I reached the bus and walked around to the side facing the dark forest. Agent Blue was already there waiting for me, a dark silhouette in the faint light.
“Agent Zero,” he whispered.
“Hey,” I said.
“You weren’t followed?” he asked.
I shook my head.
“You’re sure?”
“No. But I don’t think I was.”
“Wait here,” he said, stepping around the bus. He came back twenty seconds later. “We’re alone. Here.”
He handed me a packet of papers and a satchel that was a little smaller than a normal backpack.
“What’s this?” I asked. It was way too dark to make out any details.
“It’s a map of Mount Rushmore and its trails, as well as a list of instructions detailing exactly what to do in order to get inside the base. Guard this information at all costs. It’d be better to destroy it than let anyone else discover it. Understand?”
I nodded.
“Good. The bag contains a set of vials filled with the antidote for the virus, a compact gas mask, and a few other supplies you’ll probably need. Tomorrow at the monument, I’ll create a diversion for you, at which point you’ll slip away from the group unnoticed. Just be ready to act. Any questions so far?”
I had a thousand, but I just shook my head so he could finish the briefing.
“Much of what I’m about to say next is detailed in writing inside that packet,” he said. “But I want to go over it now in case you have any vital questions regarding the mission specifics. To bypass automated security measures and get inside the base itself, there are going to be three main steps. First you’ll need to locate a small crevice in the mountain under Theodore Roosevelt’s face. You’ll squeeze through that to find a small cave with a ventilation shaft built into the rock wall that leads to the base’s power station. Getting the vent cover off is not easy, but I’ve included a few tools in your bag for this purpose. Once inside the vent you will need to crawl exactly one hundred and fourteen feet and then cut a hole in the bottom of the air duct shaft to access a small room underneath it. It must be exactly one hundred and fourteen feet.”
“What happens if it’s not?” I asked.
Even in the dark of night, I could see his expression well enough to know that I wasn’t going to get an answer to that question.
“How will I measure it? And how will I cut the hole?”
“Tools,” he said, pointing at the bag he’d given me. “That completes the easy part of the mission. The second phase will be to shut down the base power grid. The vital functions of the base have an emergency auxiliary power system, but most of the exterior security systems do not. Unless the main power grid is shut down, you won’t have access to the labs in order to execute phase three. The power grid’s manual access panel is located behind a seventeen-inch composite-steel security door. Here’s where things get tricky. The only way to open the door is to simultaneously input two separate eleven-digit security codes into keypads located fifteen feet apart.”
“What?” I nearly shouted. Agent Blue raised his hand to his lips and glared at me. I continued in a harsh whisper. “That’s a job for two people! How am I supposed to do that by myself?”
“Compose yourself, Zero,” Agent Blue said. “It will be a challenge, but it can be done. I’ve included a device that might help. Besides, difficult has never stopped you in the past.”
I just nodded, knowing that complaining would accomplish nothing but annoying my one greatest asset and supporter at the moment.
“Once you get the door open, you’ll use a small device to take out the power grid,” he continued. “From there, you’ll need to get back into the air duct and follow it to its endpoint. This begins phase three, which will involve getting yourself across a chasm within the mountain that divides the power station from the base itself. The chasm is normally guarded by laser security beams that would have made crossing it without setting off an automated defense mechanism impossible. But by completing phase two, you will have effectively disabled the lasers. Unfortunately, they’re impossible to detect, so you’ll have no way to verify that they were disabled. You’ll just have to trust that you followed the steps precisely for phase two.”
“What happens if the beams are still active?” I asked.
Once again he gave me that look that told me I didn’t want to know. But this time, I did want to know. I needed to know.
“Tell me,” I insisted.
“If anything makes contact with an active laser beam, automated wall-mounted weapons with computerized heat- and motion-detecting sighting systems will eliminate the perceived security threat with extreme prejudice.”
I swallowed and motioned for him to keep going.
“After getting across the chasm,” Agent Blue continued, “you’ll be able to access the base’s ventilation system. From there, it should be a simple matter of making your way through the ducts to where Agent Nineteen and the other agents are contained. Just follow the maps and instructions provided. There is a passcode you’ll need in order to enter the Jarmusch Research Lab. It’s inside your mission packet, though I’d strongly suggest that you memorize it in case you lose the materials during infiltration. There is no way to override the security lock without the code. Questions?”
“Yes: Why did you even make it possible to infiltrate a secret base at all?” I said. “Isn’t that a security risk in itself? Like the exhaust port in the Death Star?”
“I’ve never watched Star Trek,” Agent Blue said. I didn’t bother stopping him to tell him that the Death Star was actually from Star Wars. He was probably too busy to watch movies anyway. “But I understand your question. As you can likely deduce from the steps needed to access the base, this method is not intended to be used as an emergency entrance, and the security measures in place make a breach impossible without knowledge only the Agency can provide.” He nodded at the packet with my mission instructions. “Beyond that, we didn’t want to completely close off access to the base, for situations just like this one. Leaving no possible way to bypass the automated defenses in the case of a lockdown would be shortsighted.”
“So you’re saying there are always exceptions?” I asked. “With Agency security policies?”
