by the fans for the fans

Chapter 12




“Well, this definitely isn’t the work of our mystery killer.” Detective Vince Hayward stated, looking down at the corpse of the man Victoria had killed earlier. Vince was glad to be back at work again, apart from dealing with the macabre aspect of the job.

Then all of a sudden, he spotted the shell casing of the bullet lying on the sidewalk about a foot away from the body, and knelt down to collect it.
“Any witnesses?” He turned to his partner who had just finished chatting with one of the officers on the scene.

“Just a woman and two men.” Marks replied. “They all said the same thing. They saw a petite blonde woman shoot this man in the head after robbing the bank. They all saw her walk out of there with a large sack. She was also wearing a hat with a black veil which covered the upper half of her face.”

Vince then placed the bullet casing inside a small evidence bag and sealed it. “So a woman did this huh? Wonder what she’s so angry about these days? But why kill the one witness if those others saw her too? If you ask me, I’d say she shot this man specifically because he knew who she was.”

“Or maybe he was just in the way?” Marks suggested, watching with Vince as the body was then lifted up on a stretcher and hauled off to the meat wagon.

Vince put the small evidence baggy into his left coat pocket and then stood back up. “So what do we call this one, Marks?” He asked next throwing out some suggestions for possible new headlines. “The veiled killer? The angry widow?”

“Well she got away with over a million in cash.” Marks said. “I wouldn’t think she’s too angry anymore. So for now I’d just call her the veiled robber. She’s only killed one man that we know of so far.”

“Bah.” Vince groaned. “I still say that man knew who she was. Hopefully more witnesses will come forward in time.”


After taking a much needed nap, Lynne exited her bungalow and began making her way to the AMF academy building. She was instantly alarmed once Lucy and Mipsy approached her talking about the fight that had broken out between William and the guard. But of course they both failed to mention the guard was the one who attacked William first, causing Lynne to worry that her good friend and old flame had turned to violence as a way of handling conflict from here on out. And if that were the case, then he would need to be court-martialed and possibly discharged, as there was no way in hell she was going to allow another Stan Winston type incident to happen on her watch.

But once she entered the infirmary and saw how badly beaten William looked, she seemed to have an immediate change of heart.

“Corporal Sterling?” Lynne gasped staring down at William as he lay on one of the beds while a nurse was in the midst of cleaning up the cuts and scrapes on his face.

“What happened out there?” Lynne demanded, standing at his bedside once the nurse moved out of the way. “I just need a few minutes with him.” Lynne informed the nurse, who nodded in kind and left the room.

“What does it look like?” William muttered. “I got my ass kicked.”

“No, I mean what led to this?” Lynne asked firmly crossing her arms. “And please tell me you didn’t instigate this fight.”

William huffed angrily. “Of course I didn’t! That guard let a Tjatey child walk right out of the gate and into the city alone.” He explained, propping himself up with the pillow behind his head. “He did it as an act of revenge too. And attacked me when I said I was going to report him to the admiral.”

Lynne sighed deep and shook her head in disappointment.

“I hope that’s not at me.” William narrowed his eyes. “That child could have been killed because of him. I couldn’t allow that, and I know despite your personal feelings towards the Tjatey, you couldn’t either.”

Lynne nodded. “You’re right I couldn’t. I’m just—I thought after all that happened we were past all the violence, but I suppose I was wrong. Things didn’t change at all, did they?”

“Not everyone is as forgiving as we are.” William said looking her in the eye. “He reminded me that his brother was among the fallen that day.”

Lynne groaned as she covered her face with her hand, and then let her arm fall to her side again. “I don’t know what to do.” She frowned. “If anything there are probably others who feel the same way as that guard does, and that’s going to be a huge problem for us in the long run.”

William agreed with her. “I know it is. And we can’t control how they feel either. What are we going to do? Punish every single one of them for their feelings? It’s not realistic.”

“I want to prevent more bloodshed at least.” She said next, her face full of sympathy. “I’m sorry this happened to you, Sterling. But for what it’s worth, I’m glad you stood your ground. He needed to be put in his place, and the admiral and I will be dealing with him shortly. He will pay for this, that I can promise you at least.” She gently brushed her hand across William’s forehead and gave a soft regretful smile.

“I saw Ammon by the way.” William mentioned then, causing her to give him a funny look in return.

“Ammon?” She replied quizzically. “What do you mean you saw him?”

“When I was knocked out he came to me.” William explained. “We had an interesting chat about the future of his people and how he wants me to serve as some kind of guide for them.”

Shaking her head in disbelief, Lynne pressed the back of her hand to William’s head to check for a fever.

“I’m not speaking insanity here I promise.” He furrowed his brow as he shoved her hand off of him. “He really did visit me in, whatever state of mind that was.”

She sighed and shook her head. “I don’t know what I believe right now, Sterling. But I think for now you should get some rest. I’ll check in with the nurse later to get an update on how you’re doing.”

William suddenly jolted up out of bed. “But I can’t rest, I have to be at the Card Shack soon, she’s going to be looking for me!”

“Who is?” Lynne asked sternly.

“Victoria Thompson.” William answered.

Lynne shot him an incredulous look. “You’re telling me you’ve got a date with that actress?”

“Pretty much.” He responded, noting that hint of jealousy in her voice.

“You really hit your head hard didn’t you? Lynne remarked next, which only seemed to crush him on the inside until she could see it for herself.

“Yeah, I guess I did.” He frowned as he looked away from her. “By the way she’s the woman I was telling you about from before. I just didn’t mention her by name, cause I knew you’d react this way.”

“Sterling, I don’t care about your personal life.” Lynne said point-blank.

“Well you sure seem to act as though someone like her couldn’t ever look past the fact that I’m a soldier.” He quipped. “And to be brutally honest, you sound bitter and jealous.”

“Excuse me?” She exclaimed in disbelief. “I don’t recall if you got the memo, but I’m over what happened between us, and I’m over my feelings for you. So no I’m not jealous, more like shocked that someone like her would take an interest in you, because I don’t want to see you get hurt!”

“In what way?” He stared her down then.

“Forget it.” She shook her head and turned to leave, when he suddenly grabbed her by the arm.

“You can’t just walk away like that every time there’s conflict between us.” William told her. “That’s why things changed between us in the first place, because every time we argued you would just up and leave.”

“Because it got to the point where all we did was argue, Sterling!” She jerked her arm free of his grasp and took a few steps back, looking at him as though she didn’t know him anymore. “But just because life has changed for both of us, doesn’t mean that I don’t care about what happens to you, because I still do. And yes I’m worried that this actress will break your heart if you’re not up to her standards. I know she means a lot to you, but you both are very different.”

William couldn’t help but groan at that last comment. She had managed to break through the iciness within him up until that point.

“Different how? She’s famous and I’m not? He remarked coldly. “Or is it because of my heritage?”

Lynne shook her head at him as she turned towards the door and pulled it open. “Just be careful, that’s all.” She warned him before walking back out.

Not a minute after Lynne had left, both Justin and his new sidekick Jayce, walked in to see how William was doing.

“Oh you’re sitting up now at least.” Justin commented as he approached the bed. “We just saw the commander leave. Did you two have a nice chat?”

William rolled his eyes at him. “I hope you’re kidding. You can’t tell me you didn’t hear the two of us yelling at each other in here?”

“Actually we did.” Jayce admitted sheepishly. “I think Church here was just trying not to stir the pot.”

“Too late.” William muttered bitterly as he lay back down and crossed his arms over his face to block out the glaring lamp overhead. “What time is it?”

“Ten to eight now.” Justin answered. “Why? You got some place to be?”

William suddenly shot back up and rose to a standing position. “Yeah I need to get back home and get dressed. I’m meeting Victoria soon at the Card Shack.”

“Whoa, hold on a minute.” Justin raised his hands while Jayce looked on with an expression of cluelessness. “Are you telling me you have an actual date with her?”

“Kind of.” William replied with a half shrug. “We ran into each other at the Petite Café yesterday afternoon, and had a nice chat. She must have had a good enough time too, because she asked me to meet her there later.”

“But does she know the truth, Will?” Justin asked next.

“No.” William replied. “I didn’t tell her I’m her secret admirer. After all, she thinks he’s dead and is probably trying to move on from that. Why would I want to ruin her life any further?”

Justin sighed and shook his head. “I guess I can understand your reasoning, but seriously what are you expecting? Her to just forget about him at the drop of a hat? Look I know dames, and once they’re attached to a guy, that’s it, he’s all they think about, doesn’t matter if he’s dead, Will. He still has her heart.”

“That’s why I’m going to meet her, so I can help her to forget about him!” William argued defensively. “God damn I’ve never hated anyone as much as I hate him! Why did I have to create him in the first place? God I’m such an idiot!”

Justin and Jayce exchanged looks.

“How about this, you two can join me?” William suggested then after calming down. “Come on it will be fun, and I know you’ve been wanting to hang out for a long time now, Church. Why not seize this opportunity and come with me?”

Justin looked a little unsure for the moment, but Jayce on the other hand definitely seemed up for it.
“That sounds fun I’d certainly be up for that.” Jayce looked at Justin, who was apparently still in the midst of making up his mind.

“Well I had other plans.” Justin stated next. “But if it means that much to you, Will. Then I’ll go.”

Hearing this, William’s face seemed to brighten up with a kind of happiness he hadn’t felt in a long while.
“I’d ask Stan to join us but I haven’t seen the big guy around since I last ran into him.” Justin said. “Did you know he too has a secret gambling addiction?”

William’s eyes widened with curiosity. “Really? I never actually took him for the gambling type. What did he say when you saw him?”

Justin chuckled nervously. “He uh, well he was warning me about Morane’s goons. Said they were looking for me, and that I’d be safer here behind the fences.”

“That sounds serious as hell, church.” William commented sounding concerned. “Are you sure you’ll be safe at the Card Shack with me?”

Justin shrugged. “I don’t know. But the thing is, I wasn’t wearing my green uniform then like I am now. I was wearing a hat and a large overcoat over a dress shirt and slacks. Meaning, they probably wouldn’t recognize me now.”

“Yet Stan did.” William pointed out. “You don’t think somebody else could figure out who you are based on your height, voice, and face?”

“I’m sure they gave up by now.” Justin remarked, trying his best to sound as reassuring as possible. “So are we gonna go or not?”

“Yes.” William answered. “In fact we’re leaving right now for my place.”

But as soon as they started walking out of the infirmary, Rehema and Safiya were standing outside in the hall to greet them.

“Good to you see you up and moving again.” Rehema commented as Safiya clung to her hip. “I saw your commanding officer walk out earlier. Did you get to discuss plans for allowing Tjatey to join your forces?”

William suddenly felt a wave of guilt wash over him now, especially since he had forgotten all about it in the midst of his arguing with Lynne. Another opportunity wasted.

“No I’m sorry I didn’t yet.” William apologized. “She was already mad at me to begin with, so even mentioning such a thing would’ve set her off even more. I didn’t want to chance it. I’ll try again when she’s in a better mood I promise.” He gave a soft smile and then looked down at Safiya. “Stay with your mother, please. No more running off, you promise?”

Safiya nodded, and watched as William, Jayce, and Justin walked off down the corridor and disappeared around the corner.


Meanwhile, things appeared rather dead at the Card Shack, as Brian was the only one seated at the bar, having his usual glass of ice water and smoking a cigarette. Enrique was quiet as he played around with different drink mixes, trying to come up with new concoctions.

He had just finished setting a bottle of rum down on the counter, when he heard both Maxwell and Victoria walking into the lobby and looked up. There he could see Maxwell walking by carrying a large briefcase as he turned the corner and headed past the game room straight ahead. Victoria gave Enrique a sweet smile before she too disappeared into the game room behind Maxwell.
Enrique hated to admit it but he didn’t like the vibes he was getting from those two, especially from the one woman who had been nothing but kind to him since he started working there. He knew something strange was going on, but what?

“You ever get that feeling in your gut when something isn’t right?” Enrique asked Brian, as the young man flicked the ash buildup off his cigarette into the ashtray, and then looked up at him.

“What do you mean?” Brian gave the bartender an awkward look.

“Nevermind.” Enrique back peddled once he decided it probably wasn’t worth discussing, and then set back to work playing with his drink mixes. “How come you never order any alcohol? You know that’s what a bar is for, right?”

Brian gave him a blank stare in response. “Because I don’t drink? And no a bar is also for smoking.” He took a drag from his cigarette. “You care too much about what others do.”

“You act like caring about others is a bad thing.” Enrique commented before taking a test sip of one of his new mixes, just to scrunch his face up in disgust and spit it out into the sink.

“That’s another reason I don’t drink.” Brian remarked. “That shit tastes awful. People only down it to get drunk. What’s the point in that?”

Enrique grabbed a paper towel from the back counter and wiped his mouth. “Well some people consider that fun. What’s the harm in that?”

“None, but it ain’t for me.” Brian took a sip of water and set the glass back down before stubbing out his cigarette butt, then reaching for another out of his pack.

“Well it seems no different than your chain-smoking.” Enrique pointed out. “Some people don’t smoke because they hate the taste as well. By the way did you ever talk to that crazy old bat again?”

Brian groaned over the very mention of that woman. He had hoped he’d seen and heard the last of her, but it seems that wasn’t for long. “Yes I went back there.” Brian admitted regretfully. “Why the hell are you bringing her up?”

“Just curious to know if your issues were resolved.” Enrique shrugged. “From the looks of it, I wouldn’t think so.”

Brian lit his fresh cigarette and looked the other way. “By the way did you know the aliens are letting their children wander into the city now? I actually saved one of their children from getting hit by a car and kept her with me until her mother came looking for her.”

Enrique shot him a quizzical look. “Come again?”

“It’s true.” Brian confessed. “She was a little girl, maybe about forty inches tall, with pale gray skin and teal colored hair. She told me her name was Safiya and she had run away from her mother. I treated her to some hot chocolate and pastries, and you know what? She’d never had anything like it before. She never even had anything sweet because her mother wouldn’t allow it. But I saved her and we talked about death since she lost her father in that attack from a month ago. I actually felt good inside for a change, but once we found her mother I disappeared on her then.”

“Why did you leave?” Enrique wanted to know now.

Brian gave a slight shrug and sighed. “Because I didn’t want to face her mother, nor did I want any attention on me at all. I did a good deed and that’s that. I don’t need any awards or medals of honor for it. I just did it because it was the right thing to do.”

Enrique seemed a little surprised that this guy of all people would do something nice for someone else. And all this time he’d taken him for a selfish loner. But then he remembered when his mother once told him about how every single person is capable of both bad and good, and that it’s always been a choice.
“Doing bad or good is a choice.” Enrique mentioned then, repeating his mother’s wise words. “At least you chose to do something good. Do you hope to see her again one day?”

Brian seemed quick to shoot the very idea of that down right away. “Nah. She’s got her life and I’ve got mine. I’ve no room for anyone else.”

“You saved her life, she won’t forget you.” Enrique reminded him.

Just then, they suddenly heard loud chattering coming from the entrance, as three soldiers dressed in casual clothing walked into the lobby, heading for one of the tables near the back wall in front of the bar. Enrique instantly recognized the young soldier with blonde hair, as well as the tall one with dark blue hair wearing a dark blue dress suit. Enrique didn’t know who the third soldier was, but he assumed it was another friend of theirs.

“Well we’re here.” Justin announced taking a seat. “And hey check it out! This dump has a new floor. Took Graham long enough, didn’t it?”

Brian’s eyes widened with dread the moment he recognized that blonde teenager as that obnoxious loud mouth he’d run into a few days ago. “I know how he died!” Brian heard once again, as though his mind were trying to verify the unwanted reminder.

“Been forever since I been back here.” Jayce said, taking a seat next to Justin, who sat across from William.

The empty seat beside William had obviously been reserved for Victoria once she arrived.
“Thanks for coming with me you two.” William smiled gratefully. “Should I get us some drinks?”

Justin shook his head. “No way, Will. Like you’d even know what to order for this special occasion. Move over, Jayce.” Justin gestured at the red-headed private.”


“Well that’s my cue to leave.” Brian turned to Enrique after overhearing Justin, knowing that blonde menace was about to head over to where he was.
In turn, Enrique didn’t ask any questions, but neither was he left with any chance once Brian zipped out of the lobby lickety-split.

Brian breathed a sigh of relief once he made it outside, hoping that annoying jackass didn’t recognize him.


Back inside while Justin was ordering drinks for the three of them, William sighed with boredom, his eyes fixated on an orange glowing neon sign on the wall across the room.

Jayce didn’t seem very talkative either, especially since he didn’t know William that well to begin with. And while they had crossed paths a few times back then, they never had much of anything to say. Jayce figured it was because of his previous association with Private Mathis. After all, Eric had been an absolute bully, and Jayce realized he had acted no better by tagging along with him.

But once Justin returned with a tray of several shot glasses, Jayce knew things were about to get crazy.

“Time for a drinking game!” Justin announced deviously as he took his seat back and picked up one of the shot glasses. “Come on you two, grab your shots!”

Jayce and William did as instructed.

“What kind of a game is this now?” William asked furrowing his brow.

Justin smirked. “It’s simple. I’m gonna ask some questions and if the answer is yes, you drink the shot. Sound simple enough? Okay let’s begin!”

“I have a bad feeling about this already.” William rolled his eyes.

“Who here has ever been caught in the ladies dressing room?” Justin asked.

Surprisingly nobody drank their shot.

“None of us? Okay next question!” Justin continued. “Who here has ever been sent to the brig?”

“That’s you for sure.” William smirked. “Go on, drink it down.”

“Yep that’s me!” Justin chugged the shot down, along with Jayce.

“Oh no way!” Justin exclaimed looking at Jayce. “You too?”

Jayce chuckled. “Yeah, me, Mick, and Eric have all spent time in there.”

“Doesn’t surprise me.” William commented.

“Okay next question!” Justin announced grabbing another shot glass.

“Who here has ever had a relationship with someone from the base?”

William couldn’t help but stare daggers into Justin as he chugged his shot and set the empty glass down on the table.

