by Jack Heath
He cracked open the tube and pulled out a bundle of about eight hundred sparklers, fixed together with duct tape. It took him a few tries to grab one near the centre of the bunch – his fingers were clumsy in the cold. Once he had a firm grip on it, he pulled it out about half way. It would be his fuse.
The cheap plastic cigarette lighter clicked uselessly in his hand. It wouldn't ignite.
'Come on,' he muttered. 'Come on!'
On the fifth try, the flame exploded into life. He held the extended sparkler above it until the magnesium caught, spraying light into the air and stinging his hand.
He rolled the bundle of sparklers under the four-wheel drive. It stopped under the drive shaft, crackling. Anyone who looked over at the car would see it. And when the rest of the bundle caught, Benjamin was pretty sure they would all be looking.
Nothing more he could do. He zipped up his bag and sprinted away into the darkness.
* * *
'Ash.' Benjamin sounded puffed. 'Your distraction will be live in about about forty-five seconds.'
Ash had the phone to his ear, but Benjamin's voice didn't register. She was staring up in amazement, along with everyone else, as the pale boy clambered across the ceiling toward the rear loading dock. When he was almost there, he let go, and fell what looked like it should have been a lethal distance before landing in a crouch on the cement floor.
He didn't give the cop time to catch up with him. Immediately he was running again, faster than Ash had ever seen anyone move, weaving through the crowd toward the back door.
'Ash! Are you there?'
Ash blinked. 'Uh, yeah. What did you say?'
'I said you've got forty-five seconds before your distraction. But now it's more like thirty.'
Ash whirled around and started running toward the front door. A few people stared at her as she pushed past – 'Hey, I loved your piece,' someone said – but most were looking toward the other end of the corridor, where the boy had disappeared.
When she emerged through the front doors, she found herself trapped in a police cordon with several other audience members. Cops were checking IDs all around her. Ash had none. She had bluffed her way in. She didn't like her chances of bluffing her way out.
'Excuse me, Miss,' a burly police officer said. 'I'll need to see your driver's license.'
'Hey!' An elderly man rapped his walking stick on the ground behind Ash. 'I was here first!'
Ash stepped aside. 'Oh, I'm so sorry,' she said. 'After you.'
The old man looked disappointed, as though he had been looking forward to an argument. He held his senior's card out with a trembling hand–
And in the nearby parking lot, a car exploded.
Ash ducked as a flash lit up the air and a blast of heat washed over her. The cops all whirled around to face the grey four-wheel drive, which had disappeared in a sudden glaring haze.
Ash didn't stop to wonder how Benjamin had managed to blow up a car on such short notice. Instead, she slipped behind the back of the burly policeman while he was distracted, and sprinted across the courtyard to the cover of the nearby trees.
Her bicycle was chained to a sign post. As she fiddled with the combination lock, she glanced back the way she came. The flames had died away, and somehow the car was unharmed. Benjamin must have rigged up some kind of flash grenade beneath it.
But she didn't have time to wonder how. A police officer, female, athletic, was sprinting toward her. Another cop wasn't far behind.
Ash ripped the combination lock open, jumped onto the bike and started pedaling across the stony dirt. She could hear the policewoman's frenzied breaths. Her thudding footsteps grew louder as she caught up.
'Hold it right there!' the cop roared.
Ash didn't. She pumped her legs as fast as she could. The spokes rattled underneath her. The slight uphill slope made it hard to accelerate.
She was riding parallel to a storm water drain. It was currently dry – if she twisted the handle bars and rode into it, she would probably have a clear path all the way to the lake. No more dodging trees and parked cars.
But first she would have to survive the landing. And the drain was deep, with steep concrete walls.
She could hear the cop catching up to her. I don't have a choice, she thought.
She took a deep breath, and–
Something slammed sideways into her. She gasped and shielded her face as she was thrown off her bicycle – but somehow she didn't hit the ground.