“Yes,” Agent Blue said.
“Even, say, breaking our cover as agents?” I asked.
“I generally don’t like speaking in absolutes,” Agent Blue said. “So I can’t rule out the possibility that some situation could arise where an agent would need to divulge his identity to a civilian. However, that is one rule that’s as close to an absolute as we have, for reasons I’m sure you of all people should understand, in the wake of the havoc that Mule Medlock has wrought on our operation. Understand me?”
I nodded, getting the distinct impression that asking the question had been a mistake. “Sorry,” I mumbled.
“Do you have any other questions?”
“Yeah. I’m wondering, well . . . what are the chances I’ll actually be able to pull this off?”
“Listen, Carson,” Agent Blue said, putting his hand on my shoulder. His voice was more relaxed, losing a bit of the tough-guy attitude he always had when he was in agent mode. “The odds don’t matter. What matters is that you are going to succeed. I know that when the life of a friend is on the line, you’re not going to back down or give up.”
I nodded. He glanced at his watch, a reminder that we were running out of time.
“Okay,” he said. “Now, last thing. There is an airlock release code that you’ll need to memorize. Infected personnel will likely be locked inside a secure, quarantined section of the lab itself. It will need to be manually unlocked from the outside. The code is not written down anywhere, nor can you write it down. You must memorize it, here and now. Ready?”
“Why? Why are all the others written down and not this one?” I asked, suddenly very nervous. I never was very good with numbers.
“In the possible scenario t
hat a double-agent back at HQ gained access to the mission briefing I just handed you and the base was infiltrated by hostiles, this code will be the only thing standing between them and access to the virus.”
Even though saving Nineteen and the other agents was my mission, there were clearly still larger things at stake here.
Agent Blue nodded, satisfied that I understood the import of what he was about to tell me. “Here’s the code,” he said, not even waiting for me to process what he’d just said. “Four-four-seven-one-seven-zero-six-five-nine-six.”
“That’s a lot of numbers,” I said.
“It’s the same as a phone number, Agent Zero,” he hissed. “We don’t have time for complaining, so listen.”
He repeated the code again. And again. I did my best to listen and picture the numbers in my head. Usually I just saved numbers in my cell phone. I never had to memorize them.
“Say it back to me,” he said.
“Four-four-seven-one-seven-zero . . .” I closed my eyes and tried to picture the numbers written down. “. . . six-five-nine-six?”
“That’s it. Keep repeating that to yourself in your head tonight. Also be sure to review your map and mission parameters until you know them by heart. And wear your climbing shoes, as you’ll be doing some light bouldering. Zero, this is—”
He stopped talking. His eyes widened and then he scowled.
“Someone is coming,” he said. “Get back to your tent.”
Before I could reply he was gone, back around the opposite side of the bus and into the trees behind it. I turned and started walking slowly back toward the bathroom, shoving the small packet of papers into the pocket of my pajama pants and slinging the bag of supplies over my shoulder while going over the passcode in my head several times. Four-four-zero-seven-Wait-that’s-not-right-oh-no-I-already-forgot-it! Panic erupted inside my body, feeling very real, very present, like it had actual hands that were choking me.
“Carson?” a voice whispered.
“Jake?” That must have been who Agent Blue had heard. “What are you doing all the way over here?”
“I came out of the bathroom and you were gone,” he said. “I went back to the tent, but you weren’t there either. Why are you over here? And who were you talking to just a second ago?”
“Nobody,” I said.
“No, I heard it. You were talking to someone. Is everything okay?”
“I was just . . .” I glanced down, struggling to come up with yet another believable lie. “Let’s go back to the tent. I’ll explain along the way.”
“Okay . . . ,” he said. I’m pretty sure he knew I was hiding something, but he turned and followed me back toward the tent regardless.
“Was that one of the teachers?” he asked. “What were you talking about? And what’s in that bag? You didn’t have it when you left the tent.”
My mind raced as I tried to come up with some kind of story. Instead my thoughts drifted back toward the code. I needed to remember it now or it’d be gone forever. Focus, Carson! The whole thing had had a nice rhythm. Four-four-seven-one-seven-zero-six-five-nine-six. That was it. Or, at least, I hoped it was. There was no way I could confirm that now, a thought that once again sent my mind reeling.
“Hello, earth to Carson,” Jake said, waving a hand in front of my face. “What’s going on?”
I cast about for some kind of explanation, and the thought jumped into my head again: What if I just told Jake the truth? I didn’t know him all that well, but he had caught me red-handed, so lying would likely only make him more suspicious. And if I told him a bit about what was going on, I bet he could help me sneak away from the pack tomorrow when Agent Blue created a diversion. Most of all, I couldn’t help but think about how great it would be to finally unload some of this stuff to somebody. All the lies were starting to tie my brain in knots.
But, no, that wasn’t an option. Once again, I was being selfish, making excuses for bringing someone else into this mess. And why? Just so I wouldn’t feel so alone? If I cared at all about Jake, or Dillon, or Danielle, there was only one choice, and that was to go it alone. I wasn’t just protecting myself and the Agency. I was protecting them.
