a.k.a. Katana

Chapter Ten

The night air bit through the thin fabric of what Kokin was calling a costume, since he would never wear such things normally. He was dressed in tight lime green and yellow pants and an oversized, see-through, yellow shirt that billowed in the breeze and had a ribbon that tied around his waist, just above his belly button. Jundid had painted a black star on his cheek. He had refused to wear anything other than his boots.

He had shoved his belongings back into his bags and left them in the room upstairs. "See, I'll have to come back for my stuff eventually. Then, I'll fix Lendon, if I find Katana. If he's telling the truth and if I don't get killed trying to fix his mistakes first." He promised.

On the way to the docks Kokin called Getty. "The phones won't work on the boat, of course, but the tracker will. Follow it at a good distance; don't let them see you, then wait for the signal." Getty knew better than to ask what the signal would be.

Instead he asked, "What about the last lead you told me about? How do you propose we go after that if we're playing pirates out in the middle of the ocean?" "Aww, Getty don't be like that. We do that shit all the time. Where's your sense of adventure?" Then he hung up the phone.

"Who's that?" Jundid asked becoming more nervous with each step. "Don't worry about that, just worry about your part of the plan, yes? Maybe have a drink or two when you get on-board." Kokin advised.

He wished for a drink himself. Acting natural in his costume was rather difficult. The pants were overly supportive in the crotch area and the shirt kept cinching up and twisting around his body as he moved. Once Getty saw him in this, he would be laughing too hard to worry about space ship treasures.

Leenk Cob was not a difficult man to find as it turned out. He stood on the docks in the center of a crowd of loudly dressed men. "Wait." Kokin whispered to Jundid grabbing his arm to stop him. "Let's just watch a minute, first. See how this works." He instructed. The two of them stood in the shadows of a large vessel swaying gently in the waves behind a pylon that held up the dock.

Leenk Cob stood stoically surveying the crowd around him. When he saw a man who he believed would be a good candidate, a glowing wrist band was issued to that man. The people with wrist bands then paid their money and got into a waiting boat. This boat was much larger than the row boat they had used to transport Katana in and was adorned with lights all around the edges.

"Alright, let's go. Be happy, but don't act like you're in love with me, we're single and we want to have fun. Couples aren't fun and they ruin parties." Kokin reminded Jundid. "I got on last time, didn't I?" Jundid reminded him. Kokin nodded and they emerged from behind the pylon.

Suddenly Jundid became someone else entirely. He laughed loudly in Kokin's direction and slapped him playfully on the arm, "Oh, you!" Kokin almost couldn't stay in character, he was so surprised at the sudden transformation. He remembered to flash his pretty white smile just in time for Leenk Cob to notice, though.

They sashayed over the boards of the dock with big smiles and waved at everyone as they approached. Kokin had practiced going up and down the hallway at the hotel, but it was much more difficult than he imagined. He was sure he would fall on his face at any moment.

"Guess who got paid today?" Jundid announced to the crowd as they approached them. He put his hands up in the air and struck a pose while everyone watched. He never engaged the man with the wrist bands, only the other party goers. Kokin had to admit that he was impressed with his acting skills.

"And, I met this gorgeous man at the hotel and just had to show him a good time." Jundid gushed grabbing Kokin by the shoulders and giving him a good squeeze. "Don't be shy, Koko! Say hello to everyone!" Kokin swallowed the bile that started rising in his throat at the nickname, but silently applauded Jundid for the idea. This way no one would know his actual identity.