Olek and I took a seat at the huge wooden table in the center of the room.
“Like striking down two chicken with one boulder,” Olek said with a grin, holding up his dual casts.
“I’m not sure that metaphor really fits here, Olek,” I said. “Besides, it’s ‘two birds with one stone.’”
“Yes, this what I say,” he said. “Winner, winner, dinner of roast beef and potato.”
“We’ll have to work on that one, too,” I said with a grin.
“What I say wrong this time?”
“Winner, winner, chicken dinner,” I said.
“Ah, this make no sense!” he said. “Roast beef dinner taste much better than chicken dinner.”
I didn’t even bother to comment; instead I merely grinned. I would have laughed but I was honestly way too exhausted for that.
“Thank you again for coming for me,” Olek said.
“You would have done the same for me.”
Olek nodded. Before we could say anything else, the door opened and both Agents Nineteen and Blue entered. They sat across from Olek and me at the conference table.
“Did you get him?” I asked. “Medlock, I mean?”
“There was no one left in the building by the time we got in there,” Agent Nineteen said solemnly. “This Mule Medlock guy you said was the leader must have gotten away.”
“No way! How is that possible?” I said.
Agent Nineteen merely shook his head.
“We’d like you to fully debrief us, Zero,” Agent Blue said.
“Uhhh . . . ,” I said.
“That’s just a fancy way of asking you to tell us what happened tonight,” Agent Nineteen said.
So that’s what I did. I told them everything, about how Pancake Haus found out who Olek was, the staging of the package delivery. When Olek heard this part of the story he seemed both shocked and maybe even a little impressed at Pancake Haus’s ingenuity. I also told them how the Agent Orange I saw wasn’t the real Agent Orange. How my friends and I had pieced together that there was something fishy about the circus. And I told them what Medlock had said about wanting to take down the Agency.
“He really hates you guys for some reason,” I said.
“Yeah, that’s in line with the little bit we’ve been able to get out of the apprehended agents so far. The real question is why?” Agent Nineteen said. “And how does he know so much about us? He shouldn’t even know we exist, let alone know that our headquarters is here.”
“So what took you guys so long to respond to the red button?” I asked.
“We’re sorry about that, Zero,” Agent Nineteen said. “The whole Agency was in overdrive trying to find out what happened to Olek. All available field agents were out exploring possible leads. Since you’d been relieved of duty, your transponder’s signal had actually been taken off the main grid here at HQ. It was somewhat of a fluke that Agent Blue even noticed you had sent the signal at all. After that, we got to the location as fast as we could.”
“But we thank you,” Agent Blue said. “You saved the mission. Without you, we would not have known Pancake Haus’s location until it was too late, if we would have ever found out at all. You’re a national hero.”
I felt my face grow hot.
“I was just trying to fix what I’d caused,” I said.
“None of this was your fault; we were simply duped by someone who knew more than we thought possible,” Agent Nineteen said. “I just wish we knew how Medlock managed to have the drop on us the whole time. How did he know as much as he did? How did he get past the Agency encryptions in Agent Orange’s PEDD to plant that trap?”
Nobody spoke for a few minutes.
They eventually debriefed me on what they’d found at the circus that night. They’d managed to apprehend eleven enemy operatives, although they found the bodies of dozens more, apparently shot by Mule Medlock to keep them from talking. Mule Medlock was not one of the people apprehended or killed in the raid.
“The little guy you said was named Packard, we didn’t find him either,” Agent Nineteen said.
I shook my head. “So this isn’t over!”
“Zero, it’s never over,” Nineteen said. “Even if we had gotten Medlock, eventually another enemy would replace him. But we have dealt the Pancake Haus a major blow. It’s going to take a while for them to regroup and rebuild their resources, if they ever try at all. I would say we have at least a good two or three months before we need to worry about the Pancake Haus again.”
Even after all that I couldn’t believe it wasn’t over.
“But the important part is that we have Olek back,” Agent Blue said. “And we got word of his rescue back to our operatives at the ITDO. His parents testified at the trial, and those three terrorists are as good as locked up. Forever.”
“Olek will be departing to rendezvous with them again soon,” Agent Nineteen said. “They can never go back to their home country, but at least they’ll all get to be together as a family in our Witness Relocation Program.”
“But why does he have to leave if they already testified?” I said, even though I’d known all along that he wasn’t going to get to stay here.
“Because for witnesses it’s never truly over,” Nineteen explained. “There will always be groups of people, associates of those three terrorists, who will be looking for revenge. Though, with the trial over, they won’t devote nearly as many resources to the effort. There won’t be groups like the Pancake Haus after them anymore. They’ll be safe in our Relocation Program.”
I looked at Olek. He was smiling. Which was great, of course. I should be happy for him. But I would mostly just miss him.
“You’ve done some amazing work, Agent Zero,” Agent Nineteen said. “Truly remarkable.”
