The Nine Read online

  “I could use an idea here,” I said to the huge effigy before me. The last thing I expected was an answer.

  “Who are you talking to?” Alex wandered up next to me, her hands tucked in the back pockets of her jeans. She tilted her head to the side and leaned in like she was straining to eavesdrop on a private conversation.

  I glanced at Alex, then back at the statue. I gave it an awkward wave, feeling a little uneasy.

  “Are you waving at a statue?” Alex looked up at the figures and back at me.

  I opened my mouth to explain, decided I couldn’t, and moved on.

  “Why did your first mission fail?”

  Alex’s eyebrows went up. “Why yes, I’m fine, and Zoe is okay too. Thanks for asking.”

  I nodded. “I’m serious. What happened?”

  “Why do you care?”

  Alex crossed her arms. I could almost see her begin construction on one of her walls.

  “Call it a hunch. Professional curiosity. Whatever.”

  Alex stared me down for a second, then her shoulders dropped, and she looked around as if she wanted to be sure no one else heard us.

  “I had to get stuck with a partner who’s all about sharing,” she grumbled.

  I smiled, but I didn’t say anything. I didn’t want to give her an opening to change the subject.

  “It was no big deal. The mission, I mean. I was supposed to break into an office and replace a few files. Easy. I was a courier after all. Dealing with paperwork and packages Topside was my thing.”

  Alex put her back to the statue, leaning against the eight-foot circular base.

  “Anyway, everything went fine. I got into the building, went to the prescribed office, and was in the middle of refiling the new paperwork when the lights went on. I drew my gun, ready to shoot, but standing there was the one friend I had in the world.”

  “You had a friend?”

  I took half a step back and raised a hand, realizing what I’d just blurted out.

  “I didn’t mean that the way it sounded.”

  “Don’t act so surprised. I can be likable if I try. She worked the front desk at a building I frequented Topside. We hit it off for some reason and became friends. Turned out she had gotten a new job. A promotion. Lucky her.”

  Alex’s eyes fell, and her voice got low and angry.

  “Turns out her boss called and needed something from the office in the middle of the night. Unusual, but it was an emergency, after all. What a coincidence she happened to arrive just in time to catch me.”

  “What did you do?”

  “I stood there at first. She had no clue about my real identity, of course. What could I say? Oh, don’t worry, I’m just a dead secret agent making a quick house call from Hell?”

  I shrugged.

  “Right, So, I told her I was a dead secret agent out of Hell, and I was there on a job.”

  I laughed. “How did that go over?”

  “Not as good as you might expect. I had to point my gun at her, or she would have run off to call the cops. It took some convincing and a little show of my fire trick, but she calmed down and believed me after a while. She swore never to reveal my secret and even offered to help me when and where she could.”

  “She got caught up in the whole James Bond thing.” I nodded. “I’ll bet she wouldn’t be so eager to join up if she knew about the turkeys.”

  Alex blinked. “Anyway—the conversation went well, but that’s when Max and Jake showed up on the scene.”

  “What?”

  “Turns out they had gotten wind of the mission and had set up the chance meeting between my friend and me. They tisked and told me how disappointed they were in my behavior—revealing the secrets of our organization and all. They pulled out a gun and shot my friend in the head.”

  I clenched my fists and felt my face twist with disgust and anger.

  “They couldn’t wait to get back and rat me out to Sabnack. They had set the whole thing up just because they thought it would be fun to make me look like an idiot.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  Alex gave a non-committal shrug, but hurt and fury were written all over her face.

  I, on the other hand, could not be happier the story turned out the way it had. Not that her friend got killed or that the two stooges set her up. I was happy to hear that she didn’t pull that trigger. It meant she cared and might just be the ally I needed in this pit of vipers.

  I looked around and stepped in close to Alex. “I need to tell you something. But it’s a secret, and you have to swear never to tell anyone else.”

