Beyond The Horizon

1. Levitation

15 mins before his office time came to an end, Mike received an unexpected call.

He was busy organizing the case files for tomorrow when his phone buzzed. Assuming it's Ben calling to catch up, Mike ignored it at first. However, whoever on the other side of the line seemed to be a stubborn asshole and didn't catch the hint. Annoyed, Mike fetched the noisy device and practically yelled at it. "Mate, I'm in the middle of something, just give me a damn break and I'll call you back-"

"Mike Kerr?"

This managed to silence him instantly. Mike didn't recognize the voice at first. "Yeah, who am I speaking to?" He put down everything else in hands, staring at the unfamiliar number displayed on screen. This was his personal mobile phone. Any work-related contacts would go through the law office, and he had a damn good setup to filter crankcalls.

At least the stranger had a pleasant voice. One that was weirdly familiar. The man hesitated for a few seconds. The background noises indicated he was outside somewhere. "Err...I don't know if you remember, but we met briefly once about six years ago-"

"I'm sorry Mr. but I see more than a hundred new faces every month. How am I supposed to know who the hell are you?" Mike grunted, starting to think this was some new kind of swindle.

A hoarse shriek of honk, and at the same time the man quietly added, "It was on the Moon."

Mike strained his ears. He almost didn't hear it right. But when he got it, that's all Mike needed to remember.

"No way." He grabbed onto the edge of the table to steady himself, palms becoming sweaty in seconds. "You were dead."

"Nearly." Miles Kane corrected, voice interrupted by jarring sirens and engine noises. "...I need your help."

+

Mike cancelled the whole schedule for the week with a requirement for vacation.

"A week off? Who are you and what did you do to Mike?" Ben joked when Mike walked in mid-day on Tuesday. He was genuinely taken by surprise. "You finally find yourself a life?"

"Just fuck off, please?" Mike sent Ben away, then went back to tug at his own collar, which seemed to be chocking him since the call on Monday. To be honest, he barely got any sleep last night. Mike decided to meet up with Miles Kane at Ben's Cafe, which was located at one of the busiest streets in downtown LA. Surprisingly, Kane agreed to it without much hesitation. He only asked Mike not to bring a group of cops with him, which did also cross Mike's mind at some point of their conversation.

He could have just hung up and called it a prank. Yet deep down, Mike knew it wasn't one - Mike was involved in most of the big cases regarding the "Lunar Base Revival" plan. His name was on the news several times for publicity. However, it was top secret that he also worked as the defense lawyer for members of "The Little Flames". For three years, he helped to spare those people' lives, which they never seemed to have much control on. Most people end up being labors on the Moon or special "immigrants" on Earth. All except one man who straight-up refused any legal help to Mike's face.

Miles Kane wasn't even really considered a full member of the Little Flames, but nonetheless being the key man of the whole story.

Kane was given death sentence after three secret trials held on the Moon. He admitted that he had helped to build Fox's criminal empire, murdered countless citizens of the Upper City and manipulated the then Chief Wizard Alex Turner to destroy the drilling platform, which happened to be another filthy crime that was happening on the Moon.

The case wouldn't bother Mike as much if he hadn't run into Alex Turner on the day when he travelled back to Earth. It had been a week since Kane's case was closed, and Turner returned to the Moon on the same spaceship Mike was about to board.