A Land Far Away

The music came down, the last stomps of the stuttered kick drum indicative of dancehall fading into silence. The room erupted into applause as the DJ smiled and acknowledged the appreciation for two hours of reggae, dancehall, and funk. He slapped the next DJ on the back, who nodded and dropped the first track, introducing the room to a warm synth that evolved into a pulsing house beat.

Several individuals immediately began moving, not caring about the genre, wanting only to dance. Others moved off the floor as their tastes dictated while people waiting for this portion of the night began to test the waters, anticipating a progressive house set that would keep them moving til the sun came up. A little less than four hours left til dawn.

See, the manager and resident of Ong King Art Center smiled and nodded his head, his shaggy, curly hair bouncing to the beat. It had been a good night, and eclectic array of entertainment featuring dance troupes, rock bands, poets, and DJs. Just the sort of event Ong King was known for, famous among the underground art and club culture in Honolulu, Hawaii.

He felt a little bump, below his hip and turned, his smile widening to a grin as he Saya smiled up at him and gave him a little wave, followed by a tight hug. The diminutive girl with eastern features and dark skin was full of life and radiated joy. She was also a student of movement, capoeirista and breakdancer. Looking her in the eye, he noticed she was also high. Probably ecstasy, the girl was known to use the drug when she went out on the weekends. He did not know her to take anything else.

She disentangled herself from him and bounced across the room, giving the DJ that just finished a hug and a friendly kiss on the cheek, speaking with him a moment before setting her bag behind the DJ booth and doing the same for the house DJ that just got on. Saya seemed to know everybody, and it was nearly impossible to resist her charm. Then, she moved to the dancefloor, moving with acrobatic grace.

On the south side of the building, near the windows, a group of local youths were enjoying themselves. Two young men and four women had been enjoying the dancehall and reggae but seemed uncertain about the house music. Refusing to let the unfamiliar style deter them from having a good time, the women danced gamely, encouraging the two men to join them.

One of the girls, barefoot and in a form flattering red dress, detached herself from the group to grab her shoes. Mae, her name was, a local girl who loved Hawaiian culture and tried to harmonize that love with the modern world. She was known for her Polynesian dancing and had performed at Ong King on several occasions. Before she could get to her shoes, one of her friends grabbed her arm and pulled her, laughing, back to the dancefloor.

Across the room, at the edge of the dancefloor, a thin, wiry man with a drink he had just purchased from the bar began to dance, tentatively. Nate was a computer programmer and web site designer. Tonight, he seemed preoccupied, as if his mind was somewhere else. That didn't stop him, though, from striking up a half-conversation with a girl on the dancefloor, using the chatter as a reason to dance with her.

At the bar, two young men sat on stools, watching the party and drinking beers. Though they weren't speaking to eachother, they're impressive physiques made them ratehr conspicuous. Alex was a surfer of Maori descent, on a surfing trip from New Zealand. Hours spent manuevering through the ocean and riding waves had given him a powerful build.

Next to him, in stark contrast to the darker Alex, was Simon, a pale bulldog of a man. Not tall, his broad back and thick arms made most people wary around him. Hawaii had a strong following when it came to mixed martial arts fighting events and that had translated into a large underground fighting circuit. In those circles, Simon was known as a tenacious brawler, fierce and determined. Otherwise friendly, he was starting to gain a bit of a following and many people thought it wouldn't be long before he went professional.

Across from the bar, near the back of the room, a young man in a wide brimmed hat lit a joint, passing it to a small group of friends. A Violin case was slung over his back and he smiled. His hair was braided and his clothing was simple. Jodigan was known to deal pot and spent most of his evenings busking in Waikiki, playing his violin on one corner or another. Tonight he looked tired, but wasn't willing to let that intrude on his fun.

Next to the back door, a short, thin Asian man leans against the wall with an annoyed expression. Wearing a black button down shirt and black slacks, Jason sold ecstasy, mostly just to his friends. He didn't do it for the money, he did it so that he and his friends did not have to worry about finding someone else, and dealing with the risks involved there. Probably he was supposed to meet someone and they hadn't shown up yet. House music was not his preference.

The stead thud of the kick drum coming from the speakers continued. The overall vibe in the venue was good and people were enjoying themselves. Several had cleared a space for Saya as she took a portion of the dancefloor, building an audience as she combined combined her capoeira and breakdancing into an impressive acrobatic dance style.

Some people continued dancing, Nate and Mae among them, but very few people weren't watching the small girl's display. See had been watching, as he always enjoyed Saya's dancing, but he had noticed Jodigan and his friends in the corner. He didn't care if they wanted to smoke a joint, but they could do it outside, out the backdoor on the deck. He began to move in that direction.

