Chapter 5

Chapter 5

The Inspector was very displeased to find that the police still had the area around the DARSIT cordoned off. He pushed through the crowd that had gathered around the site and heard bits and snatches of conversations, including such things as “the fat man” who had died there. There were other things he’d hoped to hear, but was unpleasantly surprised by the limitations of his new ears.

But, more than that, he couldn’t sense the DARSIT like he had always been able to before his reincarnation took place. There was usually something niggling in the back of his mind that he normally didn’t notice, that psychic connection with his ship that was so omnipresent, it felt like it was a part of his being. It was, of course, but like so many other things in life, it was too easy to ignore and go on about one’s business. It was more apparent in its absence than it was in its normal presence.

The Infinity Knight struggled through the mass of bodies that blocked his path, finally working his way to a less-populated area next to the Reservoir. He thought the fact that there were less people there would allow him to sneak inside the cordon and get back to his ship. He ducked down and squeezed between two people, trying to duck under the yellow police tape and inside the snow-covered area that was blocked out to the rest of the crowd.

Just as soon as he’d reached the yellow tape, he looked up. A black-skinned officer with a dark-blue jacket looked down at him with a frown.

“And, jus’ what you think you’re doin’?” the policeman demanded of him.

The Inspector looked at the man’s face, then to either side around him. Then, he reached down for his right shoe. “Just fixing my shoelaces,” the Infinity Knight said to the ground.

The policeman took another step toward him. “What’s that? I can’t hear you when you’re talking to the ground,” the man said belligerently.

The Inspector looked up, only for his head to come in contact with the police tape. He pulled his head back and lost his footing on the snow, slipping back and sprawling on the ground. The crowd stepped back from him.

“Erm, fixing my shoelaces,” he reiterated, unconvincingly.

The policeman looked down at both of the Inspector’s shoes, on which the laces were already nicely tied, then back up at the Infinity Knight. “Give me one reason not to bust your head open,” the officer growled.

Suddenly aware that the situation had become hostile, the Inspector crab-crawled back a few feet, then sat down, holding his hands in front of him. “I don’t want any trouble.”

“Get up and get outta here!” the officer growled.

The Infinity Knight slowly got to his feet and raised his hands up again. “Going, going,” he grumbled, mostly under his breath.

“What was that?” the officer demanded from behind him, as everyone nearby turned to look at him.

The Inspector spun around and walked right up to the policeman, who hadn’t expected such a bold move. “I’m leaving, for now,” he explained stiffly. “I have some shopping to do.”

The bewildered look on the cop’s face amused the Inspector, but he decided not to stay to enjoy the moment and brushed through the crowd. A sudden chorus of clapping hands erupted behind him and a few cheers rose, but he didn’t stop to acknowledge the people. Yes, he’d stood up to the authority figure and walked away undiminished, but he really did have other things to do, especially since he couldn’t get to his ship at the moment.

As the crowd fell away from him, he came to a sudden stop. Just a few yards ahead of him stood Nurse Chastity Galloway, in a large, puffy white coat, with her arms crossed across her chest and making her large breasts that much more obvious.

He looked away immediately and turned in a different direction. She looked shocked at his change in direction and walked briskly in a tangental direction in order to cut him off. He consciously ignored the movements from her direction and continued walking briskly away from the scene.

But, he felt something grip his upper arm hard and pulling him to a stop. He reluctantly looked toward the source, which was the nurse from the hospital from which he’d escaped.

“Dan, Inspector — whoever you are,” she said chidingly. “I had a feeling I’d find you here.”

He looked into her eyes and saw recognition. “You did? How?”

“The report from the first responders,” she said simply, now trying to drag him back in the direction from which she’d come.

“Oh,” the Inspector said in minor surprise, no longer fighting her efforts to move him.

They walked back toward the pathway and away from the crowd near the Reservoir.

“Okay,” the Infinity Knight said with an air of defeat. “You found me, but why were you looking for me?”

Galloway looked up at his face. “Well, despite the fact that you killed my boyfriend …”

The Inspector looked at her in wide-eyed surprise and opened his mouth to say something, but found nothing to say. He closed his mouth after too-long a moment.

“Yes, Dan was my boyfriend,” Chastity explained. “And, now you’ve taken over his body. I don’t completely understand how that happened, but I feel a little more inclined to believe your original story, about being from some other planet and having landed here by accident.”

The Inspector looked at her desperately for a brief moment. “Kayaclasch,” he murmured quietly. “My planet is called Kayaclasch.”

“Whatever,” the nurse replied absent-mindedly. “Anyhow, I figured if you were this alien that had landed on our planet that you’d try to get back to your ship, which was probably where you were found in the first place.”

He nodded, then made a face indicating that she’d mild impressed him with her deduction. “I guess that was kinda obvious, wasn’t it?” he admitted. “I wanted to check on ol’ DARSy before trying to find the beryllium to replace the damaged spheres in her engine.”

