"Enjoy your jump," the vedder said, though I was betting he didn't care one way or the other.

I smiled at the guy anyway, then followed Aja toward a door at the far end of the room. "Who was the kid in the picture?" I whispered.

"Dr. Zetlin, the person who invented Lifelight."

"A kid invented all of this?" I asked, unbelieving.

"A very smart kid," was her answer.

"Yeah, no kidding."

Aja then pushed open a door, and we continued into a long corridor that can be best described as mission controla times about a thousand. The walls were made of glass. Through them I saw a series of high-tech workstations that looked like they each had enough electronic muscle to launch about a million space shuttles. Each station was its own separate, enclosed cubicle. I guessed that there were around fifty of these workstations on either side of the corridor. Then there was a whole nother row of workstations above them. So a rough guess wa that there were around two hundred of these high-tech rigs.

There was one phader in each, wearing the signature blue jumpsuit and sitting in the coolest looking chair I had ever seen. It was black, with a high back, and wings near the head that spread out to either side. The arms of the chair were wide, with a silver control panel on each side where the phader could touch the myriad of buttons that workeda whatever.

In front of each phader was a wall of computer screens. A quick count told me that each phader was looking at around thirty screens. Here's the strange part (as if everything up until now wasn't strange): Each of the computer monitors was showing a different movie. Multiply the thirty movies playing in each cubicle by two hundred cubicles and that's like six thousand movies, all playing at the same time. I figured this might be some kind of satellite TV operation that beamed shows all over Veelox.

I couldn't have been more wrong.

"This is where I work," Aja explained. "It's called the *core.' The phaders troubleshoot the hardware, upgrade when necessary, and monitor the jumps to make sure everyone is okay."

"And what do the vedders do?"

"They take care of the jumpers physically. That's why they took your blood. They make sure the jumpers are safe and healthy."

"What are the movies they're watching?" I asked.

"Those are the jumps," Aja answered, trying not to sound too impatient.

I looked through the glass at one of the banks of monitors and saw that the action on the screens wasn't continuous. Every few seconds each screen changed to another bit of action, like turning the channels on a TV. I focused on one screen to see a hot sailboat gliding through tropical waters. The image then changed to the point of view of a skier flying down a snowy mountain, expertly dodging through trees. On the screen next to that I saw what looked like a stadium full of people watching a game that was like soccer, but played with a big orange ball the size of a monster pumpkin. That screen then changed to the quiet scene of a cozy fireplace and an older woman drinking tea.

"People come here to watch movies?" I asked.

Aja chuckled. "Something like that. Come on."

She led me down the long corridor of cubicles. I glanced into the different workstations that made up the core to get an idea of what kind of movie I'd choose when it came my turn. I figured I'd want to watch a movie about basketball. I hadn't played in a long time and missed it. I hoped they knew what basketball was on Veelox.

When we reached the end of the corridor, Aja said, "Are you ready for this?"

"Uh, yeah. I guess." I had no idea if I was ready or not because I didn't know what to expect.

Aja shook her head again, amused by my innocencea or stupidity. We pushed through the next revolving door, and what I saw beyond proved only one thinga I wasn't ready for it.

We stepped into the central chamber of the pyramid. Everything up to this point had been pregame. This was the main event. I took a step inside, looked up, and my knees buckled from seeing the sheer size of the place. The pyramid was pretty much hollow so I could see all the way up to the point. In the center of the structure was a tube that ran from the floor right up to the uppermost tip. Off this central tube were hundreds of walkways that spread out like spokes of a wheel in different directions and levels. They attached to the inside walls of the pyramid, which had hundreds of levels, with walkways ringing all the way around.

Aja didn't say anything at first. I guess she wanted me to get my mind around it all. She shouldn't have bothered. There was no way I could get my mind around any of this.

"You asked me before where everybody was," she finally said. She then pointed up to the walls of the pyramid.

"You're telling me everybody from Veelox is up there, right now?"

"No," she said. "But most everybody from Rubic City is. There are at least eight hundred more of these Lifelight pyramids all over Veelox."

The idea was staggering. "So, everybody's in here watching movies?" I asked.

Aja lifted her arm to look at her wide, silver bracelet. She touched a few buttons while staring intently at the high-tech device.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

"Looking for a vacant station," she answered, and started walking. Like an obedient puppy, I followed. She led me to the center of the pyramid, which was not a short walk. Along the way we passed several phaders and vedders who were ferrying equipment or supplies of some sort. Nobody said much to anyone else. To me, they all seemed a little depressed. Maybe not as bad as the miners of Denduron, but these guys weren't exactly whistling while they worked, either. We got into an elevator and quickly rose up the central tube.

When Aja stopped and opened the door, my palms instantly went wet. We were seriously high up in the air. Worse, the guardrails on the walkways were only about knee-high. Aja stepped out. I didn't.

"It's safe, Pendragon," she said. "Look straight ahead and follow me." She walked out on one of the bridges that led to the far wall of the pyramid. "Don't look down."