Jason was about to give up on his friend and leave when the back door opened and someone came in, wide eyed. A heavy breeze blew in, bringing with it a forboding chill. The vibe of the room changed suddenly. On the dancefloor, Saya stopped, standing up and moving towards Jason, who had poked his head outside to see if his friend might have been out on the deck the entire time.

Simon rose from the stool at the bar with a curse and stepped outside, noticing the people on the deck looking up at the sky. He looked up as well, but to him the sky was the sky, dark and featureless.

Meanwhile, Jodigan noticed See heading his way. Not wanting to antagonize his friend, he crushed the remainder of the joint in his hand, putting it out and making a 'finished' gesture. Bobbing his head to the music, he darted towards the bar, taking up the stool that Simon had just vacated and ordering a drink.

Not seeing his friend, Jason turned back to the dancefloor and noticed Saya heading his way. He smiled and nodded at her, then looked outside again.

"Hey, you!" Saya greeted him. "What's going on out the..." Her voice faded as she took notice of everyone's attention on the sky and joined them in looking up, while standing in the doorway.


At the bar, Jodigan nodded cordially to Alex and raised his glass in a toast before taking a deep pull from the bottle.

"Ease off the water there, mate," Alex smiled, returning the gesture. "You don't want to drown yourself, there's plenty of ocean to do that for you."

On the dancefloor, Mae, noticing the shift, tried to return the energy to the dancefloor, urging her companions to keep dancing. It seems to be working for most of the crowd. Nate, however, lost the flow and turned his attention to the open door.

"What are they looking at, anyway? Someone going to jump from the roof?" he asks the girl he had been dancing with. "Let's have a look!"

As more and more people stepped out and became transfixed on the sky, Simon felt a bit perplexed. "It's just the sky on an overcast night... either they've never seen clouds before or they're all high." He gave a glance toward the upward-looking people, then back toward the door. "My guess is both."

Just then, See moved to the back door. Speaking loud enough to be heard over the music, but not yelling, he told them to close the door.

"Guys, guys... we gotta close this door. You need to be in or you need to be out, OK, guys?" Though his manner wasn't aggressive, it was plain to ses his concern. The police had been called on the venue before.

Jodigan grinned at Alex as See came walking past. "I was just really thirsty you know," he says while nodding towards the door. "Man, I would not want See's job, having to deal with everyone. I wonder what is going on anyway?"

Another person squeezed past the bar and tapped See on the shoulder, speaking quietly to him. He sighed and shook his head before turning back to the people gathered at the door. He tapped Nate on the shoulder. “Hey, man... get this door closed for me, please, OK?"

Without waiting to see if Nate complied, he turned and headed out of the dancespace, downstairs to deal with whatever issue has been brought to his attention.

Meanwhile, Saya and Jason stood in the doorway, still looking up at the sky. “No stars out tonight,” he said, flatly, then backed away from the doorway to let Nate close it. Sidestepping past the two, Nate slipped outside and closed the door behind him.

“Well,” Saya said to Jason, “anyway, my night’s been good. Lots of energy around, but has seemed strange at the same time. How's yours been?"

Jason shoved his hands in his pockets with an annoyed look. "Weird," he replied. "I was already here once tonight, supposed to drop some things off to someone but he wasn't here. Now he's still not here." Jason shrugged and pushed his glasses up on the bridge of his nose, trying to look more relaxed than he felt. "Oh well I guess, no biggie."

"Oh yeah? That's odd. Seems like they'd want what you have for them," Saya said to Jason with a slightly devious little grin. "I stopped by almost everywhere tonight. Who you looking for anyway, maybe I saw them?"

Jason shrugged and shook his head. It wasn’t important, if the guy showed up, then he did, Jason could easily sell his wares to someone else.

Just then, the girl who had taken See downstairs came back up and made a beeline for the DJ. She said something to him and he nodded, a slightly disgusted look on his face. Then, he turned the music down, down to an unacceptable level for a nightclub environment.

The girl turned and addressed the patrons, "Cops are downstairs, See's talking to them, but for now we gotta keep the music down, OK? Just sit tight for a bit, don't rush outside or anything, wait til See let's us know the cops are gone."

Then she went back out of the room and back downstairs, leaving everybody inside muttering and commenting their thoughts on music, cops, and noise complaints.

“Well, that sucks,” Jodigan said, drinking from his bottle.

Alex shrugged, “Being able to hear people speak for a couple of minutes? I'm not complaining.”

Mae slowly approached Saya and Jason. As she neared, Saya came to a sudden realization. She grabbed Jason’s arm and stared blankly, wide-eyed at the floor. "No stars," she whispered. Pausing a moment, she turned and looked at him. "Do you feel it? I feel...so...strange."

Jason looked at her a moment, alarmed. “Saya, uh, do you need some water?"

