“Oh, and that man!” the librarian raged. “He told me he’d try to be more understanding. I told him, ‘They’re kids, Alexander. You have to talk to them like they’re kids,’ but he’s as hardheaded as Ruby.”
“I appreciate everything you’ve done, Ms. Holiday,” Jackson said.
The librarian nodded, then pushed a number of buttons on the podium. A second later, Jackson was scooped into the chair. Ms. Holiday held his hand while the machine went about removing the nanotechnology from his mouth. It didn’t hurt nearly as much as it had when it was implanted, with the exception of taking out his nose bug. The lunch lady had to use a long pair of pliers to yank it out.
When all of the technology was removed, Ms. Holiday escorted him through the Playground to the tubes that led to the secret lockers. Agent Brand was waiting for him by the exit with an outstretched hand.
“I’m sorry this didn’t work out, son,” he said.
Jackson nodded. He turned and looked at the Playground for what he assumed would be the very last time. Duncan, Flinch, and Matilda stood nearby looking on. When they realized he had seen them, they tumbled over themselves to hide.
“A few of them will miss you,” Ms. Holiday said. “Even if they won’t say it to your face. I’ll miss you too.”
“This is for the best,” Jackson said as he pushed a button on the wall. The tube opened and he stepped inside. Jackson shot up and tumbled into the halls of the school, just as Brett and a group of his former friends walked past.
“Hey, loser,” they said.
Jackson didn’t argue. For once, Brett Bealer was right.
Sadly, losing his role in the team did not make Jackson’s life any easier. He found it impossible to slip back into the routine of school. Nathan Hale Elementary was now far too distracting. It was brimming with secrets, and Jackson couldn’t help but look for them. Every fire drill or pep assembly meant that something exciting was happening, and Jackson was no longer a part of it. The team treated him like he was invisible. Even the lunch lady turned a cold shoulder to Jackson. It was difficult to have such exciting memories and no one to share them with.
One afternoon Jackson stepped into Mr. Pfeiffer’s class and noticed that the NERDS were missing. Jackson didn’t think much about it at first, assuming the team was on a mission. But the next day they didn’t come to school, either. On the third day he wondered if everything was all right, but Mr. Brand and Ms. Holiday weren’t around to ask. He was about to march right into the Playground for answers when he was confronted by Mr. Dehaven.
“Mr. Jones, just the man I was looking for,” the stocky little man said. He clamped his hand down on Jackson’s arm and dragged him down the hallway to his office. There Jackson found his father.
“Jackson, I am so disappointed,” his father said.
“What’s wrong?”
“Mr. Jones, do you recall a certain test you had to take in Mr. Pfeiffer’s classroom last week?”
Jackson’s heart sank. He had completely forgotten about the test.
“Today I got the results of that test. It appears you failed. In fact, not only did you fail, but you got a zero. Do you recall how much of a percentage this test was worth for your final grade?”
“Fifty percent,” Jackson mumbled.
“And you got a zero.” He turned to Jackson’s father. “Mr. Jones, I’ve seen a million children like your son, and I have to say I’m concerned for his future. He lacks a certain level of dedication and ambition. Sad, because I’m told you were a first-class athlete and well liked when you were a student here.”
“Grades were never my thing,” Jackson’s father mumbled as if it were his fault Jackson was failing.
Dehaven ignored the comment. “Luckily, there’s a remedy for this behavior. Your son is going to repeat the fifth grade.”
“He flunked?” Mr. Jones exclaimed. “It’s only October!”
“Yes, I’m afraid he has,” Dehaven replied. “There’s nothing he can do to get back on track now.”
“Jackson, what is going on with you?” his father asked.
“Nothing.”
“Don’t lie to me. I’m your father. Tell me what’s going on,” he demanded.
“Fine!” Jackson jumped out of his seat. “I was part of a secret agency that operates out of this school called the National Espionage, Rescue, and Defense Society, and it’s made up of nerds. Each of us has enhanced abilities, and we tried to save the world from a lunatic. I was drafted right after I got my braces, and I was training to become a full member, but I stunk, the other team members hated me, and I quit.”
