Chapter 4:

The next evening, as the trio's collective space-lag wore off, they wandered, heads still pounding, to the old office.

Well, not the old office, which had unfortunately been sold off in a desperate bid to keep the agency afloat ten years ago, but the 'new' old office, which was somehow worse off than the original had been. At least, with Vanilla on top of the funds, the office wasn't behind in rent. That had been the badger last time. Hadn't been enough cases. Never had been.

The old office was now one of many stock rooms in the city's biggest Honey store, of course. As their luck would have it, one of the best performing stores in the company. Getting it back now, even if only for nostalgia's case, would be nothing short of a miracle.

Sitting down in his chair, Vector took a glance from the window, where the store's bright lights could be seen from this small room, only a stone's throw away. Vector could confirm this, although with his face red with embarrassment. Charmy and he had had a drink too many after-hours and while discussing the state of this place and how much they missed the old place, before they knew it-

The girl hadn't pressed charges, luckily, but the two men were too embarrassed to step foot in a Honey again.

Knocking interrupted his thoughts.

"Come in!" yelled the crocodile, who had recognised the pattern. "It's your office too y'know, you don't need to knock."

Opening the door, Espio's head emerged, a small nod aimed towards Vector. Always polite, ever grateful. Outside of gambling in any case, where the man had all the restraint of Knuckles in a fight. Everyone had a vice, a foil, he thought, patting his scotch drawer absent-mindedly.

"I'm only being courteous." said Espio, smiling briefly as he sat down at his own immaculately tidy desk. "I think it's respectful to knock before you enter any room."

The door banged open once more as their third member half walked, half flew in.

"And I wish more people would realise that." sighed the chameleon, leaning back on his chair in resigned defeat. Charmy buzzed back an inaudible response. Still half-asleep, which would explain the pathetic attempts of his wings swaying the natural movement of his legs. It was admirable really, how hard the lad's brain had to work to keep a functionally unconscious man upright.

"How do you think he got dressed?" asked Vector, watching the bee trying to move his chair back from the desk, his arms flailing lazily, a subconscious effort more than any evidence of controlled action.

"I assume he slept in them." replied Espio, who was focused on the multiple spreadsheets he had open on his PC more than he was Charmy's antics. The lad couldn't hear them, thankfully. Not until they poured some coffee into his mouth in any case.

"Probably stayed up half the night. He's still just a kid, really."

"The man's nearly twenty-seven, Vector."

Nearly twenty-seven.

Christ almighty.

Although it made sense, he supposed, if he calculated the best guess at his age it probably rounded up the same.

"As old as Cream." continued Espio, as he got up to turn the kettle on, the slow hissing filling up the silence that Vector had left in his wake. "The university graduate, no less."

"Well yeah, she gets that from her mother." he said automatically, the standard response. He'd never think of taking credit for Cream's success in life, that couldn't be attributed to him. How could something that good be a by-product of Vector?

Charmy was more something Vector would have produced, he thought glumly, watching the boy's hands cradle the cup that Espio placed in front of him. The same age, working in this dingy office with an old hat like him.

And who's fault was that?

Shaking his head, he tried to remove the thought. It, among others, was always in the back of his mind.

Blaming him.

The worst part, of course, was he had a worrying feeling they were right.

The coffee had finally passed through Charmy's body in more ways than one, as he exited the office bathroom, whistling. Something to do with his biology, only ever needed the one to bring him back up to speed.

Vector had heard somewhere that it took a teaspoon of honey to revive a dying bee, something he had scoffed at as a matter of principle, but he made a conscious effort to keep some in the fridge, just in case.

"I assume you guys have already started with some leads?" asked Charmy, fully awake now, a smirk on his face.

"There's no need to be like that." replied Espio, thumbing through some online documents. "His client…" he nodded towards Vector, although his eyes still stuck to his monitor. "Didn't feel too willing to give us even a name."

She hadn't, to be fair. Just this damn photo.

