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    Just Cause Universe Compendium
    Just Cause Universe Compendium
    Just Cause Universe Compendium
    Ebook364 pages5 hoursThe Just Cause Universe

    Just Cause Universe Compendium

    By Ian Thomas Healy

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    About this ebook

    From a single short story written in 2001 to a sprawling series of more than twenty books, the Just Cause Universe is a superheroic reflection of our times. Encompassing more than sixty years of history, these tales fill in the gaps, tell the side stories, and broaden the depth of the JCU. Although all these stories have appeared in previous publications, this is the first time they have been collected into a single volume. Arranged in roughly chronological order, these stories start with the earliest heroes from World War II and run the gamut through to recent history. Read how the inclusion of superheroes has changed some real-world events, while others have instead changed the heroes themselves.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherLocal Hero Press, LLC
    Release dateOct 25, 2020
    ISBN9781005874964
    Just Cause Universe Compendium
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    Author

    Ian Thomas Healy

    Ian Thomas Healy is a prolific writer who dabbles in many different speculative genres. He’s a ten-time participant and winner of National Novel Writing Month where he’s tackled such diverse subjects as sentient alien farts, competitive forklift racing, a religion-powered rabbit-themed superhero, cyberpunk mercenaries, cowboy elves, and an unlikely combination of vampires with minor league hockey. He is also the creator of the Writing Better Action Through Cinematic Techniques workshop, which helps writers to improve their action scenes.Ian also created the longest-running superhero webcomic done in LEGO, The Adventures of the S-Team, which ran from 2006-2012.When not writing, which is rare, he enjoys watching hockey, reading comic books (and serious books, too), and living in the great state of Colorado, which he shares with his wife, children, house-pets, and approximately five million other people.

    Read more from Ian Thomas Healy

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      Book preview

      Just Cause Universe Compendium - Ian Thomas Healy

      Just Cause Universe

      Compendium

      The Collected Stories 2001-2020

      IAN THOMAS HEALY

      Copyright 2020 Ian Thomas Healy

      Published by Local Hero Press

      Smashwords Edition

      Smashwords Edition, License Notes

      This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

      This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

      This book, its contents, and its characters are the sole property of its author. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without written, express permission from the author. To do so without permission is punishable by law. Please purchase only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated.

      Cover art by Nathaniel Dickson

      Book design by Local Hero Press, LLC

      All stories have appeared in previous publications:

      The Freakshow from Just Cause: Revised and Expanded Edition Copyright 2012 Ian Thomas Healy

      The Scent of Rose Petals from A Thousand Faces, the Quarterly Journal of Superhuman Fiction: Issue #10 Copyright 2009 Ian Thomas Healy

      Chinatown Ghost from The Good Fight 5: The Golden Age Copyright 2019 Ian Thomas Healy

      Arrowheads from Just Cause: Revised and Expanded Edition Copyright 2012 Ian Thomas Healy

      Blacklisted from JCU Omnibus Vol. 2 Copyright 2015 Ian Thomas Healy

      Winternight from JCU Omnibus Vol. 2 Copyright 2015 Ian Thomas Healy

      Summer of Love from JCU Omnibus Vol. 2 Copyright 2015 Ian Thomas Healy

      Pride from JCU Omnibus Vol. 1 Copyright 2014 Ian Thomas Healy

      The Steel Soldier’s Gambit Copyright 2011 Ian Thomas Healy

      Components from The Good Fight 2: Villains Copyright 2015 Ian Thomas Healy

      Dust to Dust from Just Cause: Revised and Expanded Edition Copyright 2012 Ian Thomas Healy

