Twinks in Space: Fantastic Voyage - Part Two - 44. Chapter 44 - Young Quigley, Part 1

Long before becoming a bounty hunter, when Quigley was a youth, he was enamored by the men and women he watched visit a bar called the Holy Fount in his hometown. It was not a bar for being casual and relaxing; it was a bounty hunter haunt and a place where they acquired their assignments. From time to time in those early years, young Quigley saw a few hunters bring their frightening chained quarries into the Holy Fount, and it excited him.

After a growth spurt at the age of thirteen, Quigley was first noticed by one of the Holy Fount’s regulars, a woman who called herself Glasshart. The android who was always with her had recently been destroyed, and she was in need of an assistant. When she offered Quigley an apprenticeship, he jumped at the chance.

For two years, Quigley learned the art of tracking. He thrived under Glasshart, but when he wanted to start taking on bounties of his own, she denied him. Quigley worked under her for another two years, but they dragged for him. Glasshart was a talented bounty hunter to apprentice under, but at seventeen, Quigley was sure he was ready to go out on his own, and at that point he ended his professional relationship with Glasshart.

Quigley did not realize how much of a child he still was.

Dressed in his leathers and armed with several blasters and sheathed blades, the boy entered the commission house of the Holy Fount alone for the first time. The barkeep and bookies who acted as middlemen between the bounty hunters and the paying clients all knew Quigley by that point from his work with Glasshart.

“What’s available?” he asked, sidling up to one of the bookies.

The man eyed Quigley doubtfully and opened his device. “Looks like there are three available, but I don’t know if you can handle them. Hmmm… why don’t you take this one?” He turned the device to Quigley.

The young would-be bounty hunter frowned. “But this is just for some thug kid, and the payment’s lousy. Don’t you have anything real?”

“Listen, if you can handle the kid, I’ll give you something more substantial.”

Quigley tried not to sound like he was whining. “Can I at least see the others?”

The bookie raised one eyebrow and pulled up the details for the other two targets. He held up his device.

Quigley did not want to go after the first of those two bounties. “Lith the Orj’gon, the war criminal?” Quigley looked at the man. “Yeah, I think you’re right about him being out of my league. Oh, but wait,” he added as the second target came onto the screen.

The bookie put up his free hand. “I really don’t think you should start with them.”

“No, no, I can handle it,” Quigley said with more confidence than he truly felt, and he read the details aloud. “The burglar pair of Tizomin and Frilnin, wanted by a private confidential client, stole files from the Idriolia religious archive, stole jewelry from the Tilosio fashion house, stole over Two-hundred-seventy-seven-million from a banking caravan.” Quigley paused with surprise before reading the next item. “Stole the dead prince of Rholia’s body?”

The bookie nodded. He looked concerned. “I think they’re gonna be a lot to handle.”

Quigley was determined. “No, I can do it. I’ll bring ’em in.”

“Alright,” the man replied, shaking his head, “you’ll need to bring them to a specified location preplanned by the client. I’ll transfer you all the details, but be careful,” the bookie added, “and if Tizomin and Frilnin prove to be too much for you, come back to me and you can start with the kid.”

Quigley left with his head held high. He had helped Glasshart bring in fifty-eight targets over their four years together, and Quigley was feeling very sure of himself.

Glasshart had trained him up into a skilled tracker, and the burglars were a brazen pair who proved to be easy to locate. Young Quigley found out that Tizomin and Frilnin were cavorting in a neighboring galaxy, and they were not keeping their activities a secret.

Quigley rented a cargo shuttle to make the journey, and the new hunter on his first solo mission arrived above the planet where his two targets were partying. He descended into the city, docked the shuttle, and made his way through the streets toward a tavern called Pickle’s Place. Quigley had been to the system once before while tracking a bounty with Glasshart, but they did not visit Pickle’s Place on that trip, and the seventeen year old was not expecting those who greeted him as he approached.