"So what you doing?" asked Charmy, leaning over Espio's monitor, to the badly hidden annoyance of the owner.

"Looking up any newspaper reports of anything unusual on the Martian colony." he replied, moving his monitor away from the bee's nosy gaze. "Anything untoward or suspicious that could have happened recently, might give us a lead on any movements or shady characters."

"Find anything?"

"If I had, can you think of a reason that I wouldn't have told you already?"

"Because you're mean?"

"Granted." Espio replied, smiling honestly at the lad. "But no, nothing yet."

Charmy rapped his fingers on the desk a few times while Espio frowned at him, but the chameleon said nothing. It was truly hard to even get slightly mad at the guy. He never meant anything by it when he was being slightly annoying. Very friendly at heart. Unlike Vector's cynicism and Epsio's somewhat more depressing realism, Charmy had innocent optimism and well-meaning printed onto his heart. Was sweet enough to make even Vanilla worry him sometimes.

"And what about you?"

Vector blinked a couple of times before he realised that question was addressed to him.

"Huh?"

"What about you, boss?" repeated Charmy, walking over to Vector's desk. There wasn't room for a computer here, not with all the newspapers and folders littering it... and the surrounding floor. Vanilla hadn't been around for a while, which embarrassed him on multiple levels. She shouldn't have had to feel the need to tidy up after him, but he'd be lost trying to sort it himself.

"I'm thinking." he replied.

"About anything in particular?" said Charmy, a wide cheeky grin enveloping his features.

"About cutting your pay, boy."

"There's pay?"

Throwing a nearby magazine at the bees head, who dodged it expertly, he resigned himself back into his thoughts, trying to stick with the case at hand. The girl wouldn't be showing up on any missing person's report, he doubted very much that Rouge would have filed one if she was that hung up on privacy. So where did that lead them?

Without a name to go on… well, what was in a name?

An identity.

Considering they were allowed to see the photo, the name would be more important. But not one that Vector could know. Presumably, so that no-one else might slip up and guess either, although, maybe someone Rouge never wanted him to know. Who could be that important? Or secretive? He had asked Espio to flick through some planetary leaders, alongside some religious folk, but all their children seemed readily accounted for.

A name people would know, but an appearance they wouldn't. It might not be the girl that was the important thing here. It could be a relative of some kind that was the main winnings for whoever took her. She would just be the bargaining chip.

This situation had to be handled delicately, so he couldn't outright go and ask the wrong people. They'd have about as much idea as he had, sure, but considering he was starting at basically zero, that would put them at an equal footing.

But who would be the right people?

In any other case, the right people would be the police. Local authorities.

A missing girl though, once you told the right people, it was no longer a quiet matter. For all he knew, the news of this might endanger the poor kids' life.

"If we can't ask the right people..." he said aloud, standing up from his desk. He winced, as he always did, as his gut flicked some of the loose documents onto the floor, but he declined to pick it up. Not when he was on a thought. Not even the other two would interrupt him on a thought. For all of his flaws, and there were many, sure, his thoughts and instincts were the lifeline of most of their cases.

Staring at him for some time, Charmy and Espio watched him walk over to the window and gaze out of it as he muttered to himself.

"If we can't ask the right people..." Vector repeated, his eyes scanning the horizon with fervent attention. His mind had latched onto it, finally. It took him a bit longer these days, the old brain neurons not firing as easily as they once did, but by god he still had it.

"Vector..." asked Espio slowly, standing up with caution to come over to his friend's side. "How exactly do you mean-"

"Both of you." Vector replied sharply, moving himself towards the front door. "Car. Five Minutes. Get."

"B-but..."

Leaving the door to close behind him, he left their voices behind him. Ge had places to be. People to talk to.

The wrong people.

The door to Vector's space-ship was unlocked on the basis that anyone willing to steal the damn thing would be doing the crocodile a favour. The money he could claim back for expenses would probably net him something decent, but outside of one police incident starring a drunk Vector and the equally drunk Charmy, they were adamant on not breaking the law.

