Just Cause Universe 3: Day of the Destroyer (29 page)

Irlene shrugged. Tears ran unchecked down her face. “I have to try,” she said. “That’s my little brother you’re holding.”

“What?” Tommy tried to ask for clarification but Irlene had already flown off toward the inferno where the Steel Soldier was trapped. He glared down at the boy struggling in his grasp. It was hard to see in the darkness and flickering firelight, but there might be a family resemblance to Irlene. “Settle down, you,” said Tommy. “You’re in unbelievable trouble.”

Something in the burning building exploded, sending chunks of brick flying in all directions. Faith took a step toward the building, crying, “Irlene!”

The diminutive heroine flew out of the flames, shrunken down to only two feet tall. She held the toy-sized Steel Soldier cradled in her arms as she made a beeline for the other heroes.

“Are you all right?” Faith ran to meet her.

Irlene nodded and set the Soldier down on the pavement. She turned toward Tommy and glared at his prisoner. The fire in her gaze was as bright as the burning building. “Harlan… oh, Harlan, what have you done?”

The boy stopped struggling in Tommy’s grip. He stared up at his older sister with fierce pride all over his tiny face. Whatever he said wasn’t audible over the noise of the burning building.

“Bring him back to size,” said Tommy.

Irlene complied.

Tommy squeezed the boy’s arm with an iron grip. “Your name’s Harlan, right?”

Harlan nodded.

“You’re in enough trouble without running away, Harlan, and you can’t run fast or far enough we can’t catch you.”

Harlan sniffed. “Whatever.”

Tommy looked over to where Faith bent over Sundancer while Javelin struggled with the heavily damaged Soldier. “What the hell did you do?”

“Nothing that shouldn’t have been done years ago,” said Harlan. “Somebody ought to have taken a flamethrower to this town long before me.”

Tommy gaped in astonishment. The boy had just admitted his acts, without even being officially arrested or advised of his rights. “You did all this with that hunk of metal?”

“Destroyer,” said Harlan. “I built it all myself, because I’m smart. Smarter than you.”

“Tangling with Just Cause wasn’t too smart, kid.”

“The only one who challenged me was your robot.”

“Tornado,” said Pony Girl. “You and Javelin keep hold of the prisoner. Imp and I are going to get Sundancer to the hospital. We’ll be back in a few minutes. I’ll report in and get Bobby to send some black-and-whites out here.”

“Better get a fire brigade too, if you can find one,” said Javelin. “That building’s a loss, and I don’t know what we can to do stop it spreading.”

Irlene shrank herself and Sundancer. Faith picked up the injured hero and sped away, cutting a tunnel of slipstream through the smoky air.

Harlan struggled a little in Tommy’s grasp. Tommy buffeted him with strong breezes. “Knock it off, you.” He turned to Javier. “How’s the Soldier?”

“I think he’s dead.” Javier had removed his remaining gauntlet and had some tools from his portable kit out. The Soldier’s perforated chest armor sat discarded to one side. Tommy couldn’t make heads or tails of the wiring and components within the android’s torso, but even he could see how much damage the kid had done.

Harlan giggled.

Javier stood and pulled his gauntlet on. He stalked over to Harlan and put the muzzle of his particle beam cannon under the boy’s chin before Tommy realized what he was doing. “I say we grease this little fucker right now. Nobody takes out my teammates and walks away.”

Harlan glared back at him in defiance. “Your robot shoulda been made better. Who built it, you?”

Tommy pushed Javier’s hand aside. “He’ll pay for his crimes.”

“He’s a fucking juvenile,” shouted Javier. “They won’t do shit to him. How many people did you kill tonight, pendejo? How many homes did you destroy?”

Harlan merely smiled. His psychopathy chilled Tommy to the bone. The kid didn’t care a whit about anyone except himself. “I am sorry about your robot. It was the only one of all you worth a damn.”