Male prostitutes leaned against the brick walls and lampposts, lingering outside Pickle’s Place in broad daylight. No one was shooing them away, and Quigley was surprised to see more rent-bois and gigolos leaning out of the second story of the tavern. Some of the men were thick and burly, with beards and hairy chests. Others were effeminate and beautiful. Men of all ages, body types, and skin colors were present, and even other sentient species with genders who coupled with men were there also, selling their bodies. Many of them catcalled the young bounty hunter as he approached the front of Pickle’s Place.

“Fine hunka flesh heading our way, gurls!”

“Oooh, don’t he just look like he’s ready to shove somebody against the wall?”

“I’d take him home to mommy.”

“Wha’dya think, sailor? Wanna have a little fun?”

“He could slap my ass and call me his plaything.”

“He can call me anything he likes!”

Many of the men cackled at each other as Quigley tried to weave through them. Quite a few caught his eye; Quigley preferred girls most of the time, but there had also been a few special boys over the past few years. He was on a mission and determined, but the men were very distracting.

“Why don’t you come give me a cuddle?”

“Buy me a drink, big boy, and I’ll show you how a real man does it.”

“Or if you’d like something a little sweeter, you can come play with me.”

“Look at his yummy yams!”

“Hey, cutie, ever been with a man who’s also a woman who’s also a man?”

Despite the distractions, Quigley entered Pickle’s Place, but an enormous bouncer put his palm against the bounty hunter’s chest.

“You can’t come in,” the man grunted.

Quigley could see his targets inside the venue. “Why not? I want to.”

The bouncer snarled. “We’re full.”

“What do you mean you’re full? You just let someone in!” Quigley snapped.

Two people slipped past Quigley and the bouncer opened the door. They entered.

“What about them?!”

The bouncer gave Quigley a smirk. “Them I like.” He shoved Quigley back.

“Fine! I’ll just go somewhere else.” Quigley glanced past the bouncer again at his targets and tried to come up with a plan as he headed away from the tavern.

The sexy men around Pickle’s Place cackled and jeered at him, but this time, Quigley ignored them. He was frustrated. He needed to get inside and lay claim to his two targets. If they left, there was no telling where they would end up. Quigley knew they had significant resources and could easily disappear, but there they were, just out of reach. He glared back at the bouncer, but a gentle hand slipped into the hinge of his elbow.

“Not a good idea,” whispered a sultry voice so close to Quigley’s ear that he could feel the person’s breath.

Quigley turned and found himself standing very close to a lovely, thin, elfish fellow who did not look much older than Quigley himself.

“Pay no attention to them!” the slender man waved at the other prostitutes with a limp wrist and a playful smirk. “They’re just a bunch of old slags anyway!”

Those nearest gasped and slapped at him as he pulled Quigley to the mouth of a nearby alleyway.

“I’m Uloo.” He gave Quigley a peck on his cheek. “You’re going about it all wrong. If you want to get inside, you’ve gotta enter another way.”

Quigley was intrigued. “Tell me more,” he replied with a flirty smile. The spritely boi was very attractive.

Uloo brought his nose right up to the tip of Quigley’s and said, “I’ll tell you anything you wanna know.”

When he did not say more, Quigley tried to figure out the next step in the exchange. “Is there something you want?”

Uloo flashed Quigley a sassy smile. “There are all sorts of things I want!”

The inexperienced bounty hunter made another attempt. “Do I have something you want?”

Uloo looked Quigley up and down. “That remains to be seen.”

Quigley’s naivety became painfully apparent when he offered, “Do you wanna make out with me?”

The young man selling his body stepped back and shot Quigley a skewed face. “That’s normally what you’d pay me for.”

“Oh right, money,” Quigley blurted out. “Do you want money?”

“Unless you have something more useful than money to offer, yes, hunny, I want money. If I’m giving anything, whether we’re talking about my body, my knowledge, or simply my time, I expect to be paid.” He smiled wide at Quigley, who pulled out his monetary tracker and made Uloo a financial offer. “I’ll take it.” He gave Quigley a sultry kiss at the corner of his mouth. “Now, what do you want to know?”

