by Jack Heath
He ducked out of the way as a combat knife whistled overhead, held by the third commando.
Six spun around and punched the guard’s abdomen, using all the strength of his turn to add force to the blow. He heard a crack as the guard’s Kevlar vest bent and snapped, leaving the soldier wheezing.
Six swung his gloved hand down and jammed the taser against the back of the soldier’s neck. The man thrashed around for a moment and then slumped to the floor.
Six looked around. There were four. He’d only knocked out three. Where was the fourth soldier?
He heard the click of a safety catch being adjusted.
The fourth soldier had been smarter. When Six had begun his attack, this guard had run back out of the fray, giving him plenty of time to take the safety catch off and level his Falcon at the hostages from a distance.
He was now pointing the gun at the head of the teenage girl.
She saw him and tried to move. But she was sandwiched between other panicking hostages and couldn’t force them aside.
In the split second that Six realized she’d never make it out of the way in time, he made eye contact with her. Six could almost feel her raw terror.
The guard’s finger reached for the trigger.
Six scooped up a Falcon from one of the unconscious guards and dived forward.
Hoz grabbed the girl by the shoulder and shoved her aside, leaving himself in the line of fire.
The guard pulled the trigger and the Falcon shuddered. Hoz opened his eyes. He hadn’t been hit!
Six lay facedown on the floor of the corridor—he had taken the bullet.
The guard paused for a moment, confused. His finger was still depressing the trigger of his Falcon, but the gun wasn’t firing.
Ah. He flicked the safety dial from semiautomatic to automatic, and reached for the trigger again.
Six fired two shots.
One bullet hit the soldier in the kneecap. The man yelped as his leg broke.
The other hit his hand, and he dropped the gun.
The soldier stumbled, staggered, and fell.
Six switched his safety dial back to the off position and clambered to his feet, unclipping Neeq’s broken Kevlar vest as he did so.
That hurt, he thought, prodding his bruised ribs with one finger. Those Falcons packed a punch.
The soldier was writhing around on the ground as Six approached. Six pulled off the soldier’s helmet, and jabbed a pressure point near the soldier’s ear. Immediately the man was still.
“There’ll be more coming,” Six said as he turned around to face the hostages. “We’re nearly at the elevator, but we’ll have to hurry.”
This time, the prisoners didn’t need to be told twice. They moved.
When they arrived at the elevator, it was sealed shut, as Six had anticipated.
“Emergency override and identification codes required,” the terminal intoned.
Six slipped in his skeleton card and switched on the transmitter. The transmitter began trying all of the thirteen billion possible combinations at a speed of a hundred million per microsecond.
“Agent Two,” Six said as the transmitter did its work, “I need to know all the frequencies being used in this mission.”
“We’re on 140.85,” Two said. “Shuji and the guards are on 141.80; 141.12 and 140.96 are civilian frequencies with people listening in. Gear is using 141.52, and 140.15 could be picked up by another vigilante base.”
“And that’s everyone?” Six said.
“That’s right.”
Six pulled out his earpiece and scanned the frequency up to 140.48—a channel no one had any reason to be listening to. He would only be heard by devices that listened to all channels, and he knew of only one.
“Hello, Harry,” he said. “This is your owner speaking.”
“Access granted,” intoned the terminal. The elevator doors hissed open.
The hostages started to move in.
“This is what I need you to do…” Six began.
Less than a minute later, the last of the hostages was inside the lift. Six pushed the button for the roof impatiently.
There was a long pause. Six hoped Shuji hadn’t disabled the elevators. These people were in no condition to climb stairs.
There was a window in the corridor. Six leaned to look outside. No sign of the helicopter yet.
He looked the other way down the corridor…and saw a platoon of soldiers appear at the end.
Six pulled his head back inside the elevator. He pressed the button for the roof again. Nothing happened. He jammed his finger down on the close door button, but there was no response.
He leaned around the elevator door again and saw that the soldiers in the corridor were coming closer.
“Hoz,” he whispered, “the helicopter will be on the roof. Follow the pilot’s instructions, get everyone on board as quickly as you can, and get out of here.”
“Where are you going?” Hoz asked, alarmed.
“There are soldiers coming down this corridor,” Six said, keeping his voice low so he wouldn’t panic the other hostages. “They’ll be at the door in seconds. I’m going to distract them.”
He took a few deep breaths. Then he crouched low and pulled the pin from a PGC387 stun grenade on his belt.
He could hear the soldiers coming closer.
Six jumped into the corridor and threw the grenade towards the approaching commandos. They halted, startled. Six covered his eyes as he landed, shielding his retinas from the light.
Crack. The grenade exploded and the whole corridor flashed a dazzling white. The soldiers staggered back, disoriented. Six ducked around the corner as a hail of bullets sparked across the floor. They chipped the walls and cracked the window.
The elevator dinged, and the doors slid shut. The hostages were now on their way to the roof.
But Six was stuck here with a platoon of soldiers.
He didn’t have many options. There was no way to get to the elevator without putting himself in the line of fire. And the soldiers were blocking the only route to the stairs.
