Just Cause Universe 2: The Archmage (24 page)

Sally looked at Jason with admiration, and thought to herself that she knew exactly how Ace felt about missing something important to her.

The tighter security procedures implemented since the Archmage began his conquest were evident at the hangar. Armed guards checked their IDs and spoke to them for several minutes in addition to requiring each of them to blow into a tube connected to a computer that read their DNA. Ace was quivering like a racehorse as the computer reported its results and the guards decided they were legitimate. The side door into the hangar swung open smoothly, spreading a widening arc of bright light from the interior.

Inside they found a gleaming jet which looked like a fierce avian predator at rest. It retained similar lines to Ace’s erstwhile
Bettie
, but this
plane was larger and had a heavier, armored appearance. Where the
Bettie
had been a transport jet with some combat capabilities, this one was clearly a fighting machine that could incidentally haul the team with it. Gun ports in its nose were clearly marked with stenciled warnings. Missiles hung in clusters under the variable-geometry wings, waiting to unleash different kinds of destruction. Tenderly airbrushed under the darkened cockpit bubble was a name in fine, swirling script.

“
Rita
…
” read Sally aloud. “Hayworth?”

“Of course,” whispered Ace. “She’s
beautiful
!” She ran her hand lightly across the smooth hull of the jet.

Jason elbowed Will, who gasped in surprise. “Looks like you got some competition, Stratocaster.”

“Glad you approve,” said a new voice. They all turned to see Juice walking into the hangar. “I must admit, I feel like a father who just bought his teenage daughter a new car. I wish I had keys to toss you.”

Ace opened her mouth but nothing came out.

Juice chuckled. “She’s fully-fueled up. Why don’t you take her out for a spin, Ace?”

“Are you
serious
?” The diminutive pilot looked shocked.

“Very much so,” said Juice. “I need you to be intimately familiar with the workings of this new jet, because I expect we’ll be needing some skilled flying from you soon. The more hours you can log in that cockpit, the more likely we are to survive an encounter. Consider that an order, Ace.”

She drew herself up and saluted smartly with military precision. “Yes
sir
.”

“Now go on, get out of here before I change my mind.” Juice laughed. “No parties, no booze, and call if you’re going to be late.”

They all had a good chuckle at his
nervous father
antics as they left the hangar, including Stratocaster.

“You’re not going out with her?” asked Sally.

“Are you
kidding?
” said Will. “I’ve ridden with her
before
, remember? I’ll let her work out the kinks on her own without any distraction from me puking all over the cabin.”

In a minute, Ace fired the
Rita
’s engines. They whined with barely-restrained power as she taxied out onto the pad in front of the hangar. The wings configured themselves into several different and interesting arrangements, folding and unfolding like a dragonfly’s wings as Ace checked the articulation. She locked them into place for a vertical takeoff and brought the engines up to full. With a roar that shook the ground and cleared every last speck of dust from the launch pad, the
Rita
flung itself upwards so quickly it looked like it was falling
up
. Soon it was just another bright light among the stars, albeit one that moved with fanatical speed and purpose.

Juice looked back at the others. “Let’s get back to work. We have a war to win.”

Chapter Fourteen

Hold out baits to the enemy to entice him. Feign disorder, and crush him.

-
Sun Tzu
, The Art of War
 

July, 2004

Rugby, North Dakota

The sun still lay below the horizon and made Mount Rugby a dark shadow against the incipient dawn. The front lines were quiet as most of the units waited on standby and the soldiers grabbed what sleep they could. In spite of it being mid-summer, a chill floated in the air, carried on tendrils of mist which flowed outward from the Archmage’s unnatural fortress.

Just Cause arrived shortly after midnight on the
Rita
, cloaked by the best magic Stratocaster could work. The zone which interfered with flight avionics over the fortress had expanded to meet the battle lines, so Ace set
her beautiful new plane
down well back from the front line. As the jet’s engines wound down to a standstill, the members of Just Cause offloaded six of the seven robotic horses they’d captured from
Los Vaqueros
.

