Not knowing what else to do, I punched in the coordinates for Manos O and decided to head to the back for a little rest before resuming my search. I drifted off and didn’t wake until the ship came to a stop in the upper atmosphere of Manos O. I had never visited the planet, but I knew that its number one export was prostitutes, who were famed across the galaxy for their skill and flexibility. I requested permission to land in one of the larger cities and was directed into a parking garage. Customs officials met me at my slip and took a look in the interior of my ship for any contraband.

‘Pretty tight controls for a planet whose main export is sex work.’ The officer rolled his eyes and gave me a form.

‘You can stay for 5 farsoots. Enjoy your time on Manos O.’ He walked off and I made my way towards a nearby bar. There were fifteen major cities on Manos O. I would need to get extremely lucky to find Manuk Kai in the approximately ten days I had available to me, but Ammet was right- this was my job and I was actually pretty good at tracking people down. I set the alarm on my communicator for when I had to leave and got to work.

I had never been to Earth but figured that most civilizations evolved in approximately the same way: emergence from the primordial goo, self awareness, scientific advancement and then either total self destruction or evolution into a space faring race. In my opinion, even with the forced utopia, the humans got pretty lucky. I had visited planets where the occupants had gone the complete annihilation route and it was not pretty.

The Manosians were a pretty standard humanoid race of the type that I had gotten used to seeing in this part of the galaxy. We were all made of the same stuff, so I guess it made sense that we had evolved in similar ways. They tended to be slightly shorter, possibly due to the increased gravity but otherwise the differences were minimal. I made sure my translator was secure and slipped on to a bar stool.

‘What do you want?’ This bartender didn’t seem to be the type that was going to give me a sympathetic ear, but he might be able to get me headed in the right direction.

‘What’s good?’ He gave me a quick once over and determined that I wasn’t from around there.

‘Stay away from the gin, everything else is fine.’

‘Then give me a not gin, neat.’ He grunted and poured some shimmering liquid into a glass. I held it up and smiled, ‘Cheers.’

‘What brings you to Manos O?’ I needed to get an idea about who I was talking to, but he seemed insufferably tight lipped.

‘I’m looking for a Manosian. Maybe you know him.’ I smiled, knowing how ridiculous that sounded. He didn’t get the joke.

‘There are 15 billion of us on this planet. Probably not.’

‘Yeah. I’m looking for someone who deals in rare metals.’ I took another sip of the surprisingly refreshing drink. ‘Maybe you know someone like that?’

‘It depends. What metal are you looking to sell?’ I didn’t want to show my hand unless I had to so I tried to think of another, comparable metal.

‘Coxal?’

‘Is that a question or you’re looking to sell some Coxal?’

‘I’m looking to maybe sell something similar to Coxal.’ I looked around and realized that I was the only one there.

‘Listen, honey, I don’t deal with amateurs.’ I quickly finished my drink, then smashed the glass into his face. He collapsed behind the bar and I walked towards him, nudging him with my foot to bring him back to consciousness. Once he opened his eyes, I squatted next to him and slapped him lightly.

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‘Don’t call me honey. Now give me the name.’ He mumbled something before passing out and I paid my tab and left.

Tyrian Octo. I connected to the Manus O directory and looked up the name. There were several in this city, so I picked the first one and called.

‘What?’ The guy did not sound happy.

‘Hi, I got your name from..,’ Fuck, I should have gotten the dude’s name, ’a bartender.’ He immediately hung up and I couldn’t blame him. I called again and didn’t give him the chance to speak.

‘I’m looking for someone and was told you could help me.’ He paused for a minute.

‘Fine. Meet me at The Dancing Ferret in 18 bloops.’ He hung up. Fine, but what the fuck was a bloop? I looked it up in my directory and realized that 18 of them would be about an hour and thirty eight minutes. Finding The Dancing Ferret was easy, but I was terribly disappointed when I wasn’t greeted by gyrating weasels. While the translator worked well enough in most cases, there were times when it could really let you down.

