by Matt Elam
We headed southeast, and I took a right on King Street.
I had gotten word from Sifu that he was able to convince The Tangs, especially Benny, that Bai Ray was not in Kowloon City, nor under Red Lotus protection. It was true, really, as we weren’t there now. Little did the Tangs or Bai know that in a few minutes, we wouldn’t even be in the same solar system.
Bai felt terrible about everything, but I told her not to sweat it.
We had gone without the radio, choosing instead to sit in silence for a while. “What is the deal with you and Benny Tang?” I asked.
“When I first got to Little Hong Kong, I tried out for a dance theater at the Golden Dragon,” said Bai.
“Appalachia,” I said.
“Yes.”
I dated a few showgirls from that act, but that was neither here nor there.
She continued. “When I made the show, Benny must have taken a liking to me because he was always there in attendance when I danced.” She looked out the passenger window as she recalled the past.
We were about ten miles out from our destination.
“I don’t know. There was something really sweet about him.”
I pretended to choke. “Benny Tang? Sweet?”
“Yes, sweet,” said Bai, lightly slapping my arm. “And funny. Benny’s very witty and charming when you get to know him.”
I shot a look in her direction and caught a glimpse of what I thought was a pained expression.
“But he changed.”
The car went silent.
“All men change,” she continued.
“Not me,” I shot back.
“Oh? Are you different, Mr. Jo?” she flirted.
“I don’t know if I’m different. I would have to date men to really compare.”
She laughed.
“But with America going to shit with all this Global Initiative New World Order stuff, it comforts me that some things don’t change.”
“Such as?” Bai inquired.
“Sinatra will always be a legend.”
Bai rolled her eyes.
“And being rewarded for a thing that you’ve worked your ass off for is always sweeter than being given a thing for nothing.”
The last two miles of our trip were off road. One hundred yards in the distance, large pine trees loomed overhead and the collection of them swallowed up any remaining light.
“This is the Hollows Forest,” I said, calmly. The place tended to creep some people out, so I wanted to tread carefully with Bai.
As we drove through the mouth of the forest, our headlights were the only thing illuminating our path.
Bai gripped my hand firmly.
“It’s okay,” I assured her. “I’ve been here a lot.”
I caught a glimpse of an old massive birch tree with roots running above ground like tentacles. Right next to that tree is where I usually parked Luck.
Right when I turned the car off, my mobile pinged. I saw that I had a voicemail from Patricia. When I clicked play, she said she had placed a call to a friend that was formerly with the FBI and may be able to assist me with a safe house for Bai.
My throat tightened and I got a slight nauseous feeling in my stomach. I had been so terrible to her the other day, but here she was, coming through for me in the clutch. Of course, it was too late for that option. I appreciated it nonetheless.
I’ve been an asshole to all those who care about me, especially Donald.
And just as I thought about him, lo and behold, my mobile went off. The caller ID read: Jinxy.
“Donnie, what’s up?”
“Where are you?” said Donald.
“Still looking for a safe place for Bai,” I answered, staring into Bai’s eyes. I wasn’t lying for a change. “Did you find out who tampered with the evidence?”
“You mean stole the evidence? Yeah. It had to be Agent Peter von Lector.” There was a quick pause. “The GSI was the only other organization besides my department with access to our forensics lab.”
“Damn, man,” I said.
“Yup. On my way to their headquarters now.”
I asked him to keep me posted.
“I will. And let me know when you’ve found a place for Miss Ray,” he said.
I tapped the off button and turned my attention to Bai once again.
“Well, m’lady,” I said, in my best Knights of Camelot accent. “Are you ready for an adventure?”
Sixteen
THERE WAS NO WAY to prepare Bai for what lay ahead. How do you tell someone that there really are other portals or dimensions that we have access to. Well, at least one that I knew of, anyway.
So, to hell with it, let’s just go. I grabbed her hand and we moved through the dark abyss, guided only by the fleeting headlights to our rear. In the Second Sun, my mobile phone was worthless except for my flashlight app for some odd reason.
“Won’t we wear out the battery?” said Bai, looking over her shoulder.
“Yes,” I answered, hopping over a small plant, or what I hoped was shrubbery. “But my phone will give it juice, believe it or not.”
She had so many questions, but I felt like the best manner in which to answer them was by showing, not telling.
A mile and a half deep into the pit and the smell of an ancient untouched forest really set in. We were close.
We were both breathing hard now. I figured as a dancer she’d be flexible, but I was really impressed with her stamina. She was hanging with me and that wasn’t easy for any human being to do. Plus, we couldn’t see jack shit at this point.
That’s when I first noticed a flicker of light behind us.
Donald Jinx made his way through the GSI security protocol. He eventually made it to the waiting room on the third floor. He looked around at the five. No six armed guards in all brown GSI fatigues.
He shook his head. They looked like a bunch of postal workers with AK-47s. And the building was stripped of any personality whatsoever. The carpets were industrial grey and the walls were painted a migraine-inducing white. The only decorations on them were posters of various Global Initiative Council members scattered across the open space.