Jackson’s father and Mr. Dehaven were speechless.
“That’s what I’ve been doing,” Jackson asked.
“If you only used that kind of creativity in your classes, you wouldn’t be flunking!” his father shouted.
“Hey,” Chaz said when Jackson got home after school. His older brother was wearing his gear and clutching a football in his hand. “Heard you flunked. What a dork!”
“I don’t want to talk about it,” Jackson said.
“Good, I don’t want to hear it,” Chaz said as he pushed his way past him. “Out of my way. I’m late for practice.”
“Where’s Dad?” Jackson said, before his brother was out of earshot.
“He’s upstairs on the computer. He’s looking up military schools to send you to,” Chaz called back as he disappeared down the street.
On his way into the kitchen, Jackson noticed that his brother had left his helmet on the counter. He grabbed it and rushed to the door, but his brother was nearly at the end of the block. Chaz’s coach would chew him out if he showed up without a helmet. Jackson raced down the street after him.
Chaz walked down Chambers Street and made a right at Beacon, which wasn’t that odd, except his brother’s school was in the opposite direction. Something was wrong. Jackson felt that old familiar tingle that told him he was about to discover a secret.
He continued down the street but kept a safe distance to make sure Chaz didn’t spot him. Chaz went down Beacon, then made a left onto Hamilton Drive. There he turned down a nameless alley and stopped outside of a gated junkyard. Jackson watched his brother slip through a hole in the gate.
“What is he doing?” Jackson said to himself. He rushed across the street and peeked through the hole. He could see Chaz rummaging through the garbage. He found an old tin can and tossed it on the ground. Then he kicked it about the abandoned lot.
Jackson slipped through the gate and followed as closely as he could. He saw his brother plop down on the backseat of an old car and pull a paperback book out of his uniform pants. He leaned back and buried his nose in the story.
“Reading can be dangerous,” Jackson said as he tossed his brother his helmet. “You might need this.”
Chaz leaped to his feet. “What are you doing here?”
“What are you doing here?”
“Did you follow me?”
“You forgot your helmet. I was being a nice guy by bringing it to you.”
“Thanks, now go home,” Chaz demanded.
“You’re not on the team anymore, are you?” Jackson said.
Chaz frowned. He kicked the car seat and then plopped back down on it as if in defeat. “I got cut.”
Jackson’s eyes widened. “They kicked you off the team? What did you do?”
“Nothing. I’m just not good enough,” Chaz said.
Jackson sat down on the other half of the car seat. “But—”
“Everything’s harder in high school,” Chaz explained. “Everyone is good. I’m not special anymore.”
“How long has this been going on?”
Chaz shook his head in disgust. “I got cut on the second day.”
“So you’ve been suiting up every day and coming to the junkyard to read?”
Chaz winced and nodded. “After the look of disappointment Dad gave you when you got booted off your team, I just couldn’t tell him. Sports mean so much
to him.”
“Oh, how the mighty have fallen.” Jackson laughed. “We used to be the coolest brothers in Arlington, Virginia. Now look at us. You’ve become a reader and I’m pretty much friendless. I can’t even get the nerds to hang out with me.”
Chaz laughed. “I’m like a total nerd now. My only friend is Barney Tennant.”
“Barney Tennant? You mean the kid who is always picking his nose in public?”
“That’s him,” Chaz said. “He’s my BFF.”
The boys broke into hysterical laughter.
“We’re complete losers,” Jackson said.
“We’re so pathetic,” Chaz agreed.
After a while the laughter faded.
“I’ve been a total jerk to you,” Chaz said.
Jackson shrugged. “If it wasn’t for your insults, I wouldn’t have anyone speaking to me at all.”
They talked for hours. Mostly about their father, but also about how much they missed their mom, and about how much their dad had changed since she died. They also talked about football and about the crimes they had committed against each other and the other kids at school.
“You know, if you really like to read, you don’t have to do it surrounded by filth,” Jackson said. “There’s this place called the library. I’ve been in one. It wasn’t that bad. The closest is on Henry Street, two blocks away.”
