The Secret War (Jack Blank Adventure)

by Matt Myklusch

  There was an orange-white flash of light, and Stendeval, the rest of the Inner Circle, Jonas Smart, Lorem Ipsum, Ricochet, Midknight, and Blue all appeared in the cavern. That was fast, Jack thought. He and the others left the core and went down to greet them.

  As he came off the steps, Jack saw Skerren bow his head to Hovarth for a moment before going back to dressing the injured Trea’s wounds. “How’s that feel?” he heard Skerren ask.

  “Better,” she answered, a slight smile creeping onto her lips. “Thanks.”

  “What’s going on here?” Hovarth demanded, looking around at the dead Left-Behinds and his battle-worn protégé in confusion. “What is this?”

  “This is the SmarterNet,” Jazen replied, stepping forward so the others could get a look at him. “It’s Jonas Smart’s fantastic invention that nearly gift-wrapped this whole world to the Rüstov. Impressive, isn’t it?”

  Jonas Smart sprang forth with his finger in the air, shouting, “Lorem ipsum dolor sit! Amet consectetur! Adipisicing! Elit!” Lorem laughed while he ranted and raved, speaking nothing but gobbledygook. Smart got frustrated and started yelling at her instead, not that anyone understood him.

  Jazen let out a surprised laugh at Jonas Smart’s unintelligible tirade. “I suppose that’s one way of putting it,” he said. “What’s with him?”

  “Jazen?” Virtua asked, before Jack could explain. Projo the image-caster zoomed forward, and Virtua’s image followed slowly behind him, squinting in disbelief. “Jazen Knight?”

  “In the flesh,” Jazen said with a wave. “More or less,” he added, noticing he was waving hello with his melted hand.

  “Partner? Is that really you?” a deep voice squeaked out in shock. Ricochet and Midknight stepped aside so Blue could get a better look at his resurrected friend. He inched up toward Jazen, looking like he was coming up on a ghost he was afraid he might scare off. “Am I seeing things?”

  “Hey, Blue,” Jazen said, and smiled. “Long time.”

  Blue reached out and poked Jazen’s shoulder as if to confirm he was real. “You … you’re back?”

  “Yep, and I’m ready to go back to work,” Jazen said. “You don’t by any chance know anyone who’s looking for a partnerphhh—”

  Jazen wheezed out a groan as Blue took him up into the kind of bear hug that puts bears to shame. “Easy, big fella.” Jazen laughed, wrapped up in Blue’s hug with his feet dangling in the air. “You’re gonna bust me up all over again.”

  Jack smirked. “For the record, Blue? This is how I wanted to tell you about Jazen.”

  Just like Jack before him, Blue took his time letting go of Jazen Knight.

  “If he’s here,” Virtua said, pointing at Jazen. “That means it worked. Jack’s cure worked.” She looked up and down her arms like she was inspecting them for traces of the virus.

  “It worked.” Jack nodded. “The spyware virus is gone for good.”

  “So you say,” Noteworthy replied. “How do we know that for sure?”

  “We were all just in Machina, Clarkston,” Midknight said. “We saw what happened when that green light went on in the sky. The Mechas all regained control of themselves.”

  “Did they?” Hovarth asked. “Perhaps that is what we are meant to believe.” Virtua flickered, and Hovarth turned to her, saying, “It’s not that I don’t trust you or your people, Virtua. You have conducted yourselves with honor. Jack, on the other hand,” Hovarth continued, shaking his head. “You lied about the virus once already, boy. And you were supposed to go home. Why should we trust you now?”

  “Because I’m about to cop to something way worse than the virus or sneaking out,” Jack told Hovarth. “Trust me, no one who would admit to what I’m about to say has any reason to lie about anything else. Once you hear it, you’ll understand that the virus is the least of my worries. And yours.”

  Allegra tugged at Jack’s elbow. “Jack, maybe you don’t have to do this.”

  “What?” Jack said, furrowing his brow. “I thought you wanted to know everything.”

  “I did,” Allegra replied. “But you’re scaring me with this. I was thinking … maybe it’s better if some things stay secret.”

  Jack shook his head. “The truth is gonna come out sooner or later,” he told Allegra. “Smart already knows it. Lorem can’t keep him gibberished-up forever.”

