The Prospects (Short Story): Above the Stars Read Online Free PDF Page A

away. How’s your arm?”
    “Hurts like hell.”
    Alex tapped Max’s elbow. “I’ll bet every joint is dislocated.” He yelled to the policemen. “Get an ambulance.”
    Max’s face contorted in agony as he adjusted his arm. “That thing … Chak couldn’t hurt it.”
    Alex looked at the broken window. “Chak? Where are you?”
    From outside came his gravelly voice. “Over here.”
    Chak, his clothes shredded and bloodied but the scratches underneath visibly closing, came back in through the hole in the wall. He had the man with a wounded hand slung over his shoulder and threw him on the ground.
    “ Không làm tổn thương tôi,” the man said.
    Chak drew a knife.
    “ Không làm tổn thương tôi !” the man screamed.
    “He doesn’t speak English,” said Chak. “Max, a little help.”
    “That’s Vietnamese,” said Max. “We can call the precinct for a translator.”
    “No time. Agent, your phone.” Chak handed him a scrap of napkin with a phone number on it.
    Alex dialed the number. After two rings Lam’s voice said, “I don’t recognize your number. You have two seconds to convince me not to hang up.”
    Chak snatched the phone. “Lam, baby, big favor to ask of you. You at home? Great. Is your grandma around? Well, this is a bit more important than her soap operas. We need a translator, fast.”
    Alex took off his tie. He pointed to the man’s wounded hand and mimed bandaging his own hand.
    The man timidly extended his hand. Alex gently wrapped it.
    “Our translator’s ready. How do I put this on speakerphone?”
    Alex pressed a button.
    “First question,” said Alex. “Who is this guy?”
    The old woman’s voice on the phone said something in Vietnamese. The man replied. The woman said, “He name Phuc. Say he importer, exporter.”
    Alex said, “Ask what he knows about the new drug.”
    The woman sounded scared. “Drug?”
    In the background Lam said, “It’s okay, ba . He’s a government agent. I saw his badge.”
    The woman said something, the man said something, and the woman said, “Not know much. Chinese man sell. Say sell for high price.”
    “What did he look like?” asked Alex.
    After a quick exchange, Lam’s grandmother said, “Thin face, bald top but long hair in back.”
    Chak asked, “Does he know how to get in touch with ‘em?”
    The exchange of many words ended with Cam’s grandmother saying, “He say man visit him. He come in morning. Take money.”
    Alex said, “Can he think of anything else …”
    Lam interrupted. “The commercials are over. Grandma can be a real force of nature when anything gets between her and her soap operas.”
    Chak said, “Lam, you saved our bacon. And while you’re on the line, Agent O’Farrell has something he wants to say.” He thrust the phone at Alex.
    “What are you doing?” asked Alex.
    Chak whispered, “She came through after you were mean to her. Man up.”
    Alex took the phone. “Lam, I’m sorry about earlier. I was rude.”
    “Ah, sounds like you’re going through a tough time. I shouldn’t have needled you. Now go catch the bad guys.” She hung up.
    Chak buried his face into the sparkling pelt on the wall and sniffed deeply. “Think I got a scent of the boat and the men who held this. It ain’t much, but it’s a direction.”
    Max winced as he tenderly touched his limp right arm. “You’ll have to go without me.”
    Alex put his phone in one jacket pocket and the curved knife in another. “We’ll track them down and give you a call. Get someone to put all legally recognized superheroes on notice. Don’t bother looking for Qing Long. At this point we can’t stop him, but we can save his targets if we find them first.”
    “Detective, get Phuc here somewhere airtight,” said Chak. “Agent, it’s you and me. Let’s wrap this case up.”
    Alex followed Chak through the docks to the marina. Every time the wind shifted Chak sniffed. “No good. All I’m getting is diesel fumes.”
    “They