“Ol’ Darcy?” Galloway looked quizzically at him.

The Inspector straightened his face. “DARSy. That’s — that’s what I call my ship. DARSy.”

The nurse looked into his eyes. “You had me thinking there was another woman,” she said with a shrewd look.

The Inspector laughed awkwardly in response. “Another woman? As if I had a woman!”

Chastity frowned at him, then cleared her throat. He stopped at the sound, then looked at her again, realization finally dawning on him about what she meant.

“What? You?” He paused and schooled his features. “Oh, of course, you! What was I thinking!”

He punctuated the statement by slapping himself on his forehead, which elicited a snickering from Galloway.

“Okay,” he said gently. “Sorry about that. I guess I don’t know as much about humans as I like to think. Forgive me for my lack of understanding?”

There was a genuineness to his demeanor that she couldn’t explain or ignore. She considered his plea for a moment, then softly agreed, “Sure … Inspector.”

The Infinity Knight grinned goofily. “Excellent!”

He came to a halt, stopping her in her tracks. He appeared deep in thought.

“What is it?” she wondered aloud.

“Hmm?” he replied, then broke out of his reverie and really looked at her. “Oh, I was just thinking.”

“About what?”

“About how I’m going to get my hands on beryllium,” he replied.

“And … why do you need beryllium?” she inquired.

He glanced around them briefly. “To fix my engines.”

“Your engines? That almost sounds like you’re bragging, Inspector.”

He looked at her, not apprehending her meaning at first, then looked shocked that she would insinuate such a thing.

“My ship’s engines! My ship’s engines!” he blurted.

She laughed in response and he looked at her.

“But, you knew what I meant in the first place,” he muttered. “I’d be better off making some remark about a bicycle at this point.”

“Depends upon how you intend to use it,” Chastity replied slyly and turned to resume walking.

He looked unpleasantly shocked by the statement. “That was so not what I meant!” he called after her.

“Oh, I’m sure it was, Inspector,” she commented. “Coming?”

He looked back and forth around them. “Where?”

“To find that beryllium you’re looking for,” she replied, not looking back toward him.

He looked at her with disbelief on his face, then jogged  to catch up with her. “You know where I can find beryllium?” he demanded, looking directly at the side of her face.

“I work in a hospital,” she replied, finally turning to look at him. “People get injured or die at the foundries around here. There’s a few of them here in New York City. I can point them out to you.”

Finally, the Inspector smiled. “This is great! Who would’ve thought that ending up in a hospital would help me fix my ship?”

Without warning, he pulled her off her feet into an embrace and kissed her on the lips before realizing what he was doing midway through the kiss. His eyes bugged out as he saw hers staring widely back at him. He broke the kiss and held her at arms-length.

“Sorry, sorry,” he blurted weakly. “Don’t know … don’t know why I did that.”

Her surprise at the kiss melted away somewhat and she looked shyly pleased with what had just happened.

“It’s more than all right, Inspector,” she informed him. “In fact, you’re quite a good kisser.”

Surprised, he asked, “I am?”

“In a boyish-let’s-find-out-what-kissing-is-all-about kind of way,” she said coyly.

He smiled somewhat self-satisfactorily. “So, that wasn’t wrong to do that?”

“Indeed not,” she smiled. “In fact, I’d say it was pretty ‘great.’”

The Inspector suddenly grinned boyishly. “All right, then. I’ll have to keep that in mind.”

Galloway grinned up at him. “I hope you do.”

“Not to spoil the moment, but I really have to get that beryllium,” the Inspector said suddenly and resumed walking briskly toward Fifth Avenue.

Chastity rushed to keep up with him, suddenly realizing that he was intent on finding what he needed immediately. “On New Year’s Eve? Not only is it a holiday, but it’s night, in case you haven’t noticed.”

The Inspector turned back to her. “Oh, I’m fully aware of all that.” He paused. “New Year’s Eve, you said? Can’t see how that wouldn’t make it a good night to pay a visit to one of these foundries you said are here in New York.”

She stopped walking and it took him several paces before he realized that she wasn’t walking with him. He turned around and looked at her.

“You are crazy,” she stated pointedly.

“Well,” he began. “Not so much crazy as, in a hurry.”

“So, you think you can just walk into a foundry, find this beryllium you’re after and walk off with it?” she demanded.

He noted the hint of reproach in her voice, then walked up to her. “It’s not really like that, no,” he said, thinking that simple words would change her mind. They had before, when she thought he was her boyfriend.

“It sounds really like that,” she responded.

He groped for words. “Okay, so it is really like that,” he admitted defeatedly, throwing his hands out. “Can you blame an Infinity Knight who’s in a hurry to get home?”

She looked thoughtful for a long moment, then her face softened. “Far from home, stuck on some alien planet halfway across the universe?” she said. “Can’t say I can identify with that … except for being far from home.”

