Chapter Eight

<^> <^> <^>

The moment Draeken stepped inside Howlers, he heard the distinct sounds of earthlings playing pool. It was a game he’d wanted to try as soon as he’d seen it. He’d researched Earth and many of its eccentricities at length even before the super-secret plan had presented itself.

That research was what had gotten him into his most recent trouble. There were rumors some famous missing art pieces from Earth had ended up on Alpha-Prime. The rumors were false, but they were serious enough to land him in big, fat trouble. The authorities thought he knew the identities of both parties involved. He hadn’t.

However, it had been a great cover to engineer a trip to speak to the Royal Magistrate’s Court on Alpha-Prime and his subsequent journey to XkR-9 on the other side of the universe. With a nice little unexpected stop on Earth’s way station for a break along the way or, in his case, a rather brutal crash landing.

As time wore on, his worry for his brother grew.

Stella walked through the bar, her head scanning to the left and then the right efficiently as she marched forward, systematically searching the premises. When they got to the back room where the pool tables were, Draeken itched to pick up a pool cue and give it a go, but Stella didn’t stop or slow down.

She knew what Riker looked like. His brother had caught them canoodling once before their epic breakup. He hadn’t expected his brother to like Stella, but they seemed to click. Not in a romantic way, but in the way those in certain professions always seemed to know and understand each other. She was a bounty hunter and Riker was a guard, so their paths had crossed on occasion professionally and they shared mutual respect.

Riker had said something like, “Good. Maybe you can keep him out of trouble.”

She’d nodded in a knowing way, and replied, “I’ll do my best. He doesn’t always make it easy.”

“I’d wager he never makes it easy, at least he didn’t for me.” Riker winked at Draeken. At that point, Draeken had steered Stella out of the room and away from his overly understanding brother. She’d remarked soon after that she had a lot of respect for a Royal Magistrate Guard and his brother was considered the best of the best in many circles.

Stella stopped moving all of a sudden and Draeken—daydreaming again—ran right into her back, almost knocking her down. She managed to keep them both on their feet, but said very harshly, “Whatever happens next, please do not speak a single word. Do you understand? Don’t answer. Just nod once if you do.”

Draeken nodded a single time and watched as a girl with long dark hair and dressed very similarly to Stella approached them.

“Victoria,” Stella said, an edge noticeable in her voice. “I’m surprised to see you here.”

“I just tracked down some vital information on my quarry. What are you doing here?” The woman shot a gaze in his direction.

“This is the prisoner from the crash, Draeken.” Stella gave Draeken a stern look that he assumed meant keep your mouth shut. I’m not introducing you. Victoria studied him carefully from head to boots, but didn’t say anything to him.

Stella motioned to Victoria and the three of them moved to a quiet corner near the hallway leading to the bathrooms.

“I ran into a problem before leaving the crash site,” Stella admitted in a low tone. “And then I had a run-in with local law enforcement because it turns out that the Defender doesn’t work on some of the people in this town.”

Victoria’s eyes widened. “Doesn’t work? What do you mean?”

“I mean I pointed it at three people at the crash site who snuck up on me as I was covering up the ship with the camouflage tarp, and the blast only worked on two of them. The third was rather incensed, insisting that I’d tried to murder him.”

“Who didn’t it work on?”

Stella pushed out a long sigh. “The sheriff of Nocturne Falls. His name is Hank Merrow. I have a doozy of a story to tell you, but not now. Later.” She glanced at Draeken and said, “I’m headed to the rendezvous point.”

Victoria’s eyes narrowed. “Okay, thanks for the information.”

“Where are you in your search?”

“I just got a solid lead on the pilot. He was injured and brought into town or maybe he found his way into town on his own, I’ll find out more when I get there. I’m headed over to pick him up. I don’t foresee any issues. I should be at the rendezvous point directly after you.”

Draeken had gone by the hospital the night before. He’d specifically been searching for Riker, but hadn’t found anyone out of the ordinary or anyone having come from the crash site of an alien spacecraft. Information like that would certainly be hard to contain. If Holden was at the hospital now, he must have wandered there after Draeken’s cursory visit.

“Where is the guard?” Stella asked. “Do you know? Have you heard from Elise?” Draeken was about to chew the inside of his cheek. He desperately wanted to ask what Victoria knew about his brother.

“No. Sorry. Our first communicator check-in isn’t for another hour or so. But I always figure no news is good news. And I haven’t come across her in town. I expect she’s still following the footprints in the woods.”

“Right. No news is good news.” Stella leaned forward, almost out of Draeken’s hearing. Almost. Draeken had exceptional hearing when he wanted to eavesdrop.

“If you do run across her before I do, tell her about the possible limited use of the Defender and also tell her the guard is Riker Phoenix.”

“Riker Phoenix!” Victoria said it loud enough for the patrons at a nearby table to stare at them. Victoria’s gaze shifted to Draeken as if in accusation.

“Please lower your voice,” Stella whispered between clenched teeth.

“Sorry,” Victoria said, looking at him again.

“As you may or may not know, Draeken is Riker’s brother.”

“So you were able to speak to Draeken before—”

“That’s right,” Stella said quickly, before Victoria could finish her sentence.

Victoria seemed to settle down. Nodding, she said, “Okay. I’ll be on my way. Meet you at the rendezvous.”

“Great. Keep on truckin’, Victoria.”

“You, too, now.”

Stella grabbed Draeken by the arm and hauled him through the opening leading to the bathrooms. She’d shoved him several steps before he said, “Are we leaving already?”

“Yes. We know he’s not here. He’s probably in the woods and Elise will find him and check in with information in an hour.”

“But that’s not confirmed yet.”

“I’ll check in with Elise in an hour and then we’ll know for certain.”

“Why was it such a shock that Riker is the guard? And why did I have to not say a single word?”

“Your brother is very high up the food chain on Alpha-Prime and he’s the most famous Royal Magistrate’s Guard on the planet. Don’t you know that?”

“I guess so, but to me he’s just my brother. And what’s a food chain?”

“Earther expression.”

“I need to learn so much about this planet,” he said and then wanted to bite his tongue. As far as she knew, he’d be at the most notorious gulag in three galaxies for the next ten years, seven with good behavior.

With one hand gripping his sleeve, she reached out and pulled the back exit door open, taking them into yet another alley. “How many more alleys will we see in Nocturne Falls, I wonder?”

“This is the last one, I’m afraid.” Stella bent down and pulled something out of the top of her right boot. “I’m really sorry to do this to you, Draeken, but I should have done it earlier.” He was about to ask why she was apologizing when she stuck something small against his inner wrist near the manacle. It looked like a clear plastic sticker.

The moment the adhesive stuck to his skin, a helpless feeling came over him. He could still walk and move, although he was slow. The biggest problem was he couldn’t speak.

Draeken tried to tell Stella he’d been stricken with palsy or a stroke or something, but her sad smile told him she already knew. She’d done this to him on purpose. The clear sticker was some sort of shackle. He’d heard about this sort of tool for security work and the handling of inebriated or wayward aliens cutting loose on Earth. The device had been developed on Earth and shared with Alpha-Prime as a possible way to subdue angry felons and criminals without physical violence.

The prototype had been used when a malevolent being had gotten loose at the way station in Arkansas. Riker had mentioned it once in passing. At the time Draeken had been more concerned about Stella’s safety or being anywhere near a malevolent alien on the loose. He’d asked all sorts of questions about how malevolent the being had been and whether any Earthers had been hurt and not the tools of Riker’s trade.

Presently, Draeken wished he’d paid better attention to how the new shackle tool device worked instead of finding out the hard way.