Just Cause: Revised & Expanded Edition (26 page)

Chapter Nineteen

The battle between members of Just Cause and the criminal Destroyer dealt a strong wake-up call to the organization. Prior to that event, Just Cause had been primarily a reactionary organization—responding to specific parahuman crimes but not actively attempting to prevent them. The deaths of six past and present members of Just Cause—Lionheart, Sundancer, Danger, Fast Break, Audio, and the destruction of the Steel Soldier—could be linked directly to the failure of Just Cause to follow up on the whereabouts of Harlan Washington, builder and operator of the Destroyer battlesuit after his escape from juvenile detention.

Subsequently, Just Cause became much more proactive: seeking out the criminals before they committed their crimes; building the Deep Six prison facility; performing surveillance and raids.

-
Just Cause: Sixty Years of Heroism
, by Dr. Grace Devereaux, 2000

February, 2004

Porto San José

Glimmer hadn’t dared to perform deep telepathic scans on Diego or his mother. Since he believed Diego’s mind had been tampered with, he didn’t want to risk setting off any post-telepathic compulsions. He said it as the telepathic equivalent of a booby trap.

“I don’t trust it,” he said when they all met in Jack’s room after a delicious dinner of spiced pork and rice, courtesy of Diego’s mother. “It’s all too neat, too perfect. We were expected.”

Jack stood by the window, an unlit cigar in his lips that Doublecharge had forbidden him to light or she was going to make him eat it. “You think he’s a plant?”

“Absolutely,” Glimmer said. “Maybe not for us specifically, but I’m certain his appearance was no accident.”

Doublecharge frowned. “He’s a sleeper, then.”

“That’s my assessment. I’ve found traces that he’s been manipulated, or at least read recently. And by someone talented,” he said with a glum sigh.

“Better than you?” asked Jack.

Glimmer didn’t looked up. “Maybe. I don’t dare scan any deeper.”

“We need information about this mysterious compound he mentioned,” said Stacey.

“He seems anxious enough to please,” Sally said as she brushed her hair. “Maybe we could just ask him.”

Stacey stood up. “You packed a swimsuit, didn’t you?”

“Well… yes,” said Sally, embarrassed.

“Good. Why don’t you take our little friend to the beach in the morning and find out what he can tell us about the compound? We need as much information as you can pump out of him.”

“You don’t mean…
that
, do you?” cried Sally.

Doublecharge gave a slight smile, as amused as Sally had ever seen her. “Of course not. This isn’t a primetime melodrama.”

“Why have me do it? Wouldn’t Jay be better?”

“Certainly, but Diego doesn’t have a crush on Jay. He does seem infatuated with you. Therefore, you’re elected,” said Jack.

“There should be a recount, then,” said Sally. “What are the rest of you going to do, go shopping?”

“As a matter of fact, yes. Of a sort,” said Doublecharge. “Jay will check with our CIA contact to get any updated information. Jack will search town for signs of Washington, since he’s had the most firsthand experience with him. I’ll be checking the docks for more information about Washington’s incoming freight and his relationship with Kaiser.”

“By yourself?” Sally was shocked.

“I don’t really think I have to worry about being mugged. Do you?”

“I guess not.”

“Good,” said Doublecharge. “Then get a good night’s rest. Tomorrow we track down Destroyer.”

As they broke the meeting, Glimmer asked, “Sally, have you got a minute?”

“Sure.”

“Would you mind if I set up a telepathic recorder in you?”

Sally stopped in mid-stride. “You want to run that past me again?”

“It’s a technique I developed. Basically it optimizes your brain for information retention, keyed to a specific telepathic contact.”

“English, Jay. I’m tired.”

“I want to turn you into a telepathic camcorder.”

“I see.”

“Most people have faulty memories. Their brains don’t record all information available; just enough to get the general idea. It’s not a flaw. It’s just how the mind is constructed. We’d all go crazy if we had to store all the information our senses record constantly.”

“You’re going to make me go crazy?”

“Of course not. You’re not going to have direct access to those memories. I’ll access them from a telepathic key later. You won’t even know they’re there. This way we can make sure you don’t miss any important details, or even minor details that at the time seem unimportant.”

