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He handed us the gun belts. I buckled mine on, adjusting the fit before checking the stunner in its holster. Tarek did the same, looking rather more comfortable with the equipment than I felt.

"Any questions before you begin?" Johree asked.

"Not yet," I said. "I suspect we'll have plenty once we start."

"That's what I'm here for. Anything at all, just comm me or Bob." He smiled. "Good luck! Though I expect you'll do just fine." He stepped outside with us, gave us a final nod, and headed off down the street, leaving Tarek and me standing on the porch with our shiny new credentials and the beginnings of a workday ahead of us.

We'd barely had time to exchange a look when a man came sprinting around the corner from the direction of the spaceport, red-faced and waving his arms.

"NEBULA-BLASTED THING ESCAPED FROM THE CRATE! I NEED TO CATCH IT!"

A small, round creature bounced along ahead of him on two enormous hind legs.

Tarek and I stared at it.

The creature bounced again, its long ears flapping, then changed direction so abruptly that the man nearly ran straight past it.

"Was that a hop-a-long?" I asked, remembering the colony's information pack and the section about livestock.

"There it goes!" Tarek said, pointing. "And yes, sure looks like it!"

The hop-a-long sprang onto a low wall, ricocheted off a planter, and landed directly in the middle of the path. It paused, looked at us, and gave a cheerful little chirp before bouncing away again.

The man thundered after it.

"STOP THAT THING!"

Tarek and I exchanged a glance before joining in on the chase.

The hop-a-long was surprisingly fast for something with such a round body and such short front legs. It bounded across the walkway, shot between two benches, and bounced off a tree trunk as if it had been deliberately aiming for it. Tarek lunged to intercept it, only for the creature to spring neatly between his legs.

I tried to cut it off from the other side. It changed direction, bounced off my shin, and continued on its merry way.

"Ow!"

"Are you all right?" Tarek called.

"Ask me again once we've caught it!"

We chased it around the side of a building, past a pair of startled Mylos carrying crates, and through a little patch of grass where it seemed to discover that hopping in circles was considerably more entertaining than running in a straight line.

"Go left!" I shouted as I made another grab for it. The hop-a-long ducked beneath my hand, sprang over my foot, and landed behind me. Tarek nearly collided with me trying to catch it. "I said left!" I reminded him.

"I know where left is!"

"Then why were you going right?"

"Because it's now going right!"

We both turned, just in time to see the creature bounce onto a low garden wall and launch itself over the other side.

I scrambled over after it. Tarek went around the end, which was probably the sensible option, but by the time we reached the other side, the hop-a-long had vanished. We stood there, breathing hard and looking at an entirely innocent patch of grass.

The man finally caught up with us, wheezing so badly that he had to brace his hands on his knees. "Did you get it?"

"No," I admitted.

He straightened and stared at us in disbelief. "You're the new lawmen, aren't you?"