Detective Jinx shifted in his seat. This whole Global Initiative thing was wrong for America. His blood began to boil.
Why the hell are we siding with the commies?
A secretary in a brown skirt and blazer called for him from the entrance to a long hallway.
Jinx met her by the door, and returned her smile. No sense taking his political frustrations out on this woman. As he followed her down the hallway, he thought to himself, Jesus. Hitler’s brown shirts are back.
All the times I had entered and exited the Second Sun, I had never encountered another person. Obviously, individuals were coming in and out of the wormhole.
That was the problem. There were two distinct lights behind us now and the footsteps could be heard via the crunching earth beneath them.
Way too close to my liking.
As we ran, I breathed out forcefully, and then sucked air into my abdomen, like a vacuum. I closed my eyes.
“There’s the two rock piles up ahead.”
“How do you even kno -”
I accelerated now, with Bai’s hand in mine. It had been over eight months since I’d been there and had no plans of ever going back, even if the nightmares continued to haunt me.
Squish.
We literally bounced off something soft but firm. It didn’t hurt. It was like hitting the side of a child’s Bounce House.
“What was that?” shrieked Bai.
“The wormhole,” I said evenly.
“The what hole?”
Like I said before, she would have to see and feel for herself. “Now listen, when you first push through, you will feel very heavy. The gravitational pull shifts to like twenty or so meters per second squared.”
“Wait, Johnny. I don’t understand.”
The probing lights were closing in on our position.
I looked at h
er. “Do you trust me?”
Her brief pause in answering my question seemed an eternity.
“Yes,” she said.
“Good. Here we go.” I placed my hand on her mid-back and shoved her forcefully through the galactic shell.
Bai let out a scream as I followed behind her.
Seventeen
STEPPING THROUGH THE WORMHOLE reminded me of the old TSA security pod that I had to step into as a kid. The only difference was it felt like I was giving a sumo wrestler a piggyback ride. Okay, it wasn’t that bad. Maybe a sumo wrestler with a serious eating disorder. Anyway, it only lasted a few seconds.
We popped through the shell and found ourselves in a foreign-looking land. The sun was out, but its rays were weakened by thick white clouds that hung overhead.
After studying our new environment for several moments, Bai finally said, “Where are we?”
“Welcome to the Second Sun,” I said, smiling.
“What?”
“Or should I say: Another dimension that looks a lot like seventeenth century China, except the names of places don’t seem to match our own galaxy’s China, per time period.”
Bai’s mouth was agape.
“But the warring between the Manchu and the Han seem to be exactly the same.”
Bai didn’t move.
“I’m sorry. Should I have mentioned the second part first and first part second?” I was being a smart ass. Of course, it was a lot to take in. I was just fortunate that Bai was so young and fit, and didn’t suffer a cardiac infarction due to shock.
An older man carrying a cotton satchel behind his shoulder approached us on the road. He looked frightened when he saw us. Our clothes must have looked extremely out-of-place. Plus, we were both tall people. Bai had to be a couple inches north of five-seven, and I was a couple inches over six-feet. The old man looked like a little Asian version of the dwarfs from The Wizard of Oz, compared to me.
I put my two hands up. “It’s okay,” I assured him.
He began speaking quickly, and whatever it was, it didn’t sound pure Cantonese or Mandarin. It was an ancient dialect.
I let the munchkin pass and grabbed Bai’s arm. I led her to the side of a small stream of water and we both took a seat. There, I explained where we were and what was taking place. From my perspective, anyway. I left out the specifics like how I found the tiny ripple in the first place, crosslings, kung fu fighting, spies, et cetera.
I’m grateful you didn’t ask about it. If you did, I’d have to lie to you.
Because Bai recognized the goddess of mercy, Guan Yin, I was hoping that she would be a little more knowledgeable than most on Chinese history. I was relieved to find that my assumption was right.
“I still can’t believe this is real,” she said. She stared into the distance. “This is like a crazy dream.”
Or nightmare? I thought to myself.
“How long have you known about this other world?” said Bai.
“I’m not sure if it’s a world at all,” I answered.
“Wait. What? This isn’t another world?” Bai seemed perplexed by my statement.
I looked over her shoulder and noticed more villagers coming our way. I reached into my jeans’ pocket and pulled out a crumpled sheet of paper towel. Wrapped inside the paper was a small green box that looked like a miniature version of a retainer case. I opened it up and after a bit of maneuvering and tearing, placed two tiny gel capsules into my hand.
“Take one,” I ordered.
“What are they?”
“They’re called linguistic modulators,” I said. “Courtesy of the Red Lotus Biotech Department.”
“Another project of Sifu Cheung’s?” Bai smirked.
“Ah, you are learning, Grasshopper. Soon, you will reach the level of dumb donkey face.”
“Hey! You better watch it, mister,” she laughed, and slapped my arm.
I’m glad she was laughing. Now I had hope that our little dimensional trip wouldn’t fuck her up for life. I tended to have that effect on women that I got involved with.
She took a single capsule from my hand. I popped the remaining one into my mouth.
“Wait,” she said. “What about water?”
“The stream,” I said, pointing to the water.