Vanilla wouldn't stand for it, for one.

She also wouldn't stand for this, either, Cream reflected, as she attempted to pry open the monitor to the ship's terminal. It needed a key to turn on usually of course, but these older models could be easily circumvented. A skill taught to her by an engineering student she'd been seeing in University. Hadn't lasted of course, fair breakup as things go, they still talked from time to time.

She had confided in her mum at the time she had been seeing this guy, and had asked very nicely that she never told Vector. As far as the crocodile was concerned she'd never so much as kissed another person. Her friend Tim had come over to help study back in 4th grade and had been subjected to what could only be called full blown interrogation. His mum had to come over and pick the crying boy up while Vanilla tried to make amends.

Shuddering at the memory, she went back to the terminal, the screwdriver in her hands. All it needed was to wedge it in just the right angle, and hopefully-

THUNK

Got it.

The monitor's casing now free, the button, usually flicked on with a mediocre lever attached to the key-slot, was now available to her. Smiling smugly at a job well done, she used a paperclip to enable the boot sequence.

Flashing white, the terminal booted up.

It was depressing, really, how easily this ship could be broken into. Vector didn't want any biometrics, no face recognition, nothing of the sort. All he wanted was a key. Made it easier for her this second, but at some point she was going to have to have a word with him about security.

File Directories opened up in front of her.

- Vector
- Espio
- Charmy
- Flight_Paths
- System_Settings
- Untitled_Folder
- Untitled_Folder (1)

Frowning, she very quickly checked the bottom two. Both empty. Then why were they still there? She couldn't even delete them because that would prove someone was nosing around. Cream wasn't very technical to begin with, she had just picked up the odd thing from Tails visits before he left for The Moon, but this… this upset her greatly.

What about the others?

No.

She had come here to check for any information on this girl, not snoop around.

That, she reminded herself, would be an invasion of privacy.

Which was why she was taken aback, as to her 'genuine surprise', she had clicked on Charmy by complete accident.

Immediately, she wished she hadn't.

Blushing crimson, she clicked out of it, trying to collect her racing thoughts. Vanilla definitely wouldn't approve. At least she had some genuine dirt on him the next time he tried to annoy her.

But that would prove she was on their computer.

Goddamnit.

Shaking her head in a futile attempt to get rid of the very well endowed ladies in Charmy's folder, she instead clicked on Espio's.

Spreadsheets. Numbers, figures. A hidden folder with some gambling odds on them, not opened in a while, thankfully.

Made sense for the both of them, really. Espio used it as a work PC and Charmy used it like any other boy would.

Fearing the result, she clicked on Vector's.

.txt files as far as the eye could see. Nothing organised. Thank god Tails couldn't see this, she thought, her mouse hovering over them, he'd have cried. Sorted in most recent, thankfully.

A file from this week, titled ' '

Missing girl. No name. Important. No news. Priority.
Human. Glasses. Brown hair.

Dear lord, Vector typed exactly as he thought, a rambling mess.

Missing girl?

Cream flicked her phone on, searching through her gallery. A missing person case then? He had done those before, when he was younger at least, usually some teenager after an argument with their folks had turned awry and he'd find them in an abandoned shed. Simple cases.

The girl's features popped up. Matched the description alright.

A girl with no name?

Why would that be?

'Important.'

What had he got himself into?

And why had he lied?

She wasn't stupid, she could have a fair few guesses as to why. This case could be dangerous, and if she knew Vector as well as she thought she did, if there was ever a chance of them being in danger, he'd be the first to prevent that. With his life, if need be.

And that was the problem, really. It was fine when he was young, his mind was quick and his wit so sharp he could cut a man in half with it, but nowadays…

Forty wasn't an age to be doing what he did. A desk job was what he needed. At some sort of official detective agency, he'd come to like that, she was sure of it.

