"I heard a rumor that your best man, Rowe, left ya and got himself hitched to a real pretty Dame." A black and grey Tabby said as he studied his cards.
"I heard the same thing, and that she was loaded, like an heiress or something all fancy-like," a grey Chartreux added.
"Oh, lucky guy." The Tabby took a drink from his stein.
"I raise you all two-fifty," a skinny white cat with his silk-pink shirt ved-open to his trousers purred.
The poker players nodded and anteed up.
"I also heard someone threw him a bone, had him down at the station on some fake drop-and-grab when she arrived in New Seattle. You think that true Tommy?"
The Tabby scratched his chin. "Ay, wait a second, wasn't that the day when the Dubrovn messages went citywide?"
"Same day, same day, and as a matter of fact, gentlemen, I checked it out, and there wasn't even a ship in orbit from that sector," the Chartreux said.
"Really?" the white cat asked.
"Nope, not-a-one, but there was a military vessel in the system, and I heard they were after Rowe," the Chartreux said.
The giant cat with the bowler cap took a huge drag on his cigar. "What can I say? He's a good kid, and he did everything I asked in a timely manner. And you know how I like when it they do that timely manner thing."
"Oh, yeah, yeah." The others nodded in agreement as they added to the thick haze with each puff on their cigars.
"Sos I put him in a position to get out of here and with a wife that cleared his name, what's the big deal?"
"How'd ya know Rowe would go for her?"
Expelling smoke as he spoke, "You ain't really playin' the game if you can't situate something that simple."
"But aren't ya gonna need Rowe for other runs?" Tommy asked.
The giant feline flicked the ash off the end of his cigar with a practiced hand. "Sure."
"But if he's gone then—"
"He got hitched soon after his recovery from messing with a Shifter. Sos for now, I'm giving him an extended vacation." He took another long drag. With a satisfied smile on his face, he said. "Because no one leaves Nico, not really."
YOU ARE READING
Lustral || Complete
Science FictionTwo aliens on the run, manage to bump into each other on a distant planet at just the right time. ✨~✨~✨ Liri Delaney, the only child of Dubrovn planetary moguls, is accused of murder. Scouring several solar systems to find the true murderer, she run...
