by Chris Sapp
“I’m thinking.”
“You’re stalling,” she said, snatching the cigarette out of his hand. He glared at her.
“Give it back.”
“Not until you agree to follow this lead.”
“It’s not a lead. It’s a desperate hope of an equally desperate girl.”
What he said was true but that didn’t make it hurt any less. She tried to bury her emotions.
“Keep it,” he said. “I’ve got more.” He turned away from her.
“Hey, I saved your life!”
“So?”he asked, lighting another one of those God awful Fenix Tails.
“So. You owe me. We had a deal.”
“I agreed to help you find out who faked your father’s suicide, not go all the way to Aquila on some wild goose chase.”
Aquila? That’s when it hit her. The Pearl was a Merfolk casino. The syren, Fiske’s god damned syren. That’s why Roe was fighting this.
“Who was she?” Izabel asked, folding her arms across her bosom.
“Who was who?” Roe had proven to be a very intelligent and resourceful guy but right now he seemed completely perplexed and she was enjoying every second of it.
“The syren Fiske imitated. She’s the reason you don’t want to go to Aquila.”
“Leave it alone.”
Roe quickly stubbed his Fenix Tail out and tried to leave the galley. Izabel cut him off.
“She works at The Pearl doesn’t she? Is she the owner?”
“I said leave it alone,” he warned. She could tell he was serious but she didn’t care. She had to know what happened to her father and Roe’s refusal to go to Aquila was keeping her from finding out.
“Wow! This is really bothering you. Were you two lovers? What was her name? Was it Wr-”
Roe struck. It happened fast. His hand was gripped around her throat, pinning her to the wall before she even knew what was happening. His talons dug into her soft flesh. She had dropped Roe’s cigarette and it was smoldering on the carpet. He extinguished it with his talon, his glaring eyes never leaving hers.
“If you want to go to Aquila, be my guest. But you’re going alone. If you think this means I still owe you my life,” without looking, he drew his pistol, “Then take it.”
He forced the pistol into her hands and then turned away. He paused at the doorway, giving her plenty of time to shoot him the back if she so desired. She didn’t.
She set the gun down on the table loud enough for him to hear. He left without another word or a glance back. She collapsed into the seat and began to cry. All she wanted was for him to come with her to Aquila. But that certainly wasn’t going to happen now. Damn it! Why’d she have to be so mouthy?
ROE
ROE WASN’T SURPRISED when Izabel told him that she still wanted to go to Aquila. Who could blame her? She was following the only lead she had and it wasn’t as thin as he had made out. But he couldn’t go with her, not to Aquila and especially not to The Pearl. It would just be too painful. Besides, it was time they went their separate ways. Vi had called him that morning. Thankfully Izabel had still been in the shower. Apparently, Magnus had finally realized that Roe hadn’t collared Izabel nor was she still on the detox list. He had demanded that Vi call Roe and find out why he hadn’t collared his next and final stray. There had been plenty of opportunities. Roe lied again and told her that he wanted to tie up some loose ends and pay his respects before he said goodbye to this life forever. She told him he had one day. Which would give him enough to time to drop Izabel off at the Canyon City spaceport, where she could catch a shuttle to Aquila.
Canyon City was located on a giant asteroid and you got around by navigating through tunnels rather than streets. Even though there were lights jutting out of the rock walls every five feet, it was still dark enough to require some sort of running lights on your craft. Roe, navigating through one of said tunnels, risked a quick glance over at Izabel. She was curled up in the navigator’s seat, staring out the window and worrying her nails. There was nothing to see but rock wall but he supposed that must be better to look at then the guy who had physically assaulted her. He had never intended to do her any harm. He just lost his temper when she kept pushing him about Wren. It never would’ve happened if it hadn’t been for fucking Fiske. He wished he had beaten the shit out of the damn kameleon. But if he had, then Izabel wouldn’t have her lead. At least that was something.
There was a toll booth at the end of the tunnel.
“Welcome to Canyon City, sir,” said the Chromey guard inside the booth. “What can I do for you?”
