Fallon’s Jewel

Chapter Four

Chapter Four

Fallon took off after Kenji. Keeping Kenji’s bare, slimly-muscled back in sight was a monumental task, the little tosser ran so fast.

Kenji disappeared round a corner. Into the worst neighborhood of Terran A. Barely a soul on the street but junkies high on Space Dust.

“Bloody hell,” he muttered, increasing his sprint. Losing his balance, he skidded on the same turn and knocked into a bald, leather-clad space junkie loitering there, probably waiting for a pick-up of Dust. In preventing his fall, Fallon’s elbow connected with the guy’s ribcage.

“Watch it, asshole!” A pair of large hands shoved him against a brick wall and a meaty, bulbously featured face pressed in close to his.

Fallon lifted his phazer. “ISP,” he “Detain me and pay for it.”

The junkie, his eyes wild from sniffing Dust, remained reasonable enough to drop his hands and back away. Fallon was immediately back on the move, but—dammit! Kenji was nowhere in sight. He peered up the dark street. And saw him. Peeking from a storefront a short ways up the sidewalk, waving the wallet.

“Shite.” Fallon sprinted forward.

But like a vision of a mind on Dust, Kenji kept just beyond his reach. It had rained while they were in Spike’s and wetness glowed off the pavement wherever signs or streetlights shone. Water splashed up with each thud of Fallon’s boots.

Kenji disappeared around another corner, but when Fallon reached it, the little bastard seemed to have vanished into thin air.

“Looking for me?”

Fallon whipped around. Kenji, half-visible around the far corner of another building, dangled the wallet. Fallon raced toward him but Kenji’s lean frame gave him the agility to stay ahead. “You're in danger, Kenji! There's no time to f**k around!”

“I’m not effing around,” came Kenji’s voice, panting from their run. “This is important.” For several more blocks, Fallon kept his eye on Kenji’s sleekly muscled torso as it came into the glow of streetlights and then back out. Fallon’s temper grew with each stride. McCray could be lurking in any of these alleyways or dark storefronts. Kenji was skirting the marketplace, keeping to the cluster of rundown brick apartment buildings that housed many of Terran City’s Asian immigrant population.

Fallon turned the corner between two buildings and there was Kenji at the far end of the alley, waving the wallet at him in the light of one bare bulb above a door. “What the hell! Are you completely mad?” he hissed through his teeth.

“No.” Kenji spun around and dashed through the door. Fallon followed, breath pumping. Damn Kenji for risking both their lives over a bloody statue. That’s what this chase was about. The little prick. He’d help Kenji, but damned if he wasn’t also going to throttle him, given half a chance. Fallon yanked open the door and lunged into the dimply lit stairwell.

Kenji was already up two flights. Fallon heard Kenji’s boots echoing on the stairs and caught a glimpse of him ascending. They both took the stairs two at a time. Kenji didn't stop till he reached the fifth floor. Fallon reached the top, his chest on fire and leaned against the rickety stair rail, panting. Kenji was already fiddling with a key in the lock. Yanking the door open, he rushed in. Taking a lungful of air, Fallon followed.

He pushed the door shut behind him then grabbed Kenji by the arm, trapping him against the door. The sound of their combined panting filled the dark room. Fallon pressed in close to Kenji, their noses almost touching. “Are you bloody kidding me, Kenji? You led me here for that goddamn statue, didn’t you?”

Kenji sagged against the door, his warm breath pulsing onto Fallon’s chin. “I’m…sorry…Fallon,” he panted, offering up the wallet. “I couldn’t…leave it…here.”

Fallon exhaled. He plucked his wallet from Kenji’s hand and stuffed it into his pocket. “If you weren’t being chased by a bloodthirsty bounty hunter, I’d drag you in to Central for this stunt.”

Kenji flicked on a light and Fallon regretted his threat. Kenji’s good eye was wide and frantic.

The look wiped away Fallon’s anger and his desire to throttle Kenji evaporated. The scent of Kenji’s musk, mingled with sweat off his bare torso pulsed into the air between them. “All right,” he muttered, “Get your statue and let’s go,”

“Thanks, Fallon.” Kenji swallowed, his eye taking on a sheepish look. “It’s all I have. My only connection to…” He looked down.