      Falling from JCU Omnibus Vol. 1 Copyright 2014 Ian Thomas Healy

      Gideon’s Horn from JCU Omnibus Vol. 1 Copyright 2014 Ian Thomas Healy

      Bulletproof Copyright 2011 Ian Thomas Healy

      Young Guns Copyright 2011 Ian Thomas Healy

      Tuesday Night at Powerman’s Copyright 2011 Ian Thomas Healy

      Teeth of the Night from The Bulletproof Badge Copyright 2012 Ian Thomas Healy

      Domestic Disturbance from The Bulletproof Badge Copyright 2012 Ian Thomas Healy

      Silent Alarm from The Bulletproof Badge Copyright 2012 Ian Thomas Healy

      Archenemy from The Good Fight Copyright 2014 Ian Thomas Healy

      Graceful Blur Copyright 2011 Ian Thomas Healy

      Sun-Kissed from The Good Fight 3: Sidekicks Copyright 2017 Ian Thomas Healy

      Books From Local Hero Press

      The Just Cause Universe

      Just Cause

      The Archmage

      Day of the Destroyer

      Deep Six

      Jackrabbit

      Champion

      Castles

      The Lion and the Five Deadly Serpents

      Tusks

      The Neighborhood Watch

      Jackrabbit: Big in Japan

      Arena

      Hero Academy

      The Path

      Cinco de Mayo

      Search and Rescue

      Rooftops

      Plague

      Soldiers of Fortune

      JCU Compendium

      Destroyer of Earth (Winter 2021)

      Flint and Steel (Spring 2021)

      Pariah of Verigo Novels

      Pariah’s Moon

      Pariah’s War

      Three Flavors of Tacos Trilogy

      The Guitarist

      Making the Cut

      The Scene Stealers

      Other Novels

      Assassin

      Blood on the Ice

      Funeral Games

      Hope and Undead Elvis

      Horde

      Strings

      Starf*cker

      The Oilman’s Daughter

      Troubleshooters

      Collections

      Airship Lies

      High Contrast

      Muddy Creek Tales

      The Good Fight

      The Good Fight 3: Sidekicks

      The Good Fight 4: Homefront

      The Good Fight 5: The Golden Age

      Caped

      Nonfiction

      Action! Writing Better Action Using Cinematic Techniques

      All titles and more available wherever books and ebooks are sold.

      Table of Contents

      The Freakshow

      The Scent of Rose Petals

      Chinatown Ghost

      Arrowheads

      Blacklisted

      Winternight

      Summer of Love

      Pride

      The Steel Soldier’s Gambit

      Components

      Dust to Dust

      Falling

      Gideon’s Horn

      Bulletproof

      Young Guns

      Tuesday Night at Powerman’s

      Teeth of the Night

      Domestic Disturbance

      Silent Alarm

      Graceful Blur

      Archenemy

      Sun-Kissed

      Author Notes

      Twenty years is a long damn time.

      In twenty years, you can watch your children grow from babies to adults. You can watch economies rise and fall—multiple times! Some of us put on weight over twenty years. And lose it. And gain it back again. Our hair that used to be dark goes gray, or maybe falls out (I’ve been fortunate not to experience that last). The world constantly transforms around us, and what is happening now would be unrecognizable twenty years ago, and vice-versa.

      The Just Cause Universe has existed in my mind since the ‘90s, when it was a role-playing-game setting I created for superhero gaming with a group that is still going on today, albeit with a new generation of players joining the old guard. That setting was where some of the most important characters in the JCU first appeared. I didn’t start writing actual stories about them until much later, in 2001 when I wrote the story Bulletproof. Over the next twenty years, I wrote a bunch more short stories and a whole pile of novels set in the same universe of superheroes. I don’t know if I’ll write many more short stories—I much prefer the longer form of novels. The stories that are completed do a pretty good job of filling in the cracks and coloring around the edges of the novels, and I’ve included some of them as bonus features in books. Others have appeared in collections and anthologies, but this is the first time I’ve collected all of them in one place.

      If you’re already obsessed with the JCU, it’s likely you’ve read most if not all of these books. If, however, you’re new to the series, or still discovering it, there will be some pleasant surprises here for you.

      * * *

      As always, I have a list of people without whom this book would never have come to pass. Over the years, I’ve had dozens of beta readers and I’m afraid of accidentally leaving someone by listing who I can remember. Let it suffice to say that if you helped me with any of the stories in this book, I am grateful for your help. Without you, these stories wouldn’t be as good as they are.

      I do want to give a shout-out to my cover artist Nathaniel, who produced a shining interpretation of Mustang Sally on short notice.

      I’m especially grateful to my family for giving me time and space to write when we’re all crammed into the same tiny house to avoid catching the plague. And last, thank you to all my fans around the world who inspire me to tell new stories. Stay safe!

      -Ian Thomas Healy

      October, 2020

      Return to Table of Contents

      The Freakshow

      I remember clearly looking down the great hall and thinking to myself what a waste of Aryan blood; one hundred men—one hundred of the best soldiers in the Reich who had volunteered to die for the Fatherland. Each was strapped to a gurney, elevated forty-five degrees. At the end of the hall was Messer’s Device. It crouched like some great, hulking beast, barely containing the energies within its carefully-crafted skin.

