Hundreds of women, children and men are trafficked out of Mars each year into sexual exploitation and for other forms of forced labour, including domestic slavery, agricultural work, packing and construction. But there is no guaranteed protection or support for Constructs, as none will recognize their rights.
Travel lodge - Port Trinity - Mars
Katz opened his eyes blearily, and jumped at the brightly-grinning face a few inches from his own. Tightly wrapped in his arms, Alessandro seemed more than content to simply wait for Katz to wake up on his own. His dark eyes glittered as the smile drew broad, pushing his dimples upwards.
"Hi..." Katz murmured, realizing that his head was still thick from sleep, and the room was cold save for the warm skin pressed up against him. He was in no hurry to let go, and it seemed as if Alessandro had made himself comfortable. Though Katz was sure he was being prodded somewhere sensitive by something... his eyes widened a little. "Oh!"
"You sleep like a log, Ragazzo," Alessandro chuckled, reaching down between them and adjusting unabashedly. Katz was very intimately aware that there were only a couple of pairs of boxers between them. Again he made no move to let Alessandro go.
"Eh, kiss me or let me pee," Alessandro chuckled as he wriggled a little in Katz's grasp.
"No," Katz said firmly, pulling Alessandro tightly against his chest.
"Femminuccia," Alessandro grinned at him, "you're a sissy."
"No," Katz responded, "It's fucking cold in this room. And right now you're keeping me warm."
Alessandro's eyes travelled across Katz's face, his fingers playing with the light blonde stubble that was trying desperately to form a beard on Katz's chin. The problem was that it was a losing battle - the hairs were entirely too soft and boyish.
"We should work out how to get off of this planet," Alessandro said, looking up, a mischievous smile again decorating his lips as he moved his hips tantalizingly closer to Katz, "We cannot stay here for long."
Katz nodded as he rolled onto his back, pulling the young lieutenant with him so that Alessandro now sat squarely over Katz's stomach, the blanket falling back a bit, the olive skin quivering in the cold air as Alessandro reached out to pull the blanket back over him.
"We need to get a ship," Katz said, feeling Alessandro slide down over his abdomen, the coarse material of the regulation-issue boxer shorts tickling his skin until Alessandro came to rest against his prize.
"Sė, sė," Alessandro said thoughtfully, "But how, Ragazzo? Where do we get a ship on Mars, they will be watching for us..." He leaned down, fascinated by the arc of Katz's clavicle and smooth chest. He looked up and shrugged as he darted his tongue over the milky-white skin.
Katz shivered from the touch and bucked a little, feeling his heart begin to race. He fought it, reaching up with his hands to fend Alessandro off, but his hands were caught neatly and pinned up and over his head into the nest of pillows.
"W-we should..." Katz sighed as Alessandro's lips grazed the nape of his neck, lingering there, and he turned his head, surrendering to the touch. "Find a ship at the space port, they're out in the open."
"And where would we go?" Alessandro asked, pulling back as Katz turned his head back and opened his eyes. They were an inch from each other, and Katz craved the contact. He leaned up, still pinned by Alessandro's hands, but he couldn't quite reach those lips. "No, Ragazzo, we should try to find the resistance." He leaned in to tease Katz again, turning his head at the last minute as Katz leaned up again to kiss him.
Katz sighed as he collapsed again to the pillows, his eyes drifting down the hairs on Alessandro's chest, forming into a tight vee of his stomach into the boxers that were pushed outwards excitedly.
"I am up here Ragazzo," Alessandro said with a wry grin, moving his head a little so that he could look into Katz's eyes.
"General Riley said there were Resistance cells here somewhere," Katz said, thinking again back to the briefing Riley had given Darien about the resistance on A-IX, "He was trying to evacuate them to Taïrian space once the Amsus began cracking down, but he did say they had ways of..." he gasped again as Alessandro slipped back between his legs and began to kiss his stomach, "Contacting... one... another..." His toes curled as Alessandro tickled him, chasing the explosion of sensation with his tongue up Katz's chest.
"You liked that," Alessandro observed, coming up again, releasing Katz's hands at last, "We should get them to help us, we need to get access to the FTL communicator." He looked down at Katz again, his hands working Katz's boxer shorts down ever so slowly, "They can..." Katz kissed him fully, pushing him back and over as the foam mattress offered no support and they both slid onto the floor, Alessandro once again on top, both of them kissing fully and passionately.