It took her a moment to realise that she'd been hit by a person and not a train. Someone had crash-tackled her, caught her and was now carrying her in unbelievably strong arms toward the storm water drain.
She didn't have time to look at his face before he jumped.
Ash screamed as she found herself suddenly in flight, sailing all the way over the drain. Her stomach churned in her belly and her heart thudded in her ears.
Her rescuer crashed into the dirt on the other side and, before she had time to find her balance, dropped her.
She thumped onto the ground and looked dizzily up at him.
'You?' she said.
'Can you run?' the pale boy asked.
Ash scrambled to her feet. On the other side of the drain, the cop was shouting rapid instructions into her radio. Sirens wailed on the breeze.
'I think so,' Ash said.
'Then run,' the boy said, and he sprinted into the trees at an incredible pace.
Ash hesitated for a moment. He was crazy, or a liar, or at least dangerous. But he had saved her, and she wanted to know why.
She ran after him.
Chapter Five: The Deal
'So who are you?' Ash demanded.
The boy said nothing.
They were a few kilometres away from the conservatorium. Ash had no idea where the boy was going, but wherever it was, he was taking a roundabout route to get there.
She guessed he was trying to mislead anyone who might be following them. But Ash was a professional thief, and her finely honed intuition told her they'd gotten away cleanly. The only cars which passed them were traveling the opposite way. The towering oaks which lined the street were silent. The streetlamps left few shadows for anyone to hide in.
'You won't even tell me your name?' Ash said.
'Anything I say to you could change the course of history,' the boy said. 'It's safest if we don't talk.'
Ash wasn't sure if she believed him, but she had to act as though she did. 'You dropped a table into the middle of a concert. You caused a panic and started a manhunt. You've already changed the course of history.'
'I can't do anything about that. But information about the future could wreak havoc on the past.'
'Anything you say to me stays a secret,' Ash said. 'I can't even tell anyone that I was at the conservatorium. I was there illegally.'
The boy glanced over sharply. 'Why?'
'Why should I tell you? You're not giving me much in return.'
'I saved you from the police.'
'If it weren't for you, I wouldn't have needed saving.'
They walked in silence for a moment.
'My name is Six,' the boy said.
'Uh-huh. People in the future have numbers instead of names?'
'No. Just me. All Deck agents use numbers to hide their true identities, but I have no real name to conceal.'
'Right. Your parents never got around to naming you?'
'I was grown in a jar,' Six said. 'I have no parents.'
Ash rubbed her temples. She was getting nowhere. 'You said something about radioactive materials.'
'I'm looking for a stockpile of ununoctium.'
'That's clearly a made-up word.'
'It's not. It's a superheavy element which doesn't occur in nature. A small group of scientists has managed to stabilise it.'
'Why do you need it?'
'I don't need it.'
Ash clenched her teeth. 'Listen,' she began. 'I can't help you, if–'
'Sorry.' Six turned t
o face her. She noticed that his pupils were unnaturally large, as though he had taken some kind of drug. 'The time machine runs on ununoctium. A woman named Soren Byre is going to use it to assassinate some people in the past. But if I can find and destroy the last stockpile of it, she'll never be able to build the machine. Problem solved.'
He started walking again. Ash ran to catch up.
'Hang on,' she said. 'If she never builds the machine, how will you get back here to destroy the unobtanium?'
'Ununoctium,' Six corrected. 'And I don't know. I'm not a physicist. But I'm stuck in the past, and I can't think of a better plan.'
'It's not the past,' Ash said. 'It's the present.'
'That's semantics.'
'No it isn't. The past has already happened. It's immutable. But since you're here–'
'Don't look around,' Six said, 'but someone's following us.'
'What?' Ash fought the instinct to look back. 'How do you know?'
'I can hear footsteps. She's about three blocks behind.'
It seemed impossible for him to hear footfalls at that distance, but Ash didn't object. 'She?'
'If it's a man, he doesn't weigh very much. Turn here.'
Ash turned in to an alley between two tall buildings, her heart pounding. Six pressed his back against the wall.
