Codename Zero

by Chris Rylander

  “That actually makes sense,” I said. “Those two guys were just asking me questions. And they didn’t actually chase after Olek until he started running away.”

  Agent Nineteen nodded. “We believe Olek tipped them off. Only people who have a reason to run would run in that situation.”

  “But how did they find out Olek is here?” I asked.

  “We’re not sure,” Agent Nineteen said. “We’re hoping either the rest of the information encrypted in Agent Orange’s PEDD or further interrogations of our detainees will answer that for us. Although we have reason to suspect that they may have coerced the information from another field agent of ours who went missing several weeks ago.”

  Coercion, interrogations, compromised agents. This whole thing was suddenly starting to feel very, very real to me.

  “So now that they know he’s here, why not just ship Olek off to some other town? Why not keep hiding him somewhere else?” I asked.

  “At this time, it wouldn’t be wise to pull him from school enrollment,” Agent Blue said.

  “Why not?”

  “For one, we have a stronger presence here than anywhere else. This is our turf, he’s still safer here than anywhere else. And second, there are only five days left before Olek’s parents testify. Planning and initiating transport to a new location will take several days, and moving him will likely bring even more attention his way, especially if the Pancake Haus has agents on the ground here. We think it’s better to hide him in plain sight. Which is where you come in.”

  I nodded. Then I paused.

  “Wait, what?” I said.

  “As you saw in that encrypted message,” Agent Nineteen explained, “Pancake Haus is looking for a kid on his own, a kid with no friends. A new kid. Someone who is alone when he arrives to school, when he goes home, when he eats lunch. That’s likely why they singled out both you and Olek that day. You guys were alone when they attempted to question you. They won’t be looking for a kid with friends, a kid who looks comfortable at school, like he’s been here for a while. So that’s what we need you to do: make Olek belong.”

  Nineteen was right. Helping Olek fit in with other kids at school was something no adult would be able to do. At that moment, the idea of a kid helping out real-life secret agents suddenly seemed less ridiculous than it ever had before.

  “So that’s your primary directive. Befriend Olek. Get him in with your friends as well. Sit with him at lunch, bring him with you when you hang out with other friends outside of school. But also keep an eye on him, and watch out for enemy agents or suspicious activity.”

  I nodded, thinking that this actually might not be too hard. I mean, I already liked Olek and apparently he liked and trusted me, too. That was a pretty good start as far as I was concerned.

  “A few other details,” Agent Blue said. “Starting today, for any Agency matters, you will be known simply by your codename, Zero. This codename is not to be spoken or even thought about in the presence of non-Agency personnel. Is that clear?”

  “Yes, sir,” I said, nodding.

  “Good. If we need to contact you further, we’ll send you messages via Agent Chum Bucket, who currently doubles as one of your school cafeteria food service providers. Messages will be delivered only in this format, or in person via Agent Nineteen or myself. Any other message you may receive via any other means shall be disregarded and reported to either myself or Agent Nineteen immediately.”

  “What if I need to contact you guys after school hours?” I asked. “Like if Olek and I are in danger or something?”

  “You will have this,” he reached into his briefcase and took out what looked like a very small keyless entry remote for a car.

  It was about an inch wide, two inches long, and almost cardboard thin. It had only two buttons, a green one and a red one, and no other markings of any kind.

  “What is that?” I asked.

  “Should you ever find yourself in a situation where you need backup, press and hold down the red button for ten full seconds,” Agent Blue said. “If you have a message or need to communicate with the Agency in a non-emergency situation, press and hold the green button for ten full seconds. In either scenario, someone from the Agency will contact you within the appropriate amount of time.”

  “But how will they know where I am?” I asked, not understanding how pressing a red button on a tiny remote could possibly help me in an emergency situation.

  “There is a GPS tracking device inside the remote,” Agent Blue said. “All of this said, we don’t anticipate you needing to use it. If you integrate Olek effectively, they’ll have no reason to suspect either of you. Besides, we’re going to have Agency eyes on you both at all times up until the trial. We’ll have your back if things go south.”

  “There will be further instructions awaiting you when you get home,” Agent Nineteen added. “That covers everything for now. Any questions?”

  Of course I had hundreds. But at that moment, I didn’t think I could handle any more information. I had my mission, and so I just swallowed and shook my head.

  CHAPTER 25

  I GOT BACK HOME AROUND NOON.

  Everything felt different. Like the kitchen. The kitchen used to feel like the heart and soul of the house. But now it just felt like a plain old kitchen. It seemed emptier to me. I didn’t like the feeling at all.

  I saw my brother watching TV in the living room. I said hi to him and then headed downstairs to my bedroom. Almost as soon as I opened my computer, I got an incoming Skype call from Dillon. That was another thing about Dillon—he pretty much only communicated via written notes, in person, or with Skype.

  It wasn’t that he thought video chat was better or cooler than phone calls or text messages or anything. He just simply refused to use phones of any kind. He said all communications via telephone, including texts, were monitored and recorded by some massive database, and that your communication histories were used for all sorts of manipulative reasons. Or something.

