Chapter 5

"Tunimoth ship, this is Red Tower, what's your business?"

"Red Tower, this is Sierra Actual, Bounty Hunting is our business."

"Copy Sierra Actual, you are clear for landing, please provide your license for scanning when you land."

"No problem. Thanks."

"Happy hunting."

Max takes down the ship and shakes Zylis awake. "Ugh...what? Where are we?"

Max unbuckles himself and rises to his feet.

"Earth, I'll explain later, I'm your apprentice, you're the bounty hunter that needs to show her license."

She hesitantly nods and stands, "O-okay. How are we not dead?"

"Skill and determination."

She snorts, "Whatever."

They walk off the ship and make their way to a docking bay check-in desk. The human woman looks up and smiles, "Hi. Name?"

"Sierra Actual." Max says before Zylis can open her mouth,

"Ah, the bounty hunters? May I see your licence?"

Zylis pulls up her necklace, at the bottom is a straight, skinny, silver bar. From the bottom shoots out a hologram with a picture of Zylis and the title, BOUNTY HUNTER, underneath her picture along with the date it was issued and her class.

"Oooh, you're up there, cool. Welcome to earth, and you sir?"

"He's an understudy, too many died from inexperienced teachers."

The woman gives a sympathetic look. "Oh dear...well, you seem more than capable. I hope you two stay safe out there."

"Thank you." Zylis says,

They turn and start away, out of the building. "Alright, where we headed understudy?"

"My guess is she will be gambling." Max says,

"Where?"

"Maybe the Golden Casino, maybe."

"Where's that?"

"About a thirty minute drive that way." he says pointing South,

They drive to the hotel casino and park. "Okay, so what does she look like?"

Max looks at Zylis, "She might be a he."

Zylis looks at Max, confused, but only for a moment.

"She's a Sylvie?" Kiara says,

Zylis groans, "Atlas, I don't trust Sylvieats."

"Well if we want to find this Atalipi, she's likely to have the best information."

"Oh good, so she knows we are coming." Zylis says, rolling her eyes,

"Wouldn't be surprised."

Zylis glares at Max, he looks at her and shrugs.

"This...might be a bad idea." Kiara says to them,

"Might be?" Zylis asks as they walk in the front doors,

"Bad ideas have worked for me so far."

Zylis scoffs, "Sylvieats are dangerous. Manipulative, they only care about gain."

"It depends with her." Max says,

"At least she isn't totally cruel."

"Zylis. I need you to trust me here."

"I don't even know what I'm looking for!" She whispers angrily,

"Just keep your eyes open, she's probably winning, but not THE winner." he says as he turns and splits away from Zylis.

She watches him walk for a moment and looks straight, uttering threatenings to herself.

"How long has it been since you have seen her? What if she has changed?" Zylis asks,

"I doubt it, she's...she wouldn't change. She'll help us."

"How do you know?"

"Because she owes me a favor." Max says,

"How old is she?"

"Does it matter?" Zylis asks Kiara,

"I suppose not."

"I'm not even sure, they CAN live a few thousand years though."

"So I've heard." Kiara says,

"She could be any species right now, but keep in mind, she is a half human."

"So, she's a shape-shifting human then?"

"Yes. But that doesn't mean she is human."

"Ugh, k."

"Each person here receives a barcode tattoo to track their winnings. I've hacked into the Casino's system. There are four people on a hot streak that are still here."

"Tell us."

"A heavier man in the red shirt at the slot machines, he hasn't gotten the jackpot, but he might as well have with how well he's doing."

"Too much risk. She would only go to the slot machines to break up her winning."

"A Pawgentri at craps table one has won the last two games of Craps and two games before that, once at Roulette."

"Max?" Zylis asks,

"Maybe...who's next?" he asks, eyeing the scaley bird man,

"A Jipcor at the Poker table? The last two games at roulette and blackjack she lost, but before that, she won three times at roulette and looks as though she's about to win this poker game."

"That's her."

"Okay."

"Zylis you can hang back and watch my back, I'll ta-"

"No. I dont care if you trust her, she's got to earn my trust. I want to watch her up close."

"Alright. Approach when the game's over, this she has a 3 trays of chips." Kiara says,

"Which means she'll likely cash in after this and be more isolated. Good job Kiara."

They examine different games and run the slot machines nearby twice. Finally she wins, she takes her chips and moves to cash them in.

Max gets up and starts over first, Zylis casually follows after.

"Thanks, yeah, just got lucky I guess."

"Eh, not sure it's luck. This guy's just good." Max says,

The man looks over, his smile disappears and then quickly reappears, brightly. Then it dampens slightly when he sees Zylis.

"You know you look one step away from being a monk. It's a good thing you aren't wearing the mask and hood. Thank you. You too sir. Have a good day."

The man turns and starts to the door, Max walks fast and to her side. "Megan we need your help." he says softly,

"Sorry, I can't help you. I am about to get on a plane."

"To where?" Zylis asks so threateningly,

Megan smiles, "No hard feelings?" she giggles,

She walks to a taxi and opens the door. "Wait, come on. We really need your help. This is really important. Please?"

She looks back at him, staring with a slightly stunned expression. She searches his eyes for a few seconds.

She sighs, "Quinzler Hotel, two hours, room 343."

"Thank you Megan."

Her white skinned alien form smiles. She looks down at the asphalt, then back up awkwardly and climbs into the taxi.

"So what do we do for two hours?" Max asks,

Zylis looks back at the casino doors and back to Max. "We aren't gambling."

She rolls her eyes, "Got any better ideas? Maybe a drink and you can tell me about her?"

"How bout lunch and maybe about her?"

"Deal."

They find a diner and get fish and chips. Halfway through eating she asks about her again.

"So? What the story with her?"

Max looks from Zylis, down to his food. "We were on a mission together. We weren't bounty hunters, but we were known for being able to pull our own wait pretty darn well. We got hired, payed a lot, a lot, to evac the son of this general from front lines, the Herithage war."

Zylis leans back in her seat, stunned but dug in deep into the story.

"We got captured on Onsta Moon. Secrets came out about who we were, what we were doing so, they tortured us. We managed to escape and killed everyone....we uh...we didn't find the general's son. Not alive." he says, mostly to Kiara,

"I'm sorry Max." Zylis says,

"She figured out you're a Celestial. Didn't she?" Kiara asks him personally,

"Yeah, it's okay. I mean, it sucked obviously. But it's in the past."

"If you trust her, I'll trust her, but I'll keep a close eye, just to watch our backs." Kiara says,

They finish their lunch and wait for time to pass, when it's time, they get a taxi and go to the hotel. They take the elevator up to the floor and start down to the room.

Zylis knocks on the door. The door opens and reveals a young, beautiful human woman. The top half of her blonde hair is straight, the bottom half is curly and messy, but it adds to her soft yet strong look.

Her gray blue eyes move from Zylis to Max and back. She smiles, "Come in."