Jayce looked mighty surprised as well.

“Damn you, Church.” William muttered angrily, scrunching his face up in disgust. “What is this disgusting crap anyways?”

“It’s absinthe.” Justin answered. “I figured it would help with that pain on your face. It still looks awful by the way. Are you gonna tell Victoria what really happened?”

William looked undecided for the moment.

“So who did you hook up with on the base?” Jayce asked next.

“That’s none of your business.” William answered crossly and then looked back at Justin. “Just ask the next question already.”

“You got it.” Justin nodded. “All right here goes. Who here has ever been in a fight?”

All three of them took shots.

“I’ve been Eric’s punching bag once or twice when you weren’t around, Church.” Jayce explained since all eyes were on him now.

“Sheesh, sorry to hear that.” Justin said offering his sympathy.

“Don’t worry we’re nothing like him.” William added reassuringly, in order to put the young private more at ease in his presence.

“Thanks.” Jayce smiled appreciatively.

“Oh my stars, you made it after all!” Victoria exclaimed excitedly just then, approaching their table, wearing a flashy dress.”And I see you’ve brought some friends along. How’re you fine fellas doing?”

“Fine, thank you.” Jayce answered.

“Yes fine.” William added unable to take his eyes off her now, when she suddenly noticed the right side of his face.

“Oh my word!” She gasped in shock.” What in the universe happened to you?”

William looked directly at Justin while he answered with, “I fell.”

Justin didn’t seem the least bit surprised that his best friend would lie about something like that. After all, it was embarrassing as hell to admit to someone you’re trying to win over, that you got your ass handed to you in a fight. Therefore Justin couldn’t blame him one bit for lying. He knew he would have done the same too.

“But your face is all cut up and bruised.” Victoria commented as she took a seat beside him and moved in closer for a better look. “Are you sure it was just a fall?”

William nodded. “I was drunk when it happened. You know how that is.”

“I do.” Victoria replied, and then reached down into her purse and pulled out a case of foundation, opened it, and began lightly dabbing some of it over the bruises on his face to hide them better.

Neither Justin nor Jayce could believe what they were seeing now, not to mention how magical that stuff appeared to be as it made the bruises on William’s face seemingly vanish.

“There, now that’s better.” Victoria smiled up at William as she gently stroked his face. “Nobody will be able to tell the difference.”

“Thank you.” William replied, utterly shocked over just how close she was to him now, as well as the fact he had just let her apply makeup to his face. This was something he never thought could ever happen to someone like him. And for the moment he wondered if it was luck or the universe was finally on his side for once.

Then she looked down and noticed the tray of drinking shots, especially the empty glasses. “Looks like you boys have been busy.”

“Oh yeah, we were playing a little drinking game before you got here.” Justin explained, seeing that William appeared nervous as hell.

“How fun.” Victoria said looking down at the two empty shot glasses in front of William, and then up at his face. “And just what are you guilty of?” She smirked.

“Wouldn’t you like to know?” Justin remarked with an impish grin, when he suddenly felt William kick him in the shin underneath the table. “It’s nothing really.” Justin corrected himself then.

“Oh sinners, aren’t we all?” Victoria laughed jokingly, nudging William in the arm. “Say, have any of you boys ever had Lobster Thermidor?”

Jayce, Justin, and William all shook their heads.

“No madam.” William replied. “Why do you ask?”

“Well that settles it! I’m taking you three out to dinner, my treat.” Victoria announced happily as she got up from her seat. “And we’re going to one of the finest restaurants there is in Gambler’s Strip.”

Jayce suddenly looked panic stricken. “But we’re soldiers, we aren’t even allowed in that part of the city!”

“Oh nonsense, sweetie.” Victoria waved her hand dismissively. “As long as you’re with me you can go anywhere you like. And besides, you fellas aren’t even dressed in your uniforms. Nobody there would even know the difference.”

“What about his hair?” Justin pointed out next, putting William on the spot.

“Like I said, as long as he’s with me nobody can touch him.” Victoria answered. “Now let’s get going before all the seats are taken. They do require you to make early reservations, but luckily I’ve got enough dough here they won’t dare turn us away. Speaking of which.” Victoria then hurried over to the bar and handed Enrique a stack of cash out of her purse.

“Miss Thompson?” Enrique’s eyes widened as he accepted it from her hand.

“No questions, Enrique dear, just take it. After all you’ve earned it.” She gave a wink before heading out of the building with the three soldiers.

Enrique sighed sadly as he looked down at the money, questioning just where it came from, when his thoughts went back to the moment he’d seen Maxwell walking inside with that large briefcase. He then recalled that it hadn’t been the first time he’d seen it either. And there was only one reason for keeping one as large like that, and it wasn’t for travel. The money. What else would such a greedy pendejo keep in it? Then he remembered seeing both of them together those two times he’d seen the briefcase. Wherever they were getting that money, she was in on it. She had to be.

He frowned as he put the money away in a safe spot, feeling completely conflicted inside. Am I going to have to call the cops on her? I really don’t want to. I know it’s the right thing to do but the last thing I want is to see her behind bars. Tears filled his eyes. She seems so much happier and alive now. Who would I be if I took that away from her? She would hate me for sure.

But the moment Maxwell came storming out of the game room, Enrique was quick to wipe his eyes and resume cleaning up.

“Miss Thompson?” Maxwell called out as he walked out into the lobby and started looking around.

“Enrique, where’s Miss Thompson?” He demanded to know now.

Enrique walked over to the empty booth to collect the tray and shot glasses. “She just left with some soldiers.” He explained. “Said she was taking them out to dinner in the city.”

The look on Maxwell’s face now was priceless. “Has she gone mad!?” He exclaimed in outrage clenching his fists at his sides.

“I wouldn’t know.” Enrique replied with carelessness as he carried the tray of glasses back over to the sink and began dumping them.

“You!” Maxwell stormed on after him, pointing his finger. “Why didn’t you stop her?”

“Because that’s not my job, Sir.” Enrique replied. “And not once have you ever told me it was my responsibility to control what she does. So if you’re going to fire me over this matter, then do it already and stop wasting my damn time.” He then pulled out the cash and flashed it at Maxwell. “I can afford to take care of my mother and siblings until I find a better job anyway.”

Maxwell clenched his teeth and snarled. “Fine, whatever! Do what you want! I’m going to my office!”



By this time, Victoria and the three soldiers were on their way to Gambler’s strip, riding in a black stretch limousine. Neither of them could hardly believe it either, especially Justin, who felt the need to remind William that it was a good thing his new girlfriend was loaded.

On the other hand, William seemed cool about the whole thing and just let it roll off of him, especially since Victoria wasn’t officially his girlfriend yet. And while he kind of wished it was just the two of them going out to dinner, he was glad to see Justin looking and sounding much like his old self.; for they both had felt dead to the universe for a long while and were just starting to enjoy life again.

“So where is this place anyways?” Justin asked next while admiring the sights outside the tinted windows.

“It’s inside the Ritz casino.” Victoria answered.

Justin just about had a heart attack now. “The Ritz?”

“That’s right.” She confirmed. “Why? Have you been there before?”

Justin chuckled nervously. “Does being a wanted man count?”

William shot Justin a quizzical look, when Victoria announced, “We’ve arrived!”

The limo stopped in front of the Ritz’s grand entrance and the driver got out and opened the doors for his four passengers. He was a much older man who seemed a bit taken aback by the appearance of William’s hair, yet Victoria was sure to tip him generously in order to keep him quiet.

“It’s just hair dye.” She told the driver as she grabbed a hold of William’s hand and then guided him and the others inside.

Justin was already praying that the casino owner wouldn’t recognize him, as the last time they’d been face to face, Justin had thrown a bucket over his head; obviously not something that easily forgotten. And then to make matters worse, they walked right by the very spot that last incident took place.

Justin could already see the casino owner moseying around, harassing patrons. Justin was quick to look the other way and start whistling, until the man noticed them and was quick to approach them.

“Might I ask what he is doing inside my place of business?” The owner looked accusingly at William of all people. Justin couldn’t believe it either.

“He’s with me, Mr. Grissom.” Victoria said with haughtiness as she pulled out some cash and waved it in front of his face. “Do you have problem with that?”

“Not at all, Miss.” The owner was quick to change his tune once money was in the picture.

“Now if you don’t mind, my friends and I would like the best seat there is.” She smiled wryly.

“Right this way, I’ll take you there myself.” The owner responded, sounding like a pathetic dog eager to get a bone from its master.

They were led into a fancy dining area where Justin had never even thought to check out before. Classical music was playing softly in the background as the three soldiers observed their new surroundings.

There were several others seated enjoying drinks and light meals. Justin knew only the richest in all the city could afford to dine here. After all, they were the ones who got to eat real meat and other fine staples, while the people of downtown Atlantis and the AMF got all the boring substitutes.

“Here you are.” Mr. Grissom gestured towards a fancy empty table of four chairs with candle light and a glass chandelier hanging over head.

“Thank you kindly.” Victoria responded sweetly by handing him the stack of cash. “Also make sure the others here do not disturb us.” She noticed the dirty looks the other people were firing in her direction, and then offered the casino owner even more money.

“As you wish, madam.” He happily accepted.

Then as they all began sitting down, William moved over and pulled out a chair for Victoria like a true gentleman. She thanked him kindly.

“They must teach you boys good manners in the military.” She smiled picking up a menu.

Justin and Jayce exchanged looks and laughed.

“So?” Victoria looked up from the menu smiling at them. “Shall we order some appetizers? Or are you boys ready for the main course?”


Back at City Hall, Morane had finished his last cigar for the time being and then glanced up at the clock on the wall behind him.

“Already a quarter past nine.” He said, now looking in Artis’s direction as the scientist was finishing up the repairs on the android, which included inserting a new tube of serum into its artificial veins.

“I’m finished.”Artis announced looking back at Morane. “Shall I activate him now or do you want to do it later?”

“I’ll do it myself after I’ve had dinner.” Morane responded, annoyed by the sound of his growling tummy. “I think I’ll take a trip on over to the Ritz and have me a plate of some nice juicy rib eye steak. Care to join me, Artis?” He offered. “After all your hard work, surely you must have whipped up an appetite for steak?”

Artis wasn’t sure how to respond to such an offer, especially being this was the man who had lopped off one of his fingers and then sat making crude jokes on his behalf the entire time he was trying to work. And now this man has the nerve to invite him out for dinner? The audacity!

“I can’t say I’m very hungry at all.” Artis sighed as he began collecting all his tools and placing them back into his tool box. “I appreciate the offer but I’d really like to get back to Atlantech. I’ve go—“

“You’re coming with me!” Morane sneered. “You’re going to eat steak with me and you’re going to like it, now let’s go!”

Artis had no choice but to accept now, or else it might just cost him another finger, or even a whole hand.

“All right.” Artis agreed reluctantly as he stood back up, unaware of just how long of a night it was going to be now.

Chapter 13




“Stephen Everett”, Lynne addressed the guard by his full name as she stood outside the cell door now. There was an uneasy feeling of déjà vu as the guard peered out at her from the cell door’s barred window.

“Yes?” He answered in a callous tone, as though he was trying to sound intimidating.

“Don’t you dare give me that tone, Mr. Everett.” Lynne replied crossly. “The last time I stood outside this door, there was a man on the other side of it far more dangerous than you could ever be.”

“Private Winston.” The guard answered, watching as her eyes widened with utter surprise that he knew exactly who she’d been referring to.“I was one of the guards, along with my brother that apprehended him on the day he’d beaten Private Mathis to a bloody pulp.”

Lynne gave a sigh and briefly closed her eyes. “I’m sorry about your loss.”

“His name was Ivan.” The guard rudely corrected her. “At least address him properly!”

“I’m sorry about Ivan’s loss.” Lynne corrected herself, trying to keep her own anger in check. “But you’re in here because you chose to assault Corporal Sterling. Now you mind explaining to me what your reasoning for that might be?”

The guard clenched his jaw at the sound of William’s name. “Because he was acting like an asshole, threatening me, when I had done nothing wrong!”

Lynne shook her head at him. “I spoke with Corporal Sterling in the infirmary a while ago, and he said that you had deliberately allowed a child to walk outside the fences and into the city. Corporal Sterling said that he was leaving to report your insubordinate act to the admiral, and that’s when you attacked him. Am I right or am I wrong?” She crossed her arms.

“He attacked me first when I admitted what I’d done.” The guard explained then. “Slammed me against the fence!”

“But why would you do such a thing, Mr. Everett?” Lynne asked next. “Why would you put an innocent child in harm’s way? Do you think Ivan would have approved of such a vile act? Or do you think he would also feel ashamed of you?”

Lynne could tell she hit a nerve with this man since he’d grown quiet.

“So am I being discharged or what?” The guard asked then, choosing to ignore her question.

“If it were up to me you would be.” She answered curtly. “But I’m afraid that’s for the admiral to decide.”
And just when she’d thought she heard enough out of the man, that’s when he decided to put her on the edge even more with his comments.

“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but Morane was always right about you people.”

“Excuse me?” She replied in disbelief.

“You heard me the first time.” The guard chided. “I never saw it for myself until after the second time those alien savages tried to kill us all. So are you all just sitting around waiting for round three to happen or what? Or are our lives so meaningless to you, that you’d give them another free pass to continue living among us? We’re not safe as long as they’re here, why not have Atlantech build them a ship and send them far away if you don’t want to kill them? But I still think its best that we do.”

Hearing this, Lynne couldn’t even begin to find the words to describe how angry and insulted she felt. Yet among the slew of emotions there was also guilt; mainly because she too had wondered if they might be safer without the Tjatey around. But she also knew killing them wasn’t the answer.
“I’ll discuss the matter with the admiral and get back to you later.” She informed him before storming on out of there as fast as her legs would move.

She felt nothing for that guard, not even pity. As far as she could tell he was just another dangerous man that would need to be eliminated from the base before he could cause anyone else any harm, and she would do whatever it took to see that he was.

But as she was making her way down the long corridor which led back into the lobby, her mind drifted back to her talk with William earlier, and how it was possible that guard wasn’t the only one still harboring hatred towards them and the Tjatey. It made her wonder just how many others possibly felt the same way, and if they were simply waiting for an opportunity like that guard had to exact revenge.
She had just about passed the wall memorial in the lobby, when she was prompted to stop and turn around so she could look at it once again for the umpteenth time.

The sepia toned portraits of the fallen on that wall raised a lot of questions now. She even recognized the guard’s brother Ivan in the top row of the portraits. Below him were the portraits of Mick Situp and Eric Mathis, which made her think of Private Fancy.

Lynne remembered the time she had spoken to him briefly a few weeks after their funerals. He expressed much of the same animosity and hatred as that guard did; even claiming that Justin, William, and Stan should have been the ones on that wall instead of his friends. And now she had to wonder if he too was planning some kind of revenge.

She’d last seen him standing right beside Justin in the infirmary outside of William’s room. But unlike her previous memory of him, Jayce seemed very different this time around; almost as though he were an entirely new person. But looks could be deceiving, and for all she knew he was simply biding his time and gaining their trust until he got either Justin or William alone somewhere.
She knew he wouldn’t dare try anything on Stan, but still the thought of more violence among them was reason enough for her to keep a watchful eye on private Fancy as well as everyone else. Trust appeared to be a thing of the past as it were, and there was no telling what might happen next.




But for the time being, Jayce, along with Justin and William, seemed to be having the time of their lives at the Ritz casino, especially once their dinner arrived and they began to dig in. The lobster thermidor Victoria had ordered was served on a large round platinum tray, and placed in the center of the table. She had also ordered a bottle of specialty red wine to go along with their meal.

“This is really something else.” Justin commented after taking his first bite. “Are these lobsters from the man-made lake?”

“No, they’re actually harvested indoors inside one of Morane’s factories.” Victoria answered sipping wine from her glass. “The poor things are boiled alive as well. That’s why they come out looking so bright red.”

Justin appeared both disturbed yet amused by this. “Talk about your third degree burn, ouch!”

“I really like this sauce.” Jayce said. “What’s in it?”

“That’s a white wine sauce.” Victoria explained. “It’s a mixture of wine, heavy cream, parmesan, and some rosemary. Do they not serve lobster on your base?”

“Are you kidding?” Justin remarked. “They don’t even serve us real meat in the mess hall, just this nasty bean curd protein substitute.”

“Is this true?” Victoria looked at William, who was seated next to her.

He nodded in response while quietly chewing his food. Justin could tell he was trying a little too hard to win her over with his good manners.

“So this is what it’s like being rich, huh?” Jayce asked her then. “I always wondered what showbiz was like.”

“Are you kidding me?” she scoffed. “It’s a ruthless industry. All work and no play. Why, I’m even fortunate to have tonight off. I’m just so darn busy these days.”

“That’s the military for you as well.” Justin said, talking with a mouth full of food. “We’re always training and preparing, but mostly slacking off since there’s no real war to fight. Us soldiers become lazy after a while, right Will?”

William nodded and took a sip from his glass.

But while Victoria was appreciative of his politeness, she began to wonder why he wasn’t saying much at all.
“Are you always this quiet?” She asked then, prompting him to stop from taking another sip from his glass.

“Sometimes.” William answered. “But I am having a good time if that’s what you’re wondering?”
She smiled softly and patted his hand. “I’m glad you are.”

“I think he’s just shy.” Justin chimed in, stuffing another forkful of lobster into his mouth. “He’s just not used to a pretty gal like you giving him attention at all.”

Victoria couldn’t help but giggle. “Are you telling me there aren’t any pretty gals back on your base?”

“Pretty? Sure, but only when they’re not chewing your head off.” Justin retorted.

“Well I think all three of you are very handsome.” Victoria stated. “And very well mannered, nothing at all like the men of this city.” She sighed.

There was a brief moment of silence, when all of a sudden Jayce let out a really loud burp.

“Oh my!” Victoria giggled with amusement, when Justin also burped aloud and it suddenly turned into an all out burping contest between them all. Even Victoria allowed herself to join in on the fun and let out a fairly loud burp.

