Just Cause Universe 2: The Archmage (15 page)

“Fine,” said Shannon. “I’m not sure how to restart it anyway.”

“Let’s plan our escape, then.” Juice sat up in the darkness.

“I wish Jack was here,” said Sally. “He’s good at stuff like this. I hope he’s okay.”

“He won’t be born for another ninety years,” said Juice. “And for what it’s worth, I wish he was here too.”

“Speak for yourself, sir.
I
wish we were back in our own time,” said Ace.

“Good point. Thank you, Ace. Let’s make sure we stay on task. Oh, and Ace, you can knock off the
sir
while we’re here.”

“Yes sir.”

After much whispered discussion, they had what they thought was a workable plan. Shannon would find five horses for them and make sure they were stocked with provisions, especially a map and compass if she could find one. Then she and Sally would incapacitate whatever guards they needed to so that they could make a clean, quick getaway. Once clear of the camp, they would head south and try to find a railroad or a fort so they could make their way to the East Coast and, eventually, across the ocean. They’d use the traveling circus story as cover and as a way to make money along the way.

“Heh. Sounds like a good plan,” said a voice and the scout Curley stepped into the tent. He held a hooded lantern which released only a minimal amount of light. “Problem is, you got about ten thousand Sioux between here and your railroad. I think you gonna have trouble there, hey?”

Everyone froze as they realized their cover had been blown. Sally glanced at Juice, ready to act if he gave the word.

Juice didn’t move, and Sally could see his attorney’s mind gearing up to go to work. “You’re absolutely right, Curley. Very perceptive of you. How long have you been listening outside the tent?”

“Heh. Pretty long time now. Heard some pretty interesting tales. Not the usual white man’s lies, hey?”

“So what do you want to do about it? You’ve got something in mind or you wouldn’t have come to us at all.”

“Big battle coming tomorrow. You called it Custer’s Last Stand. He’s gonna die, hey?”

“I can’t answer that, Curley.”

“Well, maybe I’ll scout the rear to be safe. I have no plans to die for him.”

“We can’t stop you,” said Juice. “And it’s really none of our business what you do, anyway. We’re not even supposed to be here, now.”

“Heard that too. I believe in fair trade. You give me good value. I always thought Custer was a stupid white man, now I know for sure. Hopefully I will live through tomorrow’s battle. In return I will help you to get away from here. Good idea, hey?”

“That’s very
honorable
of you,” said Juice. Sally wondered when the inevitable
but
would come from the scout.
 

“Heh. I think so too. You better get ready to leave. Scouts coming back already from Little Bighorn valley. We fight tomorrow or Monday at the latest.”

“What’s your proposition?” Juice clasped his hands behind his back.

“I already said, I give good value for your trade. You said what happens in the battle. You give me half an hour, I put together your supplies and horses. Meet me up at the hill where I found you, and I’ll show you the best way to go.” Curley smiled at them in the flickering light of his lantern.

“And that’s it? No tricks?” Ace looked doubtful.

“No tricks, pretty lady. You saving my life, perhaps. Only fair that I save yours, hey?”

Ace’s mouth dropped open in surprise, as if being called
pretty lady
was the last thing she’d expected to hear.

“How do we get up to the hill without being seen?” asked Will.

“Heh. Do I have to think of
everything
, white man? Half an hour. Don’t be late.” Curley grinned at them and left the tent.

Juice looked toward Shannon and motioned for her to follow. She nodded and vanished into nothingness.

“How are we going to get there?” asked Will again.

“It’s late, it’s dark, and we’re superheroes. We’ll manage,” said Juice.

“You know what we
really
need is a diversion,” whispered Sally.

A shout from outside the tent echoed through the campsite. “
Injuns! In the supplies!
”

The alarm raised, soldiers ran from their tents. Some were yanking on their trousers over their union suits, others just grabbed their rifles and ran.

“You think they caught Curley?” asked Ace as they watched the ruckus.

“I hope not,” said Juice. “He seems pretty sharp. Whatever happened, this is our chance.” He ordered everyone to remove anything clearly from the future and to put them on a blanket. They dropped phones, watches, and Ace’s semi-automatic pistol into the pile. Juice rolled up the blanket, tied it around his waist, and nodded. “Let’s go. Sally, watch our flanks.”

