THE CUSTOMER

On the outskirts of The Seradus Galaxy lay a lone wasteland of a planet named Todium. Todium was a haven of outlaws and scavengers from all around the seven planets of The Order of Stars all converged here either to purchase contraband or take a break on their way to the outside galaxies.

There wasn't a single trace of vegetation on the entire surface of Todium and neither could there be found a drop of water on this wasteland. The entire surface of the planet was covered with red dust where there was no ground of hard red rock.

There was only one city in Todium which was the hub of inter-galaxy travellers and outlanders of all kinds. Inside the Athrice City, there were no rules and there was no authority. Every creature there learned to be there for themselves and only the strong survived this harsh environment.

The buildings in the city were built almost entirely of red bricks and most of them were shops while others were inns where the visiting space travelers would lodge.

In Athrice, you could find creatures such as the Thoths all the way from the Androdius Spiral alongside the horned pygmies from the Twa Star System. There were also humans here who had fled The Order of Stars for the opportunity of unlimited and uncontrolled business out here in the red dust of Todium.

Inside the brick shops and along the narrow streets of Athrice, you could find absolutely anything you sought, legal and illegal. There were merchants along the red streets selling trinkets made from dragon horns and teeth.

Most of the shops were stacked with high class weaponry, which was the common commodity for the hordes of thieves and scavengers that came here. You could find guns of all sizes and types alongside laser-shooting swords and knives.

Other shops sold droids and robots that could be customized and programmed for any task while other shops just sold exotic food and drinks from all across the galaxies.

In the outskirts of the dense and full-of-commotion Athrice City, was one unique establishment built in a strange dome-like design. This establishment was special because it dealt only with rare collectibles and gems of all kinds from all across the known galaxies.

At the front door of this particular shop, a huge post was hanging suspended above the door and it spelt the word... POLAR'S

Polar was a human from Saruda - the fourth planet in The Order of Stars - and he owned and run the antique shop with the help of his only daughter, Sta.

Inside the shop, long counters surrounded by clear glass were arranged across the room inside which were placed the shinning gems and collectibles of every kind.

The tall counters were arranged scattered around the room leaving spaces in between them where customers would stand as they observed the valuables.

There were diamonds here from the mines of Athanesia in the far Colony of The Tesut arranged in a small vase inside one of the glass counters. There were also antique swords hanging on the walls inside the room alongside olden marble vases placed on wooden stools.

At the far end of the room, Polar sat on his long and leaning chair right behind the wooden counter and he was now slowly drifting into slumber. Age had now crept up on Polar, and the hair on his head had all turned white. He had spent his life traveling and exploring the galaxies as he collected the valuables that he sold in his antique shop.

Sta, his daughter, would be left in charge of the shop whenever her father would go on his long trips and she had learned to guard the valuables with her life. She was now a self-trained and pretty experienced martial artist which meant she could fight off any thugs and thieves that stumbled into her father's shop.

Sta had literally grown now to become the muscle of this operation while her father concentrated on tracing and collecting the items across the galaxies.

On his most recent trip to Saruda, in the The Order of Stars, Polar had stumbled upon an object of immense value which he had bought from one of his contacts inside The Order. It was a time machine built as a small metal box with buttons on it. Polar had been extremely excited when acquiring it from the merchant, only little did he know that the object had actually been stolen from the biggest crime-lord in Saruda.

As he lay back on his chair drifting off into sleep, a man walked into the store, stepping slowly on the floor as he looked around the room, glancing at the glass counters, one after the other.

"Dad!" Sta called suddenly and Polar immediately jumped up from his sleep, almost falling off the chair.

"I'm awake... I'm awake." He said, opening his eyes wide to look at Sta where she sat calmly on a chair on the other side of the room.

"What is it, what's happening?" He added.

"There's a customer." Sta said and her father now looked up as he stood to see the man as he investigated the glass counters keenly.

The man had long hair falling onto his back and shoulders and he covered himself with a long black garment that swept down on the floor.

Polar then walked out from behind his counter, treading slowly towards the man who now feasted his eyes on the gems inside one of the glass structures.

