Just Cause

  Chapter Fifteen

  “People say they fear us because they don’t understand us, and people always fear what they don’t understand. They should fear us because of what we are.”

  -Isaiah Mohammed aka Flashpoint, 1965

  January, 2004

  Phoenix, Arizona

  Sally looked up as Sondra set down the manuscript, a thoughtful expression on her face. She lay on her stomach on the bed in the guest room, her wings spread out like a feathery cloak. Sally sat on the floor and worked her way through her grandfather’s papers.

  “I can see why his editor suggested the change,” said Sondra. “This reads more like a chapter from an adventure novel than an autobiography.”

  Sally shrugged. “He was a superhero. Our lives by definition are adventurous.”

  “Good point,” said Sondra.

  “Okay, I have a theory,” said Sally.

  Faith bustled into the room. “Sondra, can I get you anything in here? More pillows? A blanket?”

  “I’m fine, Faith. This bed is lovely and comfortable.”

  “Well, I came up to tell you the pizza’s here.”

  “That’s fine, Mom. We’ll be down in a minute.” Sally gave her mother a tight smile.

  Faith left and headed back downstairs.

  “You ought to be nicer to her,” said Sondra. “You only ever get to have one mother.”

  Sally stretched her arms up to work out a kink in her neck. “She’s just so hard to deal with sometimes.”

  “Think of her as part of your adventurous life.”

  Sally snickered at that. “Her cooking is adventurous, that’s for sure. Trust me, you’ll be glad we ordered pizza.”

  Sondra patted her belly. “I love pizza far too much for my figure, I’m afraid. Extra time in the gym for me this week.”

  “Do you want to hear my theory?”

  “Of course I do, but why don’t you tell me downstairs. Your mother might have some insight to share.”

  Sally sighed in exasperation.

  “Sally, she’s not your enemy and this shouldn’t be a secret,” said Sondra as they left the guest room and followed the scent of pepperoni and green peppers that wafted up the stairs.

  Faith already had one of the boxes open and got drinking glasses from the freezer with one hand while she balanced a large slice in the other. “God,” she said around a mouthful. “I haven’t had pizza forever. Sondra, what would you like to drink? A beer?”

  “Beer’s fine. If I’m going to let myself go to hell tonight, I might as well take the full tour.”

  “Sally? I’ve got soda and iced tea.”

  “Tea is fine, Mom.”

  Faith handed out plates and beverages. “Don’t be shy, ladies.”

  For a few minutes, the only sound in the room was that of the women scarfing down the pizza. Sondra punctuated the brief binge session with an unladylike belch that made Sally and Faith crack up.

  “Now that I’ve gotten that out,” said Sondra. “Sally, please, tell us about this theory of yours.”

  Sally wiped her mouth with a paper napkin and took a sip of her tea. “Say that this guy Kaiser is the same guy Grandpa wrote about. He’s a parahuman, and he seems to not be getting any older. Plus he’s a Nazi, or at least he used to be. That means he’s got a pretty twisted sense of the proper way of the world.”

  “I’m with you,” said Sondra.

  “I’m not, but keep going. I’ll catch up,” said Faith.

  “Okay. According to Grandpa’s manuscript, Strongman’s parahuman commando unit found a reactor of some sort when they were in Germany during the War. They also found evidence that the Germans had managed to create a parahuman, who might have possibly been Kaiser.” Sally took another drink. “So if they made one, why didn’t they make more? Where was the army of Nazi supermen?”

  “The reactor blew up,” said Sondra. “Small-yield thermonuclear explosion. It killed Sounder and Meteor. That’s when Flicker lost his arm and both he and Strongman suffered the radiation scarring. The War in Europe ended shortly after that. The only information anybody had about the project was in a notebook Strongman and Flicker managed to retrieve before the reactor went.”

  “Is there going to be a test on this?” asked Faith. “History was my worst subject.”

