Tracker Virtual Season I
Episode Nine
"Euphoria"
TEASER
"Ah, this club is like a migraine waiting to happen!" Janet Percy groaned, walking into the locker-room. "Loud noises, flashing lights, stale cigarette smoke..."
Antoinette Hansen, Toni to anyone who wished to remain in her good graces for long, smiled sympathetically up at her. It was a definite downside to stripping. One of many. The money might have been great, but the working conditions left a hell of a lot to be desired.
"Poor baby," Toni murmured. "I've got some Excedrin in my locker somewhere. Let me just find them for you." She paused in pulling on her costume to rise and reach into her locker.
"Thanks, T, but I'm covered," Janet told her, pulling open her own locker and fishing something out of her purse.
Expecting to see a pill-bottle, Toni was more than a little confused to see Janet extract a ballpoint pen from her purse, until the other woman set about using it to drizzle green fluid into her eyes. Her jaw dropped and she shot off of the bench she had been sitting on, grabbing Janet's wrist and jerking the 'pen' from her hand.
"Are you out of your God-damned mind?" Toni hissed, waving the pen at her.
"Would you relax?" Janet asked, shaking her head. "You've been a dancer long enough to know that we sometimes use drugs."
"WE?" Toni shook her head. "I don't think so. That shit is poison! They all are." Shaking her head in disgust, she smacked the dropper onto the bench and turned her back. "And if I see you using it again, I am going to the manager."
"You always this uptight?" Janet scoffed.
"That shit is poison," Toni repeated, shaking her head. "You don't know what drugs can do..." She shook her head and returned to her locker, staring at the picture of a smiling young woman tucked inside. "Get help, Janet," she suggested quietly before slamming the locker closed. "While you still can."
"Yeah, whatever," Janet muttered, turning to leave.
"What's it called?" Toni asked quietly.
"Euphoria." She smiled. "Aptly named, actually."
Toni shook her head. "Stop taking it, Janet. Please. I know we haven't worked together for very long, but I like you. I do. You're a good kid and you don't want to end up dead in a back alley somewhere."
"You worry too much."
"Probably, yeah." Toni shrugged and strapped on her heels. "You know what stage I'm on tonight?"
"Three."
"Thanks." Toni shook her head as Janet walked back to the floor. "There's a special drug... You put it into your eyes," she murmured, remembering words she had heard not too long ago from a young woman by the name of Rose Cole, a Fed of some stripe. "Christ, Janet, what the hell are you into?"
"What's that, Toni?"
"Oh, hey, Sam. Nothing."
Toni shook her head and smiled up at the cheerful young dancer. Samantha Wyatt was an undergrad anthropology student with a personal appearance that made it clear that she was not a member of the counter-culture, she was the counter-culture. Her hair was purple -- this week -- and her face had more artificial holes than natural ones. She also bore more tattoos than the rest of the dancers at the club combined. Looks could be deceiving, though, and she was a very sweet young woman, and far more intelligent than people were generally willing to give her credit for being. As far as Toni could tell, Sam quite preferred it that way.
"You look bummed," Sam noted, sitting down next to her. "What's up, hon?"
"Janet's into some heavy drugs. I'm worried about her."
She nodded faintly. Toni had a definite problem with druggies, even those who just chipped from time to time. Normally, her response to drug use was mere indignation. This time, though, she actually seemed scared, and that was telling.
"What are you going to do?" Sam asked gently.
"I... I don't know. I don't want to get her in any trouble, but..."
"But you don't want her to get hurt either." Sam nodded and gave Toni's shoulder a gentle squeeze. "There was some trouble with drugs at your last club, wasn't there? Meth lab that blew up?"
Toni shrugged. "Something like that, yeah."
"Yeah." Sam gave her a sympathetic smile. "We'll keep an eye on her, lean on her until she quits."
"Think we can get some of the others to help?"
"Toni, hon, most of the others use drugs, too..." Sam shook her head. "Uppers or downers, mostly. You know the way the story goes."
"Yeah. I know," Toni sighed deeply. She knew...
"What's she into? You're this upset... I'm guessing it isn't one of the usual suspects?"
Toni shook her head, remembering Rosie's words about the drug, remembering the string of deaths the year before. "No, definitely not one of the usual suspects. She said it was called Euphoria. Heard of it?"
"That stuff you drizzle in your eyes?" Sam gasped, rising. "That shit killed like five people last year. More ended up with permanent heart damage..." She walked over to Janet's locker and pulled it open, searching for the offending substance. "We need to get Janet to a doctor. If she's been taking this for more than a day or two, she is in deep trouble..."
Toni nodded and walked to the main floor in time to see Janet collapse on stage. Cursing, she ran as fast as her stiletto heels would allow her to, clambering onto the stage and bending over Janet, doing a quick check of her vitals and cursing.
"She's not breathing! Someone call 911!" she ordered before starting CPR and thanking God that she had taken that first aid class.
***
After Janet had been taken away by the paramedics, the manager closed down the club for the rest of the night and Toni made a beeline for the one place where she knew she might be able to find help for her new friend.
Gail looked up from her bartending duties at the entrance of a young woman in faded jeans and a denim work shirt. "I'm sorry, but I'm going to need to see ID."
"It's okay, Gail," Cole assured her, circling out from behind the bar to meet Toni. "Are you okay, Toni?" he asked, noting her troubled expression.
She frowned up at him suspiciously. "Do I know you?"
"No." He gave her a gentle smile. "But I know YOU. You helped Rose once. I know you," he repeated, taking her arm and steering her to an empty seat at the bar. "Would you like a drink?"
Need would have been more accurate than want, but Toni did not bother to point it out. "Scotch."
"Gail, could you bring Toni some scotch, please?" Cole asked politely.
"I've got it, Gail," Mel told the girl, joining Cole and Toni. "Hello again, Toni. You okay, honey?" she asked, handing her a drink.
Toni closed her eyes and shook her head. "A girl I work with overdosed on this drug, gave herself a heart-attack. I... I really need to talk to Rose."
"Rose isn't here right now," Cole told her. "But you can talk to us. We can convey your message back to her."