The Kardiac Lieutenant bounded to his feet, smiled and grabbed Katz's ball cap off of the end table where he had set it the night before. Popping it on his head, he looked down at a confused Katz sitting undone and dishevelled beside the bed.
"Now I pee," Alessandro grinned as he smirked and went into the bathroom, leaning back around the door to stare appreciatively down over Katz once more. "Ti tira la fregna?" he asked, grinning like a Cheshire cat. "Are you excited?"
Katz looked at him as if he was insane. "Yeah!" he laughed, "What the hell?"
Alessandro smiled. "Ragazzo, sex is more fun when you are clawing out of your skin to have it, you are not ready to have sex with me yet. And me," he adjusted himself, "I am not ready as well."
"So you're saying the only way we're going to..." Katz took a frustrated sigh, "Is when you've worked us both up to the breaking point that we jump each other..."
"Sė," Alessandro nodded, "I promise you, Ragazzo, that I will take care of you, but for now, now I pee."
Katz let out a frustrated sigh, pulling the blanket down around him as he sat there, realizing that it smelled like Alessandro, and he rolled his eyes. He was steadily going nuts, it had to be Mars, or the stress of the past series of days, or... he was starting to like being teased.
But Alessandro had a point; they couldn't simply steal any ship, the Amsus were waiting for that, watching the ports and waiting for them to make a move to get away. They would have Raptors ready to intercept them, and if they tried something stupid like jumping in the atmosphere they would be running straight into Amsus patrols stationed in the adjacent systems.
Stealing a ship wouldn't get them very far.
"I'm going to get something from the vending machine," Katz called as he got up and pulled the blanket tightly around him, sleepily scratching his hair as he lifted the 'acquired' wallet and took out some change. His stomach growled insistently as he poked his head into the hall. No one was about, it was still early.
He padded barefoot down the hall and tapped the vending machine bedecked in the Denver logo; he was fast growing sick of the branding that seemed to be spreading like a virus throughout known space. Ships to candy bars, wedding dresses to detergent, Denver products were literally everywhere.
He paid and selected a couple of bags of snacks, not the heartiest of breakfasts, but the best they could do while keeping a low profile. He juggled them with keeping the blanket closed as he wandered back up the hall and ran right into Darien Taine.
He dropped his bags with a start as he stared at his Skipper who had just come out of a side room.
"Darien!" he said, blinking in surprise, on instinct snapping off a salute as the blanket slipped from his shoulders. Embarrassed, he grabbed for it.
"I am Detective-Inspector Taine," Darien replied, looking down at the blanket and giving that patented smile of his, "I have a plan."
"Uh... right," Katz said, bending to pick up his bags, "How did you get here, aren't the Amsus..."
"I'm the leader of the Fifth Column Resistance," Darien replied, helping him pick up the bags, "I am on a secret mission... I need your help."
"The Propylons..." Katz nodded as he darted a glance up and down the hall, "Come on, I have a room."
Darien nodded and placed a hand on Katz's shoulder. "Lead the way."
Katz scratched his messy hair again, shaking his head as he opened the room door and quickly pushed Darien past him inside. "We've been trying to make contact with the Resistance," Katz replied, turning back to Darien.
Darien reached out his hand and pushed Katz gently but firmly back against the door, reaching out to pull the blanket open. "You've made contact," he said calmly, his hand reaching downwards.
"Ragazzo?" Alessandro asked in surprise, coming out of the bathroom to see a very stunned Katz about to be molested by Highlord Taine.
"I am Detective Inspector Taine," Darien turned his head, "I have a plan..."
"O-okay," Alessandro smirked and scratched his own head, "Ragazzo, why is he..."
"I..." Katz shook his head, "Darien?"
"I am..." Darien repeated.
"I know... you have a plan," Katz said, worming out of his grip and taking a few steps back, "But shouldn't we... get out of here?"
"Ragazzo, look," Alessandro pointed to Taine's wrist and the mark there. A construct.
"I'm in hell..." Katz sat on the edge of the bed, sliding off of the stubborn mattress and landing on the floor with a bump.
"It is really quite good," Alessandro replied, taking a closer inspection of the construct, "Is it a he... or an it...or...?"
"Depends," Katz replied, "Some are only programmed with... the basics."
Alessandro leaned in to look at Taine's chin, poking his cheek. "It is so real..."
"I am Detective..."
