Chemical District

Laura looked up at the building in front of her nervously. Tall, pristine white and imposing, it wasn't hard to imagine it as the kind of tower princesses found themselves locked up in, despite the fact she knew full well it was nothing more than a converted lighthouse. Tiny windows were situated at odd points up the tower, giving the impression that it had more floors than it did.

Along the outside in a criss-cross pattern were cables, attached to the wall at strategic points with tiny square objects that Laura knew doubled as miniature cameras, complete with infrared and night vision modes. The glass at the very top had been mirror-tinted, making it impossible to see in.

It wasn't what she'd expected, but then the same could be said for her surroundings. When her friend Nick Conrad had told her that Kage made his home in the Chemical District, the name had conjured up images of smoke-ridden air, factories belching out smog and toxic waste...or conversely, an ultra-modern District where people only dressed in lab coats and walked around with protective goggles and test tubes all day long.

Of course, Nick had been kind enough to tell her (after he'd finished laughing) that it wasn't quite that bad and was even considered rather a nice place to live, but Laura hadn't quite believed him.

Until now. Chemical had a quaint, old-fashioned air about it, with a wide cobbled and flower-bordered street leading further into the District itself. A salmon fisher - a bird the size of a Great Dane named more for its colouration than its diet - circled lazily overhead, keeping a beady eye out for any likely prey. It dipped down enough to get a clear look at Laura, then apparently decided she wasn't a fish and flapped off again in disgust.

In short, this was probably the last place Laura could imagine a professional killer making his home.

She reached out a hand to knock on the lighthouse door, then felt it drop limply back to her side again.

Did she really want to do this? Oh, she'd said she had, and Nick had reluctantly set up a meeting with someone called Ash, who - apart from being the leader of one of the better known gangs - was one of the few people that could get you an appointment with this mystery man, but still...was this really the way to go?

Behind her, a voice said very dryly, "Did you come all this way just to look at my front door, or were you planning on knocking on it before New Year?"

Laura yelped and spun round, heart thumping so loudly she half expected the other person to remark on it.

"Kage?"

The young man leaning against a street light with his arms folded smirked at her, clearly pleased with the success of his little trick.

"Laura, I presume. I'm surprised you made it this far; most people get cold feet long before it gets to this stage." He gestured towards the front door. "After you."

Laura hesitated. "Isn't it locked?"

Kage looked at her, face now expressionless. "Who'd be stupid enough to break into my place?"

"You don't believe in taking chances," the woman pointed out, nodding towards the collection of cameras on the wall.

A slight smile flickered across Kage's face. "Those? I find it...useful to see what's going on in my District."

"And the mirror-tinted windows?"

The Lysian stretched up lazily, rising onto the balls of his feet before dropping down again.

"Did you come here to discuss my decor? If you did, you can leave again; I have more important things to do."

"I want to..." Laura bit her tongue hard, not entirely sure if what she was about to say was true.

"To what?"

"I want to-" she bit down hard on the words 'hire you'- "to...ask for your help."

Cool amusement was plain in Kage's voice and expression as he replied, "Well, so I assumed, but I don't think we should discuss it here. Stupid question, I know, but indulge me...were you followed?"

"No. I don't think anyone would have noticed me anyway; I'm not as famous as...well, as..."

"As Nick Conrad." Kage's stare took in Laura's attire; the t-shirt, jeans and boots with imitation fur around the cuffs and added, "Well, you seem to know how to blend in, at any rate."

That had been down to Nick's sister Nadia, Laura thought with a small feeling of amusement. Nadia was a fashion queen, only interested in the very latest trends, and she'd picked out practically every item in Laura's wardrobe for her.

Kage was dressed in more or less the same thing, with the exception of the furry boots; he was wearing what looked like kickers, although it was hard to tell under the faded black jeans that covered them. Laura remembered thinking much later that he was all black; black clothes, black hair, black eyes, all of which made his light skin look almost white by comparison.

Kage jerked his head towards the door again, this time with an air of impatience.

"Shall we?"

Laura glanced away, embarrassed to have been caught staring at him like a schoolgirl, then pushed open the door and stepped through it into a room that was completely bare except for a desk and three chairs right in the middle of the floor. Kage settled down in one of those chairs now and waved Laura to another.

"So," he said pleasantly, "you want me to kill your husband."

Laura jerked as though she'd been stung. She hadn't banked on Kage having this level of knowledge. She hadn't even told Nick or Ash that, there was no way Kage could possibly have known.

