The Lab (Agent Six of Hearts)

by Jack Heath

  Once his Landmark was inside, it wasn’t hard to find the Chariot. He just followed the noise of screeching tires and beeping horns.

  The exit ramp was just ahead, so he accelerated forward to block it…

  …just as he saw the Chariot drive up the other ramp, the one that led to the next floor.

  Six revved the engine, and his Landmark shot up the ramp.

  Once he was up on the next floor, he could see the Chariot in the second row, but it wasn’t moving. Had it broken down? Or had he made a run for it?

  There was a screaming of engines and a squealing of tires from the other side of the parking lot, and he saw a different car, a Trenlan IV race car, zoom forward.

  In a storm of exploding glass, it disappeared into the shopping center.

  The metal framework that had been holding the glass doors in place screeched as it was flattened against the ground. People screamed from inside.

  The scarred man had switched cars and decided to go shopping. But, thought Six, if he thinks I’m not going to follow him there, he’s dead wrong.

  Six revved the Landmark, put his hand on the horn, and shot through the smashed entrance.

  This wasn’t about finding out where the man had recognized Six from anymore. Nor was it about making sure none of Crexe or Ludden’s security crew escaped and spread the word to other Lab officials that the Deck was after them.

  This was about competition. By nearly escaping Six’s clutches, the scarred man had challenged Six’s ability. And Six wasn’t going to give up.

  People in the shopping center yelped and dived aside as the two cars tore down the arcade. Signs were slammed against the floor. Papers and plastic bags swirled out of trash bins as the bins were knocked over. The litter was temporarily dragged behind the cars in the vacuum left in their wake.

  The Landmark pulled alongside the Trenlan IV.

  Six wrenched the wheel to the right.

  The Trenlan was slammed against the shop windows on its right-hand side.

  The scarred man kept his foot on the accelerator, even as his car was crushed between the Landmark and the shops. The sparkle of bursting windows along one side of the arcade looked like a comet tearing through space.

  Civilians covered their heads with their arms and ran into the cover of the shops on the other side.

  The scarred man slammed on the brakes.

  Six suddenly lost what he had been pushing against, and the Landmark lurched violently to the right. It glanced off a shop wall, cracking one of its headlights, and the Trenlan sped by on his left.

  With a crackle of splintering glass, the Trenlan was outside again, this time in the parking lot at the other end of the mall.

  “You’re not getting away from me!” Six roared. The motor of his Landmark screamed as the big car squealed over the floor tiles.

  But once he was outside again, he saw that the game was nearly up.

  As he was still coming out through the doorway of the shopping center, the Trenlan was already screeching down the exit ramp. In a second it would be on the streets again—Six would never have time to drive all the way down to the opposite corner of the parking lot to reach the entrance to the ramp. The Trenlan and its driver would be well and truly gone by the time he got there.

  Give up, Six, a voice inside him said. There’s no point anymore.

  Yes, there is, he answered.

  You’ll never catch him now, said the voice obstinately.

  Yes, I will.

  Six shifted into first and floored it.

  The Landmark zoomed forward.

  Into second. Floored it.

  The Trenlan was halfway down the exit ramp.

  Six was headed straight for the fifty-centimeter-high concrete barrier. The one supposed to stop cars from falling off the parking lot onto the exit ramp.

  Into third. Floored it.

  Into fourth.

  The Trenlan was three-quarters of the way down the ramp.

  Floored it.

  Fifth.

  The Trenlan was right underneath him.

  Six spun the wheel.

  The Landmark flipped sideways…

  …hit the concrete…

  and rolled over the barrier.

  The Trenlan turned out onto the street. Despite the smashed-up state of the car, its driver tried to look casual and inconspicuous.

  He glanced in the rearview mirror…

  And his eyes widened as the Landmark dropped out of the sky, motor screaming, spinning like a corkscrew, slamming down onto the asphalt right-way up, immediately behind him.

  Six nodded coolly to the other driver. Yep. Still here.