I sat in a booth in the corner and it occurred to me that no matter where you were in the galaxy, the afternoon shift in any strip club would be dicey. A waitress came over and put a napkin on the table in front of me.

‘What can I get you?’

‘One of those shimmery drinks and a bag of Choco-no-nos™.’

‘Sorry, we don’t have those.’ My stomach was rumbling.

‘Ok,’ I quickly evaluated my surroundings,’then something pre-packaged.’ She rolled her eyes and walked off.

One of the dancers made her way towards me.

‘Hi, what’s your name?’ She sat down on the bench and wrapped her arm around me.

‘Doris.’ She smiled and put her other hand on my knee. It was nice to have some company so I let her continue.

‘Oooh, Doris, that’s a sexy name.’

‘Yeah, in my language it means goddess of earth and sky.’ She giggled.

‘Where are you from, Doris?’ Her hand slid up my leg and the waitress brought over my order.

‘Would you like something, what’s your name?’

‘Larissa.’

‘Would you like something, Larissa?’ She nodded and the waitress walked away. ‘I’m from a planet called Earth. Have you heard of it?’

‘No, I’ve never left Manos O.’

‘You’re not missing anything.’ The waitress brought Larissa her drink and we clanked our glasses together.

‘I like you, Doris. Do you want to come up to my room and get to know me better?’ She was actually very attractive and I could use the company.

‘I like you too, Larissa.’ I leaned into her. ‘How much will getting to know you better cost me?’

‘800 credits including the room.’ She smiled and stroked my face with her hand.

‘I’m sure it’s worth every credit, but I’m here to meet someone.’ She looked disappointed, I was sure 800 credits was a lot for a place like this. ‘If you’re still available, maybe I can join you afterwards?’ She inched closer and discreetly unzipped my jumpsuit a few inches. She slid her hand inside and ran her hand over my breast, lightly squeezing my nipple. I could feel her breath on my neck as she leaned in and the thought of having to wait even a few minutes was almost intolerable.

‘I hope to see you soon, Doris.’

She walked away. I zipped my jumpsuit back up and tried to get my heart rate down. After ordering another drink, I cracked open the bag of whatever it was in front of me. The soggy discs inside were objectively disgusting, but I was hungry as hell and Tyrian Octo would be there soon. I spent the next few minutes daydreaming about burying my head between Larissa’s thighs when I noticed a stout figure making his way towards me. He sat down and called over the waitress.

‘What do you want with me?’ He pointed at what I had and she walked off.

‘I’m looking for someone that you might know.’ I lifted my eyebrow and paused for dramatic effect. ‘ Manuk Kai.’ He sat there for a moment and I could tell he was thinking.

‘Ah, Man-uk Kai.’ I guess my pronunciation was off. ‘Yeah, I know him. What do you want? If you want to buy or sell, I can give you a better price.’

‘I’ve been trying to get in touch with him about some... family issues, but I can’t seem to track him down. Do you know where he lives or have some sort of contact?’

‘Family issues my ass.’ He took a drink and thought for a second. ‘I know where he is, but it’s going to cost you.’

‘Of course- how much.’ He was sizing me up to figure how much I had and how desperate I was for his information.

‘Twenty thousand credits.’ God damn it! I tried not to look as annoyed as I felt.

‘That’s high for information like that. I’m sure that someone else has his contact and would be willing to help me out for far less. Sorry to waste your time.’ I acted like I was going to go.

‘Ok, fine- ten but don’t you dare tell him I told you.’ It was still high, but I was desperate and horny and didn’t want to spend the few days I had trying to track him down.

‘Agreed.’ Tyrian Octo sent me his account information and I made the transfer. Once he had the confirmation, he sent me the directions to Manuk Kai’s compound outside of the city.

‘Remember, you did not get this from me.’ He stood and walked out. I ordered another drink and motioned for Larissa to join me again. We talked a little more, then headed up to her room to get to know each other better.