“I need to dock for about an hour,” Roe answered.
“Sure, that’ll be twenty credits.”
“I get a bounty hunter’s discount.”
“I just need to authenticate your badge.”
Roe started to unbutton his coat when Izabel reached across him and paid the guard.
“Thank you, miss.”
“I was gonna get it,” Roe told her.
“You’ve done enough.” She had gone back to staring out the window and worrying her nails.
“Docking bay 94, sir.”
“Thanks,” Roe said.
The gate retracted and Roe eased the nose of the cruiser towards a solid rock wall. His headlights illuminated a faded painting of a yellow arrow. It was pointing down. Roe killed the thrusters and they descended straight down into another tunnel. They had passed three more arrows by the time they arrived at the bottom. The tunnel opened up into an enormous cavern. The center of the asteroid had been hollowed out and this was where all the docking bays were located. The bays were little more than landing platforms extending out from ship-sized pockets that had been carved into the rock. There were hundreds of them. A blinking indicator light on Roe’s NaviGuide told him which direction to go.
Docking bay 94 was near the top of the cavern. The landing gear had barely touched the ground before Izabel was out of her seat and heading for the boarding ramp. When she’s quit. She’s quit, thought Roe as he unbuckled his own harness. Lighting a Fenix Tail, he descended the ramp and looked around. The cavern was cold and drafty. He flipped his collar up and buttoned the rest of his coat to keep it from flapping against his legs. An elevator recessed into the rock at the back of the bay was the only way off the platform. Izabel was waiting there, impatiently. Her hood was up, probably to hide her new dye job as much as from the cold.
The inside of the elevator was heated and it was a welcomed warmth.
“I’m not hungry,” said Izabel, when Roe pressed the button with the picture of a fork and knife on it.
“Well, I am,” he retorted. “And the shuttles are right next door.”
“Fine,” she grumbled.
They rode the rest of the way in bitter silence.
When the doors opened they were assaulted by the sweet aroma of prepared and unprepared food alike. Roe had to swallow the extra saliva his mouth produced. Canyon City’s Food Court offered anything your stomach could desire. Spoiled and Rare was an ogre restaurant that offered a slew of the rarest and most spoiled meat in the galaxy. It was served with a side of rotten potato and moldy vegetables. The waiting staff at Simply Red were very attractive and they served blood, their own. Roe saw three vampyrs feeding on one waitress at the same time. Her eyes were closed and she was cooing in ecstasy. Teeny-weeny Treats, popular with Faeries, served a seven course meal that could fit in the palm of Roe’s hand. Humungous Hamburgers weighed nearly eight pounds and contained nearly 5,000 calories. An instant heart attack for anyone other than a Giant. Roadkill, located in the center of the Food Court, was just a pit filled with an array of dead carcasses. Some were animals. Some weren’t. The smell of rotting flesh combined with the sounds of bones snapping under the weight of werewolf jaws was almost enough to ruin Roe’s appetite. Almost.
He stopped in front of The Clucker Carve and turned back to Izabel.
“Sure you don’t want to eat?”
“I’m sure.” Her icy tone was as bitter as
the wind in the tunnels.
“Well, the shuttles are down there,” he pointed at a tunnel around the corner from The Clucker Carve.
“Do you want me to show you?”
“What am I, a retard?” Izabel asked.
Without another word, she turned and started for the tunnel. He watched her go, wishing the clues had pointed some place else. Anywhere else in the whole damn universe.
“Izabel?” he called. She stopped and looked back over her shoulder.
“Good luck.”
She started to say something but apparently thought better of it and settled for a nod. Then she rounded the corner and was gone from his sight. Exhaling heavily, he opened the door and stepped into The Clucker Carve. The place smelled of grease and sawdust. There was a nearly vacant bar on the right and equally vacant booths on the left. All the furniture was hand crafted wood. The lighting was low and made the whole atmosphere very somber. Roe was glad because it matched his mood perfectly.
