Crisis Zero by Chris Rylander Read Free Book Online

frowning.
    â€œDon’t worry,” the doctor assured me. “It’s standard procedure. We find that being submerged in the tankwhile conscious can cause claustrophobia, disorientation, and other undesirable side effects. Agent Nineteen is in stable condition, and should make a full recovery. He has been through far worse in his career.”
    I looked at my wounded mentor. It was hard to imagine him looking any worse. I tried to reassure myself that the doctor knew what he was doing. If he said Agent Nineteen would be fine, then he would be. I took a deep breath and forced myself to look away.
    â€œWhat about Agent Blue?” I asked.
    â€œI’m right here, Carson.”
    I spun around, startled to hear his voice. He was lying in a hospital bed at the other end of the room. The sight of the occupied bacta tank had distracted me from noticing anything else when I’d entered.
    â€œMr. Jensen,” I said, rushing over to him.
    Giving him a hug seemed awkward and unprofessional, so instead I reached out to shake his hand. But he had raised his hand for a high five, and so we ended up doing a kind of awkward hybrid where I grabbed and shook his raised palm. I looked down, embarrassed, and that’s when I noticed the void under the sheets where his leg should have been. There was nothing there.
    â€œYour leg!” I gasped before I could stop myself.
    â€œIt’s okay, Carson,” he said. “They had to take it off, but it’s okay.”
    â€œHow is that okay?”
    â€œWell, when you put it that way, I guess it is pretty horrible,” Agent Blue said, looking as if he was about to cry.
    I panicked for a moment before realizing he was just having some fun with me.
    â€œSorry,” I mumbled.
    â€œI said, it’s okay. I’ll be getting a replacement artificial limb. Pretty high-tech stuff, as you can imagine. I’ll be like the Bionic Woman.”
    I had no idea what he meant by that, but I was happy to see that he was staying so positive. I bet he was probably just feeling happy and lucky to be alive at all. The last time I saw him, sitting in the Ford Fusion we’d stolen from Snaketown, rambling deliriously and his venom-filled leg bloated and swollen, he looked just a few seconds from death.
    And so instead of focusing on his leg, I filled him in on my new assignment, after Agent Smiley said it was all right. She had yet to crack half a smile since I’d met her. She hadn’t even so much as sneezed, or coughed. She was like a robot or something. Maybe she was a robot? Withthe Agency’s funding and technology, anything was possible.
    â€œWhen will you be back?” I asked Agent Blue.
    â€œThe doctor says a few weeks. But I suspect I can get back sooner.”
    â€œAwesome,” I said. “I don’t like not having you guys there.”
    â€œYou can handle the assignment just fine on your own,” he said. “You’re among the best agents I’ve ever worked with. Well, you still have a lot to learn, but you get what I’m saying. . . .”
    He trailed off, clearly embarrassed. They must have had him drugged up on some good stuff. He had never been so jokey and smiley and complimentary before. Agent Blue was usually surly, not so different from Agent Smiley. I sort of liked the painkiller version of Agent Blue.
    â€œUh, thanks,” I said. “Still, I can’t wait for you to get back. I’m nervous, there’s so much resting on my shoulders. I’m still just a kid, after all.”
    Agent Blue shook his head.
    â€œNo. You’re not just a kid. You’re Agent Zero.”

CHAPTER 11
RADIOACTIVE MUSHROOM RAMPAGES AND CHICKEN FEET RAIN
    B EFORE DANIELLE AND I HAD BECOME SECRET AGENTS, I CAN’T think of one time when the two of us hung out without Dillon. He was my best friend and her twin brother, after all. Turns out, though, that this is necessary when plotting missions as secret agents.