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  “What do you mean, ‘Stop them?’” I had told Alex about my trip back to Briarsville, the doctor, and the sick people. I had even speculated about the destructive possibilities of the disease, but that was it. I told her nothing about Judas and my double agent status with the Agency. Even still, I might have pushed too far. The expression of utter bafflement on Alex’s face made a crop of sweat bead on my lip. Not a common occurrence in the freezing temperatures of The Nine. I curled my fingers over my mouth, trying to look attentive, and cover my erupting panic attack.

  “I’m not sure if you’re aware of this,” Alex said. “But we work for an Agency that causes this sort of thing, not one that stops it. We’re on the wrong side of the tracks for that gig.”

  “I know.” I dropped my hand and shifted my eyes back and forth to make sure no one approached within earshot. “But this is different. This is the World Series, Super Bowl, and The Daytona 500 of diseases all rolled into one. If this gets a foothold, it could wipe everything out.”

  Alex let out a snicker. “Everyone always thinks the next disease, flood, or terrorist attack is going to be the one to wipe everything out. This will be like everything else. You aren’t going to survive here if you analyze every little mission. Just do your job and go home.”

  “You don’t mean that. I know you, Alex. You’re not just another Agency psychopath. I get why you’re here, but don’t try to tell me you don’t care.”

  Alex narrowed her eyes and turned to walk away, but I wasn’t going to let her off that easy. I grabbed her arm and pulled her around to face me—or at least that’s what I had planned to do. Alex had other ideas. She put my wrist into some sort of Mohican death lock and drove me to my knees with one hand. I figure I still won because she stopped either way.

  “Okay … alright,” I panted. “You certainly have a right to your opinion.” I tried to look up and flash her a smile, but she just tightened her hold, drawing a little squeak for mercy instead.

  “I can mean that, because without this job, I don’t have a place to live. I can mean that, because if I screw things up here, I am nothing more than another Disposable like Zoe.”

  The pressure on her hold loosened, and I dared a glance upward. Her eyes softened, and she threw my arm to the side with a grunt. “You could never understand.”

  I rubbed my sore hand and rose to step in closer to her. “You are not disposable.”

  I let the unyielding words hang, wanting them to sink in. “We might be stuck here, but it doesn’t mean we can’t fight to rise above it. I get that you don’t want to risk what you’ve worked for, but don’t ever tell me you’re disposable.”

  Alex stared at me. Something inside her cracked. Not all the way, just enough to let a moment of pure vulnerability escape her brilliant brown eyes, then the moment was gone, and she went to leave again. I reached for her a second time, but my aching hand seemed to develop a mind of its own and jerked itself back to my side before I touched her.

  “You have to have family up there,” I pleaded.

  A pair of Woebegone agents rounded the corner and walked toward us in the courtyard. Alex spun and plastered her hand across my mouth, driving me back into the base of the statue again.

  “Will you shut up?” she hissed. “Just talking about this is enough to get us sent to the fields for a long time. No, I have no family up there. And if
you will recall, the only friend I had is dead, thanks to Jake and his fat-boy sidekick.”

  Alex lowered her hand, smiling as if we were having a pleasant conversation as the two agents got close. When the interlopers passed, her face twisted with anger again.

  “Even if I did have family up there, they never did anything for me. If they want to plant a disease to thin the herd, good for them. Maybe it will pull out some of the weeds up there too.”

  She narrowed her eyes, daring me to refute her.

  I stiffened my chin and leaned in close, until my face was inches from hers. “How long does it take for you to get your hair that color?”

  Alex’s face went slack, then the rest of her body relaxed, and she took a step back. “You are ridiculous. Leave me alone.” She turned for the third time and started walking away. Instead of stopping her, I trotted to keep up.

  “I’m serious. That has to be a lot of work, right? And where do you get time to dye it?” I reached out and touched a lock of her billowing blue hair. “So shiny.”

  Alex knocked my hand away. “I’m going to break your wrist if you touch my hair again.” Her voice sounded serious, but she was smiling.

