Untouchable (LGBT - SciFi - Romance)

Chapter 42

Robin Lang unlocked the door to his house and ushered Martinez inside. They had taken a taxi to the house, disguising the fact that Lang didn't know his way there. They had decided the story would be that Lang was suffering from a head injury and some memory loss, but not that he had lost his memory entirely. They didn't want him to appear too vulnerable.

"Here we are, home sweet home. This feels really weird. I have absolutely no idea where anything is. Max said the bedrooms are on the first floor, so let's go up and have a look. I should be able to work out which one is mine, I hope!"

He led the way up the wooden staircase and started throwing open the doors. "That looks like the spare room, it's too neat for anything else," he said as he showed Martinez a room which was almost as big as his whole apartment on Capella. There was a huge bed in the middle, big enough for two, covered with a quilt patterned to resemble the rain forest outside the window. Martinez went to the window to look out. He was fascinated by the rainforest, the tall trees festooned with creepers and ferns, the understory filled with a variety of plants he had never seen before and didn't know the names for. He couldn't imagine anyone ever tiring of it.

"This is a beautiful room. Thank you." Suddenly, he was very glad he wasn't staying in an anonymous hotel. He and Robin Lang had known each other as colleagues for years but he felt that over the last few days they had become friends.

Although Lang smiled at him rather warmly, he hadn't done anything to make him uncomfortable. He'd probably been worrying unnecessarily. He knew Lang was still attracted to him, despite telling him, several times, that he was straight, but in any case, what was he going to do? He was hardly going to jump on him!

"Welcome. There's a bathroom next door, and this must be Max's room," Lang decided, surveying the acid-coloured holoposters in the walls.

He opened the door to the last room. "This must be mine." He could see a row of uniforms hanging in a space carved out of the wall, another huge bed, this one with a bronze coloured quilt and an even bigger window with a view of the rain forest. "I'm going to have to look through everything in the house, familiarise myself with what's here."

He smiled at Martinez. "Make yourself at home. I'm going to freshen up and then I'll meet you downstairs and we'll grab something to eat. I wonder if I can cook?" he mused.

XXX

The news that Captain Lang was back on Tian, returning in fact to his job as Captain of Police in Huan, reached Ron Pearce before he had finished eating his breakfast. He wasn't a religious man but he sent up a silent prayer of thanks to whoever was watching out for him. Then he wiped his lips and fingers with a cloth napkin and turned to his console unit, there wasn't a moment to lose.

He activated the privacy setting which concealed his identity, and sent a message to his contact on Tian. Under his alias as Mr Brown, he had used this particular man's services before and found them most satisfactory. He downloaded a copy of the blackmail material he wanted used to threaten Lang, directly to Singh's wristcom in Huan. Following his instructions, Singh would then copy it onto a disposable wristcom to deliver to the Captain along with 'Brown's' demands.

Pearce checked once again that nobody was watching him. The monitoring scanner gave a clear green light, confirming, again, that there was no electronic surveillance in his room. Not only was it important that Lang be persuaded to follow his orders exactly, but it was absolutely critical that no-one in his own organisation should have even a hint of what he was orchestrating.

XXX

Lang and Martinez familiarised themselves with the house and its contents over the next couple of days.

Luckily Lang's console unit was modern, programmed to his living DNA instead of an old fashioned unit which still required a password at some point, so he was able to access it and discover what he had been working on before he left for Capella. The two men studied everything, trying to determine what case or future event might concern Pearce or one of his companies. There was a food and wine festival in three weeks, a public event certainly but hardly planet shattering! He would be in charge of organising security but he wasn't anticipating any trouble other than a few revellers who might drink too much.

There were two criminal trials in the next fortnight at which he would be required to present evidence, but they didn't seem significant enough to warrant Pearce's attention. One was a case of three counts of breaking and entering, and the other, the two men captured by Alan Stewart and his crew for illegal trading in desert dragon skins.

Nothing appeared likely to inspire blackmail and attempted murder.

Lang started working out again in his downstairs' gym, slowly trying to rebuild his strength. He invited Martinez to make use of the equipment also and the two men often found themselves in there at the same time, going through their different fitness routines. Occasionally, Martinez thought he caught Lang checking him out when he wore his shorts, but he was always so quick to put on an expression of determined concentration that he was never quite sure. Until the afternoon Lang asked casually, "Care for a wrestle?"

Martinez frowned at him.

Lang smiled guilelessly back. "Or judo? Do you like judo?"

Martinez hesitated. He rather fancied himself at judo, he enjoyed the sport and usually won any tournament he entered in.

"Alright," he agreed, rather against his better judgement. Lang handed him a loose fitting white singlesuit to change into, and they circled for a while sizing each other up. After the first few minutes, Martinez realised he had been sucked in, he was facing a master. Nevertheless, he gave a good account of himself until Lang suddenly ended the bout by pinning him to the mat in a hold he couldn't break.

"Surrender?" Lang looked down at him, smiling, his body heavy on top of his. Martinez saw a flash of molten heat fill his eyes. He only had a second to feel apprehensive before Lang cleared his throat and jumped up, offering him a hand to get to his feet.

"You're good! I probably enjoyed that a little too much!" Lang said with a laugh. "But I'll give you a rematch tomorrow if you like."

Martinez knew he should give a polite refusal, but found himself prevaricating. "We'll see."

That earned him an arm around the shoulders. "I'll look forward to it!" For a split second Lang contemplated throwing caution into space and giving him a hard, quick kiss on the lips, but he contented himself with a hearty slap on his back. For a straight man, Martinez appeared to be handling his mild flirting rather well, he didn't want to scare him off.