  “Okay,” said Sally. “So we’ve got this guy, a parahuman created through technology and a Nazi to boot, who’s built himself a cozy little empire in his corner of the world. But now he’s looking to expand and thinks he’d like to recreate the experiment that created him. Only this time, he wants it to work right and to work better. So he enlists the help of a technological genius who’s already known to have psychopathic tendencies. Destroyer.”

  Sondra set her empty beer down on the table. “You think they’re trying to make parahumans?”

  “I think they already have,” said Sally. “That Antimatter Woman in Wyoming. She’s from Guatemala and she doesn’t have any idea what happened to her. What if she got fed into this . . . this machine, this reactor, whatever it is, and came out changed?”

  “That’s horrible!” cried Faith. “But how did she end up in Wyoming?”

  Sondra rubbed her chin. “Glimmer said he detected a massive expenditure of psionic energy right before everything fell apart. There must be a psi user there with enough strength to teleport someone half a world away.”

  “Someone like that might be able to reprogram freshly-made parahumans,” said Sally. “And there’s your army of supermen, led by a Nazi warlord, built by a psychopathic genius, and controlled by a mysterious telepath. All they need is a target.”

  Silence reigned around the table for a few minutes as the women considered the implications.

  “God, I hope you’re wrong, Sally,” said Faith at last.

  “So do I, Mom.”

  “We’d better head back first thing in the morning,” said Sondra. “We ought to at least tell Juice about this. Even if this is mostly conjecture on our part, he’d say this is worth investigating further.”

  Over the rest of the evening, the three women demolished the pizza and a quart of mint mocha ice cream Faith found in the back corner of the freezer. Afterward, they argued about movies and finally settled on Beaches, Sally’s preference of The Matrix having been outvoted two to one. Sally suffered through the two hours of angst in silence, then was shocked to find herself in tears along with Sondra and her mother at the end despite her avowed cynicism toward chick flicks.

  After they’d all had a good cry, they decided to call it a night. Sally made sure Sondra was settled into the guest room before slipping into her own bed for the first time in six months. She’d forgotten how much she missed it. Her bed at Just Cause headquarters wasn’t nearly as comfortable. She’d have to check with Harris to see if he could replace her mattress with something a little softer. Superheroes needed their sleep to be restful, she reasoned, since it seemed to be in short supply.

  Her phone beeped quietly but insistently and woke her from a dream of running endlessly through the darkness. She looked at her bedside clock as she fumbled for the elusive device. 1:48.

  “H’lo?” she mumbled into the phone.

  “Hey, beautiful, did I wake you?” It was Jason.

  “Yeah,” she said. “But it’s okay. How was your gig?”

  “Lousy sound. The guy running the board was pretty wasted. But we played well.”

  “That’s good.” She yawned. “It’s really nice to hear your voice.”

  “Likewise. Did you get to talk to your grandma?”

  “Yeah. We got some good stuff from her. We’re coming home tomorrow. I mean, we’re coming back. I guess I’m home now.”

  “Cool. I’m on duty the next two days, but stop by and see me when you get back.”

  “I will. I think I’m on duty the next two. Stupid work schedule.”

  Jason laughed. “Well, I’ve got to get a few hours of sleep. Juice looks down on dozing during monitor duty.”

/>   “Imagine that.”

  “I missed you today, Sally.”

  Sally smiled. “I missed you too, Jason.”

  “See you tomorrow.”

  “Okay.”

  Sally felt warm all over and content as she hung up. Jason had missed her, and he’d told her so. That thought comforted her and lulled her back to sleep.

  Breakfast was low-key in Faith’s house. Cereal and tea. Faith admitted to Sondra she didn’t often get inspired enough to cook anything early in the morning. She referred to anytime before nine AM as Grumpy Hour, which meant you were on your own. She did manage to find enough coffee to make a pot for Sondra, who confided to Sally that it was about as stimulating as colored water.

  Sally’s phone beeped once to announce an incoming message. She checked it.

  Heading off 2 duty. Thinking of u.

  She smiled and sent a reply text. Have a good day. C U l8r.

  Faith raised an eyebrow. “What’s all that about?”