Everyone else inside the restaurant instantly shot disgusted looks their way for disturbing the peace.

“Yeah we’re well mannered all right.” Justin remarked, laughing.

“I can’t believe how much fun I’m having.” Victoria giggled, sounding a bit tipsy already. “I don’t think I’ve had this much fun in ages, you boys are a hoot!”

William couldn’t help but smile.

“Well I think this wine is going to my bladder.” Jayce announced ruining the moment, before standing up from his seat. “Where’s the bathroom at?”

“Right down that way, sweetie.” Victoria pointed out. “The men’s restroom is on the right.”

“Thanks!” He replied gratefully and then walked off in that direction.

Victoria sighed happily, wishing this night would never end. “The four of us will have to get together again one of these nights. There’s so much to do and see in the city. Why, there’s even a carnival taking place in the fall. Of course that’s several months away from now, but it’s a must for us.”

Justin then recalled the last time he visited that carnival when he was eight years old, back when his father was still trying to find his way in life.

“I haven’t been there since I was a kid.” He mentioned. “Do they still have that rollercoaster?”

“I believe so.” She answered pouring herself another glass of wine. “I’ve never ridden it. I’ve always been too scared.”

Then she suddenly felt a comforting hand on her right shoulder and turned her head to see William looking into her eyes.

“We can ride it together then.” He suggested smiling at her. “I won’t let anything happen to you.”

“Aww, you’re too sweet. I’d like that very much.” She smiled back, and then offered him more wine as well as Justin.

Both of them happily accepted, even though William could tell she’d been keeping up a barrier between them, as though she were trying not to let herself get too close. Still, her smiles were genuine and he could tell she at least liked him.



However at that moment, Julius Morane and Artis Frederic had just walked inside the building where they were greeted by a host and then shown to a table inside the restaurant. But before they even sat down, Jayce Fancy had walked out of the men’s room after washing his hands at the basin, and that’s when he spotted Morane and that other man he met briefly back at Atlantech with Justin.

What’s that guy doing here with Morane? Jayce wondered as he stood in the background, trying his best not to appear too obvious. He watched as the two men were seated at a table not far from his own party’s, and wondered if Justin happened to see this as well.


“Oh man, this is the best red wine I’ve ever had.” Justin commented picking up the bottle so he could read the label.

“That’s one of the Ritz’s specialty wines.” Victoria answered. “Every casino here in Gambler’s Strip has its own brand that can only be purchased inside their respective buildings.”

“I bet this stuff ain’t cheap either.” Justin remarked setting the bottle back down.

“Oh heavens no.” Victoria chuckled. “That’s a three-hundred dollar bottle. Some of them cost thousands, just for the solid gold label alone.”

“Yikes.” Justin went slack-jawed then. “No wonder downtown Atlantis gets all the cheap booze. Speaking of cheap, what are you doing spending your time at the Card Shack? Not that I’m prying or anything, some of us just happened to notice you coming in and out of there more often. Are you working there now or what?”

“Sort of.” She gave a half shrug in response. “I play the part of a cheap tart to lure the guys in, because nobody wants to see Maxwell Graham in a skimpy dress.”

Justin snorted at the thought of that.

“But really it’s not much of a job at all.” She continued. “More like a favor I owe him since he is my former agent.” Then she noticed Jayce hadn’t gotten back yet. “Not to change the subject but your friend either fell in the commode or he’s passed out on the floor somewhere. One of you might want to check on him to be sure.”

“I’ll go.” Justin volunteered himself as he stood up, just so William could have some alone time with Victoria, even if for only a few minutes. “Be back in a flash!” Justin took off, heading in the direction of the restrooms.

Victoria sighed again as she picked up her glass and took another sip. “Just the two of us now. I do hope your red-headed friend is all right.”

“I’m sure he’s fine.” William replied with reassurance. “He’s probably just a light-weight since alcohol is prohibited on the base.”

“It is?” She jerked her head in his direction. “What do you men even do for fun there?”

“We have to leave the premises to have any kind of fun at all.” He answered, beginning to feel a little drunk himself now as well as nervous. “Either that or we have to take the sneaky route and smuggle things in.”

“Like your booze?” She asked

He nodded, taking another sip from his glass.

“And your women?” She then teased, nearly causing him to choke on his drink.



Meanwhile, Justin was busy scouring around for Jayce. He first checked the men’s restroom, expecting to find him passed out on the floor in there, but there was no sign of him anywhere. Not even in the stalls. Only once Justin walked back out, he was suddenly grabbed by the high collar of his green dress shirt, and yanked around the corner of the wall.

Panicked, Justin whirled around just to breathe a sigh of relief when he realized his surprise captor was none other than Jayce himself, who was looking rather shell-shocked for the moment.

“What the hell, Jayce?” Justin huffed angrily, making a fist. “What’s gotten into you?”

“Shut up and look.” Jayce answered quietly, grabbing and turning Justin’s head in the direction of Morane and Artis’s table.

“Oh shit.” Justin’s jaw dropped at the sight of seeing the very man who wanted him dead, as well as the other man he had come to accept like a stand-in for his own father.

“What is he doing having dinner with Count Dracula?” Jayce asked.

“I have no idea.” Justin replied feeling beyond betrayed now. “We’re gonna need to get closer somehow, so we can eavesdrop on their conversation and find out what this is all about.”

“What do you suggest?” Jayce asked as the wheels were beginning to turn inside Justin’s head.

“Okay here’s the plan.” Justin mentioned. “You go on back and tell Victoria you want to order dessert. If she or Will asks about me, just tell them I’m in the bathroom and I’ll be out soon. Ask for more wine too, keep them distracted as long as you can. I’m going to try and sneak my way under that empty table next to Morane and Artis so I can listen in on their conversation.”

“Why do you have to eavesdrop on those two in the first place?” Jayce wanted to know now.

“Because there’s a huge possibility that Artis is a traitor.” Justin answered furrowing his brow in Artis’s general direction. “Not to mention he’s more likely to recognize me than he is to recognize you. So I have to be the one to do this.”

Jayce nodded his understanding. “I Gotcha.”

“Go on back now.” Justin instructed while he watched as the two men browsed through their menus.
Justin was deeply angered by what he saw, and it was almost too tempting for him to march right over there and call Artis out in front of everyone in the restaurant. But such a stupid move would only expose himself to Morane, so it was better that he take the rational approach instead.

Then carefully, he dropped down to the ground, and began slowly crawling his way in between the rows of tables that were situated across from where Morane and Artis sat. Justin froze in place right as a server walked right past him, nearly stepping on his right hand as he jerked it out of the way in time.

That was a close one, Justin sighed with relief as he continued making his way to that empty table and dove underneath the long white tablecloth. He then situated himself in a more tolerable position, pulling his knees up to his chin and locking his arms around his legs as though to remain completely still.
It wasn’t too dark underneath there, but Justin knew there was a high probability of some people being seated there soon, especially since all the other tables began to fill up now. Justin could tell just by the volume increase of chatter alone, which at times drowned out the voices of Morane and Artis, making them near possible to hear. Although whenever Justin heard an F bomb drop, he was positive it was coming from the one and only dictator of Atlantis City.



While on the other hand, Jayce had returned to their table and requested dessert. Victoria happily obliged and allowed Jayce and William to pick out whatever they wanted. And neither did William or Victoria seem too concerned with Justin’s whereabouts, especially since they appeared too busy stealing glances at one another along with drunken flirting. Jayce appeared to be the only one who was still sober.

He did however, keep looking over his shoulder at Artis and Morane, hoping that Justin would be able to get the information he needed from them without being caught. Although it didn’t take long for William to catch on to Jayce’s obsessive compulsive behavior and interrogate him.

“Why do you keep looking behind you.” William mentioned. “Is it Justin?”

Jayce shook his head. “Nah, just checking out some attractive broad is all. Dessert should be arriving any minute now.”

Victoria chuckled. “Anxious to try that chocolate mousse are we?”

“You bet!” Jayce winked. “How about yourself? I forget, what did you order?”

“I’m not in the mood for sweets.” Victoria answered picking up the half empty bottle of wine, pouring herself another glass. “I’ve got to watch my figure.”

“But you have a nice figure.” William complimented her, wrapping his left arm around her shoulders.”We can share my dessert if you want.”

She blushed and giggled. “You are so drunk, Mr. Sterling. Are you always this handsy when you drink?”

“I’m just having a wonderful time.” He smiled and caressed her free hand as it lay flat on the table.

“Oh get a room you two.” Jayce quipped and then peered over his shoulder again, observing as Morane and Artis began eating their meal, whatever it was.


From underneath the empty table, Justin continued listening. He could hear some talking in between bites of their food. He also picked up on the way Morane kept chiding Artis, almost as if the man was there against his will.

“Don’t be so fucking uptight.” Morane scolded taking a sip of champagne. “None of those military assholes are here, so you can stop acting like a frigid wife and enjoy your meal.”

Artis sighed and took a small bite of his steak, trying to force himself to enjoy his dinner. “I apologize I’m just tired is all. Ready to call it a night soon if you don’t mind?”

“Oh but I do.” Morane was quick to shut him down. “And you ain’t leaving here until I say you can.”

Justin growled under his breath as he listened, beginning to feel sorry for Artis now. The guy might be a traitor but he doesn’t deserve this kind of treatment. Nobody does.

“More champagne?” Morane asked next, picking up the bottle.

Artis politely declined then went back to cutting up his steak into bite sized chunks.

“Suit yourself.” Morane quipped, taking a bite of his own steak, smothering the piece in a pool of leftover brown gravy from his mashed potatoes. Then after he finished the last bite, he picked up his napkin and wiped his mouth clean. “Too bad Stan isn’t here to join us. I think he’d love it.”

Stan? Justin’s eyes narrowed. That’s gotta be some kind of coincidence. It’s a common name in this city, right?

Artis said nothing more as he quietly finished his dinner. He prayed the night would be over soon.
Not a minute after, Justin heard a group of people approaching his table and he began to panic.

“Here you are.” Announced the host to a group of four; two men and two women. “Your server shall be with you shortly.”

“Thank you.” One of the men replied taking a seat.

“Ah shit”, Justin grumbled under his breath once he realized he was surrounded by legs. How the hell am I going to get out of here unnoticed now?



“Your friend sure has taken a long time in the restroom.” Victoria mentioned to Jayce then. “You think he’s passed out?”

“I’ll go check on him after I finish my dessert.” Jayce replied, stuffing a spoonful of chocolate mousse and whipped cream into his mouth.

Victoria smirked with amusement as she lit a cigarette. “Seems I’m the only one able to drink the rest of you under the table.”

“You must have a bladder made of steel.” Jayce commented. “You haven’t had a single bathroom break since we’ve been here. Where are you keeping it all?”

Victoria chuckled playfully while taking a drag from her cigarette. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”

“I haven’t had any breaks either.” William chimed in with a drunken smile plastered across his face, as he toyed with his bowl of vanilla ice cream.

Jayce couldn’t believe how sloshed they both were.

“How many glasses of wine have you had?” Jayce asked William now, who looked like he could hardly sit up straight.

“I’ve lost count.” William answered stifling his laughter as he picked up his glass and took another swig.

Jayce shook his head at them.

“Don’t worry he won’t be driving you fellas back tonight.” Victoria joked while lovingly stroking William’s face and gazing into his eyes.

With the looks those two were giving each other, Jayce was half expecting them to start necking in front of everyone.


But in the meantime, Justin was still stuck underneath that table trying to come up with an exit plan. It had been several minutes since he’d last heard Morane or Artis’s voice, and began to believe that it was possible they had already left. But of course he couldn’t be too sure of that, especially since most of the outside noise had been completely drowned out from the voices above him.

The two men were especially loud, while the women had much softer voices. They were dressed nice, with one of the women wearing a sparkly blue dress that cutoff at her knees, practically exposing her undergarments as far as Justin could see.

What a nice set of gams, Justin thought checking out the woman’s legs, when an idea suddenly dawned on him.
There was laughter and giggling coming from above, when all of a sudden Justin reached out and touched the woman’s leg, causing her to freak out.

“Did you just touch my leg?” The woman then accused one of the men sitting across from her. Justin started snickering.

“No of course not!” The man answered defensively. “If I did it was an accident I assure you.”

Justin cupped a hand over his mouth and snickered, and then proceeded to touch her leg again.

“I said stop it, Harry!” The woman exclaimed madly. “I’m not in the mood!”

“But it wasn’t me!” The man argued. “Was it you, George?”

“Nope, sure wasn’t me.” The man’s friend replied.

“Then who is touching my leg!?” The woman snapped. “Was it you, Ethel?”

“Of course not!” The woman’s friend answered. “Perhaps it’s the table cloth. It is rather long you know?”

Justin now had tears in his eyes from laughing so hard.

“I know darn well what a tablecloth feels like, Ethel!” The woman exclaimed. “And what I felt is a damned hand. This darn place must be haunted!”

“I think you’ve taken too many crazy pills today, Maurine.” One of the men responded then, as Justin began to crawl out from under the table, making his way to the next empty one behind them, when all of a sudden, the man sitting on the end dropped a fork on the floor and reached down to pick it up, just to come face to face with Justin.

“It was you!” The man seethed at Justin, clenching his fist.

Justin immediately sprung to his feet and took off running.

“You little pervert get back here!” The angry man yelled after him, getting up from his seat as though to chase after him.

Nearly out of breath, Justin ran back to the table with his friends and dove behind William’s chair to hide.

“Whoa, why were you running?” William asked him.

Justin couldn’t believe how bloodshot his friend’s eyes were. He’d never seen William so drunk before in all the time he had known him.

“No time to explain, we have to leave now.” Justin answered urgently in between breaths, while peering out from behind William’s chair for any sign of that angry man.

“Oh okay, is it past curfew?” William asked.

Justin spotted a clock on the wall behind them and looked at the time. It was now twenty till midnight.
“Twenty till.” Justin answered. “It’ll be close but we’ll make it.”

“Oh don’t leave now.” Victoria whined as she clung onto William’s arm, wrinkling up the fabric in the process. “I’m having such a lovely time I don’t want it to end now.”

Justin couldn’t help but roll his eyes. He was thankful that Jayce was at least still sober enough, because he would definitely need his help in getting William back to the base.

“Sorry doll, but we’ve got to get back before we get in trouble with our commanding officer.” Justin apologized to her. “You have no idea how venomous that woman can be.”

“Oh screw her.” Victoria quipped then, refusing to let go of William’s arm. “He wants to stay with me, don’t you, sweetface?”

William nodded in his drunken state of mind, smiling at her like a lovesick fool while she caressed his face and kissed him on the cheek.

Seeing this, Justin could tell William had become putty in this woman’s hands to the point she could probably convince him to do anything she wanted. It was both amusing and pathetic.

“In fact I think he’d rather come home with me tonight.” Victoria mentioned next, which immediately set off alarm bells inside Justin’s head, especially once he heard William respond with, “I’d like that very much.”

Even Jayce was equally just as shocked, as his mouth hung open looking to Justin for answers.

“Okay it’s definitely time to go, Will!” Justin intervened, grabbing his friend by his other arm, while nodding at Jayce to get over there and assist him.

“Hey, what’s the big idea?” William groaned, practically toppling over as both Justin and Jayce stood on either side of him, trying to stand him up.

“We’re saving your ass from making a horrible mistake.” Justin quipped, throwing William’s right arm around his neck, while Jayce grabbed his left.

“You’re leaving me?” Victoria cried out, attempting to stand up herself while reaching out for William’s hand.

“Look, you’re a swell dame and all, but Will isn’t normally like that.” Justin replied apologetically. “He’s never been this drunk before in all his life.”

Hearing his caused Victoria to frown, especially once she noticed that William had now passed out, and both Justin and Jayce were practically dragging him around.

“Thanks for dinner and dessert though.” Jayce thanked her kindly. “It’s been fun but we have to leave now.”

Victoria still had that pouty look on her face as she reached into her purse and then handed them some cash. “For your ride back home.” She offered.

“Keep your money, we’ve got it from here.” Justin declined, as he and Jayce started dragging William out of the building.

Justin didn’t even care whether or not Morane or Artis saw him at all now. All he cared about was getting the three of them back to the base before curfew, especially now that he was committed to turning over a new leaf and being more responsible. He also knew there was a chance that William would hate him for coming between him and Victoria as well. But on the other hand, Justin knew William wasn’t the type to just go home with any woman, and he knew that if he had let him go with Victoria that night, he’d regret it forever. They were both drunk as it was, which made it even more wrong in Justin’s eyes, but he knew William would have done the same for him.

Soon after, they hailed a cab and were on their way back downtown. William was muttering incoherent babble in between waking up and passing back out while Jayce remained quiet the entire ride back home. Justin knew this had been a long night for all of them and he was ready for it to be over with. They all were.

Getting back to the base on time wasn’t the issue, but once they reached the front door of William’s bungalow they had to prop him up against the door like a dummy while the two of them searched his pants pockets for the key. It was something neither Justin nor Jayce took any joy in, especially when William suddenly came to and began freaking out, demanding to know where he was and what they were doing.

“Calm down already, you’re home.” Justin answered tiredly, when he finally found the key and pulled it out.

“Ow my head.” William groaned as he placed the back of his palm against his brow and winced. “What time is it?”

“Most likely ten after twelve.” Jayce replied taking the key from Justin’s hand, unlocking and pushing the front door open.

“Where is she?” William then looked around for the sight of his beloved.

“Hopefully safe and sound at home.” Justin answered, helping him back up to his feet along with Jayce as they led him right to his sofa and sat him down.

Jayce closed the door behind them and took a seat in the living chair, while Justin collapsed onto the floor on his backside and lay there sprawled out.

“What a night.” He groaned.

“I don’t remember much at all.” William yawned. “But whatever happened has left me with a pounding headache.”

“I’ll get you an icepack, hold on.” Justin then got off the floor,walked into the kitchenette, and opened the freezer door but it was empty. “Okay scratch that since you have no ice pack. So what now?”