"How..." she began faintly.

Kage waved a hand, cutting her off. "Never mind that. Your husband is currently living in an apartment in the Metropolis District. I can find the exact address without too much trouble; the only thing left to be decided is the fee and if you have a preference for any particular time. I can't guarantee exactly what you want on that last one, but I'm pretty flexible."

Laura's mouth worked for a few minutes but no sound came out. She hadn't expected this. She'd always thought that when it came down to it, Kage would look at her and say something along the lines of this not being right, not the way to do things, and then Laura herself could retire with honour intact. She hadn't been prepared for such cool, matter-of-fact acceptance.

On the other side of the desk, Kage leaned back in his chair, now looking faintly bored.

"You really should have steeled yourself up for this before coming to see me. Do you want your husband dead or don't you?"

"I don't want him to come near me again."

A cold smile appeared on Kage's face. "That's not answering my question. And besides, it's been just over a year since you showed up in our world. Why come to me now?"

Laura swallowed hard. "I didn't speak enough of your language before."

Kage raised a dark eyebrow. "Then this has nothing to do with the fact that your husband recently found himself another woman?"

Ice shot through Laura's veins but she managed to keep her voice perfectly neutral as she said, "No, I know all about that."

Kage chuckled low in his throat. "Liar." Seeing her expression, he added, "Oh yes, I've had you on my radar from the moment you arrived. I presume you've met the valet who works in the Conrads' apartment building? He's discreet enough not to report anything told him in confidence, not even to me, but he told me plenty of other little things about you."

"You used him to spy on me?" Laura pushed her chair away from the desk so fast it almost went over. "That...the Conrads offering me a place to stay in their apartment; do they work for you too?"

Kage chuckled again. "Oh no, that was nothing more than coincidence. Extremely useful, I admit, but I had nothing to do with it. And he doesn't work for me anymore; we just keep in touch. When he told me that the woman from another planet had landed right in one of the apartments he looks after, I asked him to keep an eye on you. Spying on your husband was a little harder, but I managed; there's a guy in Metropolis who owes me a favour. Your husband has a very unusual accent, by the way, even for an alien. Where's he from?"

"Love City, Arkansas. Though I guess that doesn't mean too much to you, does it?"

"No, it doesn't, and I'm grateful. Love City...it sounds like either an extremely seedy or extremely nauseating place."

"I found out later that his cousin Jim killed a woman in a crime of passion; if he couldn't have her, nobody would. If I knew - had known - then, I wouldn't have..."

"You wouldn't have jumped into the back seat of the hovercar and screwed each other stupid, yes, I've heard that story a thousand times."

Maybe it was Kage's dismissive, almost bored tone, or the fact that his reaction was far too similar to Ash's, but something snapped inside Laura and she surged to her feet.

"What the hell gives you the right to sit there and judge me?

Unintimidated, Kage stared back coolly. "The little fact that you came here to ask me to kill your husband. Or had you forgotten?" He shrugged. "Like I said, I've been watching him. I know his routine, so if you want to name the time we can settle on a price and be done before dinner."

Laura swallowed. Maybe it was Kage's age - he couldn't be older than twenty five - or his casual attitude towards killing that bothered her, or both, but her voice trembled slightly.

"Just like that? So quickly?"

Kage looked at her levelly. "I'm a killer, not a sadist. Your husband gets a bullet in the skull and that's it; it's quick and relatively painless."

"It's just...you're serious, aren't you? It doesn't bother you."

The Lysian shrugged. "Why should it? It's not as if I actually know the man."

"You're just going to kill him? While he's still alive?"

Kage snickered. "Well, that is the most effective time to do it. Now either sit down and let's talk about this calmly, or get out of my house."

Laura gaped at him for a few moments. "Not everyone can discuss murder as calmly as you, Kage!"

"Agreed, but you don't seem able to discuss it, period, and you happen to be the one who wants me to do it. Now sit down or get out; I'm not going to ask you again."

Laura sat, slowly. Even if she'd been a far more fiery and defiant person, there was no arguing with that tone of voice.

"Better." Kage's dark eyes narrowed slightly. "Let's start again. What do you want? Never mind what you want from me; what do you want in general?"

"I just want...I want to feel safe. I want to go out without having to wonder who might be spying on me for my husband."

Kage raised an eyebrow, folding his hands on the desk and leaning forward slightly.

"So what you really want is for him to leave you alone."

