Thousands of years after Earth became uninhabitable, humanity colonized other planets and moons around the solar system. Amid rising crime rate, the Galactic Space Force (GSF) set up a legal contract where registered bounty hunters (known as Coyotes...
Moon Colonies News: Attention all residents of Ganymede, if you see a woman with short, curly dark hair, green eyes, and an orange exo-suit, please report her to your nearest police station. Her name is Cherry Ford and she's wanted for leading the syndicate "Pink Fairy" in illegally exporting whale and octopus meat out of the moon.
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Wolf used Skully's private elevator to leave the gangsta's office. An upbeat melody played inside as it descended, calming his nerves and making him bob his head up and down and tap his heels on the floor. With his eyes closed, the music enthralled him to the point he didn't realize he had arrived at his destination and the elevator's door was open.
"Ahem!" A voice brought him out of his trance. Sally-May stood before him with her hands on her waist and a frown on her face. She was the wife of Rover—former Kingpin of Paradiso: Skully had dethroned him. She tugged a strand of her long coal-black hair behind her ear and crossed her arms on her chest.
Black hair looked good on Beltans. It complemented their pale skin and long, slim frame—a side effect of living on the Asteroid Belt. Since its inauguration, female Beltans had won the most Miss Solar System awards; their unique look gave them an advantage over their competitors.
"Dampnas rei utor possum?" she asked, looking uncomfortable as Wolf ogled her.
She was beautiful—insanely beautiful: cat-like face and silver eyes, broad nose, and full lips. Woo! A former Miss Asteroid Belt too. Every inch of him craved her, making him forget the pain of getting his ass beat by Two-Face and Hannibal. He wished he was smooth enough to throw a flirtatious line or two and have her in his arms. But previous failed attempts with beltan women reminded him he lacked such a skill.
Sally-May put her hands inside her blue cutout shorts' pockets, its front-and-center zip traversing the whole length vertically. A long-sleeve jacket covered her top, hiding her black and silver cybernetic torso.
"Hello!" She snapped her fingers in his face, taking him out of his daydream.
"Shit, wait." Wolf smacked the back of his neck where the translation chip was. It had been malfunctioning for the last month. He had to get it fixed. It was crucial for surviving space travel—especially for a bounty hunter. "What did you say?"
"Can I use the damn thing?" She pointed at the elevator where he still stood.
"Right, sorry." He stepped out, and she took his place. When his fascination with her died down, one question lingered in his mind: Why was she using Skully's private elevator?
There were several possibilities, the top one being adultery. He decided to mind his own business, seeing as he was already on Skully's bad side. So, he turned away from the closing doors and went on with his day on Paradiso—a space station in the form of a Rubik's cube that sold black market goods, wrapped up in a nightclub atmosphere.
Paradiso had three sectors: Trading, Luxury, and Dock.
The trading sector housed over two hundred traders who rented ateliers to sell their goods. Every month they paid a twenty percent fee of their monthly income to the Kingpin, who then used it to maintain the teleportation device that allowed the black market to evade The Universal Authority—or TUA.