'Keep walking,' he whispered.
Ash didn't. 'We should run away.'
'One woman, on foot. Therefore, not police. Therefore, we need to know who she is. Go!'
Ash walked into the alley, keeping her footsteps loud and crunchy. She still couldn't hear anyone approaching. Perhaps Six – if that was actually his name – was just trying to get rid of her. But there were easier ways to do that, especially since he was able to run much faster than she could.
A puddle splashed beneath her shoe, and soaked through it almost immediately. She shivered in the cold.
Perhaps it was just a random pedestrian. It wasn't inconceivable that someone else might be walking at the same speed in the same direction. She should have asked Six how long this person had been supposedly following them. Perhaps she should go back, on the off-chance that he was about to hurt an innocent person.
'Hey!'
Ash spun around. Six had grabbed a teenage boy by the throat, lifted him up and pressed him against the wall.
'Who are you working for?' he demanded.
The boy gurgled, a vein bulging on his forehead.
'Six!' Ash yelled, sprinting back up the alley toward him.
'I'm not going to ask twice,' Six growled.
'Six! Put him down!' Ash tried to pull Six away, but he felt like a stone statue. 'He's with me!'
'With–' Six dropped the boy, who slumped to the ground, wheezing. 'Who is he?'
Ash crouched down next to her friend. 'Benjamin,' she said, 'meet Six.'
* * *
'You said you were alone,' Six said.
'I never said that,' Ash said. She clenched Benjamin's shoulder. 'You okay?'
He nodded, still coughing.
'You said you couldn't tell anyone you were at the conservatorium,' Six insisted.
'Benjamin was there too,' Ash said. 'He started the fire to distract the cops.' She hauled Benjamin to his feet. 'Good work, by the way.'
'You too,' Benjamin panted.
'Why were you following us?' Six demanded.
'To protect Ash.' Benjamin dusted himself down.
Ash's phone was still in her pocket, and she had hoped that Benjamin was listening. But she hadn't realised he would be using the GPS to follow her.
Six looked Benjamin up and down. 'You're no protection for anyone,' he said. 'I could flick your arm and your ulna would snap.'
Ash doubted that this was an exaggeration. But Benjamin was the smartest person she had ever met. If she was in danger, he would think of a way to keep her safe.
Benjamin was clever enough to say nothing.
Six looked at Ash. 'Why were you at the conservatorium?'
'I was stealing a violin.'
'Why?'
'It was worth $11 million.'
His face was impassive. 'Is that a lot?'
Ash raised an eyebrow. 'You don't have money in the future?'
'We have ChaoCredits.'
'Right. Well, yes – eleven million is a lot. But you screwed up our plan.'
Six's pale eyes scanned the darkness around them. 'Why did you need the money?'
What kind of dumb question is that? Ash wondered.
'For food,' she said. 'Shelter. Medicine.'
'You're sick? Malnourished?'
'Not right now. But I might be in the future.'
Six's incisive gaze made her feel uncomfortable.
'The violin is stolen,' Benjamin said.
'You hoped to return it to the rightful owner?' Six asked.
'The theft took place a hundred years ago. The owner, and his descendants, are long dead.'
Six was silent for a moment. His fingers twitched at his side as though he were operating a calculator.
'This was a mistake,' he said finally. Then he turned and walked away into the alley.
Ash and Benjamin looked at each other.
'Does he expect us to follow him?' Ash asked.
'I don't think so,' Benjamin replied. 'I think he's just leaving us here. Thank goodness.'
Six was already nothing more than a distant silhouette.
'Wait!' Ash shouted.
'What are you doing?' Benjamin hissed.
Ash suspected Six could still hear them, so she couldn't say what she was thinking. 'Trust me,' she said. Then she ran after him.
Her shoes slapped the asphalt. This time she sidestepped around the puddle. She found Six standing at the far end of the alley, watching her as suspiciously as a cat.
'What do you want?' he asked.