She knew he wasn't fond of the idea right now, mind you, he wanted to be the one picking the cases. If he didn't take on the small cases, who would have the time for them? Many families owed a lot to Vector's generosity. Somehow though, he had got himself onto a big case. Of course he had. Couldn't turn down a job if he tried.

Cream had done her best to keep him on jobs that wouldn't affect his safety, that disputed ring job was suggested by her, primarily to keep him in the office. But now… well, what could she do? Now that he was on the hunt for this important human, how was she going to stop him getting into danger?

Quickly flicking through the rest of the folders, she found nothing of importance. Of course not. Sighing greatly, she picked up the monitor's casing from the floor, getting ready to plonk it back on, screwdriver ready.

As she sat there, screwing some of the bolts back in, she thought of her next move.

"C'mon officer, I just need to see them, quickly."

The officer's moustache bristled at the tone.

"Detective," the officer replied, his eyebrows furrowed at the team. "You should know you need an official warrant from a nearby precinct. You can't just question prisoners as you like. There's rules for a reason."

"B-but..."

"And I wouldn't mind but you're not even official detectives, you're private eye. There's a big difference."

Vector ruffled up his brown jacket collar in defense of his profession. The officer was right, of course, but he didn't have to say it with such conviction.

The trio had driven to the Prison at such speed it was theorised by Espio that he was trying to ensure he'd book a room before the police caught up to him. Luckily, no cop cars had been seen on the way, which was a mercy, considering. Vector had obviously wanted to see someone here, although he neglected to tell the pair. As down to earth as the crocodile was, he did have a certain flair for the reveal. The man had watched too many detective tv shows, Espio was sure of it.

"Look, Jerry, it's important." Vector tried, using the man's first name. It was a weak attempt, sure, but the officer did at least seem to recognise it as one.

"Vector, I know if you're on the case it's probably important to someone." said the man, not unkindly. "And if that's the case it's important to you, I get that. But there's rules and regulations, my arse is on the line if people find out. You're a good guy, but I can't be sticking my neck on the line."

Sighing heavily, Vector opted for the choice he had been trying to avoid. Reluctantly, he turned to the officer one more time.

"I'll look into who Cecilia's been visiting on the weekend." he said, his teeth gritted. Behind him, he could hear Espio and Charmy gasp. They knew as well as he did he tried to avoid these cases. A soft heart, he couldn't help it. He routinely turned down jobs which could break up couples. Wasn't his business, wasn't in his nature. Yet, for this case, it was a sacrifice he was willing to make.

"I guess..." started the officer, walking nonchalantly over to the wall. "Well, to let you in on a secret, we've been having some issues with the cameras."

"With the cameras?" asked Charmy.

"Oh yeah." Jerry replied, holding a wire in his hands. "Sometimes, the cameras for the interrogation room and the hallway leading in just…" He pulled hard, disconnecting it from the wall. "Go off. I've been bringing it up with the I.T. staff but they have yet to find the cause of the problem."

"Can't imagine why." said Espio, catching on to the situation.

"It'll take roughly half an hour, if I had to guess."

"Exactly?"

"Yep." confirmed the officer, opening the door to the prison cells. "It's a shame too, because someone could theoretically just walk in as they feel like it. I'll have to keep an extra eye out."

"It's a good thing we have such incorruptible guards in the law system." sighed Vector, walking past him. The other two followed quietly, as the officer looked anywhere else but where they were walking.

"I assume you're going to send who I want to the room?" he asked the officer, before he could shut the door on him

"Both of them, yes. Already called ahead."

"W-wait, before I had agreed-"

The door slammed.

The bastard.

The three waited in the room quietly. It had already been fifteen minutes of their allotted time, which had all three slightly agitated, twitching in their seats. Had they been set-up? It's not like they had done anything wrong.

Trying to bribe an officer was a good start, mind you. One way ticket to the slammer before his investigation had even begun. Sounded about right.