Close enough to hear her quiet outburst, Mae helped Jason steady the girl. "Its been whispering in the breeze for some time, resonating in the earth. I know not what it portents but I know it is part of the next grand adventure." She let go of Saya’s arm and walked to the back door, opening it and looking to the sky.

Outside, Simon, Nate, and several others still pondered the lightless expanse above. They had noticed the volume went down, but had attributed it to one of the low points common in dance music, before the frenetic build. When Mae opened the door, however, it became obvious the music had actually been turned down.

Then, they heard a loud, authoritative voice, “I need everyone to clear a space in the center here, circle up!"

“What the f ck is going on now?” Nate asked, out loud. Nobody answered his question and he definitely felt a bit of agitation.

See had come back to the main room and behind him were several police officers. Four of them were in standard HPD uniforms, but one was a plainclothes police officer, wearing black slacks and a white button down shirt. Over this was a sport coat. He was polishing a pair of tinted glasses as he walked to the center of the room.

"We're just looking for a few individuals who we think are here tonight,” he announced. “We just need to find them for some questioning and then you guys can get back to your music."

He looked at the open back door. "If anyone is out back, can you bring them in? Bring them in and then close that door." He nodded at one of the HPD officers with him and that man went to check the back deck, herding those who were outside into the main room.

“Crap,” Jason said, as the room got tense. A small nervous laughed escaped his lips as he gently pulled Saya aside. "Perfect" he commented sarcastically. "Saya, we have to get in a circle and look normal, are you alright?"

"Um, yeah, I'm ok...I think...No, no water. Thanks Jason," Saya said still holding on quite tightly to his arm. She followed him into the circle, not letting go.

The plainclothes officer tapped his foot as the people shuffled in from outside. "The quicker we do this, the quicker you guys can get back to your party."

Fuckin’ peachy, Simon thought, as he entered, seeing the cops. A heavy sigh and an awkward shift away from the door placed him with his back to an interior wall, eyeing the happenings and trying to disguise his newly found tension.

As people nervously stood about, Jodigan turned to Alex, determined not to let his spirits be deflated. In a thick, Russian accent, he asked Alex, “How bad it would be to have cops come to party to find you!" He shook his head laughing lightly, and then whispered conspiratorially to Alex, "I let you have weed...cheap."

Alex ignored Jodigan’s blatant attempt to thumb his nose at the authorities present in the room. “Pretty bad," he replied, seriously. "A night in a cold police cell... Not sure about you mate, but I can certainly think of better ways to be spending my night."

After everyone came in from the back deck, Mae slowly closed the door and walked back to her group of friends. There was a low murmur as the patrons whispered quietly to one another, wondering what was going on. The plainclothes officer finished polishing his glasses and put them on, slowly circling the room.

As he peered at faces, making a circle and turning his head to the side, everybody hushed and most wore a serious, somber expression. Stopping in front of the bar, he lowered his gaze, as if scanning the ground, then cocked his head to the side. It looked as though he were listening to something. Then he looked up and leveled his gaze at Alex and Jodigan.

“These two,” he said, tersely. Two of the uniformed officers had taken up positions by the entry of the space. The other two had walked with the plainclothes officer into the middle of the room. It was one of these who stepped up, looking to escort Alex and Jodigan from the room.

“What?!?” both men exclaimed in unison.

“Look,” Alex continued, “I haven’t done anything wrong – you must have the wrong person! What am I being arrested for?”

Jodigan nodded, “What is this about? We were just sitting at the bar minding own business. All I am drinking is water!” To accentuate his point, he held up his glass and slowly began to shuffle towards the door, his thoughts on the ounce of pot he had hoped to sell that night. "Have you tried the water here? Is very good, please excuse me, I think I am going to be sick… something in water, I think.” With that, he turned and tried to bolt out the door.

The two policemen at the door grabbed him quickly, holding him. “Calm down, sir,” one said, “We just want to ask you some questions!”

“Oh my,” Saya whispered to Jason, “this is bad. That guy is off…” she indicated the detective, who stood watching impassively as Jodigan struggled against the two officers. “Strange vibe. I think this is all wrong.”

"That is very understandable,” Jodigan replied to the cops holding him, “but I just need to use restroom. I will come right back out for you. You can even come watch, I will be quick."

Simon watched with a smirk. Lucky bastard, he thought, If he broke through, there'd be a knee on the back of his neck while those out-of-shape bastards screamed "Why'd you run?" into one of his ears... maybe not tonight, but vindictive little shits like them have a way of finding people.

The two officers holding Jodigan looked to the detective, who nodded curtly. One of the officers let go of Jodigan entirely, while the other gave him slack to stand himself up, then escorted him to the restroom, waiting outside to allow the Russian some privacy.

