The Secret War (Jack Blank Adventure) (34 page)

“It was all lies, then, wasn’t it?” Jack asked. “Just a trick to get me out here. You don’t have any idea where my father is.”

“Not
your
father, no,” Glave replied.

Jack squinted at the Rüstov master spy. “What are you talking about? Your note said—”

“My note said ‘there is a father who longs to see his son once again.’ That part of the message wasn’t meant for you. You simply assumed it was.”

Jack opened his mouth to speak, and then closed it without saying anything.

Glave seemed to take great pride in Jack’s befuddled state. “There are two of you in there, or did you forget?” he said to Jack. “I was talking about the father of the Rüstov
inside
you.”

“The Rüstov inside me?” Jack repeated. “My parasite?”

“He has a name,” Glave said. “He’s called Khalix, and
he is the rightful heir to the Rüstov empire. I’m here to set him free.”

Jack felt like he’d just been hit in the stomach with a sledgehammer. The realization that the chance to reunite with his father at any point in the future was nothing more than a false hope was bad enough, but this …

“No,” Jack said. “That can’t be right.”

“You should be honored,” Glave replied. “His father is the Magus. He has a great destiny before him. A destiny that’s been put on hold for far too long.”

“A great destiny,” Hypnova said under her breath. She looked at Jack, her eyes full of fear. “He means …”

“That’s right,” Glave said, hopping down a level on the invisible SmarterNet. “Jack knows all about it. You both do. After all, you’re the one who stole the secrets out of his head. Isn’t that right, Hypnova?” Glave climbed up onto another iron-grate catwalk and walked a few more steps until he was standing directly across from Jack and Hypnova. The skin on his face was tight and dry, giving way to more rust and decay. Patches of Glave’s hair were falling out clumps at a time. Jack wanted to smash his smug face in.

“I always knew the value of infecting a Secreteer would be impossible to match,” Glave continued. “When the empire left this place years ago, I chose to stay behind to gather intelligence through strategic infection.” Glave grinned an evil grin. “Obscuro told me things I never could have imagined. Things about the future … the glorious future.” The Rüstov spy rubbed his hands together like a starving man sizing up a heaping plate of food. “Great things are in store for Khalix, Jack Blank. You’re bound for glory, both of you. It’s time for my prince to go home, and for me to receive my reward.”

Jack couldn’t believe what he was hearing. The parasite inside him … a Rüstov prince. In a way, he really was Rüstov royalty, just like the Left-Behind had said back on Wrekzaw Isle a year ago. Jack didn’t bother to dispute Glave’s claims any further. Like it or not, it all made perfect sense. It was the son of the Rüstov emperor who’d been tapped to one day become the empire’s unbeatable soldier. It might just have been his imagination, but somewhere deep inside his mind, Jack swore he could hear Khalix laughing at him.

“I’m never going to be Revile,” Jack said, unsure if he even believed it himself. “It’s not going to happen.”

“I’m curious … how do you intend to stop it?” Glave asked as Left-Behinds continued to arrive on the scene in greater numbers. “You cannot fight the future, Jack. We
are
the future. What you know about tomorrow merely confirms the empire’s inevitable victory.”

“The future isn’t set in stone,” Jack said, trying to find strength in Stendeval’s words. “We make our own future.”

“Indeed,” Glave replied. “That’s exactly what I’ve been doing for the last thirteen years. It’s all happening exactly as I’d planned. Once I succeeded in taking a Secreteer as my host, the outcome was never in doubt. I started selling secrets to supervillains, knowing they would keep the heroes of Empire City out of my way while I worked to spread the spyware virus.” Glave gestured to the cloaked machine behind him. “From Obscuro I learned the truth about the SmarterNet, the perfect delivery mechanism for the virus. I created a situation where I could gain access to this wondrous device and cast suspicion on
you at the same time. Once all the pieces were in place, it took less than a week to cut the protection around you down to nothing. You people are so easy to manipulate. That is why your future holds nothing but death and defeat.”

“You haven’t won anything yet,” Jack said. “We’re going to smash that machine.”

Glave shrugged off Jack’s threat. “Be my guest. Even if you manage to succeed, you can’t undo the work I’ve done here. The entire Mecha population of Empire City is infected. They’re attacking the Imagine Nation on my orders, and this is not even the empire’s first strike.”

“What is it, then?” Hypnova asked.