“I’ve always heard that scrambled eggs can absorb the alcohol.” Jayce mentioned. “Check his fridge and see if he has any.”

“Okay then.” Justin replied opening the fridge, and pulled out a small carton of eggs. “Uh, how do we make these again? I’m a scientist not a chef.”

“You just fry them I think.” Jayce replied in a sleepy voice. “I can’t remember if you use cooking oil or not. I only know from watching my mom cook.”

“Yeah, not helping.” Justin muttered as he pulled out a frying pan and turned on one of the burners.

“Whatever you’re doing, please don’t burn down my home.” William pled from the sofa as he lay there with his eyes closed, listening to all the commotion going on in the kitchen.

Justin groaned as he set to work cracking the eggs, while unsure of how many it would take to produce a large enough serving to absorb all the alcohol from William’s system. He estimated at least three, when it suddenly dawned on him that this was the first time he had ever cooked any real food at all. Especially since he usually relied on meals served from the mess hall, as well as ready-to-eat processed snack foods. So this was something new and kind of exciting.

“So what happened tonight anyway?” William asked while Justin was busy stabbing at the frying eggs with a spatula.

“You were drunk off your ass for one.” Justin answered. “And two, you almost did something really stupid.”

William’s face flushed with panic. “What?”

“You almost spent the night with her.” Justin replied, half expecting William to react in an angry and bitter manner for stopping that from happening. But he didn’t seem to react that way at all.

“Oh my god.” William exclaimed, just loud enough to awaken Jayce from his snooze.

“Yeah, exactly.” Justin nodded while wondering when the eggs would be scrambled enough.

William uttered a deep sigh as he sat back up. “I can’t believe it. What the hell had gotten into me?”

“Hormones and alcohol.” Jayce yawned stretching his arms. “Imagine the shock if you had woken up in her bed?”

William buried his face into his hands and groaned. “I can never drink like that again. No matter what, you hear? No matter what!”

“Hear you loud and clear.” Justin answered approaching him with a plate of what appeared to be a mass of scrambled eggs. “Eat this it should help.”

William stared down at the plate, reluctant to take a single bite of the goopy looking burnt mess in front of him.

“Yeah sorry I ain’t no five star chef.” Justin quipped taking a seat next to William on the sofa. “It was my first time cooking eggs. Some credit would be nice.”

“Only if he doesn’t end up with food poisoning.” Jayce remarked, which only made William even more nervous about eating them.

“I think my hangover is gone anyway.” William set the plate of eggs down onto the coffee table, and then leaned back into the sofa. “Thank you both.” He said groggily. “Not just for pulling me out of that bad situation, but for being there with me. You’re both good friends to have. Even if you can’t cook eggs worth a damn.” William turned his head and looked at Justin. “It’s the thought that counts.”

“If you won’t eat them then I will.” Justin said picking up the plate. “The only reason I was more sober than you, is because I saw something in that restaurant I’ll never forget.”

“What did you see?” William asked then.

“Well, first of all, you have to promise that you won’t say a single word to Lynne, no matter what.” Justin replied taking a bite of the eggs. “Needs more salt I think, but overall not bad.”

William looked fearful as he sat back up. “What do you mean? Please tell me this isn’t another doomsday scenario.”

“It’s not, but it’s equally bad.” Justin explained. “But you have to promise me you won’t say a word about it to anyone else.”

William groaned in annoyance. “Fine, I won’t say a word. Now what is it?”

“I saw Morane.” Justin said taking another bite and then setting the plate back down on the table. “But he wasn’t alone, Artis Frederic from Atlantech was there with him. They were having dinner and talking.”

“What about?” William asked. “And is that why you disappeared for so long?”

Justin nodded. “I was hiding underneath the table next to them, doing a little eavesdropping. I had to find out if Artis is a traitor or not.”

“And is he?” William wanted to know next, to which Justin gave a shrug in response.

“I couldn’t tell exactly.” Justin sighed. “It was also too noisy to make out all the details, but it sounded like the man was there against his will. Makes me wonder what that was all about? There was also this mention of how it was too bad Stan wasn’t with them, and I don’t know, but it gave me the worst vibe if you know what I mean?”

William couldn’t help but shake his head at him. “Not this again.” He groaned. “I thought we had gotten past this the first time you said you didn’t trust the guy. But you sure flipped your script after he saved your ass from Private Mathis, didn’t you?”

“I’m not saying it’s him at all!” Justin argued back. “I’m just saying I didn’t like the vibe it gave me. No way in hell am I going to accuse Stan of siding with Morane. We both know that’s the last thing he’d do. He’d beat the piss out of that loser before ever taking his side. It just left me with an unsettling feeling, that’s all.”

“All right I get it.” William said apologetically. “And for your sake I hope Artis isn’t a traitor. But we also know that Atlantech’s technology is what powers the entire city, so maybe that’s what their meeting was about?”

“I don’t know.” Justin sighed deeply. “But I’m far too tired to care for the moment, so I’m just gonna head home now if you don’t mind?”

“Me too.” Jayce announced as he got up from the chair.

“Fine by me.” William replied. “I think we all need a good night’s rest after tonight.”

Both Jayce and Justin headed for the front door, when Justin stopped and looked back at William.

“Thanks for not chewing my head off for stopping you from sleeping with Victoria. I just know what she means to you, and I know it’s more than some drunken one-night stand neither of you would remember.”

“He would have passed out before anything happened honestly.” Jayce chimed in.

“Probably.” Justin chuckled opening the door. “Anyways, good night, Will.”

“Goodnight to you both.” William called after them as they shut the door, before collapsing back onto his sofa, when he suddenly smelled the faint smell of gasoline in the air and leapt onto his feet, hurrying into the kitchen where he noticed one of the burners had been left on.

“Dammit, Church.” He muttered to himself, quickly shutting it off, when his sister suddenly walked out of her room half asleep, griping about the smell.

“What the hell did you burn this time?” Alley rolled her eyes, about to light a cigarette when William reached out and yanked the lighter out of her hand.

“Don’t even think about it.” He warned her. “If you’re going to smoke either do it outside or go back to your room. We don’t need the kitchen blowing up at this hour.

Alley huffed as she yanked the lighter from his hand. “Fine, I’ll go outside. Happy?”

“Whatever.” William groaned as he made his way back to the sofa and lay down. He turned over on his side and closed his eyes trying to fall asleep but couldn’t.

He groaned as he sat back up, just in time to see his sister heading back inside when she stopped and he looked directly at her with a frown on his face.

“What?” She responded with a blank stare. “I smoked outside like you asked.”

“It’s not that.” He sighed. “I guess I just wish you didn’t hate me so much. We never talk and you’re always hiding in your room whenever you’re home. And I know how you feel about our mother, but do you have to hate me too?”

Alley didn’t seem to have much of a response, but surprised William just the same once she plopped herself down next to him on the sofa, even though she still kept a bit of distance between them.

“Look, I don’t hate you, okay?” She crossed her arms and turned her head in his direction. “This is just how I am and how I prefer to be. I don’t like being social, never have. But it was never about hate. Even if you used to pull the hell out of my hair when we were kids, and made fun of me every chance you got. Mom made me wear those stupid dresses and you always laughed at me for being pissed about it.”

William began to remember all the times he had picked on Alley when they were growing up, realizing that her anger towards him was more than justifiable now.

“I’m sorry for all of it.” He apologized then, trying his best to show her that he meant it. “I wasn’t the best brother to you and I’m sorry. I mean, could you ever find it in your heart to forgive me?”

She scoffed in response as she picked up one of the decorative pillows and tossed it at him playfully. “Like I’ve got a heart to begin with.”

“Well can we at least get along from here on out?” He asked as he threw the pillow right back at her.

“I suppose.” She answered as she caught it, when she suddenly remembered a fond memory of them playing tag on the base and getting in trouble. “Hey remember that time we were playing tag and I accidentally hid in the men’s locker room?”

“Vaguely.” William replied as he tried to recall that day.

“Well you thought I was inside the girl’s locker room the entire time and didn’t bother coming to find me.” She said laughing. “Meanwhile I’m scaring all these guys half to death because I’ve just seen them all half naked. Man what a rush that was.”

William shook his head at her and chuckled. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d ever seen her smile or laugh like this. But he was glad she seemed more open to some communication between them.

“Mom was so pissed.” Alley marveled with a grin. “She wasn’t even sure how to discipline us.”

William gave a half shrug in response. “She did her best you know?”

“When she wasn’t acting like a tart.” Alley quipped getting back up. “Good thing she learned how to use protection or else, there would have been a lot more of us.”

“Yeah.” William agreed trying to hide the fact he was actually appalled by her words.

“Well I’m going back to bed now.” She announced then heading back to her room. “Try not to burn anything else in the meantime.” She called back before her door shut closed once again; enabling the barrier between them once again.

“I won’t” William groaned as he fell back against the sofa once more and shut his eyes, hoping he would finally fall asleep for good this time.

Chapter 14

It was quiet in this dark place, wherever it was; empty but with a calming sort of atmosphere, as though nothing even mattered anymore. No intrusive thoughts, no worries, and no fear. Or so it seemed. Though it was strange how there was nothing but total darkness, and yet a sense of awareness; as if a light had simply been switched off inside a room. But just where was this place and why did it need a spectator if there was absolutely nothing to observe?

And how uncanny that the moment the spectator realized the frustration of the situation, did the faint sound of a humming machine begin to break through the silence. It was then followed by something of a beating heart, as a powerful electrical current surged throughout the artificial veins of the lifeless body of the android. Then its eyes shot open and still nothing was clear.

Overcome with confusion, it gazed mindlessly up at the ceiling above while it recollected its thoughts. Or at least what was left of them as there appeared to be some kind of time lapse between now and his last memory on file.

Another minute passed and the android turned its head towards the wall beside it, staring blankly before lifting itself off the ground as it continued surveying the details of this room.
It was Morane’s office but it was empty and dark. The glow of neon lights as well as the light coming from galaxies above illuminated the twin covered windows on either side of the man’s desk. Stan knew where he was but he also knew something was amiss.

“Something happened.” He said as he approached the desk then, his attention immediately drawn to its surface when he soon detected traces of dried blood and scanned it for more information.

“Artis Frederic.” The android stated. “Did I murder him? I don’t remember. Did Morane?”

Suddenly his head was flooded once more with a kind of static like energy, causing him to tense up now.
“How did I end up here in the first place?” He asked as he searched around for more clues. “I come to and I find blood but I don’t remember any of this. What’s going on? Am I defective?”

Stan then heard gunshots off in the distance, and walked up to the rear left window and peered out through the blinds. Down on the street he could see what appeared to be a couple of thugs harassing a man in a business suit. They appeared to be pushing and shoving him, firing their guns into the air as a warning of what they would do to him if he didn’t comply with their demands.

Bored with the lack of entertainment, Stan released the blinds and then resumed looking around for more answers as to why there was some kind of time gap between now and the last time he remembered being active and about. He then made quite a gruesome discovery once he detected more blood inside of the small trash bin beside Morane’s desk.

Curiously, he picked up a bloodied handkerchief that appeared to have something wrapped up in it good and tight, and that’s when he unwrapped it and found the severed finger inside.
“Why don’t I remember any of this?” Stan asked himself with utter confusion as he dropped the grisly mess back into the trash and then took a step back. “What’s happened to me? I feel—

He paused again, squeezing his eyes shut as that static energy continued flooding his system, putting him on high alert once more when he heard another gunshot and headed back to the window.
Only this time when he looked out, he saw that same man in the business suit lying dead in the street in a puddle of blood. The thugs had killed him and gotten away. And the longer Stan stared down at that body he was suddenly reminded of all those he himself had killed, including that last teenager. Yet instead of the compassion and sadness he’d felt before he was filled with total and complete indifference. He had done exactly as his master had commanded him and that was all there was to it. There was no right or wrong anymore in his mind.

“Humanity will be the death of itself.” He said as he moved away from the window once more, still wondering why there was such an obvious gap in his memory. Then a sudden thought occurred to him.
“Had Morane removed some of my memories? And if so then why?”

But while the android was trying to piece together all the details he’d obtained, he then remembered he was due back at the military base for simulation training first thing in the morning. At exactly 0600 as it was noted in his file. And seeing that it was only a few hours till, he knew he would have to make his way down there this instant if he hoped to make it on time.

Still, he was utterly surprised that he’d awakened on his own when it used to be that he had to be activated by a remote controller which Morane kept in the bottom drawer of his desk. That was how he was put to sleep each night before Morane left the office and then re-activated first thing in the morning once Morane arrived.

So could it be that such a device was no longer required now? The real answer eluded him and he desired to know why. But looking back at the clues from the previous night, he had known that Artis Frederic had been present for whatever changes that occurred, so maybe he had something to do with it?
But if that was the case then why did he find traces of the man’s blood on Morane’s desk as well as his severed finger in the trash? None of it added up and only seemed to cause utter confusion.

“Whatever it was that transpired here must be the reason why I was de-activated and then able to re-activate on my own.” Stan wondered to himself as he began making his way out of the office and down the staircase.

“So is Artis Frederic among the deceased now? I guess I’ll find out for myself once I report in.”



Back at Atlantech, Artis had just gotten up and was quietly making his way to the small break room to make a pot of coffee. He still felt very tired and drained from the night before and hadn’t slept much at all, as there were very large bags under his eyes. Not to mention that his stump of a finger was also still very sore, especially since he had just changed the bandages and cleaned up the area with some hydrogen peroxide.

But while he had hoped today would be productive enough to help take his mind off the atrocity from last night, he never expected to turn around and come face to face with an angry Justin Church, who was now staring daggers into his soul.

“Corporal, what an unexpected surprise!” Artis exclaimed in a jumpy manner as Justin got right in his face.

“You better tell me what’s going on around here!” Justin snarled, raising a fist up to Artis’s face. “And I mean it, no games you hear me!?”

Artis looked utterly confused and blinked in response. “I apologize but I’m afraid I haven’t a clue what you’re getting at here?”

“Don’t give me that, I saw you last night!” Justin’s voice cracked sharply. “I saw you with Morane having dinner at the Ritz!”

Artis’s eyes widened with sheer terror and his heart raced. “You were there?”

“No shit!” Justin flung back. “I was there with Jayce. He saw you too!”

Artis felt completely defeated now, and knew there was no possible way he could lie to save face now that he’d been caught red-handed. However, Justin had only seen him at the restaurant and not inside Morane’s office repairing the android that’s been spying on them all, so there was still a way to get himself out of this mess.

“Yes I was there last night.” Artis admitted then, while noticing the apparent bags under Justin’s eyes; a clear indication he hadn’t slept too great either.

“Morane invited me for dinner to discuss Atlantis City’s future going forward. It was something I couldn’t refuse unfortunately.”

But suddenly Justin noticed the missing finger on Artis’s left hand and questioned him further. “What happened? Did he do that too?”

Artis nodded. “I’m afraid so. You see, at first I declined his invitation, because I had plans of my own, but you know how he is when he doesn’t get what he wants. And so he sliced off my finger to make a point, and told me that if I ever say no to him again the next time I’ll lose the entire hand.”

Justin frowned. The whole ordeal sounded a little extreme for simply declining an invitation to dinner, but on the other hand this was Julius Morane he was talking about.

“Believe me I learned a valuable lesson and cannot refuse anything he asks in the future.” Artis continued, weaseling his way out of this predicament as best as he could. “What did you think when you saw me there?”

“I don’t know.” Justin backed away while feeling like a fool. “I guess my first thought was that you were a traitor, and that I couldn’t trust you anymore.”

Sadness began creeping in Artis’s face as well as his soul.

“But I’m glad that’s not the case.” Justin sniffled wiping his eyes. “Because it’s bad enough I can’t even trust my own father. And besides Will, Jayce, and Stan, I don’t have anybody else to talk to. So I’m glad I can still count on you.” Justin then moved over and wrapped his arms around Artis, embracing him tight. “This might sound stupid but you’re kinda like a father to me.”

Artis could feel his heart shatter in that moment, wishing he could just tell the young man the entire truth. But he knew there was far too much at stake.

“Well that means a lot to me, Corporal.” Artis hugged him back. “And I’m sorry I gave you the wrong impression.”

Feeling much more relieved, Justin attempted to smile; that is until he noticed Dendera and Sebak standing in the doorway staring right at them.

“We got here as fast as we could.” Dendera announced. “Is everything all right? We heard yelling.”

Artis smiled kindly as he and Justin pulled apart and turned towards them.
“Yes, it was just a little misunderstanding.” Artis explained. “It’s good to see you back on your feet, Dendera. Are you feeling better?”

She nodded. “I am. What’s on the agenda for today?”

Artis looked at Justin and winked. “Well I believe we’ve got a new line of fighter jets to design, don’t we?”

Justin could feel his excitement beginning to return. “You know it!” He nodded in agreement, when Artis turned to pour himself some coffee.

“But first things first, let’s have us some breakfast.”



Around the time Victoria rolled out of bed in her lavender silk lounge robe, she could hear her phone ringing off the hook in the living area. She groaned and slid her feet into her matching fuzzy slippers before storming out of her room and snatching up the phone.

“Damn you, Maxwell! I’m trying to sleep off a hangover you selfish swine! What do you want!?”

“I wanted to tell you how lovely I thought you looked last night.” The voice on the other end answered.

Victoria could hardly believe her ears. “Mr. Morane?” She stammered. “W-what do you mean?”

She heard a dry laugh in return, the same dry laugh that used to send shivers up her spine in the worst kind of way.

“Don’t act so coy, sweetheart, you know what I’m talking about.”

Her hands began to shake uncontrollably.

“Oh. Well yes I was at the Ritz having dinner with some friends. Is that against your rules?”

She heard that laugh again, this time followed by a cough as well as the puff of a cigar.

“So tell me, was he a good lay?” Morane asked next, which immediately made her uncomfortable.

“What do you mean?” She asked nervously, her voice just as shaky as the rest of her.

“Your date, that alien. I saw him too you know? So was he a good lay?”

