Wrapped in Stars
Part I
Pins and Needles

Madrid walked along the dirty street. He could smell the filth all around him, he could hear the sound of alarms going off in the background. This was a bad place. He pushed his sunglasses higher on the bridge of his nose, tightened his grip on the small handgun he had concealed in his pocket.
The need for his fix is what brought him to this place. Madrid was addicted to the newest drug craze to hit the civilized galaxy stations in years. It was called Bloodshot. Because the people who use it always have bloodshot eyes, which are also the injection point. It takes a stiff constitution to take Bloodshot. It comes in a small vial, homemade from small test tubes by affixing the needle of a syringe to the bottom of the tube. You take the cap off the tube and put your finger over the opening so the liquid drugs don't come out before you want them to. Then you take the cap off the needle, tilt your head back, and stick the needle into the corner of your eye ans let go. The drug is so thin it runs into your body by the force of gravity.
Madrid stopped in front of the house he always came to. It was becoming routine now. He knocked three times, and the door opened. He put his head down and slipped in. Through the thick cigarette smoke he made out the form of Jak. His dealer. Jak blew a tendrill of smoke out of his partway opened mouth. "You want to usual?"
Madrid nodded. He never spoke in Jak's house. Just because he had his face hidden didn't mean the police couldn't identify him. He could be found by voice identification technology. So he mouthed anything he had to speak, but otherwise kept quiet.
Jak got out of his beaten armchair and walked into another room. He came back out moments later with a box. Inside the box nestled in Styrofoam, were four vials of Bloodshot. They were going to cost Madrid $5,000. Money he earned by selling weapons on the black market. Which is what got him his $100,000 bounty. In this time of quickly advancing technology, where crimes were getting harder to commit, that was a substantial bounty.
Madrid had to be careful about being seen. Even if he was recognized by some other black market dealer, they could kill him, turn his body over to the authorities and collect half the bounty. They would then confess for their own crimes, and be granted a stay in a minimum security containment facility for 300 days. Then be out in the public with a cool $50,000.
Madrid pulled the wad of small bills out of his pocket. He handed them to Jak with a gloved hand. Jak chuckled as he handed the box to Madrid. "You always gonna be that paranoid?"
Madrid simply nodded and was out the door. He wouldn't do it here. He would go to a strip club called The Wash and do it there. He always went in every week. He would rent a private dance with a dancer called Nebula, have sex with her, then when she left he'd do a vial. That would keep him high for a few hours anyway.
Madrid climbed into the unmarked car he 'borrowed' from a negligent owner. He would park it back where he found it, but if someone spotted the car, it would be the owner taking the heat and not him. He drove back to the what the residents of Beta Prime called the pleasure district, which was actually Beta Prime's Business district. They called it the pleasure district because the only businesses were seventeen strip clubs, five bars, and one pharmacy. The Intergalactic Union of Galaxy Stations decided that every district on every galaxy station would have a pharmacy.
Madrid pulled up to the spot where he'd taken the car. He parked it where he picked it up, and relieved the owner of one of his expensive cigars. He knew like the back of his hand where he was. He was only a block away from The Wash. He took out a phone from his pocket. He wasn't worried about the police listening to this phone call. The phone rang a few times, and then someone picked up. He recognized Luna's voice. "Wash."
"I need a private booth."
"Any special lady?"
"Nebula."
"Name?"
"Smyth. With a 'Y'." Madrid flipped his phone closed. He took a draw off the cigar, it had a rich flavor to it. It made him remember what it was like when he could afford the finer things in life. When he lived on Beta Six. He used to be in sales. He was the VP of a big company, they had offices all over the galaxy, and he was second in charge, making seven figures a year. He had a beautiful girlfriend. She was his lifeblood, until the drugs came. It was at a party, he had just secured a big account for the company, FNC. He'd gotten them the accounts of the galaxy's largest bank. One of his colleuges had bought some Bloodshot when it was still in it's infancy. He tried it, and he liked it. On the side he did it in private. Hiding it. He had planned to ask his girlfriend to marry him. But he wanted Bloodshot so much, the money he'd saved for the perfect ring, got spent on the perfect drug. Eventually she left him. His work slipped farther and farther, like his downward spiral into addiction. And in time, he lost his job.