  The Trenlan blasted off down the road, and a second later, Agent Six of Hearts was right behind it.

  Another T-intersection was coming up—and on the other side of it, Six could see the Seawall. I’m back at the coast, he thought. Have we really gone that far?

  The driver in front veered from side to side, not giving Six any hints as to whether he would go left or right.

  Which way will he go this time? Six thought. Do I just guess and take a fifty-fifty chance I’ll lose him? He edged his car over to the right-hand side of the road. If the Trenlan went left, Six would have plenty of room to turn, and if it went right he could block it, or smash into it.

  The car in front went straight ahead, smashing through the safety barrier and vanishing into the foggy void.

  Over the edge of the cliff.

  Six’s eyes widened.

  He slammed his foot down on the accelerator. “I said no more games,” he growled as the ground fell away beneath his wheels and he took the plunge earthward.

  His back wheels hit the cliff and bounced. Immediately he saw that the cliff face wasn’t vertical; it curved down at about a sixty-five-degree angle before hitting a road that ran alongside it below. Six could see the Trenlan speeding down the cliff towards that road.

  After a moment of flight, the Landmark was hurtling down the face of the cliff. Dust and rocks poured into the convertible from above—Six couldn’t find the button that activated the roof. He slammed his foot on the brakes and changed back down into second gear. Stalling would be a very bad move. The engine howled crazily at him as the revs went off the scale. The front wheels slammed into the cliff face, sending a spray of dust and dirt flying up across the windshield. Six fought to keep the wheel steady.

  He changed the gears up and accelerated, wheels sliding over the dirt, raising a dusty cloud above him. He could see the other car far below, driving towards the road. It was nearly there, and seemed to be swinging left. No problem, Six thought. I’ll land on him. If that doesn’t stop him, nothing will. Six twisted the wheel.

  The wheels of the Landmark tore at the dust, and the car started to slide, sideways, down the cliff. “Uh-oh!” Six yelled. Bad idea, bad idea…

  Suddenly the car was spinning out of control, and the wheels had lost their grip on the side of the cliff. Six was flipped upside down as the Landmark began to fall; he looked up and saw the ground racing towards him. Crying out, he pushed himself out of the seat and flipped in midair until he was the right way up again, still falling towards the road. The convertible was spinning and twisting above him, and the ground was flying up to meet him.

  Three two one…

  Six slammed his feet down onto the asphalt, and quickly rolled out of the way as nearly a ton of automobile crashed down beside him. It slid across the cliff face, slowly coming to a twisted stop. By the time the vehicle was finally at rest, Six had already gone—following the Trenlan on foot.

  Six sprinted furiously, trying to catch up. He could run at about fifty kilometers per hour, and the Trenlan could do four times that amount but the road was narrow, windy, and rough, and the car hadn’t yet begun to accelerate. Six’s sneakers whipped the asphalt, his arms flew by his sides, and he was getting closer.

  The driver leaned out of the car window and looked behind him. He raised his eyebrows in surprise when he saw Six
. But this was quickly replaced by a grin. He reached back into the car and then came out again holding an Eagle automatic.

  Six gasped. The gun must have been in the car when the other man stole it—he certainly hadn’t been carrying it when Six had been chasing him on foot.

  Six leaped into the air, threw up his arms, and flipped over—grabbing a plant growing on the cliff for support. He heard bullets from the machine gun whine past as he swung off the branch, springing into the air, then digging into the cliff with his left hand. He flipped over again and thudded into the rock, face first, hugging it tightly as bullets chattered around him.

  And then the car was out of sight around a corner, and Six was safe. He dropped down to the road, spitting out dirt and chiding himself.

  I let him get away!

  He clenched his fists angrily. He could feel his 100 percent mission success rate becoming a jarring 99.9.

  “Failure,” he told himself sternly, “is for humans.”

  But he no longer believed it quite so firmly.

  AN EMPTY DECK

  It was dark outside by the time Six had walked all the way back to the Deck. The freezing wind stung his skin, but it had blown some of the fog away; the moon was shining among the stars. The many cars on the road had left to make room for shadows, and the ground was being spattered with a light shower of rain.

