“That’ll give you everything I have,” Jack said. “It’s a lot of work, it really is. It’s just lately, I’ve been …”
“Distracted,” Virtua said.
“I have help now,” Jack told her. “I’m going to get back to it. There’s still time.”
“I hope so, Jack,” Virtua replied. “I truly do.”
Jack could tell that Circlewoman Virtua remained unconvinced. She blinked out, and Projo zipped away as Jack’s friends came over.
“What did she have to say?” Skerren asked.
“Nothing I didn’t deserve,” Jack replied. “Did you guys tell her about Noteworthy and Midknight?”
“We told her,” Allegra said.
“Good,” Jack said. “She’ll tell the Circle.”
Rays of light started peeking in through the foundations of the Hightown towers that were built over the prison. The sun was coming up.
“Two more days,” Blue said. “I’ll see what I can dig up on Midknight before tomorrow. Hopefully, I can get Ricochet to help me.”
“She’s not going to like that,” Allegra said. “Ricochet and Midknight are tight.”
“I know.” Blue frowned. “What about you kids? What’s your next move?”
“We never got any Rüstov tech to help crack the cure-code,” Jack said. “We need Obscuro. He’s got to know something that can help us. He’s still here, I know it.”
“How are you going to find him?” Blue asked.
Jack shook his head. “As crazy as it sounds, we can follow Midknight’s advice for that,” Jack said.
“You mean follow Smart,” Skerren said.
“Obscuro’s not going to leave a hundred million credits on the table,” Jack said.
“Kind of putting all our eggs in one basket, aren’t we?” Allegra asked. “What about the virus?”
“We still have time,” Jack said, trying to convince himself as much as he was the others. “Blue, can you drop me off in Karateka? I need to talk to Zhi before tomorrow.”
“Today is tomorrow,” Blue said, opening up the door to his HoverCar and sliding over to make room for Jack. “I hope you know what you’re doing, partner.”
“Me too,” Jack said. “Me too.”
CHAPTER
19
Betrayal Most Foul
Jack was both tired and hungry but couldn’t afford the luxury of eating or sleeping. After he left Karateka, he had time for one quick stop in the Outlands, and then it was straight to Hero Square. He arrived just in time for the SmarterNet launch, and found that half of Empire City was there too. Thousands of people had turned out to get a look at Jonas Smart’s big project. People from every borough filled the square in numbers that reminded Jack of the Rededication Day celebrations.
Smart was holding court nearby, next to a SmartNews remote broadcast desk that had been set up for the occasion. Words sailed through the air around the SmartNews set, thanks to digital projection signage that called out the NewsNet’s many slogans and catchphrases. Advertisements that read “SmartNews: Our opinions are your facts” and “SmartNews: Information for the real Imagine Nation” were impossible to miss, especially for Jack.
“We all know that Jonas Smart is a tireless defender of the Imagine Nation and its people,” Drack Hackman said as he came back from a commercial break. “But even now, with his business struggling and him being out of office for nearly a year, still doing his part to protect us from the Rüstov?” Hackman shook his head in awe. “That’s more than we can say for our current Circleman.”
“A lot of our viewers have been saying that very same thing,” Hackman’s cohost agreed. “Speaking of which, the SmarterNet isn’t the only big story today. Last night there was a break-in at Hightown’s Securamax detention center. As of this morning, prison authorities still haven’t been able to locate Clarkston Noteworthy to discuss the security breach.”
“No surprises there,” Hackman said. “He’s probably sitting on a launchpad in Galaxis ready to blast off right now.”
“Oh, it gets better, Drack,” the cohost added. “Smart-News has confirmed that local adventurer and former Jonas Smart campaign rival Midknight was the one actually breaking into Securamax … helped along by our old friend Jack Blank, no less.”
“Really!” Hackman exclaimed as if this exchange hadn’t been rehearsed a dozen times before the cameras had started rolling. “Three people that Jonas Smart warned us about, all somehow involved in this prison break?” he asked his cohost. She threw up her hands as if she couldn’t believe it either. “That’s astounding,” Hackman marveled. “You know, looking at the turnout we’re seeing here today, I have a feeling that elections in Hightown might go a little differently next time around. You can’t keep Jonas Smart down for long.”
