Hauk gave him an innocent puppy-dog look. It seemed he was the only customer inside the place. He wedged himself behind a support column, one that hid his presence from anyone who tried to peer in through the glass storefront. “Please, mister. Could you contact the cops? There’s a very big man following me.”
The storekeeper maintained his smile. “A man following you, you say? Well, this isn’t unheard of since we do have a lot of offworlders lusting after younglings such as yourself in this city. Perhaps he just thought you were a local. I’m sure if you tell him you’re a tourist looking for whatever it is you want just like him, he’ll be off looking for the real charm boys instead.”
“Please, sir,” Hauk said. “The guy’s dangerous. I think he’s a cyber!”
The storekeeper raised an eyebrow. “A cyber? Well, they’re not banned here, unlike in some of the more puritanical worlds of our beloved Union. Unless he commits a crime, I can’t just call the cops on him. We tend to have a very laid-back police force here, you know.”
Hauk held his breath as he saw the man’s shadow just outside of the store, trying to peer through the display window to see if the boy went inside. The storekeeper noticed Hauk’s distress and pretended to wipe a smidgen of dust off the countertop in front of him. The man outside scanned the interior for a few more minutes before he turned and disappeared from view.
The boy sighed with relief. “Whew, that was close.”
The storekeeper chuckled. “I can see why he would be interested in you. You’re quite good-looking. I’d employ you myself if you weren’t a tourist.”
“No thanks,” Hauk said. “I’m sorry for running in here, but I’ll get going now.”
The owner gestured at the expansive paraphernalia around him. “Are you sure I can’t entice you with something to your liking, boy? I mean, you did come to Avalon, after all. What will it be? Sex or drugs? I have accessories for both. In fact, I’ll even give you a discount.”
Hauk hesitated. He wasn’t too interested in what Avalon had to offer, but he wanted to bond further with the spacer crews and so had tagged along when the lieutenant offered to bankroll their vacation. The memories of his past in the red light district of his homeworld brought back memories best left forgotten. Hauk was familiar with the many sex gadgets displayed inside the store, and he wanted nothing to do with them.
The storekeeper shrugged his shoulders. “Come on, kid. I saved you from that thug, remember? I haven’t had a sale since the day started. Help me out here.”
Biting his lip, Hauk pulled out a small wad of cash cards. He pointed at a tiny box of white capsules beneath the transparent countertop. “Those are rapture pills, right?”
The storekeeper pulled the small packet out and placed it on the counter. “Indeed. You know your drugs, boy. These are the mild ones though.” He pointed to a set of red pills. “The ones here can put you in a two-hour state of euphoria before lulling you into a restful sleep. In those two hours, you can make intense, nonstop love to ten women, or men, or other kids, all at once. I know one guy who even broke a sex bot using them.”
“I’ll just take a half dozen of the mild ones,” Hauk said. “How much?”
The store owner grinned. He’d made a sale. “That will only be sixteen—”
A chime from the doorbell interrupted their transaction as the man who was following the boy walked into the store and faced them. Hauk turned to look and froze in shock, unable to think or say anything.
The shop owner was the first to recover his composure. “Welcome, sir. H-how may I-I help you?”
The giant ignored him while pointing a metallic finger at the boy. His tone was gruff. “I have been looking for you.”
“I’m afraid he’s just a tourist like yourself, sir,” the owner said. “You can find the charm boys his age on Ganymede Street. It’s less than a block away. Would you like me to give you directions?”
The man grimaced. “What do you take me for? A freak? I am not here for that!”
Hauk finally got over his sense of shock. “What do you want from me?”
The hulking man threw back his cloak, revealing the full pair of cybernetic arms attached to his broad shoulders. “You’re wanted, kid.”
The store owner raised his hands in a gesture of calmness and peace. “Initiating any sort of forced violence is against the law here. I need to ask you to leave, sir.”
“This boy is wanted by the authorities on several worlds,” the man said. “I’m taking him with me.”