A seven foot tall ogress wearing a ruby studded hog ring, showed him to his seat, a cozy booth in the corner. The place was very warm and he was nearly sweating by the time he reached the booth. He removed his coat and as he sat down, he noticed that the wooden tabletop was covered with carvings. Most were as crude in skill as they were in subject matter. The biggest offender being a sixteen inch rendering of an uncircumcised penis complete with dripping spuge. Probably an ogre, Roe thought with a healthy amount of distaste. He thought about finding another place to eat but that would involve getting up, and he was tired. Plus, now that he had removed his coat, it was quite comfortable in here.
When he looked up at the waitress, she offered him a carving tool and said, “Carve away.”
“I’ve got my own,” he said showing her his claws. He tried to keep his mind occupied by reading the menu but his options were limited to chicken and chicken. So, naturally his thoughts returned to Izabel. He tried to tell himself that he had given the girl plenty of help, but he knew that the odds of her success had been greatly diminished by his absence.
His waitress was a six-inch tall faery named Valerie. She took his order, the 4 piece chicken tender meal, fried pickles, and a mug of the house ale, and left. Almost unwittingly, he began to whittle away on one of the few clear spots left on the table.
“Not bad, sugar,” said the waitress when she had returned with his food. Roe glanced at his watch. Damn. He’d been carving for 7 minutes and hadn’t even noticed.
“She’s a mermaid, right?” Valerie asked, as she set his plate and mug down. Roe looked down at his carving. The faery was right. He’d carved an image of Wren.
“How can you tell?”
“What can I say? I know my whittles.” She winked at him and it prompted him to ask another question. One that had been bugging him since the moment he saw the carved up table tops.
“What do you do with the tables once there’s no more carving room?”
“Well, most of em’ are sanded down but some, the really good ones, end up on our wall of fame.” She turned and pointed at three table tops, covered with carvings, that had been nailed to the wall above the bar. Roe could tell that the best carvings had been culled from different tables and then glued together to form one large mosaic.
“Finish that mermaid and I’ll put in a good word for ya.” She winked at him a second time.
“No, that’s all right.” He smiled, despite his previously sour mood.
“Well, enjoy.”
She floated away and he dug into his plate. The meat was tender and juicy and the beer was the perfect blend of bitter and sweet. He lit his obligatory post-meal Fenix Tail and found himself whittling away at the table again. He still had twenty minutes before his pass expired and he didn’t like to leave things unfinished. Then why’d you leave Izabel? Because he couldn’t go back to Aquila. Why not? Because he had made a promise. Damnit! He dug a deep groove into the table, ruining his artwork.
His desire to whittle had passed, so he stood up and slipped back into his coat. He had the second to the last button pinched between his fingers when he heard his datapad CHIME. It was a unique chime that was designated to let him know whenever a new stray was added to the Detox List. Curious, he unbuttoned his coat and retrieved the datapad. He had the Detox List up in a matter of seconds. An ogre named Rolando Hutson had just made the list. His EDT was still nearly twenty-four hours away. Plenty of time to find and collar him. But Roe might not have to go very far to track him because one of Hutson’s frequent hangouts was Spoiled and Rare, right here in Canyon City. Roe’s luck was turning by the second. He could collar Hutson, his one-thousandth stray, and be free and clear in less than twenty-four hours.
“Ready for your check?” asked the waitress, fluttering up to him.
“Yes, and I get a bounty hunter’s discount.”
“Bounty hunter, huh?”
Smiling, Roe nodded and reached inside his coat for his badge. But all he found was an empty chain hanging around his neck.
“Shit.” He looked around expecting to see it laying on the floor. But he didn’t.
“What’d you lose, sugar?”
“My badge.”
He looked under the table. He removed his coat and shook it out. But neither spot turned up anything. Then a series of images flashed briefly in his mind. Izabel lunging in front of him when he’d mentioned his discount at the toll booth. Izabel worrying her nails. Then it occurred to him that he had never seen her worry her nails. He remembered how she had refused to eat, even though it had been hours since their last meal. He had chocked it all up to her just being angry with him for quitting. But now he realized, she hadn’t been angry. She had been nervous and desperately trying to hide something.
