Former police detective. Human. Moral center of the story — appalled by indifference to the vulnerable. Currently far from home space, operating with Star Runner. Once worked law enforcement in Ptolemy City. Has a history in the Magic Lands (a separate story arc).

Fuchsia-colored Pantheran. About the size of a small pony. Ronnie's lover and more or less forever partner. Genetically modified — designed to pilot military starships, broke away and became a courier/smuggler. Binary, lacks personal rights under Pantheran law. Linked to the ship's AI (the Ride) which regulates their body and stores memories outside their brain. A Fungusian pet project, gets priority responses. Honorary member of the League of Hypatian Pirates. Currently carrying unknown cargo for Captain Kidd.

Information trader and blogger/influencer. Built a readership spanning six star systems on New Byzantium City. Has made Ronnie into a public wonder-worker through her writing. Arrived from somewhere she doesn't discuss. Trades in information. Not the moral center — her interest in the dead woman is readership, not justice. Has sources everywhere, which makes her network valuable.

Former president of the League of Hypatian Pirates on Hypatia in the Pharaoh Star System, just outside Coalition space. Operating in the same star system as New Byzantium City. Partner of the Czarina. Intermediary for Star's current cargo consignment. May have used Star as an unknowing courier.

A network of short-lived fungi that collect information — a living computer network. Communication is asynchronous: you send a message and wait for a response. Star gets priority because they are a Fungusian pet project. A researcher would need to be known to the network to query it. Star's oldest friend is an archaeologist who might be connected to any researchers asking about the original colony.

A lawless, violent planet. Murders are frequent. The city reaches for grandeur and lands somewhere between ambition and ruin. Streets are narrow and crooked. Wealthy district exists alongside extreme poverty.

The oldest part of the city. Down where the original settlement was, before the expansion. Streets are medieval — they predate everything else by three hundred years. Nobody goes there who doesn't have to, or who isn't from there.

An asteroid belt in the same star system as New Byzantium City. Has a station. Mining facilities producing unrefined material. Most shippers avoid it because the return trip isn't worth it on known routes through jump gates. Star is not limited to jump gates, which makes their delivery times shorter and the route profitable.

Star's ship. Has an AI — previously had personality and a name but malware compromised Star and they now prefer a basic AI interface with emphasis on analysis. Everything on the ship is recorded for the sake of Star's memory but the AI doesn't review recordings unless asked.

The governing body of known space. Hypatia and the Pharaoh Star System are just outside Coalition space. New Byzantium City is far from Coalition space entirely.

A separate political entity. Star's oldest friend the archaeologist operates here. The Magic Lands are within or connected to this space (Ronnie's other story arc).

Found in Mulberry Bend. Early twenties. Unidentified — not in any database. The New Byzantium City police are investigating, which means they are doing nothing. The Czarina refers to her as a girl; Ronnie notes she is clearly a woman. Two blank gold coins in her pocket. Does not match the physical types from the Bend — generations of mixed heritage visible in the local population. She is different. Not local.

Genuine old gold. No mint mark, no inscription, completely blank on both sides. Planchets — coins before they are coins, pulled from a minting process before completion, or from a hoard predating the government that was minting them. Per the Fungusians: from a mint that operated less than two years. Established by a colonial government preceding New Byzantium City by approximately three centuries. The colonial government collapsed before the coins entered circulation.

Four thousand people. Well funded, well organized — then gone within eighteen months. No bodies. No record of departure. The Fungusians used a word between "erased" and "discouraged." Someone shut it down. The coin hoard has been sitting somewhere on the planet — or under it — for three hundred years. People asking questions about the original colony in recent years have not tended to continue asking. The last known researcher was found in Mulberry Bend eight months ago.

Unknown contents. Consignment originated in the Black Sea station. Captain Kidd was the intermediary. Star does not believe it is mining equipment — nothing big. Did not come from a legitimate supplier. Star may have been used as a courier for something they would not have agreed to carry knowingly. This is unprecedented and a threat to Star's carefully built reputation.

Ronnie reviews what she knows about New Byzantium City and the Czarina's request. Star reveals the cargo is going to the Black Sea station. Star consults the Fungusians — asynchronous, initiated earlier in the journey, response arrives en route. The Fungusians report on the coins and the original colony. Star learns the previous researcher was found in Mulberry Bend. Star realizes Kidd may have used them.

Key exchange: "Someone shut it down." / "Yes. Until now maybe."

Ronnie and Star arrive. The Czarina produces the coins. Ronnie identifies them as planchets and connects them to a collapsed pre-colonial government. The Czarina wants to publish immediately. Ronnie stops her — publishing alerts whoever is protecting the secret. The Czarina's motivation is readership; Ronnie's is justice. Tension between them is a reliable engine for scenes.