They exited the tent and hurried for the darkness beyond the edge of the camp. With the general alarm raised, soldiers were looking for Indians, not a small group dressed in castaway cavalry uniforms. Shannon rejoined them as they reached the darkness and led them to where Curley awaited them with five packed and saddled horses.

“Did you get caught?” Sally asked Curley.

“No way. It was some Sioux or maybe Cheyenne from the village in the valley. So much for the element of surprise, hey? We’ll be fighting them tomorrow for sure.”

“Thank you, Curley. I’m glad we could trust you.” Juice looked uneasily at the horses. “Are they
trained
and everything? What I don’t know about riding could fill a couple of books.”

“Heh. Cavalry horses will treat you right if you treat them right. Now you listen good. You head East for four days’ ride. Maybe five if your asses get too sore. After you cross the third river, turn south. Seven or eight days, you’ll find one of these forts if you don’t get lost.”

“This is making me feel
real
confident,” grunted Ace.

“From there, you follow Oregon Trail back east,” said Curley. “You got enough food and water for three days. After that, you better find more. I got you two rifles and two pistols; all I could sneak away. And bullets. Guns not much good without them, hey?”

“Curley… you’re a lifesaver,” said Will. “How can we ever repay you for this?”

“Heh. If I live tomorrow, that’s payment enough for me.”

“Curley, can I ask you something before we go?” Juice walked over to clasp hands with the scout. The Indian man grunted noncommittally, so Juice pressed ahead. “Why is it you’re with the U.S. Army? Wouldn’t it make more sense for you to be fighting to protect land that’s yours?”

The scout shrugged. “It’s not hard to see who will win this war. Indian tribes fight amongst themselves instead of against common foe. Maybe not tomorrow, but someday white men will rule this land. I’m just siding with the winner, hey?”

“Very astute,” said Will. “May you live to enjoy it.”

“Heh. I plan to. Now go before anyone notices his horse is gone.” Curley saluted them all in the darkness. Then he trotted off over the hill back toward the camp.

There was a long pause.

“Which way is east?” asked Will.

Chapter Nine

30 miles to water, 20 miles to wood, 10 miles to hell and I gone there for good.

-
Found carved on a deserted shack near Chadron, Nebraska
 

August, 1876

Ogallala, Nebraska

A more adventurous traveler than Sally might have described the journey from Little Bighorn to Fort Laramie as
interesting
, but she found it more of an exhausting daily chore than anything to be relished.
She scouted often to find safe routes through the hills. As the only one with any riding experience at all, Shannon spent a lot of her time teaching the others to ride and care for their horses. They
all
spent a lot of time bemoaning the loss of modern conveniences. Sally missed bottled water, sunscreen, and potato chips. Will missed roads, his iPod, and pizza. Ace hated being stuck on the ground, or even worse, on a horse, and wished that Civil War-era firearms weren’t so temperamental. Shannon spoke volumes about diet soda, and the joys of insect repellent. Juice said all he wanted was a toothbrush.

And they
all
missed plumbing.

They stopped at each river and did their best to bathe and wash out their clothes while watering the horses and refilling their canteens. None of them had much in the way of survival skills, so they had rationed their food the best they could. The food, a term they used with reservations, consisted of hard tack biscuits, jerky, and dried fruit.

Eventually they’d been forced to hunt. Sally used her speed to bag a couple of rabbits and Ace managed to bring down a wild turkey. They had a nice little barbecue that night under the stars. It was good enough that for a little while they all felt more like they were camping than merely surviving.

The group stayed away from native American tribes as best they could to avoid any potential hostilities. Although Juice was loathe to do so, he allowed Shannon to raid some camps for a few supplies and trinkets which they could possibly trade.

By the time they made it to Fort Laramie, they were all a few pounds lighter but in good spirits. They’d had two weeks to prepare their acts and it was there that “Mohawk” William Kramer’s Traveling Circus and Revue made their first performance.

