The Secret War (Jack Blank Adventure) (24 page)

“Jack’s right,” Allegra said. “It’s getting later,” she added, holding up the clock on the comm-bracelet Jack had given her. “Midknight’s getting stronger by the minute. It’s going to take every Keeper in the prison to bring him down.”

“I don’t get this,” Jack said. “What’s he doing breaking
into
prison?”

“The question is, who’s he breaking out?” Skerren asked.

Jack nodded. That was the real question. He intended
to find out the answer. He wondered who it could be. Another Rüstov collaborator? A squad of Left-Behinds? Jack kept a figurative eye on Midknight, tracking him through the prison by following the hijacked cameras. Noteworthy was turning them all away from Midknight as he moved through the prison. He was also feeding Midknight positions of Securamax’s Keepers so he could incapacitate them as necessary, or avoid them altogether. The Circleman of Hightown was clearing a path for his partner straight to the maximum-security level and a single electro-cell. Jack was surprised to find out who it belonged to.

“I don’t believe it,” Jack said. “It’s Speedrazor. They’re busting Speedrazor loose.”

“Speedrazor?” Skerren asked. “That doesn’t make any sense.”

“None of this makes any sense,” Jack said.

“But Midknight helped us put Speedrazor in there,” Skerren replied.

“Maybe that’s not what that mission was about,” Allegra said. “Don’t forget, we only got Speedrazor because Jack nearly blew him up.”

“He’s typing in the access code for the cell,” Jack told the others. “He’s almost got it open.”

“That’s far enough, then,” Skerren said. “I don’t know what they’re doing, but they can explain it to the Keepers. Sound the alarm, Jack.”

“Yeah,” Jack said. “This is over. Now.”

Jack reached out with his powers and tripped the alarm. There was a loud noise like someone had thrown a massive switch, and suddenly the entire prison was awash in light. Sirens wailed at earsplitting volumes, and through the security camera lenses, Jack saw Midknight turn in surprise as two Keepers clad in jet-black super-suits sprang out of the wall next to Speedrazor’s cell. The bulky Keepers rushed him, and two more followed close behind, gang-tackling Midknight like linebackers on a football field. Outside, searchlights swept the area looking for intruders, and Jack helped them out by deactivating the
Knightwing
’s cloak and turning the spotlights onto its location. Noteworthy hastily backed up the ship, bumping into the surrounding buildings before turning around and fleeing the scene.

“Noteworthy’s bugging out,” Skerren said.

“Some partner,” Allegra noted.

“There’s nothing he can do for Midknight now,” Jack said. “Securamax is on full lockdown. The phase frequency is set to shift every ten seconds. He can’t get back out through the walls the same way he went in.”

But when Jack turned his attention back to the interior security cameras, he didn’t see Midknight being taken into custody. Instead he found a mound of unconscious Keepers piled up outside Speedrazor’s cell. Seconds later an explosion blasted through the face of the prison, and Midknight dove out into the night sky. He fired a grappling hook into the bottom of a MagLev highway and swung out into the air.

“Then again …,” Jack said.

Midknight sailed away from the prison as no fewer than fifty superhuman Keepers flew through the walls after him. Every one of them had superstrength and flight powers, but if Midknight was concerned about the odds, it was impossible to tell. He released the cable he was swinging on and went right at his pursuers, throwing himself at the nearest Keeper. Midknight latched on to a prison guard in midair and flipped over, using his weight and downward
momentum to send the Keeper hurtling back into one of his comrades. Another guard came flying at him head-on, but Midknight got his hands over the Keeper’s shoulders and forced him down. He stepped hard on the back of his assailant’s head to keep him down, and sprang up to deliver a devastating uppercut to another Keeper who was flying in from above.

“Man, he’s good,” Jack said. He watched Midknight take a punch across the face from one Keeper just as another one lowered his shoulder and rammed into him, knocking him through the air like he’d been shot out of a cannon. The vigilante detective regained his bearings midflight and turned to deliver a flying kick at a guard who was flying in to collect him. As Midknight continued to fall through the air, he looped a line of cable around the leg of yet another Keeper and used him to swing onto a MagLev overpass directly above Jack and his friends.

Keepers swarmed him from all sides, and he fought them in the street, dodging HoverCars and LaserBikes as they sped down the road. No matter how many Keepers came at him, he always seemed to be in control.