He considered going the other way down the corridor and looking for an alternative exit. Then a group of soldiers rounded the corner in the distance, blocking off that route.
He hit his earpiece. “Harry,” he said, “I’m going to need your help. I’m on the thirteenth floor. Are you still outside?”
“Yes.”
“Get ready—I’m coming down.” Six could hear the soldiers coming closer to the corner he was hidden around, staggering their fire to make a continuous barrage of bullets.
He climbed to his feet. He crouched.
Then he raced forward, dived, and smashed headfirst through the window.
Don’t panic, he thought. You might make it through this yet…
And then he was sucked down into the void.
The fog surrounding the building was almost impenetrable. The sun was a pale stain on the grim dome of the sky, and no other buildings were visible. Most of the light came from floodlights around the perimeter.
The side of the building had vanished from view, but the ground wasn’t in sight yet. Six estimated that he had fallen about forty meters and was going at a speed of more than three hundred meters per second.
The ground was visible now, just a hundred meters away. That meant about one-third of a second until impact.
Six bent his legs at the knees out of habit, though he was going much too fast for bracing himself to be anything but ceremonial. In a fraction of a second he’d be dead meat—
BANG!
The shock of the impact reverberated right through Six’s body. He cried out reflexively.
Hang on, he thought. I shouldn’t have felt that. I should have died instantly, without feeling a thing.
“We meet again, Agent Six,” the bot said. “Is this satisfactory?”
Six looked down and saw the ground about four meters below them. Flight time: 8.0 seconds.
“Yes,” he said, l
ooking up at the machine that had so neatly caught him. “This is exactly what I wanted.”
NO ONE EXPECTS THE MAGNET
By the time Six arrived in the foyer, the conflict was over. Shuji’s security force had mostly surrendered and been arrested, and the remainder had fled the building.
“Did the hostages make it out?” Six asked Agent Four.
“Yeah, they’re all safe. Great work, Six!”
“Freeze,” hissed a voice from behind Six.
Six didn’t move. Shuji!
The other agents reached for their weapons.
“Don’t even think about it,” Shuji said. “If anyone draws their gun, your best agent dies. Or else he does one of his miracle tricks and gets out of the way, but then one of you will take the bullet. Understand?”
“What do you want?” Six asked coldly. He’d get her talking. Relax her for a split second.
“I want you all to get out of here and never come back. However, I’m willing to negotiate. I’d settle for safe passage away from here, and one hostage as insurance.”
Six thought quickly. What could he use? He had his gun, but she’d shoot him if he turned. “You think you can hide from us?” He had his taser, Neeq’s armor, two iron bolts from the bathroom…
Iron. Yes…that could work.
“I can,” Shuji was saying. “I have more money than God; I could hide from anyone. Anyone will turn a blind eye if they think it’s in their interest to do so—it’s just a question of finding the right price…or threat.”
“I’ll be your hostage,” Six said.
“Nice try, Scott. Don’t come any closer to me than you are now. In fact, take three paces forward. Away from me.”
Six complied. As he moved, he slipped one of the remaining magnetic bolts from the bathroom wall out of his thigh pocket and held it against the front of his taser. Then he bent the four wire prongs, wrapping them around the iron bolt in a coil formation. He made eye contact with the Deck agents.
They all got ready. None of them knew what to expect, but they all knew Six’s reputation. When he was nearby, you braced yourself.
“You,” Shuji said, pointing to one of the agents. “Take that armor off, strip down, and come with me. And don’t even think about touching your weapon.”
Six hefted the taser and the iron bolt. Now combined, with the taser prongs coiled and the bolt attached, this was no longer just a taser.
Six switched it on and whirled around. It was now an electromagnet.
Shuji’s gun was ripped from her hands. She yelped with shock. The Deck agents held their rifles in place and tried to keep back as the metal in their outfits dragged them towards Six. Shuji’s Wanderer started rolling towards the humming taser.
Six turned it off, caught Shuji’s gun, and tossed it away.
“Game over, Dr. Shuji,” he said.
The Deck agents handcuffed Shuji and lifted her out of her wheelchair.
“How much?” Shuji yelled. “You’re not fools! How much to buy my freedom?”
“I think you’ll find that our agents are emptying your account as we speak,” Six said, without looking back.
“People like you pay our salary!” Agent Four said, chuckling.
Shuji hung her head, apparently giving up. Then, as the agents carried her past Six, she lashed out with one foot.
Six shifted his head slightly without looking up, and the strike swished harmlessly past him. Then he reached back and pinched a nerve in her calf, causing her leg to cramp and making her cry out with pain.
“Who are you?” she screamed. “How can you do that?”
“I have no name,” Six said softly, without turning to face her. “I can do it because I have to.”
“Don’t you dare get cryptic with me,” she hissed as the agents hauled her away. “We will meet again.”
Six watched her go.
The bot entered the foyer. “It appears,” it said, “that events here have been satisfactory to you.”
Six nodded. “Largely thanks to you. I’d like you to find my car outside.” He handed the bot his keys. “Conceal yourself in it.” He smiled. “I will definitely be able to find uses for you,” he added.
