Planet Manhattan, most people dream of livin' here, making it rich and livin' the good life. Who can blame em' we all need a star ta reach for. Plenty of poor smucks move here reachin' for that star, hypnotised by the glamour and the fame wantin' to get their share.
But this planet ain't no place for dreams.
All people see is the diamond encrusted, credit slushin' fat cat livin' ain't it so rosey, big shot lifestyle. They ain't got a clue what hides under all that flash, if only they knew what kind of monsters lurk in the dark of these skyscrapers. How's that old sayin' go? 'The brighter the light, the darker the shadow?' Yeah that sounds like Manhattan alright.
Funny how the old stuff still rings true. We're eight hundred years away from Sol and we're still screwin' up in the same old ways.
'Course the media will never show what's beneath the penthouse suites, not because they can't, oh no they've got plenty of stories to go on, no they won't show the galaxy 'cos they're paid not to, bribed in to silence. Sure you get the odd crusader lurkin' about, usually kids too stupid or naïve enough to think they can change it by exposing it. I should know, I'm always hired by their parents to track 'em down and send 'em back home, or at least what's left of 'em.
Oh they don't kill 'em, well not always, murder tends to bring down the thunder, if you get me. Na they expose 'em to the pleasures that the underworld has to offer or flat out terrify 'em. Just like the Amy Tennal case I worked a few years back.
The usual story, kid runs away to Manhattan to become the next big thing, wants to shed light on the darker side of Liberty so she heads to my city. Armed with nothin' more than her wits, a datapad and a head full of ideals, this girl goes after Jamie Marrwon, one of the smartest gangsters on Manhattan. I don't just mean street smarts' Ms Marrwon has a PhD in bio-chemistry and a masters in brutality.
Now, word on the street is that Ms Marrwon and her syndicate is untouchable, struck a deal with some criminal syndicate to supply them with toxins, in exchange the LPI is paid to look the other way. Not that surprising, the LPI isn't a police force, it's a company of hired thugs with delusions of grandeur.
Anyway, Tennal walks straight into Marrwon's club, As-33, and starts trying to work the room, I'm sat watchin' her and keeping an eye on the time. Finally Tennal gets to Stonewall, Marrwon's club bouncer.
I'm probably one of the few who know Stonewall by his real name, Michael Quinn. 'Bout five years back Michael was a heavyweight boxer and a good one at that. He was tough, he had power but more importantly he had brains. I had the pleasure of bein' his sparrin' partner, not because I was good, everyone else was scared of him. He has a mind of a military tactician, always three steps ahead of ya. Knows what ya gonna do before you've even laced up your gloves.
Anyway we're sparrin' one night and his sister, Trina, comes in to the gym to watch, a real knock out in her twenties. Naturally I'm lookin' at her as Mikey gives me a good right hook and puts me on ice. Poor Mike is apologisin' like crazy as I come to, I tell him it's my fault for lookin' at his sister. He noticed alright that's why he slugged me, though a bit harder than he intended. I took the hint, he was protective of her and I couldn't blame him.
Well a couple of weeks after that I get a call from Mikey, his sister didn't come back from a club last night and hadn't left a message to say where she was goin'. I was only an investigative reporter back then but I couldn't say no to Mike. I grabbed my notebook and headed down to Moon over Manhattan, Trina's favourite club. Mikey is already there, he lets me do the talkin' while he stands behind me lookin' mean. I gotta say, it was the shortest room workin' in history.
Seems Trina got the attention of a rich playboy who wouldn't take no for an answer, apparently she left with her friends shortly after to go to a new joint downtown called The Blue. Mikey had checked with Trina's friends already, none of em' had made it home last night. We hit The Blue like a train, everyone had saw Trina and her friends leave at two in the mornin' with some tattooed fellas, I pushed for more info. They gave a pretty general picture, lean, sleeveless shirts, one waitress remembered the tattoo. One of the guys showed it to her tryin' to impress. Two daggers crossed behind a cracked skull with red eyes. I knew who they were, a biker gang known as the Tulak, Mikey went pale when I told him their name. Obviously he'd had dealin' with em' before.
Without a word he dragged me back to my car, threw me in the passenger side and put the hammer down. He wouldn't tell me where we were goin' only I should get ready for trouble.
I took my pistol from under the dash and a few carts from the glovebox. I don't think Mikey expected me to own a gun, let alone know how to use one but growin' up on the southside had me taught enough.
We stopped outside a rundown market. Mike went in first lookin' like one man wreckin' crew. The place was grungy and packed with gang members. Mike didn't seem to care. He grabbed the nearest guy by the throat and shoved the picture of his sister at him. The guy choked out 'Upstairs, third door' before being thrown into the wall. I pulled out my gun instinctively. The other gang members seemed to know the score. We made our way up the staircase.