      Messer gave his usual speech—that the men had been selected for their bravery and their loyalty to Germany for a special treatment that would make them into the supermen they were destined to become. His speech was always the same. I had heard it so many times I could have repeated it word for word; so many times he had sent a group of good soldiers like these to their death.

      God in Heaven, how could we have known this time he would have been right?

      -Dr. Felix Dietrich, 1942

      February, 1942

      Aufstein, Germany

      The way the castle lights dimmed and flickered worried Jim Scott. The American soldier watched the two-hundred-year-old castle through his field glasses, as he sprawled across a high rock ledge that overlooked the castle. Scott could have been a poster child for the Aryan ideal, had he not been a loyal son of America—six foot four, built like a farmhand, with a strong jaw and a shock of dirty blond hair that had grown out considerably since the arrival of his team in Germany. Officially, their team’s code name was Project Circus, but everybody from General Eisenhower on down just called them The Freakshow.

      Goddamn Krauts don’t know a goddamn thing about wiring, grumbled Johnny Stills next to him. He fumbled for his canteen, which Scott knew was full of cheap Swiss vodka. Stills was small, almost rat-like in his appearance and intensity. He was dark-eyed and furtive in his movements.

      A few battery-powered lights flickered to life below. Now’s our chance, said Scott. While they’re restoring power.

      Stills nodded, wiping his mouth with the back of a grimy hand. Move out, he whisper-shouted behind him. Two more dogfaces emerged from the low evergreens. William Hester and Ray Downs. Hester was twenty-four, making him the oldest of the group, and wore glasses, earning him the nickname Professor. Downs was the youngest, barely eighteen. His overlarge ears made him seem even younger. If it hadn’t been for his parahuman ability, Scott would have refused to take him on a mission. It was like having your younger brother along on a date. The four men had infiltrated Germany nearly three weeks earlier with help from the French Resistance and had been making their careful way to Aufstein, where Allied Command said the Nazis were working on some secret weapon.

      Did you guys hear that? Downs tapped his ear as he attached a rope around a sturdy rock outcropping.

      "What do you think, moron?" Stills sneered at him, making no effort to connect his own rope.

      Stow that noise, Corporal, said Scott. We’re going to have a hard enough time of this without you announcing our presence to the entire Third Reich. What’d you hear, Sounder?

      Downs shrugged. Dunno, Sergeant. Sounded like they turned on a big dynamo.

      Couldn’t have been, said Hester. A dynamo makes power, not drains it. Why’d they lose their lights?

      Stills muttered something under his breath that sounded something like whyncha go ask ‘em, shithead?

      Scott ignored his headstrong second-in-command. In spite of Stills’ abrasive personality, he was a brilliant tactician and made excellent use of his particular skills. You guys ready for descent?

      Hester and Downs answered in the affirmative. Downs even sounded eager. They hadn’t seen any real action since France, and that seemed like an eternity ago, and more than once, Downs had complained about all the damn sneaking around. It ain’t fair. I want to kill me some krauts, he’d say, fingering his knife.

      Scott turned to Stills. "Corporal, secure our landing site. And do it quietly."

      Stills drew his bowie knife and saluted. Yes sir, he said, and vanished off the rock with a soft puff of inrushing air.

      Stills was what Allied Command called an exceptional talent. They all were. Scott had been the first, found by a displaced French researcher named Georges Devereaux. Scott was strong enough to toss a jeep across a parking lot and tough enough to take a fifty-caliber bullet in the chest without even blinking, much less bleeding. He could also fly for almost a mile at a time, something that was more than a leap but less than actual flight. Devereaux had found Scott, thanks to his odd ability to see parahuman abilities in others, and brought him to see some men in the Army. They liked what they saw and immediately enrolled him in Basic. Then they went back to Devereaux and asked if he could find a few more like Scott, whom they code-named Strongman.

      John Henry Stills was next. He was a teleport, able to move anywhere he could see without traversing the space between points. He simply vanished from one spot and instantly reappeared in his destination. He was a master knife-wielder, having been working in his father’s slaughterhouse. Scott had seen him slice a kraut to bloody ribbons in seconds, flashing all around him faster than could be seen. The army code-named him Flicker, which he hated. But they let him get away with his antics because he was a parahuman, and there were only four in all the American forces, plus the wild card of Georges Devereaux.