Jason looked over them, his face twisted up into doubt. “This is really dangerous. I can’t believe this is the best plan we could come up with.”

“Relax, babycakes, it’ll be just fine. It’s easier than riding a bike.” Sally leaped onto the back of her own horse. Each one had been fitted with a saddle and riding gear.

“Will, go ahead and gear us up,” said Juice. “Then you’d better get to the protection zone.”

“No kidding. Soon as I start playing, I might as well raise a neon sign ten miles high saying
here I am
,” said Stratocaster.
 

“You’ll be protected,” Juice said. “You’ve got the best and brightest heroes in the world ready to defend you.”

“And me too.” Ace checked to make sure her sidearm was fully-loaded.

Juice spent a few minutes on his radio, ensuring all the other heroes were in place. He nodded at Will. “Go.”

Will struck up an unusual and intricate piece on his guitar. Bright energies swirled around Sally and the others as shimmering medieval armor appeared upon all of them. Juice and Jason looked magnificent in full plate with great Claymore swords resting across the backs of their mounts. Switchboard’s and Doublecharge’s armor were of chain and plate, as was Sally’s. Doublecharge discovered that she carried a longbow, while Switchboard bore a heavy spiked mace and had a large ram’s horn slung at his side. Sally carried a standard with the Just Cause emblem and American flags hung from it. Sondra looked like she’d stepped right out of
Ride of the Valkyries
.

“Wow.” Sondra fingered her metal breastplate in wonder. “I don’t feel like I’m wearing anything at all.”

“It’s an illusion.” Will finished his musical creation and let the final chord ring out across the open plains.

“Nicely done,” said Juice. “How long until they come gunning for you?”

“No idea. Soon, I suspect.”

“All right, people, let’s move out.” Juice kicked his heels into the horse’s sides and it broke into a canter. The others followed after him. “Defense Team, we are now on
hot standby
. Be alert for any incoming.”

They rode quickly across the front lines and made for the base of Mount Rugby. As the sun peeked over the horizon, a sense of foreboding settled on Sally. The last time they’d approached the Archmage’s home turf, they’d wound up lost in space and time; it was an experience she didn’t want to repeat.

From the fortress above, they heard horns sound as the Archmage’s troops spotted Just Cause. A few minutes later, they drew up against the foot of the mountain. Juice called a halt and nodded at Switchboard. “Call them out.”

Switchboard took up his horn and looked at it uncertainly. “I’m no musician. What do I do?”

“Just blow on it,” said Doublecharge. “It’s an illusion too, but Will wouldn’t give you a horn that you couldn’t blow.”

“I suppose that’s true,” said Switchboard, and raised it to his lips. A clear, bugling call issued forth from the mouth of the horn. He tooted it twice more for good measure.

A lone armored figure rode down the road toward them with a white flag flying from the head of his spear. With a start, Sally recognized the young Sheriff who had retrieved Jason when they’d first arrived in Rugby. His face looked completely lifeless, as if he’d been drained of all his vitality.

“State your business,” he said without emotion.

Juice raised his visor and spoke with a clear, calm voice. “I am Juice, commander of the armies besieging your fortress. I seek to negotiate with my opposite among your number.”

“Wait here,” said the Sheriff tonelessly, and spurred his horse back up the road toward the castle.

The six heroes waited as patiently as possible, which was the purest kind of torture for a speedster like Sally. She fidgeted and twitched with nervous excitement until Juice had to order her to remain still.

The sun gleamed behind the castle, casting a long shadow across the plains. A small group of riders came down the side of the mountain. Jack led the group. Sparks flew from the hooves of his great black horse as he led the group down from the summit fortress. The Sheriff was with him, as well as four other people. Sally examined each one for potential threats. All seemed to be people who the Archmage had turned to his cause: a soldier wearing fatigues under his armor, a woman wearing what might have once been a business suit, and two young Hispanics who would have looked far more natural in professional sports team gear and bling than the suits of mail they wore.