“Eww!” Bai made a sour face. “I’m not drinking that water, Johnny. We don’t know what’s in it.”
“Bai,” I said. “I’ve been hear a bunch of times, remember? And the running water from the mountains is the most delicious thing I’ve ever drank in my life,” I said, full drama in my voice.
After a bit more prodding, she finally took a small sip. Her eyes widened.
We must have consumed a gallon each. We staggered to our feet with ancient liquid sloshing around in our bellies and the modulators well digested.
A group of villagers were walking by us at that moment.
“Bai, check this out.” I strutted toward them.
They froze in their tracks.
“Hello, party people!” I shouted.
On cue, they all looked down, avoiding eye contact with me.
“Don’t look at him,” said one of the older ladies. “Maybe this strange giant man will let us be.”
I pivoted around to look at Bai. I had a wicked grin on my face.
“Wait. I can understand her,” she said, astonished.
“Good old Sifu and his toys.” I went on to ask them if they knew a young boy by the name of Dut. They said no, initially. I told them if they were lying to me, I would breathe fire on them because I was half dragon. They said they knew the boy. I ascertained his location and bid them a good day. I’ve never seen a family run that fast. I mean, they literally bolted for two hundred yards.
Bai and I made our way into town. My thoughts drifted off to Donald and Patricia. I wondered how they were fairing.
Eighteen
AGENT PETER VON LECTOR turned beet red. He slammed his fist on his desk, no longer able to control his anger.
Jinx had to restrain himself from chuckling.
What a drama queen this dude is, he thought.
“How dare you accuse me or my men of such a crime, Detective Jinx.”
“I’m not accusing anyone of anything at this point in time, Agent von Lector.”
“I have been in the policing field back in my home country for over thirty years,” said von Lector, defensively. “There have been a few occasions where evidence has been misplaced or has gone missing from the crime science laboratory due to poor police procedure.”
Well, it’s never happened on my watch, pal, he thought. Jinx pulled his mobile out of his jacket pocket. After a few taps and a couple slides, he held the screen to where von Lector could see it.
“At four fifty-seven a.m., the evidence for the Eisenhower Street shooting was tagged and logged in the LHKPD computer files inside the forensics lab.”
Von Lector stuck his arm out for Jinx to hand him the phone, but Jinx simply leaned closer to von Lector to allow him a better view.
After seeing von Lector’s little tantrum, he wasn’t going to allow his iPhone 50 Plus to become his next victim.
Jinx continued. “At six-o-seven a.m., you and three other GSI officers checked into the lab.” He swiped to the left. “Dr. Kwok entered the lab at six forty-three a.m., and the evidence was gone.”
Von Lector, who was previously squinting to see the screen, relaxed his eyes, and sat back in his chair. The corners of his mouth rose ever so slightly.
“That’s quite a coincidence, Detective Jinx.”
“Is it?” said Jinx.
Von Lector looked down at his tie and straightened it. “Well, if there’s no evidence to support this allegation, sir, we are done here.”
Donald Jinx stood. “I have suspended GSI from all LHKPD matters until further notice,” he said evenly.
Von Lector leaned forward in his seat. “You don’t have the power to do that,” he spat.
“I don’t, but the mayor of Little Hon
g Kong does. And an official directive from the DA’s office will reach yours in oh,” he glanced down at his watch for effect, “say five minutes?”
Von Lector stood up from behind his work surface. “This is not over, Jinx! I will have my superiors notified of this and -”
Jinx slammed the door shut.
Keep talking, asshole. Good guys, one. Bad guys, zero.
It was a two-mile walk into the town I called Widow’s Tears. I named it that because war against the Manchus had decimated the male population of many central and southern towns like the one Bai and I were entering. As we entered the town’s outskirts, I thought its downtown area looked a lot like an offspring bore from rough sex between a farmer’s market and a cirque du soleil.
Bai squeezed my hand. “Oh my god. This place is so crazy.”
It really was. Men, women, and children littered the streets of Widow’s Tears. As chaotic as it was, it didn’t take us long to spot Dut.
I pointed him out to Bai as he sprinted our way. He didn’t even see me, though. The little rascal was running for his life.
I grabbed him by a shoulder and obtained an overhook hold on his other arm.
The boy thrashed.
“Let go of me!”
“Dut,” I said. “It’s me!” I had to yell because the marketplace was abuzz with noise at various frequencies.
The boy looked up at me, and his eyes grew wide with excitement. He stopped resisting.
“Master Jo!” he cried, hugging me tightly. I embraced him back.
A portly man with a butcher’s knife came running up to us. He bent over at the waist, panting.
“What’s going on?” I said.
“This little bastard,” he said, still trying to recover his wind. “This little bastard stole two cuts of pig.”
I looked down at the boy.
“No, Master,” Dut pleaded. “Uncle gave me a coin to pay for the meat but this fatso wouldn’t take it.”
“How dare you speak to me like that, you little asshole!” He swung his knife at me and Dut, at a diagonal angle moving downward. And again, this time with a backhand. I stepped back and detached myself from the boy, putting him and Bai behind me.