Coyote

[4] the universal authority.

"Greet her for me." Please, don't.

"Aye."

The automatic door closed and the shuttle sped away. Detective J stood alone in the tube with an unbreakable transparent curved wall around him. Reaching inside his long coat's inner pocket, he took out his vape pen, turned around and headed to his destination while taking a drag. It calmed his nerves, which had been acting up since he got the call requesting him to go to TUA without an explanation.

He was in the middle of solving the mysterious death of Monica Pauly when he received the call from the Baron. Whatever the man wanted to say was so important that it couldn't be done over the phone. The time it took Detective J to go to TUA could have been used to crack the case. Too many things weren't adding up. The witnesses had said Monica was murdered, but the evidence had shown it was suicide.

Someone was lying.

He wasn't sure who, but it wouldn't be long before he found out.

He always did.

Bright lights drew his attention towards the top of the building. The projected words DETECTIVE DIVISION glowed from a mixture of different colors. Apart from being the oldest division in TUA, it was responsible for solving space crimes.

Entering the reception hall, the AC's cold air prickled his neck and a sweet flowery scent flowed into his nose, reminding him of his late wife, and making him smile. They had met on the space mall on Dione, Saturn's moon. He had noticed her before she introduced herself as his new partner—his last one had retired after forty years in service. He had never believed in love at first sight until that moment.

He rubbed off the tears that welled in his eyes, drowning the thoughts of her along with them, but the ache in his heart served as a reminder.

Bright lights chased away the shadows, giving life to the quiet room. There was a hallway on each sidewall. One led to the waiting room, and the other to the exit, with passing shuttles that headed to the dock. The Baron's office was down the third hallway, which was beside the reception counter.

"You're late," Ursula said from behind the reception counter. "The Baron has been waiting for you for two hours."

At eighty-two years old, she was the oldest worker in the division. But she didn't look a day over twenty-five. As a teenager, Ursula had been obsessed with her appearance. She hated the idea of getting old and dying, so she started working at thirteen and never spent her money. When she turned twenty-two, she used all her savings to transform into a cyborg. But unlike other cyborgs who loved showing off their implants, she looked like an organic with her brown skin, oceanic-blue eyes, and short red hair that was in a bowl cut.

Shut up, Ursula. "I'm here now." Detective J returned the vape pen to the coat's inner pocket. It had run out of charge after he entered the building. "What does he want?"

"How would I know?"

Dick. He sighed. The only mysteries he loved were the ones he could solve. This felt like one of the Baron's little games, which Detective J never enjoyed playing.

"Sign here." Ursula passed him her datapad. It had his picture on the screen with his full name, badge number, and years of service. According to it, he was the longest-serving detective. "You didn't know?" she asked after seeing his widened eyes and raised eyebrows.

Of course, I did. That's why I'm shocked. He turned to the side and rolled his eyes. His main concern was solving cases, not worrying if he was the oldest person in the room. After signing on the datapad, he went through the hallway leading to the Baron's office. It had projected images of former barons on its walls: all one hundred and two of them.