I sat with my feet propped up on my desk, my trench coat draped over my chair, and my hat hiding my eyes. So I was trying to look like a professional detective. Heck! I was a professional detective! "Zi Zakiro Private Eye" was silhouetted backwards onto the wall behind me. Boxes were spread randomly across my "office" apartment. I had moved to Mars a year before, and still had not fully unpacked. My small apartment consisted of four rooms; a kitchen, a bedroom, a living room, and a small bathroom complete with working water and everything. I had turned my living room into an office, because of my profession. My stomach growled. My wallet was empty, and so was my fridge. Not much I could do. I was an impulse buyer, I had seen the detective hat in an antique shop, and then I bought it. I figured people would take me more seriously now that I had a hat. I messed with it a bit, and my stomach growled again. I ignored it as best as I could.
I sighed heavily as another episode of Big Shot came on. Big Shot was a cheaply made bounty hunter show. I may have to resort to bounty hunting, I found myself thinking, if I don't get some food soon. I had barely made this month's rent, and the landlady was getting to be a real pain in the behind.
"Here's a biggun' for all ya'll cowboy bounty hunters," blasted the TV, "worth over 400 million woolongs. Name: Cass—" I cut off the TV, as my computer blinked at me. "You have a caller," read the outdated machine. "If it's another jealous husband wanting me to spy on his wife," I said slowly, "then I quit here and now!" I answered it. On my screen popped up a man wearing sunglasses. He had spiked black hair, and looked to be around the age of 25. "I have a case for you," he said.
"Let me guess," I said sighingly, "You want me to follow your wife around and make sure she isn't cheating on you." "What? Oh no, I'm not married." My face reddened a little. "I need you to find someone for me."
"Who?" I asked, pulling out a note pad.
"My sister," he replied, "She's been missing for a couple of weeks."
"What's her name?"
"Cassandra Kokuei. I'm Ajax Kokuei."
"You can pay me right?" I asked suspiciously, I wasn't going to go on some low paying case at a time like this. Well, that wasn't exactly true, I was DESPERATE! He smiled.
"Eager aren't we? Yes I can pay you. I'll pay whatever you ask for, but not until you find her."
I nodded. "OK. What does she look like?"
"I have a picture here. I'll send it to you." The picture slowly loaded onto my screen. Cassandra had long curly purple hair, and dark blue eyes. She didn't look especially happy in the picture. She was pretty, well, at least she was prettier than I was. I asked Mister Kokuei more questions, and he told me what he knew about his sister. He told me she was a big gambler, and a big drinker. He told me that the day he found she was missing, he also found that one of his space cruisers were gone as well. It was a good start. I had an idea of where she might be. There were some cassinos in space that I could easily get to. "Thank you Mister Kokuei," I said, "I will be in touch."
"Thank you Miss Detective," he said, before disconnecting. I pushed my dark hair behind my ears, and pulled the hat down. "I have a case," I said cooly, "FINALLY!" The computer screen blinked again. "You have a caller." I answered. It was my mother.
"ZI!" she whined,"When are you going to quit this stupid detective job, and come home?"
"MA!" I said annoyed, "I like my job!"
"When was the last time you ate?" she snapped at me, "You look too skinny!" I rolled my eyes. "I saw that!" she screeched, "You don't think I notice these things! I'm your mother!"
"Gotta go Mom," I said, "I have a case."
"No you don't. You just don't want to talk to your mother!" Click. I disconnected. I got out of my desk chair, and put my trench coat on. "You have a caller," the computer flashed at me. No way was I going to answer it now. Mom would have my head or something. I opened the door to my apartment, and took a step outside. I was going to catch this Cassandra, and cash in a pay-check. Hopefully....