Hauk noticed the symbol of a red bird painted on the top of the large man’s left hand. It was the logo of the Red Ravens, a cybernetic bounty hunter outfit tasked with bringing in fugitives from all across the galaxy.
The shopkeeper noticed the symbol too. “I’m sorry, but there are no extradition laws here in Avalon. We have a special status throughout the Union on this. I’m sure you were briefed about it during orientation when you arrived at the spaceport.”
“I could care less about your damned laws,” the bounty hunter said to him before turning his attention to Hauk. “Let’s go, child. We can do this the easy way or the hard way.”
“You’ve mistaken me for somebody else, mister,” Hauk said. “I ain’t going with you.”
“Alright, I’m afraid this is enough,” the store owner said as he tapped the smartcom unit on his wrist. “I’m calling the police. They can sort this out.”
In a flash, the bounty hunter closed the distance between him and the counter. He grabbed the storeowner by his forearm and pulled him in closer, smashing through the glass displays around him. The balding shopkeeper yelped out in pain as his arm was fractured, and he began swooning into unconsciousness.
Hauk tried to sidestep away from the two men and made a dash towards the entrance, but the bounty hunter quickly grabbed him by the throat with his other metallic hand. The boy wheezed as he was held up high, his dangling legs running uselessly through air.
“I could bring you in either dead or alive,” the bounty hunter said. “I don’t care either way.”
Hauk gasped as he struggled to free himself from the man’s iron grip on his throat, but his own fists were useless against enhanced cyberwear. He started blacking out from the lack of air going through his clamped windpipe. With a last, desperate effort, Hauk tried pulling the compact laser pistol from underneath his jacket, hoping to shoot his enemy in the face before he got knocked out.
The bounty hunter threw him against a side display. Hauk’s back collided with the glass shelf by the wall and smashed it to a million pieces before he landed in a heap. The agony he felt all over his body had momentarily stunned him. He fought to get past the crushing pain and stay alert.
Dropping the now unconscious shopkeeper to the wreckage on the floor, the bounty hunter stood by the side of the room and activated the shutters, closing the store windows so that bystanders wouldn’t notice what went on inside.
Groaning in pain, Hauk noticed his pistol had been flung a few meters away from him. He began crawling towards it, hoping he could get it into his hands before the tall bounty hunter could reach him.
The bounty hunter strode over to where the boy was and grabbed him by the collar. “I have to hand it to you, you just don’t want to give up.”
Hauk twisted around desperately as the man picked him up. Flailing his arms about for anything he could use, the boy was able to grab a sex device from a nearby lower shelf. After quickly remembering what it could do, Hauk tore it out of its plastic container and activated it, the large pickle-shaped object suddenly vibrating in his hand.
The bounty hunter glanced up at the dildo in disbelief before he started chuckling. “You’re going to fight me with that?”
Hauk adjusted the sex toy’s controller into overclock mode before poking it onto the back of the man’s shoulder. The black dildo’s power charge instantly created a feedback loop, causing a minor short circuit that shot up into the bounty hunter’s neural jack, forcing him to let go of the bo
y.
The bounty hunter grimaced as he struggled to regain control over the temporary disruption of his neuro-control link. Every time he tried to mentally command his arms to hold still, they would gyrate violently. Gritting his teeth, he reached towards the back of his head, trying to push the reset button underneath his skin.
Hauk had landed on his buttocks, and he quickly saw the opportunity. The boy kicked at the bounty hunter’s kneecaps using the flats of his soles. The man cried out in pain as he fell on his knees, just as he regained control of his arms.
Using what little strength he had left, Hauk leapt forward and was able to grab the laser pistol, just as the bounty hunter reached out and seized his ankle.
In one fluid motion, Hauk was able to turn, sit up, and thumb the weapon’s safety off. He fired the laser at point-blank range, right at his enemy’s face, a half second later. The intense flashes of laser fire instantly ablated the bounty hunter’s nose and eyes, totally incapacitating him.