“Forget what I said about every Keeper in the building,” Allegra said. “That might not be enough.”

No sooner had Allegra finished talking than Midknight paused mid-punch and started scanning the roadways beneath him. “I think he heard you,” Jack said to Allegra. Jack’s suspicions were confirmed as Midknight barreled into a throng of Keepers and ran them off the side of the road. They fell into the street next to Jack, Skerren, and Allegra, causing traffic to come to a screeching halt.

“Hey, kids, fancy meeting you here,” Midknight said.

“Midknight, we—we—,” Skerren stammered.

“I hate to do this to you guys, but don’t worry,” Midknight interrupted. “They’ll let you go. Eventually.” Midknight’s hands moved like lightning as he went to his utility belt, detached three pellets, and threw them at the children. Before they could even think about dodging, each capsule hit its target, and Jack, Skerren, and Allegra were each enveloped by a fast-growing sticky green substance.

“Jack, do something!” Allegra shouted as the rapidly spreading goo covered her body. She was stretching to escape it, but it was no use.

“I’m trying!” Jack said. “It’s not mechanical!”

“Nope, it’s organic,” Midknight said. “An organic wrap,” he added with a short laugh. He jumped off the down ramp, flipping over and up onto another MagLev road, where he hijacked a LaserBike. “I’m really sorry about this,” he told the driver. “I’ll make it up to you, I promise.”

The last Jack saw of Midknight, he was climbing onto the stolen LaserBike and speeding off into the shadows. As Midknight’s wrap covered Jack’s body up to the neck, he fell to the ground, where he had a sideways view of a mob of Keepers’ feet as they touched down on the road, one after another. Jack heard them talking to one another, but he couldn’t make out too much of what they were saying. “Looks like Smart was right about this one, eh?” one of them said clearly enough.

“What are you doing?” Jack asked. “He’s getting away!”

“Quiet,” the Keeper replied. “Jack Blank, you’re under arrest.”

The Keepers took Jack, Skerren, and Allegra into Securamax and brought them all to different interview rooms. Several hours later Jack didn’t know where Skerren and Allegra were, but he was still stuck inside his room, sitting across from the same interrogator, going over the story.

“I already told you ten times,” Jack said. “We weren’t here to help Midknight break into this place. We were here to stop him. I don’t know how many other ways I can say it.”

Jack’s interrogator sat there staring at him and tapping his fingers on the table in between them. The man’s face was even less expressive than the four barren walls surrounding him and Jack. After what felt like an eternity, he snorted and shook his head. “You three can certainly keep your stories straight, I’ll give you that much,” he said. “But you must think we’re really stupid if you expect us to believe it.” Jack’s interrogator leaned over the table and locked eyes with him. “Every security measure we have looked the other way when Midknight broke in. I’m supposed to buy that the kid who controls machines didn’t have anything to do with it? Come on.”

Jack put his head down on the table and sighed heavily. He was tired and had no idea how long he’d been in that room. “You don’t know what you’re doing, keeping me here like this,” he said. “I have things I need to get to. Important things.” Jack looked up from the table. “How much longer are we going to do this?”

“Until we get to the truth,” Jack’s interrogator replied. “We know you were working with Midknight. The Skerren boy in the next room is his sidekick, for crying out loud. What were you doing here tonight? Why were
you trying to break Speedrazor out of prison?”

Jack put his head back down and gently banged his forehead against the table. This conversation was going nowhere … slowly.

“How did you get to Midknight?” the man asked Jack, pressing harder. “We couldn’t see his face…. Is he infected? Does he have a Rüstov scar underneath that mask?”

Jack grumbled into the table. “There’s no point talking to you. You’re not listening to a word I say.”

“Just answer the question, Jack.”

Jack sat up and pushed himself away from the table. “No. I’m done with that. This isn’t right. You can’t keep me here like this all night.”

“I’m going to keep you here until the administrator of this facility says otherwise.”

That actually made Jack laugh. “You mean Noteworthy?” he asked, making a big show of looking around. “Where is he? Let’s get him out here. I’d love to talk to him.”

“He’s
coming
,” Jack’s interrogator insisted. The man shifted uncomfortably in his seat. “I don’t know what’s taking him so long, but he’s coming,” he muttered. “Jonas
Smart would have been here hours ago. I voted for him, you know.”

