Coyote

[48] the request.

Space News: After a week-long battle, the Sol system has finally found the Undisputed Shoelace Thief. Mr. Shoelaces stole one thousand shoelaces to Ms. Shoelaces nine hundred, thus crowning him as the Undisputed Shoelace Thief. After the victory, Mr. Shoelace had this to say, "Ever since I was born, my dream was to be the best shoelace thief in the universe. Today's victory is the start of universal domination, and soon I will own all the shoelaces ever created." 

Detective J sat in the pilot's chair as the spaceship flew towards the edge of the solar system. Unlike the Corpse Flower, this spaceship was smaller and faster—perfect for a rescue mission. But the problem wasn't getting there, it was leaving. The golem's smirking face when it spoke clouded J's thoughts, making it hard for him to take a nap.

"What's on your mind?" Baron Dante asked while handing J a hot mug. "It's milk tea," he added after J arched his brow.

"Thank you." J accepted and took a sip. It was the right temperature and sweetness, making him gently moan when the tea went down his throat. "Where are the others?"

"Hippolyta is in the armory loading the weapons."

"And Baron Nina?" J took another sip.

"In the medic bay preparing equipment to treat survivors."

"If we find any."

"You think they're all dead?"

Hopefully. J took another sip. "I don't know." He never thought he would be in such a situation. And yet, here he was. "I'm used to dealing with humans. They have the same motivations and ambitions. Most times, they follow the same game plan with minor tweaks, which I can handle. But with the alien—"

"Golem."

"Right, the golem. I couldn't read it."

"But isn't a golem still a human?"

"It's not. The Forgotten Nuns remove the organs from the human body before turning the corpse into a golem. It's like an alien machine that needs a human body to operate."

"How do you know this?"

J wanted to say Monica Pauly had told him when he went to Mars, but that would mean exposing the smuggler's operation. He needed her help to find and stop The League of Golems after this mission. "I'm making assumptions."

Baron Dante turned to the spaceship's viewscreen, showing a live feed of Sister Mary in a holding cell. She had no limbs, much to J and the barons' surprise when they first saw her. "She's been asking for you."

"I know."

Baron Dante glanced at J. "Will you go see her?"

I don't want to. "Yes."

"What do you think she wants from you?"

"I don't know." J took another sip.

"I'll be in the Medic Bay helping Nina prepare the equipment. You can never be too prepared, you know."

"I know."

After Baron Dante left, J set the live feed to the holding cell on a loop before going there. Sister Mary had a big smile on her face when she saw him standing before her.

"Welcome, detective," she said.

"What do you want?"

"I want us to talk before I am free."

J crossed his arms. "Talk about what?"

"Your daughter."

J balled his hands into fists, but he kept his composure. "How—"

"—do I know?" Sister Mary laughed. "I have ruled this system for so long, nothing major happens without me knowing. And what your wife—excuse me, your late wife—did was a capital offense. Cloning non-citizens of The Kingdom?" She tsked multiple times.

"What. Do. You. Want?" J asked with a clenched jaw. He wouldn't let her reveal Cybil's secret and ruin her name, nor would he allow the alien to blackmail him.

"Relax, detective. I will not reveal your secret to the world. Honestly, I do not care about you or her."

Yeah, right. "Then what do you want from me?"

"I want you to keep an eye on a coyote called Wolf."

He seems to be popular with a lot of people. "And why would I do that?"

"Because he killed your daughter and my sisters. I have to avenge my sisters' deaths. But I cannot do that while I am like this." She referred to her missing limbs. "I will leave to heal, then return to kill him. But to do that, I must know his whereabouts. And that is where you 'keeping an eye on him' comes into play."

J already knew about Wolf after he had used his connections in the GSF to find out about the flying man. The same man Patrick had left Oli with. J had promised himself to give the coyote an ass-kicking when he saw him.

He would look for Wolf, but it wouldn't be because Sister Mary asked. She was trying to manipulate him; that was what she was good at. Too bad he wasn't the young and naïve detective anymore. There was a vast gap of information missing from when Oli left with Wolf to what happened in Coupon City before it disintegrated. Wolf was the only one with the answers. J needed those answers to put his mind at peace after failing to save Victoria Paulson.

"Before I do that, I want you to tell me everything."

Sister Mary's eyes widened, seeming to not have expected that. "Everything?"

"Everything you told Director Beatrice, and what you didn't. I can tell there's more you're hiding. I want to know it all. I'm sick and tired of being in the dark."

Sister Mary laughed. "Well then, grab some popcorn and have a seat because this might take a while."

"We have time." J leaned on the wall. "Start."

"I come from a peaceful species known as Olden. One day, a militaristic species known as Centauri invaded my planet. Their leaders, The Majors, gave us two choices: we join them and colonize every universe, or we die. I did not want to die, neither did my sisters. But other oldens refused, and The Majors killed them. The three of us were the last of our species. And now... now I am alone."