The other cop that had originally meant to escort them out looked to Alex and gestured ‘after you’. "Just some questions, sir, that's all, please step outside," he urged.

“Of course,” Alex replied, an uncertain look on his face as he set his glass down and walked out.

In the hallway outside the dancespace, Jodigan stepped out of the bathroom, the sound of a toilet flushing behind him. “OK,” he said to the officer who led him to the bathroom, smiling, “You are a lifesaver! Now, ask me whatever you like!”

Meanwhile, the detective was still in the room and had resumed circling. After a few moments, he stopped in front of the group that had been outside. He looked a long moment, seemingly over their heads, before pointing.

“You,” he said, his finger jabbing towards Simon. “And you…” this time he indicated Nate.

The other officer in the circle stepped forward to escort them outside.

Finally, the detective pointed at Jason and Saya. “You and you. You four, follow this officer outside, please."

Nate seemed furious, “What the hell is this about? What’s going on here?!?”

More subdued, Saya looked to the detective, “Um, please, can I grab my bag first Is this going to take long? If it is, I need my bag."

As the detective granted his permission to Saya’s request then turned to respond to Nate, Simon pushed his way forward and stood before him.

"I'd like to see IDs and badge numbers, officer,” he stated, bluntly.

The detective barely gave Simon a glance before turning around.

Mae stepped away from her friends and moved towards the detective. The large Hawaiian woman who she was laughing with earlier gave her a panicked look. "What are you doing?"

Mae shrugged, "I don't know.. yet, but this feels right. Just hang back, Kina, I'll be fine." Then, summoning a smile, she turned to look at the detective.

The detective gave a slim, rather unpleasant smile in return. "Ah, thank you, ma'am. You are also among those we need to speak with."

He turned to ensure the uniformed officer was not having too much trouble escorting them out. Saya had grabbed her bag and was following. Simon, however, was not. He again walked up to the detective.

"I SAID that I would like to see your IDENTIFICATION, OFFICER. If you CONTINUE this WITHOUT showing your LEGAL IDENTIFICATION as an officer of the law, I will TREAT your moves as an act of ASSAULT."

Quietly, the detective reached into his jacket and produced a wallet, which he flipped open and displayed for Simon, holding the badge a mere inch from his face. Simon took a short step back, not flinching, but to focus his eyes on reading the badge.

The detective continued to smile, “No one is touching you, sir, so there is no need for your bravado. If you continue with your belligerent tone, I'll happily place you in cuffs and question you that way. So far we're all being really nice. I let that fellow go to the restroom, I'm letting little miss there get her bag.

"All real nice like. If you don't like nice, we can go the other way. You look like a big guy, I imagine we won't be able to go easy on you, if it came to that. But I don't think it'll have to come to that. Will it? Sir?"

“Oh, my,” Saya whispered, as she watched the confrontation. The whole room was riveted on the interaction between the heavily muscled Simon and the fulsome detective.

Simon eyed the ID picture, then the cop and then flipped over a coster on the bar, pulling a half-chewed bic pen from his pocket to take down the information contained on the ID.

"Withholding the ID and then threatening a civilian in a room full of witnesses," he said, as he shook his head. "If you have a warrant, I've a right to see it. If you've cause for arrest, I've a right to have it explained. If you've neither, I think I'll stay right here. I would rather not deal with people who don't do their jobs well."

As he wrote the information down, he turned his back on the detective. Motherf cker has been watching too much Law and Order, he thought to himself. You'd think his friends would tell him how to do his f cking job.

The detective’s grin faded into a frown and the arm holding the badge drooped as he regarded Simon for several moments.

The other officer stood with Saya, Jason, Mae, and Nate, apparently awaiting instructions.

After a minute, the detective’s smile returned and he put his badge away. "No ones making threats, son,” he said. “Just pointing out the consequences for what I perceived as your own threatening language. Seems we both need thicker skins. Maybe we call that one even, I won't arrest you for the perceived threat to me, you don't inconvenience yourself with any silly phone calls, hmmm?"

The room was exceptionally silent.

"In any case, I don't have a warrant, since I wasn't here to arrest you, and since I wasn't here to arrest you, I won't be doing that either. Like I said before, all I want to do is ask you some questions, pertaining to a crime that was committed earlier in the week and that we think you might have some information on. Coming with me would be a public service, working to put... criminals behind bars. So, one last time, I'm asking nicely... will you come with us, we just have some questions we'd like to ask you, away from the crowd...?"

Simon did not even bother to look at the man as he replied. “I'm not interested in your questions, and unless the owner of this fine building asks me to leave, I've every intention of staying right here."

The detective looked at Simon for a few more seconds, then nodded. "Alright then, suit yourself."