Toni looked at Cole uncertainly until Mel gave her an encouraging nod. Rose trusted Mel, so Toni was willing to trust her this far. Shrugging, she explained, "Rose mentioned this drug to me last time. You put it in your eye. It's called Euphoria."
Cole scribbled something on a bar napkin and handed it to Mel. The writing simply stated:
"Fek-Maln is the Enixian word for Euphoria".
END TEASER
ACT 1
"Fek-Maln," Mel muttered. "Great!" she snapped, stalking out of the bar and up the stairs.
"Fek-Maln?" Toni repeated.
"Another word for this drug. I'll talk to Rose. It will stop reaching the streets."
"Thank you," she whispered, giving him a grateful nod. "Mister?"
"Hauser." He paused for a moment, trying to decide on a name, knowing that he could not tell her that his name was Cole without raising questions. "John, call me John." John was nice and neutral.
"Thank you, John." She smiled at him for a moment before rising. "Look, have Rosie call me." She quickly scribbled down her number and handed it to him. "I might be able to find out more by talking to people at the club."
He nodded and accepted it, tucking it into his pocket. "Thank you, Toni. She will be in touch very soon."
"Thanks. I'll find out what I can."
"Should I call you a cab?"
"No, thanks. I drove."
"Okay. You stay safe, Toni, and be careful." Cole watched her go, before approaching Gail. "I'll be upstairs with Mel for a few minutes. Call up if you need us."
"She okay? Who was that girl?"
"A friend of ours. Everything is fine, Gail," he assured her gently, patting her shoulder then going upstairs to the apartment. "Mel?" he called, looking around for her. She was in her room, sitting on the edge of her bed, her head cradled in her hands. "Mel, are you okay?" he murmured, sitting down next to her.
"I just can't believe that it's on the street again, getting sold to humans. I'm sorry, Cole..." She sighed.
"Don't be, Mel." He smiled reassuringly at her, sliding an arm around her shoulder and caressing her throat. "Fek-Maln should not be available to humans." Kaden never had been one for discretion. It was the Tracker's turn to sigh. "They brought so many new evils with them, Mel. The human race should not have to endure any of them... I am sorry."
"Don't be," Mel sighed, touching her hand to his heart.
"I'll need your picture of Rose Thompson again," he told Mel after taking a moment to enjoy the gesture.
"Oh, not again," Mel groaned, unable to resist smiling. "Cole, you and estrogen do NOT mix!" she chuckled.
He smiled faintly. "It won't be for long. Just a few hours at a time when I must talk to Toni. She is going to see if she can find out more about where her friend got the Fek-Maln from and I think she will be more comfortable talking to Rose than to me."
"Well, I suppose that makes sense." Mel nodded. "Anything I can do to help?"
He considered. "Do you think you could talk to Vic?"
Mel hesitated. Considering that their last encounter with Vic had involved Cole drunk out of his skull on chocolate and Vic seeing a lot of things that she knew he would rather forget, she was reluctant to involve him. Still... He had worked the Fek-Maln case last time around.
"I'll see if he's willing to see me," Mel told him, nodding. "He might not be, you know. I haven't heard from him once since I saved Isabel."
"He saw a great deal, Mel. I'm sure it must be taking him time to absorb it all."
"Cole, he doesn't want to absorb it. Especially what he saw after I came back, us touching like that... He doesn't want to accept that it's over between us."
Cole sighed softly. It pained Mel that Vic had become so distant from her. "I know that it hurts you that he hurts, Mel. You're compassionate. It's a part of who you are. You should talk to him, Mel. It will make you both feel better."
She nodded. "I'll call him tomorrow."
Cole smiled faintly. "Okay, Mel. We should go back down to the bar now. It was busy. They probably need us."
***
"Thanks for coming to see me, Vic," Mel told him when he entered the bar the next morning, giving him a faint smile. "I appreciate it. I was starting to worry that we weren't going to be seeing you around any more."
"Now why would you think a thing like that?" Vic asked with a forced smile and a trace of uneasiness in his voice.
Selective amnesia was all well and good in theory, but it seldom worked as well in real life. He knew what he had seen, plain and simple. He could refuse to mention it, but that was all he was doing: refusing to mention it. Actually forgetting it was not so easy.
Mel smiled sympathetically and poured him a cup of coffee. "So, how's work going?" she asked in what she hoped was a casual tone.
Vic's head shot up and his smile faded out completely. Obviously not casual enough. Mel's expression turned apologetic.
"So, Vic, working any cases involving any weird crap this week?" he asked, shaking his head. "And how much are you willing to share?" He sighed shortly. "I don't get it, Mel. Whoever he works for, Cole's got resources. So why do you keep asking me for information?"
He was irritated, she could tell, but not by that, or, at least, not exclusively. Dark smudges under his eyes and a slight tremor in his hand told her that he had not been sleeping enough. A big case that had him working overtime, most likely. His temper tended to get short when important cases were going nowhere. And although Vic had no way of knowing it, in the last two years, the cases that went nowhere were almost always cases involving Cole and the fugitives.
"You're working the Euphoria case, aren't you?" she ventured, topping off his coffee mug.
"Why am I not even a little surprised that you know that?" Vic sighed. "Just like the drug that vanished without a trace for over a year only to turn up again out of the blue..." he grumbled.
"A girl was hospitalized last night," Mel began quietly. "A dancer..."
Vic nodded, regarding her thoughtfully. There was something fundamentally wrong about a bartender knowing more about a cop's case than the cop himself did, and he knew that Mel knew a great deal more than she was letting on. Even if she did not, though, the identity of the latest victim had not been made public. Euphoria was not in the newspapers or on the TV news yet. So far the cops and the hospitals were the only ones who knew about it. Except for Mel and Cole, obviously.
"You could save me some trouble, you know, and tell me where she got the drug," Vic pointed out. He sighed when she shrugged helplessly. "How you know about this girl?"
"She's a friend of a friend."
Vic considered this. "Friend of a friend of yours? Or friend of a friend of Cole's?"
Mel paused, searching for an appropriate answer.