He gave a clipped nod. “Get whatever else you need while you’re here. We’ve got to get you off Terran A.”

Kenji blinked at the mention of leaving. “All right.” He crossed the little, shabby room and stop in front of a small table on which sat a golden statue.

Immediately Fallon recognized the shape, a male robed figure seated in what appeared a cross-legged position, a serene air about his features. He’d seen statues like that before. An Indian family who ran a fish and chips shop near his parents’ flat in Manchester used to keep one on a shelf behind the counter. That is, until the Religious Wars when the government cracked down on such things. In any case, the statue appeared quite valuable and could be what McCray was after. Many religious artifacts were floating about the galaxies, some sought by treasure hunters, others dealt in like art by incredibly rich business moguls who could afford to scour Earth and all its outposts for whatever hadn’t been hidden away by priests and monks of the various world religions. Hiding a piece so valuable would certainly explain why Kenji was squirrely about his origins.

“Hurry, Kenji.” He was already at the door, listening to any movement beyond it, every sense alert.

Kenji wrapped the statue lovingly in a towel and stuffed it into a knapsack. “Just another second.” He crossed to a rickety chest of drawers from which he yanked out its contents. Kenji didn’t have much. Some underwear, a few shirts, one of which he put on, a black t-shirt that hugged his slimly muscled torso. “I tore my jacket and left it in an alley when McCray was chasing me,” Kenji said and went to the closet to pull out a couple of pairs of trousers. “I took off my shirt and threw that in too to make him think I’d gone somewhere else. It didn’t work.” He threw some toiletries into the knapsack and shouldered it. “I’m ready.” Then he perused the room. “Guess I won’t be coming back here any time soon.”

“You guessed correctly. Let’s go.”

Kenji shook his head, his expression sad. He looked over the tiny, dingy flat. “I know it sounds crazy, but this is my home. The only one I’ve known.”

Fallon grasped Kenji’s arm and tugged him to the door. “I’m sorry this is happening, but we’ll find you a new home somewhere. I promise.” First they had to get to safety. “Let’s go.” He put his ear to the door again. The hall was still silent and his trained ear picked up no sound of someone breathing out there, laying in wait for them. He’d c****d the safety of his phazer and held it up. With a brief finger to his lips, he then opened the door, silently, slowly. After another moment’s listening for breathing or footsteps, he signaled to Kenji to follow him into the hallway.

The solitary bulb hanging from the ceiling was bright enough and the space small enough that no one could hide in shadows and jump out at them. The downstairs was another matter. “Be as quiet as you can,” he whispered over his shoulder and saw Kenji nod.

Phazer still brandished, he led Kenji down each flight, his ears trained toward the silent shadows. Even a bombastic oaf like McCray could hide like a cat if he needed to.

But McCray wasn’t there and they made it to the entryway without incident. The next step was to get to a main thoroughfare and catch an airbus to the ISP station where his space pod was waiting.

Fallon peeked around the door and scanned the dimly lit sidewalk in either direction. The night sky of Terran A had a strangely purplish glow, not as dark as night on Earth, and so it was a mite easier to see that the way was clear. So far. He signaled to Kenji to follow and stepped out onto the sidewalk. Kenji’s street was quiet since this area housed mostly working folk who were already tucked in for the night.

Taking Kenji’s arm, Fallon ushered him along, still scanning the sidewalk up ahead and aware of alleyways from which McCray could jump out at them. He cut across the street, heading for the outskirts of the marketplace, the spot where, he knew, Kenji’s lookalike had been brutally attacked. They had to get to the main street where the air buses went along their routes. Unlike hover buses that only went a few feet above the ground, airbuses could circle buildings and coast above the traffic, unimpeded. That would be the quickest, safest way to get back to the pod. It had probably been half an hour since they left Spike’s. Only a matter of time before McCray tracked them down.

The traffic noise grew louder with their return to a busier area. On the corner, a small collection of people waited at an air bus stop. Fallon looked them over, making certain McCray wasn’t among them. No concern here. These people were mostly well-dressed, probably on their way to the more expensive nightclubs and late-night restaurants of Terran A.