The Czarina's key line: "Because everyone else has already decided not to." (Note: per author, this is wrong — the Czarina is NOT the moral center. Ronnie is. Revise Czarina's motivation to be about story, audience, readership.)

Needs revision per author notes:

• Communication is asynchronous, message-based, not real-time
• The previous researcher would need to be known to the network
• Likely connected to Star's archaeologist friend but not that person
• Star gets priority as a Fungusian pet project

"None of this makes any sense," I said swiping all the screens away with a gesture. "I've read The Czarina's blog posts; I've read the local news reports after I finally found them; and I've read about New Byzantium City and the planet. I can't figure out why she wants us to come."

My name is Ronnie Camberwell. I'm currently on a small spaceship with my lover Captain Star Runner. They are a fuchsia-colored Pantheran, owner of the Ride and perhaps the only stability I have in the galaxy. From time to time I undertake investigations. Star often involves me in their adventures.

Star has their own moral code. I do not subscribe to it in general, but I have come to accept it and just keep on being emotionally involved with them. I have tried to stay in monogamous human relationships, but I always go back to Star. Because above all Star is loyal to me and a few others. Currently these others are spread out on distant worlds. Star is carrying some important cargo which is probably illegal. I haven't asked them what it is. It's better that way. Once I worked in law enforcement in Ptolemy City. The laws there were minimal but the people there had a keen sense of protecting the weak against the strong and a lax attitude about business regulations. They did not, for example, approve of physical violence but were happy to smuggle weapons to conflicts on other worlds.

Star came into the room where I had been working. About the size of a small pony, human beings often refer to Pantherans as cats. They look like cats with soft silky hair, whiskers, four legs and a magnificent tail which they carry high.

"What doesn't make any sense?" Star asked with their sibilant whispery voice.

"You read The Czarina's message," I said.

"She wants you to investigate the murder of an unidentified person," Star said.

"That's right. Here are the items that don't make any sense. I've made a list but it's probably not complete."

I brought up a screen at a comfortable eye level for Star to read. Here's what it said:

• The Facts:
  1. The dead female is unidentified.
  2. The New Byzantium City police are investigating.
  3. The Czarina refers to this deceased as a girl, but she is clearly a woman in her early twenties.
  4. NB City in particular and the planet in general is a lawless and violent place. Murders are frequent.
• Questions:
  • In this day and age, how can a person be unidentified?
  • Why isn't she in any of the databases?
  • Why is The Czarina reaching out to me personally and on her social media accounts to investigate?
  • What's her interest in this woman?

"I don't know anything about this planet," Star said.

That is not entirely a true statement. Star probably hasn't heard of this planet until now, but Star is linked to the spaceship's AI. In fact, Star could not live without the AI regulating their body and storing their memories outside of their brain. One is an extension of the other. Star has immediate access to all the AI's databases.

"What does Ride say?" I asked.

In the past, the AI had personality and a name, but some very nasty malware had seriously compromised Star and they preferred to have a basic AI interface with an emphasis on analysis. Although there are cameras all over the ship, I no longer have the feeling I am being spied on. For the sake of Star's memory, everything is recorded even our most intimate exchanges but this AI doesn't review them unless either of us ask for that review.

"Ride suggests that perhaps The Czarina is trying to promote interest in the story or lure us to go to New Byzantium."

"I don't need an AI for that," I said. "I basically came to that conclusion myself."

"Coincidentally," Star said, "my cargo is going to that system."

I thought they were going to say more, but they stopped.

"What am I missing here?" I asked.

Star sighed. "It's complicated," they said.

"My cargo is for a station in the Black Sea," Star said. And before I could ask what the Black Sea was, Star continued, "The Black Sea is an asteroid belt in the same star system as New Byzantium City. I got this consignment indirectly. Captain William Kidd was the intermediary."

Star stopped speaking.

That Star had told me this much was surprising. They could be very secretive about their business affairs. Captain Kidd had been the president of the League of Hypatian Pirates back on my home world of Hypatia in the Pharaoh Star System just outside of Coalition space. Apparently, he and his partner The Czarina were operating in the same star system. Since I was already en route the Czarina was making a play to have me involved somehow. It was going to be painstaking. I would have to pump Star for information. They would volunteer little more.

Back on Hypatia, Kidd and the League had made Star an honorary member. Star believes this makes them a real pirate.

At this point, I should probably take a step back to explain a few things about Star.

Yes, they are my more or less forever partner.