"Friend of a friend of mine," a gentle voice said from behind him.
Vic let out a startled yelp and spun to face the girl, his eyes wide and wary. The last time he had met this woman, she had smacked him halfway across the barroom for an ill-timed pickup line.
"Hello, Vic." 'Rose Thompson' smiled benignly at the human Detective. "I'll be back in a few hours, Mel."
"Um, okay, Rosie." Mel nodded and made a quick shooing motion at Cole.
Cole allowed himself a faint smile as he stepped from the bar and onto the street outside. Vic was even more uncomfortable around 'Rose' than Mel herself was. Not that he could really blame either of them considering his mental state the last time he had been in this body. He was not too thrilled to be back in it himself. It may have been more efficient in this case, than his usual one, but that efficiency was more than offset by the all of the unfamiliar sensations and turbulent emotions which it was prone to. Either way, though, it was necessary.
Toni was, by nature, a cautious woman. She would not talk to just anyone and she trusted 'Rose' or she never would have come to the Watchfire. So as Mel got what information she could from Vic, Cole would get what information he could from Toni.
***
Toni put down her text-book with a sigh when someone tapped on her apartment door. Rising and turning down the radio, she walked to the door and peered out the peephole before grinning widely and opening it.
"Rosie!" she said, pulling the 'girl' into a hug. "Ah, thanks for coming, sweetie. Come in." Toni quickly ushered Cole into the apartment. "Thanks for getting back to me so fast," she added, gesturing towards the couch. "Make yourself comfortable. Get you something to drink?" she offered. "Just finished a pot of coffee."
"Coffee would be nice." Cole smiled at her as she hurried into the kitchen, then turned his attention to the sounds issuing from the radio. They were very pretty sounds, relaxing and faintly reminiscent of a Nodulian lullaby he had once heard. "This is interesting. What is it?"
Toni nearly spilled the coffee she was pouring and her eyebrows shot up almost to her hairline. "It's... whale-song, Rosie." Not sure she actually wanted an answer as to why Rose did not already know that, she changed the subject instead. "Hey, I made oatmeal cookies yesterday. Want some?"
"Yes, please, Toni."
Cole smiled placidly at her and curiously looked around the apartment. He did not spend much time in women's homes, except for Mel's, and he was curious. This one was very different from hers, filled with potted plants, pictures of forests and jungles, and a huge aquarium full of colorful fish. It had a very 'alive' feel to it. He liked it a lot.
"You don't like living in cities, do you?" he asked as Toni returned to the living room with a mug of coffee and a plate of cookies.
"Hate it." Toni shrugged. "But it's temporary. When I'm done with law school, I'm moving back to Indiana. Brown County." She smiled.
"Brown County?"
"Lots of trees and hills and caves." Toni smiled. "People, too, really... Beautiful place, Rosie. Artists just gravitate there. It's so beautiful and.." Her smile faded. "Well, not like here, that's for damned sure. I mean... have you looked around lately, Rosie? Yeah, Chicago has some great schools and lots of theaters and museums, but beyond that? More strip joints than churches, homelessness, prostitution, and a new designer drug every week."
Her voice was sad and weary as she spoke. Cole reached up and touched her forehead tenderly, releasing a small measure of soothing energy, not wanting to see his friend unhappy.
"I know, Toni. It's not like my home, either..."
"You a small-town girl, too? Should have known." Toni gave her a faint smile and shook her head. "I'm sorry, Rosie. Just feeling a little down with Janet in the hospital. She should have known better..."
"Does anyone else who works at your club take this drug, Toni?" Cole asked gently. Janet Percy was still unconscious so he would not be able to get any information from her, but he needed to talk to someone who could tell him where she had gotten the drug.
"Sam says no."
"Sam?"
"She works there. Has been for years, knows all the girls pretty well."
Cole nodded, absorbing this. "Toni, do you think Sam can tell me where Janet got this drug?"
"It wouldn't surprise me if she could. She doesn't do drugs herself, but she has friends who do... Says it's not her place to judge."
"I must talk to her."
"She'll know you're a cop. She can smell them a mile away and she does NOT like cops. She won't talk."
"People have already died, Toni, and more will. If this Sam is a good person, she WILL talk to me, cop or not."
Toni nodded and reached for her phone. "I'll call her..."
END ACT 1
ACT 2
The first thing Cole noticed as he followed Toni into the coffee house was the open hostility on the face of the young woman they were meeting. It was degree of dislike that he was only used to receiving from the fugitives, and not even all of them. Toni had been wrong, he decided. Samantha Wyatt did not dislike cops; she hated them.
Her expression made it equally clear that she was not currently too happy with Toni, either. "What?" she asked without preamble when they approached the table.
"You know what, Sam," Toni told her quietly. "Help a girl out here..."
"Which girl?" Sam folded her arms over her chest, regarding Toni and 'Rose' in turn.
"Miss Wyatt, where did she get it?" Cole asked, frowning at her. "If you know, you must tell me."
"How would I know? I'm not a user. Toni knows that..."
"That does not mean you don't know where it came from," Cole pointed out. When Sam looked unwilling to relent, he tried again. "Five people died last year. Two are dead already this year, and many more in the hospital. You want that to continue? Simply because you have a problem with authority?"
He closed his eyes, his nostrils assailed by the mingled smells of coffee and chocolate. Female bodies seemed to come with a built-in craving for the latter, and it really was very distracting. And irritating. It was affecting him seriously, making it hard to stay patient with Toni's stubborn friend.
"Rave," Sam said, shrugging. She may not have liked cops, but she liked drug-dealers less, especially the kind who dealt in drugs that they knew full well were dangerous. "She got them at a Rave. I can find out where it's going to be tonight."
"Would Rosie here have a problem fitting in?" Toni asked, ever-practical.
"Uh, yeah." Sam nodded.
"Tell me how to blend in," Cole requested.
"The clothes are going to have to go. You look like you just stepped out of the office." Sam regarded 'Rose' thoughtfully, considering. "Hair, too."
"What's wrong with my hair?"
"It looks... professional." Sam rolled her eyes. "You don't look like a party-girl. You'd stick out like a sore thumb."