Fallon ushered Kenji into the middle of the group of people and pressed close to him. That’s when he heard it. The beeping. A blaring sound that grew louder, accompanied by the grinding roar of a motorbike, a rarity on the outposts. He felt a glimmer of relief. Only cops used the tool that made that noise, a DNA lock. With that gadget and a person’s genetic code, you could find anyone just about anywhere without even seeing them. Yet he hadn’t called for police assistance. Which meant. Shite! When had McCray gotten his hands on one of those? Not even the best bounty hunters had access to DNA locks. There was nowhere to run now. He clicked the lock of his phazer setting it deep stun. Only one way out of the situation now.

The bike was rounding the corner and the beeping pulsed loudly through the air, nearly as loud as a siren. The people around them were murmuring, shuffling in growing alarm. Drawing Kenji closer to him, Fallon tapped the button on his communicator. “Request backup. Sector A, airbus route, main street.” Assistance would be here within seconds.

Just then, an airbus came into view at the other end of the street. But no cops.

The motorbike screeched to a halt a few feet away, the engine idling loudly.

People in the crowd cried out and moved apart like a set of curtains, leaving Fallon and Kenji exposed. Where were those bloody cops? He jerked his gaze quickly in either direction. Nothing.

Fallon stepped in front of Kenji, just as the red light of the DNA lock glared on them like a spotlight. He squinted and saw the beefy outline of the bounty hunter on his bike. Somehow McCray had gotten a sample of Kenji’s DNA and matched it. Right there in the middle of Terran City. And there was to be no help from law enforcement. He pointed his phazer at McCray.

“Give him to me,” McCray yelled over the noise. “He’s mine!” In McCray’s other hand was a mega-phazer.

“Bullshit!” Fallon aimed fired and smack! The laser hit McCray in the center of the forehead and he keeled over, bike and all.

Just as the air bus pulled to a hovering stop.

Fallon yanked Kenji toward it and shoved him up the lowered steps. He showed his badge to the driver. “ISP station for Sector A,” he said. The driver nodded and let them in without paying and he herded Kenji immediately to the back, keeping watch out the window over McCray’s unconscious form.

“Is he dead?” Kenji’s voice quavered and his hand clutched Fallon’s arm.

Fallon holstered his weapon. “No. But he’ll be out for a while. My phazer is set on level three. Delivers quite a shock. He’ll have a scar where I hit him.”

“Oh.” Kenji sat back in his seat as the airbus door whooshed closed and the bus lifted high into the air. The sterile light of the overhead light track showed the paleness of Kenji’s usually tanned gold skin.

Ignoring the frightened stares they were receiving from their fellow passengers, Fallon put a hand on Kenji’s arm and chided himself. The poor guy was shaken. When a bloke was used to dealing with bounty hunters, it was one thing, but Kenji was an innocent. And incredibly harmless. At least he seemed to be.

A dark feeling coiled in Fallon’s chest. Had he become so immune to such violence himself? “You’re safe now, Kenji,” he said softly, as the bus moved silently through the air, passing the lighted buildings. “I’ll make sure of it.” Especially since they couldn’t rely on help from the Terran police.

Kenji looked at him, his right eye sad. But he nodded. “Thanks.”

Fallon sat back, relaxing for the moment. Then a question formed in his mind, something he hadn’t had time to consider before. He looked at Kenji again, remembering the feel of his lips when Kenji had first burst into Spike’s that evening. Kenji was a great kisser. “Can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“When you came running into Spike’s earlier, why didn’t you just tell me what was going on? Not that I minded what you did do. I’m just…curious.”

Kenji sighed. For several moments he appeared to reflect on the question. Finally he shook his head. “Honestly, I’m not sure. I wasn’t…thinking, really. Just acting.” A look of pain tightened his features. “When I saw what the bounty hunter did to that poor guy and then went after me, I couldn’t think of anything else except that you were supposed to be there, waiting for me. I was so relieved when I saw you. It all just came out…that way. You were my…hope.” He fell silent and looked down.

Kenji waited for Fallon’s response. When none came, he dared to peek at the large man’s face. Truly, he hadn’t meant to grab Fallon and kiss him that way. Even during their entire night at the love hotel, Kenji had not been the aggressor, but when he’d seen the man there at the bar, waiting, his entire being, body and soul, had responded.

Fallon wore a strange expression and seemed to be studying his hands as if they were the most interesting things he could possibly be looking at.