He followed his true love in the papers, she was married to a socialite now. An artist who made it big rendering fractals and selling 24" poster prints for $150 a pop. That was the kind of life Madrid could have given her, but he chose a drug over her. Before he realized how long he'd been walking he came to the door of The Wash. He went inside.
The red lights made it hard to see, but he made his way to a small window in the back of the club. The music was so loud it hurt his ears. He tapped on the window. Luna slid the window back with gusto. "What?"
"I had an appointment." Madrid was already pulling his money out of his pocket.
"Name?"
"Smyth. With a 'Y'."
Luna didn't say anything, just took his money and gave him a piece of paper. He already knew what it would say. Room 15. It was always room 15. That was where Nebula entertained her customers.
Madrid made his way through the room to the back. He opened the door to the private rooms and stepped inside. There was another window just inside the door, and a long hall lined with doors. He handed the paper to the girl in this window, who was much nicer than Luna, but he didn't know her name. The girl read the paper and pressed a button o a dashboard in front of her. "Go on in Mr. Smyth, Nebula will be in in about 15 minutes or so."
Madrid just nodded and went down the hall to room fifteen. He opened the door and froze. He knew the dark haired woman sitting on one of the plush cushions. Angel Flame was an accomplished bounty hunter. She stood up. Her purple cape was open, shooting her wouldn't do any good. She was wearing a bullet proof suit, and his eyesight wasn't good enough to shoot her in the head. "Madrid Kensington." Angel's voice sounded like music, too soft for her stone face. "I've been after you for a long time. You want to just let me arrest you? Or are you going to run?"
Madrid slammed the door closed and took off down the hall. back out into the club. Angle came running out right behind him. She spoke into her communicator. "Rack, he's coming your way!"
As Madrid burst out into club, Angel's partner, Rack came at him from the side. He grabbed him and slammed him chest down onto the nearest table. The patron's drinks went spilling onto their laps. One large man stood up, throwing his chair back. "What's the big idea pal?!"
Rack showed his badge to the burly stranger. "I'm with the Galactic Association of Bounty Hunters, you want to go to prison after this guy?" The stranger put up his hands and backed away. Rack cuffed Madrid and jerked him up as Angel came out of the hall.
At the same time Luna came shuffling out of her office. "What's going on!" Her loud voice caused the club to fall silent. Everything but the pounding music came to a standstill. Angel approached her. "Don't interfere."
"You can't come into my place of business and throw my patrons around! This man has paid for his time and you're going to let him go!" Luna was bigger than Angel by comparison, and Angle could take her down, but she had to go by the book.
Angel showed Luna her badge. "I'm a bounty hunter and this 'patron' has a warrant for black market trafficking of weapons. We're taking him to jail. Pack him up Rack." Rack nodded at Angel and started walking Madrid out. "Let's go pal." Angel filed in line behind Rack and they headed toward the door. Angel would be glad to get out of the place, the loud music was giving her a headache. When they were a few feet away from the door, a familiar voice called out, "Look out!"
Angel drew her gun and spun around. Luna had come up behind her with a bat. The music was so loud Angel hadn't heard her sneaking up on her. She cocked her pistol. "Ma'am, do you want a thousand galactic officers to flood into this place? I'm sure that some of your dancers are less than legal age."
Luna put her bat down and stepped back. Angel scanned the room, she didn't see anyone else trying to be a hero, but she replayed the voice in her head. It was someone she had cared very deeply for, but didn't see them. She backed out of the club with her gun still drawn. She let the door shut, then turned around. "Okay Rack, let's look at him." Rack leaned Madrid against the wall while they waited for police. Angel pulled his sunglasses off. She took out a flashlight and studied his eyes, the streetlamps were too dim to give a close examination. "How long?" Angel saw the corner of his eye was wounded. It was runny with infection, and starting to turn colors. Possibly setting up gangrene. He was also, as it looked, starting to go blind in that eye.