And be recognized besides, Cole realized, if this Rave was actually playing host to any aliens who might have seen 'Rose' at the Gentleman's Club. He glanced at Toni and announced, "We must change my appearance."
***
"Mel is going to freak out," Toni announced quietly as Sam continued brushing the white paste onto 'Rose's' now short-cropped hair.
Cole made a face at the acrid smell but did not otherwise comment. "Mel will understand," he assured Toni. "Is it supposed to burn?" he asked Sam, frowning.
"It can, yeah. So long as it doesn't get unbearable."
"I can't believe you just chopped off three feet of hair for an undercover gig," Toni muttered, shaking her head.
"I have changed my appearance more in the past," Cole answered honestly.
"How do you feel about piercings," Sam asked casually.
Cole shrugged. "As long as they're done with proper sanitary precautions..."
"Does Mel even know you're doing this?" Toni demanded abruptly.
"No, but Sam says this will help. Mel will understand."
"Yeah, I see. Sam, how long does that have to sit?"
"Hair that dark? Call it an hour. Once the natural color's stripped, we can get the dye in. Another hour for that, tops..."
"Borrow you in the kitchen?" she asked, grabbing Sam's arm and hauling her from the room. "Is this REALLY necessary!" she hissed when they were alone in the kitchen.
"I am not walking in there with a Nark who is so obviously a Nark," Sam replied, shrugging. "Woman looks like she's either a cop or a social worker..."
"'You' aren't walking in there?" Toni repeated.
"You think I'm letting the two of you go this alone?" Sam scoffed. "I may not like cops, but as far as I can tell, this one actually seems to be a decent person with a valid objective. Janet is in the hospital from this shit and there have been seven deaths so far. It can't stay on the street. Besides, do you know the first thing about Raves?"
"No," Toni admitted.
"There you are, then." Sam shrugged and walked back into the living room. "I've got a friend who does body-art. He can get a few holes in your head by evening," she told Cole.
"Okay," he agreed easily. At least Mel was not here. She might understand, but that did not mean she would be happy with him.
"I'm just going to get myself a drink," Toni announced quietly, vanishing back into the kitchen.
"Red or green?" Sam asked Cole, holding up two bottles.
Cole considered them for a moment. The green was not the alive color of Toni's potted plants. It looked strange and artificial. The red, though... that reminded him of the Cirronian sky.
"The red is very pretty."
"Red it is, then."
"Mel has red hair," Cole added as Sam checked the progress of the bleaching compound. "Not quite this red, but it is very pretty on her."
"How's Mel going to react to this?" Sam asked, amused.
"She will understand."
Sam laughed and shook her head. "You sound like a guy with an answer like that. No woman is that understanding." Shaking her head, she added, "I'll call my friend."
***
Mel was chatting with Gail when 'Rose' walked in. It took her a moment to recognize her, and when she did her jaw dropped and she trailed off mid-sentence.
"Hello, Mel," Cole greeted her cheerfully.
"Be right back, Gail," Mel managed before circling the bar, grabbing Cole by the arm, and hauling him up the stairs. "What the hell did you do to yourself?" she demanded, staring at Cole's spiked, fire engine red hair and pierced nose and eyebrow. His ears also bore several holes in various nontraditional places.
"I must fit in at a Rave, Mel," Cole explained. "Can you find the camera for me? We should get a picture of this so that I don't have to spend three hours on my hair next time I need the body."
Mel stood in the middle of her living room, her expression stunned, as Cole walked to the war-room. After taking a few moments to absorb and adapt, she followed. Cole was kneeling on the floor going through a box.
"This is all reversible, though, right?" she asked uneasily.
Cole smiled up at her. "Of course it is, Mel. All I have to do is revert to the image in the underwear ad," he reminded her gently. "How long did it take you to recognize me?"
"Um... two or three minutes. Why?"
"It should take longer in a dark club," he decided, nodding. "The odds of me being recognized are very low, I think."
Mel nodded in agreement. "I would say so, Cole. No one is very likelyto recognize you."
"Good." He rose, dropping several ballpoint pens on her desk and stepping around her into the hall. "Do all females crave chocolate, Mel?" he asked casually, rifling through the medicine cabinet.
Mel blinked, trying to figure out where that had come from. "Um... most of us, I guess."
Cole nodded and stepped around her again, carrying a bottle of eye drops.
"What are you doing?"
"If many people at this Rave are going to be using Fek-Maln, Mel, then Toni, Sam, and I should have something that looks similar."
"You're making fake Fek-Maln?"
He nodded.
"Okay... Um, just... promise me one thing?"
"Yes, Mel?"
"Don't blow anything up..."
The Cirronian chuckled at what had become something of a running joke between them and shook his head. "I won't. Do we have any green food-coloring, Mel?"
"I'll check..."
"See what's in it, too," he called after her. "I don't want Sam and Toni putting anything unhealthy in their eyes."
They were both very stubborn young ladies, like Mel. Both were bound and determined to help him in spite of the possible risk and in spite of his arguments to the contrary.
***
"The humans have this expression, that discretion is the better part of valor."
"Since when do you quote humans, Lana?"
"Since right now, Kaden. And it's doctor Lana to you." She glared at him and rose from her desk. "There are humans in the hospital, Kaden. There are humans in the hospital who will not recover. Zin warned you last time about drawing this kind of attention to us." She approached the Enixian with a malevolent sneer.
He swallowed hard and nodded faintly. "I'll see that the humans are no longer allowed in the club," he whispered.
"Did I say that?" Lana asked smoothly. "My only point was that, if you continue, you may find yourself in serious trouble with the human authorities."
"The human authorities don't worry me unduly, Doctor Lana. Not dreadfully smart, after all."
"I see," Lana purred, nodding. "Humans have a strong taste for Fek-Maln, don't they?"
"They do. And for every one that it kills, two more begin to use it."
"Then, by all means, if you feel you can deal with the intelligence-deficient human authorities, continue selling it to whomever you see fit. You have a monopoly on this particular market. Exploit that for as long as you can. I would."
