Justin Case: Unlimited Power

The Great Vactrain Robbery

It all began above the eternally frozen mountains of Vel-nar.

Hundreds of meters in the air, vactrain 1879-G zipped along without visible means of support. While the ground observer might notice the redundant electromagnetic field generators dotted along the snowy ground, five-meter V's far beneath the plasma tube, passengers have only the purplish-orange glow of the tube itself to hint at the complex electromagnetic fields that both maintained the vactrain's elevation and yanked it towards its destination.

The long, silvery vactrain traveled almost a kilometer a second. At such speeds, an outside observer would only notice a silver streak in the middle of the long purplish-orange plasma tube, a streak that would stretch from one horizon to the next and stay there for a few seconds before disappearing. A passenger would see the train itself in all its silver and gray glory, but the world outside would flash past in a purplish-orange tinted blur.

Fast and reliable, these vactrains have become the long-distance transportation of choice for cargo as well as moderate to low-income people the world over. Not a single crash, missing train car, or even a late arrival in over a decade. This time, however, the long-standing tradition of success was about to be broken. Not all of this train would reach its destination.

A rotund passenger with a fake ID of "Bo Jangle" stepped out of car 11256 onto the platform connecting it to car 11257. A glance at the timer at the corner of his vision confirmed that he was on schedule, and a quick check of his sensors verified that the electrified coupler had no additional safeguards. How sloppy. As if a few million volts would serve as an effective deterrent against someone like him.

Removing his detachable belly, Justin Case alias Bo Jangle attached the "belly" to the platform and activated it. Time to see if Jink's new gadget worked as advertised.

With jerks reminiscent of a clockwork machine, the devices sprouted arms that stretched around the sides of car 11257 to meet at the far connection point. Simultaneous cuts at both connector cables both disconnected car 11257 from the rest of the vactrain and rerouted power around it to keep the remaining parts of the vactrain attached and functional. A bit melodramatic, but you had to keep the client happy.

Justin felt the buzzing in his feet as the alarms he couldn't hear began blaring inside the vactrain. With any luck, he'd be gone by the time the guards arrived.

Without the current to power its electromagnets, the discarded car 11257 fell for an instant before slowing as it passed through the plasma tube. The front of the car began to glow with all the plasma it was plowing through. Fortunately, the magnetic fields kept the plasma contained, or the sparks might have hit Justin. He doubted that the vactrain's engines were enjoying the drag, but then finally car 11257 had fallen far enough to be mostly out of the rest of the train's way. With a slight jolt, the vactrain bumped the detached car on its way past. Once clear of the magnetic field supporting the tube, the discarded car rapidly accelerated.

Car 11257 was caught in the suspensor bed of the stealth truck which had been patiently flying beneath the plasma tube, waiting for the vactrain to catch up.

The truck carrying car 11257 lagged behind the faster vactrain, allowing Justin to see a smaller craft with a softer catcher in the gap left by the missing train car. His dip through the plasma wall might be a bit warm, but this suit was built to insulate against excess heat. A quick dip sure beat the slow baking he'd have gotten onboard the falling cars.

That's when the door behind him burst open and knocked Justin off his feet. He twisted in midair and gave the guards a jaunty wave just as they opened fire. Ceramic bullets whizzed around him, a few sparking as they struck the net of grounding wires built into the suit. The orange-purple haze of the plasma tube obscured Justin's view of the train.