Now it really begins. Enjoy.

Chapter 4

"Look, I'll give you 300 for them, and I'll wash your car next Wednesday."

"Make it the next two Wednesdays."

James massaged his temple. "Fine. But you're supplying the oil and cleaner."

"I'll supply the oil, you supply the cleaner."

James threw up his hands. "Alright, alright. I'll see you next Wednesday." He picked up the Caster shells from the counter and stowed them in his jacket.

The old man behind the counter grinned at him almost mockingly. "Pleasure doing business with you, James!" Jim mumbled something incomprehensible (and probably offensive) under his breath as he pushed the door open and walked outside. There was a strong wind that nearly pulled him away; and it suddenly stopped when emergency maintenance crews covered it. It seemed that it was caused by a hole from either a gunfight or an accident. Either way, the asteroid Blue Heaven was probably losing a lot of air, and James surmised that he and the rest of "Bureck's Bandits" would be moving out again.

It had been five years since Gene died. The events those many years ago still haunted James, and not a day went by that he didn't think of Gene, Melfina, or Clara. And when his thoughts came to Clara, he always wondered if, in different situations, they could have come closer. But then his head would start to hurt, and his heart would ache, and he would try to think of something else.

He had gotten to think about them again, and James didn't realize where he was going until he was woken up from his thoughts in a bar and felt a hard countertop underneath his arms. But when James realized where he was, a wave of memory came over him and he was forced to leave.

He would have to leave Blue Heaven anyway. He couldn't stand being there anymore.

Actually, Blue Heaven had changed a lot since James and Gene, along with "Hot Ice" Hilda and Melfina, went to the asteroid to flee from space pirates. It had expanded, becoming more commercialized and hospitable. It even became subject to patrols by a newly instituted law enforcement group, and yet, this had done little to force all of the outlaws away. It was enough like what James remembered to bring back saddening and painful memories, but importantly, it was different enough to keep those memories from reappearing very often.

James walked tiredly into the current residence of Bureck's Bandits: a seedy hotel in a shady part of the asteroid where the new "local law enforcement" was bribed to look the other way. He pulled out the caster and loaded a shell, making sure that all of the prostitutes and muggers he encountered in the hallways hugged the walls when he came near. The Bandits' door was ajar. James kicked it in and entered. Krent and Roban were engaged in a knife fight, and both were clearly drunk. The two were in their mid twenties and had long scraggly hair and beards of the same brown color; they were twins. They were jabbing playfully at each other, but missing by several feet. Neither seemed to notice, judging by their taunts and laughter. Bureck, the leader of the small group of outlaws, watched, amused, over a mug of Cerlin whiskey. He was a small, wiry man with short blonde hair and a smarmy-salesman kind of look about him. He could look nice if he wanted to, but he was so stoned then that it was impossible to tell.

"I'm back," James announced, but no one responded. They never did, even when sober. The only time one usually got a response was if one of them was furious with you, so, in a way, James was glad. It seemed he wouldn't be getting yelled at that night.

Since there didn't seem to be anything else to do, he sat down on a heavily stained stool and watched Krent and Roban. Roban managed to nick Krent on the arm, but that was the closest either of them got to one another. Bored, James turned to Bureck.

"You know, there was another air leak again. We should get moving soon. Unless they can afford another atmospheric-"

"WELL, O' COURSE WE SHOULD GET MOVING!" Bureck hollered. "WE DUN' WANNA GET SUCKED OUT IN-TAH SPACE 'ER SUFF-UH-CATE!" He took a swig of his whiskey, took a deep breath, and continued with some effort, "JAMES! AND I THOUGHT YOU WERE THE SMART ONE O' THE GROUP!" He took another swig. "A' LEAST MORE THAN KRENT AND ROBAN, ANYWAY." James looked over at the twins, who were totally unaffected by Bureck's outburst.

A half hour passed before James got up, suddenly, unable to take anymore of Krent and Roban's antics or Bureck's yelling. "I'm going out."

"WHELL… GUD RIDDANCE!" Bureck added, "…DAMN FREELOADER!"

James kept his caster out as he left the building, and walked down the street. More prostitutes, pimps, and muggers came out, keeping a good distance away from him upon seeing his caster.