“Fallon?” Kenji’s stomach flipped over. Bad enough he’d just admitted needing him so much, but having gotten Fallon involved in this crazy, horrid mess…

A deep sigh. “Sorry, Kenji. I…it’s just, I don’t know what to say.”

“Just say you don’t hate me for getting you into this. I’m sorry.”

Fallon’s blue eyes clouded. “I could never hate you. I’m just…not used to thinking of myself as someone’s hope. That’s all.”

“Oh.” Kenji glanced back at Fallon who was now looking out the window, in the direction of the place he’d left McCray lying. Maybe Fallon’s response had something to do with Nicky, the guy who’d been his partner, but he remained silent, not wanting to pry into Fallon’s privacy.

“As for you getting me into this mess, I already knew something was wrong before I got to Terran A. I waited for you at Spike’s only because I felt that was the surest place to find you.” Then Fallon whipped around to face him. “Kenji, weren’t there cops coming ‘round at the marketplace? Wasn’t there someone from law enforcement you could turn to?”

The scene surged through Kenji’s memory. The poor guy on the ground, screaming and bleeding, clutching his face, the crowd of terrified onlookers, and McCray’s scowling face as he turned, saw Kenji, and lunged for him. Kenji searched the images, realizing only then, there hadn’t been one cop on the scene. Usually, there were regular patrols just about everywhere and distress calls were answered within a minute or so. He shook his head slowly. “Actually, no. There was no one there. Not even a siren to say a cop was coming.”

Fallon sat back in his seat. “And no cop now when I called for back-up.” He ran a hand through his hair and sighed deeply.

Kenji couldn’t help but notice how it made his broad chest heave under the snug t-shirt.

“No one except for me,” Fallon went on, as if to himself. “I’m Intergalactic. The outposts aren’t my jurisdiction. Even when I’m pursuing a bounty hunter, once he or she enters land space, I’m required to call for Terran patrols to assist me. They never take more than a few seconds to show up.” His eyes narrowed, his rugged face drawn in concentration. “Something’s wrong.”

Kenji’s blood chilled. “Why wouldn’t the cops come?”

“I don’t know.”

“That’s bad, isn’t it?”

“Yes.”

“I just don’t understand why this bounty hunter came after me.”

Fallon looked at him. “I beg your pardon? Don’t you know?”

He shook his head.

“Have you fought with anyone, someone who might want revenge?”

“I don’t know.” His drive to remain alone indicated to him he might have enemies, but really, how could he know for sure?

“What do you mean you don’t know? If you’ve had a fight with someone, I’d think you remember. Listen Kenji, you really need to tell me what’s going on. I know you’re in hiding, but I can’t help you unless you tell me the truth.”

“Hiding?” Kenji shook his head. “I don’t know if I’m in hiding, I swear it. I’m not lying, I promise.”

Fallon’s brow furrowed. “What do you mean? You’re not a fugitive?”

“I mean, I don’t remember anything. I just woke up one day a few months ago on the outskirts of the city with my statue near me. I was in a crash of some sort, I guess. There were pieces of a space pod not far away all charred, but I don’t know anything else.”

Fallon nodded. “Those happen quite regularly. Some of the pod manufacturers have atmospheric entry reactors that overheat. You have amnesia. Probably you suffered a head injury in the crash.”

“I was bruised up pretty badly. I guess you’re right.” Kenji remembered stumbling to his feet, the statue in his arms, the remains of his charred clothing on the ground nearby, and surveying the dry, rocky terrain surrounding him. In the distance, the skyline of a city had loomed up, providing the beacon toward which he made his way before passing out and waking up in the Matsuotos’ home. “So, that means the bounty hunter is coming after who I was. Not who I am now. Do you think I may have killed someone?” The mere thought made him nauseous.

“I doubt you killed anyone. You’re not the type. I’ve seen others suffer from amnesia and they never became a completely different person. They retained their basic nature. You’re gentle. You couldn’t even use the “f” word earlier, for God’s sake.”

Kenji remembered that exchange and smiled, feeling sheepish. “Yeah. You think I’d use those words after working in Spike’s all that time, but…” He shrugged. “I just can’t.”

