The Trade by Barry Hutchison Page B

groaned loudly as he tried to sit up.
    Six nodded. ‘One or two.’ He turned and pointed towards the closest Agent. ‘Bring me a stretcher,’ he ordered. ‘And make it the strongest one we’ve got.’

    Three hours later, Rex lay on an uncomfortable bed back at Providence headquarters. In the last one-hundred-and-eighty minutes he had been poked, prodded, jabbed, pierced, punctured, tickled, scratched and – briefly – electrocuted. It had not been his favourite morning.
    â€˜Nothing,’ said Dr Holiday, shrugging.
    Agent Six frowned. ‘Nothing?’
    â€˜Nothing. He’s absolutely fine.’
    â€˜Does that mean you’ll stop sticking pins in me?’ Rex asked, hopefully. Six ignored him.
    â€˜That’s good news. He can get back on duty.’
    â€˜I’m not so sure that’s a good idea,’ Holiday argued.
    â€˜Why? You just said he was fine.’
    â€˜Because I really didn’t enjoy the pins,’ Rex continued. ‘Or the electric shock.’
    â€˜The tests say he’s fine,’ Dr Holiday nodded, ‘but we both know he
isn’t
fine.’
    â€˜Wasn’t really a fan of any of it, actually,’ added Rex.
    â€˜We both saw what happened,’ Holiday continued. She looked into Six’s eyes, but all she saw was her reflection in his mirrored sunglasses. ‘Something was seriously wrong.’
    â€˜
Was
seriously wrong,’ Six said. ‘Past tense. You just said it yourself, he’s testing normal now.’
    â€˜I’d like to do some more tests,’ Holiday told him. ‘Central nervous system, higher brain function …’
    In one single bound, Rex leapt up from the bed. He stood beside them, back straight, trying to look as fit and healthy as possible. ‘Tests?’ he asked. ‘No tests. Tests done. I’m fine, look.’
    He stepped back and quickly cycled through his transformations. The Punk Buster feet appeared, only to vanish again a moment later. With a twitch of his shoulders, he brought out the Boogie Pack.
    â€˜Huh?’ he grinned, turning left and right to show the jetpack off. ‘Looking good, right?’
    There was another metallic
whirr
and the jetpack disappeared. Raising his arms, Rex produced his Smackhands. He gave Six and Holiday a mechanicalthumbs-up and flashed them a hopeful smile. ‘See? Good as new. No more tests needed. Especially not ones that involve sticking pins in my face.’
    Six stared at him, impassively. Eventually, he turned to Dr Holiday. ‘What do you think?’
    â€˜You know what I think,’ she replied.
    â€˜We’ll keep an eye on him,’ Six said. ‘First sign of malfunction and I pull him back in, but for now he’s back on duty.’
    â€˜All
right
!’ Rex cheered, and then he jumped as the piercing scream of an alarm echoed around Providence HQ.

CHAPTER 3
    R EX AND A GENT S IX stood by the open back door of a Providence aircraft as it swooped low over a city.
    â€˜San Jose, California,’ Six said. ‘Tenth largest city in the United States. Population one million.’
    Rex pointed. ‘One million and one, if you count that guy twice.’
    Below them, a two-headed Evo was stomping along a deserted street, tearing through cars with its long, clawed fingers. Both heads looked up at the sound of the aircraft’s engine.
    â€˜Evasive action!’ Six bellowed, as the Evo tore a street light from the concrete and hurled it like a javelin towards them. The boat-like aircraft banked sharply left and the metal pole soared harmlessly by.
    But the sudden sideways movement sent Rex stumbling through the open door. ‘Great,’ he muttered, as he plunged towards the ground. ‘Just great.’
    The wind whistled around Rex, whipping at himas he fell. Down below, the two-headed Evo bared twin sets of pointed teeth and let out a roar.
    KA-BOOM!
    A pair of enormous metal