“Oh. Will it hurt?”

“Not at all. You won’t feel a thing, I promise.”

Sally was about to agree, but stopped. “Don’t take this the wrong way or anything, Jay, but you’re not going to, like, read my mind or anything like that, are you?”

He raised a hand. “I swear. Your thoughts are your own. All I’m going to do is make your memory perfect for the next day or so.”

“Well… I guess that’s okay. What do I do?”

“Don’t do anything. I just need a moment.” He closed his eyes. Sally concentrated on herself, to see if she felt any sign of him poking around in her mind. Not that she would know what it felt like if he did.

He opened his eyes again. “All finished.”

“That’s it? No
Vulcan mind-meld
or anything like that?”

Glimmer laughed. “Maybe some other time.”

The next morning, Sally put on a bikini top and a pair of shorts and mentioned that she was going to go check out a beach and asked Diego if he knew of any good places.

“
Sí
,
señorita
,” he’d said, and shortly they wound up on a beautiful stretch of white sand. Diego wore only a pair of shorts and a big smile. He’d returned Sally’s shorts freshly laundered and folded.

They had walked north through the small town to the beach. The sun shone bright and the sky was an amazing shade of blue without a cloud to mar it, which was quite the contrast to the previous day’s hard rains. Sally suffered the walk in silence, which allowed Diego to carry on a happy monologue about the various inhabitants of Porto San José.

“Tell me more about the compound, Diego,” she said when he took a break from his bilingual chatter.

“I said all yesterday,” he said.

Inwardly cringing, she leaned a little closer toward him to tilt her chest more into his view. His eyes glanced downward before he looked back into hers. She’d never, ever before used what her mother called feminine wiles to get anything she wanted. It felt awkward and uncomfortable. “I know, but there’s got to be more. Have you ever been there?”

“Once, as
Quetzalcoatl
,” he said. “I fly to see if stories true.”

“What did you see there?”

“Army buildings. Big building too.”

“Any people?”

Diego smiled. “Army people.” He leaned backward to laze on the sun-warmed sand and folded his hands behind his head. “I show if you want.”

Sally was about to say no, but then remembered the thing Glimmer had put in her mind. She debated whether she should risk it without any support from the team. In the end, she decided, she was anxious to prove herself and earn a permanent place on the Just Cause roster. If things got really bad, she could always run away. “Okay, Diego. Show me.”

He sat up, brushed sand from his shoulders, and shook it out of his hair. “Come.” He held out his hand to her. She hesitated as she thought of Jason, but she decided holding hands wasn’t cheating, and anyway, she was at work. She took the proffered hand and let Diego lead her off the beach.

She asked, “How do we get there? Is it far?”

“You fly?”

“No.”

“Run then?”

Sally considered it. “Better not. Do you have another way?”

“My cousin has motorcycle. We ride there.”

Sally’s heart pattered a little faster. She’d never been on a motorcycle. “All right, I trust you.”

Diego took her to the docks. She kept an eye open for Stacey but saw no sign of the team leader. Diego talked to another man, older and less handsome. They went around the corner of a warehouse. In a moment, Sally heard an engine fire and Diego came back astride a dirt bike. He pulled it up next to her and shouted over the
BRAP BRAP BRAP
of the exhaust. “My cousin say you very beautiful. Please…” He motioned to the seat, which looked like it belonged on a touring cycle.

Sally climbed onto the seat behind Diego.

“Exhaust pipe very hot. Don’t put leg on it. Put feet there and there…” He motioned to two pegs bolted to the body of the bike. “Arms around my waist.”

Sally clasped her hands together against his abdomen. In spite of the humidity, his skin was warm and dry and stretched tight like canvas. It was a very intimate position, she thought.

Diego pulled the bike away from the docks, careful to avoid any rapid acceleration or sudden maneuvers. He navigated quickly through the town and took them along a one-lane road that headed northeast. “This road take us up above compound. Maybe you see what you look for.”

“Sounds great.” Although Sally had been determined not to enjoy herself, she found the feel of the wind whipping her hair very pleasant, like when she ran, but without the effort.