Two police cars screeched around a corner, lights flashing and sirens blaring. A fire truck followed in their wake. Their sudden appearance distracted Javier enough that Tommy was able to yank Harlan away before the furious Puerto Rican hero could blow the boy’s head off. “Listen to me, you little shit,” said Tommy. “You have no idea just how bad things are going to get for you. You’d better straighten up as of right now and just maybe you won’t get sent to federal prison.” He bent down and whispered in the boy’s ear. “You know what they do to little boys like you in prison? Want me to show you? I got nothing to lose right now.” To illustrate his point, he squeezed Harlan’s ass.

Harlan’s tough attitude evaporated. “Hey,” he said. “Hey, I can fix your robot. Make it like new. Better, even.”

Javier laughed. “What’s the matter, punk? Got the spirit of Jesus in you all of a sudden?”

“I don’t want to go to jail,” said Harlan. “Can’t we work something out?”

“Too late for that,” said Tommy as the cops pulled up and got out. “You’re going to jail no matter what, kid.”

“Hey, at least talk it over with your boss. I can fix your robot. You know I can. You seen what I built. All I need is tools and a place to work!”

Tommy pushed Harlan to the police. “You don’t have anything to bargain with, kid. After that rampage you’re lucky we even left you alive.”

“
I can fix it
!” screamed Harlan.

Tommy felt Javier at his elbow. He looked over his shoulder.

“Maybe we ought to think it over,” said Javier. “Otherwise the Soldier’s dead and gone.”

“You sure?” Tommy couldn’t believe it; Javier’s eyes were shiny with tears. Did the team’s biggest cynic have the capability to feel something for someone?

Javier nodded. “We got to do something. He’s one of us, you know?”

Tommy called to the cops. “Hold on, officers.”

#

“The federal agents are on their way up, so you’ve only got about a minute. There’s only one elevator functioning while we’re on emergency power,” said Bobby to Gretchen and Shane. “Go down five floors and listen for the elevator to go by. Once it does, call it and ride it down. I’ll do my best to make sure the Feds aren’t on it.” He pushed a radio into her hands. “Don’t call unless it’s an absolute emergency. The Feds will know something is funny. If you have to, call yourself, um, Extinguisher.”

“But what am I supposed to do?” Gretchen cinched the belt around her waist. She’d rolled up the cuffs on her legs and wrists once again. Only tall, strapping men must have worn the stupid things.

Bobby shrugged. “Put out fires. Save lives. Be a hero.” He pointed at the stairwell. “Now get out of here before we’re all busted.”

Hand in hand, Gretchen and Shane ran for the stairs. Only dim red emergency lighting lit each floor’s door, and they had to descend more by feel than by sight. When they had come down five floors, both of them were dripping with sweat and Gretchen felt like her legs had turned to jelly.

The lobby was deserted and very dark. A single emergency light shone like a baleful, crimson eye over the elevators. Gretchen led Shane out from the stairs toward that light.

“Shit,” he muttered.

“What’s the matter?”

“I just don’t like this. The dark.”

“It was dark in the sewer,” Gretchen said.

“Yeah, but there you’re only ten feet below the surface. Up here, it’s like being stranded. Hundreds of feet up and nowhere to go.”

Gretchen play-punched him in the arm. “You big scaredy cat. Don’t worry, I’ll protect you from any boogeymen.” She stood on tiptoes and kissed him.

With a rumbling rattle, the elevator passed their floor. Looking upward, she wondered if the Feds would sniff her out. She squeezed Shane’s hand and thumbed the call button.

They shrank back into the shadows and waited. In a few minutes, the car arrived with a ringing bell and the doors slid open. No Feds jumped out with guns at the ready. The car was empty.

“Let’s go,” she said, and pulled Shane after her.

They rode down for what felt like an eternity. She hoped nobody was waiting for them at the bottom of the building. When the doors slid apart, she saw only the darkened lobby and a few security guards ushering people out.

Nobody paid them any attention in the red-tinged darkness of emergency lighting. They headed out onto the plaza. Traffic jammed up all around them as people fought to get home with no traffic signals. The noise of engines and horns was deafening.