"Sė, sė, I am Alessandro," Alessandro tapped his chest.
"They do this," Katz said, getting up and searching for his clothes, stepping into a pair of tan work trousers they had bought the day before. It didn't feel right being undressed in front of Darien, even if it was just a construct version. "They get a hold of a celebrity's genetic material somehow and they clone them... Darien has a fan base..."
"You too can own your very own model of this exact replica," Darien sounded like a tinny used car salesman. He even adopted the grin. "Produced from actual DNA collected on Earth from Darien Taine's effects, and cloned in exquisite detail. Yes, you too can own the infamous Fifth Column Resistance leader. Fully functional and programmed to respond to..."
"Shut up!" Katz asked, realizing how intensely satisfying it was to be able to do that.
"Eh Ragazzo," Alessandro grinned, "Have you ever been curious..." his eyebrows bobbed as he nodded down.
"Ew, no!" Katz pulled on a bright blue polo shirt and buttoned it up, shaking his head, "That's like sleeping with your dad."
Alessandro grinned and lifted the heavy wool pea coat off of the construct, who seemed more than content to be undressed.
"What are you doing?" Katz asked, looking back.
"Ragazzo, we need identification..." he pulled out the Martian Combine Identification card, a blank identical for all 'working' constructs. He turned over the reflective card and ran his thumb over the picture, looking across at Katz. "Eh, Che, Ragazzo, you now have identification and I..." he walked over and picked up the TER-SEC officer's wallet, "I have this, we need now some time with computers and a printer..."
"I accept all major credit cards..." the construct began again.
"Do I want to know where he keeps the card reader?" Alessandro joked. Looking back at the construct, he tossed Katz the ident card, handing the heavy jacket back to the construct who seemed unconcerned that his identity card had been taken; he seemed only too happy to comply with his customers' needs. "We should go, Ragazzo."
Katz nodded, slipping the fashion glasses on and messing his hair up again, trying to hide his identity in case the Amsus were looking for him. Pulling the collar of the his ski jacket up and looking again at the clone, pulling out a bill from his pocket and tucking it into the construct's shirt, he smiled and patted its cheek. "You wait till I tell the real one all about you." He grinned, scooping up his backpack and following Alessandro who had donned his trench coat, the two young men making a discreet exit and returning back to the cold Martian streets.
Behind them the Construct followed, unaware that it wasn't' supposed to. The payment had been received, which meant that services had to be rendered. He hurried to keep pace as the pair of young men jogged into the city.
* * *
"It's still following us," Katz said pausing to catch his breath, leaning against a dumpster in the back alley, looking behind him at the Darien construct that was following him like a lost puppy.
"Eh Ragazzo, perhaps you have to sleep with it to get it to go away?" Alessandro grinned broadly.
"Yeah? How about you be the one to take one for the team," Katz shot back, "Least it might calm your hormones a bit."
Alessandro flashed his toothy grin, "Ragazzo is still frustrated from this morning."
"No, I'm annoyed that I'm stuck on this world with no way off, and no way to contact the Fifth Column..."
"I am Darien Taine," the construct offered as it walked up, "I am the Leader of the..."
"Shut up," Katz sighed, "I swear if he opens his mouth one more time I'm going to..."
He balled his fists and took a long breath. "I'm sorry," he gritted his teeth and apologized to Alessandro.
The other man shrugged and smiled again, leaning forward to kiss Katz's cheek, "I am sorry too ..." He paused and moved round stealing a longer kiss from Katz's lips, "I am frustrated too, see?" Standing like that in the cool Martian morning, commuter traffic blaring by on a low expressway a few streets over, as above the Elevated-train roared on it's constant circuit of the city ferrying workers too an fro. One shift got off as another went on.
Alessandro grinned again and jerked a thumb, "I shall scout ahead, you wait here and..." he smiled at the Construct, "Entertain."
Katz would have protested, as Alessandro adjusted his ball cap to rest high on his head as he ambled down the alleyway his hands in his pockets and his shirt un-tucked. Katz realizing again how simple and attractive the man was. Lanky and thin with a contagious smile and bright, happy eyes. Katz sighed and rubbed his eyes, sliding down to sit beside the dumpster. Was he falling in love? Or had Ashley been right, that he was so eager to rush headlong into any kind of relationship that he was easily confused by the illusion of it.
