Broken Stars

by L Bowers

  “While that is true this is a big ask. Set me up on an evening out with Hegnomous. I have had my eye on your sister for a while and have not had the nerve to ask. Promise to do this and I will have access granted your work station in twenty minutes.”

  “We both know how she feels about being set up but I will persuade her, Jelosh,” Tevor said.

  “Then we have a deal friend. I am sending a request to get you set up now. I look forward to a pleasant evening with Hegnomous.” Jelosh’s face vanished.

  “Please excuse me, Tom,” Tevor said as he stood. “I must go speak with my sister. I won’t be but a moment.”

  Chapter 22

  Tevor returned after fifteen minutes with a couple drinks and some crackers to snack on. His desk beeped while we ate and he pulled up a window with a bunch of words I didn’t understand.

  “It seems that Jelosh has honored his side of the bargain. I am glad I don’t have to tell Hegnomous to cancel. Surprisingly she was excited about the prospect,” Tevor said.

  “So, we’re in?” I asked excited to be making headway.

  “Yes, Tom, we are. I am going to share my screen to your side of the desk so you may view the employees. I need some parameters for the search. Can you tell me anything?”

  “We are looking for a female who works at servicing her customers in a sexual manner,” I said.

  “That rules out security and support staff but we still have a large list to browse.”

  “I am sorry for the inconvenience, but I don’t have anything else to give,” I said while scratching my head. It was a nervous reaction I defaulted to whenever I did something stupid. Like not get a description of the person I was supposed to rescue.

  “No apologies needed. I simply wished you to know we were going to be here a while.”

  “I’m in this to finish, no matter what it takes,” I replied.

  Tevor nodded then a headshot of a woman appeared with green skin and hair that had black highlights. While she was pretty enough she was not the one. “Not her,” I said. The image changed to a pale skinned woman with a dark blue raccoon maske and horns jutting out from her forehead. “Nope.”

  “I am going to give you control so you may scroll through,” Tevor said. “I think we will find her much faster.”

  “Good call,” I replied.

  I touched the screen and the image changed once more. This time I was looking at a woman with wide prominent features and a thick neck. Her skin was orange and her eyes glowed with a bright yellow light. I continued scrolling through image after image. The galaxy was full of so many different looking species it was astounding. I also learned that there were hot women in so many different variations. I had just scratched the surface with Bridget and Ariella.

  “I found her,” I said after searching for a few hours. “Wow, they look exactly alike.”

  “Ah, so this woman has a twin. It is common for the Champions to use a family member as leverage. Give me a moment to see what facility and her work schedule.”

  “Great,” I said. “I’m itching to get back into the fight.”

  “Fight? No, no, no fight. Heist. I will plan a heist so brilliant that fighting will not be necessary,” Tevor said.

  “I look forward to seeing that happen,” I said, but still prepared myself to slaughter every person that decided to get in my way. I chose to trust Tevor, but that didn’t change the only true constant when it came to war. No plan survived contact with the enemy.

  “Oh, we are in luck,” Tevor said showing the first bit of excitement I had seen from him. “This woman, whom they have listed as Candy, is being held at the facility in this city. The goddess has truly brought us together.”

  “That is great,” I said. “How far is this facility and how much security are we looking at?”

  Tevor turned his gaze to me. “I will need to research and derive a plan. In the meantime I would like to offer you the full hospitality of my house and family. Will you follow me?”

  I rose and nodded. “Lead on, Tevor.”

  My host stood and lead me out of the small office. We stayed on that floor but moved farther down the hall. He opened the last door and stood aside. The room was no bigger than the office but that was the only similarity. A small table sat to the left while the rest of the floor was covered in an assortment of colorful pillows. Red and gold curtains hung from the ceiling covering all the walls.

  “Please make yourself comfortable. I will have my sisters tend to you,” Tevor said.

  “Thank you, Tevor, but this is not necessary,” I replied.

  “No thanks are needed and it is my honor to host you as a guest. Please allow me to make you comfortable in my home.” My new friend bowed at the waste.

  “I don’t see a good reason to turn you down, Tevor. I am honored to be a guest here.”

  Tevor rose with a grin on his face. “Make yourself comfortable, Tom. My sisters shall be here momentarily with refreshments.” Tevor turned and went to the elevator at the far end of the hall. The door closed automatically after a minute.

  The pillows were soft and comfortable. I sunk in and let the tension in my shoulders and back ease. A few minutes later two women covered from head to toe in flowing robes entered carrying trays loaded with food. They set the trays on the table and scents straight from heaven washed over me.

  The two women turned to face me then with a quick flip of their wrists dropped their garments. My eyes went wide as I took at the naked women smiling down at me. “Tevor has told us what you did for him,” the closest woman said. “To repay your courage we are prepared to give you the highest level of our hospitality.”

  Like their brother their skin was covered in scales, unlike him, the scales were small and hardly noticeable. One was mostly a yellow with green spots here and there while the other was orange and yellow. The orange sister was a foot taller, but slender. The shorter one had wide set hips and plump breasts.

  Both women lowered themselves onto the pillows on either side of me. The one closest to the table grabbed a small plate and spooned something that looked a lot like hummus into my mouth. “Oh, that’s good,” I mumbled.

