The warehouse this time was so comical I had to laugh. The last time I was to the store with Helios it was a bustling little thing nestled in a beautiful valley. He said he paid Oazan’s governor off to get it set up. I had more than a suspicion he used that body a bumbling human gave him to his advantage. When life gives you lemons.

The store this time was not so lucky to be in a valley. It was an octagon shaped structure cobbled together out of rock, foliage and the same material the city runner was made out of in a place so desolate I’m pretty sure birds didn’t bother to fly over it. I would say ninety nine percent of Glaciers Park is quite beautiful with some sights that leave the park goer breathless. This was that one percent area the park rangers and tourism board wish didn’t exist.

"What happened? Lovers quarrel between you and the governor?" I asked.

His eyes flashed. "Yes, you have to keep me entertained now. Why else do you think I brought you all the way out here?"

"As long as by entertained you mean engaging conversation you picked the right man this time."

"You going to let Bevisste do the talking?"

I sometimes wondered where all the good people to keep as friends my mother told me about when I was younger went.

The bitter cold of the air when we got out of the runner was unreal. I had heard about the temperature change in the Park however I had never actually experienced it until right then. It felt like I would get frostbite in the one hundred feet to the store door. If it wasn’t for Helio’s form fitting shirt that showed off his considerable cleavage I would have said the cold didn’t bother him. The evidence was quite plain to see though.

"Grab that ass you’ve been checking out Tom. That piece of shit sonji is on the other side of the door. I don’t want to have to kill him, he’s a good customer."

Helios was not making an empty boast. His ruthlessness was one of the reasons I came to know him during my time as an Interrogator. A few days before I had met him his store was raided by TUP officials. It was a by the book sort of raid, not much put into it by either side. They both just went through the motions, since it would have never happened had Helios and the governor not been locked in a battle of wills over the current pricing structure.

It must have put Helios in a bad mood. He was as temperamental at times as the women his body resembled.

A dozen poor saps were manning the store on that particular day when Helios came over in the city runner. He had each of the men strip naked, he may be a man but he knows how to use the body he was given, then had a cleaning drone pick each one up and leave them outside where they froze to death. I heard he stood on the roof off the store without a stitch of clothing on, waving at the poor saps.

I looked down at the well-defined ass in front of me and shrugged my shoulders. I drew the red line at making out with him again. I’m still confused about that night. He jumped, at me suddenly grabbing and squeezing that little round ass. I winked at him.

"Get it all in Tom. I’m never letting you do this again."

"And deny this gorgeous face something?" I said mockingly.

Helios looked around for about a minute then back at me. "I thought you had brought someone else with you for a minute. You’re quite ugly Tom."

I pulled my hand of the squeezable butt. "I hear sonji sex is quite enjoyable."

"Hand on ass now." He snapped pointing at his butt. "I’m about to open the door."

I chuckled softly. I had to catch up with Helios more often. Sure enough, right when the door opened a large in your face disgusting, even for a sonji, sonji stood. I squeezed Helio’s butt and reached around to cop a feel, over the shirt. I was going to make him feel as uncomfortable as possible if I had to play along.

"Helios. Nice of you to make it. Tom right? I think I remember you from the party. I thought you and Helios had broken up."

"Only in your dreams pal. This little body is too much to keep my hands off."

"Cool it with the hands Tom." Helios said to me leaning back like he was kissing my ear.

"It’s either that or I see what my 56 Special can do to his face. Sonji killed those kleens."

Helios sighed. I could tell he was resigning himself to the inevitable outcome of having one less good customer. Although he did peel my hands off his body. A gentle tap to my crotch kept me inline.

"I am happy you made it tonight Helios. I had just dropped off my goods and wished for you to see them personally before I had to go."

"This is very fortuitous then Laez. I am very excited to see what you brought this time. I can say without doubt that everyone loved the last purple grass you dropped off. I had people hunting me down to beg for some out of my personal stash."

Great sales man that Helios but a total bullshitter. He would cut the head off anyone that hunted him down at his home and he never once did the drugs he sent around the universe. He thought it to be a poor business decision since he couldn’t pay himself for the drugs he did. He did take pieces of electronics and artwork he dealt with though, he would just up the price a few bits on that shipment of goods.