  “Actually, I can,” Lorem Ipsum chimed in, prompting Smart to unleash an angry, babbling rant. It was like he was stress testing his vocal chords, trying to find the maximum volume he could reach. Jack watched him go on, seriously considering Lorem’s offer.

  “No,” Jack said at last. “Thanks, but no. That would just be running away from the problem again, and I’m done with that. Let him go,” Jack told Lorem. “There won’t be any point to keep him like that once I get this out, anyway.”

  “For you, maybe,” Lorem replied. “I like him better this way.”

  Chi gave her a stern look, giving an order with his eyes. “Lorem, release him,” he said.

  Lorem Ipsum shrugged and said, “You guys are no fun at all.”

  She snapped her fingers, and Smart took in a giant breath, like a drowning man breaking through the water to get air. “Finally!” he said. “Don’t listen to another word this boy says! He’s been lying to us this whole time. He’s been working with them! It’s just like I said from the start. He’s nothing but a filthy—”

  Blue picked Jonas Smart up by the collar. “You’re gonna want to choose your next words very carefully,” he told him. Blue gave Smart a menacing look and tightened his fist until his knuckles popped. “Don’t forget, I’m not a cop anymore. Just a private citizen with a major bone to pick.”

  “Are you people going to let this brute threaten me like this?” Smart asked the others, struggling to get free of Blue’s viselike grip.

  “Blue has a point, Jonas,” Stendeval said. “Jack has the floor right now. If I were you, I’d wait quietly. Your turn will come, I’m sure.”

  “Not necessarily,” Blue said. “I’d still like to hit him, if that’s all right with you.” Blue’s loyalty forced a smile onto Jack’s lips, followed by a short outburst of air from in between them. Under different circumstances it would have been the start of a laugh.

  “Thanks, Blue, but I’ve got this,” Jack replied. “It’s like you said, I gotta face it. Once I get out in front of this thing, it won’t have any power over me anymore.” Jack waved his hand at Smart like he didn’t matter. “He can’t do anything but tell people my secrets. If I go ahead and tell them myself, he’s got nothing left to threaten me with.”

  Blue nodded and set Smart down on the ground, at which point the former Circleman made the extremely smart decision to keep his mouth shut. He sulked as he pulled down on his suit jacket, smoothing out the wrinkles left by Blue’s giant mitts.

  “You’re not a cop anymore?” Jazen asked Blue quietly on the side.

  Blue shook his head. “You’ve got a lot to catch up on. Go ahead, Jack.”

  Jack looked over at his fellow students, Skerren and Allegra in particular. “I owe you guys big-time for riding to my rescue like you did. I know I didn’t give you much reason to put yourselves out there like that. I’ve had too many secrets for way too long. I know that secrets are part of life in the Imagine Nation, but if I’ve learned anything over the last year, it’s that secrets keep people apart. I thought maybe they could keep people safe, too, but it turned out that my secrets did just the opposite. And somewhere along the line they turned into lies. You were right about that,” Jack told Skerren. “There is a difference between secrets and lies, and I think it’s time that turns one into the other. All year long I had a million opportunities to tell the truth, but I always kept my mouth shut. I changed the subject, avoided questions, and ran away. I took the easy way out, and all it did was make things harder. I’ve gotta tell you, I’m tired of it.” Jack shook his head. “I’m tired of going it alone. Allegra, I know you were angry with me for trusting in Lore
m and not in you, but the truth is I didn’t trust anyone. And I’m sorry about that. I could have stopped all this before it started if I had.”

  “I don’t believe this,” Skerren said, shaking his head with a frown. “You mean to say there’s something else besides the bit about the Rüstov prince?”

  “Rüstov prince?” Hovarth said. “Where?”

  “Right here,” Jack admitted, pointing at himself. “It’s my parasite. You’ve heard his name before. It’s Khalix. He’s trying to talk to me right now, and it’s all I can do to keep him out of my head, but that’s just part of it. I only found out about him tonight. The rest of it I learned the night Jazen died. The night I faced Revile.” Jack felt the group tense up. Mentioning Revile tended to have that effect on people.

  “Last year you all asked why he came here to kill me, and I said I didn’t know. That was a lie,” Jack revealed. “He told me why right there on the roof of SmartTower. The truth is he came to kill me so I wouldn’t ever grow up to become him.”

