by Riker Kane
Proxy pushed her way through the crowd until they managed to get into the next room. The music from the previous room immediately became distant and the sparkling lights were placed with a dim neon blue.
Max sighed a soft breath, just now realizing how much the previous scene had made his heart pump. He looked around the lounge and saw everybody relaxing at their tables and booths as they chatted over a drink.
“That’s more like it,” he said.
They headed to the corner of the room where Zigzag and Sabrina were already waiting for them.
“Glad you could make it.” Sabrina got up from her seat and kissed him on the cheek. Her short black skirt left little to the imagination, the pale skin of her legs on display. The matching top wasn’t much different as she readjusted it.
“I almost didn’t make it,” Max said. “Got swallowed up back there.”
“It’s always a wild time in Gaia Club,” she said. “But there’s something for everybody here. That’s why the cover is so high.”
He took a seat next to Zigzag. She crossed her legs and leaned back in her seat, calmly observing the scene around the bar.
“How about you?” he asked her. “What do you think of this place?”
“It’s interesting,” she said. “One room there’s a raucous party. And in this room, everybody is just mingling.”
“Zigzag here already had a few suitors,” Sabrina said.
“They were merely looking to satisfy their curiosity of being with an android. I am not in the mood to satisfy such curiosity.”
Max chuckled and relaxed in his seat. The three ladies all sat around the booth, Proxy immediately started scrolling her finger over the digital tablet to order some drinks. Zigzag sat quietly observing Proxy’s potential concoctions while Sabrina sat close to Max.
“Heading back, huh?” Sabrina asked.
“Tomorrow morning. That’s the plan.”
The dim blue lights of the bar highlighted the disappointment he saw in her gray eyes. She looked away from him, her eyes shifting.
“You’re gonna miss me,” he said. “I’ll miss you, too.”
“It’s not just that. It’s… Living in Santa Fe is tough. When you’re around, I forget about how rough this city is. Especially the Cobalt District.”
“Right… I talked to someone. They said the GODs are being apprehended. They’ve got the DA’s approval to start sweeping up some of the Disciples on the streets.”
“It’ll take more than a few arrests to put an end to all of the loot they’re pushing.”
“It’s a start. All it takes is a few honest guys. Everything will be all right.”
She leaned close to him and kissed him on the cheek. “Where’s your friend at?”
“Hudson figured he’d spend a little more time with Sammy while he’s getting straightened out. He’s bringing him back to New Austin.”
“That’s good to hear.”
Max raised an eyebrow. “Maybe you should come along, too.”
“What?” she exclaimed. She moved back, her eyes wide in surprise. “I can’t do that.”
“Why not?”
“Because…” Sabrina shook her head, searching for an answer but nothing immediately came to her. “I’ve lived in Santa Fe for so long…”
“Weren’t you just complaining about it a few seconds ago?”
She giggled and slapped him on the arm. “Maybe I’ll think about it. It’s not like I have to decide right now.”
“And if you do leave, you can always come back.”
Sabrina looked toward Proxy as Zigzag continued to advise her on what drinks to order.
“There’s another reason I invited you to Gaia,” she said. “This club in particular has something that other clubs don’t.”
“And what would that be?”
Max was already curious but the devilish grin forming on the brunette’s lips only made him more eager.
“Come on.” Sabrina popped up from her seat and took his hand. “We’ll be back in a second, ladies.”
“Take your time. Got a lot of new drinks to try out.” Proxy didn’t bother looking up as she swiped through the drink list.
Max followed Sabrina through a darkened path out of the room. A dark hallway was barely illuminated by red lights lining the floor. Max looked around the darkness, confusion joining his curiosity.
“Are you sure this is safe?”
“Oh, it’s safe. Trust me.”
Sabrina walked up to one of the walls and pushed it open.
“Didn’t even realize that was a door…” Max said to himself.
“After you…”
Max stepped into a small room lit by a lone red light on the floor. Electronic bass pulsed softly in the background. Sabrina moved in after him and closed the door. She moved toward a digital panel at the side of the room, swiping her fingers over the display.
“This doesn’t look like a bathroom…”
“It’s an Instinct Room.”
“An Instinct Room?”
“The alcohol. The music. The pheromones. People tend to get a little… instinctive when they’re out there on the dance floor.”
Sabrina pushed the display and a soft white mist came down from the ceiling. Max looked up and inhaled some of the sweet scent.
“Smells like candy…”
“It’s a temporary sterilizer. Cleans the room and makes sure we don’t make any mistakes. Officials are always talking about overpopulation. This fixes that.”
“Indeed.” Max narrowed his eyes at her. “I don’t see how overpopulation would be an issue at the moment…”
Sabrina scoffed and rolled her eyes. “Why are you trying to play a game with me? Do I have to spell it out for you?”
“No… But I want you to do it anyway.”
The seductive look in her eyes was unmistakable. She locked her stare on him as she trailed fingers along his chest and down to his belt buckle.
“It’s your last night in Santa Fe. I figured you could use a little going away present.”
He stared back at her, forced to swallow from the rising tension in his body. He didn’t resist as she undid his belt. His zipper undone, his jeans fell down to the floor in a messy pile. She tugged on his underwear, moving it by his rigid shaft, until it was around his ankles just the same.
