Read Online Third Transmission by Jack Heath - Free Book Online Page A

at the tux and the makeup. ‘Who are you pretending to be?’
    â€˜Ciull Yu,’ Six said.
    â€˜Who’s that?’
    He shrugged. ‘Some guy.’
    â€˜Yu looks a bit like you,’ Kyntak said, deadpan.
    Six didn’t laugh. ‘Actually, I don’t look much like Yu at all.’
    â€˜We’re identical twins. You
do
look like me.’
    â€˜I look like me, but older,’ Six said. ‘Doesn’t matter what Yu looks like.’
    Kyntak grinned. ‘What can I do for you, Six?’
    â€˜I just wanted to thank you for saving my life,’ Six said. ‘Again.’
    â€˜Don’t sweat it,’ Kyntak said. ‘It was nothing personal.With you alive, ChaoSonic only spends half its resources hunting me.’
    â€˜Half?’ Six snorted. ‘More like 30 per cent, maximum.’
    â€˜Well, maybe I’m not as much of a troublemaker as you,’ Kyntak said. He leaned back in his chair. ‘So what’s the new mission?’
    â€˜The last nuclear warhead in the world has gone missing. I’m supposed to find it.’
    â€˜In a tux?’
    â€˜In a tux.’
    Kyntak raised an eyebrow. ‘Something tells me you oversimplified that.’
    â€˜A little,’ Six admitted. ‘But I’ve got a favour to ask.’
    â€˜If it’s paying for the dry-cleaning after you’ve covered that suit in blood, brick dust and plutonium, you can forget it.’
    â€˜This is serious,’ Six said. He fell into the chair opposite Kyntak’s desk. ‘This is an unpredictable mission – and I might not survive it.’
    â€˜You say that every time,’ Kyntak pointed out.
    Six nodded. ‘Because every mission I do is dangerous. That’s my point – one day, I won’t make it.’
    Kyntak wasn’t smiling now. ‘What’s this about?’
    â€˜I need your word that when I die, you’ll take over,’ Six said. ‘You’ll get the mission done, and keep protecting the City when I’m gone.’
    Kyntak’s wall clock ticked through the quiet.
    â€˜Six,’ Kyntak said finally, ‘that’s not a favour. That’s exactly what I’d do, and you know it.’ He stood up. ‘Butyou also know that I could never do your job as well as you do. I’ve got your DNA, but not your willpower.’ He paused. ‘So don’t die, okay? We still need you.’
    Six hesitated, and then hugged him awkwardly. ‘See you when I get back,’ he said.
    â€˜Careful!’ Kyntak smoothed down his T-shirt where it had touched the tux. ‘You’ll mess up my outfit.’

    King had arranged a car for Six and Ace to drive to the party; an old six-cylinder ChaoSonic Peak. Six took the lift down to the parking garage to get it.
    Ace was leaning against a pillar, looking at her watch. She wore a shimmering red gown and matching stilettos. Around her neck there was a silver filigree choker with a sparkling diamond pendant. Her curled blonde hair looked the way Six imagined sunshine must have looked in the days before the fog smothered it.
    She glanced over, and saw Six staring. ‘Buzz off,’ she said. ‘I’m meeting someone.’
    â€˜Yes,’ Six said. ‘Me.’
    Ace stared for a moment. Then she laughed. ‘Oh, sorry, Six! Jack did a heck of a job on you.’ She moved closer, examining his face. ‘You still look kind of like you, I guess, but in your late twenties,’ she said. ‘Except physically, you’re never going to get that old. So it’s like a window into the future you’ll never have.’
    â€˜I like your dress,’ Six said. ‘Where’d you get the diamonds?’
    Ace winked. ‘They’re cubic zirconia. But no-one will get close enough to tell.’
    â€˜Can you run in those shoes?’
    â€˜Will I need to?’
    â€˜Call it professional curiosity,’ Six said.
    Ace slipped