A few weeks had passed since the incident that happened back on the nameless planet. My bruises and cuts had all but healed, but the mental scars I still carried followed me no matter where I went.

  It was worse at nights.

  I was learning to deal with those nightmares better as the days passed me by, but I didn’t think I would ever get over them completely.

  We were back on Safe Haven in one of the Junk Yard Dogs’ safe houses and I was in my room reading the galactic holonewspaper of the week’s current events.

  I smiled as I saw a moving holographic picture at the front of the newspaper of Gregory Goodwin with his suit jacket pulled over his head being led away in handcuffs by officers, while his wife had to be restrained.

  I leaned back with relish while I read the news concerning Xcorp’s recent struggles.

  Gregory Goodwin. Liar. Cheat. Thief!

  Many are at a loss as to how Xcorp, one of the biggest corporations in the known galaxy, a monster in many different fields of industry, could go from dominating every sector they were in, to allowing one man to steal enough funds from them that their profit margin fell by thirty-five percent overnight.

  Gregory Goodwin, a simple middle manager, was caught by the World Government with the aid of Xcorp, before he could flee with his untold riches. Dishonesty isn’t new for the New-London native, as not only does he leave behind his wife and kids, but also his mistress of many years who he also had children with.

  Upon our questioning Mrs Goodwin, she stated she knew nothing about the extramarital affair.

  The authorities are none the wiser as to where the funds Mr Goodwin has taken are, but they told us they are doing everything in their power to locate it.

  But the bad news for Xcorp doesn’t stop there, as what looks like a cyber-attack from within their own ranks has wreaked havoc with their database mainframe, leaving their telecommunications customers unhappy, as customers couldn’t access any of their information on the cloud, with many saying all their personal data has been wiped out completely.

  The effects of both the theft and cyber-attack have caused Xcorp stocks to plummet, with rumours of investors and board members leaving in droves as public outrage mounts against the company.

  Many are left asking:

  Is this the end of an era?

  I smiled as I swiped away the holographic newspaper and stood up and stretched my arms above my head. It appeared that in his haste Gregory hadn’t double-checked the data-stick and had handed it directly to his superiors. They had inserted it into their mainframe and the rest was history.

  Not wanting to own up to their mistake, Xcorp had placed the blame solely on Gregory.

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  I had no doubt my former boss wouldn’t live to see the end of the week, as what he knew could bring Xcorp down.

  I made my way out of my room and continued down the stairs and into the dining hall, where Tuari was serving up dinner. José and Willis were both sat down in front of the dining room table, forks and knives already in hand.

  The scent of baked fish and roasted meat wafted past me as I licked my lips at the meal being served; potatoes glistening with butter and greens served with chopped garlic and baby tomatoes filled my mouth with saliva.

  I tried to reach for a potato but Willis stabbed the table in front of my hand with his fork forcing me to reconsider.

  “Wait till the table has been fucking set, you heathen.”

  “Old ginger nuts here is very peculiar about saying prayers before each meal,” Tuari said with a smile.

  I rolled my eyes and said, “Have any of you seen the news about Xcorp?”

  “No, but I sure as hell know you’re going to bore us to death with the details,” said Willis.

  Ignoring him I continued, “It looks like your virus was more effective than I would have thought. They have lost hundreds of billions. You know once this is sorted they’ll be on the hunt for us, don’t you?”

  “If they survive,” José said, going to light a cigar but having it taken away from him by Willis. “With the way things are going over there they may never recover from this.”

  “I wouldn’t count on it; companies like Xcorp have survived government sanctions, waste management tragedies where they wiped out entire animal populations and a lot worse,” I replied. “They’ll find a way to recover from this, a company like that always does.”

  “Well, if they do come for us, we’ll be ready. Like dogs we’ll adapt and overcome,” said José.

  I nodded my head as I looked around the room. “I’ve got something to show all of you.”

  “Quinton,” said Tuari, “we don’t need to see your penis. I’m sure it’s a very nice penis, but keep it to yourself.”

  “Wait—what! Why would I—no, I’ve got a new tattoo.”

  They all looked at me with blank faces while I rolled up my sleeves. “I noticed most of you have tattoos. Poppy has the nine-tailed fox, José the Kuchi, Willis the Dogo Argentino, and Tuari... sorry, I don’t think I’ve seen yours.”

  “It’s a jackal,” Tuari said as he showed me a tattoo of a small-looking wolf with a large set of ears. It had a grin on its face from ear to ear, which was funny but also slightly disturbing.

  “Seeing as all of you had dog tattoos I thought I would get one also,” I said, showing them the tattoo on my right shoulder.

  They starred at it, confusion on all their faces before they slowly looked back at me.

  “What do you think?”

  “What is that meant to be?” Willis asked.

  “It’s the constellation of the Greek mythological dog called Laelaps. There are many tales relating to the dog but the one I liked the most is that the dog never failed to catch what she was hunting, so she was used to hunt the Teumessian fox, a fox which could never be caught. The chase went on and on until one day Zeus had enough and turned them to stone and cast them amongst the stars, where they later became known as Canis Major for the dog and Canis Minor for the fox.”

  The confusion still hadn’t passed on their faces.

  “What. A. Wanker,” said Willis, before they all dismissed me with a shake of the head and filled their plates with food.

  “I thought the idea was clever, seeing as we work amongst the stars and our crew is called the—”

  “Why don’t you go and show Poppy, boyo?” José said, with a wave of his hand. “I’m sure she’ll find it fascinating.”

  “Fine.”

  I turned and left, not before snatching a potato from the table and giving Willis the middle finger. I made my way towards Poppy’s room fully disgruntled that my tattoo hadn’t been well-received.

  It was a brilliant tattoo and they were just a bunch of unimaginative dicks who didn’t know a good tattoo if it slapped them in the face. Striding towards Poppy’s door I slowed my pace as I came close and wondered if I should knock, but thought we were passed that point now as we had both seen each other naked.

  Grabbing the door handle I opened the door and stopped in my tracks.

  Poppy stood before me naked. Naked with her chest open and what appeared to be electric components running through her body where there should have been organs.

  She looked at me in shock, fear and anger.

  “You should have knocked,” was all she said.