Then, he turned and said to the other police men, "Let's go, I'm sure these other folks will be plenty enough help."

With that, he stepped towards the exit. The other officer gestured for Mae, Jason, Saya, and Nate to follow. As they left through the hallway, the two officers that had posted there followed behind.

As soon as they are out of sight, the venue burst like a cloud, everyone talking to eachother in hushed tones.

A short, dark skinned local with curly hair turned to Simon, "Well damn... that was ballsy!" He lifted his drink and tipped it to Simon in a toast before putting the glass to his lips.

Downstairs, Alex and Jodigan joined a few more policemen waiting outside. Two of them were in standard police uniforms and two more were dressed in black suits and wearing tinted glasses. Other than that, the street was clear. Obviously when they arrived, they had gathered up all the people who had been smoking outfront and corralled them into the venue.

One of the uniformed officers approached them, even as their escort went to talk to the other uniformed cop.

“Hey, guys,” he said, smiling. “Weird night, yeah? Sorry to pull you guys out of there, sounds like you guys had one good time tonight. Just, some loco stuff went down earlier this week. Detective Ellis up there thinks you guys might know something about it…” He pulled out a pack of Marlboro Smooths, drawing one for himself and then tipping the pack towards them.

“No, thanks,” Alex waved the offer away.

“Yes, I was having much fun,” Jodigan replied. He made a face at the pack.

“Look,” Alex went on, “no worries about pulling us out of there, mate. I’m sure it’s not the highlight of your night either.” As the officer patted his pockets, trying unsuccessfully to locate his lighter, Alex continued, “So, what’s this all about then?”

Jodigan grinned as he fished out his own lighter and offered it to the policeman. “And if you are a man, why you smoke women’s brand?”

The officer grinned at Jodigan as he took the lighter and lit his cigarette. “T’anks, brah.” He looked around a moment, then down the street. He turned tolook at the other officers, who seemed to be shooting them all a darkglance. “We’ll probably want to get off the street and talk to these fellows, yeah? No need, bringing them all the way to the station.”

He aimed this question at the plainclothes detectives. They returned the glance without saying a word.

“I mean, no need, right?” the officer continued. “We aren’t bringing them in? There’s a parking lot, it stay just around the corner there… get planny light so you can see your notebooks and away from prying eyes?”

The two suited men looked to one another and shrugged. “Sure, whatever you say,” one responded. “You’re probably right. Let’s see what Ellis has to say about it.”

The officer with the cigarette nodded and turned back to the two young men. “At least we won’t waste time with a ride up and back. Get some info and then you guys get back to your party in no time.” He smiled.

Then, the door opened and the others spilled out onto the street. A total of six police officers and three more plainclothes, Alex and Jodigan, and Jason, Mae,Nate, and Saya.

The officer with the cigarette looked over at Detective Ellis. “That everyone you need from inside?”

Ellis looked at the man and nodded. “Yes, Sergeant Kanaka. There’s another one in there we want to talk to, but he’s not cooperating.”

“Oh,” Kanaka replied. “That’s too bad. But , we get six… should be enough, yeah? I was thinking we could use the parking lot around the corner. You know, out of the way of prying eyes, give these guys some privacy to talk and not take them all the way to the station?”

Detective Ellis looked up the street and then nodded. “Yeah, that sounds good, I guess. Lead the way.”

Officer Kanaka smiled and beckoned the group to come with him.

Detective Ellis looked at the rest of the cops. “You guys bring the cars around, the rest of us will take a walk. Jones, Gibbs, come on then.” He beckoned to the two other plainclothes detectives.

Nate turned to Detective Ellis, “Are you going to tell us what’s going on here or not?“

Immediately, Jodigan chimed in, “I will be fine to answer your questions, if it will not be taking long anyway. I don't see why we would have to go to parking garage away from 'prying eyes,' when you stopped whole party to bring us out here."

Mae looked up at the starless sky and then to the others. She allowed a smile to creep across her face as she purred, "This all seems pretty irregular officers. I'm sure I'm not alone in thinking I would like to know what I am being questioned in relation to before we all get hauled off to a private place that is not a police station."

She smiled somewhat coyly at Detective Ellis as she stepped toward him, lowering her voice a little as she continued, "Its just I've heard stories you know. I'm curious and happy to cooperate but I also don't want my rights violated. You understand don't you? A girl needs to protect herself."

Saya stood next to Jason, staring at the sky with wide eyes. “No stars…” she whispered again.

Frowning, Detective Ellis turned to them all, “There was a girl murdered a few days ago. I'm investigating the case. She had a diary, and the last page was a list of names. All of you were on it.