  The woman to my left and farthest from the table snuggle up to me and ran her finger down the side of my breast plate. “Mighty warrior Tom, would you please remove your armor?” My fingers found the button and my armor liquefied and retracted. I lifted the chest piece over my head let it fall to the floor. “That is better, but you still have these clothes in the way,” she said.

  “Then maybe you should undress me,” I said with a smile.

  She returned my smile then started unbuttoning my shirt. I grabbed her wrist stopping her. “Before this goes any farther, I need to know your name,” I said.

  “I am Geet and this is my sister Clarita,” The woman feeding me said. “We are happy to serve you, Mighty Warrior Tom.”

  “Probably not as happy as I am to be served, Geet. Clarita, please continue to help me with my clothes,” I said. As Geet brought another spoon full to me I leaned forward and placed my mouth against hers. Our tongues danced while Clarita pulled my shirt bac and rubber her hands over my chest.

  I stiffened and pulled back from Geet. Clarita’s fingers ran over old scare on my chest causing my heart to skip a beat. I looked down at her hands and up to her face. Clarita smiled at me then leaned forward and pressed her mouth to mine. She slid her tongue against my lips and after a moment I relented and let her in. While we kissed she kept her fingers moving over my scars and it took me a minute to loosen up. Bridget had been the first woman to disregard my scars and want to be with me and that wasn’t too long ago.

  When we finished our little playtime, I fell onto the pillows, spent. The two women curled up to my sides we drifted off to sleep together.

  My dreams were plagued with traps in which I found myself being seduced by alien women so their big brother could sneak in and cut my throat in my sleep. I jerked awake several times ready for a fight.

  �
�Hush.” Geet said after I woke the third time. “The life of a warrior is hard, but you are safe here. The act of kindness you showed Tevor has cemented your place as friend to my family. We would all die before allowing harm to befall you.”

  “I don’t doubt it,” I replied while enjoying the tender way she stroked my hair. “It’s just…” I couldn’t bring myself to say it.

  “I know,” Geet said. The life of a warrior is hard. Relax, this is the time for rest and healing. Let past and future battles go, they will have their way with you later.”

  I fell back to sleep a short while later and the dreams didn’t return.

  Chapter 23

  “You sure about this, Tevor?” I said into the little comms device tucked into my sleeve.

  “Most assuredly, Tom. I have everything in place and as soon as I give the signal, all you have to do is … Now Tom! Go now!” He shouted in my ear.

  I crossed the street and approached the closed back door of the Central Pleasure Den. The door opened when I was within a foot of it. That was the first step which let me know Tevor’s contact was able to hack into the system. If he hadn’t been able to open the door the whole plan would have gone to shit.

  “Go left then at the third hallway make a right,” Tevor said.

  Following the directions given to me from Tevor, had me navigating a maze of hallways. The passage reminded me of the short stint I did as a mall cop. Dingy white paint over cinder block shaped bricks with a floor made of what passed for cement in space. It made me wonder what the spaces open to the public looked like

  “You are close, Tom,” Tevor said over our comms.

  I slowed so I wouldn’t miss the mark. This part of the plan was delicate as it involved something about force fields and timing. The wall to my left shimmered and Tevor shouted. I jumped left passing through an energy field that made my skin tingle and had my hair standing on end.

  It was right about that time I learned Tevor’s carefully constructed heist had fallen apart. What should have happened was me sneaking through here and finding a suite stashed in a desk drawer while one of our agents distracted the closest guard. What we got was a room full of bruisers with clubs.

  “Can one of you tell me where I can find the bathroom?” I asked hoping beyond hope that the plan might still work and this wasn’t a set up. Bruisers had quarterly union meetings didn’t they?

  “We have been expecting you,” one particularly large fellow said. So much for a union meeting.

  “I’m sure we can talk this out,” I said. Just because I was a badass killing machine didn’t mean I couldn’t be civil before turning to violence.

  “If you want to talk it out, that is fine with me,” the big guy said.

  “He calls it talking, I call it murdering the fuck out of you,” another guy said in a comically high pitched voice.

  I chuckled and pointed at the purple guy with the really thick neck and pinhead. “Did that cute little sound really just come out of you?” I asked between chuckles. That brought a round of raucous laughter from the other brutes.

  “You son of a bitch!” Squeaky shouted. Everyone else, me included, laughter harder at his high pitched careening.

  Squeaky shrieked and charged me with his weapon raised. I caught the club at the midpoint with my synthetic arm and landed a quick jab to his throat. Squeaky stumbled back and I pulled the weapon free as he clutched his neck.

  The big guy stepped back and two others rushed me. My synthetic left arm morphed into a blade and I wielded the club with my right. I parried the attacker’s blow from my right and plunged my blade into the guts of the guy on the left. He dropped the club that was halfway to my face and fell back. I blocked another blow from the right and slashed across his belly spilling his guts. It was good to see he had guts in the same place I did, even if his blood was green.