Sally’s heart beat so fast and hard she was surprised blood wasn’t shooting out of her pores with each contraction. Her perceptions rode on a hair trigger, and she barely kept them in check so she could still follow what was going on. If they zoomed up to top speed, everything around her would seem to stop and she could neither listen to nor talk to anyone else because of the widening variance between her personal speed and that of the rest of the world.

Jack neither raised his visor nor took off his helm. “Speak.”

“All I see before me is a suit of armor,” said Juice. “And no sign of the man I used to call
friend
. Is this some kind of trick? How do I know you are indeed the leader of these men?”

“I’ll not remove this helmet,” said Jack. “But listen to your gut, Juice. You
know
it’s me.”

Sally’s breath caught in her throat as she imagined the wry grin on Jack’s face underneath the black helmet.

“Now, I haven’t got all day. Speak your piece and be on your way and perhaps we’ll meet another time on the field of battle.” Jack tapped the hilt of his great sword against the saddle horn for emphasis.

“An excellent suggestion.” Juice stretched his neck to one side, then the other, and was rewarded with audible pops as his joints reorganized themselves. “
Let’s play.
”

The code phrase, pulled from the movie
Desperado
, triggered a powerful spell which Will had embedded within the illusory armor. With a great squall of guitar histrionics, pure white energy arced between the members of Just Cause. Sally dove off her horse and moved to the middle of Jack’s group. For a fraction of a second, she would be in the most danger because she was the only anchor for the spell, and during that time she would be frozen in place.

She felt the energies hold her in place as easily as if her feet were made of steel and someone had turned on a giant electromagnet in the ground. The spell’s power formed a ring of energy with her and the others as edge points, and entrapped Jack and three of his people.

“
What is this?
” cried Jack as he brought his sword up in a threatening manner.

A magical vortex appeared in the center of the dome, similar to the one which had trapped Sally and the others and sent them back in time. This one was much smaller and completely under Stratocaster’s control. The tug from it was weak enough at the edge of the dome that even petite Sally could resist it. Inside, it was a much different story as Jack and his three soldiers struggled to keep from being sucked into it.

“
Attack them, you morons!
” Jack yelled toward the two Hispanic boys, the only ones outside the field of magic. They drew their swords and spurred their mounts into a charge.

The ground heaved and buckled underneath their horses and threw the boys from their backs.

Sally heard Stratocaster’s chuckle as if he were beside her instead of miles away.

The vortex spun faster. It shot off random sparks as it doubled, then trebled its pull. Unable to resist its fearsome power, Jack and the others disappeared into it.

The energy ring collapsed in on itself and exposed the Just Cause heroes to its pull. Sally steeled herself for a stomach-twisting ride and flung herself into the vortex. Within the magical gate, she felt her body turn and bend in strange and impossible ways. It wasn’t painful, just terribly disorientating. She felt no sense of up and down; gravity was nowhere and everywhere at the same time. Lights flashed before and behind her eyes and a whine of feedback assailed her ears. The unpleasantness lasted for a few moments, and then the whirling stopped and reality resolved itself once more…

… into the confines of The Bunker.

Just Cause’s underground training facility was already state-of-the-art. Nanotechnology had given it thick, energy-absorbing walls where the heroes could cut loose with their powers without fear of damaging anything. Normally, the stadium-sized room would be set up for some kind of training scenario, miniscule robots building up the setting one molecule at a time. Now it was empty, with walls and floor bare and the naked sodium arc lights high overhead. Arcane symbols were inscribed on the center of each wall, as well as the floor and ceiling. As the team arrived within them, a secondary spell linked into their armor activated. The symbols illuminated and burned with ghostly blue and purple flames, sealing the chamber from the Archmage’s flow of power.

Stratocaster had labored for hours in preparation for this chamber to insulate Jack and the others from the reach of the Archmage’s magic. Once inside, only the magic that Jack carried with him would still function. Without a link to the Archmage, Stratocaster hoped Jack’s powers would wane quickly and they could break the hold over him.