"Now, I'm not going to divulge further information about the crime here on the side of the road. I was going to bring you to the station for questioning, was why I brought three cars. But Kanaka's right, if you feel like answering them here, that's fine, but we'll need to get away from public view. Folks from upstairs have no reason not to come outside and loiter here, and I don't want to attract a nosy crowd.

"So we can go to this parking garage Kanaka knows about, we can go to the station and you can answer questions there or wait for your lawyer. Or you can go back inside. The man upstairs wanted a warrant. He won't like it once we get one, the questions don't come so friendly then."

He began to walk down the street, "Up to you folks."

Officer Kanaka looked at the others and smiled apologetically, "Better than being hauled to the station, eh? Should be done in just a few minutes."

"I don't think there's any need for us to go to the station,” Nate began as he began to follow, glancing at the others. “I don't know anything about any murder, so just ask what you want and then I guess I'll be going home. Who was the girl anyway?”

Finally looking away from the sky, Saya turned to Jason and whispered, “What should we do?”

"I guess just go with it," Jason replied. "I don't know anyone who was murdered, we would have heard about it if anything like that happened. Coconut wireless goes faster than the news or the cops. It's weird though; let's hear what they have to say."

"Wait, that wasn't what I was talking..." Saya interrupted herself, "Murdered?" she exclaimed to Jason as she realized what was going on in the present. She paused for a second to think. "Yeah, I guess we should go with them." Saya then started walking, following Nate and the cops.

A couple of the police officers moved over to a pair of the squad cars. They got in and started them up, driving them a block down the street and turning right at the first corner, out of sight. The rest of the group followed as Sergeant Kanaka and Detective Ellis led them across the street and towards the canal along river street.

They turned left at the intersection and came to the exit to the parking garage. It was a structure that anyone who traveled often to Chinatown for the night life was familiar with. It was well lit, but lacked any attendants at night to ticket illegally parked cars. Alex had actually parked in this garage, his car sitting on the second level.

"This time of night, shouldn't be no one cruising through in there to bother us, yeah?" Officer Kanaka said as they entered.

Adjusting his violin case, Jodigan sighed as he wondered how long he would be here. This certainly was not his idea of a fun time.

Opening her bag, Saya grabbed a pack of gum and pulled a piece out for herself, first, and then one for Jason. Jason took the stick almost automatically, following the rest of them in.

As they moved to the side, the two police cars came in from the entrance. One stopped in the entry of the garage as the other pulled past them, stopping at the exit. The fully enclosed structure took on a slightly menacing feel.

Sergeant Kanaka looked at the car at the entrance, then to the one blocking the exit, frowning a moment, but the following with a shrug, “I guess no one will bother us…”

He pulled out his notebook while Detective Ellis walked to the police car at the exit, leaning in to talk on the radio.

“Alright,” Kanaka began, “just so you know, you guys have the right to not answer any question you don’t want to, ok? But anything you can tell us will help. First, I’ll need to know your names, for the record. Without a name, anything you tell us is useless, we have to attribute it to somebody, ok?”

He looked at Mae first, “Can I get your name, miss?”

“Mae Kahali Kamu, Officer,” she responded.

“Right,” Kanaka wrote her name into his notebook, “and did you know a girl named Rebecca Harris?”

As he spoke, Detective Ellis continued speaking on the radio. He looked meaningfully at one of the other plainclothes detectives, the one he had identified moments before as Gibbs, who nodded and walked out of the structure, back the way they had come. The other one, Detective Jones, walked closer to the group, next to Kanaka, slightly behind him on his left.

Mae seemed to hold back her response just a moment. “I'm sorry Officer... Kanaka, I don’t know that woman and I'm at a loss as to know why she had my name in her notebook. What else would you like to know from me? If I might ask a question, were there other names aside from ours on her list?” Her solemn expression brightened into a smile as she presented a helpful attitude.

“…sent Gibbs to deal with the one that stayed in the bar?”

Nate, Alex, and Saya strained to hear what was coming out of the radio. They could faintly hear the squelched dialogue, as well as Detective Ellis’s reply.

“I did. Should I go ahead and take care of these hear then?” He waited for a response.

Saya stepped a little closer to Jason. "Can you hear what they're saying on that radio over there? I heard something weird," she whispered to him very quietly. "This all seems wrong. I don't like how they blocked us in, and I don't know this girl they're talking about. I still feel strange from earlier too."

Nate looked from Detective Ellis, his focus coming around to the matter at hand, “Right then, I don't know any Rebecca Harris either. If that's all you want to talk about I'm afraid I can't help you.”

Sergeant Kanaka turned to Nate, "Well, simply not knowing her doesn't mean you can't help us. Your name was in her book. If we know a little about each of you, it might help us to determine why."

Alex moved closer to Sergeant Kanaka and Jones, his eyes on the Detective’s hand, now hidden in the left side of his jacket.