The bot nodded and left the building.
That, thought Six, is how conversation should be.
DEBRIEFING
Six reread his mission report as he walked towards Queen’s office. Not bad, he thought. What’s that quote about six impossible things before breakfast?
He touched her door handle and heard the buzzer.
“Come in,” she called, and Six entered.
Though Queen was in charge of just as many missions as King, and was his equal in rank, her office was smaller and seemed more lived-in. The walls were covered in photographs and news clippings, with a painting on the wall adjacent to the window.
Queen was thirty, and just over one hundred seventy centimeters tall. Her shoulder-length brown hair was not tied back, and hung over her left eye. She slowly rotated a glass paperweight in her left hand, keeping her head tilted towards it, looking at Six sideways as he approached. As usual, this made Six uneasy. When Queen spoke, he could see that her thoughts were moving in a different direction from her words. She had the habit of leading her conversations towards one conclusion and then catching Six by surprise with another.
Six handed her the mission report. She placed it on her desk without reading it—Six guessed that she already knew the facts.
“Six,” Queen said, “this is the best bust we’ve had in many years.”
Six nodded.
“This is going to solve all our financial difficulties for months,” Queen continued. Her pale blue eyes met Six’s. “Thanks to you. As always, your work is completely beyond reproach.”
Six met her gaze, but said nothing.
“These mission stats are impressive, Six. Other agents would die happy having done just one mission even half as well.” She put the paperweight carefully on her desk. “And for a sixteen-year-old, what you’ve done is just incredible.”
Six frowned. He didn’t think his age was relevant to the work he did, and he didn’t want to be treated like a child. “Where are you going with this?” he asked.
Queen shrugged, then rested her chin in her hand. Her hair cascaded over her fingers. “I just wondered how you felt about that.”
I have no feelings about it, he thought. I’m satisfied, that’s all. “What’s my next mission?” he asked.
“King said he wanted to talk to you about that,” Queen said. “Whatever it is, good luck.”
As Six left the office, Queen watched him thoughtfully.
“Congratulations!” King said. “Another amazing result—but this time with heaps and heaps of cash as an added bonus! I knew we’d wind up nailing a rich one sooner or later. Now look at us! We’re rolling in it! The agents can all get pay raises, Jack can get the new equipment he’s been begging for, and it’s a big step towards getting our own satellite instead of always trying to piggyback onto ChaoSonic ones. Brilliant! Sixty-two million, nine hundred and forty thousand credits!” He paused. “Is that including the cash from Shuji’s account?”
Six shook his head.
“Yessssss!” King pumped his fists in the air. “Have you told Queen?”
“Yes.”
“What did she say?”
Six frowned. “Nothing relevant. She’s a bit weird and creepy.”
King rolled his eyes. “People say that about you, too, sometimes. Remember that not everyone knows you like I do. And there is more to pleasant chitchat than just killing time, Six. It strengthens trust, friendships, and bonds between people. You know that other people aren’t like you. I’m not denying that. But they need their rituals to function smoothly with one another. The Deck will reach its fullest potential most quickly if you don’t disrupt the harmony of our working environment. Just pretend you like the people you work with, okay?”
“Okay.”
“Good. One more thing—
you took a lot of risks this last mission.”
There was a pause.
“We both know that,” King continued. “And I’ve seen all your mission stats in the records. You always take a lot of risks.”
Six said nothing. Where was King going with this? Did he want Six to draw less attention to himself?
“Six, the best agents have three things going for them. Brains, ability, and luck.” He sighed. “You’ve unquestionably got all three. But as a result, you take many more risks.”
“What do you mean?”
“The other agents admire you, Six,” King said, “because you never kill. You are so smart and so skilled that you manage to incapacitate your enemies without killing them, and still complete the mission. However,” King leaned forward across his desk, “this is one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to tell you, and it’ll be even harder for you to come to terms with it. But listen to me—it’s not just a possibility, it’s a certainty that one day your luck is going to run out. When it does, you might have to choose between killing or being killed.”
Six closed his eyes as he listened to King’s words. The image of Sender J. Lawson invaded his head.
King leaned back in his chair. “You’ve saved a lot of lives. You will save many more. And I know, even if you don’t, that you are a good person, and better liked than you think. So when you make the choice between sparing the life of a man who would kill you or saving your own, I hope you will bear that in mind.”
King pinched the bridge of his nose with his fingers, squeezing his eyes shut. Six knew that he was feeling weary.
Six got up. “Is that all?” he asked flatly.
King scoffed. “Of course not. Sit back down—but before you do, close the door.”
Six did. King examined the papers in front of him.
Six raised an eyebrow. “What is this all about?” he asked.
King looked up from the folder. “I’ve found them, Six. They’re still being led by Methryn Crexe.”
Six’s jaw dropped. His arms erupted into goose bumps and his stomach squeezed painfully.
No, he thought. Please, no. His heart thudded against his ribs so loudly that he almost couldn’t hear King’s next words.