They’d modified their costumes to give them a more festive appearance. Will wore the least-tattered of the cavalry uniforms and a Sioux headdress that Shannon had stolen from a tepee. Juice wore a loincloth over his uniform pants, Indian-style, and no shirt, to show off his powerful physique. Shannon wore her bodysuit without the cloak or hood and some silver jewelry she’d also taken. They’d altered Shannon’s cloak and hood into a fairly scandalous outfit for Ace. Sally wore the smallest of the cavalry uniforms, albeit without the jacket.

They kept Will’s spur-of-the-moment identities. Juice, as Jimbo, the World’s Strongest Man, would amaze people with feats of strength. Shannon, Shandini the Great, would use her power to become insubstantial to escape from any bonds in which she was placed. Sally would perform sleight-of-hand tricks as Sally Swift, Fastest Hands in the West. Ace would belly-dance to draw a lot of attention from the largely-male audience with her taut body and exotic looks. Will would work the crowd with his practiced stage-banter. And should he find a guitar, perhaps he’d strike up a tune or two.

Their performance went over pretty well. They’d had little time to practice or put together any semblance of professionalism, but their audience consisted largely of traders who’d been out in the wilds a long time. The men hooted and howled at the women, cheered and whistled every time Juice lifted something massive, and heckled Will enthusiastically. In the end, they made enough money to purchase new supplies for their travels, as well as some period-suitable clothing. They also purchased three additional pistols and bullets. Juice wanted everyone to be armed. People in this time period understood guns, and respected them, he explained. There would be fewer questions to answer if they could defuse any troublesome situations by pointing a gun rather than blatantly using any parahuman abilities. Sally asked for and received the smallest two-shot derringer in the general store. It looked like a toy, but the proprietor assured them it was lethal at ranges up to fifteen feet. Will selected a regular six-shooter, like the ones Curley had given to Juice and Shannon. Ace was happy with the Winchester rifle from the cavalry camp, but Juice ordered her to also take a holdout pistol for herself. Besides his pistol, Juice carried the other rifle.

When they rode out from Laramie, heading south along the trail to Cheyenne and the Union Pacific Railroad, they felt quite pleased with themselves. Clean clothes, fresh food, and Will plucking away at a cheap guitar he’d found in a dusty corner of the general store had done wonders for their morale.

The first night out from Laramie, Sally woke suddenly from a particularly vibrant dream about Jason and sat up with a start.

“You all right?” Shannon asked. She was on late watch, and whittled away at a stick to pass the time.

“Yeah,” sighed Sally. She found her canteen and took a few sips. Then she sat down, wrapping her blanket around herself, and stared into the embers of the fire.

“For what it’s worth,” said Shannon. “I’m sorry about what happened.”

Sally looked at her in surprise. The apology was both unsolicited and unexpected. “What exactly
did
happen?”

Shannon shrugged. “I made a mistake. And you and Jason are the ones paying for it. I’ve felt really bad about it, but I didn’t know how to tell you.”

“Did you sleep with him?” Sally’s tone was frosty.

“No. Well, not since the Academy, but you knew about that, right?”

Sally felt her cheeks growing hot. “He never said, but I thought as much. What were you doing in his room?”

“I was going to seduce him. I’m not going to lie to you about that. I guess you always have a special place in your heart for your first lover. I wanted to see if it was a fluke.”

“A fluke? You were just going to… to
use
him?” Sally struggled to keep her voice quiet so as to not wake the others.

Shannon’s face fell. “I suppose that’s as good a word as any. But he said no.”

“Was that before or after I walked in?”

“Before. He said you two were a couple.”

“So what were you doing in his lap?” Sally hugged her knees.

Now it was Shannon’s turn to sigh. “Trying to convince him anyway. I didn’t… I
don’t
want him for a boyfriend. I don’t need that particular complication in my life with my work for Homeland Security. I just wanted to get laid. By him.” She set down her knife and piece of wood. “I guess I’m a pretty shallow person. Anyway, I’m sorry.”

“Can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“What did he say about us… I mean, him and me?” Sally couldn’t look toward Shannon.

“He just said that you were his girlfriend and he cared about you a lot and didn’t want to screw that up.”