“Nothing happened!” She then shouted defensively. “He’s just a good friend of mine, that’s all. I wouldn’t ever dream of using him like that, you hear me? And to be perfectly honest here, you sound a bit jealous! So is that the only reason you called?”

He laughed again. “Of course not, my dear. I’m just curious that’s all. I’m just happy to see you enjoying yourself again. I had no idea you were still so well off in your career.”

Panic began to set in and she gripped the phone tight. “Well thank you, I guess? But the truth is I’m not that well off again……yet. I was merely treating myself with some of the savings I’d managed to scrounge up. In case you were wondering where the money came from?”

“Beautiful and frugal.” Morane commented. “That’s why you were always my favorite. How’d you like my wine?”

Your wine? She was thinking at first, when she suddenly remembered he owned all the distilleries in the city. “A little strong for my liking but overall not too bad. I’d suggest you go easy on the sugar and alcohol content for the next batch.”

“Duly noted.” He replied respectively. “I’ll even see to it that you get a free bottle out of the deal. By the way I’d like to see you again if you’re not too busy. Join me for the council luncheon? I promise I won’t keep you long. And I’m sure you’d be interested in what some of us men folk have to discuss.”

She remained silent as she thought it over worrying that perhaps he might even know more than he was letting on. After all, that was the real reason he called, right? For as long as she had known him she knew he wasn’t the type to call someone out right then and there. He would make you sweat first, either until you come clean yourself or he lulls you into a false sense of security, only to strike immediately after like a cobra. But of course that was more so how he acted with other men than women. When it came to women deceiving him it was a whole other story.

“I suppose I could squeeze it in.” Victoria sighed, feeling nothing but disgust for herself now. “And you’re right I do enjoy men’s gossip. So count me in.”

“Excellent!” Morane exclaimed gleefully. “Then it’s a date. Oh and do wear something nice if you can. No need to cover up too much you know?”

Victoria clenched her teeth as all her uncomfortable memories from the past came flooding in. “All right.” She agreed reluctantly, already knowing she wasn’t going to dress the least bit skimpy for him and the rest of those sexist creeps.

“Well then, enjoy the rest of your morning, dear. And I’ll see you later.”

The phone went dead and she hung it back up before burying her face into her hands.

“He either knows what I’ve done or he wants me back.” She groaned with disgust. “Either way I’m going to have to deal with him myself.” She lowered her hands and looked down at her purse sitting on the floor beside the sofa. It was still very heavy from all the stolen cash and she knew she couldn’t keep it there anymore as long as Morane had his suspicions.

“I need to hide it all.” She insisted as she walked over and picked up the bag, sat down on the sofa, and began counting what she had left.

“There’s still over eight-hundred thousand here!” She gasped the moment after she had finished. I can’t keep all this inside my purse, what the hell was I thinking? I need to spend some more of it, that’s what I need to do. I’ve gotta get rid of as much as I can in case Morane sends one of his goons over here to search my home. And I know he would too! That’s probably why he invited me out to lunch in the first place, to get me out of the way so he can try and catch me red-handed!”

Her brow furrowed as she stuffed the cash back into the bottom of her purse. “Well I’ve got news for him, he ain’t gonna catch me! Nobody is!”

And then she had to stop and laugh at herself as well as the absurdity of it all. “Oh my goodness just listen to me. Why, I sound like a real criminal now, don’t I?” She laughed again shaking her head.
“They’re never gonna take me alive!” She scoffed in a mocking manner, causing herself to laugh even harder. “Oh that’s too funny, wouldn’t you agree mother?” She then turned and looked at the portrait of her mother on the wall.

“Yes I know. You’re not proud of me and have probably disowned me by now, but this is just me surviving. Father knew all too well.” She sighed. “He wasn’t a good man, I accept that. But now I see he was just trying to survive. And that makes us no different. Speaking of good men….. She thought of William next, as well as how poorly she believed she’d acted around him last night.

“He must think I’m some sort of tramp by now.” She sighed sadly. “All of them must. And I could say it was Morane’s awful wine, but was it really?” She shook her head. “No, no. No more excuses. I acted poorly and I need to own up to that. I need to make it up to those boys somehow. I don’t want to lose their friendship or their trust. I need to do something to gain it back somehow, but what?”

She sat there in deep thought wondering what she could do for them, when an idea suddenly came to light. “It’s perfect!” She marveled while picturing what their reactions might look like upon seeing what she was about to do for them. “I couldn’t think of anything better myself.” She then got up and headed over to pick up her phone, as well as browse through a small phone book for a specific number until she came across the exact one she was looking for. “Aha!” She eagerly began to dial, waiting as the line trilled.

“Hello?” A Voice then answered.

“Yes, I’m calling to place an order for a delivery?” Victoria replied.



“Even though I saw you having dinner with Morane I’m not going to tell anyone else.” Justin mentioned to Artis as they stood side by side at one of the lab tables overlooking mechanical designs together. “I know the others would see it as betrayal, especially Lynne.”

Artis reacted in a nervous manner at the mention of her name. “You’re right she absolutely would.” He agreed. “How is she doing these days? I’ve been afraid to ask.”

“Distant from what I’ve heard.” Justin answered. “She no longer trusts the Tjatey.”

Dendera frowned as she quietly stood in the background waiting to offer any assistance if needed, while Sebak seemed a bit preoccupied with the computer screen he was sitting in front of.

“Anyway, I’ve been thinking of a more formidable weapon system that could really liven up missile strikes.” Justin stated next, excitement filling his voice as well as his eyes.

Artis was glad to see him back to his old self.

“What if we could design missiles with a built in locking mechanism.” Justin proposed. “I mean it’s one thing to be heat seeking or whatever, but what if they had the ability to literally lock onto their targets? That way even if an enemy fighter tried to escape it wouldn’t be able to shake it.”

Artis seemed very impressed by this young man’s imagination, especially since it reminded him very much of his own.

“And how would we go about such a design?” He asked eager to hear more from this young brilliant mind he’d come to admire so.

Justin demonstrated by making a claw shape with his left hand. “Like this. We could attach some metallic claws that retract and latch on. And with the ability to pierce through any type of metal, no matter how thick. I know it can be done.”

“Or what about some kind of magnetic component?” Artis suggested. “Then they would stick for sure and I think it would be even easier to develop.”

“Excellent idea!” Justin exclaimed excitedly. “But speaking of research, I do have something I’d like to take a closer look at through the microscope if you don’t mind?” Justin then pulled out the vial filled with Stan’s synthetic blood and Artis immediately felt his own blood run cold once he recognized it.

“Where did you find that?” He questioned Justin, quickly snatching the vial right out of the young corporal’s hand as thought to protect his own dirty little secret.

Justin’s brow furrowed in response. “Hey, what’d ya do that for? If you wanted to see it you could have just asked?”

“Sorry.” Artis apologized as he pretended to be just as curious about the sample. “I’m just so intrigued over what this could be that’s all.”

Justin gave him the side eye. “Oh I see. Well you won’t believe it but I actually found this stuff in the aftermath of that attack. There was a puddle of it on the ground and I only noticed it because of the glow, and I thought what in the universe could that be? So I scooped up the sample and kept it all this time, waiting for a chance to find out what the stuff really is.”

“Well now I’m curious too.” Artis then gave Dendera a knowing glance before returning his attention to the vial in his hand. “But since we’re busy I think I’ll just store this away for later.” Artis headed over to a cabinet and placed the vial inside.

“There, safe and secure.” He turned back around and smiled at Justin.

“Yeah all right then.” Justin rolled his eyes while beginning to wonder why Artis was acting so strange all of a sudden.

Dendera sighed quietly and then looked over her shoulder at Sebak, who looked just as confused as Justin. She then remembered that Sebak hadn’t been briefed on the partnership with Morane as Onuris had been, so he was still in the dark about a lot of things, which was probably for the best as of now.



On the other hand, there was much to be discussed between Lynne and the admiral, especially regarding the imprisonment of that unruly guard and his ill intent, as well as the fear of wide spread revenge that could possibly be carried out by their own people.

But while Lynne had expressed her concern, sounding worried as hell about the unforeseen future, Abraham seemed very calm and almost despondent. She had to wonder if he might have turned to drinking again.

“With all due respect, Admiral, I don’t think we’re on the same page.” Lynne stressed as she crossed her arms. “And it feels as though I am the only one taking this matter seriously. So am I alone in my feelings here? Or don’t you think we should nip this thing in the bud before it escalates any further?”

“But what exactly are you so afraid of?” Abraham asked then, his face emotionless as could be. “The rogue Tjatey are all dead, and sure there may be some harsh feelings among our people but I don’t think they’d ever resort to hurting their own.”

Lynne promptly shook her head. “Corporal Sterling was the first attacked so far, and I fear his won’t be the last.”

“Then what do we do? Round the rest of them up and imprison them just because they might act on behalf of their feelings?” He shot her a look of concern. “They are still grieving for god’s sake. Their anger is only natural and rightly justified.”

“But the violence is not!” Lynne shouted angrily, feeling more and more frustrated by the minute.

“I agree it isn’t, now please, lower your voice.” Abraham replied crossly. “And this is exactly why we’re pushing them back into their simulation training, so they’ve got an outlet for that anger, otherwise it just builds up.”

Lynne fell silent as her thoughts began consuming her mind once more when she soon found herself parroting the words of that guard.
“Are we safe with the Tjatey here?” She asked. “Are we just waiting for them to gather their forces once more and attack us for the third time? What if we could eliminate them as a threat, and instead build them a ship much like what they had before and send them on their way? They’d be happier out there instead of trapped with us inside these fences. Don’t you think so?”

Suddenly Abraham looked as though she’d just slapped him across the face. “Just where in the hell did such an idea come from in that mind of yours?” He asked crossly.

“It wasn’t my idea.” Lynne informed him. “It’s what our current prisoner believes would be right for us, and after listening to him, I find myself wondering if he could be right. Just think about it, Admiral. If we had taken those steps a long time ago, that second attack would have never happened. Naeem and his followers would have been somewhere else in the universe, battling and destroying some other enemy instead of us. Sergeant Dickerson would still be with us, as would Private Mathis, Stephen’s brother Ivan, and everyone else whose lives we were entrusted and failed. It could have all been prevented had we gotten rid of the Tjatey!”

Abraham could only frown once the realization dawned on him.
“You still feel responsible for those losses, don’t you?”

Lynne fell silent again. But she knew he was right. “Yes I do.” She answered. “And so should you.”

He shot her a harsh look as anger filled his eyes. “And you believe I don’t already?”

“No I don’t, Admiral. Because I seem to be the only one dealing with all the aftermath, while you just sit here alone in your office or in your quarters doing nothing. Do you think my father would have approved of this behavior?”

“I don’t think your father would have approved of your attitude either.” Abraham shot back, stunning her in the process.

“Well he isn’t here anymore is he?” She pointed out. “And if you won’t stand your ground, then I’ll do it for you.”

Abraham opened his mouth to speak, but it was too late. She had already exited his office and made sure to slam the door behind her. She was tired of feeling like she was alone in this battle, but she was also determined to try not to lose herself in her anger. It was now clear to her that she and Abraham would never see eye to eye no matter what. Even back when she had explained to him exactly what William and Justin had done, Abraham dismissed it acting as though she had no place to judge them since they had their own reasoning. This was the kind of attitude that would surely get the rest of them killed one day and she couldn’t have it.

But her fear of losing more of their people only grew worse once she spotted Stan exiting the training center wearing his flight suit, along with the rest of the young soldiers who had just completed their simulation runs for the morning. An ominous feeling seemed to have come over her the moment her eyes met Stan’s; the same empty green eyes that’d shown no remorse before. Yet upon seeing her he actually stopped and gave a quick salute as well as a friendly greeting.

“Nice to see you, Commander.” He gave a thin smile, when William and Private Fancy soon came up behind him and stopped as well.

Lynne appeared to be avoiding eye contact with William for the time being, but immediately turned her attention on Jayce.

“Private Fancy.” She addressed him. “I’d like to speak with you in my office if you don’t mind?”

Jayce’s face already flushed with worry. “Am I in trouble?” He asked timidly.

“No, but I’d like for us to have a serious chat.” She answered him, ignoring the sour face William was giving her in return.

“All right then.” Jayce gave William an apologetic look before taking off with Lynne, heading straight for the elevator.

William felt relieved once she was gone yet he never took his eyes off her either. He was filled with all sorts of conflicting emotions, and didn’t seem to hear Stan the first time he inquired about the bruising on his face.

“What happened to you?” Stan asked again, sounding more aggressive in his tone than usual.

This time William had heard him loud and clear. “Oh, I was attacked by one of the guards.” He answered. “He’s locked up right now so don’t worry. He’ll pay for what he’s done one way or another.”

Oh yes he will, Stan was thinking then, when William recognized that look on his face as well as a kind of unsettling gleam in the man’s eye he’d never seen before.

“I know what you’re already thinking and you better not do it.” William warned him as they continued out into the lobby where the other soldiers were standing around chatting.

“I’m not.” Stan replied flatly. “By the way I noticed Church wasn’t present for today’s training session, is he still in trouble?”

“Yeah he is.” William lied. “He hasn’t been let off the hook yet to my knowledge.”

“Is that why Jayce is tagging along with us instead of him?” Stan asked next, a hint of suspicion in his voice.

William nodded. “Yeah, sorta? But don’t worry he’s not the same guy he used to be, if that’s what you’re concerned about. He just hung around the wrong people back then. We all make mistakes and that was his.”

“So I see.” Stan noted, not sounding or looking the least bit convinced.



Meanwhile, Victoria had already gotten all dressed up for the upcoming luncheon which was starting in a few hours. She wore a long sleeved aquamarine dress made of crepe satin, with a square neck and an elaborate embroidery pattern which accented the neckline, sleeves and hem. She also donned a white cloche hat with a turned-up brim and matching ribbon to complete her modest look, along with a matching pair of silk gloves and an embroidered stitched parasol with a lace trim.

It was a typical accessory for women during the day-night, while evenings were reserved for carrying around gaudy trimmings of ostrich plumes in the form of fans, something Victoria wasn’t too fond of herself and had even remarked once that if she had any more plumes in her fan she could probably fly away. It was rather ironic given that the ostrich had always been a flightless bird, but Victoria was well known for her impudent sense of humor.

After all, if she didn’t have her humor to fall back on then she would be forced to deal with a lot of unpleasant thoughts and feelings. Even now they lingered in the back of her mind, just waiting to spring forth the moment she dropped her guard and lost focus. But for the time being she would keep her cool and get back to the Card Shack so she could stash away the rest of her money, keeping only what she felt she would need for the rest of the week, which included just enough for drinks and of course enough for a brand new dress.

Ever since that last heist she’d been planning on returning to that clothing boutique where she’d gotten that gorgeous original dress before. Not to mention the genuine kindness that seamstress had shown her as well. It was something of a rarity in Atlantis, but also something she discovered was more common in downtown than in Morane’s half of the city. And neither did it take a rocket scientist to figure that one out; it was the money. The richer you were the less you gave a damn about the less fortunate. Greed was all consuming and even now Victoria had to admit it was slowly taking over her too. But whether or not she would allow it was another question.

However for the moment, she needed to think about whether or not Maxwell could even be trusted with her money. And while she’d made herself very clear to him before that he was not to ever steal from her again or she’d put a round in his head, she had a strong feeling that he’d probably kept his fingers crossed the entire time. But she was quickly running out of options and finally realized she’d rather take the risk of having Maxwell steal from her rather than being found out by the man of the city. That would be a fate worse than death, and both she and Maxwell would pay dearly.

Then after taking nearly an hour to get herself made up, she hailed a cab and got to her destination as fast as the driver could go. She paid him and gave a generous tip, and then huffed her way up the steps and into the building. And while she had hoped that Maxwell would be sitting in his office at this time, she was utterly surprised when she entered the lobby and found him standing behind the bar chugging down a drink, and with no sign of the young bartender at all.

Where was Enrique? It wasn’t like him not to be there to greet her as he usually did. What could have happened that she’d missed? Did he quit, get fired, or could it be that Maxwell had possibly killed him? It was all too much to consider for the moment, but it wasn’t a minute later when Maxwell looked up and saw her standing there with that questionable expression on her face.

She could also see that he’d gotten himself a brand new red vest with large brass buttons and a pair of black slacks once he came around the front of the counter and approached her. He looked mad as hell as always, making her wonder if his face wasn’t permanently stuck with that scowl for good now.

“You stupid twat, you’ve got a lot of nerve showing your bloody face here after the shite you pulled last night!” He sneered, his beady eyes locked on hers.

“Excuse me?” She quipped, wondering what the hell she had even done to make him this mad. “And what exactly did I do, piss in your wine? You’re not making any sense here, Mr. Graham.”

“You and your little fraternizing with the military, Miss Thompson.” He shot back, pointing at her accusingly as they stared each other down. “Not only that but you also paraded them around Gambler’s Strip, waving all that bloody dough around for all to see! Are you trying to get us caught or what? Cause that’s exactly how one gets caught in this line of work.”

“You must think I’m stupid or somethin.” She growled in response and shook her head at him. “But I assure you I did not bring any attention to myself, or those soldiers. They weren’t even dressed in uniform. There was no way the people could tell them apart from anyone else over there. Now can you calm the hell down and tell me what happened to Enrique?”

“Don’t be so daft, Miss Thompson.” He curtly retorted while choosing to ignore any mention of the missing bartender. “One of those bloody tossers had blue hair! How couldn’t they notice?”

She groaned and rolled her eyes. “I told the others it was hair dye. And guess what? Nobody seemed to give a damn. All they care about over there is money anyway. Now answer my question already, you jackass! Where is Enrique? You didn’t kill him did you?”

Maxwell couldn’t help but laugh manically at such a question, which only angered Victoria more as she then slid her free hand down into her purse, reaching for her pistol. She was going to shoot him dead right then and there if the answer was yes.

“Did you?” She asked again clenching her teeth, ready to grab and aim her pistol at him any second now.