  My foot hit the guy trying desperately to put his guts back in knocking him out of my way. Instead of waiting for the next guy, or guys, to come and try to kill me, I advanced. It was the Marine Corps way after all. Advance and take ground from the enemy. My ultimate goal was the biggest of the bruisers, but I would remove ever one of those fucks if that was what it took to reach him.

  Next up was a pair that looked identical in every way. They were wide and short with dull orange skin and wide mouths like frogs. They wore matching light grey jumpsuits and black boots. They even held their clubs the same way out to their left ready to swing out and up. They died the same way with my blade sweeping across and catching them in their throats before they could strike. I shouldered passed them as they fought valiantly to keep their precious fluids inside. I knew the futility of it so I let them be.

  Three more men stood before me, but they looked at each other then dropped their clubs and bolted for the door. That left one.

  “Your turn to run? Or is this a good time to try and talk it out?” I asked the head brute. “I know your type …”

  “And just what is my type?” He spat out.

  I smiled at his interruption. He was going for words to either disarm the situation or distract me. I was game. “The guy happy to stand back and let others die but too cowardly to step up when it was his turn.”

  “And you think you have what it takes to kill me?” He asked with a sneer.

  “I’ve already killed you,” I said as I gestured down to his belly.

  A look of confusion crossed his face then he looked down. I slashed open his gut while he watched. The man gasped then looked back at me.

  “Dirty trick, I know,” I said. “But I’m here to win which means you die.” my boot connected with his chest and I heard a few ribs crack as the tread of my boot connected with his sternum. He fell back and I rushed forward and sunk my blade into his face.

  “Holy shit,” Tevor said in my ear. “You brutalized those men.”

  “It was me or them, buddy. How do we look?” I asked. It was clear this part of the plan was fucked, but I was unclear if it was just this portion or the whole plan.

  “Someone sold us out, Tom. I don’t know who yet, but the whole plan is a bust. All of my agents are either running, being apprehended, or running from apprehenders. We need to abort and regroup.”

  I scoffed. “Not happening, Tevor. I get that the plan failed, most do once engaged with the enemy. It’s time for plan B.”

  “Plan B? What plan B? I never made a backup plan,” Tevor said.

  “There is always a plan B. Watch and learn, my friend.”

  A grin split my face as I charged out of the slaughterhouse that was a security station. This was what I was good at and this was how I was going to find Francine’s sister. Through violence of action and balls as big as church bells, I would accomplish my mission.

  Beyond the exit was a hallway that looked nothing like the plain walls behind the scenes. The floor was carpeted with a rich red carpet that sported gold and green designs. The walls were a light yellow that did as much to brighten the space as the overhead chandeliers spaced evenly along the ceiling. It was fair to say that I had entered the pleasure house proper. Now I had to find my target.

  “I can still guide you if I maintain my position,” Tevor said over our comms.

  I hadn’t given any thought to what he should do or his predicament. I knew he kept his location a secret from everyone but me. None of Tevor’s contacts were read in on each other’s part to play Nor did were they told where Tevor would be. Knowing that they were being apprehended meant someone knew more than they should. I began to worry for my new friend.

  “Listen carefully, Tevor. If I am right you don’t have much time. Hell, it could already be too late. You need to destroy everything and get clear right this instant. I suggest a fire to destroy the equipment as it will be faster than smashing it. The fire will do the work as you are fleeing the scene,” I said.

  “I can not abandon you, Tom. It is my duty to …”

  “I don’t need you for this, Tevor. I need you to stay safe, so I won’t have to
go rescue you after I’m done here. I appreciate you wanting to stay and help, but leaving and getting clear will be the biggest aid you can give now.”

  “I understand.” A moment of silence passed before the, but, I knew was coming came. “But I can help, Tom.”

  “I know you can buddy. I was trained for this shit, and I’m more than a normal man. I have the tools and skills that pay the bills. I need to make sure I have a place to take the asset once I’ve acquired her. And I don’t know the condition she will be in. I need you to get clear.”

  “Yes, I understand. I will …” there was a booming thump loud enough to hear over the comms. “I may have waited too long, I am sorry,” Tevor said.

  I growled. Everything I told him was true. I couldn’t afford to loose Tevor yet. Which meant it was time for plan C. “Hang tight, I’m coming,” I said.

  A map of the building I was in popped up in my HUD, along with a map of the surrounding buildings. I knew Tevor was on the second floor of the adjacent building closest to my side of the pleasure den. I ran in the direction that lead to stairs and went up one flight to the second floor. I paused next to the door, listened, and heard a couple voices.

  Slowly I turned the handle and opened the door a crack. Big bruisers must have been what passed for security here because I was looking at another pair of them. Unlike the others I tangled with these two had firearms.

  I kicked the door open and rushed in, blade first. The closest man died by a blade to his eyes before they could react. The second man had his hand on the weapon holstered on his hip. A sideways slash took the hand off at the wrist and the weapon clicked as it slid back down into the holster. The man’s scream was cut short by my blade coming up and driving through the soft tissue under his jaw to stop against the underside of his skull.

  The public areas of the second floor were larger than the first floor since there were no back areas like the halls I used to get in the building. I made my way to a window on the south side so I could lay eyes on the building Tevor used as our ops center.