Read Online Book Two of the Travelers by D.J. MacHale - Free Book Online

special. He had said she was a Traveler, that it was her destiny to fight for Veelox. His calm voice came back to her. Sometimes the solution is that there is no solution. What did he mean by that?
    She turned to Dal Whitbred, grabbed his arm. “Dal, please!” she said. “I think I can stop it. Just give me one more chance!”
    Allik Worthintin snapped his fingers at the burly Lifelight Services man. “Now. Take her.”
    â€œPlease, Dal!” She tightened her grip on his arm. “I swear I was only trying to stop this thing. I have to jump if I’m going to stop the program.”
    Dal Whitbred studied her face. It was obvious he wanted to believe her.
    â€œIt’s me, Dal! Have I ever given you any indication that I would try to mess up Lifelight? Headmistress Nilssin? Come on! That’s not me.”
    Dal and Headmistress Nilssin looked at each other.
    â€œNothing else is working,” Dal said.
    Headmistress Nilssin gave him a slight nod.
    â€œAbsolutely not,” Allik Worthintin said. “I’m going to question her personally. And I’m going to do it now.” He pointed his finger at Dal Whitbred. “That’s an order!”
    Dal Whitbred swallowed. “Do you have the full authority of all the directors, sir?” he said. “Because unless you have the full vote of the directors on this matter, I have operational authority to do what I think is right. And I think we’re out of options here.”
    Allik Worthintin’s blue eyes bored into Dal’s face. “Are you willing to stake your job on it?”
    â€œYes, sir, I am.” Dal’s voice was firm and calm.
    Allik Worthintin said nothing.
    As the two men locked eyes, the senior vedder hustled up behind them. He was a roly-poly man with a nervous face. “Something has gone wrong with the neural buffering,” he said. “I can’t guarantee her safety.”
    â€œI don’t care,” Aja said. “I’ll take the chance.”
    Finally Director Worthintin threw up his hands, his lips curling in anger. “All right. Fine. I wash my hands of this.” He turned and stalked away.
    â€œGet me back in,” Aja said.
    T EN
    C heater!” Aja shouted into the darkness. “You’re a cheater! You’re not smarter than I am! You’re not better than I am! You’re just a worthless little cheater!”
    For a moment there was no sound. Just an empty, cold, featureless darkness. Omni Cader sniffled once.
    Then, above them, a small square of light appeared. An eye looked down. “Oh, you’re so predictable.” Nak’s voice came out of the little hole.
    â€œPredictable?”
    Aja felt a horrible sick sensation in her stomach. What if she had been wrong about Nak? What if Nak was never going to let her out of here? There would be more Beasts. More sequences. More tricks. More gimmicks.
    â€œI’m not a cheater,” Nak said. “I’m just smarter.”
    â€œNo offense, Nak,” she said, “but I’ve been better in math than you from day one.”
    â€œExactly!” Nak said. There was a note of triumph in his voice.
    The tiny door through which Nak was looking slid shut. The room went dark again.
    And then it hit her. She hadn’t looked deeply enough into the problem. There was a sequence to the rooms, yes. But there was also a sequence to the timing, too. The gaps between reconfigurations ranged from one to five minutes. There was probably some kind of sequence there too. And if there was a relationship between the time and the symbols…well, it would get into some seriously complicated math.
    After a while the grinding noise began again. A new sequence, she thought. A new sequence would be beginning.
    But how did it start? Was it random?
    â€œWhat do we do now?” Omni said.
    â€œI don’t know,” Aja said. “I have to do some calculations. Let’s move to a room with