"Yes, Doctor Lana."
Lana smiled. "And make sure we get our cut of your profits," she added.
"Yes, Doctor Lana."
"And here's a thought, Kaden. When the Tracker shows up, how about if instead of fouling up by trying to handle him yourself again you just give me a call and I'll get some, oh, Professionals to your location. How's that sound, hmm?"
Not that Lana actually cared very much about what Daggon did to Kaden. Kaden's continued sale of Fek-Maln to the humans had an advantage quite beyond the money to be made. The Tracker would try to stop him. His mongrel lover would insist, exactly as she had last time. It was only a matter of time.
The Enixian scowled slightly at her words.
Lana raised an eyebrow at that. "You dropped the ball last time, Kaden. Don't let it happen again. If he shows up, call me. I can have a hit team there in under five minutes."
END ACT 2
ACT 3
"Bottled water is the only safe thing to drink in these places," Sam informed Cole and Toni as they stood together outside of the 'club'. "You order one, make sure it's sealed when you get it, and you don't let it out of your sight, am I clear?"
Cole and Toni nodded and Cole held up the droppers he had made. "Saline," he told them. "With green dye. May help to fit in."
"Saline, huh?" Toni asked, hesitantly taking one.
Cole nodded. "I made them this afternoon. It seemed wise that if everyone else will be taking Fek-Maln that we should have something similar."
"Fek-Maln?" Sam frowned.
"European street-name for Euphoria," Toni said absently, drizzling some of the saline onto her fingertips and rubbing them together. "Shit. It glows in the dark, Rose. Is it safe?"
Cole smiled faintly. "Very safe, Toni. I would not give you something that is not safe. I was very careful about what I used. See?" Cole held up one of the pens and drizzled some of the saline into his eye. It glowed green for a moment before returning to its normal brown. "No one will know that it is not what it seems."
"Okay." Sam grabbed one of the pens and tucked it into a front pocket, giving 'Rose' a final looking over. With her new hair and piercings, and wearing worn and faded jeans and a black turtleneck, she actually looked capable of fitting in at your average Rave. Always assuming she did not do anything too overtly cop-like. "I'll go in first."
"Stay safe," Cole murmured as she approached the club.
"Don't worry, she knows her way around these places," Toni assured him, stepping closer. "She's been Raving for years. If you want to worry, worry about us, Rosie."
"I know," Cole whispered in her ear. By acting the part of a couple, they were not drawing a second glance in lingering outside the club. "You keep that pen close at hand. Don't let it out of your sight, and don't accept anything that anyone gives you. I don't like having you here, Toni..."
"It's not a problem. I had six big brothers, Rosie. I can hold my own in a fight."
Cole frowned faintly, not sure what the one had to do with the other. "You and Sam must leave if I tell you to," he stated firmly. "There may be many like Lana inside. It will not be safe for you."
"Criminals are criminals."
"Not like these. You will promise to leave if I tell you or you will NOT go inside."
"You gonna stop me?" Toni scoffed, putting her hands on her hips.
"If I must." Cole gave her a gentle smile. "Toni, please."
Toni regarded 'Rose' thoughtfully. That smile, while sweet and not overtly threatening, unequivocally stated that Rose was more than willing to follow through on her threat to keep Toni from going in. And more than capable of doing so as well.
"You say to go, I'm gone," Toni agreed. "You're the cop, after all. You armed?"
Cole hesitated for a moment. "I never carry a gun, Toni," he admitted.
She nodded slowly. "Okay. Good. Because I don't think it would be safe to have a gun in a place with that many people around in such close quarters."
"You're right." Cole took her arm and steered her towards the club entrance. "Ready?"
"Not really," she told him with a grin and a wink. "But what the hell, right? You only live once. Maybe I'll find out what Sam sees in these things."
"She is not like anyone I've ever met before," Cole remarked quietly as they entered the club.
"One of a kind, for sure," Toni agreed with a nod.
"Yes, but very angry," Cole added, looking around for the young woman in question. She had staked out a spot in a corner and was dancing in spite of her lack of partners.
"She has a lot to be angry about," Toni said with a shrug.
"Many people have things to be angry about," Cole noted quietly, leaning close to be heard over the loud music. "Like you."
Toni frowned deeply. "You do a background check on me, Rosie?"
"No," he answered gently. "But I do know grief when I see it." He smiled reassuringly and touched her forehead. "You chose to make it productive, though. Sam turns it inward, becomes angry instead of looking for an outlet." He looked sadly at the other girl. "I used to do the same," he admitted.
"You?" Toni asked dubiously.
Cole nodded faintly. "I was very angry for a long time and I turned it inwards against myself. Eventually I found an outlet."
"The law?"
Cole smiled. "Reminds me of a certain young woman I know," he remarked, brushing her bangs out of her face.
"Maybe." Toni shrugged. "There are worse things."
"Who did you lose?"
"My twin sister. You?"
"My daughter and my... spouse."
"Oh, sweetie..." Toni gave Cole a quick hug.
"How did your sister die?" Cole asked quietly, not breaking the hug. Physical affection was one more thing that human females were keyed to crave, obviously.
"It's a long and ugly story." Toni shook her head and looked around the crowded warehouse. "Damn, they're all using it. Don't they know how dangerous it is?"
"It's not dangerous for all," Cole explained.
His eyes settled on a man in a suit and sunglasses. The sunglasses came off long enough to allow him to drizzle some Fek-Maln in his eyes before he replaced them. Cole wondered how the Enixian was managing not to be driven to distraction inside such a noisy club until the Cirronian caught sight of a flash of orange in one of his ears. Earplugs. Given earplugs and a healthy dose of Fek-Maln, there was very little that an Enixian could not stand.
"Who's the suit?"
"Someone who may be able to tell me what I am here to find out. I must get him outside," he added quietly, thinking how best to accomplish this without creating a scene.
"You know, I'm starting to suspect that Sam was wrong about your needing a makeover," Toni said, looking around and shaking her head, business men, teenagers, grandmothers... NOT your typical club crowd.
