I turned to face the screen that met my eyes as I adjusted my seat. The constant beeping was an almost relaxing rhythm and I concentrated on the text scrolling down the monitor. For three weeks I had been chasing this Noller and I was so close I could taste it. The bounty was good and with the credits I earned from this job, I could finally relax and start planning a life beyond hunting down the scum of the galaxy.

‘Vessel, state your name and purpose for docking.’ The voice had such a strong Kalarian accent that I banged on the chatterbox to improve the quality of the translation. A few different ship names that I had used through the years flashed on the screen and I quickly chose a clean one to apply to the transponder.

This one should be clean.

The ship's registry transmitted the requested information. A green light blinked on the screen and the station flashed into existence. These places were miserable cesspools but at least they had good food and information was easy to come by. Arrows led me towards an open slot and as the ship docked, I could feel the clamp securing my rustbucket. The meter started running as soon as the ship was secure, clicking off credits for every hour I stayed, cutting into the job’s profits. The thought of leaving money on this station made me crazy, so I headed straight for the bar.

‘Rem!’ I smiled and sat at the top of the horseshoe surrounding the beverages on display. The gorgeous bartender smiled and pulled a bottle of whiskey from under the counter. ‘You are my savior.’

‘How are you, Aia?’ Rem was one of my oldest friends and I could always count on him to keep me up to date on what was going on. I took a long drink of the Earth style whisky and smiled as the toxic warmth spread through my throat and into my belly. I could never look at him enough and not just because humans were rarely seen in the wild; those that were normally didn’t represent the best of the species. He had taken advantage of some serious genetic restructuring to get his physique, but it had paid for itself in tips.

‘Better now.’ I slammed the glass down and tapped on the bar next to it. Rem obliged and filled it to the brim. As I drank, he returned the bottle to its place under the bar. ‘Business slow?’ I just now noticed how empty the usually bustling station was.

‘Yeah- some malfunction. They’re working on it. By the way, a Manosian was looking for you. He said his name is Manuk Kai.’ The name wasn’t familiar, so I shrugged it off, preferring to enjoy my drink and a little relaxation before getting back to business.

Rem winked at me before turning to help another customer and I was reminded of happier times, when I had just left the colony. We were just friends now, but the memories of being with him were strong. Since starting this line of work, I had tried to distance myself from him, he assumed I was no longer interested, but I didn’t want to let him in on what was really going on. If too many people knew about our connection, it could prove to be a liability.

‘Hey, Aia!’ A familiar voice made me spin around.

‘Cloe!’ The ephemeral being was unlike anyone I had ever met. She could take on any appearance and wasn’t alive in any way I was familiar with. From what I understood, she existed outside of time and space- but she didn’t go into many details. We all have our secrets, right? In an attempt to make me comfortable, she normally took on a human appearance, but there was no mistaking her blips and subtly static riddled facade for a corporeal being. ‘How did you know I was here?’

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We had met a few years ago when I got lost in the Necrid Expanse with no fuel and an enraged trader on my tail with a chip on his shoulder over some unfinished business. Cloe suddenly blipped into my cramped ship and helped me find an asteroid to hide on.

‘I knew you would be here.’ I asked Rem to bring her a glass of essence. ‘Mmm, what did you say this flavor was?’

‘Rose. It’s an Earth flower.’ Cloe did not consume solids, but enjoyed fragrances when mingling.

‘What have you been doing? I haven’t seen you in..um..’ She didn’t have a firm grasp of the concept of time. To her, an hour was the same as a second or a quadrat or a century.

‘Days. Earth time.’ I had seen Cloe less than a week ago. ‘Did I tell you, I’ll earn enough from this bounty for that doctor I told you about.’

‘Oh, yes.’ Cloe inhaled the essence and smiled dreamily, then remembered, ‘And Faye?’ I always got the feeling that maintaining a progressive verbal conversation was difficult for Cloe, but at least she was making an effort.

‘I’ve tracked her down and hope to have her with me soon.’

‘Yes, That’s good?’

‘Very. I can’t wait.’ Rem walked back over and gave Cloe a devastating grin.

‘Hi gorgeous.’ Cloe smiled back. I hated to ruin her good time, but this wasn’t a social visit. I cleared my throat.

‘Um, Rem.’ I snapped my fingers near his head and he quickly turned his attention to me. I smiled at Cloe apologetically. ‘I need your help finding someone.’

‘Sure.’ He leaned his head towards me and winked. ‘Always love to help out my oldest and dearest friend.’

‘Who tips better than anyone else, right?’ I ran my finger along his arm and smiled at Cloe, who may have been learning what jealousy was.

‘Yeah, that too. Who are you looking for this time?’ His attention was fully mine. I scrolled through my images, interfaced with a nearby holo projector and brought up an image of the ugly Noller I was looking for. All of our data, like images, video and documents, was stored in our DNA and accessed through a chip that was implanted in our wrists. Technically the chip was supposed to be fixed, but when you were in my line of work, you found a way to swap it out, changing identity and evading the occasional attempts to reign in criminal activity.

‘Whoa, that’s a fine looking fella.’ Rem thought for a moment and it hit him. ‘That fucker was in here a few days ago. Summoned us from the Netalis system. Had business with another one that looked a lot like it.’

‘Yeah, probably related. Members of the same Noller clan look identical.’ I turned off the projection quickly to prevent any unwanted attention. ‘Do you know where it went after the meeting?’

‘No- just that they looked like they were in a hurry. If the tab didn’t auto charge, I think they would’ve left without paying.’ He shrugged, ‘Sorry.’

‘It’s fine, just knowing that they’re still alive is a huge help.’ I finished my drink and stood. ‘You two have fun.’ I winked at Cloe. ‘And don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.’

She giggled and turned her attention back to Rem. It was really nice seeing them but I could hear the meter ticking on my ship and had to go. I thumbed the tab on the bar, left a few extra credits for Rem, blew him a quick kiss and headed over to the sundry shop on the atrium. I was running short on supplies, so I picked up some garbage food, asked the vendor behind the counter if he had seen my guy and after a quick negative, left.

Daden was so close, I could feel it. This one was a real scumbag- even by my standards- bio-trafficking and slave trading were just a few of his supposed offenses. I usually didn’t make judgments, but this one needed to be dealt with. Realizing that looking for more leads here was pointless, I rushed back to undock my ship.