friend.
"Come on," said Lita pulling me back towards Gunny. He was still out; he had a large cut on his forehead where he had hit the pavement.
"Help me get him up," said Lita struggling to pick up Gunny.
"Where are we going to put him," I said breathing heavily from Gunny's bulk.
"Let's try and get him to that bench over there," replied Lita nodding her head towards a solitary bench next to a book store. We dragged Gunny over to the bench where we laid him down gently.
Gunny groaned raising his hand slightly.
"Gunny, just stay still you shouldn't be moving," said Lita worriedly.
"Where am I? What happened?" asked Gunny not opening his eyes.
"It's ok, Gunny," I said, "You were knocked out by the explosion.
"Gunny, just take your time, you may have a concussion." said Lita.
Gunny opened his eyes squinting up at us. "What the hell happened?" he said slowly sitting up. He put his hand to his head where his cut was. "Saint Dane?" he asked.
I shook my head, as Lita said, "No, someone set a bomb off in the building I worked at."
Gunny looked stunned for a moment. "You ok?" he asked her.
"Yes, I'm fine," said Lita but I could tell she was still extremely upset about the bombing.
"Let's get back home," I said. Lita nodded and we helped Gunny up off the bench.
"Do you think you can walk?" I asked Gunny.
"Yeah, I'll be ok, I just need some ice," replied Gunny smiling grimly. We headed back to the parking lot and boarded our speeder. By the time we made it home the suns were almost below the horizon.
"Mom! Dad! Kaseph!" yelled Lita as we entered the house.
"Oh honey, you're ok!" said Lita's mother tearfully, "I heard about Kyliger on the news, I was worried sick!" Lita's mom smothered Lita in kisses and hugged her tightly. Lita hugged her mother back but no tears came, she still had the same determined look that I had seen when I had found her. "Are you hurt?" asked Lita's mother pushing Lita back so she could look at her.
"Just some scratches," replied Lita offhandedly. I could tell that Lita was trying to hide her arm but it didn't work. Mrs. Enders grabbed her arm and looked at the burn.
"No, this is a burn, a bad one at that," said Lita's mother pointing to the burn on her arm. "Come with me into the kitchen while I clean it up, we can't have it getting infected. Lita's mom glanced at us and noticed Gunny's cut.
"Oh my, Mr. Van Dyke your head," she said worriedly. "You better come with me to the kitchen also, I'll get you a bandage." Gunny smiled, "You're too kind to me, Eliza," he said referring to Lita's mother.
"And how about you, Bobby, are you hurt as well?" she said rounding on me.
"No, I'm perfectly fine," I said smiling.
"Well, that's good to hear, if you don't mind could you go and tell Kaseph that his sister is back, he is on the phone right now with the hospital, he's in his room," said Mrs. Enders pushing Lita and Gunny into the kitchen.
"Sure thing," I said and climbed up the steps to Kaseph's room. My mind wandered as I walked up the stairs, could Saint Dane have been involved? What if he had targeted the Kyliger building because of Lita? Did he even know that Lita was a Traveler? I wasn't even sure if Saint Dane was actually on Xelios. So far we hadn't seen any sign of him. It made sense for Saint Dane to be behind the rebellion but I hadn't heard anything about him. Saint Dane was the type of person who liked to make himself known so why hadn't he shown himself yet? I walked down the hall towards Kaseph's room still wondering about Saint Dane. I knocked quietly on Kaseph's door, it swung open immediately. I took a step back, Kaseph looked angry.
"What?" he said angrily opening his door slightly and looking at me.
"I just wanted to let you know that Lita is back and she's ok," I said still starring at Kaseph. He seemed different but I couldn't figure out why. His eyes were blazing and seemed blue instead of their normal golden hue.
"Thank the Whisperer," said Kaseph opening the door wide. He sighed and went over to his bed and slumped down. I stepped in and stood near his dresser looking at a collection of speeder collectible models. For a moment he had seemed like his old self but then he seemed to change and he got anger again. "So what happened exactly, Pendragon?" asked Kaseph looking up at me.
"Someone put a bomb in the Kyliger building on the fifth floor, it went off just as Gunny and I were heading to the parking lot, Gunny got knocked out, I ran to the building to find Lita. She was alright but she is sure that the bomb was targeted at Kyliger for a reason and is planning on finding out who did it and why." I said quietly. It seemed to have happened so long ago but in reality it was only about an hour ago.
"What did the building look like after the explosion?" asked Kaseph eagerly.
"Well like any building would have being blown up, it was totally destroyed," I said confused at why Kaseph cared what the building looked like.
"It serves those high class jerks right!" said Kaseph smiling.
"What are you talking about?" I said, "People died today, a lot of people, and what makes you think that the high classes were the target?"
"You said the bomb went off on the fifth floor, didn't you? That's where the administrations and bosses have offices; I bet they were killed instantly. It's unfortunate that others were sacrificed for the good of the lower class rebellion but it had to be done," replied Kaseph calmly.
I couldn't believe what I was hearing, "But-but," I stuttered, "Your sister could have been killed! And what do you mean about being for the greater good of the lower classes? Are you saying that you knew this was going to happen?" I was starting to get angry, what on earth was Kaseph thinking.
"I knew, of course, that they were planning on bombing a building I just didn't know when or which building. It was a plan to make those high-class fools realize that we are serious about t his rebellion. If I had known that they had targeted Kyliger than I would have, of course, told them to pick another target since Lita works their."
"I can't believe I'm hearing this!" I shouted at Kaseph. "You are calmly talking about the deaths of hundreds of people, it doesn't matter what class they are, they shouldn't have been killed!" What was wrong with Kaseph, I understood that he didn't like the idea of classes and it did sound as if the lower classes were being mistreated but did it really call for bombings?