  Jack’s words hit the group like an invisible shock wave knifing through their bodies. People straightened their backs with startled jumps, blurted out stunned exclamations, and leaned forward with astonished eyebrows stretched up as high as they could go. Only Stendeval and Smart remained still. Smart was frowning, clearly upset that he wasn’t the one to reveal the true nature of Jack’s dire future.

  Jazen was the first to speak. “What?” was all he was able to say.

  “You heard me,” Jack said. “I’m him. I’m Revile. At least, I might be … one day.”

  There, Jack thought. I said it. It’s out there. He felt a weight lift up off his shoulders, but not all the way off his back. That part was out of his hands and completely dependent on the group’s reaction. One thing Jack knew for sure, there was no turning back now.

  The admission was met with more silence. This time Virtua ended it. “Jack, that doesn’t make sense,” she said. “Revile was fully grown during the invasion, thirteen years ago. You were just a baby. What you’re saying … it isn’t possible.”

  “No one would be happier than me if that were the case,” Jack said. “But I’ve had to rethink my definition of ‘possible’ ever since I got here. Revile was here for the same reason back during the invasion. Only difference is, back then he was trying to kill me when I was just a baby. Revile comes from the future,” Jack told the group. “It’s a future where the Rüstov win the war, and he … or I … we’re the reason for their victory. The Rüstov kidnapped me so they could turn me into the ultimate supersoldier killing machine. Revile told me all about it.” The words were coming to Jack more easily now, spilling out of his mouth without any filter. It was almost like someone else was speaking. “Revile said he helped them kill planet after planet until eventually he couldn’t take it anymore. He regained control of himself and came back here on a time-travel suicide mission to change his past—our future. He came back to kill me, and Legend stopped him. He ended up killing Legend instead.”

  “Jack, this can’t be right,” Jazen said. “Are you sure this isn’t some kind of Rüstov trick?”

  “It was me, Jazen,” Jack said. “I saw the face behind the mask. I heard the voice. It was me.”

  “So … you killed Legend?” Noteworthy asked.

  “I didn’t kill anyone,” Jack said. “That wasn’t me fighting Legend during the invasion. Not yet, it wasn’t. I’m thirteen years old. I haven’t done anything but fight back.”

  “Still, the prophecy says you’ll lose that fight,” Hovarth countered.

  “It’s not a prophecy,” Jack told Hovarth. “It’s a possibility. An alternate future that may or may not happen. Stendeval told me—”

  “It won’t happen as long as we don’t let it happen,” Hovarth interrupted. “I’d prefer to be sure. When a seer has a vision of the future like this in Varagog, we take the matter very seriously.”

  “It’s not like that,” Jack said. “There’s no ‘seer’ here unless you count me. This is science, not magic.”

  “All the more reason to be afraid,” Smart cut in.

  “What did I tell you about opening your mouth?” Blue said.

  “The future is real!” Smart said, hustling away from the angry blue giant as fast as he could. “I know! Half of my inventions come from the future. And this vision of the future is backed up by events from our own past! Legend is dead, is he not? If Revile’s words are untrue, who killed Legend? How else could Revile have even come to be? This future must happen. Jack must become him. The Rüstov prince is talking to him, fighting to control him! He freely admits it! He knows! He puts us all at risk with his selfishness. He could have saved us all by letting Revile kill him, and he chose not to.”

  “Of course I chose not to,” Jack said. “I’m not gonna lie down and die for the Rüstov.”

  “You mean like Legend did? Like Virtua was willing to? You put yourself ahead of us,” Smart accused. “You hid the truth about the virus, and only acted to stop it once I exposed your secrets!”

  “It was the secrets you kept about the SmarterNet that nearly spread the Rüstov virus all over the world,” Jack shot back. “They played you, and you don’t even know it. Anything you got from the Rogue Secreteer, you got from the Rüstov. Obscuro was infected by a Rüstov spy named Glave. That name ring a bell? You did exactly what they wanted you to do, going on TV and getting everyone to fight one another while they moved their plan forward. The Rüstov count on people like you to tear us apart and make us weaker.”