"About seven or eight years." Madrid said. His voice had a eerie calmness to it.
"Is that weapons trafficking or using?" Rack said as he filled out some paper work. He took a camera out and took pictures of Madrid. From the side, the front, and his permanent identifying marks. A dragon tattoo on his shoulder, and a scar on his left calf. And Rack also photographed his eye. "You might end up in a medical book sometime."
As they waited for the police Angel and Rack relaxed, Madrid remained propped on the wall. He knew he was going to run, just not when. The moment would present it's self. Angel kept glancing to the club, every time someone came out. "Are you looking for something?" Rack asked.
Angel sighed. "That voice, I know who that was. I never would have heard that woman coming up on me like that."
"As loud as that music was, I'm surprised you heard the voice. Because I didn't."
Madrid had one advantage from being an addict. He was scrawny, and he had wriggled his hands out his cuffs. But he wasn't stupid. Angel and Rack had had him in this position before. Then he saw his chance, a siren went off in the city somewhere and they turned in the direction of the sound. But there was only one way to go through both of them. He had no choice, if they caught him, he was going to Federal prison anyway. He bolted. He knocked Angel over and kept running. He knew Rack would check on his partner. Madrid heard Angel yelling, "Get after him!"
But he would have enough time to find a place to hide. He had an advantage over Rack, he knew every in's and out's of this whole district. He grew up here. He ducked into an alley that would double him back to behind The Wash, it was and extreme switchback. Madrid had to jump sideways to avoid crashing into the wall, he turned and bolted down the alley. He came to a ladder and went up. he was on the fire escape of some low income housing apartments, but he didn't go inside. That's where Rack would look if he saw where her went.
Rack bolted after Madrid leaving Angel to catch her breath and follow him later. He saw him duck down an alley, but he wasn't there now. He looked around for any possible ways out. He could have went up, but that was the only way. He started to climb the wall. "Rack!" It was Angel. "Follow me." She ducked into the switchback alley and Rack followed her. They came to the same ladder and climbed up. The went into the open window of the apartment.
Madrid was watching from some distance away, knowing that's the way they would have gone. He turned his back on the building and hurried back to The Wash to get what he'd paid for. That's another side effect of Bloodshot. It made you obsessive about things. Madrid's obsession was Nebula. And he hadn't seen her tonight. A sober person wouldn't have gone back to the place they'd been caught, but he hadn't seen Nebula yet.
He came out of the alley and walked around the club, and in the front door. He went back to Luna's window. She was nicer to him this time. She'd saved the room for him, and she also escorted him, and sent a bouncer in first to check the room. It was clear. Luna apologized to Madrid and said they were looking into how "that police" got in there. Madrid thanked her and went inside. Nebula was probably dancing for the crowd now, but she would be into see him soon. He felt in his pocket, he still had some of that cigar left. He chuckled as he lit it. Angel had almost caught him five times now. But she still hadn't brought him in. And his bounty, was going up.
After about ten minutes, there was a knock on the door. It opened and Nebula came into the room. She was wearing a neon green suit, that stuck to her curves. Madrid smiled, he was already getting horny. "What music would you like Mr. Smyth?" Nebula asked sweetly. Madrid took a deep breath. "Something slow." Nebula turned around and made a selection, it was something classical. A kind of music from long ago, called Jazz. She started to dance.
"Not yet." Madrid said. He reached into the pocket of his coat, and took out the box he’d bought from Jak, He carefully removed the lid. Nebula gasped. One of the vials was broken, and had spilled out. Madrid swore and punched the table. He took out one of the vials that was still intact and removed the cap. He tilted his head back and pulled down his bottom eyelid. The same eye that Rack had photographed. He pushed the needle into the flesh of his eye. He waited while the liquid seeped into his body. His head started to swim after just a few minutes. He wouldn't be able to see out of that eye for a few hours, but that was the price you pay for a good high. "Is it empty?" His speech was slurred, but Nebula could still understand him. She cleared her throat. "It's empty, Mr. Smyth."