"I knew they would Helios!" Laez boomed and touched Helios on the shoulder. He pulled his hand back as if burned from the look Helios gave him. Some looks contain malice it would take a million words to describe. His look contained more.

"I also brought with me a shipment of holoscreens made by TimberAIR. They are so nice but so overpriced. I think you will make a good deal on them wherever they go."

Ahh, my segue into the conversation.

"TimberAIR holoscreens?"

"Yes." Laez replied confused as to why I would be talking to him. Helios gave a tiny shake of his head. I ignored it.

"Did you happen to hear what happened to his daughter Cleo?"

I hadn’t lost my touch as an Interrogator. Helios no doubt missed the look of surprise on his face and the twitch of his fingers. I didn’t know what he was saying however I knew the twitch when I saw it. Laez quickly covered up the look of surprise though, so quickly I would have missed it if not looking for it. I had a gut feeling he knew about what happened, the sonji were a close knit people when outside the original dozen planets they colonized after developing space travel.

"No I have not. She is a pretty one that Cleopatra. Did something untoward happen to her?"

I had something untoward I would like to do to him. It was the Special in 56 Special.

"Yes, it’s sad. Someone broke into that gorgeous home of hers and kidnapped her. Can you believe that?! Kidnapped the daughter-heir of TimberAIR. The people even killed everyone that lives there or so I hear. I suppose they will get what’s coming to them though." I shrugged my shoulders as if it was someone else’s problem then leaned down pretending to lick Helio’s ear. "I’m glad my woman is safe though."

Laez was now quite upset. He kept on the perfect card playing face though. I had to give him credit where credit is due. The long fingers on each arm, however, were moving with lightning speed. I had no doubt he was cursing his bad luck. He didn’t know exactly who I was though if I was supposedly with Helios there was no way I was playing with a full deck of cards.

"That sounds horrible Tom." Helios said looking directly at me. He should have picked a better customer or taken me directly to Marland. "Let’s go see your purple grass and the holoscreens Laez. I think seeing the pristine goods you always bring will get rid of this somber mood the most unpleasant news has put us in."

I played over in my head how I would kill him. I had no doubt in my mind he was part of the group in Marland that took the contract to kidnap Cleo and murder a bunch of kleens. Murdering people who refused to fight back. It took considerable willpower to keep the gun holstered.

In a side room larger than the lobby we had first walked into were all of Laez’s goods. There was quite a bit.

Holoscreens rolled up into nice neat tubes four inches wide and six feet tall took up a quarter of the area of the room. There had to be at least two thousand of the things. Helios was going to make a killing with the next run. The rest of the room sans a ten foot square directly in front of us was filled with a crop of purple grass. The stuff was like the marijuana hippies still liked to smoke on Earth with the kick of about two dozen different pharmaceutical grade painkillers and muscle relaxers. It was by far the most addictive substance a race had ever created and was the sole reason Helios was so wealthy. He could weather the loss of one of his good customers though. His service was so indispensable the sonji that filled in for Laez would be standing in the same spot as Laez next week.

The plant gave me an idea.

"How strong is the stuff?" I asked Laez. Helios looked at me oddly. For all his cunning and lightning quick wit he had no idea where I was going.

"The purple grass?" Laez asked dumbly.

"Unless you have other shit mixed in with it, yes."

"Well it is quite potent I have heard. I have yet to have a single complaint get back to my ears." He said with a puffed up pride. I wanted shove a spear through his chest to see if he would deflate like a balloon.

"So you have never smoked any?" Helios’s face changed. He had finally figured out where I was going with this. It was now going to go one of two ways. He was either going to go along with me or end the conversation and have his security system subdue me when I tried to murder the disgusting sonji.

"How about we try some? It’ll be good for us to be able to tell our customers about the potency from first hand experience." Helios said making his decision to go along with me. I had a feeling this was repayment of the favor he owed me.

"Oh. Are you sure? Sonji can smoke quite a bit before it affects them. Your profit margins could take a hit."

Helios waved his hand. "I’ll just raise the price. No one will question me. They love your grass too much."