Mike broke open the first door, nothin'. The second had all of Trina's friends huddled together with a four of the gang eyein' em' like meat. Mike walked on to the third door. I had my pistol pointed at the head of the biggest gang member when I head the crunch of Mike breaking down the third door.
I got the girls outa there sharpish and ran to help Mike. There was Trina beaten pretty badly and her dress was ripped but Mike had the leader and his two cronies cowering in the corner. I got Trina to her feet and over to her friends.
Mikey had thrown the two cronies clear across the room then started to beat up the leader. Mike didn't stop though. He just kept hittin'. I tried to stop him but he threw me into the wall. Trina screamed for him to stop but the guy was already dead.
He didn't say a word. He just picked up Trina with his blood-stained hands and climbed into my car. Trina's friends climbed into the back, I kept my gun trained on the stunned gang members, jumped into my car and floored it.
I got the girls to the hospital while Mikey waited. He wanted to turn himself in for murder. I told him it wouldn't help. He needed somewhere safe now. That gang was part the Dallion mafia and they'd be lookin' for him. The only place I could think of was a rival syndicate. After some sortin' Mike was hired as a bouncer at Marrwon's club, he doesn't do any dirty work. He ain't happy but he's safe and so, more importantly to him, is his sister.
Stonewall lets Tennal into the backroom, frownin' somethin' fierce. I catch his eye, a simple jerk of the head tells me all I need. I tell him to yank that door open if something goes wrong as I follow him inside.
There's Marrwon sittin' all casual like with Tennal looming over her, datapad in hand and every bit has foolhardy as the rest of 'em. Marrwon just smiles back as she's barraged by questions and accusations.
Now Tennal must have dug deeper than most, she asks about Marrwon's brother. Everyone in the room tenses up. They know the red button's been pressed. Marrwon is reeling so I make my move.
I lob a smoke bomb between the two, grab Amy and throw her over my shoulder. Stonewall has the door open for me then chucks himself into the corner. I run like a madman to my car with this screamin' banshee on my shoulder. I've got no time to be gentlemanly so I stuff her into the back seat and floor it.
We get to the safe side of town before I tell her what she had just done. Marrwon's brother was her best kept secret now she'd be hunting in every nook and cranny for her. Naturally the kid didn't believe a word of it, claimed I was trying to conceal the truth of the underworld of Manhattan. Demanded to know who I was and who I worked for, I told her to sit down and shut up for a minute. When you've managed to get under the skin of a master poisoner and feared gangster you don't hang around to be slaughtered. She threatened to call the police if I didn't tell her who I was and where we were heading, considering the LPI were in Marrwon's pocket it wouldn't be good for business to alert 'em. I told her, I'm Markus Jones, a private investigator hired by her parents and if she'd shut up for a second she might be able to get out of this mess alive.
I was doin' some pretty quick thinkin' lemme tell ya, she couldn't get off world on a passenger ship. Marrwon's boys would be there already, so I called up an old buddy of mine, Lee Pellas.
Lee was an old transport pilot I helped find his son a few years back. The lad joined the Zoners when he was nineteen, 'course his parents wanted him back. Zoners are a friendly enough bunch but they live on a knife edge out beyond house space and that's no place for a kid, even one as tough as Lee's.
Took a lot of diggin' around but I found him at Freeport 2, poor kid had been trying to get back home from the Omicron's and ran outa credits.
Thankfully Lee was still docked and agreed to ship the girl out to Fort Bush before he headed to Kusari space. We met Lee at the usual bar near the traders port, who after several promises from me to pick up the tab next time he's planet side, took us to Bush where we awaited Amy's parents.
Well I expected some middle aged accountant and his wife, turned out the Tennal's were bounty hunters, came floatin' in on one of those well-armed gunboats, bounty hunters shields hangin' round their necks. I told em' about Marrwon and how they'd better keep their daughter off Manhattan for a while. They assured me she won't, even asked if I would be in hot water when I returned which is far more consideration than I usually get.
I waived it off. Far too smart to get caught after all these years, besides I've always got a backup plan. Amy's father seemed to get what I was sayin' he sent the girls on ahead while he sorted my payment.
Oh I got my credits and an offer from Roy, see he knew I was playin' both sides which on Manhattan is the smartest thing ya can do. Told me a fella with my talents could be useful in the big black, I admit I was interested. 'Course you need big credits to get a ship these days, well a ship that could survive out there anyway. I refused as politely as I could, shook his hand, took my credits and jumped the first tin can back home.
The idea of being a private eye in space stuck with me, how I actually got into space, well that's another case entirely'¦