He pulled the needle out, and threw the vial into the trash can. He lifted his head back up, a bit of blood was pooling in the corner of Madrid's eye. He blinked and it fell, like a bloody tear. Nebula watched, horrified. "Are you gonna entertain me or what?"
Nebula took a deep breath and gathered her self. "Let me start the song over." She turned around to reset the music. Madrid grabbed her and threw her down on the floor. She knew screaming wouldn't help her, she just relaxed and let him do as he pleased. She let her mind drift off, she was thinking of another she loved, and still did.

The next morning Madrid woke up in his crummy apartment. He didn't remember driving home, how did he get back? He was in his bed covered up, he looked around the place as if seeing it for the first time. It was just one room. He had a bed, a stove, and a chair. Two rooms of you count the bathroom with no shower. He threw the covers off and rolled over. Pain shot up his side, it felt like someone hit him with a sledgehammer. He slowly made his way out of bed. He moaned and groaned as he finally made it to his feet, he straightened himself up and got into his bathroom. He somehow had gotten off his shirt, but that wasn't what he was thinking about. There was a bruise that covered half his side. What happened? Madrid braced himself on the sink as he went through what he could remember of his night.
He remembered Rack throwing him on the table, and on top of some people's drinks. One of the containers must have gotten him. He remembered shooting some bloodshot..."My drugs!" He hobbled his way into his room and located his coat. The box was gone! Did he leave it at the club? Had he lost it on the way home! He screamed. Something moved on his bed. Gianna was sitting there, covering her self with the ratty sheet. "What's wrong Maddy?" She said, her voice rough from the years of cigarette smoking.
"Where are my drugs?" Madrid never remembered seeing her last night, but he wanted his drugs. "Where are they!" He shouted.
Gianna got out of the bed, she was just wearing panties. Did he have sex with her to? She walked over to his bureau and pulled open the bottom drawer. She dug around and produced the box. He opened it. The one that had broken was cleaned out, the two remaining were still intact. "I brought you home."
"Thanks." He thought quickly, Angel and Rack would for sure find him again. He had to leave Beta Prime. He pushed past Gianna and dug for a duffel bag in his closet. He produced a small one, but he didn't have a lot of things. He started stuffing his clothes into it. Gianna dressed quietly, and it was a long time before she spoke. "Are you leaving the district?"
"I'm leaving the Station."
"Why?"
He turned and glared at her. "Maybe I'm just tired of running from the police all the time! Maybe I'm tired of waking up not remembering the night before! Who knows!" He regretted yelling after he'd done it.
Gianna turned away from him so he couldn't see her crying. "I'm sorry Gianna. I forget how timid you are sometimes."
"Let me come with you Maddy."
"Why?"
"I'm pregnant."
Madrid was stunned. "What? Pregnant? Is it mine?"
"No."
Madrid felt a wash of relief, but anger at the same time. "Why did you even tell me that?"
Gianna shrugged. "I want to leave this place to. It's no place for a baby."
Madrid sighed. "You'll just have to make your own way." He packed the box into his coat pocket and pulled a shirt over his head and bruised side. He threw on his coat, picked up his bag and walked out. When he got out Gianna was leaning out the window.
"You'll be back Maddy. You can't stay away from that dancer's pussy very long!" Gianna leaned back into the apartment and slammed the window shut. She sat down on the bed and cried. "Why didn't I just lie." If she had told him the baby was his he'd have taken her with him. If she chased him down could she convince him it was his? No, he wouldn't believe her. Not now. She started to hate him at that moment, she knew how to get back at him. She picked up the phone and dialed the police. She listened as the machined voice gave her an option and a button to push. When it got to "To report the whereabouts of a fugitive, press seven." She hesitated for a moment.
Should she just hang up? But then the thought of him happily on his way off this heap helped her choose. She pushed the button "Please hold while I transfer your call." After a minute or so someone picked up the line. "What is the name of the fugitive you are reporting?" the operator said. Gianna took a deep breath. "Madrid Kensington." If she gave the tip that would lead to his capture, some of that bounty would go to her. A good start for a decent place, maybe even a job. Things might be looking up, Gianna thought to herself as she spilled what she knew about Madrid and where he might go.