For the next forty-five minutes, Sally had a lot of fun. Diego picked the smoothest path along the rough road. He didn’t try to show off with daring maneuvers or riding too fast. Every ten minutes or so, he’d turn his head to shout over the engine and ask if she needed to stop. The road climbed back and forth up the side of an ancient volcano and wound through the trees. They skirted the caldera, which had lush green bushes and a pool at the bottom.

Diego shut off the bike and wheeled it into the foliage at the side of the road. “Guards down below. We walk from here.” He pulled a long machete from a sheath strapped to the front shock absorbers. They pulled some broadleaf fronds over the bike to disguise it from anyone passing by.

“How much further is it, Diego?”

He thought for a moment, and said, “Not far. You need rest?”

“No,” Sally said with a smile, “but thanks for asking.”

He motioned toward a nearby peak that jutted up into the sky. “We climb up there, go around a ways, and then we see the compound.” He patted a canteen at his side. “I have water for now. We refill at stream along the way.”

“Well, aren’t you just the little
Indiana Jones?
”

“
No sé qué es eso, señorita
.”

“It’s a movie, about—oh, never mind. Lead on.”

Hiking through the mountainside jungle wasn’t at all like in the movies. The trees had thick boles, but weren’t so far apart to make it hard to pass between them. Vines dangled from overhead branches or clung to the trunks. The ground was damp and little red and yellow flowers grew in clumps, surrounded by clouds of tiny insects. Broadleaf plants grew everywhere, which made a second canopy at knee height. Instead of hacking away at every vine and sapling within reach, Diego barely used the machete at all. He picked a path around the thickest undergrowth. Bugs the size of model airplanes buzzed past her, quick enough that try as she might she couldn’t slap one away. After several minutes, she got so tired of slapping at herself that she gave up and knew she’d be one big itchy spot by nightfall.

Diego’s canteen was empty by the time they reached the stream; the heat and humidity had taken their toll on the two hikers. “Is it safe to drink?” Visions of dangerous bacteria and viruses danced through Sally’s head, courtesy of a thousand hours of late night movies and video games.

“If no,” said Diego as he smiled and wiped his mouth. “We get sick. Rest now,
señorita
.”

Sally stripped off her boots and socks and plunged her feet into the stream to let the cool water soothe her feet. Climbing was a lot harder on her than running. She wasn’t tired, because she could go for a few hundred miles at a single stretch, but whereas running was nice and rhythmic, hiking through the Guatemalan jungle was a series of starts, stops, and stutters that had her feet aching. Some people might long for a comfortable recliner after a long hike; Sally longed for a long stretch of straight, flat road where she could get up to a comfortable cruising speed and just run.

“Maybe I come with you to America,” said Diego. “Be a superhero like you,
señorita
.”

“My name’s Sally, Diego. It’s okay to use it. I don’t know if you could join Just Cause or not.” She cursed at herself for her accidental slip. She hadn’t wanted to mention Just Cause at all. She hoped it hadn’t spoiled their plans, but Diego didn’t react to it.

“Maybe I just come and visit you, then. You have boyfriend in America?”

“Yes, I do.”

He shrugged and smiled. “Is it serious?”

Sally yanked the canteen away from him. “Yes, it’s serious. How old are you, anyway?”

He puffed out his chest. “Almost fifteen.”

“Well, almost-fifteen-Diego, let me tell you something. When you’re twenty-two, you are going to be absolutely stunning. Girls won’t be able to keep their hands off you. But for now, you should find a sweet young thing your own age. Now you tell me…” Sally took a swig from the canteen. “Do you have a girlfriend?”

He chuckled. “
Sí
.”

“Is she very pretty?” Sally passed the canteen back to him.

“Not like you,
señori
—er, Sally. She’s sixteen and wears glasses.”

“I can tell you this, Diego. If she’s two years older and still with you, she must think very highly of you. You should be thankful for that.”

“Okay,” he said as he stood. “Maybe I leave her for someone better someday.” He winked at her. “Time to go. We see compound very soon.”

The downhill side of the volcano proved much easier hiking. They followed along the stream and only had to worry about slipping in the mud. Even the hot sun relented as puffy white clouds blew in from the ocean.