He missed Firlotte, but there was only so much missing of a person Katz could do. He was used to death, the war hardened him, loss hardened him. He'd lost people he cared about before, and how long had it been since he had received Masconi's letter? At some point he knew he had to stop feeling guilty and start living again.
"Ever have one of those days?" he asked looking up at the Darien clone..
The construct stared back at him blankly, before looking left and right as he, reached for his zipper, "There is no sign of pursuit..."
"If you take it out, I'm gonna take it off!" Katz threatened, bearing and snapping his teeth dramatically, hoping the construct would at least get the hint. He tilted his head, trying to relax, but his mind returning to his thoughts about Ashley, Ashley and now Alessandro.
He missed being the one to chase Firlotte, being the smooth-talking one, the one who was safely in control guiding the speed of the relationship. It was different with Alessandro; it was as if Alessandro had this near magically capacity to tie him in knots. Tongue-tied, awkward and frustrated, wasn't he supposed to be the experienced one? Maybe he should try the direct approach, flip the cocky lieutenant over and...
He settled his head against the side of the dumpster, Firlotte...
He felt another pang of guilt and swallowed it down, he hated that he was so confused, falling for another guy, someone so different. So out there, Alessandro laid it all out on the table and kept nothing back, like he enjoyed his life and he was sure that those around him would enjoy it too.
Sighing, he stood up, looking as Alessandro jogged back towards him, the Kardiac officer grinning like a maniac. "Eh Ragazzo, do you know how to act?"
* * *
"You shouldn't have stolen that computer," Katz said, nervously whispering across the small table on the high-speed elevated train that was jetting them around the outer edge of Port Trinity near to the shield wall that kept the Martian wilderness at bay.
Mars was a planet of oases, little patches of green around the heavy terraforming stations that were slowly stretching out into the cold red barrens of the world. The heavy clouds out in the wastes were always rumbling their discontent, and rain was near constant, part of the process of claiming land from the angry red world.
They were passing a stretch of land where small bots, paid for by the Martian Combine government from their heavy taxation of the illicit trade, were planting seeds in the iron-rich mud. All part of the process; in a few centuries, Mars would be completely green, like Earth, except colder, drier and...
"Quiet, Ragazzo," Alessandro admonished, continuing to work on the small laptop with its portable scanner he had stolen while Katz had run distraction. The poor clerk at the electronics store hadn't known what to do when Katz had began his award winning rendition of 'boy choking'; Alessandro had teased Katz that he'd been over-acting when they had finally stopped running. Now the Kardiac Lieutenant was again displaying his savvy when it came to all forms of media as he sat and worked to alter the identify cards they had stolen.
Katz sat back on the heavily padded chair, looking around the nearly empty train compartment. Despite the construct still in tow, they still looked like students on their way home from class. Laptop open and a backpack on the edge of the table, a couple of books they had picked up at the train station, they just blended in.... who was he kidding, they were sitting with the number one most wanted man in the Amsus Hegemony sitting beside them.
His eyes drifted to the far door and tensed as a pair of TER-SEC officers entered the carriage, one of them carrying a cup of coffee and joking about something with his colleague, a dour-faced man whose body armour was undone, a pair of PKDs slung low on his hips. On Mars it was sometimes good to give the appearance of an old-style gunslinger, especially in the remote cities. He sat in a chair a few seats up, ignoring his over-enthusiastic partner as he doffed his uniform cap and tugged at his collar.
Katz's eyes narrowed as he contemplated their options. Alessandro, who had his back to the officers working away, looked up a little confused as he saw Katz tense, immediately sensing the trouble that had managed to follow them onto the train. He shut the laptop with a click. Pausing before he slipped it away into the backpack as discreetly as he could.
If either of them were recognized from the electronics store, they were in trouble. And Katz wished he'd found a way to keep his gun when they had abandoned R-403. He darted a glance at the TER-SEC Officer who was looking thoughtfully in their direction.
"Shit," Katz cursed under his breath. There was no where to run, not on a train hanging from its suspended rail a good two hundred feet above the city below. They swung riding across the large reservoir lake reducing their options even further.
The officer stood, hand resting on his PKD as he came down the train car, the bright sunlight of the lazy Martian afternoon flickering as they passed another train heading back in the opposite direction, looking straight into Katz's eyes he stopped.
Katz felt his heart stick in his throat, biting his lip.
"You for hire?" the cop asked, glancing meaningfully down at Katz's wrist, and the exposed tattoo.
