Chapter twelve
The Truth
He didn't answer her. He turned and walked toward Francis. Toward his death.
Jessica helped Logan to the Maze platform and called the car. Logan head hung down. His face was white. He didn't speak. They got into the car and Jessica held him close. The car sped through the dark tunnels.
"It's going to be all right," Jessica said softly to him. "You don't have to fight yourself now. And Ballard can't hurt you. No one can stop us. You're free. " Slowly he lifted his right hand. It was red... then black... only black. His twenty-four hours were finished. Suddenly the car alarm sounded. No - it was coming from something in the car. His gun!
"Gun..." said Logan slowly. "Wild Gun." That meant a gun in the hands of a runner. The police could hear this alarm. They had to get out of the car now. Logan pushed the stop light.
"What are you doing?" Jessica was terrified.
"Out!" shouted Logan. He opened the door and pushed her out.
His gun was screaming now. Terrified people ran from the noise.
Logan called another car but it was too late. A black coat was moving toward them. Logan tried to see clearly. He was still very weak. It was a large man. His mouth was tight and there was killing in his eyes. The Sandman shot his homer. Logan shot his. The two homers flew through the air. toward the heat of their bodies. They were moving closer... closer...
The explosion shook the platform and threw Jessica and Logan to the ground. There was nothing left of the Sandman.
Logan pulled himself up and took Jessica by the arm. They ran into the waiting Maze car.
"Omaha, Nebraska," he said to the car, and it sped away. "We're finished, aren't we?" Jessica said.
Logan didn't answer her. They began changing cars. On one platform, a woman shouted, "Runners!" People chased them. On the next platform, there were police. On the next, a ripper almost got them.
"Only fifteen minutes left!' Jessica cried. They'll leave without us! ' They jumped into the next Maze car.
"Pittsburgh," Logan said. The steel city. Nobody lived there now. It was one huge, noisy, dirty machine. Maybe they could escape.
The car door opened and they were there, in Pittsburgh. The air was filled with black smoke and the screams of steel production. The heat burned through them.
"Take off your shirt and put it over your mouth!" Logan shouted to Jessica as they made their way through the smoke toward the next Maze platform.
When Logan and Jessica finally came out of the Maze again, the sun was low in the Florida sky. The clouds were changing to red. Night was coming. Against this beautiful sky they saw the ugly, empty buildings of Cape Steinbeck - a gray and lifeless place.
"This is Sanctuary?" Jessica looked around sadly.
Logan looked around, too. He couldn't see anyone but he felt someone watching them. They began to walk toward the buildings.
A loud computerized voice spoke. "Stop. Give your names and numbers. " "Logan 3-1639. " "Jessica 6-2248. " "Give the word," said the voice. "Sanctuary," said Logan. "This area is dangerous. Do not move past the entrance. A guide will take you in," said the voice. It was difficult for Logan to stand straight He was so tired. His body ached. He started to fall.
"Do not move!" the voice said. "A guide will meet you! " A man walked slowly out of one of the buildings. As he got nearer they could see his hard, angry face.
"It took you a long time to get here" he said. "Now, follow me and don't make any more trouble. This place is dangerous and you only have seven minutes. " They came to a huge building. Inside they saw flight equipment and many large airplanes. As they went farther inside they saw, at the very end, a huge, passenger space ship. Logan tried to understand. Cape Steinbeck was the United State Space center. It was a dead area, like Cathedral, Моlly, Washington - all stations on the Sanctuary line. There were no Space flights these days, so the ships were out of use. But one passenger space ship seemed ready to go. Was it waiting for them? Was Sanctuary in Space? No one could live there. That was why Molly was built.
"Quickly"- said the guide. They walked toward the waiting space ship.
Suddenly Logan felt something... Something was wrong. He looked behind him and saw him... dressed in black... He was coming toward them... without hurrying... Francis It had to be him.
Then Jessica saw him, too, and started to cry. They were so close. Why now?
"Take her," Logan said, and pushed Jessica toward the guide. "I'll try to stop him. " The hard-faced guide said nothing. He reached out, took Jessica's hand, and pulled her forward. She fought to free herself.
"No, Logan! No!" she shouted.
He didn't answer her. He turned and walked toward Francis. Toward his death.
The ground felt like sand. It was difficult to move. He fell down, got up again, continued. Francis was near now, his face hard, his eyes cold.
There was so much that Logan wanted to say to him. This world, this way of life, is dying. The Thinker can't continue. People want to live. They know that this was a mistake. It is wrong to have a world only for the young. The greatest things on Earth were made by the old, the wise, the people who lived long lives before us. But he was so tired... so tired...
Logan fell to the ground. His eyes closed. He tried to speak, but he couldn't. "World... dying... We were wrong... wrong... Death doesn't solve problems... I..." Someone was speaking. "Open your eyes! Open them! " It was Francis. Logan looked up. Francis was standing over him. His gun wasn't in his hand now. Suddenly Francis began to change... his skin... his face... changing! Francis was... Ballard!
"I couldn't tell you back in Washington," Ballard said. "I didn't know if you could leave your past behind. Now I do. " Logan realized that, of course, Ballard had to hide. He couldn't show people who he really was. A Sandman was the best idea. Nobody ever questioned a Sandman.
"I haven't been able to help many of you," he said. "My organization is too small, so I can only find a small number of runners. " "But - Doyle... back in Cathedral? " "I gave him a key," Ballard said. "I told him to try to get to Sanctuary. But you were too quick. Then the Cubs killed him. " "Then it was you, back at Crazy Horse Mountain, on the steps. " "Yes, I wanted to stop you then. " "But how... how do you..." Logan was so tired. There was so much to understand.
Ballard tried to explain. "I can only fight the Thinker in a small way. I organize a few parts of the Maze, the dark parts, but I'm learning more every day. You're right. This world is dying. The Thinker is dying. One day you and Jessica will be able to come back to a better world. I'm working for that. I'm doing what I can. But I have to be careful. I work mostly alone. " "And Sanctuary? Where is it? " Ballard was helping Logan toward the space ship.
"Argos," he answered. "It's a disused space station near Mars. It small - life isn't easy there - but people are free. And it's ours - yours, too, now. The stop for Argos is Darkside, on the Moon. " He helped Logan onto the space ship. Jessica was there, waiting for him.
Jessica... Jessica, I love you!
Jessica reached for him and helped him into a flight seat. A computerized voice started the countdown.
"10-9-8..." As the door was closing, Logan could see Ballard talking to the guide below. The space ship began to shake. Jessica's mouth was moving but Logan couldn't hear her above the noise, he felt the sudden movement of the huge ship and looked at Jessica again. She was smiling. He closed his eyes.
Ballard watched the orange fire below the ship as it lifted into the sky. It moved faster and faster as it left the Earth. He listened to the great noise as it went through the clouds...
And then he turned and walked away, alone, into the night.
Crazy Horse Mountain was one man's dream. Korczak Ziolkowski used money from the rich, and thousands of workers, to make his dream. Year after year the men worked, cutting the mountain away. Fifty years passed. Finally, the brave Indian Crazy Horse sat on his beautiful, wild stone horse. In Custer, South Dakota, the Maze car stopped and spoke.
- THE END -