"Are you looking for anything in particular... kind sir?" He said and the man remained quiet and continued looking through the glass. He then suddenly rose and looked straight up into Polar's face.

"I'm looking for the green Emeralds from Solisium... have you heard of those?"

"Of course.." Polar replied. "The green Emeralds are quite a marvel, you must have a keen taste if it's them that you seek..." He added and paused, grinning slightly.

"Follow me, this way please..." He continued as he now turned around towards the back room.

BANG!

The door into Polar's shop was instantly blown up into pieces by the massive blast of powerful radiation from the gun now held in arm.

Immediately, six armed men walked into the room through the door surrounded by the rising dust from the explosion.

They walked inside in sync all with their long shotguns pointed straight at Polar, Sta and their lone customer.

Sta suddenly moved to stand from her chair and before she could come up with a plan, the huge eye-patched man had already walked up to her and was now pointing his huge gun right to her head.

"Don't even think about it..." He said and she kept her cool.

The ringleader then walked forward fast, pointing his two guns at Polar and the man who still stood beside him.

"On the floor... Now!" He yelled.

The two men then lowered onto the ground and knelt down in front of the angry bandit.

"Where is it?" He said, now touching the tip of his right gun onto Polar's forehead.

"Where's what?"

"The time machine that you stole... you fool?"

"I didn't steal any..." Polar stammered.

"Don't test my patience," He interrupted, getting angrier. "I will blow the both of your brains out." He rumbled and turned to now place his other gun onto the calm man's head.

He, however, - the customer - did not like this very much and he immediately stood up in skillful haste and snatched the gun from the man, turning it around speedily and instantly firing into his chest.

The massive blast of radiation threw the thug's body into the air above as the customer now turned to fire at the two others standing at the door.

Seeing this, Sta also suddenly turned on the eye-patched man pointing his gun at her and she threw her right leg up, kicking the long gun with strength and throwing it onto the floor. She then went forward to punch him simultaneously in the face and chest before finishing him off with a flying kick that send him tumbling to the ground.

One of the remaining two thugs inside the room then raised his gun, pointing it at Sta and ready to shoot. Just before he could pull the trigger, the customer suddenly aimed his at the thugs head, firing immediately and the rest was history.

Sta then flipped in somersaults midair across the room, evading a shot and another one, headed towards the door where the last remaining intruder stood firing at her. She thrust her right foot through his mouth with might, the sheer force throwing him off the ground into the air and out through the door to fall on the street outside their shop.

As the man's body slided down on the red dust outside, a few pygmies who had been passing by glanced at him momentarily before going back to their conversation as they walked away. Such was the norm in Athrice, just walk away... it's none of your business.

Inside Polar's shop, not one of the intruders was now standing and the customer sprayed his breath over the smoke coming out of the shotgun he held before throwing it to the ground.

"I am Peum... by the way, and you are welcome." He said, grinning and facing Polar.

"Wow..." Polar said in admiration. "You are like a knight in shining armor."

"Dad... you stole a time machine?" Sta said, walking now from the destroyed door towards her father.

"I didn't steal it... I bought it, how was I supposed to know it had been stolen?"

"Well, you'd better give it back," the customer intervened, bending down and lifting up the arm of one of the men on the floor.

"See this tattoo..." He said, showing them. "This is the Koraina Gang, and these guys don't mess around. I can assure you there will be more of them coming."

"How am I supposed to give it back when I don't know who it was stolen from?"

"Well, it's a time machine..." said the customer. "You don't actually have to return the thing... just go back in time to before it was stolen." He added, raising his eyebrows slightly and there was a slight silence.

"Daamn... I am literally mind blown right now." Polar said.

"Before you do that... could you first fetch me my green emeralds... I'd like to be on my way now."

"Of course..." Polar said suddenly and turned to walk away towards the back room.

When her father left, Sta walked up in front of the customer and stretched out her hand towards him.

"Hey," She said. "I am Sta... and much respect to you for what you just did there... you've got mad skills." She added as he now shook her hand slightly.

"It's all good, it just felt right... and I saw your flips there, you're on another level yourself." He said.

As he spoke, Polar immediately showed up from the back room carrying the green-shinning gems in his hand and in no time the transaction was done and out the door the customer was gone.