Read Jack Blank and the End of Infinity for Free Online

destruction paraded around his brain. What were these images? Where were they coming from? Why wouldn’t they—
    “Stop!” Allegra pleaded. “Jack, please stop. You’re going to hurt yourself!”
    Jack blinked his eyes open and saw that Allegra had wrapped her silvery metal arms around him several times. He was fighting hard to break free, but she had bound him too tight to move. Jack looked around. He was dripping with sweat. He stopped struggling and took a deep breath.
    “What just happened?” he asked.
    Allegra loosened her grip and let Jack go. “You had a seizure,” Jazen told him.
    Jack stretched his arms out and looked around. He was back in New Jersey. Everything seemed okay again, but he knew it wasn’t. Jack shook his head. “That wasn’t a seizure. It was a memory.” And maybe something else as well, Jack thought but didn’t say.
    “That’s some memory,” Allegra said. “What was it?”
    Jack’s whole body shuddered. He rubbed his head. “Last year, I think.”
    Allegra put her hand on his shoulder. “What did they do to you?”
    Jack took Allegra’s hand. “I can’t say for sure. I have a bad feeling we’re gonna find out, though.” Jack noticed Calhoun studying him with a cockeyed expression. Jack was grateful for his silence, if nothing else. He’d just caught a glimpse of the yearlong nightmare he’d endured, and he didn’t need to hear Calhoun ranting and raving while he tried to figure out what he’d been through. Jack’s eyes turned back to Jazen and Allegra. He may not have had any friends when he was an orphan in Calhoun’s care, but today things were different. He had friends—real friends—and he needed them now more than ever. Jack reached out to Jazen and Allegra and pulled them in close for a hug. It was the first chance he’d gotten to do so since the breakout. The escape was hairy enough all by itself, and the ride home demanded such incredible focus that Jack didn’t even speak to anyone the whole trip. There wasn’t time to take comfort in his friends’ arms before, but Jack needed them now.
    “I can’t believe it’s been a year,” Jack said when he finally let go. His eyes were welling with tears. “All that time, and you didn’t give up. Thank you.”
    “ You didn’t give up,” Jazen said. “We didn’t know what to do or even where to look until we got your messages.”
    Jack looked up. The messages again  . . . “I don’t understand. What messages?”
    Allegra cocked her head sideways. “You know. You sent out distress calls telling us where you were. You led us right to you. I couldn’t believe you were able to contact us without the Rüstov finding out. How did you do it?”
    Jack squinted at Jazen and Allegra. “What are you guys talking about?”
    “You don’t remember?” Jazen asked.
    Jack shook his head. “I don’t remember anything.” As soon as he said it, he shrugged, making an allowance for the flashback that had just hit him like a bag of anvils. “Well, hardly anything. It’s coming back, but . . .”
    “It’s okay,” Jazen said, patting his shoulder. “Give it time. It’ll come. In the meantime, we can fill in the gaps. You sent out an SOS that reached the Calculan PlanetaryConglomerate. That’s where you were. Calculan space . . . or what was formerly Calculan space. The Rüstov took it over years ago. Luckily we had access to a famous space-pirate who was used to operating in Rüstov territory.”
    “Ah-hem,” Roka said, clearing his throat loudly as he returned from putting out the fires on his ship. “I prefer ‘adventurer’ or ‘entrepreneur,’ if it’s not too much trouble. I’m more of an unconventional businessman, really. I provide a unique and valuable service.”
    “Raiding transports?” Jazen asked.
    “Raiding Rüstov transports,” Roka replied. “I go in and free host-body prisoners.”
    “For a price,” Jazen said.
    “A very high price,” Roka agreed. “I do good work and