The Space Noir Bar, Michael Marino [people reading books txt] 📗

becoming clear to me. The Com-Reds knew  from my reputation that I would  bring back the Falcon and that Asrini would be with me and Vector would show up for the Falcon and for Asrini. They managed to bring Inspector Burroughs into the plan, probably with a fat bribe.

 

It was a brilliant coup and I had to admire the  plan. I also knew Asrini was still in love with Laslo, how deep, I couldn’ fathom, but I could see it in both of their eyes when we ran into him at  his saloon on  Robotia.  Our love making from Retropolis to the Rabbit Hole had not diminished the flame she kept for Laslo, but her love put a damper on my plans for her and I in the future. I could see we had no future..it belonged to them. For me there were always cheap hookers and booze. Not a perfect situation and it would be like replacing a Rembrandt with a paint by numbers landscape scene by a mental patient.

Inspector Burroughs derailed my train of thought. “You see old friend, I still don’t have the real falcon, just the fake souvenir you brought back with you, but, I do have two criminals to turn over to the Com-Reds and I have you for an unsolved murder. Case closed. Now where’s the real Falcon?” I was facing a murder rap now and that meant vaporization or exile to a prison asteroid for 50 years or until dead, no  appeals in the 30th Cent. “I like you Yucatan, but this is business. Bad business for old friends I’ll grant you...but business we must take care of, you do understand I hope.”

 

Out of the clear blue back forty Art Deco chimed in. “Inspector. If you will call Yucatan’s secretary and have her bring over the package hidden at her apartment you will have the real Falcon I assure you.” I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “For the record, it was I who had the man in the alley killed.”

 

All I could utter was “Are you nuts Art. What are you saying?” The Inspector was as puzzled as I was.  Art artfully explained. “The Rabbit knew full well Mr. Yucatan that you would get Asrini and Maddie to Robotia with your innate skills. The whole plan was a smoke screen to throw the Toho’s off the trail of our real plan. While you were fighting your way through the Vortex we had sent the real Falcon ahead with a courier who was supposed to deliver it here. The Faux Falcon was merely a decoy to keep them thinking the revolution still had it. I dispatched a recon guard soon after our courier left  for Retropolis to ensure that he made it safely. Unfortunately, Narco anticipated just such a move so  he sent two of his best men who had orders to do what was necessary to get the Falcon to him. He wanted it to establish his own power base on Robotia and overthrow the Tohos who without it would then be powerless. Asrini and you would have been turned over to the Tohos for the reward money.”

 

It was an incredible story that only got more incredible. “Our man was tailing our courier and as he was about to enter the building to turn over  the real Falcon  to your partner two of Narco’s gunsels tried to bushwhack him. It all happened so fast. Our recon guard reacted and shot both of Narcos guys first. One of them is the body you found in the alley Inspector. As for the other one his body can be found in the Detroit River. Two dead bodies would invite more questions and probing we didn’t want as it could have unraveled our whole plan. Narcos guy in the river has probably floated to Canada by now. Our agents then brought the real falcon upstairs to Yucatan’s office and told Sandoz to call his secretary to come get it and hide it at her place. No one would think to look there. Call her … have her bring it here you’ll see. One curious thing. As one of Narco’s man fell to the ground a snow globe rolled out of his  trenchcoat and as his lungs were filling with blood...he kept mumbling over and over one word…’Rosebud...Rosebud” Very strange indeed.

 

Burroughs had his men wait outside as he digested all this new information. His job all along had been to give the Falcon to the Com-Reds who would notify the Tohos that they would keep it here and return it  for the reward money. Nothing like a little interplanetary blackmail among enemies to keep life interesting

 

Asrini,  Maddie, and Vector Laslo, after a rousing round of torture sessions at Com-Red headquarters, would under duress divulge valuable information to give the Tohos  intel on where and how to breach the Vortex, find the camp of the Rabbit and the revolutionaries to launch a massive attack designed to kill and destroy them all.   A win win it seems for them but a lose lose for us.

 

I turned to Asrini. “Why did you get me involved in this?” Burroughs jumped in, as usual and explained. “Simple. The Rabbit as you now know is her mother, Windsora, and IS the revolution. Also Asrini I think was falling in love with you, torn in half.  If I were a woman I might fall in love with you too. She knew nothing of the whole plan at all. She was told you were the only one she could be confident in  to pull the whole operation off. Both of you were kept purposely in the dark in case you were captured you couldn’t possibly have told them anything.”

 

“I’m sorry Doc. I didn’t mean to hurt you, I didn’t know,” Asrini cried. So we were both unwilling  pawns on every ones chess board.  At that moment, our secretary arrived with the real Falcon wrapped in old newspaper. At the same time Vector, Art and myself jumped Burroughs whose men were down the hall out of earshot. I took his gun and we all gathered our own weapons from the floor. We were now in control but what action to take next was not forthcoming.

