Tristan (Tristan book 1) (Draft 1)

Epilogue

The cargo ship took off as soon as Alex stepped off the ramp; they barely gave him time to run out of range of the heated exhaust. He pushed the hair out of his face as he put the case he'd been holding down and looked around. The place wasn't exactly what he'd expected as a port, three boarded up building and a beacon.

A man walked up the path toward him. His gait was relaxed, but the way he moved showed he was comfortable with the weight of the large gun at his hip, and his hand stayed near it.

Alex could understand the hidden caution. He didn't look like he had when he embarked on this expedition to find Tristan. He wasn't the teary eyed youth who had still been crying for Jack to come back when the security men showed up. He'd lost that layer of fat most desk jockey had and gained some well defined muscles. The scar on the left side of his face gave him a slightly menacing look.

"Seems like they were in a hurry to dump you off and get going," the man said in a gruff voice.

"They were just dropping me off as a favor," Alex said with a shrug, "they're on a tight schedule."

"I'm Jacoby," the man said offering his hand, "what passes for a port master around these parts. What brings you to our little corner of the universe?"

Alex looked at the hand but didn't take it. "I'm looking for someone," he replied, "but this might be the wrong place." This didn't look like the kind of place Tristan would come to, it was too peaceful.

"You never know, who're you looking for?"

"Just a Samalian I used to know."

"Are you looking to stir up trouble?" The man eyed him critically.

Alex wasn't visibly armed, he preferred keeping his guns in his shoulder pack unless he was expecting trouble, and his knives were well hidden on his body, but there was no denying he was a merc. He shook his head, "no, I'm just looking to catch up."

"Well, must be some catching up you're looking to do to come this far. The only Samalian we have is the tech.

"Tech?"

"Yeah, he lives in a house some ways out of the town, when ever someone has trouble with something they go see him and he fixes it."

"That could be him," except for the part about helping others it sounded like something Tristan would be able to do.

"In that case you want to take the path till you reach the town, and look for Eli's saloon."

"He's there?"

"Not now, but by the time you get there he will be."

Alex thanked the man and picked up the case. As he walked along the path he thought back on how he'd ended up here.

Like the alien had said the company's security had come looking for him. Once they made sure he wasn't contagious they brought him back to the company and put him in a small room, where they would come question him.

At first the questions revolved around who Tristan was, how he knew him, how he'd gotten hold of his ID. After telling them multiple time he didn't know anyone named Tristan they showed him Jack's picture and told him that was him. His heart skipped a beat, but he wouldn't believe them. He accused them of lying to him just to justify kidnapping him. He told them over and over that Jack would never do the things they claimed he had.

So they asked him about Jack. He was reluctant at first, but they convinced him that if he was right and that Jack wasn't the man they were looking for, knowing more about him would help them find the right culprit.

He started by describing him only as a friend he was helping out, but he wasn't able to keep how he felt from showing in his voice. So they questioned him about how they met, and then the questions became more and more personal, making him stammer and blush, and he tried to not answer them.