"Ladies!" the object of their scrutiny greeted, approaching them. "You don't look like you're having fun yet. Maybe I can help you with that?" he offered, holding up two pens.
"We have our own, thanks," Cole assured him with a smile, holding up his dropper full of saline.
When the man frowned slightly, Toni pulled out her own dropper and drizzled some into her eyes, sighing softly and leaning against Cole. She gave a dopey smile and a little twitter of laughter.
"Mmm, this stuff is SO aptly named," Toni laughed, wrapping her arms around Cole.
Cole looked down, momentarily alarmed by her behavior, afraid that she had somehow managed to accidentally take the real thing. Toni gave a little wink of reassurance and turned her attention back to the Enixian.
"You want to know a secret?" she giggled, turning up the sex-appeal.
He smiled and nodded.
"Come closer," she purred, beckoning.
His smile widening, he leaned to within a few inches of her face. "What?"
"I don't do drugs," Toni confided, head-butting him as she spoke.
Eyes wide, Cole reached out and caught the Enixian as he slumped to the floor.
"Looks like someone overdid it again!" Toni announced in the over-loud voice of a cheerful drunk, still giggling. Shaking her head, she grabbed on to his other arm. "Come on, sweetie," she said to Cole. "Let's get poor Gary home."
Cole nodded and helped Toni half-carry the dazed man from the club. Obviously such incidents were a fairly common occurrence at these clubs because no one spared them a second glance.
"Men are SO gullible," Toni announced quietly, shaking her head as they hauled him around a corner and into an alley.
Cole bit his lower lip and shook his head. "Toni, I want you to go back into the club now, get Sam, and leave."
Toni shook her head in protest. "Come on, Rosie. We can't walk out on you now."
"Toni, you promised," Cole said firmly. "It is not safe for you to stay here."
"It wasn't safe for me in there before, either. I'm not scared."
"Of these people, you should be."
"Problem, girls?" Sam asked, walking around the corner. "What did you do to him, anyway?"
"Exploited the fact that all men are the same." Toni shrugged. "I assume the next step is to wake him up and interrogate him?"
"Not with you two here!" Cole protested, shaking his head in frustration. These two were not as bad as Mel. No, he decided, they were worse! And not nearly as well-equipped to deal with such situations as she was. "There are... things which must be said that you cannot hear."
"Why didn't you say so?" Toni asked, taking Sam's arm and turning away.
Their quarry, recovering more quickly than she would have thought possible, chose that moment to jump her, bearing both to the ground. Face-down beneath him, Toni snapped her head back, hitting him in the face. As he howled and staggered to his feet, blood dripping from his nose, she rolled to her back and kicked his feet out from under him, using her dancer's grace to jump to her feet in a single, fluid movement.
"Bastard!" she hissed, kicking him in the ribs hard enough to roll him onto his back.
Shaking her head, she grabbed his arm and hauled him to his feet, twisting it behind his back and spinning him to face a stunned-looking Cole. The Tracker had had only had enough time to get his Collector before Toni had managed to cow the startled Enixian who had realized a second too late that he had settled on the wrong 'woman' as the Tracker. The Cirronian stared at her in shock.
"Toni?" he whispered in confusion, wondering how many humans were similarly able to subdue an Enixian. Not many, he thought. She had not been kidding about being able to hold her own in a fight.
"I told you, six older brothers." With a grim smile, she gave the Enixian's arm a sharp jerk, drawing a yelp from him.
Cole quickly covered the Enixian's mouth. "If you scream, it will be slow," he promised, allowing the Enixian to see his Collector. "You understand?"
The Enixian nodded quickly.
"Good. Where is Kaden?" Cole slowly uncovered the Enixian's mouth.
The Enixian took a deep breath. He had overindulged tonight, so much so that the human behind him had actually managed to subdue him. Now he was facing that human, another of unknown fighting prowess, and a very grim-looking Tracker. Drawing another deep breath, he quickly reeled off the address of Kaden's lab.
END ACT 3
ACT 4
"Thank you," Cole told the Enixian quietly, wrapping one hand tightly in his shirt. "Sam, Toni, if the two of us could have a few minutes alone?" he asked gently.
"Oh, come on, man!" the Enixian protested. "I told you what you wanted to know!"
"Yes, but you are still answerable for many other crimes," Cole pointed out, nodding firmly to Toni to release him. "Now it is time for you to go home."
"What are you going to do to him?" Sam asked, shifting uneasily.
"He escaped from prison. Now he must go back," Cole told her gently. "No harm will come to him. I promise you this, Sam."
She regarded him with searching eyes for a long moment, hesitating.
"Go home, Sammy," Toni urged.
Cole nodded. "Do not go back into the club, Sam. Police will come soon."
Sam nodded slowly.
"You must go home as well, Toni. When you are away from this place, you must call the police and tell them where it is. There are many people here using Fek-Maln who will be made very ill by it. Ask for Detective Victor Bruno. This is his case."
Toni took a deep breath and nodded. "Stay safe, Rosie. Call me."
"You stay safe as well." Cole smiled at them and added for both girls, "Take care of each other." When they had gone, he returned his attention to the Enixian, who was not even bothering to struggle any more. "Fek-Maln would have killed Toni," he informed him quietly. "It kills ALL humans after a short while."
"I... I didn't know. I swear!" the Enixian panted. "I... my orders are to get new customers. That's it. The humans love it. No one ever told me that it kills them."
***
"Toni, you coming?" Sam called when Toni hesitated near the mouth of the alley.
"It kills all humans?" she whispered, shaking her head and following Sam.
"What's wrong, Toni?" Sam asked. "What's going on?"
"Nothing," Toni forced a smile and shook her head again. "Nothing. Come on. There's a convenience store about a block from here, open all night. We'll call the cops from there and wait." She studiously ignored the flash of light that she saw out of the corner of her eye. "Come on."
Sam nodded and followed the obviously shaken women to the store. It had several people inside and video-cameras everywhere, the probably reason for Toni's selection of it. The other dancer was, obviously, nervous. More nervous than she had any right to be under the circumstance.
"She's not a cop, is she, Toni?" Sam whispered.