Squatting down, Jodigan heaved a sigh, "If I had some potatoes, I could make Vodka." Squatting turned into sitting. "Then if I was drunk, maybe I could answer questions about people I know nothing about."

Alex glanced at his watch, then still surreptitiously moving closer to Detective Jones and Sergeant Kanaka he asked, "Any idea how much longer this is going to take, officer? I should really be heading off shortly."

Faintly, the response finally came in from the radio. Saya and Alex alone could barely hear it:

“Yes, take them out. The sooner it is done, the better things will be for us.”

Jones looked back at Ellis, who nodded. Quickly, Detective Jones pulled out his gun. Alex immediately jumped forward to tackle him but was too late.

Putting the gun against Sergeant Kanaka’s head, Jones pulled the trigger.

Simon chuckled as he glanced at the friendly local and shook his head.

"Can you believe they gave that f cker lieutenant?" he asked, as much to himself as to the fellow sitting next to him. He continued, his voice dropping almost to a mumble, reading the information he had written onto the coaster. "Joshua Ellis... something wasn't right... bet he's not really a cop."

He rose from the bar, his chuckle simmering down to a smirk as he patted the dark-skinned fellow on the shoulder, uttering a simple thanks as he tried to get See’s attention before walking over to the host.

"Mind if I use your phone... and eh... got a phone book?" he asked, just loud enough to be heard over the commotion, wiggling the coaster with his thumb and forefinger in front of himself.

See nodded, "Sure, long as you're not breaking any laws, I won't kick you out." He grinned and handed Simon his phone, "Who are you calling?”

Simon twisted the coaster so the information written on it was visible to See. "I'm just going to call up the police, and make sure the badge number is real... make sure it matches the name on the ID on any records they have. Something about that 'don't make any phone calls' thing he said makes me think there's something very wrong going on."

See pointed to the alcove behind the bar, “Phonebook is behind the bar, go ahead and call from back there, too."

Going behind the bar, Simon picked up the phone book and located the non-emergency number for the police and dialed. An voice system picked up and Simon attempted to navigate it quickly by pressing zero. Eventually, an operator picked up.

“How may I direct your call?”

“I need to talk to someone who knows what detectives are out on cases,” he said. “We just had an officer come to a club and pull several people out and I don’t think he’s on the level.”

There was a pause, then a reply, “Will you hold please?”

The phone clicked before Simon could respond, canned music piping from the small phone. As he waited, the DJ started the music back up, softly, but inexorably bringing it back to its previous levels.

As people began to return to their night of fun, forgetting about the police that had interrupted their evening, a voice came over the phone.

Simon plugged his free ear with a finger and crouched below the bar, trying to shield himself from the sound, “Hello?”

“Hello?” came the response. “This is Captain Harris. What can I do for you?”

“Right,” Simon began. “I’m calling about a Detective Joshua Ellis? He’s a Lieutenant with the HPD?”

“Ellis?”

“Yes, Joshua Ellis. Claims he’s on a case, trying to question folks.”

The voice on the end of the line was silent a moment before continuing.

"Lt. Ellis… I don't think,” the Captain pondered for a moment. “Oh... actually, yes. I know who you're talking about.”

Simon listened carefully.

“He says he's on a case?” the man continued. “That's odd... I didn't assign him to one. It's been a hectic night, though. He's a new transfer, from another station.” There was another pause. “Can't recall where he's coming in from off the top of my head... Where did you say you were at?"

Simon sighed, "I'm in Ong King right now, on River and King. Listen, this guy just took six people out of here for 'questioning’. And he tried to take me, too. I'm going to go outside and see if I can see anything; I'll be the big white guy if you send someone down."

Simon hung up before getting a response and gave the phone back to See, uttering a barely audible thanks. He rushed down the stairs to the street, tilting his head to either side until his neck cracked, making that all-too-familiar pop.

"Motherf ckers,” he muttered to himself, “I knew something was wrong. I knew it. Should've broken his face when I had the chance."

As he stepped out the door, he surprised several other patrons who had taken the opportunity to walk out the front and smoke. Simon looked up and down King Street, the perpendicular canal that ran alongside River Street to his right and King extending to the left.

As he stood and tried to discern which direction to try, from across the street, around the corner of the King and River intersection walked a man in a black sports coat and sunglasses. For a moment Simon thought it might be the Lieutenant, but quickly realized that it wasn’t.

Before he could take comfort in the realization, the man noticed the burly Simon and reached into his coat pocket, pulling out a small handgun. Simon dove to the ground, behind the cars lining King Street as shots rang out.

The people who had gathered to smoke fled in a panic. Some ran in either direction down the street, but most fled into Ong King. Simon poked his head up to see the gunman aiming at his head. He ducked back down in a feint towards River Street, then turned and scrambled in a crouch the other way.