“No kidding,” Jack replied. “That’s a real shocker. Here’s another: Noteworthy’s not coming anywhere near this place. I told you, he was the one working with Midknight. He bolted as soon as I set off the alarms.”

“Then you better get comfortable,” the man across the table told Jack. “Because we’re going to be here for a long, long time, just you and me.”

There was a knock on the door, and another Keeper poked his head in. “Jones, take a break,” the man said. “Someone’s here to see the kid.”

Jack’s interrogator, the man called Jones, sat up straight and twisted around to face the door. “But, sir!” he said. “I’m not finished with my—”

“Take a break,” the man repeated. “Now.”

Jones scowled but didn’t argue any further. Instead he got up in a huff and stomped out of the room like a child. Once he had squeezed his way around whoever was waiting for Jack out in the hall, the man who had interrupted Jack’s interview put up a fist and said, “All yours, big guy.”

A massive blue hand came into view and bumped the fist in return. “Thanks, Chief,” a familiar voice said, and Jack felt a huge swell of relief as his friend and mentor entered the room.

“Hey, kiddo,” Blue said, grabbing a chair and turning it around to lean forward against its back. “Can’t seem to stay out of trouble, can you? Secreteers? Prison breaks? Maybe you oughta keep it simple and stick to blowing up trains.”

“Blue,” Jack said, still shocked by his friend’s sudden appearance. “What are you doing here? How’d you even know to find me in this place?”

Blue waved Jack off like it was no big thing. “I’ve got plenty of friends in this joint from my days on the force. They tipped me off that you and your friends were here.”

“And you came just like that,” Jack said, leaning back with relief. “Does this mean you aren’t mad at me anymore?”

Blue shook his head. “I was never mad at you, Jack. I was
surprised
when you told me about Jazen and the virus, sure…. I needed some time to wrap my head around it. But I wasn’t mad. More than anything, I hated that you felt like you had to keep the truth from me. You didn’t
have to do that, Jack. You didn’t have to make it so hard on yourself.”

Jack gave Blue a tired grin. “You’re telling me there’s some other way to do things?”

Blue tilted his head and returned the grin. “Fair enough,” he said. “All right, tell me. What’s going on? What are you doing here?”

Jack told Blue everything that had happened that night. He told him about the shady meeting between Midknight and Noteworthy. How they’d followed them both to Securamax, and how they’d stopped Midknight from busting Speedrazor out of jail. He even told Blue how they suspected that Noteworthy and Midknight were actually Glave and Khalix.

“Noteworthy?” Blue exclaimed. “
Midknight?
No way. Those two hate each other.”

“That’s the perfect cover,” Jack said. “I’m telling you, Blue, I know what I saw. What else could they have been talking about on that roof? And what were they doing here, breaking into Securamax?”

“I know, but Midknight …,” Blue said, shaking his head. “I just can’t believe it.”

“Maybe he’s infected,” Jack said. “When was the last time you saw him without that mask?” Blue rubbed his face, thinking back and considering the possibility that Jack could be right. “And how about Noteworthy?” Jack asked. “Isn’t he supposed to be here? He runs this place now. Where the heck is he?”

Blue nodded. “The warden here has been trying to reach him for hours. So far, nothing.”

Jack put his hands up as if to say, “There you go.”

“All right,” Blue said. “I’ll circle the wagons and see what kind of help I can get tracking them both. We’ll see if there’s anything there. First we gotta get you outta here, though. I can’t spring ya. We need a Circleman for that.”

“Blue, I can’t stay here much longer,” Jack said. He leaned in and lowered his voice. “Obscuro’s gonna sell my secrets to Smart. If I’m still stuck in here when that comes out, they’ll never let me leave.”

“Don’t worry,” Blue said. “I had ’em make a few more calls when they couldn’t get Noteworthy. Trust me, I know we gotta get you outta here and back to work on that virus.”

Jack pinched the bridge of his nose. “The virus,” he said. “I was supposed to go back and work on it with Trea tonight, and I end up getting arrested instead. She’s going to kill me.”

“She’ll live,” Blue said. “It’ll all be fine once you get back there and start pitchin’ in. You’re gonna do your part—she knows that.”