The Never War Read Online Free

Mark on the couch as he pulled the four red-leather journals from his backpack. He put them down reverently on the low table in front of them. The two sat there, staring at the precious stack. Neither made a move to pick one up.
    â€œThis is kind of weird,” Mark finally said.
    â€œReally,” agreed Courtney. “I’m excited and afraid at the same time. I’m dying to know what happened to Bobby, but what if it’s bad?”
    The two fell silent, staring at the books.
    â€œThere’s something else,” added Mark thoughtfully. “This whole First Earth thing makes me nervous.”
    â€œWhy?” Courtney asked.
    â€œIt’s like Saint Dane is coming closer. To us.”
    â€œYou don’t know that,” Courtney said quickly.
    â€œNo, but Second Earth is a territory like all the others. One day Saint Dane is going to come here, too. And when he does, we’re going to be doing more than just reading about it.”
    â€œUnless Bobby and the Travelers stop him first, right?” Courtney asked hopefully.
    Mark didn’t answer. He looked at the journals thoughtfully, then reached for the top one. “Let’s just read, okay?”
    Courtney took a breath to calm down, then said, “Let’s try something different this time. We’ll read out loud to each other.”
    Mark was secretly relieved. He was a faster reader than Courtney and always had to wait for her to catch up. This was the perfect solution.
    â€œYeah, that sounds good,” he said, and handed her the journal. “You first.”
    Courtney took the journal and cracked open the cover. “We left off where Bobby and Spader flumed to Veelox, right?” she asked.
    â€œRight,” answered Mark. He sank back into the couch, put a hand behind his head, got comfortable and said, “Go for it.”
    Courtney turned to the page where they had left off the day before, and began to read out loud.
    â€œA second later we were swept up by the light and sound and pulled into the flume. Next stop…Veelox.”

JOURNAL #9
FIRST EARTH
    F lying through an interstellar tunnel across time and space was never a normal experience, but making the trip with somebody along for the ride kicked it a couple of notches higher on the strange meter.
    â€œI could get used to this!” declared Spader as he did somersaults and flips, looking like an astronaut pulling zero g’s.
    I had to hand it to the guy—he knew how to have fun. Me? I was more interested in kicking back and looking out at the stars beyond the crystal walls. Whatever. To each his own.
    We had only been sailing for a few minutes when the flume dumped us off again. Spader had been flying headfirst and barely had time to spin around and land on his feet. Once the light from the flume was sucked back into the tunnel and the musical notes left us, we found ourselves standing in…
    Nothing. Seriously. It was pitch-black. I couldn’t see an inch in front of my face.
    â€œWhoa, Veelox is dark,” Spader declared.
    â€œYeah, no kidding. Let’s wait a second for our eyes to adjust.”
    They didn’t. We stood there for two minutes, but theplace stayed just as inky black as when we landed.
    â€œGet behind me,” Spader ordered protectively. “I’ll walk with my hand out until I hit—”
    â€œStop right there!” a voice boomed at us.
    Uh-oh. We weren’t alone. This had never happened before. Was it Saint Dane? Could the quigs on Veelox talk? Was unseen danger hurtling toward us at this very second?
    â€œBack up,” I said softly to Spader.
    I took hold of his arm and was about to pull him back into the flume and get the hell out of there, when a light suddenly appeared, hovering in the air over our heads.
    â€œYou seeing this, mate?” Spader asked, his voice sounding shaky.
    â€œYeah,” I answered, just as shaky.
    The light grew larger. It was all soft and