"Fed, she's a Fed," Toni said, picking up the pay-phone and leafing through the phone-book. She plugged in some change and dialed.
"Chicago PD."
"Um, yeah... I need to talk to... Victor Bruno. Detective Victor Bruno..." She paused for a moment, then added, "Um, this bears on a drug case which he's working."
There was a long pause, then, "One moment, please."
The 'one moment' turned out to be far less. "Yeah, this is Vic Bruno. Go ahead."
"I just left a Rave full of people selling and using that new drug, Euphoria," Toni told him.
***
"So she really doesn't mind if we keep selling it to humans?" the Enixian asked, stacking pens into a box.
"Not as long as she gets her cut." Kaden shrugged. "Who am I to complain about such an arrangement? The humans have a bigger taste for it than any of the Migar species."
"But it... kills them, doesn't it?" he asked, pausing to count.
Kaden shrugged. "Eventually. But there will always be more to take their place. Might as well take advantage of the market while it exists." He chuckled. "After all, I'm told that capitalism is what made this country great."
"And you can never have too much capital."
Kaden laughed and nodded. "How many?"
"One-fifty even."
"Good. Get them out to the club."
The Enixian nodded and tucked the box under his arm, leaving.
Kaden returned to his office to complete some more 'creative bookkeeping'. Lana was demanding an increasingly large take and the Enixian had found that simply hiding income was easier, and far safer, than arguing with the Vardian. As long as the humans kept consuming Fek-Maln, there would not be much of a problem. After all, if he had been able to hide income from Zin, he would be able to hide it from his little whore. She would remain happy as long as he kept funneling back enough money to keep her drilling operations going strong.
Outside the office, production continued. Lana had allocated Kaden twenty more lab technicians when it became clear exactly how much money Fek-Maln was capable of brining in. The lab operated 24 hours a day except when various machines went down for routine maintenance. And while better than 90% of all Fek-Maln was still being sold to fugitives or mercenaries from Migar, more and more humans were acquiring a taste for the drug. And, as Kaden had stated, for every one who died, two more appeared to fill that void in the market. Business was booming.
***
Having Collected the Enixian from the club, Cole hurried to the lab, exactly where it was supposed to be. He knew that he could have taken dozens of fugitives in the club, but he could not help but recall the last time Fek-Maln had posed a problem to the human race, either.
"Without Kaden, there IS no Fek-Maln," Mel had told him, begging him to get the drug off the streets, to keep her people safe.
She had been right, too. It was a simple equation. As long as Fek-Maln was still being manufactured, some of it was going to get into the human population. It was inevitable. And as long as that kept happening, it was equally inevitable that people were going to die.
In the first year he'd lived on this planet, he had been ready to walk into a club similar to this one and start taking life-forces more or less at random, interested only in capturing as many fugitives as possible. But Mel had been right and it would not have put a dent into the production of Fek-Maln. Worse, it would have forced Kaden farther underground, making him harder to find than ever.
To stop Fek-Maln from reaching the street, he had to stop production at the source, and that meant taking Kaden and then making sure that the lab was destroyed. Of course, given Mel's injunction not to blow anything up, he was going to have to find another way of accomplishing that last one...
He arrived at the lab just as an Enixian courier was leaving it with a small box tucked under one arm.
"Is that for the club?" he asked as though he had every right to be there and demanding this information.
The courier started to nod automatically, then frowned suspiciously. "Who are you?" he demanded.
"I'm nobody. Who are you?" Cole answered with a faint smile, holding up his Collector. "Put the box down," he advised gently, completing the Collection before the courier had a chance to comply.
He stepped over the body and picked up the box, opening it and checking the contents. Somewhere between one and two hundred droppers full of Fek-Maln, destined for a club with dozens and dozens of humans. This was getting out of hand. Glad that Toni had come when she had, he carried the box into the lab, placing it in an out of the way corner and walking to the nearest machine. Again, acting as though he had every right to be there, he quickly crossed two wires.
"Get Kaden out here!" he shouted as an alarm started blaring as a result of his actions.
Lab techs moved quickly, none questioning him, as one hurried off to get Kaden and others moved just as quickly to the machine to see what was wrong. As with certain human drugs, explosions were one of the biggest risks of Fek-Maln production, especially in the early phases when it was still a powder. No one wanted to let something like that happen. Even a small explosion would probably destroy the entire lab and completely dry up the Fek-Maln supply for days if not weeks.
"What's going on?" Kaden demanded, hurrying out onto the lab's main floor.
"One of the machines is malfunctioning," Cole informed him, approaching. "It was sabotaged."
Kaden's eyes narrowed. "And what gives you that idea?" he demanded.
"That fact that I am the one who sabotaged it," Cole replied cheerfully, slamming his Collector into the Enixian's chest.
As always when he took a life-force in front of a large group of fugitives, some stayed on, determined to fight. Many more turned tail and fled, self-preservation overcoming personal loyalty. Of those determined to fight, though, none were particularly eager to come close to him. The result was that they tended to rush him one or two at a time, instead of en masse, and so they were quickly dispatched instead of having any realistic chance of overcoming him. More turned and fled as it became obvious that he was winning.
Finally, alone in the lab except for perhaps ten dead bodes, Cole returned to the machine he had sabotaged and quickly began pulling wires. He had no desire to see it explode, especially given his promise to Mel, but he had less desire for anyone to figure out how it worked. Except for these machines and some personal computer files, the secret to the production of Fek-Maln had gone with Kaden.
Cole worked quickly: moving around the lab, pulling wires and removing key components of various machines involved in the manufacture of Fek-Maln. Some machines he destroyed altogether as necessary. Many others, he simply disabled, knowing that no human would be able to figure out their purpose once he had finished. There was no real need to destroy or remove any of the chemicals in the lab. Most were innocuous enough on their own. They became dangerous only when mixed with each other in exactly the right quantities, quantities that existed only inside of Kaden's head.