“You’re pretty cool for a little brother,” Chaz said.
“And you’re pretty cool for a big brother,” Jackson replied.
“If you two hug I think I’m going to throw up,” a voice said from above them.
Jackson turned and looked up. Standing at the top of a pile of junk was the Hyena. Her hair was like silver in the setting sun. If Jackson wasn’t struck with overwhelming fear, he might have thought she was pretty.
“Who’s this?” she asked, pointing to Chaz.
“I’m his brother,” Chaz said. “Who are you?”
“I’m the—”
“Wait a minute!” Chaz said. “I get what’s going on here. Is this your girlfriend, Jackson?”
“Uh—”
“Little brother! Hey, don’t let me interfere with you two lovebirds. I’ll catch up with you at home,” Chaz said. He rushed to the gate, turned back and gave Jackson a raspberry, and slipped away.
“I’ve been looking for you,” the Hyena said.
“Stay back!” Jackson shouted.
The girl leaped down in front of him. Instinctively, he swept her legs out from under her with his own and knocked her to the ground. A moment later he was running.
“Where was that move when you had to fight Matilda all day?” he grumbled to himself. He made a beeline for the gate, but before he could get there the Hyena had backflipped off a junked car and landed in front of him. He skidded to a stop and raced back the way he came. The junkyard was a maze of debris piled high in neat rows. Jackson raced down one aisle and made a quick right into another. The Hyena was right behind him every step of the way.
He knew his only hope was to try to make it back to the gate, so he made another quick left, then a right, then another right. He mustered every ounce of his former glory on the football field and sprinted toward the exit. It was so close. He just had to get there. Once he was on the street he could hide in the backyards of the countless neighborhood houses, and she would never find him.
And then he saw a blur to his left and felt something in front of his feet, and before he knew it he turned into a human tumbleweed rolling on the ground. He finally came to a stop on his back, gasping to replace the wind that had been knocked out of his lungs. Unfortunately, the Hyena was waiting. She tossed aside the mop handle she had used to trip him.
“If you’re going to kill me, just make it quick,” he groaned.
“I’m not here to kill you, dummy. I need your help,” she said, reaching out her hand to him.
“Help?”
“Yeah, I need you to stop my diabolical boss and his evil doomsday device.”
“Is that all?” Jackson said as he eyed the offered hand. “How do I know this isn’t some kind of trick?”
“Why would I want you to help me stop the man who pays my rent?” she said. “I wouldn’t, unless you were right all along. I don’t want to know I helped someone destroy the world, and I can’t stop him by myself. I need you.”
Jackson took her hand and she pulled him to his feet. He dusted himself off, but kept a wary eye on her. “Why does a goon want to save the world?”
The Hyena snarled. “Watch it, pal! I’m not a goon.”
“You act like a goon. You kidnapped those scientists.”
“I was freelancing. I have to eat,” she said. “Are you going to help me or not?”
Jackson shook his head. “You don’t want me. You want the NERDS, and I’m not with them anymore.” He turned and headed for the gate, slipping out the hole and into the street.
The Hyena followed. “What do you mean you aren’t with them anymore?”
“I was a trainee,” Jackson admitted. “And not a very good one. I screwed up a lot, so I quit. I’m out of the secret agent business.”
The Hyena grabbed him by the shirt. “You can’t just quit.”
“You’re not listening to me,” Jackson said. “I can just quit and I did just quit. I can’t help you.”
“Then take me to the others,” she demanded. “This is important.”
“They’re missing,” Jackson said. “They’ve been gone for days. They’re probably on some other mission.”
“Listen, kid, if this wasn’t the end of the world, I wouldn’t have bothered. If you can’t find your team, then it’s up to you and me.”
“Fine, but why are you wearing only one boot?”
The Hyena groaned. “Focus, you idiot. We have to save the world.”
Even though all the students were gone and school had been closed for hours, the doors were still unlocked and Jackson and the Hyena stepped right inside.