  “Listen, I was only trying to say you’re better than most of the lowlifes down here. If you didn’t care about anything, you would have canoed your friend’s skull when she caught you rummaging through her files.”

  “They weren’t her files, she just worked there.”

  “Whatever. The point is, there’s a difference between doing what we have to and doing what’s right. There is a line. And we didn’t just cross it, we sprinted past and gave it the finger on the way by.”

  Alex stopped. We were almost to the building, and I was pretty sure she didn’t want to risk someone overhearing our conversation. Her face shifted from frustration to sadness, and maybe a little shame. “Fine. You’re right. This disease crosses the line. It’s horrible, and I wish we had never found it, or brought it back, or infected that poor family. I never want to hurt people who don’t deserve it. But that changes nothing. I’d like to help, but this is eternity, and it’s just not worth the risk. I’m sorry.”

  Alex let her gaze fall to the ground, and she resumed her path toward the building. “I won’t tell anyone what you’re up to. Just don’t get yourself killed. I’ve gotten sort of used to you.”

  She pulled the handle to open the huge door, and my mind went wild. I had appealed to every good virtue she had, and nothing had worked. Then it hit me.

  “Max and Jake are heading up the end operation.”

  Alex stopped.

  I held my breath. I wasn’t one-hundred percent sure, but everything pointed to them. And right now I needed a Hail Mary the way a snowball longed for an unsuspecting face.

  The door swung closed, and Alex sauntered toward me, eyes narrow and suspicious.

  “How do you know this?”

  “Think about it,” I said. “Sabnack called them in as soon as we reported what we knew in the town. We saw them in Salt Lake City. They’ve been in our business ever since we started this thing. It’s them. I know it.”

  Alex stared at the ground, running a hand through her hair. “I don’t know.”

  “How do you think it would go over if they failed to carry off this little project? I’ll bet they’d be in some pretty hot water, ruining a chance like this.”

  Alex looked up at me. Her eyes were still narrowed, but she wore a wicked grin on her face. “You are pure evil, you know that?”

  “I know,” I said. “That’s why chicks dig me.” I did a double arm bicep pose. Alex answered with a Siamese Jiujutsu jab to a pressure point in each arm. It made me want to urinate.

  I put my arms down, refusing to show the excruciating pain—or breathe. “So, you in or what?”

  “If it means sticking it to those goons, I’m in.”

  I pumped my fist, sending a wave of new agony through my arm, but I grinned and whimpered on the inside.

  Alex smiled one of the biggest smiles I’d ever seen. “Hurts, doesn’t it?”

  “So bad.” I grinned back. “Now let’s go get revenge on some bad guys.”

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  “What are we doing here, Gabe? We don’t have time for this.” Alex beat on the inside of an outhouse door, trying to force the thing open. I had already stepped out of mine without incident, like the last time we’d been here to tour the tech expo, but the storage center must have shifted around since then. Somewhere in this ocean of sea green poop monoliths, Alex was trapped with her door pressed against another outhouse.

  I tilted my head into the air and yelled in no particular direction “Keep talking. I can’t find you.”

  A machine gun rap came from somewhere behind me as Alex punched the plastic sidewall of her prison about a thousand times. “You better find me quick. This isn’t funny. I think they repossessed this thing from a monkey cage. They didn’t even bother to clean it.”

  I tried not to laugh, which forced a loud snort out of my nose.

  “Are you laughing?” More bangs, this time slower and much louder.

  “I am most certainly not laughing.” My voice cracked. I couldn't help it.

  Sounds of Alex’s assault led me to a fresh group of plastic outhouses all strapped together in a neat square. One of them moved with short jerks that coincided with each bang. “There’s nothing to laugh at here. What if I can’t find you? I mean, you might be anywhere. There has to be close to a thousand twin outhouses in this yard. Most of them are stacked right next to each other. If you’re in the middle. I might never get you out.”