The Inspector gently took her hands in his; she didn’t pull them away. “Something like that,” he agreed.

Chastity looked up into his eyes, and saw a certain sadness that hadn’t been there before. “Far from home,” she repeated.

“Yeah, far from home,” he said. “I just want to go back home. And, it’s not like I can call the AA for a boost, you know.”

Chastity looked at him in askance. “The AA? How would the AA be able to help you?”

The Infinity Knight narrowed his eyes at her. “You don’t know the AA? Your car breaks down on the freeway, you call the AA and they send someone out to help?”

“You mean, Triple-A,” she replied.

“Triple-A?” he said, confused. “I’m talking about the Automobile Association.”

“So am I!” Chastity cried. “The American Automobile Associate, Triple-A.”

The Inspector suddenly laughed to the point of snorting. “Right, right. Forgot you Americans have your own AA. I was thinking about … about the UK’s AA.” He sighed heavily.

She leaned into him. “The AA here means Alcoholic Anonymous, Inspector,” she said in a confiding tone, which made him stop and appear surprised by that fact.

“So, the AA isn’t the AA? That’s just confusing,” he replied.

Galloway laughed at that. “You aliens certainly have quite a sense of humor.”

He laughed with her. “Yeah, I suppose we do.”

Once the moment had passed, they resumed walking along the busy street.

“But, I’m serious about getting the beryllium as soon as possible,” the Inspector said quietly.

“Again, I think you’re crazy,” Chastity replied. “It’s New Year’s Eve in Midtown Manhattan. There’s no way to get anywhere near the foundries right now. Times Square is between us and the foundries. We’d never get there tonight. Better to wait for the morning.”

“Times Square,” he said out loud, but clearly to himself. “Times Square on New Year’s Eve.” He looked at her. “You know what that means, right?”

“That millions upon millions of people are going to be packed shoulder to shoulder, watching the ball drop,” she replied.

The Inspector came up short. “Oh, right. That New Year’s Eve.” He stopped as a sudden thought occurred to him. “What year is it?”

She looked mildly bored by the question. “Does that matter? This happens every New Year’s Eve.”

“It might not mean anything to you, but it might to me,” he informed her. “What year is this?”

She understood the intensity of his inquiry that time. “Nineteen-ninety-nine, why?”

“Nineteen-ninety-nine … 1999,” the Inspector muttered rapidly. “Why does that sound so familiar? New Year’s Eve 1999?”

“The last day of the old millennium?” Galloway suggested.

He rejected the thought immediately. “Your third millennium doesn’t start until the first of January of 2001,” he said absently. “No, there’s gotta be something else. I just can’t seem to remember.”

“If you can’t remember it, can it be that important?” she wondered rhetorically.

The Inspector looked into her eyes and relaxed. “Probably not,” he admitted, then became a little anxious. “It’s not like me to forget anything, especially anything important.”

“Then, it’s not that important,” she reiterated. “And, seeing as we can’t do anything until morning, maybe we should just go back to my place?”

The Infinity Knight mulled the idea over and, not finding any reason not to, agreed.

* * *

Along the way to her apartment building on East 79^th Street, that feeling that he was forgetting something grew to the point that he couldn’t ignore it. Part of it was the fact that the DARSIT normally filled those gaps in his memory when he needed it and the DARSIT was apparently not connected to him. Another part was his actual memory kicking in.

“I need to get to Times Square,” he said abruptly and stepped between parked cars along the street.

“What?” Chastity demanded. “What are you doing, Inspector?”

The Inspector surveyed the passing traffic, looking for something, then spotting a couple of dark-yellow cars approaching, started waving both of his arms at the oncoming vehicles. As the taxi slowed to a stop in front of him, Galloway grabbed him by the arm.

“Just what do you think you’re doing?” she demanded loudly.

“Can’t explain. I have to get to Times Square and quickly,” he replied over his shoulder and climbed into the cab.

She made the decision a split second later to grab the door before he closed it and slid into the seat beside him. “I’m not leaving you alone,” she said flatly.

“Fine by me,” he replied.

“Where to?” asked the driver, an Indian man with a turban wrapped around his head.

“Times Square and quickly,” the Inspector blurted.

The cabbie laughed raucously for a moment before realizing that his passenger wasn’t kidding. “Sir, there’s no way to get to Times Square now. All Midtown is blocked off for New Year’s Eve.”

“Well, get me as close as you can,” the Inspector said without blinking.

“Ohhhh-kay,” the driver drawled out the word before shifted the car into gear and pulling back into traffic.

“You’re completely mad!” Chastity insisted.

The Infinity Knight looked apologetically at her. “I know how this seems. I’m not completely sure why, but I know I have to be in Times Square. That I should be there now. Just trust me on this, Chastity. You’ll be glad you did.”

“I’m regretting it already,” she mumbled, mostly to herself.