  Dillon didn’t really like Skype much either, but we had to communicate somehow. It’s not like we could send smoke signals to each other across town. Anyway, being friends with Dillon entailed accepting a lot of crazy stuff. Or at least I used to think it was all crazy. Given what had happened to me in the last forty-eight hours, Dillon’s theories didn’t seem all that outlandish anymore.

  I clicked on the Answer button on my computer screen. Dillon’s face filled my monitor. He was wearing his tin foil gloves again. (Don’t ask.)

  “Hey, Carson, what’s up? Where have you been all morning? I was convinced that the Candy People had gotten to you or something.”

  I just stared at him. I tried to say something but didn’t. Or couldn’t. Why wasn’t I answering him? Likely because I had spent the morning inside a secret office belonging to a covert government secret agent instead of hanging out with Dillon and Danielle like usual.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked. “What are you up to?”

  “Oh, nothing. It was just an interesting day,” I said.

  “Why, what happened?”

  I was being an idiot. That was the last thing you ever wanted to say to Dillon, even under normal circumstances. My first ten minutes of having an official secret agent mission and I was already close to blowing my cover. Maybe deep down I even wanted to blow my cover. At least on some level.

  “Just a lot of weird stuff happened,” I finally answered him. “But it was all family stuff, so nothing you’d probably care about.”

  “Oh,” he said, looking disappointed. “Well, do you want to go to the circus with Danielle and me later tonight? There’s also that new milk bar right next to the circus grounds that we still need to check out.”

  “Milk bar?”

  “Yeah, I guess it’s like a regular bar, but instead of serving beer, they serve, like, custom flavored milk. So kids can go, too.”

  “That sounds pretty cool,” I admitted.

  “Yeah, so you want to go today with us then
?”

  I had totally forgotten about the circus. Under normal circumstances, I would have gone for sure. Now, I just didn’t think I could deal with it. Not only that, but the circus felt even more boring and ordinary to me now than ever before. Even with the addition of a new custom milk bar or whatever.

  “I wish I could, but I can’t. I have to help my mom with something,” I said. “Maybe next weekend?”

  “Okay, yeah, whatever,” he said. “What about tomorrow? Do you have any time to hang out at all this weekend?”

  “Maybe. I’ll let you know. But if not, then I’ll see you Monday at school, okay?”

  He nodded. I had to admit I felt pretty bad.

  “Okay, well, I’ll see you,” he said and disconnected the call.

  I was just about to stand up when I noticed the small, tan envelope sitting on my desk. It was sealed and had two words written on it in black marker:

  Open Me

  I remembered Agent Nineteen saying there would be further instructions waiting for me at home. So I opened it without hesitating. Inside the envelope was a flash drive with two more words scrawled on it in tiny print:

  Play Me

  I plugged the flash drive into my computer. It contained just a single WAV file. My heart raced as I double-clicked it. One hour into my mission helping out a top secret agency and I was already receiving top secret messages. This was probably the fastest my heart had ever beat in my life. Heck, it was probably the fastest anyone’s heart had ever raced in this whole state.

  The media player opened. I saw right away that the video was just over two minutes long. I clicked play and the screen went black. Then white text appeared on the screen:

  Agency transmission R436T00 will begin in 15 seconds. Please ensure the security of this information by turning down the volume on your device and positioning yourself in a secure location.

  There was no one in my room but me, obviously, but I still instinctively looked around. I turned down the volume on my computer to the second to lowest setting. Then I quickly stood up and closed my bedroom door. I sat down at my desk again and waited, trying to keep from going into excitement-induced cardiac arrest.

  Agent Nineteen appeared on the screen in front of a black background.

  “Zero, thank you again for agreeing to help us. Your main objective is to incorporate Olek into the social fabric of your school as deeply and seamlessly as possible. It is imperative that it appears as if he’s been here for years. Accomplishing this can be done by adhering to the following three directives:

  “Directive One: You must ask your mother if Olek can stay the night at your house for the next five nights, until his parents are able to testify at the trial. Make up any reason that is not the truth to get them to agree. Olek will be coming over tomorrow, so get her permission before then. Your house will have undetectable Agency protection and surveillance for the duration of his stay to ensure the safety of your family. It is important that Olek is seen with other kids as often as possible. There is no greater way to achieve this than to literally have him by your side at all times outside of school classes.

  “Directive Two: Incorporate Olek into your group of friends at lunch. Not only should he become your friend, but he should become theirs as well. The more friends Olek has, the better.

  “Directive Three: Be on the lookout for any suspicious activity. Report anything unusual to either myself or Agent Blue.

  “We know you can do this, Zero. If you execute your mission properly, Pancake Haus will never suspect Olek as their target. Right now they’re looking for a needle in a haystack. We need you turn to Olek from a needle into just another piece of hay.

  “This message will self-destruct in ten seconds. I highly recommend you discard the flash drive immediately. End transmission.”

  With that, the screen went completely dark. Wow, my first Agency transmission. I still couldn’t believe . . . wait, did he say self-destruct in ten seconds?! What was it with these guys and self-destructing messages?