I could see Laez trying to think up another excuse for not wanting to smoke the grass. He could not outright decline smoking it. If he did then the potency would be called into question and he would most likely join those dozen people Helios sent naked into the cold so many years ago. On the other hand if he did smoke the grass he would be intoxicated around Helios, a person he knew hated him and only did business with him due to the grass.

I grinned inwardly. I had managed to get the son of a bitch stuck between unstoppable and immovable objects.

"Okay. Do you have a curing and rolling machine?" He asked with a touch of amusement. He knew Helios did not smoke the product he sold so there was no way he would have one of the machines.

His look fell to dismay for two full seconds when a rectangle machine floated into the room.

"I will let you pick the plant." Helios said sweetly. He grabbed my hand like we were lovers, squeezing with all the unnatural strength androids have. Damn near broke my hand. Definitely bruised it quite a bit. It was a good thing his body was so small, or I would have turned ambidextrous that day.

Laez slowly picked out a plant as if Helios would suddenly have a change of heart and say to hell with smoking. Instead Helio continued smiling the cute smile. I took advantage of the situation and pinched those cute cheeks. I smiled so big I thought I would not be able to contain my laughter at the face he gave me. It was his fault he wanted me to play the part of his lover.

The sonji finally picked out a plant, setting the entire two foot high plant, pot and all, on the conveyor belt type flat surface of the machine. It pulled the plant into it’s rectangular body and ten seconds later a dozen perfectly rolled cigars came out the other end. I have never figured out what happens to the rest of the plant and pot.

"I’ll take the first hit." Helios said. He wasn’t worried about getting high, an android has to decide if they want a drug or alcohol to affect them. Then they are only intoxicated for as long as they feel like being intoxicated. It is a trait I very often envied.

Helios smiled at Laez after taking a very long hit from the cigar then passed it to him. "Very good Laez. Definitely try some." He was stuck, he had to try some or it would look like Helios did not know what he was talking about when it came to the quality. That would be a slight Helios would not take lightly.

He took a small drag from the cigar. Helios waved him off when he tried to give it back. "Take another. Like you said it takes a lot to make a sonji feel the affects of the grass."

I was enjoying every minute of it and just waiting until the effects of the grass kicked in with the sonji. From what I have seen it only takes seconds after enough of it gets in the lungs.

Laez threw caution to the wind and took several deep drags finishing off the cigar. His eyelids drooped almost immediately.

Showtime.

I grabbed the arm the held the cigar. There are two places on a sonji’s arm that are as fragile as the elbow joint on a human’s arm. Surprisingly the elbow joint on their arm is not that due to the simple fact their arm bends both directions. The spot on the arm is three fingers width from the elbow joint and two fingers width above the joint. The spot in the bone is where their blood cells are formed and is quite a bit weaker than the surrounding bone due to the bone needing space to create the blood cells.

I used my Luxor to smash each spot above and below the joint.

Laez moaned slightly. If not for the painkilling properties of the grass he would have been writhing on the ground in pain. Laez was going to be slightly less satisfying the sonji back at the manor but only slightly. He still had an indirect hand in the murder of at least four sonji.

"You’re from Marland correct?" I slapped his hands away from the broken arm and kicked out to his knee. The knee is just as fragile on a sonji as it is on a human. It buckled under the pressure of my kick, moving in a most unnatural direction.

Helios stood next to the door with his arms folded under his breasts.

"You’ll die for this Tom. My business partners will not stand by and let this happen."

"Yes they will Laez." Helios spoke up. "I will just show them the records of the potency dropping in the grass over the last four shipments. I thought the records were wrong until we just tried some. If Tom here doesn’t finish you off your business partners won’t mind me doing so if for no other reason than to keep me happy." Helios motioned for me continue.

"Right, now that we got that all straightened out. You are from Marland correct?" I asked again.

He nodded. Even with the multiple painkillers the pain was getting to him. He was beginning to waver with only three legs supporting him. I may have been pushing it a little with the shattering of his kneecap. However with him admitting to being from Marland in the chance I did not get anything else from him I had further confirmation I was heading in the correct direction.