      William Hester could imbue objects he could hold in his hand with kinetic energy and then release them with enough force to rupture tank armor. In spite of his tremendous combat ability, Hester was mostly an intellectual. The soft-spoken, bespectacled man was more likely to be found with his nose buried in a book during down time, instead of chasing women or gambling like normal soldiers. On paper, he was called Meteor, but to everyone else he was just Professor.

      Raymond Downs had lied about his age to get into the army. He wanted desperately to be a soldier and to fight the Axis, joining when he was only fifteen. Four months later his mother had come to pick him up from Fort Bening just before he was scheduled to ship out. Downs had nearly died from the sheer embarrassment of it. Two months later he was back when his family doctor couldn’t explain why Downs could hear things that were too quiet, too far, and too high-pitched for anyone else. The Army doctors determined his abilities far surpassed normal, and he received a special dispensation to join and a codename, Sounder.

      When the Army brass had showed their abilities to Albert Einstein, he said, that’s exceptional. The Army being what it was, the four men were referred to as exceptional talents from then on. They had been trained for every possible situation the G-men could devise. Eventually Roosevelt had ordered them deployed and they parachuted into France with a few thousand other dogfaces.

      They’d had some success aiding the French Resistance by using their special abilities to complete missions that would have otherwise required ten times as many men. Their standard mode of operation was for Sounder to provide the intelligence via sound cues, then Flicker would secure the site, and finally Strongman and Meteor would go to work. Emplaced machinegun nests were no challenge to the four of them, and they could take out a convoy in a matter of seconds. This particular mission was going to require some different tactics. Their objective was gathering information about the project the Nazis had set up in Aufstein Castle.

      Scott hadn’t been told, officially, what Army Intelligence thought was going on in the castle. Unofficially, he’d been told that the krauts were trying to make their own exceptional talents. Allied Command was very interested in their experiments. Project Circus was to gather as much information about the process as they could, and then permanently disrupt operations. Scott was all in favor of the mission. The idea of an army filled with soldiers like himself marching across the face of Europe gave him nightmares.

      He checked his watch. Two minutes had passed since Stills had vanished and he hadn’t reappeared. If the area hadn’t been secured, he would have popped back to report. He nodded at Hester and Downs, who began quietly rappelling down the rock face. Scott watched their progress, checking the castle for any sign they’d been seen. The castle was still mostly dark. Whatever the krauts had set off was drawing plenty of power. Hester and Downs got down to the ground and took up covering positions with their rifles. There was no sign of Stills, but Scott knew he’d be around somewhere. He took one last glance at the castle, then stepped off the side of the rock, letting himself fall.

      Flying took a certain amount of suspension of disbelief. Scott always visualized himself parachuting when he fell. He’d actually been tested from heights of over two hundred feet and always landed safely. Well, not always. He could still twist an ankle or something else painful and inconveniencing. At least he didn’t have to worry about being shot on the way down, as had happened to so many of the other soldiers. He always tried imagining he was an airplane when he launched himself into the air. After about a mile, his brain couldn’t seem to handle the impossibility of his motion, and he fell, which was just as unnerving as flying. The doctors thought that they could hypnotize him so he’d be able to fly for longer periods of time, but Scott wasn’t about to let them do that.

      He reached the ground and unlimbered his own rifle. He heard a soft popping sound and a sudden breeze on his cheek announced Stills had teleported back to them. The smaller man’s knife was bloodstained and his grin was shocking and bright in the dark.

      Two sentries in this section, he said. Both accounted for. He wiped his knife on an evergreen and tucked it back in his sheath.

      By now, Scott was familiar with Stills’ bloodthirsty tendencies, and tried not to let it bother him. How many other sentries on patrol?

      I counted six. Three pairs of two.

      Sounder?

      The youngest soldier closed his eyes, concentrating on the sounds nobody else could hear. Confirmed, he said in a moment. He chuckled quietly. Two of ‘em are drunk.

      Okay, here’s the plan . . . Scott began, but before he could continue a loud explosion ripped upward from the middle of the castle, sending cobbles and tiles flying.

      Shit, whispered Stills. Think that’s good for us or bad for us?

      An alarm began to wail, sounding very much like the air raid sirens in London. The four men instinctively looked to the skies, half afraid they would see a flight of B-17s on approach.

      Hey, look! Hester pointed toward the castle. People were fleeing from the main entrance. Some of them were clearly soldiers, but others were in civilian garb or wearing white lab coats. They fought with each other as they grabbed motorcycles, trucks, or whatever vehicles were available. Engines sputtered to life and headlights illuminated the large cloud of dust that was raised from the explosion.