  I imagined my whole computer exploding, and then without thinking about it further, I ripped the flash drive from the USB port and threw it into the trash can next to my desk. Then I dived behind the foot of my bed and covered my head, waiting for the BANG.

  When a few seconds passed and nothing happened I peeked around the side of my bed. The flash drive was still sitting inside the wire-mesh trash can. Maybe the detonator was defective? Or maybe it was some sort of a secret agent practical joke?

  But then I smelled it. The smell of burning plastic. I walked over and looked inside the trash can. A thin tendril of white smoke drifted up from the flash drive, and the burning smell got stronger. After a few seconds the smoke started dissipating, as did the smell. Then it just looked like an ordinary flash drive again, sitting inside the garbage can.

  CHAPTER 26

  LATER THAT NIGHT, AFTER DINNER, I HELPED MY MOM WITH dishes and made my pitch for Olek to stay the night with us until the following Monday.

  “Why so long? And on school nights?” she asked.

  “Because he’s got nowhere else to go!” I said. “Their house got infested with termites . . . and rats. Great giant ones with tails so big they crack like whips when they run, and, and . . .”

  “Carson, I got the point already!” My mom had always been grossed out by rats.

  “Okay, well, anyway,” I continued, “apparently his parents’ insurance will only pay for a single hotel room. Which means he’d have to share a bed with his younger brother and sister. And his younger brother Juri has some weird gastrointestinal problem that causes him to fart like every ten seconds, and not just normal farts, either. Juri’s farts are like . . .”

  “Enough with the farts,” she said, making a face again.

  I had a feeling the grosser the story, the more tired she’d get of listening to it. And the more tired she got of listening to it, the sooner she’d cave in.”

  “And so I thought maybe he could stay with us until their house gets fixed next week.”

  She sighed as she stirred the soup she was making for dinner. “I suppose that’d be fine.”

  The next day, I anxiously awaited Olek’s arrival all afternoon. My dad was out of town, as usual, my mom was at a movie, and my brother was off doing who knew what with his pals. So I sat alone on the chair next to the front window in the living room and waited. My hands were almost shaking I was so anxious for Olek to get here. I still wasn’t sure how they were planning to sneak him in without being seen.

  But they didn’t sneak him in at all. In fact, sometime late in the afternoon, Olek came pedaling up the street on his bike with a backpack slung over his shoulders. Which was surprising at first, but then made sense the more I thought about it. It all fit in with the “hiding in plain sight” plan. Pancake Haus still didn’t know who Olek was, so he needed to do all the things normal kids did, like ride their bikes to their friends’ houses and not be escorted there by secret agents in government-issued SUVs.

  I told him to park his bike in the garage and then welcomed him inside.

  “I expected them to, like, drop you off with armed security or something,” I said. “I can’t believe they let you ride over here alone.”

  “I was not alone. They follow me whole time, just in case,” Olek said.

  I looked out the window and down the street both ways. I didn’t see anybody else. Except my neighbor, Moe, who was out mowing his lawn again. That weirdo must mow his lawn at least three times a day. I never did get that. Didn’t adults have enough stuff to worry about as it was? Why add extra stress by freaking out over how their grass is growing?

  “I don’t see anybody,” I said.

  “Exactly the purpose they want,” Olek said. “I ride my bike over here. They watch just in case. Easy as cake.”

  “It’s easy as pie,” I corrected him.

  “Yes, this what I say, piece of pie.”

  “No, that’s . . . never mind.”

  “Where is
room? I would like to embark in sleep now.”

  “You want to take a nap?” I asked. I didn’t think anybody between the ages of seven and forty took naps.

  “Yes,” he said. “I am awake since three a.m.”

  “Since three?! That’s crazy early,” I said.

  “Is okay, as they say, early bird get many intestine worms in guts.”

  I laughed. “Close enough. What were you doing up that early? Agency stuff?”

  “Oh, no,” he said like that was a ridiculous notion. “I was playing this game you have. . . . Furious Ostrich.”

  “Angry Birds?”

  “Yes! Is great game! Very much addicting.”

  I grinned and shook my head. “Come on, I’ll show you my room.”

  He followed me downstairs and I put his bag on my bed.

  “This your bed?” he asked.

  “Yeah, but it’s yours now. At least for as long as you’re here. I’m going to sleep here on the floor.” I pointed at a sleeping bag rolled up in the corner.

  “Thank you,” he said. “Is very nice thing you do.”

  “Look, you can nap now, I guess, but later we should play some Xbox. Do you know how to play Xbox?”

  “Yes, of course! Does polar bear not vomit inside forest areas?”

  “No, the saying goes . . . ah, never mind. Anyway, I’ll see you when you get up later, okay?”

  “Yes, is good,” he said, plopping down onto the bed.

  I went back upstairs to the living room and sat on the big loveseat. I must not have realized how exhausted I was, likely due to everything that had happened to me the past few days, because before I knew it I was suddenly being awoken by the sound of laughter. I opened my eyes to find myself slumped over on the couch in our living room. I was disoriented at first and had no idea where I was. I never take naps. I couldn’t believe I’d actually fallen asleep.