“Of course not!” He erupted with anger, slamming his fist down onto the bar counter’s surface with such a force it rattled all the bottles and glasses on the shelves. “He bloody quit after you paid him with your blood money!”

Victoria suddenly felt very sad but also relieved. She couldn’t believe Enrique had finally thrown in the towel after all this time, but neither could she blame him for it.

“We’re losing business now and it’s all your bloody fault.” Maxwell sneered gritting his teeth. “But of course your little nancy boy didn’t leave without insulting me first. That’s on you as well.”

Victoria huffed. “Whatever.”

It saddened her that Enrique had quit and she knew things would never be the same, but she at least hoped he had found a better job in the meantime, as well as an employer who showed him a lot more respect than Maxwell or she ever did. But still he was gone and his absence had left yet another hole in her heart.

“Don’t worry I’ll find us a replacement.” She mentioned then. “But in the meantime we’ll have to put together some of our stolen cash just to keep this place up, make it look like we haven’t lost any business at all. And I hate to say it but I think Morane might already be onto us, or at least onto me.”

“Oh you don’t say?” Maxwell remarked condescendingly.

“He did see me last night at the Ritz with those soldiers.” She explained. “Even congratulated me on my current success. So he either believes I’ve found another gig or he knows what we’re up to. Either way we’re going to have to pull the wool over him. And that’s why I brought the rest of my money here to stash away. You see, he also invited me to a luncheon with the council that’s taking place soon, to which I suspect he only asked that I attend in order to get me out of my home so he can send his goons over to search my place. That is, if he does indeed suspect me, but I can’t be certain yet.”

Maxwell scoffed. “Well that certainly explains why you’re dressed like an old maid. Going for tea and crumpets are we?”

“Oh yeah? Well you look like a damn bell-hop in that getup!” She retorted madly with a hand on her hip, while holding the closed parasol in the other. “What’s the matter? Couldn’t afford the hat?”

There was a brief exchange of silence and sour looks between them before she carried on with the conversation.

“I’m dressed like this because the man insisted that I wear something nice, and since the place is going to be full of men over the age of sixty, I’d rather not show up dressed as eye-candy for them. My days of doing that are long over.”

“Well if he suspects you at all then he probably suspects me.” Maxwell stated next. “He knows you wouldn’t be acting alone, and that I’m the only bloody fool just stupid enough to aid you. And since you’re joining him for lunch I suggest you also put on your best act, otherwise it’ll be both our heads. And I’m not looking forward to sharing a ditch with you any more than you are looking to share one with me.”

She rolled her eyes. “Yes I am aware of that. But for now I need to stash the rest of this money away in your office for safekeeping. That is, if I can trust you not to steal any of it?”

Maxwell scowled. “As you mentioned before, we’re going to have to put both our shares together in order to maintain the upkeep of this place, therefore there is no need to worry about me stealing from you at all. And most importantly we need to find a replacement for the bar, unless you’d rather take over for the time being?”

She seemed quick to turn down that offer. “No thank you. Like I told you before I’ll find you a replacement, but I can’t promise quality.”

“Fine then.” Maxwell agreed. “Just as long as they can perform the job.”



“So, what is all this about?” Jayce asked as he took a seat in the chair across from Lynne’s desk, the very same one Justin always used to occupy any time he was in trouble.

Lynne closed the door behind them and then headed over to her desk to sit down. “You’re not in trouble, Private Fancy. I just want to ask how you’re still dealing with the loss of your friends. I know you’ve expressed to me in the past just how angry you felt towards Sterling and Church. So I just want to know if you still feel that way or not?”

“Well my friends are dead, and that’s not easy to get over you know?” Jayce answered politely. “But I’ve also realized that they weren’t such great friends to me after all. And while I’m sad that they died, because nobody deserves that, I’m also glad it wasn’t me.”

“So you’re not having any thoughts of revenge?” Lynne asked getting right to the one question which plagued her mind. “Because if I remember correctly, you did wish death on Corporal Sterling and Corporal Church at one point. Even Private Winston too if I’m not mistaken.”

Jayce’s expression went sullen as tears began to build up in his eyes. He looked as though he were trying not to break down right there in front of her. “I didn’t mean it.” He answered regretfully wiping his eyes using the sleeve of his flight suit. “I was just angry and sad at the time. We all say awful things when we’re feeling at our worst you know?” He looked right at her hoping she believed him.

“Yes I know.” Lynne acknowledged, while reminded of all the awful things she too had said to those she cared about. “But those are just words, what I’m concerned about here are actions. And I know anger can be powerful motivator for some.”

Jayce sniffled and wiped his eyes again, when Lynne offered him a tissue. He accepted it and blew his nose into it. “Is this some kind of mental health evaluation or what?”

“Something like that.” Lynne answered truthfully. “I’m really just trying to figure out who is safe on this base and who is not.”

“Oh just like the Tjatey huh?” Jayce remarked as he grabbed a couple more tissues and blew his nose again. “Believe me if I wanted revenge on them I would have gotten it already.” He confessed next. “But I come from a Christian family you see and we don’t believe in that sort of thing. We’re even taught to love our enemy too. Would you believe that?”

Lynne seemed to react with indifference towards such a comment. She didn’t believe in any kind of religion and often questioned those who did, wanting to know what they even got out of it aside from believing in some god who provided them with no answers.

“You saw what happened to Corporal Sterling.” She brought up then. “That was an act of revenge and I don’t want to see any more incidents like that, which is why I asked you to come speak with me, because I needed to know if you were planning something just like that guard.”

Jayce’s face looked despondent as he stared down at the ground. “That guard didn’t plan on attacking William. I know Stephen and he isn’t like that.”

Lynne could only shake her head at him. “The man that I questioned in the brig was acting as though he were proud of what he’d done. So apparently you either didn’t know him very well at all, or well enough you know better than to tell me how you truly feel.” She narrowed her eyes at him, watching him closely as if she were just waiting for him to crack under the pressure.

“I guess I didn’t know him after all then.” Jayce uttered a quiet sigh averting her harsh gaze. “But I guess losing his brother changed him for the worst. It happens. I saw it happen with my uncle after my aunt passed away. He was never the same again. None of us are alike you know?” He looked her in the eye again. “And we all handle the pain of loss differently. By the way, is this interrogation over with yet? Because I’m really feeling singled out here and I don’t like it.”

Then right as she was about to answer him her phone started ringing.

“I’m sorry but I need to take this call.” She informed him before picking up the phone to answer.
“Yes?”

Jayce tried to tune her voice out of his mind while he sulked in the chair.

“Who is this and what are you delivering to our compound?” Lynne’s brows arched in bewilderment.
“So it’s a gift then? To whom exactly?”

Jayce raised his chin with curiosity as he listened.

“Fine, you have permission to enter. But we’re going to inspect each and every one of those boxes. Why you ask? Because we don’t know who you are or what you’re delivering. It could be drugs for all we know!”

Jayce had to wonder just what was going on now, but judging by the verbal frustration in Lynne’s voice it didn’t sound too good.

“Yes I understand you’re just doing your job.” Lynne continued. “I’ve already given you permission to enter and drop off the parcel, so please don’t argue with me. Yes good day to you too, Sir.”

She then hung up and apologized to Jayce. “I’m sorry about that. It’s not every day you get a call from a meat packing plant wanting to deliver a bunch of frozen goods to our base. Which by the way, the driver mentioned that you, Corporal Sterling, and Corporal Church were the gift recipients. So you mind telling me who the hell is sending you all a truck load of frozen meats?”

Jayce already knew it was Victoria and couldn’t help but smile. “Is there lobster too?” He asked next.

“I believe that was also mentioned.” Lynne confirmed. “So who is sending all this? Please tell me it isn’t Morane?”

“Nah it’s from Victoria.” Jayce explained. “She took us all out to dinner last night, and must have remembered when we told her they don’t serve us real meat here. That’s why she had all that stuff delivered.”

William’s date, I should have known. Lynne thought angrily.

“I see.” She noted, not sounding too happy about it at all. “Well regardless, the boxes are still going to be searched and once they’re given the clear, you’re all free to stuff your freezers full of your steaks and lobsters.”

“But it’s not just for us three, it’s for all of you too.” Jayce explained. “She just wants us to have better food here that’s all. I think it will make the lot of us much happier too.”

Lynne went stone faced at the sound of that comment, wondering if this actress might make a better leader than either she or the admiral at this point.

“Well can I leave now?” Jayce asked then, seeing that his commanding officer didn’t appear in the mood to speak any further.

“Yes you may.” She answered a moment later. “Thank you for your time.”



Back at Atlantech, Justin and Dendera were now the only ones left in the lab as Artis had apparently stepped out to make an important phone call. Sebak was also missing for the moment, busy assisting some of the other workers in the lower level of the facility, one of many areas Justin hadn’t even seen yet.

But even though the young soldier seemed occupied with drawing out his designs, he was still very annoyed with the way Artis had reacted and snatched that vial out of his hands, and maybe even angry too. For Justin had always been one to listen to his gut when it was telling him something was off, and as of right now he just had that feeling that something wasn’t right, and the more he tried to distract himself with his mechanical designs, the more the feeling seemed to egg him on, as if daring him to find it out for himself. And while it was very tempting to do so, there was still a part of him that didn’t want to mess up or ruin what it was that he had here with these people, especially Dendera.

She seemed aloof as always, watching him with a curiosity like that of a child’s while he scribbled away on his pad of paper with a mechanical pencil. He caught that wondrous look in her eyes once or twice when he looked up from his mess of sketching and writings. She viewed at his work as though it were some kind of amazing mural depicted on the ceiling of an ancient chapel. Justin assumed it was because the Tjatey never had any artists of their own, being that they only knew how to steal the work of others, which included their technology as well, wherever it had derived from originally. The universe was bigger than they both knew.

“I think I’m finished for now.” Justin suddenly announced as he set the pencil down. “My hand was beginning to cramp up anyway.”

“Your talent impresses me.” Dendera said admiring his handiwork. “Do these come to you from your visions?”

“My visions?” Justin blinked. “Well I guess? I do see them in my mind first before doodling it down. Although sometimes it comes out differently, but I guess that’s normal. And not to change the subject or anything but uh, what’s with Artis lately?”

Dendera seemed confused by his question. “What do you mean?”

“The way he reacted when I showed him the stuff in that vial.” Justin explained. “By the way I’d really like to examine a small sample of it under the microscope, if you don’t mind getting it for me?”

“All right.” Dendera nodded as she headed for the cabinet area where Artis had put it away before, and opened the door when she began hesitating a little before she eventually grabbed it and brought it back to Justin.

“I’m starting to not trust the guy at all.” He said as he accepted it from her hand and then moved over to the other table where the microscope was sitting, and picked up a blank slide. “I’m beginning to feel like he’s done nothing but lie to me about everything since I’ve been here, and I don’t like it. Not one bit.” He then turned and looked back at her as though fearing she too couldn’t be trusted. “And after what happened with Naeem it worries me a lot.”

Hearing him talk like this started to upset Dendera. She could tell by his tone and body language that he was beginning to feel leery of her too.

“I can still trust you, right?” He asked next after he’d collected a small sample from the vial and had now placed it under the microscope.

“Yes.” She answered looking him in the eye.

“Good.” He gave a soft smile, before turning back around to peer through the lens of the microscope in order to get a better idea of just what he was dealing with.

“Well this is sure interesting.” He noted, observing as the particles in the sample started behaving in a very erratic manner, almost as if they were in some kind of frenzy.

“Oh crap!” Justin suddenly exclaimed with shock as he jerked back upright, and then moved away from the table as the sample on the slider was starting to smoke.

“What’s wrong?” Dendera hurried over.

Justin planted a hand over his mouth and nose as he wafted away the noxious fumes with his other hand.

“Whatever this stuff is, it seems to burn the moment it comes into contact with any kind of heat source.” He gestured at the now smoking microscope in front of them. “My guess is the light from the microscope was just enough to cause such a reaction, cause look at it now. I’d say we’re dealing with a highly flammable substance.” He noted, when the next thing he knew the microscope suddenly caught on fire.

“Shit!” He yelled, shoving Dendera back out of harm’s way, and then making a beeline for the fire extinguisher, grabbing it and hurrying back to put out the flames before they got any worse.

Once the small fire was out he set the can down and then walked over to one of the computer stations and plopped himself down into one of the chairs. He exhaled deep as a wave of relief washed over him, but he could still smell that chemical in the air as well as in his nose, it burned like hell whatever it was.

“Are you all right, young Corporal?” Dendera asked now.

“I don’t know to be honest.” He answered back as he stared ahead at nothing trying to sort out his thoughts. “That substance whatever it is, there’s hydrogen in it. I know because of how it burned my nose when I first smelled it. Which could only mean that this stuff has been used as some kind of weapon. Maybe it’s even responsible for blowing up that second jet before the attack happened?”

He then turned his head and looked right at her. “Which leaves me to this conclusion. Either Artis knows what that stuff is because he was in on the whole thing, or he doesn’t know what it is and I’ve merely mistaken his awkwardness for deception. I mean, sometimes people can be hard to read you know?”

“Yes I do.” She agreed, while hoping he wasn’t referring to her in that moment.

“Did your brother ever deceive you?” He asked her next, already feeling bad for bringing up such a touchy subject for her.

She nodded. “Yes.”

“Then you know how I feel.” Justin sighed with frustration as he drummed his fingers on the computer desk. “All I know is if the man is indeed a traitor, I’m either going to stop working for him or start working against him. He knows I’m smart and all, but he doesn’t know that I’m just as capable of deception as he is. Isn’t that what you would do too?”

She looked a bit uncertain, yet his words left her most curious about his intentions. “How would you deceive him?”

“Oh I have my methods.” Justin smirked deviously. “Just ask anyone on the base about the time I had rigged the fire alarm to go off every time someone entered or left the mess hall.” He snickered while reliving that enjoyable prank inside his head. “I’ve started a lot of real fires but also some fake ones too if you know what I mean. I could easily find a way to monitor all activity here. All I’d have to do is install a hidden security setup in every one of these rooms, even the ones I haven’t seen yet.”

“I see.” She noted, wondering if this wasn’t the best way of going about things.

“If I wanted to I could easily turn Atlantech’s technology against itself.” He added with an all but serious look on his face that was unsettling to say the least.

“And you think revenge is the way?” She asked him now, worried that all of this could easily change him into someone he wasn’t.

He shot her a quizzical look just then and shrugged his shoulders. “You call it revenge but I call it survival. And after what happened with Naeem I’m not taking any chances anymore. And neither should you for that matter. You lost Onuris because of it, so wouldn’t you do whatever it takes to protect Sebak from meeting the same fate?”

She had to agree with him there, especially since Sebak could be put at risk if he ever found out something he wasn’t supposed to. And as much as he meant to her now, Justin was right that she’d do whatever it takes to keep him safe.

“Yes I would.” She nodded at him.

“Then it’s settled.” Justin said. “You’re going to help me.”

Her eyes widened and she gasped. It was as if someone had hijacked his mind because he was not acting the least bit like himself, and it scared her. Who was this imposter and what had they done with the real Justin Church?

Chapter 15: Wave in Fire

Summary: Victoria attends the city hall luncheon and things take a turn for the worst. Meanwhile things just keep getting weirder for Brian.

additional notes: The song lyrics "Putting on the Ritz" in this chapter are based on the original Irving Berlin song from 1927. Some of the lyrics have been changed to fit more in line with Atlantis City's theme but also because of the racial overtones.



Victoria had attended the City Hall luncheon as planned, only running about a minute late. She knew Morane wouldn’t mind however, as he looked rather pleased to see her the moment she walked in the conference room. He gave a wide smile and patted one of the empty seats next to him at the large round table.

She ignored his unnerving grin as she sat down and scanned the rest of the faces at the table with them. Every single member of the city council was there and they were all older men, some of which looked like they belonged in a retirement home at this point. Sadly it reminded Victoria of her days as a young dancer girl, where she used to dance on a stage half naked in front of a bunch of old men just like them. She had also been underage at the time and it was Morane who had assured her that none of those dirty old bastards were allowed to touch her. But it wasn’t until she had turned eighteen that she learned that Morane had been reserving her for himself all along, and still to this day viewed her as his own personal property.

“Glad you could make it, my dear.” Morane said and then gestured his hand towards the rest of the men, introducing them all. “Miss Thompson, I’d like you to meet the rest of us men folk. Issac Thad, Dwain Thurston, Adolfo Hardy, Walton Roland, he’s a wop so don’t mind his bad accent. Oh and Norbert Herschel.” Morane pointed out the man sitting opposite of Victoria. “I think that’s all of us.” Morane laughed dryly, when Victoria noticed one of the seats was empty.

“Is someone else running late?” She asked.

Morane chuckled menacingly. “Roman Welton used to sit there, but I’m afraid he’s no longer with us anymore.”

“Oh dear, what happened?” She gasped, as Norbert shot a knowing look in Morane’s direction.

“He had a heart attack.” Councilman Thurston answered her. “Triple bypass, didn’t make it through surgery.”

Shocked, Victoria cupped a hand over her mouth. “How awful.” But she knew that wasn’t the case. He’d most likely done or said the wrong thing and he was killed for it.

“So when does the food arrive?” Councilman Roland then asked, when all of a sudden the caterers walked in carrying a large tray of assorted foods, as well as a large white porcelain bowl filled to the top with a fresh garden salad.

“Looks like they’re here now.” Morane pointed out, as the caterers set the food down in the center of the table, and then began passing out drinking glasses, small bowls, plates, and fancy silverware.

Napkins were the last thing to be passed out, and Victoria kindly took hers and spread it out onto her lap. Next the servers began going around the room, filling each of the bowls up with salad and offering each person their own choice of dressing to go along with it.

Morane went with a balsamic vinaigrette, while Victoria decided on the Italian, to which Walton happily commended her on her excellent taste. He was by far the best looking man there out of the bunch, even at sixty some years, he looked far better for his age than Morane certainly did. And she wondered if Morane might be jealous of him because of it.