"Who's coming to see us?" asked Charmy, eventually as Espio looked over as sneakily as possible. While he was content to wait it out, patience being a virtue he basically embodied, he was as curious as the bee, just much more glad that Charmy asked rather than himself.

"You guys have no respect for the mystery, do you?" Vector sighed, staring at his watch. "I play along when you guys throw me a birthday party."

"Wait, you knew?"

"'Oh come on Vector, we need to show you something, just put this blindfold on.' On my birthday. Like, come on."

"Oh."

"I still enjoyed it, don't worry." he laughed.

Tick.

Tock.

"Anyone we know?" Charmy tried again.

The door opened with a bang.

Walking into the room, the culprit smiled a big grin, taking over his rodent features.

"I swear," said the intruder, stretching as much as his handcuffs would allow him. "That lad of yours doesn't have any respect for the big reveal, does he?"

As Charmy gawked in silence, Espio stood up, pulling out his shurikens in one quick movement, almost instantaneously.

"Put them down, Espio." demanded Vector, still staring at the guy.

"But-!"

"He's not in a position to do anything untoward." he continued, standing up and giving the man a nod. "Isn't that right, Nack?"

As the weasel grinned his point-toothed smile, the other prisoner shuffled in. His presence overshadowed the room. Time had been kinder to others, it seemed, especially with a prison regime.

"Evenin' to you too, Bark."

"It's funny", laughed Nack, sitting back on his chair. They'd now been left alone by the police escorts, who took more than a good amount of time leaving them be. The air was a bit more relaxed now, or at least, more familiar. "Haven't seen you guys since the '96 bout. Heard about some of your antics mind you. You took on Metal Sonic?"

"With help." admitted Vector.

"What do you do now, then?"

Vector fished his business card out his pocket, handing it over the table. A raised eyebrow from Nack as the weasel looked him up and down.

"Explains the coat." he said, sneering. "Couldn't look more stereotypically cliche if you tried." His eyes once again perused the card in his hands. "Chaotix Detective Agency? Where's the other two?"

"Other two?"

"The red idiot and the not as red idiot."

Espio, thankfully, stepped in.

"Split up. Everyone's doing their own things." he replied.

"Considering the state of you guys, probably for the best." muttered Nack, handing back the card over the table. Vector picked it up, trying not to show the offense on his face. He felt that he was allowed to criticise his agency, it just felt rather unsporting when other people did. Nack didn't seem to notice, instead continuing. "You're not going to ask what I've been doing, no?"

"You went on the run in '97." Vector cut in. "Hid out in Holoska for a couple of years before getting yourself in with the Spagonian Mafia for a while. Bit of a mystery past that, until you got caught up in Chaos Drive smuggling in 2008. Been here since."

"Well…" Nack sniffed, obviously unimpressed at having his story stolen away from him. "Give or take a couple of details, but I've seen you've done your research."

"What about biggun?"

"Refuses to leave the prison without me. Guards have found it's easier to let him go where he wants than try to move him again. Outside of that he's an ideal prisoner, it's why they keep trying to shove parole on him."

"He refuses?"

"Do you think you could say no to that?" asked Nack.

Vector gave Bark a look up and down. It took a while.

"God no."

Bark leant down to whisper something in Nack's ear. The low vibration from his voice, even if too quiet to make out, Vector could have sworn it vibrated the walls of the room. Nack's grin grew larger as he turned to face Espio.

"My good and faithful friend here asks if you would like a rematch." Nack laughed, obviously enjoying the horrified reaction from the chameleon. "He understands you won fair and square last time, but would be ever so happy to go again."

Bark smiled slightly.

The image would haunt Vectors' nightmares for years to come, he was sure of it.

"Where's Bean, anyway?" asked Charmy, the first time he'd spoken since the team entered.

"God knows. Wish I knew, to be honest, he'd be helpful as hell here."

"As fun as this is", Vector interrupted, checking his watch once more. He was going to have to rush this. "We need some help."

"Help? Why would I help you?"

