Free Accidental Hero (Jack Blank Adventure) by Matt Myklusch Page B

grabbing Speedrazor’s shoulder. “You touch one hair on that boy’s head and Blue is going to make sure you get a real close look at those waterfalls out there.”
    Blue glared at Speedrazor. “You think you’re fast enough?” Blue asked. Speedrazor scowled and dropped his hand away from Jack’s neck.
    “Too bad,” Harrier observed. She fine-tuned the laser sights on an oversized gun. “It would be a mercy.”
    “Says you,” Blue replied. “Don’t pay ’em no mind, Jack. These Peacemakers are just glorified rent-a-cops, if you ask me. Corporate mercenaries.”
    Speedrazor smirked mockingly. “Sticks and stones may break my bones…”
    “That sounds like a good idea to me,” Blue cut in. “You threaten Jack again and I just might.”
    “You’re not going to do anything,” Surge said. “This is a Rüstov matter. We outrank you here.”
    “You don’t outrank me ,” Jazen cut in. “Jack is a charge in my custody. He can’t be touched and you know it. As an emissary of the Imagine Nation, I can only be overruled by the Inner Circle on this.”
    “We’ve called the Inner Circle,” Surge said, his eyes gleaming with power.
    “So, we’ll wait until the Circleman gets here,” Jazen said. “Until then? Stay on your side of the room. We’ll stay on ours.”
    Jack rubbed his neck where Speedrazor’s bladelike fingers had scraped his skin. He was lucky to have Jazen and Blue there to defend him. Jack was used to standing up for himself, but these bullies were a lot tougher than Rex Staples and his coffee breath.
    “Jazen, what’s the Inner Circle?” Jack asked under his breath.
    “A group of very powerful beings,” Jazen answered. “They’re elected from each borough of Empire City to govern and defend the Imagine Nation. I think one of them might have wanted me to bring you here. Withany luck, he’ll get here before their boss does.”
    “Jazen, what if they’re right?” Jack asked. “What if the Rüstov from this morning infected me somehow? Can that happen?”
    The door swung open and a SmartCam flew into the room. Jazen frowned.
    “PRESENTING CIRCLEMAN JONAS SMART !” the SmartCam announced, introducing a tall, gaunt man with a grim face, sunken cheeks, and dark circles under his eyes. He had unusually long fingers and black hair that was graying at the temples. His black one-piece suit made him look like a walking shadow, and his mood was no brighter. Jack wasn’t so excited about meeting this man anymore.
    “Hello, Jonas,” Jazen said, nodding a cold greeting to the Circleman.
    “Emissary Knight,” Smart replied with the same lack of warmth.
    Smart took in the room slowly, rolling his eyes from left to right, and eventually settled on Jack. The look on his face sent shivers down Jack’s spine. Smart leaned down to Jack’s eye level and studied him with narrow,penetrating eyes, scrutinizing his face from several different angles.
    “This is quite alarming, Emissary Knight,” Smart began. His voice rang with a deep, rich resonance, like the sound of a purring cat. “I always assumed that sooner or later you would attempt to challenge our informal border control policy, but I never once imagined that you would attempt to smuggle in a Rüstov spy.”
    Jack took offense at that. “I’m not a Rüstov spelughh—” Smart interrupted Jack by sticking a tongue depressor into his mouth. He held it open and shined a penlight inside to look around. Jack fidgeted as Smart moved on to his eyes, holding the lids open and shining the light into each pupil.
    “He’s not a spy,” Jazen said, taking away Smart’s pen-light and pulling Jack free of his clutches.
    “But he is infected,” Smart countered.
    “Not a chance,” Blue said.
    “See for yourself,” Smart said. He took out a pocket holo-computer and projected a lab report on Jack’s blood into the air. “The blood tests are quite conclusive.”
    Jack watched with his heart in his throat as Jazencrossed the room toward