"Tom, he’s going to kill you. Fuck that he’s going to torture you for years then paralyze you and force you to eat shit for the rest of your life if you do this story." Helios said looking at me like I just claimed to have a great chance at winning the next TUP presidential election. His reddish blonde hair was tied back in a ponytail with makeup applied so expertly the natural cuteness of the body was multiplied exponentially. The reason he was dolled up was Sonji and hiwas didn’t like acting like he was a man as he claimed and they were a major source of his money. You would think civilizations older than humanity would be beyond prejudices. It was just one more reason why I hated sonji.

"I didn’t say anything about a story on this Helios. I have a dream of getting rich quick and this situation is going to see that dream realized."

"That’s what I want to hear Tom. You better get a lot of money out of the bastard."

I nodded and took a deep apprehensive breath. I was forced to ride in his large sedan that cost more than the entire building I lived in. He refused to ride on my handlebars and I refused to leave my bicycle at his place, so we compromised and much to his dismay, or shall I say red faced rage, I pushed my bike into the back seat and jumped in the front bench seat. Luckily he was one of the people that let the car drive itself so I didn’t have to worry about dying in the moving death trap.

It was a quick ride to the city runner parked at the edge of the city on the very boundary of Glacier Parks, with the closest of the namesake being over two thousand miles away. It was damn hard to see the city runner too. If it wasn’t for Helios I would have never found it.

Let’s see if I can describe this without Helios digging me up and murdering my bones.

 Imagine a large house cat. Now make it the size of a large car, remove the head, add two legs and replace the fur with radar and light bending invisibility tech.

It runs like a cat.

I wanted to get in the city runner less than I wanted to tell Laetitia to go find a better man. I just had no other option if I wanted to find the motherfuckers that killed the kleens. Yes and get rich too. I wanted to find the murderers more.

"You gonna be okay in this Tom?" Helios knew about my problem with being enclosed in a vehicle.

"No. I’ll manage though. It runs pretty fast right?"

"Yes it does." He said with a smile. He was so cute when he did that I wanted to pinch his cheeks. I did that once. Let’s say it was embarrassing. There’s not much a grown man is allowed to do with a girl that weighs ninety five pounds when soaking wet and doesn’t clear five feet unless on her tiptoes, even if said girl really is a man.

"Get me there in one piece. Is he right in his boast Bevisste?"

"Oh yes. This is the newest model, from the tiny bit I can gather now that we are right next to it. The one you rode in two years ago got up to two hundred fifty miles per hour. I can’t imagine they make the newer models slower."

"And the verdict is?" Helios asked. One day I would begin talking to Bevisste in my head again.

"Bevisste said the last one I rode in got to two hundred fifty miles per hour."

"This one goes faster. We should be to the store in about an hour and to Marland ninety minutes after."

Store was his name for illegal warehouse full of illegal goods. It was a running bet that if he could add one more illegal he would win a car. Helios was actively looking for that one more illegal.

"Why are we going to the store?" I didn’t want to be in the city runner any longer than I had to be. Just sitting in it and watching the door close was causing me to sweat. I hadn’t been in the damn thing for even a minute.

"Just have to check in on things. That sonji from Saul’s is there so I figured I would take advantage of having you around."

Bevisste laughed loudly at that.

"I am not making out with you again!" I grabbed the edges of my seat so hard I am sure I made indentations. The city runner always lurched dreadfully when it started out on the run, though luckily it smoothed out so much you had no idea the thing was running across uneven ground.

"You may have to feel me up and squeeze the ass you’ve been staring at since I let you in my place."

"That obvious huh?" He nodded. "What can I say. Whoever designed that body had a thing for butts. It’s your best asset Helios, I keep telling you."

"Not the cunning that far surpasses anyone else alive or the brilliant manipulation skills?"

"Nah, it’s a really nice ass and probably the only reason you’ve had success in the black market. It’s not fair but there are just some things women get an advantage in just by virtue of being a woman."

"You’re an idiot Tom."

I winked at him and tapped the side panel to reveal a real-time vid of the outside. It was the next best thing to actually being on the outside of the running death cube, a little safer though. The hard rocky landscape went by in a blur for a while then dropped away sickeningly as the runner scampered down a gorge at a terrifying speed. I tapped the side panel turning off the real-time vid feed.

"How often do these things stumble and kill everyone aboard in a horrific manner?"

"Ten percent of the time I think." Helios winked at me. I chose to believe he was lying. I didn’t want to ask Bevisste or Helios for confirmation.

"Find a new girl yet?" He asked suddenly. "We have a long ride until we get there, maybe another forty minutes." He added to my dumb look.

"Oh, yeah I think so. Well I hope so to tell the truth. She is so unbelievably awesome and gorgeous. I don’t know how to describe how gorgeous she is."

"Sounds like Tom is in love." He nudged me and winked.

"I can’t even argue that. I’m sure I am."

He smiled at me. The effect of it coming from such a cute looking girl made me feel sort of good inside. I’m sure if it was coming from a man who looked as ruthless as he really was, it would have been downright frightening.

"She know why you were kicked out of the Corps?" He asked softly.

"Not allowed to reenlist." I corrected. "No she doesn’t. That was pretty much the beginning of the end with Samantha. I’m not sure if I’ll tell another woman the truth behind it."

"I think I would be the same way in your shoes. You’re not gonna live eternity together, what’s the point in spilling all the beans?"

It was a valid argument and one I was struggling with since Samantha turned from the most amazing woman ever to an almost stranger overnight. I would most likely be with her still if I never told her. I guess all things happen for a reason. I like to think that anyway.

Next Chapter: Helios is a really good friend