Alex gazed into those radiant coffee brown eyes and his heart ached. How he wanted to loose himself in the real thing like he'd done before, for hours on end. He wanted to run his fingers through the Samalian's dark brown fur, and make up constellations from the smattering of white through it. He missed his alien.

    "Of course I know him," he said, drying his eyes. "that's Jack."

    "That's Tristan," the man replied.

    Alex looked at the hologram again. "No, that's Jack." it was him, wasn't it? Those eyes looked a little colder just because it was a still, not a moving holo. "I lived with him for long enough to recognize him."

    The man sighed. "I do wish you'd stop playing this game. We know who he is, you don't need to protect him anymore."

    Alex looked at him through the hologram. "I'm not protecting this Tristan. I only saw him once, and that isn't him." isn't it? No, it couldn't be him. "He did look a little like Jack, but I could tel the difference easily." No you couldn't. You thought that was Jack. Shut up!

    "So you admit to having met him," the man smiled and leaned back in his chair.

    "He showed up to my apartment some time before you. He told me Jack was gone." Alex was quiet, although the voice in his head clamored for him to say more, to tell him the truth, but Alex knew what the truth was. "He took Jack from me."

    "He did?" The man indicated the hologram.

    "Of course not, that's Jack." Are you sure? Yes!

    The man was thoughtful. "Alright, if that isn't Tristan, why don't you describe him for me? You said they looked similar."

    Alex hesitated. "They do, their fur was close in color, but I think Tristan's was darker, less vibrant. I'm not certain, I was sick."

    The man nodded and encouraged him to continue.

    "He was taller, and his face was harder." Alex shuddered as he remembered those cold eyes peering into him. 'Jack wasn't real I created him.' no, he couldn't believe that.

    "What else?"

    "I don't know! All I really remember is that he burst in my place. I was in bed. I thought it was Jack so I called out to him. I forced myself to get out of bed and he was collecting Jack's things. When I asked about Jack he said he was gone. I tried to get him to tell me more, but he shoved me to the floor. I think he threatened me before leaving." Liar! You have to tell him the truth. He can help you!

    Alex put his arms over his head. Shut up! The man was lying. he isn't Jack, he can't be Jack. Jack would never abandon me. When Alex had his thought under some control he looked up and the man was staring at him, face neutral.

    "Why did Tristan kidnap your friend?"

    "I don't know. Jack went out in the morning, he had an interview with Glacomel, that's why he was on the planet.

    Tristan must have taken him then.

    The man left, and didn't come back for the day. Lunch and dinner was brought in by the woman from before. She didn't say anything. he was left alone for two days after that. Alone with his thoughts and that voice at the back of his mind yelling at him to accept the truth. But he worked hard at ignoring it.

    The man reappeared a few hours after Alex ate lunch. "That was very clever of you, the kidnapping."

    "What do you mean?"

    "I mean, it's difficult to prove someone hasn't been kidnapped, especially if he isn't a planetary citizen, but you made a mistake."

    "I don't understand. Are you saying Jack isn't missing?" Hope surged through him.

    "just stop it, okay?" The man was exasperated. "There is no Jack character. You know it, and I know it. You invented him as a cover for your partner."

    "Don't say that! Jack was real! I'd never work with that monster, he stole Jack from me!"

    The man stood and slammed his hands on the table. "Stop it!

    There is no Jack! We talk to Glacomel, and they never heard of him, never had any interview with a Samalian."

    "No," Alex whispered. "That can't be true." You know it is. 

    "You made this Jack up."

    "I didn't make him up." Alex barely heard his own words. He hadn't been the one to make him up, Tristan had. No. He couldn't have, they couldn't be the same person. Jack would never leave him like that.

    After a time the man left and came back with a tray of food. Alex looked at it, he wasn't hungry.

    "Tell me about Jack," the man said.

    Alex looked away. "Why? you're just going to claim I'm making stuff up again."

    The man took his time in replying. "Mister Crimson; Alexander, you have to understand our side of it. We can't find any evidence of a Samalian called Jack on the planet. Your neighbors have seen you with a Samalian, but they could only give us a general description, one that fits both Jack and Tristan. Maybe your Jack somehow managed to find himself in a system blind spot. I don't know, but if you tell me more about him, it's possible we can sort all of this out. And if Tristan did take him, it might allow us to find them both and return him to you."