 

“Look Asrini. We had a brief fling on Saturn, but I know your heart belongs to Vector so take my space pod and get out of here. Inside of us, we both know you belong with Vector. You're part of his work, the thing that keeps him going. If my orb leaves the ground and you're not with him, you'll regret it. Maybe not today. Maybe not tomorrow, but soon and for the rest of your life. I'm no good at being noble, but it doesn't take much to see that the problems of three little people don't amount to a hill of beans in this crazy world. Someday you'll understand that. Now Go!” Bogartian banter had infiltrated my mind once again like a goddamned Vulcan mind meld. She kissed me and said, “We would have made a good team Doc. But we’ll always have Barbarella!” I felt I should have said that

 

They hurried out the back of the building to my space pod parked in the alley, keys in hand. We all followed to make sure they would escape, but danger was ahead of the game. One of Burroughs men was waiting for them by the pod to make the arrest. He held a gun on them and was about to march them to headquarters when a I heard a rare old fashioned gunshot ring out and watched the cop go down like  stack of dominoes. I looked around to see who fired the fatal and final blast. It was Burroughs! He not only had a second gun, an old revolver I had given him as a gift on his 10 year anniversary on the force, but he shot his own man. We all looked at him in disbelief….and relief!

 

“I’m tired of working for the Com-Reds Yucatan. Let them escape in peace” and they did. We watched until they were safely in the air. Art and Maddie said their goodbyes and left Bill Burroughs and myself alone in the fog to make their way back to Robotia by pod jacking a vehicle parked in front of a Chinese noodle factory. They had a date with a revolution, we had egg rolls and leftover fortune cookies

 

Bill, still holding the real Falcon in one hand and a smoking revolver in the other, walked with me in the fog in the direction of his paramilitary police orb to make our escape. He had committed treason and was now an enemy of the state. “Where to Yucatan?” I thought for a moment. “I know a cabaret for sale Bill.” He smiled and started up the cruiser. Vector told me he had put it up for sale through a third party to handle the transaction as he had to keep one step ahead of the bloodhounds now. Marked for elimination at all costs...and with him...so was Asrini.

 

Bill Burroughs and I did buy the cabaret and saloon….Windsora The Rabbit and her minions were victorious eventually over the Tohos. Without the Falcon, their power was diminished and they were defeated. Maddie was now back with her lover Windsora and would co-administer a planet where all the Cyborgs and Erotibots were emancipated and free at last, and all the Vortex gang factions were given amnesty and participated in forming a new society..Art Deco would return as well on a mission to kill Kurtz the loose cannon who could jeopardize the new government. Che Stadium went to another planet to lead a new revolution but was captured and killed by government forces. Long Wang and Wang Chung got married and opened a hair salon and did a booming business doing make overs on freed cyborgs. Sandoz now owns the detective agency with our secretary as his new partner and doing quite well. I guess I was better off running  a saloon than running a detective agency. As for Arthur Burns...his publishing business has skyrocketed. He’s published  a whole series of my Doc Yucatan novels and a comic book series featuring Asrini as a sexpot super heroine that I also developed. The movies and sequels can’t be far behind.

On my desk in the cabaret office I have two curious paper weights. One of a Falcon,   and the other a strange snowglobe with a winter scene with snow falling on a tiny sled. The only inscription on it were  the words of a dying man shot dead in my alley...Rosebud!

 

“Well Yucatan. We made it...Bill filled a couple of shot glasses and we drank a toast…”Here’s looking at you kid.” We downed our drinks and after a moment of silence I said, “Bill about that crack you made. You know, if you were a woman and all. You didn’t mean that did you?”  “Forget it Yucatan. I was waxing poetic.”

 

So, whatever happened to Asrini? Vector and her hop scotched around the galaxy, winning battles and whole revolutions. One day in the quiet calm of one of Vectors victories Asrini held him tight, looked him in the eye and said she was returning to me.

 

Asrini came to our cabaret. I was in my office….door closed ….staring at the paper weights on the desk...my old Ruger pistol in one hand..a drink in the other contemplating my suicide and mustering up the courage to do the deed, when I heard Sam play “Smoke on the Water” It was our song...why was he playing it. Too many memories of love lost. I put the pistol down and with drink in hand went out of the office to question Sam’s bad taste in jokes. As I headed for the piano...there was Asrini. Beautiful as ever..with a jewel like tear on her cheek as she looked at me approaching. She had fallen in love and couldn’t deny it and rocket orbed herself to my