“What are we doing here?” the Hyena asked impatiently. “Did you forget your lunch box?”
“This is our headquarters,” Jackson said as he led her down the hallway.
“Your spy headquarters is in an elementary school?”
Jackson ignored her question. She’d be impressed by the Playground once she saw it. He had turned the corner heading for the lockers when a mob of panicked scientists nearly ran him over.
“What’s going on?” he asked.
“End-of-the-world stuff, kid!” one shouted back to him.
“C’mon,” Jackson said to the Hyena, and the two ran the way the scientists had come. Jackson shoved the would-be assassin into one of the lockers and slammed the door before she could ask him to explain, then climbed into his own. A moment later they tumbled out into the Playground.
There Jackson found Ms. Holiday shouting directions at dozens of scientists who were working furiously on computers.
“Find that signal!” she shouted. “I don’t care if it bounced off every satellite in space. Find its origin.”
Jackson was surprised by her tone, but even more surprised by her appearance. Gone were the cardigan sweaters and pleated skirts she usually wore. Now she was wearing a black bodysuit and a black beret, and had weapons strapped around her waist.
“Jackson, what are you doing here? And who is she?”
“This is the Hyena,” he said. “She needs our help. Dr. Felix Jigsaw is going to destroy the world.”
“We know,” the librarian said, just as a scientist approached her with a map. “What?”
“My math shows that Australia has indeed moved. It was here,” the scientist said, circling the continent with a red pen then circling a spot in the ocean off the eastern coast of Africa. “Now it’s here.”
“Where’s the team?” Jackson said. “They need to stop this now.”
“Unfortunately, that is no longer an option,” Ms. Holiday said.
“What? Why?”
“Benjamin, can you expl
ain?” Ms. Holiday said, and the blue orb on the desktop began to spin. Soon, the holographic Benjamin Franklin appeared before the frozen landscape of the North Pole.
“Approximately an hour ago, a beam of magnetically charged energy shot out from the heart of the North Pole,” Benjamin explained as the North Pole morphed into the blackness of space. The sky lit up as the beam of green light shot through Earth’s atmosphere and bounced off a satellite.
“It’s Jigsaw,” the Hyena said. “It’s a tractor beam.”
The image changed, showing the ray bending to connect with the ground near the Sydney Opera House.
“Three days ago we sent the team to stop Jigsaw,” Ms. Holiday said. “When we lost contact with them, Alexander—I mean, Agent Brand—and the lunch lady circled for hours. Now we’ve lost contact with them too. The School Bus is programmed to return to the school if it is abandoned. It returned empty, and there’s not much information about what happened. I fear the worst.”
“What are you going to do?” Jackson asked.
“Jigsaw needs a huge amount of energy to power his tractor beam. So far he’s been able to move just one continent, Australia. Benjamin studied the energy output Jigsaw’s satellite dish released to move Australia.”
Benjamin appeared. “I’ve calculated that it will take seven hours for Dr. Badawi’s solar panels to repower Jigsaw’s satellite dish.”
“It gives us a small window of time before Jigsaw can move another continent,” Ms. Holiday said. “I’m going to stop it from happening.”
“How?”
“Follow me,” the librarian said. She led them into the upgrade room, pushed a button on the podium, and brought the chair out of the floor. Then she climbed into it. “I’m going to get the upgrades myself.”
“I’m afraid that can’t be done, Ms. Holiday,” Benjamin said when he appeared in the room.
“Well, why not!”
“The upgrade application is specifically designed to work on children alone. You are much too old for the process.”
“But this is an emergency,” Ms. Holiday said.
“I’m sorry, but it simply can’t be done,” Benjamin said.
“Put me back in the chair,” Jackson said.
Ms. Holiday shook her head. “No, you quit for a reason, and I respect it. I’m not dragging you back into this. I’m going to find a way to stop Dr. Jigsaw with or without nanocomputers. The best thing you can do is take your friend and find someplace safe. If Jigsaw’s plans succeed, the world is going to be a very different place by tomorrow.”
NERDS: National Espionage, Rescue, and Defense Society Page 15