      Within moments, the surge of people leaving the castle subsided. Krauts might have done our job for us. Scott motioned to the others. Let’s move in. Stay sharp.

      A ruddy glow in the smoke over the castle roof was a mute testament to a fire still burning inside. The Americans approached cautiously, rifles at the ready. The darkness seemed thick and oppressive as they reached the road, a muddy mess from the quick evacuation of the German vehicles.

      The main gate into the castle hung open.

      Advancing in pairs, they leapfrogged each other all the way to the castle wall. The stone was conducting a slight amount of heat. Scott figured that the interior must be like a blast furnace if the walls were already warm.

      Sounder, you hear anything inside?

      The young man removed his helmet, clapped a hand over one ear, and pressed the other against the wall, eyes shut, listening intently. "Big fire, glass breaking from the heat, something making a shrieking sound, maybe a steam valve? Shit, footsteps!" He pushed himself back from the wall and fumbled for his helmet.

      Stills drew his knife. Scott pulled his pistol from his holster; it would be more useful in close quarters than his M-1. They waited on either side of the doorway. A figure staggered out. Stills’ knife descended sharply and stopped short when Scott blocked his strike with the barrel of his pistol.

      What the hell, Sergeant? Stills looked shocked.

      Look at him, Stills. He’s no threat.

      It was true. The man was badly burned. His clothes were mostly burned away except for the metal parts, which had cooked into the ruin of his skin. He tripped and fell, landing face down in the mud.

      Scott had seen men burned by flamethrowers before, but this was worse than anything he’d ever witnessed. Bile rose in the back of his throat. Behind him, Downs vomited against the side of the castle. The man’s limbs trembled as if he was cold, but it was surely from the massive nerve damage he’d sustained. Choking back the bad taste in his mouth, Scott reached out a boot and flipped the man over. Carbonized flesh flaked off him in layers. The man’s face was gone, charred bone peeking through the cooked muscle. Incredibly, he was still breathing and whispering something through his burned lips and tongue.

      Hester, ordered Scott through clenched teeth. Hester was the only one who spoke German. The Professor spat to one side and kneeled down next to the man, disgust leaching from his pores.

      "He keeps saying übermensch, over and over," said Hester after a moment, getting back to his feet.

      What’s that mean? Downs wiped his mouth. His face had gone as pale as the moon.

      Super man, Hester answered. Mercifully, the man stopped moving as his injuries overcame him.

      Scott felt all the strength drain out of his legs. Holy Christ. What if they did it?

      Stills’ lip curled in disdain. He was undoubtedly still upset about Scott stopping him, since he believed the only good kraut was a dead kraut, no matter the circumstances. Did what?

      Made someone like us, said Hester.

      Bullshit! How could you make a parahuman? Stills shoved his knife back into its sheath.

      Nobody knows how we got our powers, said Scott. I didn’t really know about mine until I hit eighteen. You found out about yours by accident, Stills, and Downs didn’t get his until after Basic Training. The Nazis have scientists; maybe they figured something out.

      The four men were silent for a moment as each considered the possibility of a Nazi parahuman.

      Okay, let’s move in, said Scott finally.

      What, in there? Stills was adamant. No way.

      That’s an order, Corporal. Salvage any documents you can find.

      Rifles drawn, they moved into the castle.

      The entryway was filled with smoke. A smoldering Nazi flag hung in the middle of the hall. Somewhere ahead, they could all hear the sounds of a fire.

      How come it ain’t burning out here? Downs asked.

      Stone don’t burn, kid, said Stills.

      They passed through another doorway into a courtyard. There was the remains of a building in the middle of the courtyard where the explosion must have occurred. Some of the cobblestones around the ruin glowed white hot. The force of the explosion seemed to have blown out most of the fire, leaving behind only the charred inflammables in its wake.

      It does if it gets hot enough. Hester coughed through the acrid fumes in the air. I never heard of anything making this kind of heat except a volcano.

      Shattered Klieg lights and warped scaffolding surrounded the courtyard. Scott looked around intently. Up on the castle wall was a steel and glass booth that was in just the spot he would have picked for an observation gallery. The glass was melted and blackened.

      Stills, can you get up there to check that out?

      Affirmative. Stills winked out of the courtyard and appeared up on the wall. Rifle out, he kicked open the door and peered inside. In a moment, he called out from the doorway. Sergeant, you better get up here!