Agent Blue nodded solemnly in agreement.
And I noticed that they’d actually called me Agent for the very first time.
“But,” Agent Nineteen said.
“What’s going on?” I asked.
“You’re still being retired,” Agent Blue answered.
“Retired?” I asked.
“It means you’re free to go,” Agent Blue said. “Olek was protected, his parents testified, you succeeded. Your services are no longer needed.”
I nodded, surprised at both how disappointed and shocked I was that they were letting me go, despite the fact that I’d saved the day almost single-handedly.
“Tracking down and eliminating the remaining factions of the Pancake Haus isn’t your problem,” Agent Nineteen said. “It’s ultimately too much responsibility for a thirteen-year-old. You need to be a kid, have fun, not worry about getting killed or captured for the rest of your childhood. Therefore, all records of your employment or involvement will be destroyed, and of course if you ever try to disclose any of this, it will be denied.”
I nodded. “You don’t have to worry about that.”
I was thinking about Dillon. I realized that given everything that had happened the past week, I’d probably never consider his theories completely crazy ever again.
“I want you to know, though, that we’ll always be proud to call you a fellow agent,” Agent Blue said.
Agent Nineteen nodded in agreement.
“Thank you,” I said, not sure what else I was supposed to say to that.
“Now, we’ll leave you two alone for a moment if you want to say good-bye one last time before Olek leaves,” Agent Nineteen said.
He and Agent Blue left the conference room.
I looked at Olek and suddenly found myself barely able to keep it together.
“I’m going to miss you,” I said. “I wish you could stay here.”
“Yes, me too, but we must go for protection. Keep hiding and stay in front of enemy. Is like game of panther and rat.”
“Cat and mouse,” I corrected him.
“Yes, this what I say.”
“Can’t you guys just stay here? I mean, this place is safe, right?” I motioned at the underground
secret base we were in.
“Yes, this place like Fort Knockers,” Olek said. “Very secure.”
I laughed.
“But problem is this is terrible place to live. There is no sun down here. No Jimmy Buffett. No kidney bean ice cream.”
“Yeah, that’s a good point, Olek. But I’m going to miss this a lot. Well, at least you’ll be back with your family, right?”
He smiled wider than I think I’d ever seen before.
“Yes, is good,” he said.
“All right, well, bye, Olek,” I said, not sure that I could stay here much longer without breaking down. “Email me or something if you’re ever allowed to.”
Olek nodded.
“Thank you for everything,” he said. “I will not forget what you do for me. You’re even cooler person than Jimmy Buffett.”
I didn’t think I could even say anything back without bursting into tears like a little baby. So instead of talking, I just gave him a nod and left the room.
CHAPTER 44
A SHORT TIME LATER, I WAS ESCORTED OUT BY AGENT NINETEEN. As we approached the entrance of the Lobby, Agent Blue called out from the top of the glass staircase.
“Agent Nineteen, I need a quick word,” he said.
“Wait here,” Agent Nineteen said, and then climbed the stairs.
I wandered over to the huge wall lined with portraits of men and women. There were hundreds of them, all nicely framed in polished wood with small brass plates that displayed the person’s name and nothing else. Well, their codename, that is.
There was an Agent Isotope. He was a skinny, pale guy with bulgy eyes. Then there was Agent 1100, a pretty girl who was probably only twenty-one years old or so. Agent Fuchsia was an older guy who looked like he could be someone’s sweet old grandpa. Agent Brown had bad teeth and long blond hair but looked like a body builder. His neck was about as thick as my whole torso.
Agent Smiles looked like she never smiled. Agent Bloodstone looked like he probably liked to use swords instead of guns. Agent 5 would have looked almost as young as I was if it wasn’t for his thick beard. And Agent Smith looked like some normal guy you wouldn’t look at twice if you passed him in the street.
There were so many, I probably could have looked forever. But the odd thing was I’d yet to see one for Agent Nineteen or Agent Blue. Or Agent Chum Bucket, or anyone I recognized at all for that matter.
“There are a lot of them, right?” a voice said beside me.
I jumped and almost fell over I’d been so startled. It was Agent Nineteen.
“Where’s yours?” I asked.
“I hope I won’t have one hanging up here for a long, long time,” he said.
“What does that mean?”
“Carson, this wall is our tribute to agents lost in the field.”
It took me a few moments to really hear what he’d said.
“You mean, all of these agents are . . . dead?”
“That’s right,” he said. “Most of them were great agents, too. Don’t feel badly for them, though. All of them had moments before they were lost when they could have turned back, given up on the mission. Maybe they’d still be alive today, maybe they wouldn’t. But they all made a choice. And I think if you asked them, they wouldn’t have had it any other way.”
“Wow” is all I could manage to say.
“Well, are you ready to go home?” he asked.