“First order of business.” Morane began after he swallowed his first bite, while the servers were still walking around the table offering each councilman some fresh ice tea out of a pitcher. Victoria was utterly surprised they weren’t serving alcohol at this meeting. She knew Morane liked to drink as much as she did and to see ice tea of all things in place of vodka or scotch was undoubtedly shocking.

“Crime is at an all time high right now, especially here in Gambler’s Strip. We’ve got shootings, stabbings, rape, theft, and anything else you can think of. And since our very own police force ain’t doing shit to keep up with it all, I’ve decided we’re going to need a different kind of resolution. I’ll be blunt. I don’t want this shit happening in our part of the city. The drug lords are getting out of hand, something must be done, and I think I’ve figured out the perfect solution.”

The other men were all ears now as was Victoria while she quietly ate her salad.

“The android.” Morane finally answered as he picked up his glass of tea and took a sip. “He can deal with them all.”

Some of the men now had very puzzled expressions on their faces.

Victoria’s eyes widened with horror as she was reminded of the first time she met that thing, whatever it was. She remembered how she had entered Morane’s office late one night just as he requested, and there standing in the dark corner of the room was this tall terrifying entity with glowing green eyes that had appeared to look right through her. That was the night that Morane had told her things were going to change, and she never fully understood what he had meant by those words until now.

“But what can that thing even do?” Councilman Thad asked then, which only seemed to infuriate the chairman to no end.

“He isn’t a thing.” Morane angrily corrected the man. “And for fuck’s sake, Mr. Thad. Where’s your fucking table manners? He then raised his voice. “You chew like you was raised in a fucking barn!”

The short tempered fury in his voice reverberated throughout the entire room as everyone else fell silent. After that, neither Issac nor any of the other men said anything more and let Morane continue.

“The android can handle it. He’s been upgraded.” Morane explained. “All we want to do is move all the crime back downtown where it belongs and keep it there. And that’s where the android comes in. Think of it like a new type of police officer, except he’s one who will rip your fucking head off if you don’t comply with the law.”

Victoria suddenly felt a deep pit in her stomach.

“Let’s face it.” Morane smirked “Not a one of us gives a shit if the poor people die, or even those military fucks for that matter. Which by the way, their men have been coming into our part of the city looking for tail, would you believe it?”

He looked directly at Victoria in that moment leaving her cold and numb inside.

“Even the Tjatey too.” Morane added with a chuckle of amusement. “I guess it’s because the women don’t put out over there. No surprise, I’ve met one of them myself, pretty face but uptight as hell.” He said in reference to his meeting with Lynne back then. “It’s no wonder the men over there are so miserable, especially Grant.”

“And how is the military captain these days?” Councilman Hardy suddenly asked. “I’m surprised you haven’t asked him to join us here today?”

“He’s been promoted to admiral since the former asshole has been MIA for some time now.” Morane corrected him. “And of course I sent out an invitation, he just never responded. I get the feeling he doesn’t like me very much.” He grinned once more as he lifted his glass to his lips.

“But wasn’t he nearly killed by one of those creatures?” Dwaine asked next.

“Of course he was.” Morane chuckled. “And I warned him too. I told him those aliens couldn’t be trusted, and did he listen? Fuck no! So it’s his own fucking fault he almost died, and I don’t feel sorry for his ass in the least. He had it coming. They all did!”

Victoria was now reminded of the death of her mysterious secret admirer and quietly bowed her head in mourning. I’m sorry you have to listen to this my love. Drown it out if you can.

“My dear, I apologize for the offensive language.” Morane said once he noticed how uncomfortable she looked now. But she knew him well and knew he wasn’t the least bit sorry. He never was.

“Well that’s it for the salad, now onto the sandwiches.” Morane announced shoving his half eaten bowl aside, as the servers walked back over to the table and lifted the tray lid to reveal an assortment of deli-meat sandwiches made with different kinds of bread.

“I hope you left room.” Morane shot Victoria an unsettling look before the caterers started serving them all sandwiches of their own choosing. Yet after listening to his shocking and disgusting diatribe, Victoria hardly had any appetite left and immediately declined the moment the server asked her which kind she would like.

“Back to what I was saying before we got a little too off topic.” Morane stated then. “The android can help us manage the crime and move it back downtown. I’ll even meet with the drug lords myself and explain the matter further. As for the soldiers? Well we could always just put a brothel in across the street from the base. I don’t think the men would decline. They have needs after all, and I know for the women, that can be tough to swallow at times.” He laughed manically and soon all of the other council members joined in.

Victoria was absolutely mortified now. They were all a bunch of disgusting pigs and now the pit in her stomach had shifted. She felt like throwing up.

“I’m sorry but may I be excused?” She asked Morane as the laughter died down. “I need to use the ladies room.”

“Sure thing, my dear.” Morane happily obliged. “We’re not going anywhere, so take all the time you need.”

“Thank you.” Victoria replied as she got up and then headed out the doors.

---

She didn’t waste any time as she ran down the hallway, heart thumping her chest as she made it to the very end, where she burst through the door of the women’s restroom, and headed right for one of the empty stalls, hurling the minute she got inside. Not surprisingly everything had come up, including her dinner from last night. She couldn’t believe it. It felt like a hangover from hell and he was the cause.

“Why did I even come here?” She muttered angrily as she put the toilet lid down and then sat on it, resting her head back against the tiled wall as she waited for the rest of the sickness to pass. “The hell was I thinking?”

Tears streamed down her cheeks, smudging her mascara as she sat there feeling sorry for herself. It was even worse that the only person who could cheer her up was gone now. Not dead like her secret admirer thankfully but still gone just the same, as Enrique had apparently been at the end of his rope with Maxwell, and once he saw an exit he took it. But where he was now she didn’t know, yet all she knew was that she missed him dearly and hoped they would cross paths again someday.

Feeling a little better, she finally exited the stall and then walked up to the mirror to assess the damage on her face. Just as she figured, her mascara was smudged all around her eyes making her look like a raccoon. She knew there was no possible way in hell she was returning to the conference room looking like this, and so she set her purse down onto the counter and took out a single sponge pad as well as a bottle of makeup remover. She then set to work, erasing her face so she could start fresh on a new canvas.

Yet as she started re-applying it all, that’s when she stopped and pointed her finger at her reflection accusingly.

“You need to get a hold of yourself!” She scolded her reflection. “You are not the same miserable little girl he thinks you are. You are strong and it’s time you start acting like it. No more tears, no more disgust. You walk back in that room and you let him know you mean business. He will never walk all over you again, cause you won’t allow it!”

With that, she exhaled deep and then set back to work re-applying her makeup, as well as taking out her travel size toothbrush and toothpaste so she could brush her teeth at the sink in order to rid her mouth of that awful vomit aftertaste. Her purse was a lot like a mini suitcase with all its sufficient supplies she kept inside, as she understood the importance of preparing for anything and everything. Always prepare for the worst but hope for the best, was her own personal mantra she lived by every single day; even more so now despite being on a down-spiral of chaos.

---

Back in the conference room, the men were still finishing their meals and ice tea as Morane continued going over the important details for their resolution, when the next thing he knew, his secretary Maria walked in the room and handed him a copy of today’s paper. He eagerly accepted and then took a good look at the front page where one of the articles had immediately caught his attention.

“Well I’ll be damned.” He remarked with great interest as he read the headline aloud. “Angry widow robs bank and kills witness. I don’t believe my eyes. Now our women are turning to crime?”

Victoria had just walked back into the room when she heard those words. But rather than act suspicious she nonchalantly headed back over to her seat and sat down.

“Welcome back, dear.” Morane turned to her and grinned with the paper in his hand. She couldn’t believe her crimes had made front page news. She was actually pleasantly surprised.

“Why thank you.” She smirked with her eyes still glued to the bold headline. She almost felt like a real star again. “Female robbers huh? I suppose that’s one way to make money.” She remarked with a wry laugh.

All eyes were on her now but she didn’t seem the least bit bothered. Her little self pep talk had apparently worked like a charm. But on the other hand, Morane didn’t seem too impressed with this female robber at all.

“Why the sour looks?” Victoria asked scanning all their faces. “Women are just as capable of being criminals as men. However it’s not something I would ever resort to.”

“Woman or not she’s stealing from me and the rest of those who matter in this shit forsaken city.” Morane quipped. “I don’t give a rat’s ass about the witness she killed. The people are expendable if you ask me. But the money? That’s where I draw the line!”

The other men seemed to nod in agreement with him. It was apparent he had them all under his thumb.

“Whoever she is she must be stopped.”

Victoria shot him a scalding look. “And you know where I draw the line at? I draw the line at listening to anymore of your sexist dribble!” She looked at every single one of their faces. “The people of this city depend on you all to make their lives easier, and here you all are playing god trying to decide who gets to live and who gets to die. It’s downright disgusting and the lot of you should be ashamed of yourselves!”

Then she returned her attention back to Morane, surprised by the lack of emotion shown on his face. “And you can say whatever you want about the military, but I know the truth, and they would never resort to the kind of madness I see before me. They’re good, honest people, and it must kill you inside that it’s something you could never amount to. Why else do you feel the need to constantly drag them through the mud? Because they’re the one thing you have no control over, and it drives you absolutely mad, doesn’t it?”

She crossed her arms and scowled at him, but the man didn’t appear to even flinch as he stared right back. Was he pissed off at her? She couldn’t tell, but knowing the kind of man he was it was almost certain he’d be livid as hell. Did she perhaps break him?

Another minute seemed to pass before the man even dared to crack a smile and erupt with gut busting laughter.

“Well shit.” He remarked next, exchanging looks with the other men before he even dared to look back at her. “My dear, you’ve got fire. I like that in a woman.”

His words now left her speechless.

“And yes I’ll admit, we do play god don’t we?” He looked to the other councilmen again. “But we do so, well because god just isn’t real. So it’s our job to fill in for him.”

“It’s a necessary kind of evil.” Issac added.

Morane snapped his fingers. “Right it is! Same goes for the segregation, otherwise we’d be overrun with alien hybrid little shits.” Then he looked right at Victoria, feigning a look of concern. “Hopefully you’re not carrying one yourself?”

All the other men were giving her disapproving looks now. She couldn’t believe he had just put her on the spot like that. She was mad enough to kill him.

“I did not sleep with that man.” She narrowed her eyes at Morane. “We had dinner and drinks, that was all. I’m still trying to trudge my way through the film industry. I’m not gonna go and get myself knocked up. It would ruin my figure.”

“Well yes it would.” He agreed with her then. “But what about him? You don’t think he was trying to get you shit-faced so he could drag you back into some dark alley and have his way with you?”

“Just what sort of ridiculous claim is this?” She huffed in disbelief. “Are you trying to tell me he’s a rapist now? I know him and he isn’t like that. His other friends told me so and I trust them more than I’d ever trust you!”

Morane gave nonchalant shrug as he sipped his tea and then set the glass down, dabbing his mouth dry with his napkin. She could tell just by his smug expression alone that the mother of all foul bombs was coming. Now she braced herself.

“Well regardless if he fucked you or you want to fuck him, I don’t want to see that stupid fuck anywhere near my fucking half of the city again, do you understand me, Miss Thompson?” He stared daggers into her with his cold eyes and she suddenly remembered why she had feared him so.

“Yes, Sir.” She bowed her head in shame.

“I mean it!” He made his warning very clear. “Or else I’ll have the android dispose of him. And I’ll make sure it’s a slow and very painful death. And that the last thing he remembers is that you betrayed him!”

Overwhelmed by fear she cried silently in her seat, and neither did he or any of the men seem to care. They were all morally compromised as far as she knew. There was no hope left in this universe.

“Same goes for those friends of his too.” Morane added with another psychological punch to her gut. “You want to fuck them? Rent a room downtown somewhere. And hell, maybe they’d even pay you for it.” He chuckled. “But also know this, Miss Thompson. If you think you’re fucked now, just you wait. I can ruin your life even further. All I have to do is make one phone call to the press and tell them about your little proclivities with the military. I know they’d have a field day with that. Maybe even pass around the rumor that you got knocked up by an alien. They’d probably even run you out of the city.”

The very idea of this man threatening to ruin her was all too much, and she felt like groveling at his feet, begging him to forgive her. But all she could muster in that moment was a humble little apology.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Morane.” She sniffled wiping her eyes. “Please forgive me.”

“Sorry?” He scoffed then. “Of course you’re fucking sorry now! You thought you could play with the big boys, tell us all to eat shit while you sat on your fucking high horse, and then what? Well you got your big ass handed right back to you, didn’t you? And on a silver platter no less.” He winked.

She could hear the other council men chuckling with a fiendish delight at her expense. It was obvious her turmoil had turned into their personal entertainment. It was time to get out of there.

“You’re right, I was in over my head with that one.” She openly admitted and then got up from her seat and headed for the door to leave, when Morane then gave an additional warning she was not expecting.

“You also tell that limey bastard Mr. Graham that I’m also watching his ass too. And if I see so much as a single slip-up, I’m going to personally break his fucking neck myself. Got it?”

She sighed and nodded in response. “Yes, Sir.”

He smirked as he took another sip of his tea. “Good, now you can be on your way.” He waved his other hand dismissively.

---

Turning her back to them once more, she walked out of the room and made her way down the long hallway. Any plans she had for taking her new friends out for a good time in Gambler’s Strip later on had crashed and burned just like her pride. They were no longer safe, and since Morane had already seen their faces disguises were useless too. She couldn’t believe how much worse things had gotten since she chose to return to that meeting. Stupid on her part, but even stupider for thinking she could talk down to that man without any repercussions. After she had left the first time to throw up that’s when she should have made her exit, but no, she just had to convince herself she was ready to take on him and council, and now her friends as well as her future were in danger. If ever there was a single word to describe just how desolate she felt then it was completely lost on her.

She continued to cry as she made her way out of the building, running as fast as she could in her heels, until one of her feet suddenly gave under her and she tripped and fell hard, landing on her hands and knees right on the concrete sidewalk. Tears blurred her vision, but she just knew her hosiery had been torn around one of her knees. And while she probably should have been thankful she didn’t land on her face, she still felt utterly humiliated. It never rained in Atlantis City but it might as well have been a downpour just to make the situation much worse for her.

Some of the people passing by didn’t even offer to help her up either, and instead just passed looks of judgment before continuing on their way. She figured it must be nice to not have a single care in the universe about helping those around you. And as she watched them walk right past her something inside must have snapped, because the sadness was suddenly replaced with a burning anger. She then felt around on the ground for her purse and pulled it to her, reaching inside the bag for a pack of tissues, when she noticed the shadow of a person standing now over her.

“Let me help you, Miss.” A man in a nice expensive looking gray business suit offered her his hand, not expecting the kind of reaction he got instead.

“Touch me and I’ll kill you!” She growled fiercely as she sat herself back up. “Get that hand out of my face!”

Stunned, the man could only stare back at her with a blank expression, wondering what the hell her problem was. Whatever it was he could tell she was obviously having a very bad day, but that wasn’t any reason to take it out on him or threaten his life.

“I’m sorry I was only trying to help you.” He replied as though his ego had been bruised. And it probably was since he seemed to be the type to come running whenever some damsel in distress needed him. Or at least that was the impression Victoria got from him.

“Well I don’t need it nor do I want it.” She snarled. “So piss off!”

After giving her another dumbfounded look, the man had apparently decided she just wasn’t worth the trouble, and kindly turned his back on her and walked away.

Still she watched him, almost as if she were waiting for him to come back and make another go at her, and that’s when she’d whip out her pistol and shoot him dead right then and there in front of the City Hall building for Morane to find as a personal message from her. But surprisingly the man kept on walking, and now a wave of relief had swept over her. Only it seemed to be short lived as her stinging knee was suddenly vying for her attention, and she knew the scrape would need to be cleaned up, and what better way to doctor herself than a nice soak in a warm bubble bath with a splash of lavender.

Then afterwards she would sulk on her sofa with a bottle of vodka while contemplating over how to deal with Morane and warn her friends. She wanted that man dead now that much was clear, and she knew she could easily use sex to get him to drop his guard. However the thought of even touching him again only made her recoil with disgust. But if it was the only way to put an end to him then she would gladly do it. And after the big ordeal he made over her spending time with William, while insinuating that she had also slept with him only told Victoria that Morane was obviously jealous, and insanely at that.

With the way he had lashed out and insulted her in front of the entire council she could only surmise that was just his way of dealing with his emotions. And no matter what truths she had told him he was going to believe in his version of the story. That was the way his mind worked, which probably explained why he didn’t seem to get along with anyone for very long. He wore civility like a mask but failed to stop it from slipping at times, and other people were beginning to wise up and realize he wasn’t the kind of man he’d projected himself to be. And now it was only a matter of time before the city would turn against him, and also another reason why Victoria decided against killing him just yet. She wanted a front row seat to the ensuing chaos that would soon take the entire city by storm, and she had already planned to help sow the seeds of his destruction. But first things first that bath. She needed it now.

---

Back at the AMF base, Lynne was standing outside the academy building cooling her heels after overseeing the inspection of the delivered frozen goods. She still couldn’t believe someone would even resort to something so ridiculous, but at the same time she assumed this judgment was most likely caused by her jealousy. She wasn’t in love with William anymore, but still she missed the closeness they once shared. She missed the way he cared about her and was willing to take risks, just like that time a week before the attack, when he’d offered to accompany her and make sure she was safe. That’s what Lynne missed the most, but she wasn’t about to let it eat away at her, as she still had many more soldiers to interview. And afterwards, she would have to mark them either safe or unsafe and then go from there.

Jayce had only been the first on the roster of over sixty recruits. They were a small army, even without all the losses they endured, but they were small simply because the idea of even having a military around anymore seemed pointless. There was no real war to fight and it seemed like the AMF merely existed as a hobby. It was a sad realization but Lynne knew that there was always the chance of another enemy finding them, especially the one Ammon had warned about. And it was that warning which gave all the more reason for continuing to recruit and train their forces, but soon they would need to grow and in order to do that they would need to find a way to recruit more men and women.