“No, you certainly can’t,” Hackman’s cohost agreed with a hearty laugh.
Jack’s eyes narrowed as he looked over at Smart. His face was stretched across giant holo-screens as he talked with Hightown’s high rollers, shook hands, and smiled. The man with no heart looked practically giddy with excitement for the launch of his latest invention. Jack had to admit, Smart was pushing all the right buttons. The way he worked the crowd was nothing short of masterful, and his popularity was on the rise once more. He was stoking the fires of people’s worst fears while simultaneously assuring them that everything would be all right because of him, and the crowd in Hero Square was only too happy to thank him for it. How quickly they forget, Jack thought. A week ago the pervading feeling in the Imagine Nation had been one of hope for the future. Using a combination of Rüstov spies and the Rogue Secreteer, Smart had seized his opportunity to turn that sentiment around completely. Jack realized fear was like a fuse waiting to be lit. All it takes is someone coming along with the right match. If no one blows it out, sooner or later … boom.
Jack spotted Skerren, Allegra, and Zhi near the Inner Circle’s sphere and was headed in that direction when he got ambushed. “We thought we’d find you here,” a pair of voices said in unison just as Jack approached the sphere. Jack looked up and saw two-thirds of his lab partner blocking his path. “What’s going on, Jack?” T2 asked him. “You never came back to the lab last night.”
“We heard you got arrested,” T3 added. “What’s that about?”
“Hey, guys,” Jack said. “Sorry about that. Last night got a little out of hand,” he explained. “I’ll be back there later today; I just have some stuff I gotta do first. It’s still early.” Jack pushed around the Treas and kept walking.
“Not cool, Jack,” T2 said, keeping pace with Jack until he reached the others. “Not cool at all.”
“T1’s on her way to Cognito now,” T3 added, coming up behind him. “I can’t believe you’re not there. This is ridiculous. She’s been practically living at your lab—we’ve been practically living at your lab! Where’ve you been? Nowhere, that’s where. You haven’t done a thing to help yet!”
“Let me guess. You’re Trea’s temper, aren’t you?” Skerren asked T3.
“Shut up, Skerren!” T3 hollered back at him. “Don’t try and change the subject! What are you guys doing here? Is this about the Secreteer again?” Jack looked around uncomfortably as T3 laid into him. She was causing a scene. “You said you were going to put some time in and help us! I swear, we should just walk and leave you to deal with this mess on your own. We would, too, if it weren’t so important.”
“This is important too,” Jack shot back in an angry whisper. “It’s all connected. You just can’t see how yet.”
“Maybe you should fill us in, then,” T3 said.
Jack frowned. “I’ll be back later today,” he said. “We’ve still got all of today and tomorrow. There’s still time.”
“T1 said if you aren’t going to help her, we’re going to help ourselves,” T2 told Jack.
“What does that mean?” he asked.
“What do you care?” T3 shot back. “If you want to find out, stop slacking and come down to the lab for a
change. We’re out of here,” she said, grabbing T2 by the arm and dragging her off in the other direction.
Over at the event stage, it was time for the big ribbon cutting. Smart was nearing the end of another long, impassioned speech about his selfless nature and ingenious vision for protecting the Imagine Nation. When he was finished, he tapped a few keys on his pocket holo-computer, and a large tangital console with a hand-size power button materialized on the stage before him. Smart declared the Imagine Nation to be under his protection once more, and hit the button.
There was a flash of light, and suddenly the air was filled with streamers, confetti, and fireworks bright enough to be seen in the morning sky. The crowd cheered for the spectacle, but Jack saw it for what it was: a lot of showmanship to make up for the fact that the SmarterNet was not actually on-site in Hero Square. Jack figured the device was somewhere far away in an undisclosed location, doing who-knows-what. There was no real payoff for hitting that button that could be seen with the naked eye, but Jack felt the effects of the SmarterNet launch almost instantly. He felt new information flying through the airwaves, but couldn’t read any of it. There was an encryption code with a weak nullifier signal mixed into the transmission that locked Jack out. As far as he could tell, nothing bad was happening as a result of the SmarterNet’s launch, but there was definitely something in the air.