Like the fact that she had stolen his damn badge.
AUGUSTO
“WHERE DID YOU last see Frye?” Augusto asked, straining to see through the dense green foliage.
“About ten paces ahead. By the waterfall,” Rikon answered.
“Remember to proceed with caution, gentlemen. If you have to shoot him, aim for the body, not the legs,” advised Blair Hawkins. Augusto glanced down at the silver dart gun gripped in his hairy hands and then he shared a glance of worry with Rikon. With a nod, Augusto and Rikon followed the centaur chemist deeper into the jungle. His surroundings were so complete in their realism that Augusto had to remind himself that he was walking through the jungle level of the Crucible not an actual tropical forest. The design team had even seen fit to include accurate humidity levels. Every square inch of his clothing was glued to his matted fur. His palms were drenched, making it difficult to hold on to his dart gun. This particular level had already been conquered and received the stamp of approval to appear in the upcoming Crucible. So, Augusto had expected that the next time he saw this level would be with a live audience during the actual games. The idea behind the level’s design was to create a serene environment that would put the contestants at ease and lower their defenses, despite the true danger lurking the shadows. It worked, because yesterday Clive, the giant arachnid that inhabited the manufactured forest, had attacked a spider wrangler named Frye. The elf had lowered his guard just long enough to dip his head in the waterfall.
Upon hearing the news, Augusto’s first act had been to call Kariah Slade, the bioengineer genius behind the spider’s creation. Mrs. Slade had been very busy but she had dispatched Doctor Blair Hawkins, her right hand man. Augusto was very grateful. He found that most scientist either talked down to you as if you were no smarter than a child, or their personalities were so introverted as to be severely off-putting. But Augusto had liked Blair from the moment he arrived. His wit and cleverness were charming instead of obnoxious. His demeanor was so laid-back that Augusto wondered just what type of catastrophe if any could make him angry or distraught. On second thought, he didn’t want to find out. The three-man rescue team reached the waterfall, which started at the top of the thirty foot ceiling and then ran down a rock wall into a one hund
red gallon pond.
“Well, there’s his electric prod,” said Blair. “But no sign of him.” The centaur was right. Frye’s spider prod was lying on the ground at the base of the pond. Rikon scooped it up and glanced at the power indicator.
“Half charge,” he said. He thumbed it to life. Blue arcs of electricity danced between the two prongs. Augusto watched as Blair cantered forward to study the path ahead. It was choked with thick spider webs.
“Well, what’s the next step?” Augusto asked.
“Past the pond, and through the webs, to Clive’s house we go,” Blair responded cheerfully.
“Look, I don’t want to sound like an asshole. But why are we risking our lives for a dead man?” Rikon asked.
“It doesn’t matter. I still want to recover the body,” Augusto said.
“According to his file,” Blair said. “Frye was 6,5 elf and weighed one hundred and ninety pounds and he’s been missing for approximately three hours. Which means that as long as we find him in the next two hours, he should survive.”
“How do I know you’re not just making this up?” Rikon asked.
“Rikon!” Augusto said.
“No, it’s all right,” Blair soothed, “I completely understand where he’s coming from. Do we both agree that Clive is a spider?”
“A giant ass spider sure,” Rikon said.
Augusto was fuming. He couldn’t believe that Rikon was being so disrespectful to someone that was trying to help them.
“Well, even though he is a giant ass spider, Clive is just like any other spider. His bite doesn’t kill his victims, it paralyzes them and then he takes them back to his nest where he slowly drains them of their blood. For someone of Frye’s height and weight it will take Clive precisely six hours to kill him. Okay?”
Augusto waited in silence, prepared to reprimand Rikon if he got any further out of line.
“Okay, doc let’s go wrangle a wrangler,” Rikon said.
“Good. Now, I’m going to need that prod. Unless you want to take the lead?” Blair extended his open palm towards Rikon.
