RUSTLERS

RUSTLERS Part 1

           Harold Jones, a rogue detective sat at the breakfast table, asleep. His eyebrows still furrowed trying to map out a plan for the Rustlers new deal. The Rustlers are a gang of criminal geniuses wildly known across the universe. A woman walked in, Kai Warringal, "Good morning, Trig! Oh. Well, lookie here." She smirked at the sleeping man.

Trig looked behind to see Kai stalking towards Harold. She grabbed his cowboy hat and laid it atop his head, "There, that's the man I know." Kai laughed, her red lips spreading to showoff pearly white teeth. She then made her way to the blue man she expected to see.

Trig came from a species called Barakkareen. He held a white plate and gathered her favorites from a long table. Cheesy scrambled eggs dosed with pepper and salt, glistening crispy bacon, a golden crackled biscuit, and freshly mixed fruit. He handed it to Kai and gave a warm smile, "have you taken your supplements today?"

She squinted her eyes, "Of course I did. You messaged me twice this morning."

He smiled his black teeth gleaming with pride. He then leaned over and grabbed a napkin and utensils. "Enjoy your breakfast!"

After everyone was settled with their breakfast, including Trig, Harold stirred from his sleep. He lifted his head, eyes stuck closed, his hands reached up to rub them open. Harold finally startled awake when his hat fell back hitting the chair. He turned to pick it up.

Kai, the red-haired woman, snickered. "Feel better?"

Another woman sitting across set down her fork, Anika, lifted her eyebrows, "I might be a cyborg but my back hurts just looking at him."

The criminals laughed. Harold quirked an eyebrow, his lips twitching into a smile. "I bet y'all think you're hilarious." He got up taking his coffee mug with him. He spoke louder as he poured coffee, "I'll have you know I believe this job of ours might be the best we've had." He cleared his throat and slurped his drink. Harold then came back to sit down.

"You mean you won't threaten to fire me the entire time?" Kai jested.

"Hmph. Well, that's still on hold," She laughed. Kai supplied money and pulled in deals; or more simply, she was "un-fire-able." Harold continued, "Anyhow, Kai got in contact with President Marilyn Garcia. The president claims her brother is imprisoned on planet Votera for false accusations. She would like to pay us a hefty price to break in and bring her brother back. Garcia is prepared for the possibility of war but says she will give anything to have him."

"Which means she is willing to pay us an amount that will keep us happy and fat for years to come." Kai eyed everyone with a daring smile. She added, "Which also means we can get a better ship."

Harold interrupted the excitement, "You would do well to remember the extreme risks for this job."

Anika interrupted with a scoff, "Harold. I am an extreme risk." She winked.

Trying to hide his smile, he took a long swig of his drink.

°°°

It was three in the morning two weeks had passed since agreeing which wormholes to take to get to Votera. Even with all the shortcuts, it would be a while before the president could see her brother.

Harold looked to his left; Anika's eyes were bewitched to her computer screen. Her fingers typed away madly and she chewed on her lip. The detective cleared his throat, "I know you've broken into their system a couple of times but let me know if you feel it will take longer."

She looked up offended, "You think I'll have trouble getting into a Core Lit Triple Plus program?" She scoffed, but continued, "These morons never change their cybersecurity, they always think to just add more guards. They hired someone long ago to set up the program and refuse to upgrade or do anything to it."