Katz swallowed and tried to think. If he said no that could cause all kinds of trouble, but if he said yes, the cop would just write them off as a couple of working boys in the company of a construct. Typical on Mars.
Katz moistened his lips and stood up. "Yes," he answered dutifully.
The cop nodded his head, looking back at his partner, who didn't seem to be paying attention. "There," he pointed towards the small onboard toilet cube, and Katz retreated into his own mind, pulling back from what he was allowing to happen, knowing it was the easiest choice.
He felt Alessandro's eyes on him as he stepped forward.
The cop lifted his hand from his weapon followed by the sound of fabric rustling. Keys jingling made him tense, familiar noises, noises that he had tried to block out. Do your job and don't think, he told himself mentally, don't think...
"Scuzi," Alessandro said, standing and drawing the TER-SEC officers pistol from its holster. Shooting the TER-SEC officer cleanly in the back, he swung the weapon around to the startled second officer who was trying to get to his feet to see what had happened. Alessandro shrugged as he fired a second time, rendering that one unconscious as well.
Katz, shaking, turned back, "Why'd you do that?" He shook his head almost in disbelief.
"Ragazzo, you are not a whore." he reminded, bending down to unbuckle the officer's belt, handing it and the pistol to Katz, "Besides, we needed guns."
Katz nodded, strapping the PKD around his waist and pulling the ski jacket forward so that it covered it, watching Alessandro duck up the length of the train to do the same with the other officer. The roar of a second train passing them in the opposite direction indicated that they were getting to the far side of the lake, and the station there.
Alessandro came up, liberating credits from the cop's wallet and adding them to their collection. He checked the PKD from that officer's holster and slipped it into the waistband of his khaki cargos, bobbing his head as the train swept to a halt inside the far station.
Katz looked across at the patient construct and sighed. "Come on," he said jerking a thumb to the doors that parted to let them off, "Let's get out of here."
* * *
Bobby Mackay sat with his feet up in the cockpit of Taine's Raptor, smoking a cigarette and trying to imagine what it was like for his former partner and friend to outfox the Amsus Hegemony and restore the Empire.
Of all the people, Darien Taine.
Darien 'closet case' Taine.
Darien 'boy scout' Taine.
Darien 'I don't know when I'm supposed to die' Taine.
"Damn," Bobby breathed, looking at the ship he was supposed to destroy. Of course, that meant that the moment the Inquisitor's back was turned, the TER-SEC officers on Mars would cut a deal with the local chop shop king, Jorten, and sell the ship off, pocketing the proceeds.
That didn't change the past, a past that was catching up with all the players. The murder of the Human representative to the Amsus Hegemony and his wife - Amsus Inquisitors dealing with a potential political dissident in their typically direct manner. But Taine couldn't see that; he'd insisted on following the leads, tracing it back to the inevitable conclusion of who had been behind it. Turning the information over to his superiors like a good little detective. He'd never know when to simply quit.
You should never have worked it out, Bobby thought, tiredly rubbing his face, Why'd you have to volunteer for that case? A token investigation was what they wanted, I was supposed to handle it. Why'd you pick this one, out of all of them, to take on? He rested his head back on the chair, his pressing his lips into a tight line, staring out of the cockpit window, We could have been status-quo, and we'd all be home right now. But you had to play Sherlock fucking Holmes... he shook his head and tapped his hand against the Plexiglas of the cockpit window.
He'd tried to warn him, but when had Darien ever listened? Bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, signing police reports that would become his death warrant once the Amsus Inquisitors discovered that their dirty little secret was discovered. It had been Thalak, both the murderer and Taine's would-be executioner, packaging everything up into a neat little box and tidying it away. Ensuring no-one was alive who knew who had killed Representative Hammel.
Bobby had been the one to write the murder report accusing Darien of killing a member of the inquisition, condemning his friend for yet another propaganda piece poured out by the mind numbing Amsus media machine designed to placate the masses and convince them that justice existed in the ordered utopia of Earth.
"You always were too stupid," Bobby muttered, stubbing out the cigarette on the edge of a console and getting up, turning... R-403 had to be delivered to Jorten's chop shop and the proceeds divvied up between his men.
He looked one final time around the cramped cockpit again and shook his head, "Well at least you avoided the inevitable arrest for questionable morality," he said aloud as if speaking directly to Taine, "Fifth Column leader or deviant, one-way or another you'd have ended up on the wrong side of the Inquisition."