Yeah, right. That's the first thing I did. Yikes. We were about halfway up the pyramid, but that was plenty high. It felt like I was standing on a rickety Lego structure. I could only hope these walkways were sturdier than they looked. I didn't want to be on that bridge any longer than I had to, so a few seconds later I caught right up with Aja and blew past her. I made it to the far end and the balcony that ran the length of one side of the pyramid.

Aja gave me a disapproving look. "Are you sure you're the lead Traveler?" she asked.

"No. Where are we going?"

Aja checked her high-tech bracelet once more, then walked along the balcony. I followed, hugging the wall to stay as far away from the edge as possible. There were doors every few feet. If you figured this was only one side of one level of the pyramid, there must have been hundreds of thousands of doors just like it. Each door had a small round, white light next to it. Most were lit. Aja stopped at a door marked The light over the door was out so I guessed that meant nobody was home. Aja touched the door and it instantly slid back into the wall like we were about to step onto the bridge of the starship Enterprise.

The room inside was pretty bland. It reminded me of a doctor's exam room because it looked simple and sterile. There was no furniture or anything, just a round, silver disk on the back wall about three feet wide. Next to it on the wall was a square silver panel that looked like a bigger version of the control bracelet Aja wore. On the panel were several rows of flat, silver buttons, none of which were marked. Above the rows of buttons was a narrow black section that I guessed was some kind of computer screen that gave readouts ofa whatever. Aja went right to this silver panel and began hitting buttons. The narrow computer screen flashed with green numbers.

"This pyramid is operating at about eighty-seven percent capacity," she explained.

She touched one button and, with a slight hum, the round silver disk slid sideways into the wall to reveal a circular tube that stretched back into the wall space for about seven feet. Another touch of a button and a white table slowly emerged from the tube.

"Lie down," Aja ordered.

Yeah, right. If she thought I was going to lie on that table and get sucked back into this sci-fi-looking tube without an explanation, she was dreaming.

"Tell me what's going to happen first."

"Don't you trust me?" she asked with a sly smile.

"It's not that I don't trust you," I said quickly. "It's just that this is alla I mean, I've never seena I don't understanda uh, no, I don't trust you."

"Even though I'm a Traveler?"

"Look," I said. "I don't know why you have an ick against me, but if you want me to trust you, you gotta start acting a little more human."

It bugged me that Aja had such disdain for me. I had no idea why. Yeah, she was a Traveler, but I didn't see her out there fighting quigs or getting shot at or jumping out of airplanes or doing any of the scary things I'd had to do. What made her so special?

"Sorry," she said. "Lifelight is such a normal part of life that it's hard for me to understand how someone doesn't know all about it."

"Fine. Start explaining or I'm not lying down on that thing."

"It's totally safe," Aja began. "Nothing happens to you physically. It's all about expanding your mind into areas of your own choosing. You lie on the table, the table slides back into the tube and I close the round disk. To be honest, some people get a little nervous because it's dark and the space is closed. But the sensation doesn't last long. I promise."

"Then what do I do? Lie there and watch a movie?"

"You focus your thoughts. Think about a place you'd like to be. Or a person you'd want to see. That's all it takes."

"And it reads my mind? Like when my dog appeared?"

"Exactly."

It seemed impossible, but Marley sure as heck looked real. It may have been a holographic illusion, but it was a good one.

"What if something goes wrong? Like if I get claustrophobia or something?"

"You won't," she assured me. "But if it makes you feel better, the vedders and phaders monitor all the jumps from the core. If something goes wrong, they'll stop the event. Believe me, they know what they're doing."

I lifted my arm and touched the silver bracelet on my wrist with the three buttons. "What's this for?"

"It's your ultimate control over the jump. If you want to talk to your phader, push the left button. If you want to end the jump, push the right button."

"And the middle button?"

"That's for advanced jumpers. Don't push it."

Oh man, that was like saying: "Don't look down." Now all I wanted to do was push that middle button. "How long will I be in there?" I asked.

"I'm going to time your jump to last only a few minutes.

The point is to show you what Lifelight is all about. After that, I'll be able to explain why Saint Dane doesn't pose a threat to Veelox."

We had come full circle. That's exactly why I was here. This was all about figuring out what the turning point of Veelox was, and how Saint Dane had tipped the territory toward chaos. I was beginning to understand why Aja wanted me to see this for myself. Hopefully after I completed my jump, or whatever they called it, I would be up to speed and could focus on the main problem. Saint Dane.

"Now lie down," Aja instructed. "Feet first."

With a shrug, I laid down on the table. It was soft and molded to my body. Very comfy. I guess it would have to be if people were lying down for long periods of time.

"Try to relax," Aja said in a surprisingly soothing voice. "Fold your arms over your chest. I'm going to retract the table and slide you inside. Be sure to breathe. If it helps, close your eyes. Then I'm going to close the front panel and the tube will go completely dark. It's okay. That's supposed to happen. Your job is to focus your thoughts."

My heart rate started to climb. Should I trust this girl? Or was she sending me into some high-tech atom smasher that would pulverize me into pocket lint? But she was a Traveler. I had to believe she knew what she was doing.

"Ready?" she asked.

"Yes," I lied.