    Alex looked at the man, hope fighting with wariness. Could he trust him? the voice in his head said yes, that he had to tell him the whole truth, but there was little conviction in it. Or he was getting better at ignoring it.

    All he wanted to do was help Jack, save him. he'd have to be careful about what he said. "He was here to get a job. Well, that's what he told me. He didn't have much money so I offered for him to stay at my place to save what he had left."

    "That was the first time you met him?" 

    He nodded.

    "So you invited a stranger to stay with you?"

    Alex started to protest, but the man was right. He couldn't tell him about the fantasies he'd already had in the few minutes of meeting Jack. It would explain why he did it, but the man's opinion of him wouldn't improve.

    "I've been in the position he was in, told me he was in." Alex shook his head. "I mean, when I got here I already had a job, but I didn't have a lot of money for a few weeks, so I know how tough it can be, I just wanted to help him out."

    "He could have turned out to be a monster."

    Alex shook his head. "I had a good feeling about him." 

    "Where did you meet him?"

    "At Alien-nation. It's a bar just outside the city core. It's sort of on my way home."

    "That's an alien bar. What were you doing there?"

    Alex didn't immediately answer. Sure, xenophilia wasn't a crime, but he knew first hand how narrow minded people could be. Just like he never told anyone at the bar the real reason he went there, he didn't tell the man.

    "They're different. I like talking with people who see the world differently. It was the first time I'd seen Jack there, so I asked him what brought him to Deleron Four. That's how I found out about his search for a job and I invited him to stay at my place."

    "I've seen your apartment. It isn't very large, only one bedroom. Did you sleep together?"

    Alex didn't react to the question, he'd been expecting it. "No. I slept on the couch."

    The man raised an eyebrow.

    "You've seen my couch. I barely fit on it. Jack's a good foot taller than I am."

    "That was mighty generous of you. I don't know that I'd sacrifice my bed just to help out someone, especially someone I didn't know at all."

    Alex shrugged.

    The man pursed his lips. "maybe you can help me with something. can you explain why we found non human semen on your bed? I mean along with your's?"

    Alex turned bright red.

    "Come now, Mister Crimson, there's no need to be shy. After all, it's in your file that you have xenophilic tendencies. You don't have to lie about having sex with him, we understand."

    Alex sighed in relief. "I'm sorry about not being more forward with that. I've had some bad experiences because of it when I was younger."

    "no, no. It's quite understandable, in fact it does explain things. I mean you prefer aliens to your own kind, so it had to be easy for him to convince you to work against us."

    "What? No, I'm not anti-humans."

    "Right. I am curious about something. Did you decide to help him before or after his cock went up your ass?"

    Alex stared at him, his mouth moving but no sounds came.

    "Did he do it like an animal? I mean, with all that fur,

    those people aren't all that far from beasts. Was his cock knotted? or twisted? My aunt raised animals for slaughter, and I saw some pretty wild cock on those things. If I bring you pictures, do you think you'll be able to point at the one that looks the most like his?"

    Alex made fists and ground his teeth. "Get out," he growled.

    "No, Mister Crimson. You don't get to tell me what to do.

    You're the traitor to the company, not me. I'm not going anywhere until I have the answers I want."

    Alex stared at the man for a long moment, shaking. Then before he could even think about what he was doing, he reached across the table, grabbed the man's collar and pulled it down hard.

    The man's head hit the table and bounced up. He still wore a surprised expression when Alex punched him hard enough to tip the chair back. Alex was over the table an on him.

    "Jack isn't an animal." He hit the man. "He's a good man." Hit him again. "He isn't a monster like that Tristan." He swung back for another punch, but someone grabbed his arm  and pulled him off.

    A second guard helped the man up, and he glared at Alex, his face covered with blood.

    "This isn't over Mister Crimson. You're not getting out of here until you tell me exactly what I want."

    "Go fuck yourself."

    The guard threw him on the bed and by the time Alex rightened himself they were gone. He couldn't believe he'd done that. He'd never been violent before.

    He had no idea where that had come from, but he knew he'd made things worse.