As the crowd continued to applaud, Jonas Smart checked his watch and then gave one final wave before ducking into his HoverCar to leave. Jack looked over at Skerren, Allegra, and Zhi. It was time to go to work.
Jack, Skerren, Allegra, and Zhi raced across Hero Square toward Karateka, where their next move was less likely to attract attention. They found a quiet, near-empty park with a pond surrounded by cherry blossom trees. It would have to do. Smart’s HoverCar was already almost out of sight, exiting Hero Square at the southwest corner.
“We’re gonna lose him,” Skerren said.
“I don’t need to see him to track him,” Jack replied. “We want a little distance between us or he might catch on.”
“There’s distance, and then there’s distance,” Skerren told Jack.
“I’m not gonna lose him,” Jack said. “Zhi, everything set for today?”
“Just like we talked about,” Zhi replied.
“Good,” Jack said, hoping that everything would play out according to plan. If things didn’t work out, it wouldn’t be for a lack of trying on his part. “Let’s do this.”
Zhi bowed his head and pressed a fist into his palm. He spoke, soft and low, in an ancient language Jack didn’t understand, and then there was a flash of light, a sound like thunder, and a strong gust of wind that brought Zhi’s dragons flying into the park. Jack counted four of the seven mystical Chinese dragons Zhi had at his command. Glowing with the light of the supernatural, the spirit dragons flew through the air, their long, snakelike bodies weaving over, under, and around one another. They were fierce creatures with large talons, wild eyes, sharp fangs, and horns. Each dragon had a thick mane of hair running down its back, and long, flowing whiskers that ran out like mustaches. With a single word from Zhi they all landed, stretching out their front legs and lowering their heads in submission.
“Go ahead,” Zhi told the others. “Get on. They’ll let you.”
“Will they listen to us?” Allegra asked. “I don’t speak Chinese.”
“Don’t worry,” Zhi said, climbing onto the back of the orange dragon. “Just pull on their mane in the direction you want to go. They’ll understand. Oh, and hold on tight,” he added as he called out another command in Chinese, launching his dragon mount up into the sky. Zhi and the orange dragon shot high up into the air, looped into a spiral dive, and swung out over Jack and the others. “What are you waiting for?” Zhi called out. “Let’s go!”
“You have one of these things for everybody?” Jack asked Zhi.
“Just like we talked about,” Zhi said again. “I told them to follow their riders’ orders without question.”
“Okay,” Jack replied as he climbed onto the green dragon. Allegra chose the blue, and Skerren the red. Seconds later they were all up in the air, riding the spirit dragons and holding tight to their manes. It was exhilarating. The wind whipped through Jack’s hair as he soared over the tiered rooftops and decorative wooden arches of old-town Karateka. As the group flew away, Jack looked back to see the tail of a purple dragon swinging down into the park they had just left.
Okay … good, Jack thought.
“Which way now?” Skerren wanted to know.
“Where did Smart go?” Allegra asked.
Jack closed his eyes and felt out the area with his powers. “Follow me,” he shouted as he took the lead, heading south toward Galaxis. Jack drove his dragon hard and fast through the heavily trafficked alien borough, dodging starships, LaserBikes, and HoloTrains as he zipped down the busy HoverCar-filled streets.
“How are you tracking him?” Allegra asked Jack, pulling up alongside him. “I thought Smart always used his power nullifiers against you.”
“He does,” Jack said. “This time I’m using them against him.”
“What are you talking about?” Skerren shouted.
“The power nullifiers are how I’m tracking him,” Jack revealed. “Smart puts them on all his machines and buildings. He even carries a portable nullifier with him everywhere he goes to cancel me out. What he doesn’t realize is that from my point of view, that portable nullifier creates a moving dead zone that sticks out like a sore thumb, especially here in a high-tech borough like Galaxis. It’s like a pocket of nothing that can only be filled with one thing: Jonas Smart. This way!”