Having rendered the lab itself incapable of producing Fek-Maln, he walked into Kaden's office, eyeing his computer thoughtfully. Too much potentially dangerous information on it, not only with regards to the production of Fek-Maln, but to the existence of alien life on Earth. Unplugging the CPU and removing the hard drive, he picked it up and threw it against the floor, cracking the casing. Quickly he opened the drive removing the ceramic disks that held information, he snapped each in half before dropping them onto the floor and grinding them under his heel.
Using his toe to scatter the remains of the computer, he pulled out his cell-phone and dialed. The police could handle the rest of the disposal process and would, no doubt, be greatly comforted to know that the drug was off the streets instead of simply knowing that they had not heard anything about it for some time.
"Vic Bruno."
"I know where the drug Euphoria is being produced," 'Rose' announced.
END ACT 4
TAG
"So we closed down the lab, managed to arrest quite a few dealers at the club, and got medical help for a lot of people who had been using the drug," Vic told Mel.
Ignore the dead bodies, the fact that the lab had already been trashed by the time the cops arrived, the fact that the computer had been destroyed. Just focus on the fact that a dangerous drug was off the streets, Vic told himself firmly. Oddly, it was not that hard a thing to do. He had his suspicions about who was behind the disassembly of the lab and the anonymous phone-calls, but those mattered less to him than the fact that lives had been saved, a lot of lives.
He smiled widely at Mel as she poured him another drink. "All in all, a good night's work," he declared.
"A very good night's work," Mel agreed, grinning at him and nodding. Her gaze traveled past him for a moment to where 'Rosie' and Toni were talking.
Vic turned and looked at them, shaking his head. "Cole has some strange friends, Mel, you know that?"
"Toni's a wonderful young woman, Vic," Mel protested.
"I mean Rosie."
"Oh, her." Mel grinned and nodded. "Well, can't argue with that."
"What's with the hair, anyway?"
"You'd have to ask her that."
"Thanks but no thanks." Vic laughed and shook his head, raising his glass to Mel. "Thank God for anonymous tipsters, huh?"
"Amen to that, Vic," Mel agreed with a smile, her gaze once more traveling to Cole and Toni.
"Things just kind of spun out of control for her after that," Toni explained quietly to 'Rose'.
"That happens a lot with drugs," Cole said softly, patting her hand.
"She needed more and more and more... and finally even dancing wasn't bringing in that kind of money, so she went into prostitution..."
"That must have been very hard for you to watch."
"I tried to help, I did. But after awhile the only kind of help she was willing to take was more money for more drugs." Toni shook her head and took a long swallow of her drink.
"This is why you are always helping other dancers?" Cole ventured. "So they won't end up like your sister?"
"Yeah." Toni nodded. "So now you know my whole story and I know yours. Almost."
"Almost?" Cole asked, curious about that. He had shared with her, in a general sense, the story of his wife and daughter, omitting only the facts that they were not human and that he himself was not female.
"Well, I still don't know what a nice alien like you is doing on a planet like this," Toni murmured, giving Cole a quick peck on the cheek and rising.
Cole shook his head, not entirely surprised that the bright young woman had figured it out. He rose and helped her into her coat.
"My job, Toni. I'm doing my job."
"Well, you keep yourself safe, Rose Cole. Or... whatever the hell your name actually is." Toni gave Cole a pat on the shoulder and left the bar, shaking her head.
Cole watched her go for a moment, bemused, before walking up the stairs to reclaim his normal body.
A few minutes later, still chatting lightly with Vic, Mel heard Cole's voice filter into the bar from behind the half-opened stairwell door.
"Mel? Can I talk to you for a second?" he called, not coming out.
"Uh, everything okay?" Mel asked, hurrying to the door.
"Mostly. But... there has been a small problem."
"How small?" Mel asked frantically, sliding through the door and closing it tightly behind her. She looked up at Cole, shaking her head and laughing shrilly.
"Everything okay in there, Mel?" Vic's voice came through the closed door.
"Oh, just fine, Vic!" Mel lied, ushering Cole back up the stairs. "Down in a minute!"
***
"This is not like the Italian accent!" Mel hissed at Cole as they sat in the waiting room. "You swore that it was all reversible..."
"I thought it was, Mel. I'm sorry." Cole shrugged apologetically. "I'm sure they'll be able to fix it..."
Mel rolled her eyes, looking up as the beautician walked into the waiting room.
"Hauser?" she asked, looking around.
"That would be us," Mel announced, rising. "Come on, Cole."
Cole rose and followed Mel and the beautician back to her work-station.
"Now, what are we doing for you today?" she asked brightly.
Mel reached over and pulled the cap off his head, revealing a mop of fire-engine red hair.
The beautician's smile faded, replaced by a shocked expression. "I... see," she whispered, nodding.
"Just tell me you can bring it back to his natural color?" Mel pled.
"Uh let me just... make sure my schedule's clear for the rest of the day," she muttered, hurrying off.
"Would you just LOOK at this!" Mel exclaimed, running her fingers through his hair and shaking her head. "What were you THINKING?" she groaned.
"That the red was prettier than the green, Mel," he responded honestly.
"Well, the good news is that red fades faster and is easier to strip out than any other color," the beautician announced, returning with several bottles in her hands. Placing them on her table, she ran her hands through his hair a few times. "The bad news is that whoever did this fried your hair and this is only going to make it worse. You're going to need daily protein rinses and probably hot-oil treatments as well." She handed Cole a color chart. "Okay, sugar, what color was it originally?"
"You know, Mel, Sam looked very nice in purple."
"NO!" Mel shook her head firmly. "Absolutely NOT, Cole!"
He frowned for a moment, then brightened. "I saw a bottle of very pretty orange dye in the waiting room," he suggested hopefully.
Mel stared at him with wide eyes, her mouth moving soundlessly for several moments.
"No? What about the neon yellow? I'd be able to see in the dark without a light, Mel."
Mel laughed, realizing that he had been teasing her. "Cole!"
"Yes, Mel?" he answered gravely. "No yellow, Mel?" he asked innocently.
"Come here, you," she ordered, wrapping her arms around him for a hug as the beautician mixed her bleach and studiously ignored them.
Smiling, Cole hugged her back, holding her close and whispering, "Are you sure you don't like me with the red, Mel?"
END
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