      Scott took as deep a breath as he could in the smoky air and concentrated. His feet left the ground and he flew up to the top of the wall. A reek of charred flesh emerged from the booth. Scott swallowed hard, then stepped into the enclosure.

      Everything in the room from window height and up had been charred black. Ash eddied in the air currents. Two people had been seated in chairs, presumably to watch the events unfolding in the courtyard below. Their legs and lower bodies were relatively unharmed, but from the waist up, they were essentially unrecognizable lumps of charcoal.

      What is this? Scott asked, disturbed at the strangeness the scene entailed.

      Some kinda observation tower. I figure there might be some notes or something here, but I didn’t want to touch nothin’ without your approval first. Stills glanced at the two smoking corpses. Shitty way to go. Must have been one hell of a burst to cook ‘em like that!

      Scott clicked on his electric torch and began searching for anything he could take with him back to Allied Command. A shelf of notebooks might have been promising, but they had been turned into lattices of ash that disintegrated when he touched them. He began rooting through drawers in a low file cabinet. Nothing. No notes, no binders, nothing to show but death.

      Sergeant! Downs’ voice was urgent from down in the courtyard.

      Scott leaned out of the observation booth door. What, Sounder?

      Heartbeat, sir, and it isn’t one of ours.

      A sudden rush of air and ash behind Scott informed him that Stills had just teleported out. Sure enough, he appeared an instant later next to Downs, already drawing his knife.

      Scott vaulted the edge of the wall and dropped the twenty feet to the courtyard. For a trained paratrooper, even one who could fly, it was like any other landing. Hester had his pistol out and was slowly circling, like a hawk preparing to strike. His left hand clutched a fist-sized chunk of rock that vibrated with barelycontained kinetic energy.

      Where is it, Ray? Scott grasped his own pistol at the ready.

      Downs turned around slowly, using his ears like a radar set. Through there. He pointed to the stone building in the center of the courtyard. It was long, stretching nearly two-thirds of the length of the courtyard itself. A large portion of the roof had been immolated in the explosion. Sounds like he’s inside a metal box by the echo of it.

      Maybe he can tell us what happened, said Hester in a hoarse, choking voice.

      Move in, said Scott. And watch yourselves. It’s still damn hot in here.

      The four men advanced to the building. The entry doors had been blown off their hinges and lay smoldering on the courtyard cobbles. Two by two, they entered the building.

      Inside was a long, low-ceilinged hall. Strange metal implements lined each wall at regular intervals, twisted into unrecognizable shapes by the heat. Small metal boxes were bolted down by each sculpture. Scott approached one cautiously and flipped open the catch with the tip of his rifle. Inside it was a smoke-stained German army uniform. He looked back down the hall, trying to picture it before the accident.

      Beds. These were beds. Hester stepped up next to him. That’s why the footlockers are here.

      That doesn’t make sense. Was it a hospital?

      Hester looked grim. Not a chance. This looks like a lab of some sort. These poor guys were subjects. They glanced down and saw charred bone fragments amid the ash remains of flesh and bedding.

      Sarge, in there. Downs motioned to a bank of heavy clothing lockers against one wall. He and Stills stepped up to them. The young man closed his eyes, listening intently next to each door. He stopped at the third locker, opened his eyes, and nodded. Stills took up a position on one side of the door, Downs the other. Scott and Hester raised their weapons, preparing for the worst. Stills nodded and raised his fingers in a silent count. One . . . two . . . three!

      Downs yanked open the door and a man pitched forward onto the charred floor. He coughed and choked, rolling onto his side. A rope of mucus and blood trailed from his mouth. His skin had an odd, waxy sheen to it. With horror, Scott realized his eyes had been burned out; their remains leaked down his cheeks.

      In his hands, he was clutching a notebook.

      This him? Scott asked. Downs nodded, eyes wide. Professor, check him out and confiscate that book. Downs, Stills, check the rest of the lockers, including the footlockers.

      Hester dropped to his knees and started to pull the notebook away from the man. The man started and closed a desperate hand around Hester’s wrist, babbling something in German. Hester kept his cool and asked the man a question. The man stuttered as if he was drugged.

      Give him some morhpine, said Scott. Maybe it’ll help us get some answers from him.

      As the drug kicked in, the man became somewhat more lucid. He spoke rapid-fire German, as if he was trying to get all of his thoughts out before he perished from whatever it was that was eating him up inside. Hester took frantic notes in the man’s notebook. Most of the man’s speech was so jumbled and incoherent that

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