Coyote

[11] middle ground.

Planetary News: Mars Navy Force is celebrating its one-thousandth anniversary and those who can attend are welcomed to the Navy Parade in Pinocchio, Jersey.

Wolf focused on the road, his hands on the steering wheel. The sunken feeling in his stomach was still there. But after speaking with Abbas and Nuhaila, he was less nervous than before.

"What does purification mean?" Wednesday asked.

"I don't know. You should be the one telling me."

"I haven't found extra information apart from what we know. I don't like this, Wolf. I don't like this one bit. We're going in blind, totally blind. We always have some sort of information about the area we're going into, but not this time. It's like whatever's in that city, it's being protected by firewalls even I can't break into. I'm worried."

"Come on, Wednesday; how many times have we improvised? This won't be any different." The coyote didn't believe that. He thought saying it out loud might help convince himself. It didn't.

"Those weren't red zone hunts. I like how you're a halfwit sometimes."

Wolf scratched his head, not knowing if that was a compliment or not. "Thank you?"

"You need to take this seriously."

"Ok, Mom."

"I'm serious. I need you alive. You're the only one who can get me a sleeve."

Wolf started laughing. It wasn't out of character for her to be that way, but the constant nagging over the last few months made sense now. All she cared about was getting her damn sleeve.

He wasn't mad though. She would go to great lengths to ensure his survival until when she got what she wanted. After that, it was anyone's guess what would happen.

"Fine, I'll be careful." He put a hand on his chest. "I promise."

"Good."

It was silent from there as Wolf drove towards Coupon City. He spotted a man and woman waving at him, smoke coming out of the purple hover-car behind them.

He stopped. The woman approached him; her dark skin glowed under the sunlight. She was beautiful. Very beautiful. She had short hair, amber eyes, and dimples that showed without smiling. Wow! But her clothing choice was odd; she wore suspenders with black fingerless gloves, black trousers, and a white shirt.

The woman leaned against the window and smiled. "Thank goodness you stopped. We've been stranded on the road for hours. No one stopped to help us."

Wolf closed his eyes, taking in her scent. "You smell like lavender."

"What?"

He opened his eyes and looked away in embarrassment. Why did he say that out loud? Now she would think he was a creep.

"Play it cool, Wolf. Play it cool," Wednesday told him.

With his head raised, Wolf turned to the woman and looked her in the eyes. "You have a nice scent. Lavender's a good smell."

The woman raised her brow. "Uh... thank you?"

"You're welcome." Wolf smiled, but she seemed unimpressed.

"I found out who they are," Wednesday said. The contact lenses he wore allowed the AI to scan things and people around them and obtain their information by searching public and private databases in the system. "Her name's Olivia Goldman, born and raised on Mars. There are no details about her father, but her mother's name is Susan Goldman, and she works at a cloning station in the State of The Founding Fathers. Also, Olivia's a hyena."

The last sentence made Wolf's skin prickle. Hyenas and Coyotes didn't get along. Even though they operated in different territories, they still had malice towards one another because of the way they caught their bounties. Hyenas operated under "Dead or Alive, Preferably Dead," rule, while Coyotes took their bounties alive because they got more credits for it.

"The man behind Olivia is Patrick. From his green-blue eyes and plastic skin, you can tell he is a synth. He's owned by two detectives: J and Cybil. That's all the information I have on them."

"How may I help you?" Wolf asked the woman. He didn't want them to know he knew who they were. There had to be a reason why a synth and a hyena were traveling together on Venus—a planet where hyenas weren't allowed to operate.

"My name is Oli, and this is my compatriot, Patrick," she said while pointing her thumb at the synth. Patrick had his arms crossed and his eyes on Wolf.

"And I'm Wolf."

"As you can see, Wolf, our car broke down and I was hoping I could get a lift."

"Only you?" Wolf raised a brow.

"Yes. Patrick will catch up once the mechanics arrive and fix the car."

"Where are you headed?"

"Kind sir, as you can see, this road only leads to one place."

"Smartass," Wolf muttered. "Let's go."

"I like her," Wednesday said.

Wolf unlocked the passenger's door.

Olivia and Patrick spoke to each other in private, glancing at Wolf once in a while. It didn't take a genius to know they were talking about him. When they were done, she entered his car.

"I might arrive late," Patrick said.

"Just make sure you get there before nightfall or you won't be allowed in," Olivia said.

"Affirmative." Patrick saluted her, and she waved goodbye.

Wolf restarted the vehicle and drove off. He had one eye on Olivia and the other on the road. When she reached for her thigh, his eyes widened and his grip on the steering wheel tightened.

"Calm down." She pulled out her wristpad, giving off a different vibe than the one from before, and put it on. The whole innocent hitchhiker act was gone. She was showing her true self now. "I know you know I'm a hyena, and I've always been able to smell coyotes from a mile away." She activated her wristtab and connected it to the surround sound system. Pressing play, two voices, male and female, began talking. "I have no quarrels with you, Wolf. Now let's sit in silence and listen to Andy and Andina."

"Did I tell you how much I like her?" Wednesday asked.

Wolf stayed quiet, focusing on the road ahead. He didn't know who Andy and Andina were and why they were so important to the hyena, but there was one thing he was sure of: Olivia was after something in Coupon City. She better hope they didn't end up on opposing sides.