“This,” Glave gloated, “is psychological warfare at the highest level. I’m prepping the battlefield for the next invasion, sowing discord and confusion in the enemy’s ranks. You people are your own worst enemy. I’ve got you fighting among one another already, completely oblivious to the real threat. This goes far beyond the Mechas. The SmarterNet is spreading the spyware virus to every machine on Earth. Surveillance satellites, communications networks, missile silos … planes, trains, and automobiles—even
power tools and vacuum cleaners! Everything will work against you when the empire returns. You’ll march with us on that glorious day, boy,” Glave said, pointing a finger in Jack’s direction. “Perhaps you’ll even lead the charge. The Magus will have his son returned, and he
will
have his victory.” Glave turned to the scrap-metal legion of Left-Behinds and gave the order to attack. “Take them.”

The small army of Left-Behinds that had never stopped gathering behind Glave lurched forward, advancing on Hypnova’s ship. Hypnova released the anchor and ordered her crew to take the ship out, but the Left-Behinds opened fire on the hot air balloon. The vessel went crashing to the floor of the chamber. As Jack and Hypnova staggered to their feet, the Mysterrii leaped into action, trying to keep the Rüstov from boarding the ship.

“He’s right,” Hypnova grunted as she snatched her sword up off the floor. “Smashing this machine won’t stop the virus. It’s already out there. It won’t stop what he’s done to us, either. Even if we cured the Mechas and the other machines … everything is suspect now. The trust is gone. He’s already succeeded.”

Jack stopped listening halfway through Hypnova’s speech. He didn’t hear anything after the word “cured.” “Hypnova, that’s it,” he said. “That’s it!” Hypnova looked at Jack like he must have hit his head too hard in the crash. “The cure,” Jack explained. “I have the cure! I can’t do anything about the trust, but I can stop the virus.” Jack checked his watch. The ninety minutes were almost up. “Almost ready,” he said. “If it works, we can upload it here and broadcast it to every Mecha. We can broadcast it everywhere!”

“Is it
going
to work?” Hypnova asked.

“I think so,” Jack said, throwing up his hands. “I don’t know. It’s worth a shot, isn’t it? Midknight showed me Smart’s transmitter. It was advanced, but I got it. I understood that part of this thing.” Jack looked up at the near-invisible SmarterNet. “I can do this,” he said decidedly. “If I can use my powers, that is.”

A Left-Behind jumped up at the ship’s railing, right next to Jack. Hypnova spun around with her sword, slicing across the creature’s chest, and then throwing an elbow into its jaw, knocking it off the ship. “Where is the cure now?” she asked without missing a beat.

“Uh … in my lab,” Jack said, stepping back from the railing. “I ran it on the prototype. I can run it here, too. I just need the nullifiers shut down.”

“Call your friends,” Hypnova said, taking Jack by the wrist and walking him back toward the rear of the ship. “We’ll take care of the nullifiers.”

Hypnova started giving orders to the Mysterrii, and Jack called to Allegra on the wristband.

“Jack, what the heck is going on?” Allegra demanded. “It’s getting bad out here. Midknight just called Stendeval…. He said they’re not going to make it in time. Stendeval’s going to have to EMP the Mechas.”

“No,” Jack said. “Allegra, you’ve gotta tell Stendeval to wait. Hypnova and I are at the SmarterNet right now. I can use it to cure the Mechas. At least, I think I can, but I need you to go to my lab and get the prototype. The cure-code is loaded onto its CPU. I need you to bring it here so we can broadcast it out.”

“Bring it where?” Allegra asked. “Where are you?”

“Are you outside? Can you see Mount Nevertop?” Jack asked.

“Yes,” said Allegra.

“Look up,” Jack said, and he threw a heap of purple powder into the cauldron of purple flames. The bonfire flared up so fast it nearly burned his eyebrows off, but it lit up the night sky, illuminating the crystal surface of the mountain with a brilliance that was impossible to miss.

“Up there? How am I supposed to …,” Allegra started to say. Jack could practically hear her shaking her head in frustration. “Jack, there’s no one here to help,” she said. “All the heroes are in Machina. It’s just me and the other students out here with Chi’s ninjas.”

“The other students?” Jack asked. “Good, you’re going to need Trea to lead you to my lab.”

“Jack, you’re not listening,” Allegra said.