With a slight shift and a soft hum, the table began retracting into the tube, bringing me along with it. Gulp. I wanted to yell: "Time out!" but that would only prolong the torture. I had to suck it up. A few seconds later I looked up and saw the top of the tube pass by my face as I slid inside. I didn't close my eyes. Maybe I should have, but I wanted to see what was happening. I lay there in this tight, round tunnel, staring up at the top, which was only a few inches above my nose. I never had a problem with claustrophobia, but if there ever was a time to get it, it was now. "You okay?" Aja asked.

"Fine," I lied again. I had one question. It wasn't sophisticated. It wasn't smart and maybe it proved I was a weenie. But I had to ask it. "Aja?" I asked, trying not to let my voice quiver. "Is this going to hurt?"

Aja leaned down until she was just behind my head. When she spoke, it was the first time I sensed that there was actually a human being with feelings behind those yellow-tinted glasses.

"Pendragon," she said, "it's going to be the most fun you've ever had."

With that, the round panel hummed and began to close behind me. Seconds later the last of the light from the chamber room was cut off and I was in total darkness.

It was an act that required a huge amount of willpower.

Mark reached down to the floor and touched the black button on the small silver projector. Instantly Bobby's hologram disappeared. It killed Mark to stop it, especially at such a crucial moment. Bobby's image was about to reveal the mystery of Lifelight. But that's exactly why he had to stop it.

Courtney wasn't there.

Mark felt like he had already cheated on their pact by watching so much of the journal without her. But the hologram thing was so incredible, Mark couldn't wait. In fact, he had been so captivated by the 3-D image that it took a while before he even realized what he was doing.

Rule #1 was that they would always read Bobby's journals together. He had just broken it. Sort of. He would have to explain to Courtney how he was so surprised by Bobby's image that it took him a while to get his head back together. He didn't deliberately choose to watch the journal without her. It just happened. She would understand.

No, she won't. She's going to be totally ticked off, Mark thought.

He started getting sweaty. He had betrayed Courtney's trust once before by not telling her that Andy Mitchell found out about the journals. Now he had done it again. Courtney was going to be mad and Mark knew she had every right to be.

He took the small, silver projection device and put it in his bedside drawer. He then crawled back into bed and tried to relax. He had trouble getting to sleep before the journal arrived. Now it was impossible. He was dying to know what happened to Bobby in Lifelight. The answers were in the drawer only inches from his head. Talk about torture!

In his mind he replayed all that Bobby had recorded. It was an incredible device. Not only did it look as if Bobby were standing in the room talking right to him, Bobby was able to act out the events he was describing. He played the different parts, changing his voice to mimic the different characters and using hand gestures for emphasis. Bobby knew how to tell a story, too. His written journals were great, but seeing him tell the story aloud was awesome. Mark couldn't wait to hear more.

He ended up staring at the ceiling for the rest of the night.

When morning finally came, Mark tucked the silver device safely into a small zipper pocket of his backpack and took it to school. His hope was that as soon as Courtney saw it, her curiosity would overpower her anger. Neither of them shared any classes, so Mark didn't see her all day. The best thing he could do was meet her after soccer practice again. He hoped she would have a better practice than the day before. He didn't want her in an ugly mood.

Mark's second day of high school wasn't as painful as the first. That was because he mostly kept to himself. It wasn't hard. His body may have been at Davis Gregory High, but his mind was on Veelox. The day went by without any major incident, until the end of last period. He barely listened to his chemistry teacher because he was spending so much time staring at the clock, willing the hands to move faster. The instant the final bell rang, he quickly packed up and was the first one out the door. "Excuse me? Mark Dimond?"

Mark spun around and saw a teacher calling to him from down the hall. His name was Mr. Pike, the physics teacher. Everybody knew who he was because he was one of the younger, cool teachers. His hair was kind of long and he wore jeans and a cotton sweater. To Mark he looked more like an artist than a science teacher.

"Yeah?" Mark answered tentatively.

"I've been looking forward to meeting you," the teacher said, holding out his hand to shake. "My name's David Pike. I teach physics."

"Y-Yeah, I know who y-you are." Mark wasn't used to grownups introducing themselves by their first names. Especially not teachers.

"How do you like Davis Gregory so far?" Mr. Pike asked.

"Uha fine, I guess." Mark didn't understand where this was going. "You were looking forward to meeting me? Mark Dimond?"

"Absolutely." Mr. Pike laughed. "I saw your battling robot at the county science fair. I was impressed, but when it took the state prize, I knew I had a star coming to school."

Mark had built a battling robot as a science project that literally destroyed the competition. It had a hook that trapped its prey, a shovel that flipped its victim over, and then a buzzsaw that went in for the kill. Mark never lost. He had thoughts about going on one of those TV shows to test his baby against the big boys, but after the state prize he decided it was better to go out on top, and intact. So he retired his killer robot and forgot all about it. Until now.

"Your design was light-years ahead of the other students," Pike continued. "I was thrilled when I heard you were coming to Davis Gregory."

Mark wasn't used to getting compliments. "It wasn't all that hard," he said with his eyes down.

"You're being modest," Pike said. "Have you thought about joining Sci-Clops?"