Yes, Star is an alien, but it is more complicated than that. Star is both binary and genetically modified. Star's species consists of males, females and genetically modified individuals like Star. These individuals lack personal rights. They are designed for a specific task and can be terminated at any time. Star was designed to pilot military starships.

There is a belief among the Pantherans that a fuchsia-colored Pantheran is special. Star's designers and the military command thought they could harness Star's specialness to their advantage. Star's specialness resulted, however, in Star's ability to think independently. They broke away and operated outside of Pantheran control. Star figured out that their unique gifts as a starship navigator and pilot made them an excellent courier. To survive outside of Pantheran control, Star had to relocate to the frontier and work exclusively for humans. The underground economy was an obvious choice.

For a lot of reasons, we are far from our home space, operating far from the Coalition and the frontiers of that part of space.

"I think we need to pool our resources," I said very carefully. "None of this is on the up and up. Your deal with Captain Kidd may be straight forward, deliver the goods and get paid, but The Czarina's request complicates the picture."

The Ride AI can think much faster than I can and Star can receive its calculations instantaneously, but it often takes Star a reasonable amount of time to sort through all of the data unless Ride packages it for them. Ride doesn't tend to do this unless speed is essential. This is one of the safeguards that Star and the Fungusian software engineers have put in place to avoid a takeover of Star's integrity.

"I had not thought about that possibility," Star said. "Captain Kidd said it would be a straight forward delivery. There would be a return cargo of unrefined material from the asteroid mining facilities. All things being equal, there would probably be a new contract. All straight forward. Pick up the goods elsewhere and bring them here. Earn a profit. Do it again and again. The Black Sea is a long way out, but other than that it's simple. Most shippers think the return isn't worth it, but they have to stick to the known routes through the jump gates, but I am not limited to them which makes my delivery times shorter."

"Do you know what the cargo is?" I asked.

"No," Star said. "But I don't think it's mining equipment, at least, nothing big."

"And you didn't pick it up from a legitimate supplier," I said.

"No," Star said. "That's another reason this is profitable."

"So we have people in an asteroid belt importing black market items and an unidentified woman on a nearby planet who has been murdered. Did I mention she had two gold coins in her pocket? They are unidentified, too."

"Really?" Star was curious. "Does that happen often?"

"I don't know," I said. "I don't have any experience with gold coins or physical items of exchange of any kind."

Star wanted to be part of the investigation.

"Won't you be busy with unloading and fetching new cargo?" I asked. "I don't think I can wrap this up quickly."

Star's body rippled, the closest they can come to a shrug. "I can spare some time. It's not like you can get from the station to the planet by yourself."

I had to admit they had a point.

(Note to self: figure out what these two want to ask the Fungusians.)

(Drafted by Claude, needs revision per author notes on async communication and the researcher connection)

Consulting the Fungusians was never straightforward. They did not respond to queries the way a database did. You couldn't type in a question and receive an answer. You had to know how to ask, which meant knowing how to think sideways, because the Fungusians had been alive in aggregate for so long that they had lost patience for linear thinking sometime in the previous century.

Star handled the interface. They always did. The Fungusians had a particular affinity for Pantherans, possibly because both species experienced time and memory differently than humans did.

I watched Star go still in the particular way they went still during a Fungusian consultation — not asleep, not absent, but operating on a frequency I couldn't follow. The ship hummed around us. I made tea and waited.

After forty minutes Star said, "They know the coins."

I set down my cup. "What did they say?"

"They said the coins are from a mint that operated for less than two years. The mint was established by a colonial government that preceded New Byzantium City by approximately three centuries. The colonial government collapsed before the coins entered circulation."

"Why did it collapse?"

Star's tail moved slowly. "The Fungusians said the colony was well funded, well organized, and then it wasn't. They used a word I don't have a clean translation for. Something between erased and discouraged."

"Someone shut it down," I said.

"Someone shut it down," Star agreed. "The Fungusians said there were approximately four thousand people in the original settlement. Within eighteen months they were gone. No bodies. No record of departure. The colony simply — stopped."

I sat with that for a moment.

"Four thousand people," I said. "And the coins were never circulated because the government collapsed. So a hoard of blank planchets has been sitting somewhere on that planet for three hundred years."

"Or under it," Star said.

"And our dead girl had two of them in her pocket."

Star looked at me with their amber eyes. "Ronnie. My cargo."

I had been waiting for this. "Tell me."

"I don't know exactly what it is," Star said. "But the consignment originated in the Black Sea station and Captain Kidd was the intermediary. And the Fungusians said something else." They paused. "They said the people asking questions about the original colony in recent years have not tended to continue asking questions."

"How recent?"

"The last one was eight months ago," Star said. "A researcher. She was found in Mulberry Bend."

I stared at Star.