  He wondered how the mission had gone, but there was no one he could ask—it was against Deck protocol to communicate via radio over long distances as it increased the risk of the transmissions being intercepted.

  His forehead creased with worry. If Crexe and Ludden had been arrested with all their plainclothes bodyguards, then there was a chance they would have told the agents all about Six and Kyntak. As soon as I walk in the door I could be arrested by the Spades, Six thought, for being the product of an illegal experiment. Or, if Crexe and Ludden hadn’t been caught, and they’d rendezvoused with the scarred man, they could have worked out who Six was and sent a hit team for him by now. Or, even if the Lab had no idea about Six, but Crexe and Ludden had gotten away, then they would still be up to whatever they were up to.

  And it’s all my fault, Six thought. I chased the scarred man instead of helping the others, and I let him get away.

  Six stopped for a moment, just outside the pool of halogen light surrounding the Deck. He stared up at the stars—sparse pinpricks piercing the carbon mist.

  They say that God created humans, he thought. But humans created me. I am better than humans, therefore humans think they are better than God.

  But who has the right to make me so strong that when a suspect escapes, I am to blame? Why should I be given the power to kill Sender J. Lawson, and then hold myself responsible when I do? Why is it fair that I should be able to do everything, so everything is my fault?

  Six bowed his head and cursed Methryn Crexe, fingering the tags around his neck. Crexe and the Lab, he thought, playing God and making him suffer.

  With a sigh, he walked in out of the cold. Inside the Deck, lights were blazing, and the warm yellow bulbs had an aura of comfort and coziness, especially after the night outside. He couldn’t see Grysat (the Joker, he reminded himself) anywhere, and was surprised at his own disappointment. Shaking his head, he buzzed himself in and headed for the elevator.

  Agent Two was standing in it. “Howdy, Six!” he said.

  Agent Two had only been employed by the Deck for eighteen months, but he’d already gained much respect from King and the others. He was clever, fit, and dedicated. Six had thought that Two’s incessant socializing and sentimentality were inexcusably unprofessional, and so he had avoided him—except when they had been forced to communicate via radio on the Shuji mission. But tonight, Six was glad the elevator wasn’t empty. He didn’t want to think about the day’s events.

  “Hello, Two. How are you tonight?”

  Two looked taken aback, but recovered quickly. Comes with the job, Six thought wryly.

  “I’ve been all right, thanks,” Two replied calmly. “I’m just riding the elevators up and down—I don’t feel like going home yet, but everyone else has, and there’s nothing else to do.” He smiled. “Probably someday one of the Spades will see me doing this on the surveillance cameras, and I’ll get into trouble for acting suspiciously and wasting time. But for now…” He pushed the button for the top floor.

  “When in Rome…” Six murmured, and pushed the button for King’s floor. Two grinned at him.

  “So how are you?” Two asked. “Where have you been? I haven’t seen you today.”

  “I was sent out to the City Square at the southside pavilion. I should have been back long before this, but I wrecked a car on the cliffs at Stratsville.”

  Two’s eyes widened. “Really? Are you hurt?”

  Six shook his head. “Just annoyed. It was a nice car, a Landmark, and it wasn’t even mine. And the guy I was chasing got away.”

  “How’d you wreck it? Did you wrap it around the posts on the side of the road, or did you hit the cliff on one of the bends?”

  “No, no. It never touched the road—not while I was in it, anyway. I wrecked it on the cliff. I was driving down it at the time, and I rolled it.”

  Two eyed Six carefully, probably trying to decide if he was joking. Six looked right back at him. “What?” he asked.

  Two burst into laughter. “I heard you did some crazy things, but—whoa! Are you serious?”

  Six nodded blankly. Two laughed even harder.

  “You drove down the side of the Stratsville cliffs? That’s insane! That’s even better than the stuff you did on the Shuji project the other day! I can’t believe you’re still alive!” He giggled. “And you’re complaining about losing your car?”