“What have you got planned?”
Sabrina moved back to the panel and activated another mist. Max looked up and took another deep inhale. A surge of adrenaline rushed through his veins. His muscles tightened. His heart beat harder. Even his length seemed to thicken more than it already was in anticipation of what Sabrina was offering.
The brunette stood a few feet away from him. Her hands on the hem of her skirt, she lifted it up to reveal nothing underneath except for a slick mound. Somehow, the red light had made it even more appetizing, Max thought.
She gripped his shaft and giggled as she forced him to take a step forward.
“Last night in Santa Fe… What are you gonna do, Max—”
He rushed his face to hers. Her moan interrupted whatever he had no interest in hearing. His length moved between her legs. He searched for the warmth of her entrance then plunged into her.
She gasped again into his mouth. She wrapped her arms around his neck. Her legs wrapped around him the same, her heels hugging the small of his back.
Max pushed her up against the wall, pinning her against it with his hard and forceful thrusts.
Sabrina giggled in ecstasy as she ran a hand through his hair. Her other hand reached for the panel on the side of the room and more mist came from the ceiling.
The aroma flooded Max’s nostrils and fueled his desire even more.
“That’s it…” She chewed softly on his ear, whispering into it. “Last night Santa Fe… Let’s make it a night to remember…”
Max grunted and thrust even harder into her, splitting her entrance as he pressed her into the wall.
“I’ll definitely remember this�
�”
His hilt slammed against her folds in rhythm to the bass from the speakers. The sound of their bodies colliding joined the chorus of moans spilling from her throat as they lost themselves to their ecstasy…
~ ~ ~
“Gaia Club, huh? I heard that place is pretty fancy. You sure you can afford it.”
Hudson chuckled at his friend’s uncertainty. “I made a lot of creds from Max’s last fight. Hell, I made a lot of creds off of all of his fights. A night in the most expensive club in Santa Fe won’t set me back. Besides, it’s a celebration. You’re finally out of the hospital.”
“I don’t think a man with addictions like me should be drinking too much.”
“Synthetic alcohol isn’t very addictive. Nothing is as bad as loot. Once we get your system flushed back in New Austin, you’ll be free to do whatever you want.”
“It’ll be strange not chasing loot all the time. My body’s so used to the drugs…”
“Anything you want, Sammy.”
Hudson smiled at his friend, who stared quietly through the window of the speeder cab.
“Say, Hudson. You and Max… You two are friends, right?”
“After all the shit we been through, couldn’t be closer.”
“I got the feeling. For him to come all the way to Santa Fe without even knowing who I am and doing all of that… I figure I owe him.”
“Max isn’t the kinda guy who would do this for a favor. It was the right thing to do.”
“He’s a rare breed. Especially in this shithole of a world…”
Hudson laughed at his friend’s bluntness. Sammy smiled as he continued to enjoy the sights of the city around him.
The speeder cab suddenly pulled to a stop.
“They said Gaia’s crowded around the entrance,” Hudson said. “We’ll get out here and walk the rest of the way.”
They stepped out of the cab and onto one of the barren streets of the Cobalt District. The lights and music from the clubs were distant.
Hudson put his hands in his pockets and was about to walk forward when he saw a couple cabs pull up behind the speeder he’d just left.
“Not ordinary cabs,” Hudson said. “Too sleek and slick to be commercial rides.”
Hudson watched as four men in suits stepped out of the cab. Stern looks on their faces, they marched forward to Sammy and Hudson without saying a word.
Hudson put his hands up. “What’s going on here—”
A sudden punch to the stomach knocked the wind out of him. Hudson keeled over in staggering pain. He barely had a chance to breathe when an uppercut rocked him in the chin, knocking his hat off and sending him to the pavement.
“Hey!” Sammy tried to move forward but he was restrained by two of the guards holding his arms. He kicked his legs to break free but he didn’t have the strength.
Sammy watched helplessly as more men in black suits stepped out of the cabs. Five men in total surrounded Hudson and pounded on him with vicious stomps and kicks.
“Hey!” Sammy shouted. “Help! Somebody help!” His voice echoed through the empty neighborhood but fell upon deaf ears.
Hudson grunted and groaned from every blow he took until he was no longer moving. The suits straightened their outfits, surrounding Hudson’s still body.
Sammy looked at all of them then shifted his sights toward the cab where another man stepped out. The man wore a white suit unlike the others. His black hair slicked back on his head, a thick beard covered his cheeks and chin. He stepped forward and Sammy realized just how much bigger and taller he was than the rest.
“Don’t kill him,” the man in white said, his voice booming. “Just make sure he’ll have some time to think while he’s regenerating.”
Sammy stopped trying to break free from the men restraining him. All he could do was look up at the man towering over him. With how much Sammy had to turn his neck, the man was at least seven-feet tall.
He stared back down at Sammy with a pair of beady brown eyes.
“I got a message for the Rebel,” he said. “You can give it to him, right?”
Sammy swallowed nervously and nodded.