“How do I get into Pickle’s Place?”

Uloo snorted a laugh. “Easy! You go around to the back entrance and offer the owner your hot body.” He stroked Quigley’s chest. “She’ll take you right in. It’s over this way.” Uloo led Quigley around the building and knocked on the back door.

“But I want to get inside to two clients who are already in there.”

Uloo did not understand. “Why are you interested in the clients? Aren’t you trying to get into Pickle’s Place for a show or something they offer inside?”

“I’m a bounty hunter, and I need to bring in two people who are in there.”

Uloo scowled at Quigley. “What?!” he squawked. Then he hissed under his breath, “Are you out of your godsdamn mind? They’ll kill you! You’re really not here to get laid?”

Quigley shook his head no as the door opened, and Uloo grabbed his hand, squeezing as tightly as his dainty fingers would allow.

“Helloooo, Copperclaw,” Uloo cooed in a singsong voice to another huge bouncer who was taking up most of the door. “Sorry, doll,” Uloo added quickly, “we aren’t quite as ready to enter as I thought we were.” He gave the doorman a beaming smile and pulled Quigley away from the back entrance to the tavern. As Uloo dragged the young bounty hunter toward the main street again, he snapped, “What in the name of all the gods is wrong with you? Are you trying to get yourself killed?!”

Quigley was much stronger than the beautiful effeminate man, and he pulled his hand from Uloo’s. “I’ve got a job to do.”

The prostitute rounded on Quigley and crossed his arms over his smooth chest. “This ain’t the job for you, hunny. Why don’t we go to the club up the street and I’ll let you buy me a drink?” Quigley started to protest, but Uloo cut him off, “I won’t hear another word of it. Take me to the club or you’re on your own. Come on, hunny, let’s go have a better time than you were planning.”

Quigley looked back at the rear entrance of Pickle’s Place.

“Please,” Uloo said quietly, “don’t do it.”

The bounty hunter allowed himself to be led away. Uloo entered a building on the opposite side of the street a few doors down, and Quigley followed him.

“Come on,” Uloo urged. “It’s up on the roof.”

They climbed a flight of stairs and stepped into a lush garden with a narrow path that brought them to a quiet bar. A woman was playing a celestial piano and singing in a language neither of the young men understood.

“Two glasses of sizzlevodka and sparkling water,” Uloo ordered from the bartender, “with a squeeze of lime.” He received both drinks and nodded for Quigley to sit at an open table off to one side. The men sat across from each other, and Uloo placed one of the beverages in front of Quigley. He took a large sip from the other.

“I’m a bounty hunter,” Quigley reiterated, almost still trying to convince himself. “This is what I do. I just need to catch them, and I’ll be able…”

“I don’t care what you thought your plan was going to be,” Uloo interrupted, but then he smiled and spoke with a cutesy voice. “You’re being a big idiot, and I’ve always had a soft spot for the dumb ones.” He knocked back the rest of his drink and added, “But I can’t love you if you’re dead.”

Quigley looked at his glass and offered, “Do you want mine also? I don’t really care for it, and I want to order something else.”

“Obviously I want it!” Uloo replied.

Quigley slid him the beverage and headed back over to the bar. “May I please just have a glass of mixed juice?” When he returned to the table, Uloo could not help but poke a little fun at what Quigley ordered.

“Needed something flowery?” Uloo giggled. Half of his second drink was already gone and he looked like he was starting to feel the sizzlevodka.

Quigley scooted his chair so it was next to Uloo’s, and he sat very close to the lovely slender man. “I like what I like,” he whispered.

Uloo stroked a finger along Quigley’s bicep, and he finished the second drink. He planted a kiss on the bounty hunter’s jawbone and said, “Order me another one. I need to go to the little gurls room.”

When Uloo was inside the privy chamber, Quigley left him and the rooftop garden.