As he slowly stood up over the writhing form in front of him, Hauk tapped at his throat microphone. His throat still hurt, and his voice was now a pained rasp. “Sappho, you’d better warn the lieutenant. Tell him there are bounty hunters looking for us.”
“I’m sorry, Duncan,” Sappho said. “But it seems your strike team commander has either switched off his earpiece or he isn’t wearing it.”
Hauk grimaced. “Great, just what we need. Can you find him?”
“I still have his last known location. After analyzing where it is, there’s a high probability he may still be present in the area.”
Placing the laser pistol beneath his jacket, the boy moved quickly towards the door. “Lead me to it, and warn the others too. We need to get off this world, and fast.”
“Right away.”
3 House of Love
Garrett Strand groaned with contentment as he lay naked beneath the synthetic silk covers of the plush bed. “Times like these make my kind of work worthwhile.”
A young woman with light mocha skin and blond hair full of silvery glitter dust giggled while resting her head on his chest. “You liked that, didn’t you?”
“Of course,” Strand said. “I’m in the most expensive bordello Avalon has to offer. I had a nice, relaxing swim in their huge pool downstairs, and now their two best women are here with me. What more can I ask?”
“Big spender,” the woman said. “What kind of work do you do?”
“That’s classified, babe. All I’m gonna say about it is it’s dangerous, but the rewards are worth it.”
The second woman came out of the bathroom and started moving towards the bed. Her lithe body was completely covered in tattoos. Unlike the first woman, she was completely hairless. “You haven’t even told us your name.”
“You can call me Casanova,” Strand said. “I don’t know your names either.”
The woman lying on his chest turned and winked at him. “I’m Mocha, can’t you tell?”
“Well, that was obvious,” Strand said to her before he looked up at the tattooed woman standing over them. “Don’t tell me your name is Tattoo.”
“It’s not,” the second woman said. “I’m Tatuar.”
Strand chuckled as he sat up. “Well, now that I know both your names, why don’t you tell me how y’all got jobs in this little whorehouse.”
Mocha moved up closer to the headboard. “In this world we call them houses of love.”
Strand raised an eyebrow. “Is that right? I guess it works as a marketing ploy.”
Tatuar poured a steaming helping of qys tea into a small cup and handed it to him. “We cater to all tastes. On this planet, nothing is strange to us.”
The aroma from the hot beverage was like nothing he’d smelled before. Strand took a sip; it tasted like a combination of strawberry, lilac, and unknown alien spices. Within seconds, he began seeing a strange shimmer of scintillating colors across his field of vision. Time seemed to slow down, as if every sensation could be savored by the hour instead of by the second.
Tatuar quickly took the cup away from his trembling hands. “Easy there, my love.”
“Whoa,” Strand said. “I … thought I … took everything … already. But this … this is … new.”
Mocha peered into his eyes. “Are you feeling better now?”
Strand blinked a few times to get the sparkling lights out of his eyes. Mocha’s face seemed elongated, her deep brown eyes the size of planets. He began to feel sleepy. “This … this is … strong stuff.”
Mocha got out of the bed and laughed. “All the better to keep you docile, my dear.”
After placing the cup on a nearby table, Tatuar activated a com-link device beside the tea set. “We did as you instructed, now where’s the money?”
A man’s voice was heard on the other line. “You’ll get it. I’m sending an operative up to the room right now. Make sure the door is unlocked.”
Tataur moved towards the couch in the center of the spacious room and quickly started putting her nightgown on. “Move it. Get dressed, they’re coming.”
Mocha snorted while making her way towards the sofa. “Are you sure about this? I liked this Casanova fellow, he treated me well. Handsome too.”
Tatuar pointed at the now sleeping Strand. “With the money these bounty hunters are giving us, it’ll be worth more than the cut we get from this place.”
“But what if there’s a complaint? I’ll lose my position here,” Mocha said. “I worked hard to get where I am. So did you.”
“He’s not going to complain,” Tataur said. “Where he’s going, we’ll never hear from him again.”