Laura opened and closed her mouth a couple of times, then said abruptly, "I want him to stop."

"Stop?" Kage queried, leaning back again and putting one foot up on the corner of his desk. "Stop what, exactly?"

"I don't want any woman going through what I had to go through. If he's found another woman..."

Kage flicked a finger impatiently. "Spare me. Any woman - or man, for that matter - who prostitutes themselves for the sake of their partner's fame and money deserves everything they get. Besides, most Lysians can take care of themselves."

"But not all." Laura fiddled with the belt she was wearing; it gave her an excuse to look away from that unreadable stare for a few seconds. "If there weren't any victims at all, Kage, you and Ash would be out of a job."

Unexpectedly, Kage grinned. "Fair point." Shaking his head, he added, "Murder for altruistic purposes? I thought I'd seen it all, but that's a new one on me."

"Can I ask you something?"

"You didn't give me much of a choice on that one, but you can ask me something else."

"Is there anyone who does what you and Ash do who's over thirty?"

Kage gave her an odd half-smile, although he didn't answer the question. "You're in a very strange world, aren't you?"

Strange didn't begin to describe it, in Laura's opinion. She and her husband had been on a regular cruise, only to somehow be sucked out of Earth and shunted into Lysia, which as far as anyone could make out, seemed to be a parallel version of her world with a few differences. Differences like flying cars and the two moons and rings around the planet, for one thing.

Laura had abandoned her husband - who she'd believed at the time to be dead - and started walking with no clear idea of where she was or where she was going before somehow ending up in Asteroid District. Unlike Chemical, that particular District lived up to its name; it was a huge asteroid that had been hollowed out and turned into a thriving - if somewhat unusually designed - city.

"If your world turns out people like your husband though, I'm glad I don't have to endure it," Kage added, just loud enough for Laura to hear.

"Lysia turned out you," she pointed out.

Kage raised an eyebrow, more amused than offended. "Little survival tip for you; it's never a good idea to insult someone whose body count's in the mid-twenties. Especially not if you're trying to persuade them to add to that body count on your behalf."

Laura closed her eyes, swaying slightly. She was beginning to understand why Ash had told her that nobody called on Kage unless they had no other option; the young man seemed determined to remind her whenever possible that she was planning the murder of her husband.

"Why didn't you do it before?"

Kage's voice seemed to be coming to her from a long way off. Laura blinked once, forced herself back to the present and then looked at Kage.

"I'm sorry?"

"You must have had plenty of opportunities during your marriage to dispose of your husband, if that's really what you wanted."

"I thought about it." She had too. From poison in his food to a simple knife in the throat and several ideas in between, Laura's own imagination had frightened her at times.

"I know. So why didn't you do it?"

Laura floundered, stuck for words. How was she supposed to explain to this callous persona that you didn't want to kill, didn't want to sink to his level, that you still clung to the hope that things could change?

"He broke my arm once, just because I burned his dinner," she said abruptly. "What do you think he'd have done if he'd caught me trying to assassinate him?" She shook her head; the hell of her marriage wasn't something she liked talking or even thinking about. "And besides, just because I thought about it...some people think things they don't mean, like some people say things they don't mean."

"And some people wind up sitting where you are now trying to organise another person's murder," Kage pointed out pleasantly.

"I'm not a murderer!" Laura said, stung. "I don't...I can't kill him! It's...it's immoral!"

Kage gave a short, harsh laugh. "But immoral or not, you'd be perfectly happy if I killed him. Isn't that right?"

"If you don't want the job--!"

Kage raised an elegant hand, cutting her off. "Oh, but I do. I'm just not convinced you want me to have it. The maintenance on this place doesn't come cheaply, and I don't want to take this job only to have you overcome with remorse and refusing to pay."

Laura shifted her weight. The chair was starting to feel a little uncomfortable.

"What I want is for my husband to leave me alone. Not just me, but every woman he sees. I don't think there's anything short of killing that can make him do that."

"Castration, perhaps?" Kage suggested, then smirked at Laura's expression. "Don't look at me like that; you wouldn't be the first person to ask for it."

"I don't care how you do it!" Laura's voice rose slightly. This hadn't gone at all according to plan, and she wasn't sure if Kage had actually agreed to help her or not. "Just...stop him!"

Getting to her feet rather abruptly, she strode over to the front door and opened it, then paused to glance over her shoulder. "Just stop him from hurting me or anyone else, Kage, and I'll get you your blood money."

The door banged behind her and she was gone.