"Unidentified?" I asked.

"The Fungusians didn't know," Star said. "They only knew she stopped asking."

The ship dropped out of the jump corridor and New Byzantium City appeared on the forward screen — sprawling, complicated, lit up against the dark in ways that suggested wealth concentrated in small bright pockets surrounded by a great deal of darkness.

"Your cargo," I said carefully. "Is it possible Captain Kidd is involved in whatever happened to the original colony?"

Star was quiet for longer than usual.

"It is possible," they said finally, "that I have been used as a courier for something I would not have agreed to carry if I had known what it was. That would be—" Another pause. "Unprecedented."

For Star, being deceived in a business arrangement wasn't just an inconvenience. It was a threat to the careful ecosystem of trust and reputation they had built over decades of operating outside the law. Smugglers who got played didn't get second contracts. Smugglers who got played and said nothing got played again.

"Kidd has been a reliable partner," Star said. It came out flat, which meant they were angry.

"Until now maybe," I said.

"Yes," Star said. "Until now maybe."

The Czarina's message had been brief, which was unlike her. She was not a woman given to brevity. I had read it three times on the way down from the Ride and I still wasn't sure what she wanted from me.

There is a dead girl. No one knows who she is. Come.

That was it. No pleasantries. No flattery. No elaborate setup. Just the bare bones of a problem dropped in my lap from across the star system.

She was waiting for us in a room that managed to be both opulent and cold. She wore her usual layers of silk and hardware, the elaborate jewelry that served as both ornament and armor. She kissed me on both cheeks and gave Star a long considering look, which Star returned without expression.

"You came," she said to me.

"You asked," I said. "Though I'll admit the message left something to be desired."

"I didn't know what to say." She turned toward the window. Below, the city pressed against itself. "That is not a comfortable feeling for me."

I waited.

"They found her three days ago in the Mulberry Bend district," the Czarina said. "Down near the waterfront, where the old quarter runs into the newer slums. She was young. Early twenties at most. Two gold coins in her pocket, old ones, the kind nobody uses anymore. No identification. No record in any database." She paused. "The police are investigating, which means they are doing nothing."

"Why do you care?" Star asked. It was not unkind. It was a genuine question.

The Czarina looked at Star for a long moment. "It's a story," she said. "An unidentified woman, ancient coins, a city built on top of something nobody will talk about. My readers will lose their minds."

"You're not publishing anything yet," I said.

She looked at me the way she always looked at me when I said things she didn't want to hear — patient, indulgent, already composing her response. "Ronnie. Darling. My readers have been following your work for—"

"A woman is dead," I said. "She had these in her pocket. That means either she knew what they were and where they came from, or someone put them there. Either way those coins connect her to something. If you publish them before we know what that something is, whoever is connected to that hoard will know we have them."

Silence.

Star made a sound that among Pantherans passes for quiet amusement.

"Fine," the Czarina said. "A brief delay. But Ronnie, you understand I have obligations to my audience. I have built something here. I have made you—"

"I know what you've made me," I said.

She produced the coins from somewhere in her layers of silk — she had pockets everywhere, which I had always found both practical and slightly alarming. She set them on the table between us. They were heavy looking, dull gold, the kind of color that comes from age rather than alloy. Both were blank on both sides. No markings. No dates. No faces of dead rulers or symbols of dead empires.

"Blank," Star said, leaning in to look. They did not touch the coins.

"Completely," the Czarina said. "I had them examined. They are genuine gold. Old gold, the assayer said, though she couldn't date them precisely. But no mint mark. No inscription. Nothing."

"Planchets," I said. "Coins before they are coins. Someone either pulled these out of a minting process before it was finished or they came from a hoard that predates whatever government was minting them. Old enough that the whole operation — the mint, the government, whoever was building that treasury — stopped before it started."

"Where was she found exactly?" I asked.

"Mulberry Bend," the Czarina said. "Do you know it?"

"I've heard of it since we landed," I said. "Everyone mentions it like a warning."

"It's the oldest part of the city. Down where the original settlement was before the expansion. The streets are medieval — literally, they predate everything else here by three hundred years. Nobody goes there who doesn't have to." She paused. "Or who isn't from there."

"You think she was local," Star said.

"I think she wasn't," the Czarina said. "She doesn't match any of the physical types from the Bend. The people there are mixed, generations of mixed, you can see it. She was different. The police noted it and then apparently decided it wasn't relevant."

I picked up one of the coins. It was heavier than it looked.

"Three hundred years," I said. "The original settlement. What was here before New Byzantium City?"

The Czarina smiled slowly. It was the smile of someone who had been waiting for exactly this question.

"That," she said, "is what nobody can agree on."