Mocha gave her a quizzical look. “Why? Who’s he anyway?”
“All I heard is that he’s a pirate,” Tataur said. “There’s a huge bounty on his head.”
Mocha’s jaw dropped. “By the antecessors! Do you think he’s part of the crew of that black ship, what’s she called?”
“The Nepenthe,” Tataur said. “Yeah, I think he’s one of the officers, that’s why the money on him is a lot.”
A sense of guilt began to overwhelm Mocha’s greed. She looked away, the nightgown still in her hands. “If he’s one of them … they’re going to kill him, aren’t they?”
Tataur put on her sandals. “What they do with him afterwards is none of our business. They assured me they’ll take him through the back area quietly so nobody notices.”
“But he wouldn’t die if we didn’t do this to him,” Mocha said softly. “I-I don’t feel right about it. I don’t w-want to cause the death of anyone.”
Tataur glared at her. “Look, we already agreed to this. We can’t go back on it now.”
“Let’s … let’s just say he isn’t here.”
“I’ve already contacted them! They’re on their way to this room!”
Mocha sat dejectedly on the couch. “I-I don’t think I c-can go through with this.”
There was a slight knock on the door, startling them both.
Tataur pointed at her partner before making her way towards the entryway. “Just sit there and shut up. Let me handle this.”
When the tattooed prostitute opened the door, a pale, gaunt man wearing a black duster and gloves strode inside before closing the door behind him. Mocha could only stare at him in stunned silence before looking down at the floor.
Tataur quickly closed the door behind him. “You’re Regis, right?”
The man glanced at Strand lying on the bed before turning his head to acknowledge her. “Yeah. How long will he be out?”
Tataur smiled at her handiwork. “A long time.”
Regis wasn’t impressed, and he kept a straight face. “Be specific. How long?”
Tataur stiffened. Her pride was quickly replaced by antipathy towards the people who hired her. “Two hours, at least. I gave him a double dose of hallucinogens and sleep stuff in his tea. Now where’s the money?”
Regis gave her a contemptuous look before he took out a tied bundle of cash cards and
threw them onto the sofa. “There.” He moved towards where Strand was and began wrapping the sleeping pirate with the blanket. “I want you to open the door for me.”
Tataur sat down beside Mocha and began counting the cash cards. “Hold on, let me see if this is enough.”
Regis threw the bundled pirate over his broad shoulders and began to make his way towards the door. “I said open the damn door already.”
Tataur frowned as she stood up. “Wait a minute. There’s only half of what you people promised here.”
Regis was using both hands to steady the load on his shoulders as Strand began to snore loudly. The pirate was heavier than he expected and was swaying back and forth, making the task of carrying him discreetly that much harder. “You’ll get the rest once I’m back on the ship and safely offworld.”
Tataur faced him with a scowl. “That wasn’t the agreement. We’re supposed to be paid in full right now. I could lose my job over this if he complains.”
“You’re not going to get paid another credit if you don’t do as I say, prostie,” Regis said. “Now get that damned door open.”
Tatuar had her own misgivings, and they quickly manifested themselves into a courageous defiance. She held up her wrist to show him the smartcom unit. “If you don’t give me the remaining money, not only am I gonna lock the door, I’m also going to call our house security.”
Regis let Strand slip off his shoulders, and the pirate landed on the shiny stone floor with a muffled groan. The bounty hunter began to inch closer to Tatuar and took his gloves off, revealing a pair of cybernetic hands. “Listen, prostie, I can crush your freaking skull with these. This is your last chance. Do what I tell you or you’ll be hurt, real bad.”
Tatuar turned and tried to run, but Regis quickly caught up to her with a sudden burst of movement from his cybernetic legs. The prostitute cried out as she tried to tap the alarm button on her smartcom. Regis swiftly grabbed her by the wrists and sent an electroshock current through his arms, stunning her. Tataur’s unconscious body crumpled down in front of him as he let go of her arms.
Shards of Eternity (Stars in Shadow Book 2) Page 3