As he went, he scanned for anything he could use as a weapon. Simon wasn’t a big fan of guns and the fact that someone was shooting at him was infuriating. There was no more playing nice. Bullets were for keeps and Simon had no intention of losing.

As he reached a side alley he turned to take cover. Shots fired again and Simon felt a hot flash in his right bicep. Cursing he entered the alley and quickly checked his arm. A flesh wound, nothing serious, but bleeding. He leaned against the wall for a moment, cursing, and then looked into the alley. A dumpster sat twenty feet in and trash littered the ground.

Simon dashed over to the dumpster and crouched behind it, daring a look every other moment to see if his assailant was pursuing.

He rummaged through the litter in front of him, muttering to himself, “come on… come on!” A reflection caught his eye and Simon reached forward. It was something small, heavy, metal, and... bearing a Pepsi logo. Diet. He sighed and held it in his right arm, ready to throw. There was a throbbing pain, but nothing that hurt more than he was used to.

Simon heard the man run up to the alley and then stop. In the distance he could hear other popping noises. Gunfire, he thought. Someone else is getting shot at. It wasn’t hard for him to think who that might be.

“f ck f ck f ck… f ckity f ck…f ck f ck,” he muttered. Then, he stood and hurled the can at the gunman and charged in behind it.

The can hit him fully in the face. His sunglasses flew from his face and he teetered off balance for just a moment, while firing wildly in Simon’s direction.

Simon dove at the man’s midsection, taking another grazing bullet wound along his shoulder but avoiding any serious damage. He gritted his teeth and he slammed solidly into the man, tackling him to the ground. His experience as a wrestler and pit fighter came into play as he tried to pin the man down.

However, the gunman was much stronger than Simon anticipated, giving the man’s slighter, wiry frame. It took several moments to get a good position on top, but when he did, Simon didn’t waste any time. He grabbed the man by his hair and slammed his head into the ground several times, muttering, “Give up, mutherf cker, give up!”

Realizing that no man could take such abuse without being fully addled, Simon stopped, thinking the fight over. Suddenly, the man’s eyes flew open, revealing completely black eyes, reflecting light like polished obsidian. His face broke into a stiff grin and he punched Simon, knocking him off.

Both men took a moment on the ground before trying to regain their feet. Simon was the quicker and, before even making it fully to his feet, rushed the other man again, grabbing his legs and shoving him over. Keeping a firm hold, Simon rocked back onto his feet. The man tried to twist out of his grasp, but Simon was in his element. Using his considerable strength, he yanked up and started to spin.

The man’s arms flailed about wildly as Simon brought him quickly around in two rotations before stepping to the side and smashing him against the dumpster with a loud crack. Simon stopped turning and looked at the man’s crumpled form.

“Oh, sh t,” he said softly. Then, he grabbed the man’s gun and bolted out of the alley in the direction the man had come from.

By this time, the music was again off in the club, or at least turned way down: Simon couldn’t hear it from the street. A few people were poking their heads out the door. Seeing Simon run by, bleeding and with the gun elicited a few more surprised screams as they pushed the door shut.

Getting to the intersection of King and River, he turned left, towards the harbor. Shots continued to echo ahead. Halfway down the block was a side alley that led to a parking garage. A significantly loud report amidst the staccato of smaller gunfire echoed through the alley and Simon surmised that they must be in that direction. He turned left into the alley and sprinted towards the police cruiser that sat half in and half out of the garage exit.

As he reached it, he turned and stopped short. There, struggling with Lieutenant Ellis and another plainclothes officer was a vision that Simon could only connect with the word Goddess. She was tall and exuded an aura of power. A sweet fragrance of tropical flowers permeated the air around her. A red dress, too small for her proportionate form, clung to her in modest tatters. A Hawaiian Goddess.

She struggled with Lt. Ellis, who held a shotgun. She had a hand on it and was trying to wrest it from his grip. The other detective lunged and grabbed her from behind. She jerked the shotgun down and in the struggle, it fired twice, knocking the plainclothes detective backwards, onto the ground.

She then viciously jerked the shotgun out of Lt. Ellis's hands with force that spoke of great physical strength before bashing him in the face with the butt of the weapon. Lt. Ellis stumbled backwards, not quite losing his feet.

Then, she turned to Simon and he recognized her, somehow, as the girl from the club, the Hawaiian girl with the red dress that had willingly gone with the others. She looked over at him, directly and he stood staring, in awe. Mae, something in his mind recalled, her name is Mae. But she was taller, a sight to behold, near perfection of form. However, amidst the awe was a splash of horror, for marring the perfection of form and feature were the depthless black orbs that were her eyes, and the thick, dark liquid that streamed freely from them.