'You need us,' Ash said. 'You can't go around talking about ChaoCredits and being grown in a jar. People will take notice, and you'll change the course of history in unpredictable ways.'
Abruptly she realised she believed what she was saying. Six really was from another time.
'I've spent my whole life blending in,' Six said. Ash thought she detected an echo of a wound in his voice.
'Amongst a different kind of people.' Ash stuck her hands in her pockets. 'Here in "the past", you'll need help. Especially when it's time to steal the ununoctium.'
Six said nothing.
'We're professional thieves,' Ash said. 'We can find out where it is – and get it out – with much more subtlety than you can.'
'Why?' Six asked. 'Why do you want to help me?'
Because I bet the ununoctium is worth more than $11 million, Ash thought.
'Because you're right,' she said. 'Me and Benjamin, we've done some bad things. But if we can help you destroy the ununoctium, maybe we can make the future a little better for once.'
Six held out his hand.
Ash hesitated.
'You do shake hands in the past?' Six asked.
'We do,' Ash said, and reached out. His grip was hard and cold.
'We have a deal,' Six said.
My future, Ash thought, is about to get a whole lot better.
Chapter Six: Tracking
Ring, ring. Ring, ring.
'Pick up, damn you,' Kyntak muttered. 'Are you trying to stress me out?'
The phone kept chirping in his ear. Eventually Six's voice came on the line:
'You've called Vornan's AC installation and consultancy,' he said. 'All our operators are currently busy, but we will return your call shortly. You're welcome to leave more details after the tone.'
The phone beeped.
'You should have been back hours ago,' Kyntak said. 'If you don't call me before eight PM, I'm sending a team to look for you.'
He hung up, and resumed pacing around his office in tight little circles. Six must have run into a complication. Perhaps ChaoSonic had gotten there first, with enough soldiers to capture him – or worse.
Kyntak woke up
his computer and activated the tracking beacon in Six's phone. It took a few seconds for the Deck's satellites to pinpoint its location. The phone was inside the building to which he had sent Six. It wasn't moving.
If Six was there, what was holding him up? And if he wasn't there, why had he left his phone behind? And if he had been abducted by ChaoSonic troops, why had they left his phone in one piece?
Kyntak leaned back in his chair. Two likely possibilities. One: Six had been captured, but had secretly planted his phone with a clue to his current whereabouts. Two: ChaoSonic had left Six's phone behind to see who would come after him.
Kyntak stood up and pulled on his coat. If it was a trap, ChaoSonic would have listened to his voice mail message. They would expect a team after eight PM. What they wouldn't expect was him, alone, right now.
* * *
'So you don't know who they are, how many of them there are, whether you'll have to fight them or sneak past, or even what they'll be armed with?'
Kyntak nodded.
Jack beamed, showing slightly crooked teeth. 'I have just the thing.'
'I thought you might.' Kyntak scanned the walls of Jack's workshop, admiring the gadgetry. There were Tasers which looked like phones, phones which looked like glasses, climbing ropes as thin as blades of grass and parachutes concealed in wallet-sized packages.
Jack dug a floppy bundle of glistening rubber and tossed it to him. 'Your second skin,' he said. 'Covered in tiny reflective panels, each of which hangs vertically so they don't reflect the sky or the ground – only the surfaces around you. So long as you stay still, no-one will see you from further away than a few metres. The suit will also conceal your body heat from any infrared cameras.'
Kyntak stripped down to his underwear and started stretching the rubber over his limbs. 'This is amazing,' he said. 'Does Six know you have this?'
'He refuses to wear it, because it's so flammable.'
Kyntak froze.
Jack laughed. 'Just kidding. He hasn't seen it yet – it's a prototype. I'll give it to him next time he's on a mission and none of the other agents is using it.'
'You had me going there for a second. Anything else you can give me?'
Jack tossed him a small tube. 'If you need to open a door, just squirt this into the lock, wait fifteen seconds and turn the handle. Faster and easier than picking it. Don't get any on your skin or your suit, though.'
