Remote Control by Jack Heath

him? Can I really let him face Vanish, and lose? Is there anything I can do to prevent it?
    There was a way, he realized. He could stop Six from trying to rescue Kyntak. And then he could concentrate on keeping Nai safe, without having to worry about Six. It was risky—but less risky than letting him stay on his current path. Choose your battles, and you’ll win most of them.
    The decision was made. The old man picked up the telephone.
    Six pushed the button for King’s floor. The elevator doors slid closed.
    His phone buzzed in his pocket. He flipped it open and put it to his ear. “Yes?”
    “I want you to go to the drop-off point right now.” It was King. “Stop what you’re doing, and go.”
    Six frowned. “I’m almost at your office. Has something happened?”
    “Trust me,” King said. “It’s important. If you don’t hurry…you might not make the rendezvous.”
    His voice sounded measured, hesitant. Six got the feeling that he was choosing his words carefully. “Is someone in the room with you?” he asked. “Say, ‘Okay, call me when you get there’ for yes.”
    “Not yet.”
    The elevator doors slid open. Six hesitated before going through them. Not yet? “King, what’s going on? Is this—”
    “Just do what I tell you,” King interrupted. “Go to the drop-off point. That’s an order.” He ended the call.
    Six put his hand over the laser to stop the doors from closing. He stood uncertainly on the threshold. If I go to the drop-off point now , he thought, there’ll be no other agents backing me up. Why would King send me there so soon?
    He sounded on edge, Six thought. Was that because of the imminent deadline, or because someone had compromised him? If there’d been someone in the room, he would have said so. Was someone listening in on the line?
    The phone lines in the Deck were protected by the same firewall as the computer networks, and should be almost impossible to hack into unless you were actually inside the building. But the kidnappers have amazing manpower as far as infantry goes , Six thought. Maybe their computer hackers are equally good.
    Insufficient information to act upon, Six thought. He looked at his watch: 17:22:02. He’d go to see King in person, and if he was okay and sent him straight to the rendezvous, he’d have only wasted a minute or two.
    He let the doors close behind him and started jogging towards King’s office. Then he stopped.
    There were two figures coming out of the stairwell at the far end of the corridor, both wearing black suits and anti-flash goggles. They were carrying pistols.
    One waited at the stairwell door, gun lowered. The other headed towards King’s office.
    Something clicked in Six’s head. The monitoring of telephone conversations would be easier if you were already behind the firewall, and had a surveillance team inside the building.
    He looked closely at their uniforms. Each had a silver circle on the shoulder with a black shape in the center. The Spades, he realized. But why were they here, in the red building?
    Stop what you’re doing, and go. If you don’t hurry…you might not make the rendezvous.
    They’re looking for me , he realized. Someone has tipped them off about Project Falcon, and now they’ve come for me!
    His first instinct was to run to King’s office to protect him. If the Spades knew about Six, they’d probably know that King had been covering for him, and King would be in danger. But logic stopped him. There was no way out of King’s office other than the front door, so they’d both be sitting ducks.
    King had said to get out of the building—and he hadn’t used Six’s name when he called. That suggested he thought the Spades couldn’t implicate him yet—and so it would be best for Six to follow his instructions.
    Six turned back towards the elevator. There were two similarly dressed agents at the stairwell at the other end of the corridor. One was guarding the door, the other was headed his way.
    Six