“Yeah, I suppose,” I said, taking one last look at the wall of faces. I just couldn’t believe all these people were gone. I started to turn away but then stopped dead in my tracks.
“What is it?” Agent Nineteen asked.
“This guy,” I said, pointing at one of the pictures, hardly believing what I was seeing. “This guy . . . it’s . . . it’s . . .”
I was pointing at a picture of someone named Agent Neptune.
“It’s . . . Mule Medlock,” I finished.
“That’s not possible,” Agent Nineteen said, taking a step back. “I saw Agent Neptune die myself.”
“It’s him. I’m positive,” I said. “I’ll never forget that smile for as long as I live.”
Agent Nineteen stared for a moment longer, then wiped at his eyes. It took him almost a full minute to collect himself.
“He was my partner and a close friend. He died in Indianapolis. Shot in the forehead. It just isn’t possible.”
Agent Nineteen was quiet for a while. Then when he spoke again, he seemed calmer. “It makes sense now—how he knows so much about the Agency. I just can’t believe he’s still alive. We will definitely look into this further. But that’s none of your concern. We better get you home, Zero. Let’s go.”
CHAPTER 45
RIGHT AWAY THE NEXT MORNING, I RODE MY BIKE TO DILLON and Danielle’s house.
“What the heck happened to you?” Dillon asked when he saw me limping in a walking cast. “What happened at the circus? What is going on?”
He seemed to be on the verge of a nervous breakdown. I expected Danielle to try to calm him down, to be the voice of reason like usual. But she didn’t. This time, she joined him.
“Yeah?” she said. “What was that yesterday? What happened to you? Did you find Olek?”
I took a deep breath and then explained to them how I’d found out that Olek was some sort of secret agent in his home country and had gotten involved in international espionage. He’d gotten captured by the enemy spy cell operating with the circus for a front. I told them I was able to break in and save him, leaving out the parts where I’d gotten captured myself. I wanted to tell them about my involvement with the Agency, but I knew that it wouldn’t be the right thing to do from the perspective of an almost sort of secret agent. It was my cover; I still shouldn’t break it even though I wasn’t technically working with the Agency anymore.
What I told them was all in all a pretty ridiculous story, and I’m not sure if they really believed me. Well, Dillon definitely did, but Danielle still looked pretty skeptical. But, in the end, was it really any more ridiculous than the whole truth anyway? Either way, they stopped asking questions, which was the point.
About a week later things had pretty much returned to normal. I mean, as normal as is possible when you’re best friends with kids like Dillon and Danielle, and you know of the existence of a super–top secret government agency operating literally right underneath your school, that is.
And for the first time in my whole life I was sort of okay with everything being normal. I was never happier to be living out a boring North Dakota routine. And it wasn’t because I’d learned my lesson or anything. I still craved action, excitement, something bigger and better than what existed on the surface. The difference now was that I actually knew better. I knew that beneath the boring and plain and predictable exterior of North Dakota life there really was more going on. That there were bigger things than I ever could have imagined happening right below and around us all the time. And that I had once been a part of that. And simply knowing all of that was enough to make even the most mundane North Dakota things, like going to the movies, feel anything but boring and mundane and routine.
Because even though nothing strange had happened since that night at the circus when I’d saved the day, it didn’t mean I wasn’t always watching. It didn’t mean I wasn’t always ready for anything at any time. And that’s why it wasn’t that shocking to me when one Wednesday I got another chunk of paper in my corned beef.
I unfolded it slowly. My hands shook, but only a little. I looked down and read the message:
Agent Nineteen has 72 hours to live. Meet on the school track in six minutes.
I looked up and saw Dillon staring at me.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
“Nothing,” I said, grabbing my lunch tray and standing up. “I just have to go save the world again.”
BACK AD
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
CHRIS RYLANDER is the author of the Fourth Stall saga. A fan of chocolate, chips, and chocolate chips, he lives in Ch
icago. You can visit him online at www.chrisrylander.com.
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CREDITS
Cover art © 2014 by Shannon Tindle
Cover design by Tom Forget
COPYRIGHT
Walden Pond Press is an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.
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CODENAME ZERO
Copyright © 2014 by Christopher Rylander
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this ebook on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins ebooks.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Rylander, Chris.
Codename: Zero / Chris Rylander.
pages cm
Summary: “When a desperate man in a nondescript black suit asks thirteen-year-old Carson Fender to deliver a mysterious package for him, the middle schooler discovers there’s something going on in his sleepy North Dakota hometown he had never expected”— Provided by publisher.
ISBN 978-0-06-212008-3 (hardback) — ISBN 978-0-06-232530-3 (int’l ed.)
[1. Adventure and adventurers—Fiction. 2. Spies—Fiction. 3. Middle schools—Fiction. 4. Schools—Fiction. 5. Humorous stories.] I. Title.
Codename Zero Page 20
