Chapter 1

From an early age, I had always loved the wild frontier. When I was a young girl, I used to curl up in my bed and read old westerns until I couldn’t keep my eyes open any longer. As soon as I was old enough, I took advantage of space travel. It had become easy and accessible for everyone. Space travel was no longer the hassle NASA had gone through in 1969, just to get to the moon. Now, in the year 5005, instantaneous transportation had been in use for nearly a thousand years.

So once I turned twenty-one, the legal age for interstellar travel, I was quick to explore some of the neighboring planetary systems. Despite all the technology that surrounded us in everyday life, I still liked to keep things simple. I didn’t need a laser gun or a teleporter, all I needed was an old-fashioned revolver and my faithful companion, Bianca.

We galloped through Ayris, a rogue planet that was currently the Stardust System’s final frontier. Because it was free-floating, it could never develop any life, but its path around the galaxy caused the crust and mantle to constantly morph over the millennia. As such, it held a plethora of valuable resources, attracting races from the other twenty-five Stardust planets, as well as outsiders like myself. I hadn’t seen another human for years, but that had never bothered me. Of all the species, I considered mine to be the least interesting. We were nothing more than bags of flesh, barely evolving throughout our existence.

The species that inhabited Stardust, however, were a totally different story. There were large green giants, one-eyed blobs, primates with bionic appendages, and of course, Zerothians.

Zeroth was the leading planet in Stardust. Its huge size and massive population gave it an unmatched advantage over the rest of the races inhabiting the system. Wanting to avoid an extended war and unnecessary bloodshed, they had quickly agreed to become a part of the Zerothian Empire. This, of course, gave the empire control over Ayris for the period it was passing through the system, with the majority of its precious resources being shipped back to Zeroth. The blue-skinned species were not only hard workers but also had great luck on their side. It only took them but a day or two to find a deposit of Blood Diamonds, no matter where they looked. They were the envy of their vassals, but the pointy-eared race just held their heads high, knowing they were the dominant species.

I had always found the Zeroth race rather attractive. They had a build similar to ours, only taller and with a lot more muscle. One Zeroth often held the strength of five human men. The main differences, however, were their ears and skin color.

There was a lot more to them than just muscle of course. Zerothian technology was leaps and bounds ahead of ours. In fact, if it wasn’t for them, travel between Stardust and the Milky Way wouldn’t be possible. Yes, we had teleportation readily available centuries ago, but its range was rather limited. Zerothian were the ones to upgrade a few of our transporters to allow travel between the two systems. Of course, they didn’t tell us how they did it, they just stationed a small crew on Earth to maintain and operate the technology. They probably wouldn’t have done that either if it wasn’t for one thing. Sugar. Yes, who would’ve thought a planet several times bigger than Earth, with species a lot more advanced than humans could never cultivate or invent something to produce sugar? The Zerothians were, therefore, happy to agree to a cultural exchange, a tourism agreement and even some rudimentary (to their understanding) technology in exchange for copious amounts of sugar and the various sweet recipes to go along with it.

As I thought about this, I suddenly heard a cry of despair, deep within the town’s center. Eagerly, I pushed my faithful horse forward, getting closer. I rushed past strange, lopsided infrastructures and five-legged animals, pulling large carts filled to the brim with Blood Diamonds. When I finally reached the town’s center, there was a clear commotion around the bank. People gathered, whispering amongst themselves, wondering what had occurred.

A Zerothian man sat down on the edge of a water fountain, away from all the chaos. Behind him, the planet’s naturally purple colored water poured out of a Desert Dingo’s mouth. The sprinkling water splattered against his tight-fitting clothes, but he didn’t seem to care. He had his head in his hands and he seemed to be crying, his pointed ears tilted downwards in his dismay.

“What’s going on here?” I asked, tilting my cowboy hat in his direction. I pulled on Bianca’s reins, forcing her to come to a halt in front of the distressed individual. He craned his neck, looking past Bianca’s muscular chest to see me. His golden-speckled eyes were filled with tears of frustration.

“I’ve lost everything!” He wailed, getting up in a fit of excitement. “I’m this here town’s bank manager and I’ve lost everything!” He exclaimed, running his fingers through his wildly-matted hair. There were dangling bits of jewelry that hung from his slender neck that captured my attention for a moment. It was quite common for Zerothians to wear dazzling pendants, amulets, or necklaces.

“What happened?” I questioned him, narrowing my eyes at the bank.

“He stole almost everything! All he left were some fragments. Took the large Blazing Diamond that had been found this morning! It was the most valuable piece that had ever been found in the mine. My own son found it and this guy just stole it all!” The man was in hysterics, pacing back and forth. “What am I supposed to do? I’ll surely be fired for this! I cannot go back to Zeroth empty-handed. I promised my family I’d make a name for myself out here…”

I listened to his story with interest. Throughout the years, my love for travel and adventure had put me into a rather peculiar occupation. I was something of a bounty hunter, searching far and wide for the vilest criminals in the known universe. This month, however, things had been slow. It seemed like peace had for once, settled over space. “Do you know who did it?” I eagerly asked. I didn’t want to ride around aimlessly anymore. I was starting to get rather bored and if I didn’t find something to do soon, I would surely lose my mind.

The Zerothian looked at me with wide eyes. “Of course I know who it was. Everyone knows Zigzag Zander. He’s notorious! He has no heart. He has made a name for himself across the Ayris colonies! And yet, no one will do a thing about him!”

I ground my teeth. So this was the work of Zander. He had been on my hit list before, but the cunning devil had slipped through my fingers time and time again.

Suddenly, the mayor walked up to us, his large, two-story hat on his head. It wobbled with a slight gust of wind but stayed pinned between his large, blue ears. “You must be Aliza Westerly. I’ve heard about you.” He said. “And I have a request to make.”

I tilted my head in his direction, letting my cowboy hat cast a shadow over my green eyes, now dazzling with excitement. I had a pretty good idea what he would ask of me.

“Capture that vagrant and make him pay for his crimes.” I grinned wildly, nodding. It was time to finally corner the outlaw and show him I wasn’t someone to mess with. Zigzag Zander was about to regret ever crossing my path.