Galactic Detective Shilo Zander

Detective Shilo walked alongside JoLane. Her long legs and big feet carried her the distance. He was jogging to stay alongside her, but he wasn't about to let a client think he was weak.

They stopped at customs, where he retrieved his belongings. He took his time weaving the belt on before adding his holster. He went through the steps of checking the extra charges on the weapons' additional magazines. The mission was only classified as a level two threat. As a human, he should be able to handle that with his bare fists, but better safe than sorry and anything to catch his breath.

Annoyed by his slow behavior or in a hurry, she dove into the problem, talking fast.

"Slow down. I'm listening but that was too fast for my ears. Infestation, underground. Find the source. Three days' time. What happens in three days? How about you start at the beginning?"

"Of course, my apologies. I don't know what you know about Jolangus culture. We are a docile race choosing to stay to our own systems. The strife of the core with its constant power struggles does not interest us. We have found a place in the system by providing food for many. All vegetation, as we are herbivores and, as such, not good ranchers. We don't have the stomach for it. So farming is what we do and are known for. It's a good hard life that we enjoy."

"You might have skipped too far to the beginning. Why am I here? What is the task at hand that you can't handle?"

"Well, I am glad to see you came so armed. We are currently evaluating the threat as a level four threat."

"Level four. Your initial report has this as a level two."

"Yes, but the problem has grown. We have a problem with rats."

"You have a problem with rats and that has you considering evacuating a town. And you expect me to do what exactly? I'm not clearing a town of a rat infestation."

"Oh no, we don't need you to clear the town of the infestation. We need to know why the infestation has occurred and how to prevent future infestations. You're here to tell us how to stop this."

"And this is only in one town."

"Yes, only in one town."

"Simple evacuate the town and start over. You can send the other half of my payment to the same account."

"It's not that simple. This has occurred thrice over all on different moons or in different colonies."

"Colonies that I suspect have no known commonalities."

"That's correct. We can't find a link between them. No registered travelers or similarities to biome."

"Mysterious."

JoLane smiled. She had a soft smile, and her nose twitched to the left and her ears perked up when she did it. Shilo stopped himself from reaching out to touch the soft fur on her cheek. In his defense, the Jolangus fur was incredibly soft.

"That's why we hired a detective. To get to the bottom of this. We are thankful that you could come so quickly. Others have ignored our plea for help."

JoLane pulled open her trench coat to reveal a laser blaster similar to his, but adjusted for her wider short paws. "I hope you're a good shot Detective Shilo Zander. I have been practicing and had this custom ordered to match your declared weapon."

"Interesting. Why is that?"

"We do wish to expand our presence in the galactic society. While most of us are happy with our place and it provides a stable position, we are curious what it's like out there. Humans are new, are they not?"

"We have been roaming the galaxy for a few hundred years now. I don't think it's anything like we expected, but would we call that new?"

"Your species is new for us. Jolangus has been farming for the galactic core for a few thousand years. We have seen power struggles rise and fall over the time. Humans picked a good era to be found in. I am tasked to also learn more of the human species."

"We didn't adapt to it well. Who would have imagined the colonized universe would look like this? Tell me about the town we are going to?"

"The colony is on that moon." JoLane pointed to the half crescent above them. The larger gas giant it orbited dwarfed the system's sun.

Shilo was happy the Jolangus atmospheric requirements met his. He appreciated the trench coat jacket he adopted as his personal flair of detective. The micro-weave helps not only to protect him from the various climates he would encounter but also was very resistant from most physical threats. He contemplated the level four threat level and the slight chill. JoLane seemed quite content with the chill breeze.

"I assume we will teleport there?" He continued after her nod of agreement. She was picking the pace up again, so he hoped the walk to the transport pad would be quick. It turned out to be a short walk to a high-speed train. JoLane hopped to the front of the line and he followed. He was the only human in the depot, but not the only alien. He only noted a few that he could recall even being familiar with. The number of species was incredible. A set of three small insect-like creatures cut across their path. JoLane hopped right over them. He waited for them to pass and apologized for her leap. The creatures chirped back at him.

Beyond the insects, the majority of the aliens in the train depot had two arms and two legs with fur. That's about where the similarities started and stopped. "Sorry, I'm not as fuzzy as your regular guests."

JoLane looked back at him. "It doesn't bother me. I find it kinda cute."

"Flattered. I'd like to learn more about this colony before we get there."