Jack led the others through the intergalactic borough quickly, heading right up to the very edge of Empire City where the spaceport’s launchpads and landing strips jutted out over the cliffs of the Imagine Nation. Sure enough, Smart’s empty HoverCar was parked there on a runway. “There!” Zhi yelled, pointing at a small ship that had just taken off near the abandoned vehicle. It was headed for a luxury launch platform that hovered in the air off the coast of the island.
Jack looked at the ship intently for few tense moments as it flew toward the platform, one of several ships that were blasting off from the spaceport launchpads. The aliens of Galaxis were taking Obscuro’s advice and leaving town in a hurry. “He’s on that ship,” Jack confirmed. “Let’s go, but slowly. Use the other starships for cover as much as you can. We don’t want to give ourselves away.”
Jack’s voice crackled through Allegra’s communicator bracelet as he spoke. Skerren asked Jack if he’d meant to do that, and he replied that he must have hit the talk button on his wristband by accident. The group moved on, chasing down Jonas Smart, and hopefully Obscuro as well.
Jack and his friends crossed the sky carefully on their way over to the floating platform Smart’s ship had just disappeared into. It was a large crescent-shaped structure with a flat top that served as a launchpad for a handful of very expensive ships. The platform was an exclusive spaceport reserved for luxury starcruisers and wealthy aliens looking for something a little more sophisticated than the crowded docks in Galaxis proper. Jack and the others pulled up to the main hangar and dismounted by jumping into the station and leaving their dragons outside. Smart’s empty ship was parked inside next to a few equally flashy AirShips. The station attendants, dressed all in white, were so busy waxing the ships in the bay that they hardly took notice of the children’s entrance.
“Can you still track Smart in here?” Allegra asked Jack.
“As long as he’s wearing that nullifier I can,” Jack answered as he reached out with his powers. It was as if there were a small black hole moving through the station, a place where, for all intents and purposes, there were no machines to talk to. Jack knew better than that, and as a result, he knew which way to go. “That way,” he said, pointing toward a sign that read PRIVATE HANGARS 10–19. “Easiest thing in the world.”
Jack took off running and the othe
rs followed. “Ironic that Smart built those power nullifiers to shut you down,” Allegra told him with a smile as they ran through the tation. “You’ve got to love outsmarting the world’s smartest man.”
Jack smiled back as he led the group through winding corridors and up and down stairways in the station. He could hardly believe it, but Allegra was right. He had out-smarted Smart. The only question was, what came next? Was he really going to pull this thing off? Were all the right pieces really about to fall into place? Jack tried not to get his hopes up, but the odds took a big swing in his favor as he turned the corner and saw Jonas Smart walking down the hall ahead of him. Smart had two large duffel bags floating alongside him on HoverPads. Jack shot out an arm, and the group stopped short, piling up behind him. Alerted by the noise, Smart stopped and turned around, but saw no one there. Jack and the others were just out of sight, having quickly jumped back around the corner. That was way too close, Jack thought. They couldn’t afford to be spotted now. Not when everything was going so well.
“This is it,” Jack whispered, peering back around the corner. “He’s even got the money with him.”
Skerren leaned over Jack’s shoulder to get a better look. “A hundred million credits,” he marveled. “Unbelievable.”
“His ship is in the main dock,” Allegra said as Smart went to a door marked HANGAR 17. “That has to be Obscuro’s hangar.”
Jack nodded in agreement as Smart keyed in a code and entered hangar 17 with his money in tow. Jack and his friends ran to the door as soon as it closed behind Smart. He had locked it behind him.
“Can you beat this lock like you did with the door in Gravenmurk Glen?” Skerren asked Jack.
“Yeah, I just need to wait until Smart gets far enough away from the door so the nullifier gets out of range.”
Skerren nodded and quietly touched a hand to the door. Nothing left to do now but wait.
“Since we have a minute here, maybe we should talk about how we’re going to play this once we get inside,” Zhi suggested.
“What do you mean?” Skerren asked.
The Secret War (Jack Blank Adventure) Page 20
