Coyote

[53] a new day.

This wasn't who J had expected to meet when he thought about meeting Wolf and kicking his ass for getting Oli killed. The detective had expected an arrogant coyote who'd look down on him; it would have made hating him easier. But now... how could he hate him? After everything he had learned about what had happened in Coupon City, he knew the man wasn't at fault. He was only doing his job, the same way Oli was doing hers.

J put his hand on Wolf's shoulder. "I'm going to tell you a secret. Promise me you won't tell anyone."

"I won't. I promise."

J withdrew his hand to his side. "Oli will be back as a sleeve."

Wolf gasped. "What—How—When did—Huh?"

"Her adoptive mother owns a cloning station on Mars. She had never told Oli about the sleeve, that's why she didn't tell you. But when she returns, you'll be the first one to know."

Tears flowed down Wolf's face, and he tried his hardest to wipe them off. "I'm so happy to hear that." He had a big grin on his face, highlighting his boyish looks. "You don't know how much you just made my day. But wow, a sleeve? That's huge."

The sparkle in the man's eyes made J smile. He was proud Oli was friends with a good man. Maybe there's hope for the coyotes after all.

"I have to go now. My parents don't like to wait when they're hungry," Wolf said.

Same. "Of course. Best of luck, Wolf."

"You too, Detective J." Wolf ran off to the end of the tube where his parents were, and the three entered a shuttle before it sped off.

🐺

J knocked on the metallic door.

"Enter," Syla said from the other side.

When J went inside, Syla's office didn't look different from the last time he was there. The only missing things were the barons and heads of the bounty hunter organizations. It made the room look bigger.

Syla sat behind his desk with a glass of wine in his hand. "Sit." He pointed to the empty chair in front of him.

J sat down and exhaled. He had taken a few days off work to relax. Now that he was back, he was ready to solve crimes. Hopefully, him being in Syla's office meant the Chief had a big case for him.

"How's my niece?" Syla asked.

"She hasn't woken up yet. When she does, Susan will call me."

"Good, good." He took a drag from the cigar in his other hand and blew the smoke into the air. "After you left, I had a chat with Susan. She assured me no one will connect Oli to Cybil, or vice versa. She has scrapped her medical records for any signs of relations, so we're good."

Yes! "I understand. " Warmth spread in J's chest. Now he could spend time with her in public without fear of capital punishment for creating a clone while not being a Martian. "So, why am I here?"

Syla blew smoke in the air, then placed the cigar in the ashtray before rubbing back his hair. "I have a job for you."

Finally, the words I wanted to hear. "What kind of case?"

Syla shook his head. "I don't give you cases: that's Samson's job. When I say, I have a job for you, it means I want you to come work for me."

"You want me to retire and sit behind a desk all day? That will be a waste of my skills."

"I said nothing about you retiring. Now that we know about the existence of aliens and golems in our system, I'm putting together a special task force to deal with them, and I want you to lead that task force. As you said, the golems can be anyone we know, so I don't need you distracted by mundane cases. This is bigger than anything you've ever solved, so I need your full attention on it. Understood?"

J nodded.

Syla took a sip of his wine. "Have you heard of the League of Golems?"

Monica Pauly had told him about them. She delivered human organs and flesh to the organization under The Forgotten Nuns' orders. "Yes," J replied.

"They have members are all over the system. The special task force will root them out and put a stop to them." Before J said a word, Syla raised his hand. "I know what you're going to ask. Don't worry about it. The task force will have system-wide clearance. You'll be able to enter any planet, moon, and asteroid colony without a hiccup."

"How did you get that level of clearance?"

"After what happened to the State of Kwame, it wasn't hard. I told them I'm forming a task force that will deal with finding people like Cleopatra and stop them from creating the level of the attack she did."

"And they agreed?"

"Easily." Syla smiled.

J didn't doubt Syla's ability to persuade people. The man could convince a rock it was a plastic cup. And he always gets what he wants. "How will this team work? Do you choose the members or?"

"Your team, your rules. You can pick whoever you want, as long as they're not a golem."

I like the sound of that. There were so many skilled people J knew who'd be perfect for this kind of team. Whether they'd accept was another matter. "How many members can I have?"

"Not more than." Syla raised his brow. "Do you have people in mind?"

That's more than enough. "Yes."

"That's what I like to hear."

"When do I start?"

"Whenever your team is ready. Can you do it fast, though?"

Of course. "Sure."

"Excellent. Now go recruit them. We don't have time to waste."

"Yes, Chief." J stood and saluted, making Syla shake his head with a smile on his face.

J left the office, excited about his new job. But with it came finding a team name, if they'd wear uniforms or not, whether to use codenames or their real names, and so on. Though, first, he had to convince the people he had in mind to join him.

If She-Wolf and Red Hawk agree, then the others will be a piece of cake. J thought as the elevator descended, excited at the prospect of putting a stop to the League of Golems.