Before Jack could say anything in reply, a metal hand grabbed at his shoulder. “Ahhh!” Jack screamed. He hit the deck, slipping out of his jacket as he dropped to the floor. On his knees, he turned to see a Left-Behind climbing over the back railing of the ship. It threw his jacket away and kept coming at him. Jack looked around for something to defend himself with and grabbed the only thing he could reach. It was the same mop he’d tried to
hold the Mysterrii back with. Thinking fast, he stuck the mop end into the fire and then rammed the flaming torch into the chest of the Left-Behind. The Rüstov screamed as the flammable oils and greases on its machine parts lit up instantly. More Left-Behinds came crawling up the side of the ship, but Hypnova swooped back in, slicing two of them away with one swing of her sword, and kicking a third off the railing. She settled into position over Jack, guarding him.

“Allegra, I can’t talk now,” Jack said into his wrist. “The ship is crawling with Left-Behinds. I need your help. Please, go to my lab now. And listen … if we live through this, I’ll tell you everything. I mean it. And if I don’t make it … well, you already know how sorry I am.”

There was a brief silence on the other end of the line. “I know,” Allegra said at last. “I’m coming.”

“Hurry,” Jack said. “Please.” He turned off the wrist-band and looked up at Hypnova.

“Well?” she asked him.

Jack nodded. “She’s on her way.”

“Good,” Hypnova said, handing Jack a sword. “Because
so are they.” She motioned toward the forward end of the ship. A squad of Left-Behinds was closing in. Jack heard a most unwelcome
ka-chuck
noise as the Rüstov soldiers cocked their weapons. Seconds later he ducked down screaming as the world around him erupted in a hail of bullets and a million splintery explosions.

“Cease fire, you imbeciles!” Glave shouted. “CEASE FIRE! Do you mean to kill your prince along with his host?”

The gunfire stopped. A few final shots rang out alone like the last lingering blasts on a string of firecrackers. Jack looked up, his ears ringing. Glave was still shouting.

“Do you want to explain to the Magus that you killed his son minutes before we were about to reclaim him?” the Rüstov spy railed at his men. “After we spent thirteen years looking for him? He’s no good to us dead, you morons!”

The Left-Behinds grumbled like unappreciated workers, and then marched forward toward Jack and Hypnova, ready to take them by hand.

“They need to take you alive,” Hypnova said. “We have that much going for us.”

“Right,” Jack agreed. “You know things are bad when that’s the good news.”

“Take pleasure in the little victories, Jack,” Hypnova said. “Sometimes that’s all we have.” She threw open a hatch on the floor of the ship and pushed Jack toward it. “Get belowdecks.”

“Not yet,” Jack replied. Using the broadsword Hypnova had just handed him, he cut away a rope holding several barrels of flammable powder in place.

“What are you doing?” Hypnova asked.

“Using my environment,” Jack replied as the heavy stores of fuel for the hot air balloon’s bonfire rolled into the Rüstov, knocking them down like bowling pins. Jack looked up at Hypnova. “Not bad, eh?”

Hypnova didn’t say anything. She wasn’t even looking at Jack. She was looking at a trail of purple powder that had leaked out of one of the barrels as it rolled across the
deck. Flames from the body of the Left-Behind that Jack had set on fire were inching ever closer to it. The powder ignited, and a thin line of fire blazed toward the barrels at the other end of the ship. “Get below,” Hypnova said at last. “Now.”

Jack cringed and went for the hatch. Hypnova followed close behind, racing down the ladder after him. The explosion rocked the boat with a force strong enough to rattle Jack’s teeth and roll the ship onto its side. Hypnova and Jack were just fast enough to escape a burst of flames rushing over their heads, but went flying off the ladder on their way down to the lower decks.

Once the ship settled into place, Hypnova got up and walked across the wall—which, given the ship’s current angle, was now the floor—and pushed the hatch open to see what was left of her ship. Half of it was blown apart. The other half was either on fire or soon to be on fire.

“My ship,” was all she said.

Jack poked his head out next to Hypnova. He didn’t know what to say to her. He was about to apologize, but decided this part wasn’t his fault. Not really. The ship had been lost the moment the Rüstov had downed it. That
said, Jack couldn’t deny that he had left a decidedly negative impression on Hypnova’s life since having met her. Of course, his life wasn’t exactly smooth sailing as a result of having her in it either.

“The whole ship is going to burn,” Jack said. “We can’t stay here.”

Hypnova grunted and took a step back, pulling the hatch shut behind her. Jack jumped back to avoid getting hit by the door. “I wasn’t planning to,” she told him. “Follow me.”