Free Zeke Bartholomew by Jason Pinter

unless…”
    â€œUnless they have the program codes.”
    â€œThat’s right.”
    â€œSo whoever stole it wasn’t able to get the codes.”
    â€œCorrect. We didn’t keep them with the device.”
    â€œWhich means they needed somebody from inside SNURP who had access to the codes.”
    â€œExactly.”
    â€œAnd so those people who took me the other night, they thought I was Derek Lance, because…Derek Lance has those codes.”
    Sparrow nodded solemnly.
    â€œWhich means that Derek Lance is an agent of SNURP.”
    â€œ Was an agent of SNURP. He was the greatest young spy our agency had ever seen. A few months back Lance began acting strange. He was always a bit of a weirdo to begin with.”
    â€œSeriously. Who wears sunglasses to class?”
    â€œThat’s not what I meant. It’s not usual for a twelve-year-old to have a god complex. But Lance would always say that god had a Derek Lance complex. We believe he stole the codes and was planning to sell them to Le Carré. You happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, Zeke. And now, even though you don’t have the codes, you know about SirEebro.”
    â€œAnd Operation Songbird,” I said.
    Sparrow looked at me strangely. “Operation what?”
    â€œSongbird. The agents—whoever they were—the Brooks Brothers guys who picked me up, they talked about an Operation Songbird that would go into effect in twenty-four hours. Wait, no, technically that was last night, so it would be in about,” I checked my watch, “twelve hours.”
    Sparrow looked concerned. “That is very not good. What did they tell you about Operation Songbird?”
    â€œThat’s, that’s really it. I don’t know anything else. I just want to go home and for my dad to be left alone.”
    â€œThat’s not possible. You’re in this, Zeke. The best we can hope for right now is to keep you and your father alive.”
    â€œBest we can hope for?”
    She looked at me. “We don’t make promises.”
    I sighed. What else could I have done? Sat back and let that boiling hulk ruin my life? I wasn’t helpless. I’d gotten an A in physics and chemistry. Provided I didn’t have to outmaneuver dodgeballs or avoid wedgies, I felt I had something to offer.
    â€œWe need to find out where the goons were taking me. Le Carré’s headquarters. That’s where we’ll get to the bottom of Operation Songbird.”
    â€œAgreed. But my ComLet is busted. I need to—”
    I ripped the ComLet off of Sparrow’s wrist.
    â€œHey!” she shouted. “Give that back!”
    She reached for it. I pulled it away. I opened the battery pack and… oof… was not prepared as Sparrow planted the heel of her palm right into my stomach. The wind flew from my lungs faster than a hurled tree trunk.
    I collapsed into a heap, wheezing.
    â€œI was just… cough… trying… wheeze …to tell you… hack… I can fix it.”
    Her eyes perked up. “Um, really?”
    â€œYes… sputter …have parts… groan …at my lab.”
    â€œYour lab? What are we waiting for? Let’s go!”
    Clearly Sparrow wasn’t big on apologies. Instead she picked me up, hurled me up on her shoulders like a log, and began to walk. Either she was as strong as an ox, or I needed to eat more meat.
    I managed to squirm out of her grasp. “I can walk,” I said as my breath returned.
    â€œJust trying to move us along. We don’t have much time if those goons were right about Operation Songbird.”
    â€œWhere are you even going?”
    â€œTo the road,” she said evenly. “We’re going to steal a car.”

Sparrow wasn’t kidding.
    The nearest road was about three miles away. It was a remote one-lane road, with trees on either side and nary a stoplight or stop sign in sight. Ten minutes passed