"Because-"

"I'm doing serious time for those stupid drives." sighed Nack, sitting up properly, his joking manner completely gone. "I'm in here for the long haul, and you want me to help you? To what, snitch on someone? Bark has to sleep at some point, and I can't take the whole prison by myself. Cause it'll be the whole prison if they find me helping out a detective, y'hear?"

At least Nack reckoned he was a proper detective, he thought grimly. With that being said, he was unlikely to help in the circumstances, but he knew that going in. Nack was a weasely bastard in more ways than one.

Time to see if this was a bad idea or not.

"All I need to do is find out if there's been suspicious activity on Mars in the past three months or so." said Vector.

Nack laughed heartily.

"That's what Mars is for, you idiot. In-between the casinos and cargo being delivered there, it's bound to be rife with illegal activities. You could have asked any Joe Schmuck on the streets to tell you that."

"You would know though, wouldn't you?"

"Huh?"

"About specifics."

"I know a lot of things, detective. Information passes through this place like you wouldn't believe, it's like the goddamn sluice pit of knowledge. None of which, Vector, that I'd be willing to tell you, nor police nor no-one, understand?"

Got him.

"Okay. It's about a missing child."

Before he could even continue, Espio had grabbed him, looking straight into the crocodile's face.

"What in the hell do you think you're doing!?" he hissed at Vector, searching both his eyes.

"Trust me." he whispered back with conviction. It seemed enough, for as worried as Espio looked, he let Vector go. He turned back to Nack, who seemed quite amused at the situation.

"Said something we weren't supposed to, eh?" he laughed.

"We have a missing child that went missing off Mars." he said, quickly, glancing at his watch again. Two minutes. Damn. "Seems to be someone important. Organisation looking for her. Something must have been seen, or heard about. A child doesn't go missing without so much of a mumble."

"And what, you think I care?"

"I know you don't." he said simply, smiling at the weasel. "But if you refuse to let me know, that child's life is in danger."

"And?" said Nack, standing up, obviously annoyed at Vector's words. "You told me this despite it being something reptile boy obviously didn't want me to hear? I could tell everyone this as soon as our time's up. And knowing our wonderful guard, will be in roughly a minute or so, is that correct?"

Goddamnit, Jerry.

"So you're not going to help?" he asked.

"Not a chance."

"Even though the kid's going to be in danger?"

"Y'know what, especially because the kid's going to be in danger." Nack finished, turning around to leave. "You're an idiot, Vector. You always have been. Appealing to my better side wasn't ever going to work."

"Wasn't trying to appeal to 'your' better side."

The speed of Bark's hand raising made tangible shockwaves across the interrogation room.

"B-Bark." stammered Nack, the exit not blocked by Bark's limb. He made no attempt to move it, and Vector couldn't blame him. It'd be like trying to move the Earth. "What are you doing?"

He leant down to whisper, again, turning the room into a low resonating hum.

"No, of course not!"

Rumble.

"So you're not going to let me go?"

Rumble Rumble.

"The kid could be stuffed into a ditch for all I care, why would I-"

It was the slightest of taps, yet somehow, Nack flew across the room, hitting the wall with quite some force. They watched in some morbid curiosity as the weasel attempted to stand up, holding his battered head.

"Thanks, Bark." said Vector, throwing him a quick wave.

The polar bear just glared at him. Obviously, if it wasn't for the circumstances, he would not have been as helpful to their inquiry. Thank god it had worked, really.

"That's what I get for having friends with a goddamn heart." Nack replied, finally getting back to the table, wincing with every movement. "So what, I tell you, you get the guy, I die in prison, that's the plan?"

"We can't let anybody know, not even the police." Vector said, giving the man a concentrated stare. "And if you spill it to the inmates, a child might get hurt, and Bark won't allow that."

A grunt. Confirmation.

"And if you tell the police of the situation we have here, then you're the snitch. Then you're in trouble."