  I waited a second and watched the little green water closet stop moving, then go crazy with vibration. “Get me out of here, Gabe. Get me out, or I am going to get myself out and stuff you in.” The outhouse began to rock back and forth, and I noticed it hung off the edge of its pallet. Alex must have taken a swinging start from the back, because she hit the wall, and the whole thing started to go over.

  Images of outhouse swirlies danced in my head as I dove for the tumbling stink bomb. Alex let out a scream, and I threw my weight against the teetering wall before it gained enough momentum to tumble.

  “Gabe? Is that you?”

  “Yeah. Don’t worry. I’ve got you.”

  “Oh, thank God. I’m getting out to kill you now.”

  I heard the door rattle. “It’s still stuck.”

  A groan of frustration escaped my lips. I tried to push the outhouse back onto the pallet, but something blocked me from pushing it all the way in. Now it fell over every time I let go.

  “I have an idea,” I said. “But you’re not going to like it.”

  “Whatever it is, think of something else.” Alex rattled the door again, but it was still jammed against something on the other side.

  “Too late. I’m already moving.” I shoved one corner of the outhouse, then the other, shimmying the thing back and forth until it began to walk its way free, then I let the whole thing tilt even farther in my direction.

  Alex screamed, “Gabe, what are you doing?” Her voice went up an octave with each word.

  “Try to open the door.” I grunted with the weight, thinking my calculations may not have taken being smushed into a plastic poop pancake into account.

  The door crashed once, and Alex bounded out. The momentary pressure of her launch was enough to buckle my knees, but I managed to hold on and spin out of the way in time to escape the falling crap hammer.

  A multicolored fluid traced its way down hill in my direction like a monster from a horror flick, poising for attack. Alex smacked me in the arm hard enough to make my fingers curl while I danced away from the ooze.

  “You knew where I was the whole time.”

  “Not the whole time.”

  Alex reached back to take another swing at me.

  “Hey, I kept you from falling. And I got you out without being glazed like a doughnut, so give me a little credit.”

  She let her hand ho
ver for a moment and dropped it to her side. I took in a deep breath and realized breathing through my nose was a mistake. The ooze had a bite.

  Alex crossed her arms and shook her head as I choked and tried to smother the odor with my hand.

  “We can’t stand here,” Alex said. “This isn’t Grand Central Station, but it is midday, and someone could wander through. You want to tell me why you stuck me in that stink coffin?”

  I pulled my hands away from my face and gave her a nod. “We’re going to the games.”

  Alex’s eyebrows went up, and I headed toward the road. “The Olympic games? Please don’t tell me we’re here because you want to watch beach volleyball.”

  “Yes,” I said. “We landed in a steamy outhouse graveyard to score box seats to the beach volleyball games. Of course not—well, maybe the Brazilians ...”

  Alex backhanded me in the arm.

  “Kidding, sheesh.” I made a show of rubbing the spot where she’d hit me. “We’re here because this is my best guess as to where Max and Jake are going to spread their super sniffles.”

  Alex got to the street and stopped next to an old mailbox overgrown by tall dry weeds. “Your best guess?” She turned around and headed back toward the outhouses.

  I grabbed her arm and stopped her. “Think about it. They’ll want to spread this thing worldwide, right? What better place than the Olympics? This is a one stop shop. There are people and athletes from all over the world. All they have to do is release the virus and let them all bring the super bug home to mommy and daddy.”

  Alex considered this, and she shook her head. “They wouldn’t release it like a bug bomb. The effect wouldn’t be immediate, but people would get sick too fast. The CDC would have enough warning to react before it spread and took hold. They need to target people who possess a natural immunity to the disease.”

  My hopes deflated along with my theory, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was still right somehow. Then it hit me. “What better place to find their perfect subjects than a worldwide pool of healthy athletes with recent blood tests on file? Does the Judas Agency have resources to tap into confidential medical records?”