A draft seemed inevitable if they ever hoped to achieve the numbers they would need, but of course Morane and the council would always be standing in the way of that. And if they ever did end up going to war with another race that man would most likely be the cause, especially once the aliens figured out what “go fuck yourselves” meant. Morane was certainly no diplomat, and if the AMF ever hoped to achieve peace with any other races in the universe they would need to be the ones representing the human race instead. But if it ever came to that would the admiral have it in him to stand up to Morane and the council? Lynne didn’t believe so.

There was a time we once governed the city ourselves, Lynne was thinking now as she turned and gazed at the skyline of great city beyond the fences, taking in the view. There was less crime too if I recall.

Then she suddenly noticed a small silhouette seated up against the main gate, and took off in that direction, wanting to find out who or what that was. Lynne didn’t think it was an animal, although there had been times where dogs or even cats had gotten inside the base, usually after following some of the men or women home. She even remembered one time where Mipsy had even carried a stray cat up to the tower and begged Lynne to let her keep it. Lynne had told her no of course but later on discovered that Mipsy had been hiding the animal in the break room and thought she wouldn’t find out.

Typical Mipsy, Lynne was thinking as she was coming up to the gate, ready to chase whatever animal that was right outside of the fences, when she realized it was not an animal but a child, a young Tjatey female too. Lynne was utterly perplexed as to what this little girl was even up to. She wasn’t a threat obviously, but her strange behavior still irked Lynne just the same and she wondered why the girl wasn’t with her parents.

“Excuse me, but what are you doing over here?” Lynne asked the girl, taking her by surprise.

“Looking for my friend.” The girl answered not taking her eyes off of the empty sidewalk beyond the chain-link fencing barrier.

Friend? Lynne thought quizzically. “Can you tell me your friend’s name?” She asked then.

Safiya sighed with sadness as she finally turned around to face Lynne. “His name is Brian and he saved me. But he ran away before my mother could thank him. We also had hot chocolate and sweet rolls together. Stuff I never had before because my mother would not allow it.”

“Brian?” Lynne replied curiously, when she was suddenly hit with an odd feeling of déjà vu.

Safiya nodded. “Mhmm, do you know him?”

Where do I know that name from? Lynne was asking herself now but still seemed to come up empty.

Now clueless she shrugged her shoulders. “I’m sorry I don’t.”

The little girl frowned and then stood up. “I guess I should go home now before my mother worries.”

“Yes I think that’s a good idea.” Lynne agreed with her.

Safiya was just about to leave when she turned and looked right up at Lynne. “I know you don’t like us very much and I know why, but my mother wants to make things right. She wants to do more to help. You should give her a chance.”

Lynne could only blink with confusion in that moment as she tried to understand where the child was coming from. “What exactly does your mother want to do?”

“Join your army.” Safiya answered with a sweet smile before she finally took off running back in the direction of her home across the other side of the runway.

Lynne could only shake her head now as she thought it over. The very idea of one of those savages setting foot into one of their fighter jets was too much to bear given what happened. But despite her personal feelings over the matter, Lynne understood that they needed to find some way to expand their forces, and if perhaps the rest of the former warriors could still be trusted not to turn against them, then perhaps they could make decent soldiers. But that was up in the air for now.

---

Meanwhile in the comfort of his own bedroom, Brian Smith was seated on the end of his bed shining his loafers with shoe polish just the way his brother had shown him while listening to the radio. The male disc jockey had one of those nasally irritating voices which made Brian cringe. Especially once he started rambling on and on about current happenings in the city, and then mentioned something about the city council having a meeting at this time which would hopefully address these particular issues. Brian didn’t give a damn.

He rolled his eyes and thought about getting up to shut it off, when the DJ then announced he was going to be playing a brand new hit by Atlantis City’s favorite quartet of canaries, The Jazzettes.

The very mention of an all familiar female group seemed to intrigue Brian, even more so once the song opened with a very catchy orchestral riff. And just like the fashion styles of the infamous jazz age of Earth’s history the music had also stayed very much the same, as if Atlantis City was nothing but a living time capsule somewhere in space where nothing ever changed. After all, that had been the dream of the architect who designed it in the first place. The man had apparently hated any form of change and wanted the time period he was living in to go on forever. But change was inevitable, and little by little it was beginning to become more apparent with the advancement of new technology.

Still you had your technophobes that were absolutely against any and all new devices, and like the creator of Atlantis himself, wanted things to stay the same forever. Brian was one such technophobe, as his radio was still one of the older models; another hand-me-down in the Smith family. It had belonged to one of Brian’s great-great ancestors, and had apparently also come from earth. But despite how old it was it still functioned just as well as the day it had been originally purchased. And aside from a little noise crackle here and there, the music came out crystal clear.

Speaking of which, Brian soon found himself humming along to the music as he finished with shining his shoes and then got up and moved over to the wooden dining chair he had placed beside the open window to sit down to have himself a smoke break. And that’s about the time the all female chorus of the song finally came in.

If you’re blue, and you don’t know where to go

Why don’t you go where Atlantis flits, puttin’ on the ritz

Spangled gowns upon the bevy of high class crowns

From down the levy in Gambler’s Strip, puttin’ on the ritz

That’s where each and every lulu-bell goes

Every Thursday evening with her swell beaus, rubbin elbows

Come with me and we’ll attend their jubilee

And see them spend their last two bits, puttin’ on the ritz

Come with me and we’ll attend their jubilee

And see them spend their last two bits, puttin’ on the ritz


“Catchy song.” Brian noted taking a drag of his cigarette, and then he gazed out his window looking down at the activity below. There were a few people passing by every now and then, but most of them were headed someplace to eat since it was around lunchtime anyway. Brian could even smell some of the cooking food from the restaurant across the street. It was one of those places that had a little bit of everything, and he could even smell doughnuts. And now he was suddenly reminded of the little Tjatey girl he had saved the other day. He hoped she was doing okay but he still had no desire to go anywhere near that military base again.

He was burnt out on the Card Shack as well. There hadn’t been any major card games in ages it seemed, and the new carpet smell of that place was just too obnoxious for him to stand anymore. Brian was beginning to feel like he needed a new place to loiter. Of course he always had the option of just staying home. It was convenient enough and he had just about everything he needed here anyway; everything except the presence of people. And while Brian was a loner he couldn’t deny that sometimes having others around wasn’t so bad. But most of all he still missed his brother and the close bond they had shared. Brian knew for a lot of children growing up in this city it was hard to find decent role models, and so he felt thankful that his brother had been one of the good ones. It kept him out of trouble at least.

Still he died so young, Brian thought sadly as he stared off into the distance. At first he tried ignoring the DJ’s continuous babble blurting out of the speakers, but soon it got to be too much and without even giving it a second thought, Brian lunged up out of the chair and marched over to the radio and turned it off.

“Shut up already.” He quipped angrily and then walked back over to the chair and sat down again.

Once it was peaceful and quiet just the way he liked it, he then picked up his pack of smokes and pulled out another to light it, and that’s about the time he suddenly heard this eerie static sound. Cigarette hanging out of his mouth, he turned his attention back to the radio. It was off as far as he knew or was it? What else inside his room could have been making such a sound? His eyes darted from each corner of the room looking for any possible culprit, but they ended up right back at the radio again.

Just to be positive, he got up once more and walked over to the radio to check and make sure the dial was set to off. Sure enough it was, but he could still hear that noise and it seemed to be coming through the speakers. How strange it was and nether could he come up with any kind of logical explanation as to why it was happening.

And then a second thought occurred to him, and he took the cigarette out of his mouth and then snapped it in two with his hands, before lifting one of the halves up to his nose to sniff in order to make sure the contents inside were nothing but plain tobacco. Brian didn’t think the tobacco industry would be foolish enough to tamper with their own products, but Brian was of the notion that you just never know and so he checked it just to be sure.

“No wacky baccy here.” He noted and then tossed it aside and pulled another cigarette out of the pack and lit that one.

It was then he now realized the static sound was gone, and he began to wonder if he’d merely imagined the whole thing. It was strange either way. Only that feeling of returning to normalcy quickly vanished when he soon heard a soft whisper say the words, “help me.”

With eyes wide as could be he looked right at the radio again.

“Help me.” The quiet voice spoke again.

Brian was absolutely floored over whatever was going on, whether inside his head or in his bedroom something was happening, and it was something he couldn’t begin to explain.

---

“The ballistics report on that bullet that was retrieved during the victim’s autopsy finally came back.” Marks announced as he graciously walked up and dropped the file onto Vince’s desk just now.

The old homicide detective nodded his thanks at his partner and then picked up the report to go over it himself.

“So the weapon we’re looking for is a 7mm caliber pistol eh?”

“That’s right.” Marks answered folding his arms across his chest. “7 mil Beretta to be exact.”

“Pea shooter.” Vince scoffed as he set the file back down. “Well whoever this woman is she wouldn’t be stupid enough to try and deposit all that money into her own account. I’ve already called up several of the banks in the vicinity and asked if there have been any large deposits recently. They’ve all told me no so far.”

“Well she’d probably only deposit it a little at a time, don’t you think?” Marks tossed out there.

“Or none at all.” Vince threw back as he pulled out a cigar from his desk drawer and lit it. “This woman has to know we’ve already put a BOLO out there. My guess is she’s been spending the cash in order to avoid a paper trail. She knows what she’s doing, Marks.”

The younger man nodded. “You’re probably right. So how then do we find the murder weapon?”

“We don’t.” Vince replied flatly as he puffed on his cigar. “Julius Morane changed the laws and made it illegal to keep a record of any firearms. So even if this woman has a permit for the gun, we aren’t allowed to see it. But of course with the law being the way it is now, permits are probably no longer required, meaning anybody can purchase a gun, kill a man, and get away with it as long as there aren’t any prints to find. The only possible way to nab somebody these days is only if they’ve left any physical evidence behind.”

“So the whole point of the ballistics test was useless then?” Marks asked.

“Not exactly.” Vince disagreed. “That bullet still counts as evidence, and now that we know the make and model of the weapon we can still find it as long as she still carries it on her. We might not be allowed to check records but we sure as hell can still search any possible suspects in our midst.”

“And how exactly does this work?” Marks asked next. “Are we going to search all the women in this city in order to find the exact gun? Sort of like Cinderella and the glass slipper?”

“No.” Vince replied in a disgruntled manner. “We’re going to set up surveillance operations at all the other bank locations she hasn’t hit yet. Some of our officers will also be going undercover, pretending to be civilians. She might have stolen a large amount of money before but eventually it’s going to run out, and that’s when she’ll start getting desperate for more. We can nab her then.”

“Sounds like a good plan, old man.” Marks noted.

---

Whatever sordid thoughts that had plagued her mind before had now become something of a distant memory as Victoria relaxed peacefully in her tub, with clusters of bubbles up to her neck. The soft scent of lavender was most soothing to the point she could almost fall asleep as she leaned her head back and closed her eyes. The light was off inside the bathroom but she had just enough lit candles sitting atop the sink counter to illuminate the dark room. The only thing that seemed to be missing from this little meditative setup was music, but for now she figured she could do without. Her knee was still sore but at least she had cleaned it up with a disinfectant ointment before drawing her bath.

She had also thrown out her torn hosiery and even had to mend her dress where it too was torn at the hem from the fall. For now it lay draped across a chair in her bedroom, and once she was done with her bath she planned on packing it away for good. After all it was just another outfit of hers with bad memories attached, and because of that alone she could never wear it again. Maxwell had been right about what he said. She did look like an old maid in that dress, but again she had never intended on wearing it to impress anyone, only to get through that god forsaken luncheon in one piece. Well so much for that after being verbally torn to pieces in front of the entire council, just to trip and fall right outside the building for good measure. It was as if the whole universe was against her or just god himself if he did exist.

Next she thought about what Maxwell’s reaction might be once she told him just how badly the meeting went. There would probably be a lot of I told you so’s mixed in with a lot of bloody hells, especially once she spoke of Morane’s final warning to him. She could already picture the deer-in-headlights look on Maxwell’s face now, and it even made her chuckle a bit. But she knew both of them were in very deep shit and it wasn’t any laughing matter. Not only that, but also the fact the police were now on a manhunt for her and Mr. Graham, but especially her since she had been the one to kill that last witness. She still felt nothing over that one either. Not a drop of remorse.

Whatever this new way of life was it was beginning to change her. The old her would have never threatened to kill a man just for wanting to help. Then again, the old her would have never thought to act so defiant in front of Morane and the council either. But while she might’ve become a little more tenacious in her ways she would still have to learn to pick and choose her battles wisely. This included her budding grudge against Morane and her desire to start badmouthing him to the people. And with her friends already in his line of sight she realized these matters would have to be handled delicately.

But the more she mulled it over in her mind that’s about the time she noticed her bathwater was beginning to turn cold. Unsure of just how long she’d been soaking for, she decided it was time to get out and promptly stood up and snatched her towel off the rack and wrapped it around herself. She then felt around for the drain chain with her right foot, catching it between her toes as she gave it a good hard pull to let the water out. Then after drying herself off and slipping her robe on and tying it around the waist, she pushed open the bathroom door and walked out of her bedroom into the living room, where she just about had a heart attack once she spied the android dressed in a high collared trench-coat just standing there in the middle of the room waiting for her.


“Christ sake, you are creepy!” She snapped irritably, wondering what the hell it was even doing here in the first place, or even how it had gotten inside without her hearing a sound.

“See anything you like?” Victoria remarked condescendingly as she then flashed her bare breasts at the android, surprised by the lack of reaction on its face. “Oh that’s right, you’re not a real man are you?” She covered herself back up. “That’s almost kind of comforting in a way. So let me guess, you’re here to kill me?”

“No I’m not.” Stan answered stone faced, while wondering what her intentions were behind her strange behavior. “I’m here because Morane has sent me. He wants to apologize for his behavior as well as his harsh words. He feels bad for the way he made you feel.”

In turn Victoria merely scoffed, shaking her head in disbelief as she walked over to the end table where her purse was sitting, and took out her pack of smokes to light one. “Too bad I don’t believe it. If the man was truly sorry he would’ve shown up here and told me himself, but instead he sends you? What a coward.” She quipped, flicking open her lighter’s flame as she held it up to the end of the cigarette hanging from her lips.

“He didn’t think you would answer for him.” Stan replied.

“Well having you scare the living night-lights out of me sure isn’t helping his cause either.” She responded curtly, taking a drag from her cigarette.

Stan couldn’t help but notice the curious portrait of a woman on the wall beside him as he turned towards it and looked it over. There was sentimental value from what he could ascertain. “Who is that?” He asked then.

“My mother.” Victoria answered. “She was just another woman your so-called master couldn’t have. Didn’t stop him from trying of course. Flooding her mailbox with love letters and marriage proposals of the like. The very same treatment he’s given me. And just like my mother I too have rejected him. Just like I’m rejecting him now, and you can tell him that yourself!”

Stan only looked more confused now, wondering just what it was going on between these two humans. But then he remembered the way Morane had briefed him on the opposite sex once before, giving him the rundown on all things women.

“Let me tell you something about women, Stan,” as Morane had so bluntly put it. When they’re not on their knees servicing the men they’ve been put in this universe to serve, they are absolute bitches! All of them! So if a woman ever gives you any problems, just remember one thing. She’s a dumb bitch and she don’t know any better.”

Looking back on that memory those words didn’t compute then and they certainly didn’t compute now. Yet he couldn’t help but notice just how crazy about this female in particular both his master and his best friend seemed to be. Especially the lengths they both seemed to be going to in order to get her attention. It was both amusing and absolutely pathetic. Another weakness of humanity he supposed.

“And this is what else you can tell him for me.” Victoria then added taking another drag from her cigarette. “I don’t love him, and I don’t belong to him. As a matter of fact I don’t belong to anybody because I am not a piece of property but a human being with dreams and wishes, and since he cannot accept that nor my friends in the military, then I’ve no use for him in my life. And as of this moment I do not wish to see or even hear from him anymore!”

There was a long pause before she spoke again. “Did you get all that?” She asked. “I have no idea how you operate, function, whatever. But just as long as my message has been recorded.”

“Yes.” Stan replied then with an amused smirk that she found surprisingly charming to say the least.

She took another long drag of her cigarette as she looked him up and down. The look she was giving him now was one he’d recalled seeing before on the streets of Gambler’s Strip. The harlots, as Morane called them, would eye the android as though he were something to satiate their own personal desires. Tall dark and handsome had become something of a nickname Stan had acquired during his nightly stakeouts when he wasn’t back at the military base pretending to be a soldier.

“Too bad you aren’t a real man.” She sighed with disappointment as she brushed right past him, heading over to her couch where she sat down to retrieve her ashtray off the coffee table. “Otherwise I’d be manhandling you right here on this sofa.” She smirked deviously. “After all women have their needs too.”

"You humans and your sex talk.” Stan remarked with a look of disgust as he turned to leave. “I believe my mission here is complete.”

“Wait!” She called after him right as he was about to walk out for good.

“What is it now?” Stan glowered at her over his shoulder.

“You can find people, right?” She then asked as she got up and walked over to him. That look of lust in her eyes was now gone and replaced with that of a somber one.

“Yes.” He answered. “Why do you ask?”

“Can you please find someone for me?” She replied, an evident tone of sadness in her voice.

“Who do you need me to find?” Stan asked next.

“Enrique Alveras is the name.” She said. “I need to know where he works now. I would have just looked up his address back at Maxwell’s office, but the man threw out any record of him ever being there so now I’ve got nothing, and you’re my only hope at finding him.”

“I see.” Stan noted. “I suppose I could locate that information for you. But I’m not acting on behalf of you, but someone else who cares deeply for you.”

Her eyes widened with surprise. “Huh? Who cares deeply for me? Who are you talking about?”

Oh that’s right. Stan remembered then. Her secret admirer is supposed to be dead. Better correct that.

“My mistake.” The android replied before turning back around and walking out her front door.

This only left the poor woman with more questions than ever now.

“Mistake my butt,” she quipped in annoyance as she crossed her arms. “He was talking about someone and I’m gonna find out who that someone is.”