  “You’re just trying to shift the blame away from yourself,” Smart said. “You’re the one they’re counting on to defeat us.”

  “I think he’s going to be the one to defeat them,” Stendeval interjected into the conversation. Everyone turned to Stendeval, waiting for him to back up his statement. “If you want to persecute this boy, you might as well persecute me. I knew Jack’s story before he did. I knew it when I hid him away during the invasion, and I knew it when I watched over him in the Real World. I was the one who told Emissary Knight where to find Jack so he could bring him home. None of this happened by accident. I knew it all.”

  “You knew about this?” Noteworthy asked. “You knew about Jack’s future, and still you brought him here? How could you do that? And why am I the last one to find out about everything?”

  Stendeval looked at Noteworthy like a teacher being patient with a student who isn’t trying very hard to understand the lesson. “I once met an accomplished poet and thinker who said, ‘What lies behind us, and what lies before us, are small matters when compared with what lies within us,’” he told the wealthy Circleman.

  Noteworthy looked at Stendeval like he was speaking another language. “What the devil is that supposed to mean?” he howled. “What lies within him is the Rüstov prince!”

  “There’s far more than that inside of Jack,” Stendeval replied. “The only future I believe in is the one that we create. Jack’s future is in his hands, and from what I know of this boy’s courage and resolve, the Rüstov are going to regret making him part of their plans.”

  “And you know best, do you? Is that it?” Smart asked Stendeval. “There you go again, making decisions on your own that affect all of us. Your ego puts us all in danger.”

  “That is quite a statement coming from you, Jonas,” Stendeval replied.

  “The whole of the Inner Circle should vote on what’s to be done with Jack,” Smart fired back. “It’s not for one man to decide for himself behind closed doors. The people of Empire City deserve to know what’s being done about this. Every Circleman here needs to make it clear where they stand—with Jack, or with the Imagine Nation.”

  “The Circle already voted on Jack’s future. Last year,” Chi said. “You were there.”

  “I wasn’t there,” Noteworthy cut in. “And I’m willing to bet that none of this was discussed back then. Jonas is right. This affects all of us, not just Jack. We have to do what’s best for all the people of the Im
agine Nation.”

  “Aye,” Hovarth agreed. “The Imagine Nation must come first. For the good of our great land—to protect our future—Jack Blank has to die.”

  No one said anything for a long half minute. Jack realized Smart did have something to threaten him with after all, and he was seeing it play out here. He hoped that someone else would step up and take his side, but there was nothing but silence. That’s when Jazen Knight spoke up.

  “Cowards,” the emissary spat out, eyeing the silent assembly with contempt.

  Hovarth’s head snapped up to look at Jazen. “What did you say?” he asked in a slow, smoldering voice.

  Jazen didn’t flinch. “I called you a coward, Lord Hovarth,” he replied. “This is the Imagine Nation, not the Assassin Nation. You ought to be ashamed of yourself.”

  Hovarth drew out his giant battle-ax and stepped toward Jazen. “No man talks to me that way and lives.”

  “I’ve been dead once already,” Jazen said. “It wasn’t so bad,” he added, stepping forward to meet Hovarth chest to chest. Blue got in between them and pulled his partner back. Stendeval and Chi got in front of Hovarth. Jazen never stopped talking.

  “They tell me I’ve been gone a year, but you’d never know it listening to this conversation,” Jazen went on, getting louder after Blue let him go. “Sounds to me like we’re right back where we started!” He looked down at Hovarth, Smart, Noteworthy, and everyone else who’d held their tongues when the warrior king of Varagog had called for Jack’s head. “You all claim to represent the interests of the Imagine Nation, but you don’t even understand what makes this place worth fighting for. This is the land of possibility … of hope … of courage! There’s no place left on Earth like this, and if you harm this boy, it’s already gone. The true greatness of the Imagine Nation isn’t found when times are easy; it’s there when the moment is hard and we rise up as one to meet the challenges we face. When we cast aside differences and triumph together in a way we never could when standing apart. That’s how we beat the Rüstov the first time. That’s what we need to do now. In case you hadn’t noticed, Jack saved the world tonight … from the Rüstov! You’ve got it backward,” Jazen told Smart. “Either you’re with Jack or you’re against the Imagine Nation. You all need to decide where you stand on that.”