“Tell him he has my attention. Tell him…” The man looked down at Hudson’s still body and smirked. “…Osiris is here.”
The man in the white suit headed back toward his cab and snapped his fingers. All of his guards quickly assembled back into their cabs.
Sammy fell to his knees as they sped off into the distance then crawled over to Hudson.
“Hudson? Hudson?”
He flipped him over and saw how bloody and bruised Hudson’s face was. Sammy frantically searched for Hudson’s AllDevice and scrolled through it, trying to get through.
“C’mon…” His heart raced as he held it to his ear.
A few seconds went by until there was an answer.
“Hudson? Where are you at—”
“Max. It’s Sammy.”
“Sammy? Is everything all right?”
Sammy swallowed as he looked at Hudson, wondering how he could put into words what just happened.
Chapter 28
The beeps from the machines monitoring Hudson’s vital signs pulsed at a steady rhythm. There was no other sound despite how many people were gathered around him.
Zigzag stood by Proxy, who was doing her best to hold back the tears leaking down her cheeks. Sammy shook his head, his brow furrowed with a combination of confusion and sorrow.
“It happened so fast,” Sammy said. “We just stepped out of the speeder and… It’s like they were following us the entire time.”
Max locked his fingers together, his thumbs rubbing beneath his chin. He locked an unblinking stare on Hudson’s broken face.
Both eyes swollen. Cuts on his cheeks and forehead. The blood coming from his lips had only just started to dry.
“Dammit…”
He searched for something to say but there was nothing. Anger. Frustration. Sadness. Confusion. All of his emotions tangled with one another inside his head, creating a mess for him to sort through. All he could do was stare at Hudson’s broken body, a part of him not believing it was real.
Max ignored the door opening and Sabrina stepping inside.
“Max… There’s somebody here to see you. Says he’s with Santa Fe PD.”
Max stared at her then got up from his seat. He left the room and saw Detective Pitt standing there, his hands in the pockets of his coat.
The two locked their eyes on one another. There were so many questions swirling around in Max’s head, he didn’t know where to begin. He didn’t need to say anything though.
“How is he?” Pitt asked.
“Broken ribs. Collapsed lung. Lacerations and contusions. Concussion. Doctors say he’s lucky it’s not worse. Most people wouldn’t survive a beating like that without wearing a BioHarness. But he wasn’t gonna kill him. No… He wanted Hudson to survive.”
“And who is he exactly?”
Max bit his tongue. His anger bubbled inside of him to the point he could hear his heart throbbing in his ears.
“Shaw… We’re on the same page here. You have to tell me what’s going on. Any information you’ve got, you have to give it to me if we’re going to get to the bottom of this.”
Max looked away and sighed, knowing he didn’t have a choice. “Sammy said it was a man named Osiris. A big man in a white suit. There were surveillance cameras in the area. Shouldn’t you have footage of what happened already?”
Pitt nodded. “Osiris… His name is Charles Oliver. We have him in custody.”
“What?” Max said. “You already know who he is? Why didn’t you just tell me?”
“I had to make sure you didn’t receive any misinformation.”
“I need to talk to him—”
“Hold on a second.”
“What’s there to wait for? He got to Hudson because he was trying to get a message to me. Message received.”
“It’s not that simple. We didn’t have to revi
ew the footage. Oliver turned himself in willingly.”
Max squinted, unsure he’d heard Pitt correctly. “Why would he do that?”
“I don’t know. But he wants to talk to you as much as you want to talk to him.”
“I don’t wanna talk to him.”
“A man like Oliver wouldn’t do something like this if he wasn’t up to something. If you see him, you have to be careful.”
“I’m not afraid of him.”
“I’m not talking about what he’ll do to you. I’m talking about what you’ll do to him. I know your friend is in their laid up. I know you want to put your hands on this man. But someone like him has a lot of credits. A lot of credits means he has the best attorneys money can buy. He’ll be using any excuse to make himself look like the victim if you put a finger on him.”
Pitt raised his index finger up, pointing it right at Max’s face.
“You talk to him. You find what he’s up to. But you don’t touch him. You don’t threaten him. I’ll let you keep your ACE but you keep it deactivated. Got it?”
Max gritted his teeth in frustration. “Fine. I’m bringing Zigzag with me though. Just in case he tries anything.”
“Oliver’s in a high-security detention cell. There’s nothing he can do.”
“We’ll see about that.”
~ ~ ~
Max and Zigzag were escorted to the police station by Detective Pitt. It wasn’t long until Max was sitting in a small containment room no bigger than his old apartment bedroom. In front of him was an empty desk with a blue energy barrier a grain of sand wouldn’t be able to squeeze through. The fluorescent lights flickered above, their buzzing the only sound he could hear.
Zigzag stood calmly at one corner of the room while Max focused his eyes on the doorway just a few meters across from him.
The door opened up.
“Let’s see who you are, asshole…”
Max had to stop himself from fidgeting in anticipation, his jaw clenched as the figure slowly came into view.
He was just as tall as Sammy mentioned. His arms were swollen and his chest was bulging even underneath his white suit. Broad shoulders stretched the fabric like it was about to tear, though his suit was perfectly laundered all the same.