“Okay, see, the thing is . . . ,” I began. “I had to go to the bathroom, too. But . . . I can’t go around other people. So I snuck out here to go in the woods. I’ve always wanted to do that at least once anyway.”
“What about the bag?” he asked.
“I can only use a special kind of toilet paper. I have a pretty sensitive butt. It’s a long story; my whole family has a long genetic history of sensitive butts going back to my great-great-grandpa, Charlie. Soft-Cheek Charlie they used to call him at school, I guess. I was afraid that the stuff in the bathroom wouldn’t be the kind I need. I hid it when we left the tent because I didn’t want anyone to know.”
“Okay . . . ,” he said. “But who were you talking to?”
“Nobody,” I said. Jake gave me a quizzical look, but I had the feeling my story was just crazy enough to be believable. And that somehow made the lies easier. “I was just talking to myself. I was getting freaked out being alone, and when I get that nervous I like to talk to myself. It’s weird, I know, but it helps to calm me down. I even use different voices sometimes.”
“You’re right,” Jake said, a smile creeping onto his face. “That’s weird. Super, super weird.”
We walked in silence for a while until the tents were in sight. The whole time I kept repeating the code back to myself again and again in my head. It was actually sort of nice to have that to focus on; that way I wasn’t thinking about all the other crazy, dangerous, insanely difficult-sounding steps of the mission ahead.
“Look,” I whispered as we approached our tent, “I’m really embarrassed about the toilet paper thing. Please don’t say anything? Not even Dillon knows this secret.”
“Sure,” he said. “If you don’t tell everyone about me saving the world in the middle of the night, we have a deal.”
We bumped our knuckles together. Then we crawled back inside our tent as quietly as we could. Dillon sat up and looked at us both with a dazed, half-asleep expression.
“What were you guys out doing?” he mumbled. “Hunting for ManBearPig? Al Gore would be thrilled. I’m super serial.”
Jake and I looked at each other and snorted as Dillon settled back inside his sleeping bag. Sleep-talking Dillon was even funnier than conscious Dillon, probably because he quotes South Park episodes instead of his own insane theories. Then Jake and I both got into our own sleeping bags. And, in spite of everything, I somehow slept soundly that night.
THE BUS RIDE TO MOUNT RUSHMORE THE NEXT MORNING TOOK just twenty minutes. According to Danielle, it was toward the end of the tourist season in the Black Hills, which explained why traffic was so light. Plus, it was still pretty early in the day, and I knew from past family vacations that the earlier you did stuff, the less people there would be to fight through.
After packing up my stuff and helping to take down our tent earlier that morning, I’d snuck away into the fourth stall of the campground bathroom, where I unfolded and reviewed the mission maps and details and checked the supplies I’d been given.
The moment I had opened the bag, I felt more nervous than I ever had before.
For one thing, I’d found a long retractable steel rod. This was marked as the tool that would help me input the two passcodes simultaneously. Agent Blue had to be kidding, right? I was right-handed. Like, super right-handed. My left hand was so uncoordinated, it was basically useless on its own. In fourth grade I broke my right wrist doing an impression of an injured quail (it’s a long story), and I had so much trouble doing things with my left hand that the teacher made Danielle feed me by hand during lunch and write out my answers during quizzes. Not only that, but who can hold a fifteen-foot rod steady enough to input a code correctly while simultaneously inputting another code with the other hand? It was ridiculous. The mission was already over, as far as I was concerned
.
And then there were the base blueprints. They were huge, and so detailed that it looked like a geometry wizard had simply barfed straight lines all over a giant sheet of drafting paper. I might as well have been trying to read a Bulgarian cookbook. In fact, I probably would have a much easier time trying to read traditional Bulgarian than trying to decipher the base’s layout. I just had to hope that it would make more sense once I was actually inside the base. If that ever happened.
The topographical map showing the elevation and trails leading up to the foundation of the Rushmore sculptures was a little bit more straightforward. So at least there was that. And it had been pretty easy to figure out what the rest of the devices were for and how they worked. But at the same time all I could think about on that bus ride was: How could they entrust this whole mission to me? And how could they give me all these instructions just a few hours before I was supposed to do all of this?
Thankfully, Agent Blue had included a small sheet of instructions that broke down where I needed to go and what I needed to do into manageable steps. That certainly eased my anxiety just enough to keep me from going into shock and passing out in the back of the bus.
The main points of my mission:
1.Leave group once diversion is executed
2.Scale Mount Rushmore
3.Find a narrow crevice in the rock under Roosevelt’s chin
4.Locate and remove exhaust vent cover
5.Crawl exact distance indicated on schematic and cut hole in duct
6.Drop into room and enter two passcodes simultaneously to open the security door
7.Disable the power grid generator
8.Climb back into vent and proceed to chasm
9.Traverse chasm to air duct on opposite side
10.Use blueprints to locate Jarmusch Research Lab and enter through security door
11.Locate six to ten base personnel, verify whether they are alive or dead
12.Use high-security code to release the secure airlock
13.Administer antidote as needed
14.Assist in Romero Virus security and base evacuation as needed
Countdown Zero Page 7
