A towering man burst through the door so fast, it gave Sheriff Frumt a start, nearly knocking him out of his chair, making him drop his glazed rye muffin and reach for his gun. The man scolded Frumt with a mere gaze, a look that could stop a heartbeat, and at the very least give him pause. Frumt pulled his hand away from his gun slowly.

"Easy, Sheriff," he said, not hiding his disdain, focusing it on Frumt's bulging paunch held up by a large belt buckle. He flashed Frumt a badge. "I'm U.S. Marshal Tracy Irving. I've come all the way from Earth on official business. A fugitive and murderer has found refuge in your fine city of New Oklahoma, a certain Roy Rothspalt. Yeah, you heard that right. The reverend. He's got a laundry list of crimes, some of which include murdering a slew of innocent victims. You wouldn't want to harbor a murdering fugitive, now would you, mister...?"

The sheriff brushed muffin crumbs out of his mustache. "Frumt. Sheriff George Frumt." He nodded.

"I'll take your nod to mean that you do not want to harbor a murdering criminal from the US government. We all know how unforgiving they can be towards those that aid fugitives. Now, we don't have much time, and no room for error. So as a representative of the United States Justice System, I have the authority to gather and deputize a taskforce. And seeing that Mars is a colony of Earth, America in particular, that would put you at the mercy of my request. You following me?"

The Terran lawman gripped the desk with an oversized ham fisted smartarm, splintering the wood of Frumt's desk with little more than a pinch.

Frumt swallowed and managed to get out an, "Uh huh."

"Good. Since I'm not familiar with the men in these parts, I'm going to need you to help me gather a posse. Can you handle that?"

Frumt stuttered.

"What was that?"

"H—how many men do ya need, Marshal?"

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

The marshal's chin tugged to one side. "I'd say no less than fifteen would do. Roy's a sly bugger. Got the whole town fooled. Pulled the wool over everyone's eyes. There's also a chance he's got a woman hostage."

"That's terrible. I'll pick a handful of men I can trust."

"Once you're done, meet me out front."

"Where will you be?"

"I'm going to figure out Roy's current whereabouts and keep tabs on him. You just worry about that posse. And believe me, the US will reward you handsomely, but only if we see this thing done right."

The marshal nodded, coaxing a nod from Frumt.

"Thirty minutes, Sheriff. Thirty. See you out front."

As soon as the door shut and the marshal moved past the windows, Frumt retrieved the muffin from the ground, dusting it off before stuffing the rest of it in his mouth.

He waited until finishing the muffin before sending a comm to Sujin McCrory.

"Hi. Yes. Guess who I just spoke with. The U.S. Marshal you warned me about. No. I did what you required. He wants to take action this afternoon. Less than thirty minutes. I will offer him assistance, until the time comes. Guess how many men he asked me for. No. More. Yeah, fifteen. Haha. I'll bring twenty, and have ten more waiting in the alleys and rooftops. He won't get Roy. And he won't escape."

No sooner had he ended the comm conversation did he get a ping. It was a notification from his cred account. He'd just acquired a hefty sum. Frumt grinned.