  “Just work stuff,” said Sally.

  “I see.” Her mother didn’t seem like she was fooled in the least.

  Sally was astonished to see a few people with cameras loitered outside the house when they left. They snapped pictures as the women got into Faith’s Cadillac.

  “Who are they?” Sally whispered to Sondra.

  The winged woman shrugged. “Fans. Paparazzi. They turn up whenever we’re recognized somewhere, especially in civilian garb. I’m not exactly anonymous with these extra appendages.”

  “Jason and I got cornered by a reporter at the Devereaux Foundation the other night,” said Sally. “I’m not sure I’ll ever get used to that.”

  “We’ll probably see something about our kinky lesbian tryst in the tabloids next week.” Sondra laughed.

  “What?” Faith’s grip on the steering wheel wavered.

  “Most of the time, they just make me laugh, although I wish I had Jack’s equanimity when it comes to dealing with the more aggressive paparazzi.” Sondra smiled. “Although I can always fly away and then all they get are pictures of my ass. It’s gotten more press than I have, I think.” She slapped the portion of her anatomy in question. “That’s why I have to keep working out.”

  Faith dropped them off in front of the terminal. Sally hugged her mom and thanked her for the hospitality. Somehow, she felt she’d gotten a little closer to her mother in the past day, and decided she ought to nurture that feeling.

  “Don’t mention it,” said Faith. “But don’t let another six months go by before you come back. Seeing you twice a year isn’t nearly enough. You too, Sondra, come back anytime.”

  “We will, Mom. I love you.” Sally turned to go, but then stopped. “Mom? I . . . I talked to John Stone and Ms. Echevarria about the day Dad died.”

  Faith gasped and one of her hands flew to her mouth.

  “I’ll meet you inside, Sally.” Sondra disappeared into the terminal.

  “Mom, I’m sorry. I just wanted to know what happened that day. I wanted to know about Destroyer. I wanted to know about you . . . and Dad.”

  “I was going to tell you myself someday,” whispered Faith. “I’ve always meant to. I just never could find the right time. It still hurts every time I think about it.”

  “I know, Mom. I’m sorry about Dad. I know you loved him very much.”

  Faith’s eyes grew bright with tears. “I still do, Sally. I miss him every day.”

  “Are you mad at me for asking someone else?”

  “No. I’m glad you found someone to talk to. Someone stronger than me.” Faith sniffled.

  “Mom, you’re the strongest person I know. Everything I’m doing with Just Cause is because I’m trying to honor you.”

  “Oh, Sally.” Sally found herself in her mother’s arms and didn’t remember ever crossing the distance between them. They embraced one another. “I’m so proud of you, honey. You’ve gone and grown up into a real hero.”

  “Only because you taught me to be one.”

  They finally broke their hug. Faith smiled at her daughter and wiped the tears from her cheeks. “You go on, Sally. Go be a superhero for me. For your father. For yourself.”

  “I will, Mom.” Sally wiped her own eyes.

  Sally turned and headed for the terminal.

  “Sally!” Faith called. “Come back soon.”

  “I will.”

  Sally met Sondra inside the terminal. Once they presented their identification to Security, they were allowed to bypass all the checkpoints and were given a ride out to the hangar on a whisper-quiet electric cart.

  Sally dozed most of the flight back to Denver. She didn’t even stir when the jet landed. She’d drifted off right after takeoff and the next thing she knew, Sondra was shaking her awake. The jet was already in the Just Cause hangar and the engines powering down.

  “Wow.” She yawned. “I didn’t know I was so tired.”

  “Same here,” said Sondra. “But your mom’s coffee was pretty weak.”

  “Compared to that tar you drink, I suppose so.” Sally collected her bag and followed Sondra out of the jet. She shivered in the cold. “It doesn’t take long to get used to the warm temperatures again, does it?”

  “Definitely. Let’s get inside.”

