The Merry Hunters of the Galaxy

Pomp and Circumstance

Galactic Federal Authority Headquarters, Earth

Clay Edwards

I shifted in my blue-cushioned hover seat in front of the crowded stage. This was the day I'd waited for my whole life. I was going to be a real space cop!

At any minute, the band would play again, and I'd follow the other recruits onstage to receive my badge as an officer of the Galactic Federal Authority.

But the pilots were still getting sworn in.

Not many applauded for long; most people seemed to be as impatient as I was. The most excitable figure in the crowd was a small purple puffball who was hopping up and down in his hover seat and whooping. "Ooga booga!" He cried.

The two aliens sitting beside him—one a feathery-eared Strigiformian, the other a green Apepian—gave him odd looks.

"Clay! It's starting!"

I jerked up. I knew that voice too well.

Officer Rani Patel stood on the bottom step leading onto the stage and waved me forward. She was giving me the "Stupid Clay" look again, the one she enjoyed making since we were in fourth grade. Today, she was right to give me the look; "Pomp and Circumstance" was beginning to play. An old tune, but a classic.

I scrambled from my seat and bounded up the steps onto the stage.

Commander Keith Terran smiled politely at me and Rani with his right hand outstretched. "Congratulations to our newest recruit, Officer Clayton Edwards, and our newly-promoted Lieutenant Rani Patel." He shook Rani's hand first and clipped the lieutenant's stripe to her breast.

The other GFA officers cheered.

I shook Terran's hand; he had a solid grip, but it wasn't too hard or crushing.

He clipped the GFA officer's badge to my coat.

Finally, after twenty years of dreaming and working, I was in the GFA force! I'd stop galactic criminals, solve mysteries...or probably just direct space traffic. That's where all officers started.

"Congratulations, Clay," Rani slapped my back. "I guess the second time taking the exam was the charm."

I'd just needed an extra year. "Congratulations to you, too, Lieutenant. Guess I'd better get ready to direct space traffic."

Commander Terran took the podium for the closing speech. "Officers and pilots of the Galactic Federal Authority, tomorrow you begin on new adventures to make our galaxy a better place. Some of you will start large, others small. But I assure you that you all can make an impact on every solar system."

"Hear, hear!" A Rodentian squeaked.

"Long live the GFA!" A Cetian whooped loud and low.

Terran's smile fell. "But things have not been easy for us these past seven years. A threat is rising." He pressed a button on the podium, and the three wall screens behind him erupted into light.

Six images stretched around him, two to each screen. Each picture was of a different alien or, in the last photo's case, a small crab-like robot. They were all criminal profiles, each with the subject's name and threat level.

The first alien was a Herpettian who was at least six foot four and built for fear with scars down his face and multiple prosthetics. Most notably, a green bionic right eye and a metal arm with extra-long, sharp claws. Whatever had happened to him, it had been as ugly as he was now. His information was listed beside his ravaged face.

Draco Kamado, Herpettian

Leader of the Merry Hunters crime family

Threat Level: Ten