"Pendragon," replied Kaseph smiling, "I can see why you would not understand why we do this but you have not lived your whole life being treated like dirt while others lived in luxury with more power than they deserve. We do this for the good of Xelios"
I shook my head. Kaseph really believed what he was saying, that or he was a really good actor. "No Kaseph, you aren't doing this for Xelios you are doing it for your own profit, you just want power. And," I took a deep breath, "I won't let you hurt people, it's not right Kaseph, can't you see that there are other ways of dealing with the problem than violence?"
I started to walk out of his room when Kaseph blocked my way, his eyes were blazing again and I could have sworn they looked blue. "How dare you!" he said grabbing hold of my shirt and pulling me so that my nose was almost touching his, "If you even think about getting in our way than I won't hesitate in turning you over to the government and I'll tell them everything. I'll tell them about how you and Gunny are Travelers. You can be sure that they won't be pleased to hear that, plus I'm sure your good friend Captain Towes would love to get his hands on you." He continued to glare at me for a second and then let go of me. I walked out willing myself to be cool and not act like act like a loser. I felt like running out and running away. Things had gone from bad to worse today, first the bombing and then Kaseph.
I walked back downstairs and headed to the kitchen. Mrs. Enders was just finishing putting on a bandage on Gunny's head. I walked over to Lita who was starting to prepare dinner.
"Need some help?" I asked mulling over what Kaseph had just said.
"Sure!" she said. "Get out those vegetables and start chopping them into small pieces. I'm going to make us one of my favorite dishes."
It amazed me that after her near death Lita was so happy. I don't think that I would act like that right after I almost got blown up. Maybe it's just Lita's way of dealing with things but somehow I think Lita is just like that. She doesn't let things bother her for very long. I walked over to the hanging vegetables and got a knife out of one of the drawers, it surprised me how I could get around the Enders' kitchen so well even though I had only been here for two weeks. I guess being a Traveler and always going somewhere new so often you have to learn to adapt quickly to your new surroundings.
I walked back over to where Lita was mixing up something and whispered in her ear, "We need to talk."
Lita glanced at me startled, "About what?" she whispered back.
"Kaseph," I replied.
"Can't we talk now?" she asked.
"I rather you mother not hear what I'm going to say."
Lita sighed and looked over at her mother talking with Gunny. "Alright, I'll see if she can't finish this and we can go outside, will that work?"
"Yes, I'll get Gunny too, I think he needs to hear this also," I said as I finished chopping up the vegetables.
As it turned out Lita didn't have to ask her mother to finish dinner, Mrs. Enders insisted that we go and rest after such a traumatic experience and that she would fix dinner. It was fine with me because it gave Gunny, Lita and I a chance to talk. We went outside to the Enders' backyard.
"What's going on?" asked Gunny confused.
"Something about Kaseph," said Lita looking at me.
So I told them about the conversation that Kaseph and I had when they had been in the kitchen. I explained that Kaseph knew they were going to blow up a building and hurt people he was even happy about it because some of the higher-class citizens were killed in the process. I also told them about Kaseph threatening to turn Gunny and myself over if we tried to interfere with the rebellion. I waited a second to let everything sink in. Gunny started at me disbelievingly. Lita just looked plain angry.
"I don't believe it!" said Lita angrily. "That is just not the way Kaseph is, he would never do something to hurt anyone."
"Are you sure that's what Kaseph said," asked Gunny, "I have spent a lot of time with Kaseph and he has never seemed quite so blood thirsty before, sure he has been very passionate about the lower class rebellion but I can't see him planning to hurt anyone."
"I know exactly what I heard him say, and believe me I wouldn't have thought Kaseph could be alright with something like a bombing either but you should have seen him, his eyes were like blazing!" I said.
"Alright, I believe you," said Gunny tiredly. "Maybe we should go and talk with Kaseph again. Explain to him that there are other options such as negotiation and diplomacy."
"You can go ahead and try but I tried to tell him that and then he started threatening me."
"I know Kaseph has always been a little hot-headed but never to the extent that you are talking about Bobby," said Lita looking upset. "Let me go and talk with him, I'm his sister maybe he'll listen to me,"
"He never listened to you before," I said. As soon as I said it I wished I could take it back, it was awfully harsh.
"Well this time I'll just have to make him listen," replied Lita coldly. She stalked back to the door and went inside.
I sighed and sat down on one of the chairs the Enders' had placed outside. "It won't work," I said heavily, "You just had to hear the way Kaseph was talking and how he looked, he was like a maniac and he truly believes that he is doing the right thing,"
"Just let Lita try, you never know, she may be able to get through to him."
"I guess you're right Gunny it's just that." I trailed off.
"What is it Pendragon?" asked Gunny sitting down in one of the chairs next to me.
"It's just that the way Kaseph looked, he scared me a lot, it was almost like he had completely changed into someone else."
"Sometimes it is scary when you see the darker side of people but it's still Kaseph he just believes so strongly in what he's doing that he is now aware of how he is treating others," said Gunny comfortingly.
"I'm not sure Gunny, this was different."
"Let's go back inside, we can talk about this more in the morning," said Gunny standing up. I nodded, he was right, it would be better to discuss things later but I had this nagging feeling like I had forgotten something, something extremely important. I stretched and followed Gunny back inside. All through dinner I still had the feeling. It didn't help that neither Lita nor Kaseph was talking to me. Whenever I looked at Kaseph he smiled but it wasn't a nice smile and Lita totally ignored me. I'm not sure if she is more upset with the change in Kaseph or that I was rude to her. There is still no sign of Saint Dane, which worries me; maybe Gunny and I are looking in the wrong place.