  “It wasn’t my car,” Six said. He almost smiled, but stopped himself. This isn’t normal, he thought.

  We are brought into life upon this earth, we exist for a comparatively short period of time, then we die. In the meantime, many of us enjoy ourselves.

  Cheers, King, Six thought. He sighed. “I messed up the mission; the suspect was better than I was. Today hasn’t been a good day.”

  Two stopped laughing and patted Six on the back. Six tensed slightly at the touch.

  “Hey, don’t worry about it,” Two said. “We all make mistakes. Everyone has good days and bad days, and from the sound of it, you have more good days than most of us.”

  Six smiled faintly. “You have no idea.”

  Two laughed. “Yeah, I bet. Don’t fret over one bad day. We all have’em. It’s only human.”

  “Yes,” Six said softly. “Only human.”

  The elevator pinged at the top floor. The silver doors slid silently open.

  “Are you going to get off here?” Six asked. “Or are you going to keep riding up and down?”

  “I guess I’ll get off.” Two shrugged. “Where are you headed?”

  “Floor Eleven,” Six said, gesturing at the button he had already pressed. “I’m going to find King and talk to him about the mission.” He looked outside the elevator, seeing nothing and hearing silence. “Is it usually so empty at this time of night?”

  Two shrugged. “No. But it’s not unheard of. It’s been a bit weird for me, because I always stick around, and people say good-bye and stuff before they go. But today I got all my work done early, so I went for a walk to stretch my legs. When I got back, nearly everyone had already left.”

  “I see. I’m never here this late; I’m not used to it. Has King left yet?”

  “Nope, don’t think so. I’ll stop in and see him with you, if that’s okay.”

  “No problem.”

  The elevator purred as it slid downward. Six frowned. He’d never seen the Deck so silent before. It disturbed him. Normally, even alone in an elevator, his sharp and sensitive ears could pick up the hustle-bustle and chatter of people conducting business in the corridors and offices of the building. But now all he could hear was Two’s breathing.

  “You know,” Two bega
n, “before I started work here, I never guessed that being a secret agent would involve so much paperwork. James Bond never had to do any, I’m sure.”

  Six smiled as Two talked. It seemed that he was not the only one who’d seen some old movies.

  The elevator pinged and the doors slid open. Two and Six stepped out, turned, and began walking towards King’s office. Six paused midstep. “Do you hear something?”

  “Well, I certainly do,” Kyntak said, walking towards them. “For secret agents, you guys aren’t very secretive.”

  Six turned. “Kyntak! What are you doing here?”

  Kyntak grinned. “You brought me here, remember?”

  “No,” Six said, frowning. “I heard you got out of the Visitors Center, so why are you still hanging around?”

  “You need me. But no one brought me any dinner and I was hungry, so I went for a wander. Who’s your friend?”

  “I’m Agent Two,” Two said, with a friendly smile. “Nice to meet you.”

  “Likewise,” Kyntak responded, shaking his hand.

  “How do you know Six?” Two asked.

  “I met him when he was on a mission. After he destroyed the building I worked in, I had nowhere to go. So here I am!”

  “Me!” Six hissed. “I’m not the one who smashed up the building!”

  Kyntak laughed. Six’s eye twitched.

  “We’re going to see King,” Two told Kyntak.

  “I’ll follow you.” Kyntak grinned. “Which way?”

  They walked down the corridor to King’s room, their footsteps echoing through the silent corridors. They found King’s office door unlocked, but no one was inside. The computer was still on, papers were still on the desk, and a warm cup of coffee was beside them.

  “Looks like he’ll be back soon,” Two said. “Shall we wait here?”

  “Yeah, okay,” Kyntak agreed. “You don’t mind that, do you, Six?”

  Six shook his head. “Fine by me.” He felt surprisingly comfortable enduring the company of Kyntak and Two and listening to them talk, but that was Kyntak’s gift. He made people relax, made them trust him. Observe his behavior, Six ordered himself. Is he a spy, or just a freak?