  They called Juice to let him know they had returned. He asked if they could meet with him in an hour to go over what they’d learned from Sally’s grandmother. They agreed, and went to their respective rooms to drop off their bags and freshen up after the flight. Sally took a quick shower and dressed in slacks and a button-down shirt, so she’d look a little more professional for a meeting with her boss. She had enough time to stop in the Command Center for a few minutes, so she went in to see Jason. He smiled at her, but was busy as he kept tabs on a developing situation in San Francisco with the New Guard responding to a high-profile bank robbery with possible parahuman involvement.

  “Are we on alert or anything for that?” she asked.

  “Probably not,” he said. “The Guard should be able to handle it. We couldn’t get there very quickly anyway. If they get into trouble, we’ll send a squad out. I’m sure they’ll be fine though.”

  Sally squeezed his arm and left to go meet Juice.

  Sondra already sat in the office, her wings draped over the back of her chair. Juice smiled as Sally slipped into the room with her grandmother’s box clutched in her hands.

  “Welcome back, Sally. How is your mother?”

  “She’s fine. She sends her best.”

  “And your grandmother?”

  “Not so good. She’s going to have to have both of her hips replaced.”

  “I’m sorry to hear that.”

  Sally shrugged. “It’s for the best. She’ll be in less pain afterward.”

  Juice leaned back in his chair. “Now . . . tell me about your investigation.”

  Sally cleared her throat, nervous all over again. Stick to the facts, she told herself. Let him ask the questions, let him make the decisions on how to proceed.

  “So you’re saying you believe he’s trying to create an army of parahumans?” asked Juice after Sally finished her briefing.

  “Yeah, I really think that’s what he’s trying to do. Destroyer has the technological skills to recreate that original experiment with a higher rate of success. And if he’s using the local population, it would explain why the Antimatter Woman came from the same area.”

  “And he has a pet psi to keep everyone in line and teleport out the ones who are the worst?”

  “He’s got to, or else the Antimatter Woman would still be down there on a rampage through Central America in search of power.”

  “Too dangerous to keep around as part of his army, so he teleported her away,” said Juice. “It’s a good theory, Sally. You’ve tied it all together very nicely.”

  “But?”

  “No buts, Sally. I might consider the idea of an artificially-created parahuman far-fetched if we hadn’t had to deal with the Antimatter Woman. It could be s
imply a coincidence that she turned up when she did. Coincidence has certainly been part of parahuman history. Have you ever heard of Occam’s Razor?”

  “Aren’t they a band?”

  Juice smiled. “Probably. But in this case, it’s a method of solving a problem. Essentially it means that given multiple theories behind a specific outcome, the simpler explanations are generally better than more complex ones.”

  “Generally isn’t very scientific.”

  “No, but it’s a reasonable assumption. Your theory ties together Destroyer, the Kaiser fellow, Guatemala, and the Antimatter Woman quite reasonably.”

  “Thanks, sir. I mean, Juice.”

  He smiled. “Now I’m afraid I have to play devil’s advocate here for a moment. I know you have a lot of personal history tied up with Destroyer. I can’t help but wonder if you’re trying to attribute too much to him.”

  “I don’t understand,” said Sally.

  “Have you considered that perhaps he’s just down in Guatemala to acquire something from this Kaiser fellow, after which he’d simply return to whatever construes his current work?”

  “N-no.” Sally suddenly felt only about six inches tall. “What could he only get in Guatemala that he couldn’t get here?”

  “You tell me, Sally.”

  “I can’t think of anything.”

  “James,” said Sondra. “She’s not on the witness stand.”

  “My apologies, Sally. No further questions.”

  Sally sat back in her chair. Her hands shook as if she had just gone through a Three-Minute Drill in the Bunker. Sondra reached over and squeezed her shoulder in a friendly way.

  Juice leaned forward. His chair creaked with the shift of his weight. “Sally, I’m proud of you. This theory is solid, and right or wrong, I’m going to present it to Homeland Security as part of my argument why we should be cleared to go investigate the matter ourselves.”

  “Really?”

  “Really. Good work, kiddo.”