“Where should we go?” Gretchen had to lean close to Shane to hear his reply.

“Pick a direction,” he said.

She pointed.

“North it is.”

They advanced up the road, searching for opportunities for her to use her ability. There wasn’t much looting in this part of Manhattan because there weren’t many retailers. After a few minutes, they happened upon a solitary car fire.

“Okay, here goes nothing.” Gretchen pushed up her sleeves and raised her arms.

The power leaped out, eager and capricious. She let it start in the middle of the car and grow outward as a bubble until it enveloped the whole vehicle. The flames snuffed out in only a couple seconds and Gretchen’s bubble filled with smoke. Shaking under the strain of concentration, she shrank the bubble down, letting in the air a little at a time. Finally she relaxed and slumped against Shane.

The fire stayed out.

“Wow,” he said. “That was crazy.”

“It’s harder than I thought,” gasped Gretchen. “It’s so much easier to let the bubble burst.” She took a deep, shuddering breath.

“Are you all right?” Shane looked down into her eyes, concern washing over the contours of his face.

“Yeah, I think so,” she said. “Let’s go find another one.”

As they progressed further north through Manhattan, Gretchen learned a few tricks through trial and error. For smaller fires, she created a regular vacuum bubble beside them, which imploded. The resulting blast of air displacement blew out the flames like someone puffing out a candle. Larger fires required more effort and sometimes took several bubbles to take out.

After her third car fire, Gretchen was exhausted and slumped against Shane. “It’s been a long day,” she said through a yawn. “Can we rest?”

“Of course we can,” he said. “You’re the hero here. I’m just along for the ride.” They sat on a bus stop bench.

She smiled. “You’re my sidekick.”

He returned the smile. “Maybe I should have short pants on instead.”

A prowling police cruiser slowed and the spotlight shone on them, highlighting their Just Cause coveralls in sharp relief. “Everything okay, folks?”

Shane raised a hand. “We’re fine. Just catching a breather,” he replied.

The officer in the car didn’t reply. Perhaps he was looking at their matching coveralls, or listening to his radio. Gretchen hoped he wasn’t calling for backup or something.

“Okay, have a good night. And be careful. There are some dangerous people out on the streets tonight.”

“Thanks, officer,” said Shane.

The cruiser pulled away from the curb to resume its slow prowl.

“I think we better move on,” Gretchen said. “That was too close for comfort.”

“Are you sure you’re up for it?”

She nodded. “Someone’s bound to need help more than I need sleep.”

Chapter Seventeen

July 14, 1977, 1:00 AM

Faith and Irlene returned from checking Sundancer into the hospital to find Tommy engaged in a full-on shouting match with a cop. Firefighters battled the burning building, hampered by the presence of accelerants from the walking tank. Irlene’s brother sat sullenly in the back seat of a police car, watching the argument concerning his disposition. Oblivious to everyone and everything else, Javier knelt in the street beside the Steel Soldier and tried to coax life back into the mangled android.

“What’s going on?” Faith pushed in between Tommy and the officer.

“This yokel is trying to claim custody of the kid,” said Tommy.

“Yokel?” shouted the cop. “This kid committed arson and murder! Our turf, so he’s our perp.”

“We caught him,” said Tommy. “He was driving a machine that caused untold property damage and took parahuman powers to bring down. He sent one of our teammates to the hospital and another might as well be dead. Our collar.”

“Look,” said Faith. “As ranking member of Just Cause, it’s my call. We’ve already got the Feds here in town looking for one parahuman criminal. You want me to tell them the New York Police Department isn’t going to give up another one into our custody?”

“But—” The officer’s bluster began to crack with Faith facing him down.

“And I’m sure you don’t have anything more important to do tonight than hang around here hassling us about one juvenile.”

“Yes, but—”

“So if you’ll remand him to our custody, we won’t have to make a report to your chief about your unwillingness to cooperate.”