James stopped in front of a door he often came to and knocked out a song. The door opened, and a woman's face poked out. "Whaddyawant?!" she asked gruffly.

"It's James," he answered tiredly. "You busy?"

"Jimbo!" he was pulled in. "Are you alright?!"

"I'm fine, Karen. How are you?"

She didn't answer. "Come in! Come in!"

Karen was dressed in a skimpy nightgown that screamed of her occupation She was a pretty woman of average height, with dark brown hair that came to her shoulders and deep blue eyes that had seen more than their share of the dark side of life. He hugged her and rested his head on her shoulder.

"Jim, are you sure you're all right?" she asked again.

"Yeah…" he answered distractedly. She pulled him to her couch and sat him down, then left to get some drinks. James looked around.

Her apartment was small, sparsely decorated, and dark, but was to James the best home he had known in years. He took off his jacket and folded it over the arm of a chair next to the couch, then lay his head back. He looked past his cheeks and saw a door surrounded by a soft red light to his right.

Karen came back with some water for James and juice for herself. He took the water and drank it graciously. After downing it, James cleared his throat. "…How have you been?" he asked again.

Karen's eyes brimmed with tears. She nearly launched herself at him and sobbed onto his shoulder. He wrapped his arms around her gently and asked softly, "…again?" She nodded into his shoulder. He lay his head on hers and rubbed her back softly, easing his fingers gently over scars he felt cut into it through the sheer material. "Anything I can do?" he asked. She shook her head. James hugged her more tightly and sighed into Karen's hair.

Karen was a prostitute. James first came to her for "business," but found that all he needed was to be held and fall asleep in a woman's arms. He never went any further. Karen had taken to him, and though only twenty-five, was the surrogate mother to him that he hadn't had since Melfina.

But Karen had her own life and her own problems, and those problems reminded James that he couldn't just use her like a tool when he needed to feel a warm embrace, so he tried to return the love he was given. It seemed to him that he was helpless to return that love, though his attempts were greatly appreciated.

Karen stopped sobbing and wiped her tears. She raised her head slowly and looked at James. They shared the pain that they saw in each other's eyes, and stared in silence for a little while. Then she kissed his forehead and rested her head on his chest. He lie back on the couch, checked that there was a knife in his jacket pocket, then wrapped his arms tightly around her and fell asleep.

James woke up when the door was smashed in. Without thinking, he grabbed the knife from his jacket's pocket, gently rolled Karen off of him, and hid in a corner of the room. Karen awoke when a large figure stomped noisily into the room and bent his face down over her head.

There was a quiet exchange between the two that ended with Karen's smacking the unidentified person. The figure took out his own blade just when James hit the lights. The figure, a large man, stumbled back a bit. James jumped him and brought his own knife a few millimeters away from his throat. "What are you doing here?"

The man's voice became slightly arrogant. "I'm just here for business. She didn't give me full service last time, so I came back."

"Bastard…" James muttered.

"What?!" the man screamed. In a second, he was on top of James, whose knife had flown out of his hand. "…Wait…I know you… James Hawkwind! Seems I'll finally improve my reputation a bit!" He brought his knife down to James' neck, but stopped short of cutting all the way through his skin. Karen pushed him off, a fiery determination in her eyes. She pulled James' knife out of the man's back, wiped the blood off of it, and handed it back to him.

James took it and massaged his neck. He pulled his hand off and stared at the blood on his fingers. "Was he the one that…"

"…Yes."

"What's his name?"

Karen closed her eyes, as if trying to clear her mind. "Sleth."

James nodded and went to the kitchen. He came back with a bandage on his neck. "Your door's split in half."

Karen didn't seem to hear, or care. She was staring at the Sleth's body. "Jim…" she said suddenly, quietly, "Jim… I'm leaving Blue Heaven."

James said nothing.

"I've been saving up for a long time" she continued, "…and I managed to get two tickets off this godforsaken rock."

"Two?" James asked, a little surprised.

"Yes," she said, smiling suddenly. "I want you to come with me."

James knelt down next to her. "What are you going to do when you get out of here?"

Her smile thinned. "I don't know. Find a real job, I guess."

James nodded. "When's the flight? I can be ready by this afternoon."

Karen smiled again. "Not until next Tuesday."

He nodded again, "Okay."