Part 23 (2/2)

”Yeah, great,” said my new partner, Regina Delmar. ”You sure he went in there? It's a duplex. What's the other movie?”

”Countdown to Cannibalism,” I said. ”Hey, I've heard of that one. A bunch of writers get stuck in a turbovator and end up eating each other. The survivor writes a book and wins a Pulitzer.”

”Maybe he went in there?”

I looked at her. ”Reg, he may be Arcturian, but he's male. He went into Lair of the Lesbian Love G.o.ddess.”

”What is it with men always wanting to watch two women have s.e.x?” she said, obviously disgusted with males of all species. ”And I prefer Regina.”

Rather than debate the basic psyche of the male gender, I changed the subject. ”Do you want to catch this bozo or what?”

”Did Command have any idea what the Arcturians are smuggling?”

”Nope. just a buzz that there's something new, hot and illicit driving Arcturians wild and this Toldas Harkarian is the Arcturian at the bottom of it. Don't know if it's tech, drugs or biologicals. just that there's a lot of money flowing all of a sudden. Who knows, maybe it's some new version of cyberfeelies for the movies.”

”Like we don't have enough of that now,” sniffed Regina. ”Seems like there's another of these p.o.r.no, cyber feelie palaces every week in the offport. Just more sleazy films.”

”Hey, are you a Port Authority Cop or a movie critic?”

”Okay, okay. Let's nail this creep. And no watching the movie.”

”Yes, ma'am,” I grumbled.

We exited the unmarked into the cold, wet streets of what used to be Red Hook, Brooklyn. New York City in the late twenty second century burst its old bounds, adding artificial reefs and islands. Redhook was no longer the sh.o.r.eline; it was part of the off port. In the distance we could hear the gathering rumble of a climbing stars.h.i.+p as it took off from what used to be part of the Atlantic Ocean.

Regina was out front, as usual, hotd.o.g.g.i.ng again. Young, ambitious, and just out of uniform into the detective ranks, she was grimly determined to be the youngest NYPA captain on the force. I'm only three years away from getting my twenty in and retiring; the last thing I needed was a hotshot bucking for rank.

The Lieutenant stuck me with her after Frank retired as punishment for one of my periodic dust ups with Command. I never could learn to keep my mouth shut. So I inherited Regina. She had all the hallmarks for success: she was young, pretty, fearless, and tough. My wife hated her with the dispa.s.sionate hatred wives reserve for good looking women who spend all day with their husbands. Me, I was just afraid she was going to get me killed.

We flashed our tin at the old guy in the ticket booth. Regina leaned into his box as we walked in. ”You give any alarm and they'll be was.h.i.+ng what's left of you off the walls.”

The old man gulped and dove back into his newspaper. I groaned inwardly and thought of Internal Affairs.

We started looking for our Harkarian. Arcturians were common in this area of the Port of New York, but I didn't think we'd see many in here. Like most of his species, our boy would be about eight feet tall and gray skinned. Fortunately, he also had a big patch of white scarring on the dorsal fin that rises from the crest of his head. It would suffice to identify him.

Regina stopped and I almost ran into her. Silently, she pointed at a small mirror over the long disused concession stand. There he was, around the corner from us. He was handing a package to someone we couldn't see.

”Come on Brian, let's get him,” she whispered.

”Wait,” I replied, ”stun settings don't work on Arcturians. We better call for back...” too late, Regina was off and running. ”Halt, police,” she yelled.

”Oh, h.e.l.l,” I said.

The Arcturian bolted. Whoever had been with him was gone already. All eight feet of the alien sped for the entrance to the movie theater.

Just as I started running, the door to the john opened and I slammed into it full tilt. ”Hey,” yelled a bearded man as we both crashed to the ground.

”Police,” I snarled, struggling to my feet. I looked around frantically for Regina. She was closing with the Arcturian when he turned and threw a gla.s.s sphere that hit her in the chest and shattered. Immediately, smoke started to rise from her clothes.

”Reg,” I yelled, running toward her. ”Molecular acid! Get out of your armor before it eats through.” I pulled my service pistol, but my partner was jumping up and down, frantically stripping right in my line of fire.

I reached Regina's side. Her jacket and the body armor on her shoulders and chest protected her from having her skin dissolved immediately, but the acid worked fast. She dropped the big chest panel as holes began to appear in it. I kicked open a door and found what I desperately hoped for, a janitor's bucket full of water. Regina had stripped down to a bra but a dot must have hit the strap. It parted and the bra practically blew off. I upended the big bucket of cold, filthy water over her, the best chemical base handy to counter any acid left. She let out a howl as the water hit her back.

”That should do it,” I said, looking over my now topless partner for any sign of acid burning. I couldn't help noticing that she kept a spectacular pair concealed under her armor. G.o.d bless body armor.

”I'll kill him,” yelled Regina, pulling her sidearm. Before I could stop her she plunged through the doors into the Lair of the Lesbian Love G.o.ddess. This time I was only a few steps behind my track star partner.

The Arcturian was just battering down the exit door diagonal from us when I came in. Regina hurdled over the rows of seats. Not being a gazelle, I ran down the long way. I cheated on Regina's early admonition and looked up at the screen. At least three women writhed in an erotic tangle, doing something very unusual. I ran into a seat. Concentrate, I thought to myself. The moviegoers with their visual and sensory helmets were either too distracted by the agile minxes on screen, or they a.s.sumed the topless Regina and the Arcturian were part of the film. Well, I thought, p.o.r.no is usually short on plot anyway.

Regina tripped and landed on one guy. He promptly grabbed her b.r.e.a.s.t.s. ”Man, this is some great simulation,” he said to his friend. Regina whacked him over the head with her pistol and he slid out of sight, disappearing into the general ick that coated the floor. I went past Regina, for once in the lead, and dashed out what was left of the door. The Arcturian was gone, its two-meter stride having taken it out of sight.

Regina dashed up behind me and looked both ways.

”s.h.i.+t,” she said, breathing hard.

”Did you see the other guy?” I asked.

”No,” she said, ”Just a foot as he went though the other door.”

I looked at her. ”Your magnificent bosom is heaving,” I observed.

Glare.

I slipped out of my jacket and handed it to her.

”Thanks,” she growled.

”I'm never telling my wife about this little chase,” I said, ”and neither are you.”

Unexpectedly, Regina gave a rueful laugh. ”I guess I went a little gung ho.”

”Just a bit,” I replied. ”You spooked a big tough alien that our stunners can't stop. That means we either had to use deadly force or take him down by hand. The former is undesirable, as he's our only lead and the latter was probably impossible.”

”Plus, G.o.d d.a.m.n it,” I added, ”you almost got the aforementioned magnificent bosom, which I now have to forget I ever saw, chewed up by an anti personnel acid ball.”

”Boy, I sure don't sound too smart,” she replied. She gave me a rather enigmatic look. ”So why do you have to forget my magnificent bosom, having saved it?”

”I got involved with a woman partner twenty years ago when I was single. It redefined utter, complete disaster. Now that I am married it would be utter, complete disaster squared.”

Reg grinned at me. Sometimes I really had to work at staying mad at her. ”I'll bear that in mind,” she said. ”Thanks anyway.”

”Back to business,” she continued. ”How do we find our guy now? There's a thousand Arcturians or better in their section of the port.”

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