Fallon pinned him with a firm look. “That aside, you’re not safe anywhere. We need to get to the pod and fly out into ISP territory. Then we need to learn where you came from. If we can catch the trail, we can find who hired McCray and who prevented law enforcement from coming around.”

“ISP.” The bus driver’s voice sounded over the loudspeaker. The airbus lowered to street level and the door opened.

Fallon rose from his seat, keeping a hand around Kenji’s arm. Kenji kept close to Fallon, sensing all the other passengers’ eyes on them as they went down the aisle. Kenji’s nerves crackled. Any second he expected one of the other people in the bus to jump out and grab him. Only the sensation of Fallon’s strong hand on his arm gave him any sense of safety at all. The entire world felt like a threatening, dangerous place of deadly shadows.

Down on the sidewalk, Fallon kept moving, pulling him firmly along. “Dammit,” he muttered, again sounding as if he were having in an inner conversation “I can’t believe law enforcement would be in on this. It can’t be.”

Kenji’s heart raced as Fallon led him around the huge, squarish concrete block building toward the back. A high fence topped with a buzzing force field loomed up in the purplish night. “I’m sorry, Fallon. I shouldn’t have involved—“

“You’ve nothing to be sorry for. It’s not your fault the universe is full of corrupt bastards. Must be McCray had a scrambling device that prevented law enforcement from reaching the scene. There are just a few of those illegal buggers being bought and sold through the galaxies.”

“That must be it.”

They’d reached the gate and Fallon showed his badge to the guard who pressed a button and stood aside. Laser beams of light across the entrance ceased to flow long enough to let them through and Fallon once again tugged Kenji along with him. “We’re getting on board and out of here.” Fallon strode through a wide open space filled only with police vehicles.

A dog barked and charged out of the shadows. Kenji jumped but relaxed as soon as he saw the shaggy, floppy-eared mutt. This had to be Mike, the traveling companion Fallon had told him about in one of their telescreen conversations.

“C’mon Mike.” Fallon snapped his fingers at the dog. “We’re out of here.” He pulled a small mechanism from his pocket, pressed a button and a door on the last space pod in the line of parked vehicles lowered down. Mike ran ahead and bounded up the small ramp.

Fallon let Kenji precede him. “Welcome to my home,” he said.

Kenji paused on the ramp. It was no small thing for him to be invited into someone’s home. “Thanks, Fallon.”

Fallon nodded to the interior. “No problem. Get in there.”

Kenji stepped in, Fallon right behind him. In the next second, the door went up, sealing them inside. Letting out a breath, Kenji hugged his knapsack to him while Mike circled around his heels, sniffing at him, furry tail wagging.

“Mike, this is Kenji, our new traveling mate. Kenji, Mike.”

“Nice to meet you,” he said to the dog and held out one hand. “I’ve heard all about you.” Immediately a warm wet tongue licked across his palm and then Mike pushed his shaggy head against Kenji’s hand.

Kenji chuckled at the ticklish feeling of fur against his skin. “I think he likes me.”

“He does. Feel praised. Mike doesn’t usually take to people so quickly.”

“I do feel praised then.” Kenji scratched Mike behind the ears and petted his head while watching Fallon power up the controls.

“Make yourself comfortable,” Fallon said, pressing buttons and flicking switches. “Once we’re underway, we can begin to unravel this mystery.” The control panel with all its tiny lights and screens lit up, beeped and flickered.

Kenji marveled at Fallon’s ease. He’d been right to trust Fallon, For a moment he relived his terror when the bounty hunter had demanded him. So heroic, how Fallon had stepped between them. And the way he’d taken McCray down with one shot of his phazer. Wow.

Fallon gestured to the seat beside him. “Strap yourself in, Kenji. Just for take-off.”

“Okay.” Slowly, he sat down, his knapsack on his lap. At least the seat belts weren’t difficult to figure out. He clicked the buckle shut around himself and the knapsack holding the precious statue. Mike whined once more and then retreated to a corner where he curled up.

“This buggy is a bit older model,” Fallon said, still pushing buttons and sliding levers up and down, “But she gives a smooth ride and is new enough to have a cloaking feature.”

“Cloaking? Meaning it can be invisible?”

“Yes.” The look of purpose still shone from his blue eyes. “I guess I don’t need to tell you how important that feature is for us now.”