"That's a pretty stupid plan to try and pull, Vector."

"It worked, didn't it?"

Didn't it?

"...I guess." admitted Nack, rubbing his head.

Thank god for that, his heart could stop racing now. It's not like he never trusted his gut, but god did it worry him sometimes.

A cough.

All of them looked around to see Jerry, tapping his watch.

"When's the next visiting hours?" Vector asked Nack quickly.

"I can book one in for tomorrow, I'm due a bunch anyway, no-one ever visits."

"You'll be here?"

Exchanging glances with Bark, he whimpered under the stare.

"O-of course."

The day after, during visiting hours, Bark had ended up dragging Nack from his cell, kicking and squirming under the fist of the bear. The guards knew better than to stand in, which was appreciated by all involved. Apart from Nack, anyway.

"You'll be here?" asked Charmy, grinning.

"I am, aren't I." answered an unamused weasel, brushing himself off. "Never said willingly."

"It was implied."

"Christ."

"Well, now I'm here." he said, his voice now in hushed tones. "You guys don't want this to go anywhere?"

"Neither do you."

"And my companion won't let me refuse. God damn. Seems I got no choice then." he laughed sardonically, his shoulders moved upwards in exaggerated shrugging. "I know bits and pieces, obviously. We hear what goes on, but snippets, information as if through fog. Sometimes a new person comes in and we beat the information out of them, but not much call for Martian prisoners here, you see? Martian justice is different, not sure what goes on up there. From what I hear it's privatised."

"The police on Earth have zero jurisdiction up there, so it sounds about right." agreed Espio. "But because of that, Martian officers aren't given any authority down here. Not that they don't try and exercise it, of course."

"Shadow Warrior's been doing his homework I see."

Espio frowned. Couldn't help but feel sorry for the guy, trained half his life to know martial arts and he got mocked for it endlessly.

"Two months ago," continued Nack, now resigned to his fate. "One of the old science outposts on Mars had a break-in. That's all we know about the incident itself. You hear about break-ins all the time of course on both the Martian and Lunar outposts, scientific equipment going missing, that sorta thing. Been happening at such a rate it hardly breaks the news these days. The equipment's all outdated, of course, but it's illegal, so they catch you, in the slammer for a spell. Martian and Earth relations are a bit here and there at the moment, new country, old country kinda tensions, you get the picture."

Vector nodded. He had heard about some of this tangentially from Cream, who had studied some of it for History. Planetary rivals, it surprised him. They were all from the same planet originally after all.

"Well, this break-in in particular, something else must have been taken."

"Something else?"

"If I had to guess, that lass of yours."

"On a Martian outpost?"

"I told you, I only know some of the information, I'm stuck here, remember? Wasn't on Mars to see the damn thing."

"So why isn't it big news?" asked Charmy, who had a holopad up. It annoyed Vector to no end how quick he was at searching recent events on the thing. Vector had trouble even connecting it to the internet. "I can't find any information on it anywhere."

"From what I hear, it wasn't police vehicles at the scene. Nor Martian authorities. But from then on, no more reports of break-in's. They obviously got what they wanted, which I now assume is your girl. Leads me to believe that it wasn't just looting to begin with, but a search for something, or as we now know, someone. But someone must have hired by someone else to do something."

"Helpful." said Vector sarcastically.

"No, honestly. That's how we hear about it, it all trickles down. We'd have heard none of this from anyone otherwise. Find that person."

"So where should we start?"

"I shouldn't even have to tell you this." said Nack, now sitting back on his chair, feeling a bit more relaxed about the situation. Obviously he had held up his side of the bargain, now free from the threat of his only friend caving his head in. "Martian and Lunar outposts being broken into? If you don't have any friends up on Mars, maybe your friends on the Moon should be next on your list."

It took a while for it to dawn on all three of them.

While it sunk in, Bark rumbled for the last time that evening.

"Tell the two-tailed git that Bark would like a rematch with him too." said Nack, smiling once more.