"Did you know a sonji by the name of Abe, owns The Extra IPA in Yitzu?" I nodded at his response which to anyone not a sonji or an Interrogator would look like a non-response. "Did you see what he did Helios?"

"He just moaned a little from the injuries Tom. I saw nothing else and I’ve been watching. Please don’t make this fast or if you tire of it, I’m always a tag away."

"His fingers began twitching right when I mentioned Abe of The Extra IPA. They speak to each other using those fingers. What they say or how they say, I don’t have a fucking clue, but those fingers only twitch when they are talking. He must think if he can say what needs to be said using his fingers he can bluff me."

"Interesting. He must not know who you are then." Helios had not taken his eyes off of Laez.

Hell hath no fury like a scorned woman. Multiply that exponentially by the anger a man trapped in a woman’s body feels.

Laez’s eyes travelled back and forth between me and Helios.

"No one told you?" I slapped him in the face to get his attention back on me. "I moonlighted as an Interrogator for a few years in the Marine Corps. Good times."

He now had complete understanding of how fucked he was. I placed the barrel of my Luxor into the hollow of shoulder of his broken arm. His struggling was easily contained by the effects of the muscle relaxers, he was barely stronger than the five foot body Helios used with normal human strength.

"Tell me truthfully or you will be missing an arm. The good thing though, well it’s good to me, is that you have three more arms. With humans this part goes much too fast for the lack of the two extra arms. Do you know a sonji by the name of Acla?"

I squeezed the trigger vaporizing the top half of his arm as he swung his other three at me.

"Do you know where he frequents in Marland?" I asked Helios.

Helios nodded.

"Good. He’s all yours."

I leaned against the closed door of the large storage room only vaguely aware of what Helios was doing. Suffice to say, I actually almost got sick from watching him work. I knew the reasons why he was so feared in the circles he ran in. I now saw firsthand what those reasons are. The only part of situation that worried me, it had nothing to do with Helios acting like a demon, was I still had no clue why these sonji wanted me dead. I told Bevisste just that as Helios was finishing up.

"I do not think they want you dead Tom."

"One-eye was going to crush my head Bevisste! That’s a weird way of not wanting me dead."

"Only because you were a smartass. It is your mouth that keeps getting you into trouble with these sonji and technically only One-eye tried to kill you. That sonji on the boat was just going to injure you if you did not jump out of the way."

"Well what about the lope gang?" I knew that was a stretch as I said it.

"It seems to me that they only wanted talk to someone and share some fruit."

"That was some good fruit too. It’s a shame it costs so much."

"What was that about a lope gang?" Helios asked. I looked over at him wiping the blood of his face and hands with his shirt. His braless breasts showing to everyone. No matter how much I spent time around him, how often he took his shirt off weirded me out. If I looked at it as a man taking his shirt off, he then didn’t do it all that often. However when I looked at him I saw a woman with an exquisite laboratory designed body. It was confusing and I always felt like I was missing the punch line of a joke.

"I’ll just ask Bevisste directly Tom." Helios could do that too. One of the perks of being an artificial intelligence.

"A lope gang kidnapped me for a few minutes yesterday." I mumbled.

"I’m sorry did you just say lope gang? Bevisste did he just say lope gang?" He laughed at Bevisste’s response. "Tom you know you could have just went to the next stop. Their parents would have admonished them for following you."

"Really Bevisste?! You couldn’t keep your mouth shut?" She just laughed at me.

"I never really got lope gangs though if you separate one from the pack they can be quite devious. Such an odd race—the only one that I know where the pack mentality gravitates towards niceness."

"Well why did they try to kidnap me then?" I laughed at the memory of the situation. "They were quite nice. They passed around a tray of staze."

"What colors did they wear?"

"Black and silver."

"Whoever hired them most likely thought one of the gang would catch you coming out of a bar. That gang is known as the Ustun. A couple of assholes run in the gang but like I said; pack mentality."

"I guess they got freaked. I was on my way to the Eviner Manor. Did you know she gave that place a name?"

"Not surprising. Come on, I need to get cleaned up then we’ll head to Marland." He looked around the room with annoyance. "I’m going to have to get rid of all those plants. Too bad I couldn’t kill him again."

Next Chapter: My life sucks