Kenji shook his head. “No.”

The motors vibrated under Kenji’s boots and the pressure in the air changed slightly.

“Lifting off.” Fallon pulled back on the largest throttle and Kenji was suddenly pushed hard into his seat. The air above seemed to press down on his head and through the windshield, the purple night sky drew closer. And closer. Fallon pushed some more controls and a whirring sound started up, echoing so loudly, Kenji felt as if it shimmered right through his brain.

The space pod surged. There was a flare of heat and outside, the air seemed to burn bright orange.

“We’re going through Terran A’s atmosphere,” Fallon shouted over the din.

“I see!” Kenji clutched his knapsack to keep the statue from flying out of his arms.

“Just a bit more!” Fallon reached for yet more controls and Kenji glimpsed the bulge of the man’s biceps and triceps with his movements.

Then, suddenly, the pressure was gone. The whirring sound ceased and silence filled the space pod. The craft felt as if it were floating. Outside the pod, the darkness of space surrounded them. Terran A was gone.

Kenji stared through the windshield. Ahead of them was endless blackness, dotted only by a distant light here and there.

Fallon gestured out the window. “You can unstrap yourself and have a closer look.”

Wordlessly, he flipped open the buckle and slid off the seat, one arm still around the statue. He stood as close as he dared to the control panel and stared out the windshield. There was only one word to describe what he saw. “Incredible,” he breathed.

Close by he heard Fallon chuckle. “Yes, it is. A miracle.” He pushed a few more buttons and levers then undid his own safety belt. When he rose from the seat, the space pod continued as if someone were at the helm. “I have a safe place for your statue. Follow me.” He took a few steps, hit a control on the wall and a door slid aside, revealing a living space with a bed, a bedside table and a chair beside some bookshelves. It looked almost cozy but for the walls of the same gray spaceship steel as the control room.

Crouching down, Fallon slid open a small hatch. “It’ll be safe here, Kenji,” he said. “And there’s an extra drawer for your other things.”

Kenji knelt by him and opened the knapsack. He lifted the statue, still wrapped in its towel and tucked it into the compartment, which Fallon slid shut again and turned a lock.

“It’ll be there when you want it,” Fallon said. He rose to his feet and Kenji did the same.

They stood, face to face, Kenji tilting his head to look into Fallon’s eyes. ”Thanks, Fallon. I’ll never be able to repay you for this.”

“There’s nothing to repay.” Fallon cupped his cheek and brushed Kenji’s cheekbone with the pad of his thumb. “I want you to be safe.“ His blue eyes darkened slightly and he leaned in a bit closer. The hum and vibration of the pod’s engines filled the silence. Fallon’s hand slid down a tiny bit and he ran the pad of his thumb along Kenji’s bottom lip. “You’re a great looking man, Kenji,” he murmured.

Kenji’s cheeks heated. Guys like Bud at Spike’s used to compliment him all the time on his looks. It was flattering but none of them made him tremble the way Fallon did. “Thanks. So are you.”

Fallon gave a tiny sideways grin. “I’m an overgrown space cowboy, really,” he said, “but if you think I look good, so be it.” He stared down into Kenji’s face a few seconds more. His thumb slid across Kenji’s lip again and then he pulled away. “I just realized something. You could be married.”

Kenji frowned. “Married? To a woman?”

Fallon shrugged. “Or a man. Same s*x marriages have been legal for a couple of centuries now.” He leaned against the doorway connecting the sleeping room to the main area of the pod. “In any case, if you are married, I don’t want to be a home-wrecker, hot as you are.”

“I never thought of that.” The idea of staying away from Fallon left Kenji bereft. Much as he’d gotten used to his solitude, his taste of being in Fallon’s strong embrace had proven intoxicating. He sighed. “How will I ever know?”

“We’ll have to unravel the mystery.” Fallon squeezed his shoulder. “Look up at me please.”

Fallon’s voice compelled him to obey. For a hopeful moment, the way Fallon leaned into him, he dared to hope for a kiss. But instead, Fallon reached up and traced the edge of Kenji’s eye patch with the pad of his index finger. “Now, I need to ask you for something important. Something that could provide a valuable clue to who you are.”

Kenji’s heart lurched. “What is it?”

“I need you to show me this eye.”