Free Just Cause: Revised & Expanded Edition by Ian Thomas Healy Page A

a tour, but there was going to be a lot of work to do even after they relinquished their captive. She yawned.
    A hero’s work was never done.
     

Chapter Seven
     
    The “activation” of parahuman abilities is a myth perpetuated by the media. There is no way to tell whether someone who has the so-called “power gene” will develop abilities, and if so, what those abilities might entail.
    I’ve been asked if it is possible to create parahuman abilities in someone who has the power gene. I do not know, but I believe they may be triggered through evolutionary pressures. I’ve also been asked if parahuman abilities can be bestowed upon someone without the power gene.
    I do not believe that is possible.
    -From “The Origin of Parapowers” by Dr. Matasuko Musashi, 1995
     
    January, 2004
    Denver, Colorado
     
    Sally flopped onto her bed, too tired to do more than kick off her cracked and friction-burned boots. Her last coherent thought was that she really ought at least to pull off her bodysuit before she passed out for good. Blissful sleep overtook her as she fumbled for her uniform zipper.
    It seemed like she had slept for only minutes when somebody knocked at her door and jolted her awake.
    She grimaced as she staggered over to the door on tender bare feet. “Yeah?” Her voice croaked like a frog’s.
    “It’s Jason,” said a voice behind the door. “I came by to see how you were feeling today. Juice said you had a rough time of it last night.”
    Sally rubbed her eyes, still feeling like her head was full of cotton. “Give me a minute, Jason… I just woke up.” She squinted at her bedside clock. 3:06 . For a crazy moment she thought Jason had come to talk to her at three in the morning, but then she realized it was the middle of the afternoon and she’d slept all day.
    “Oh, sure. I can come back later if you want.”
    She almost said, yes, please do, but her heart was already racing and if he left she would only lie awake on the bed and wonder if it had been the right thing to say. “No, it’s okay. Can I meet you in the rec room in a few minutes?”
    “Sure. See you.” She heard his footsteps recede as he tromped down the hall.
    The bed called to her with a mighty voice, but she gave it a wide berth, lest it reach out and snag her. She grimaced because she still stank of copper cable. After they had delivered the antimatter creature to Deep Six, Juice had Sally running all over the area, helping to get the power grid back online so the citizens of the Mountain West wouldn’t freeze overnight. She’d run cable and installed fuses; she might have qualified as an apprentice electrician after all the work she did the night before. It had been sometime past way too late and before way too early when they’d gotten the grid back up. Forcestar had stayed behind at the prison facility, Deep Six, to help contain the creature until the staff had a chance to devise a suitable containment system. Doublecharge had been treated by the Deep Six medical techs and was recuperating in Just Cause’s medical wing. The rest of the team had worked like over-caffeinated speed freaks to get the power back on, and Sally ached all the way down to the marrow in her bones.
    A hot shower helped to improve her disposition. She luxuriated in the steamy spray for a quarter of an hour, much longer than her normal three-minute shower. She spent the next few minutes fighting with her hair under the comfort of the heat lamp. “Honey, there’s a reason speedsters have short hair,” she said to herself in the mirror as she worked out a tangle.
    After a couple more minutes that felt like an eternity, she dressed in a pair of jeans and an oversize flannel shirt, because she still felt the chill of the previous night in her bones. When she finally checked the clock, she saw that almost half an hour had passed, and she hoped Jason had waited for her.
    Her worries turned out to be unfounded. Jason was lounging in one of the overstuffed