Some things never change.  Like a good cup of coffee.  No, Columbus didn’t go to Starbucks on the day he came across his first sight of the new world. But I bet he would have liked to.  What a sight that would have been!  If coffee is a way of life now, is there any reason it shouldn’t be the same in say, 1,000 years?  I’m betting it will be.

Take an exquisite espresso, a passion for dance and stage shows, shove them both 1,000 years into the future, and what do you have?  You have Tuck. Tuck, short for Tucker, is a private detective, a former cop just trying to make a buck or two on Midway before returning to Earth. “Rhymes with Luck,” he likes to say, “and you need plenty of that.”

He’s not just a regular dick, he’s an experienced, insightful dick who would much rather be watching a show than actually doing the detecting that pays for his espresso. He does it a lot less now, and he’s got a stash big enough that he’s so close to retiring, he can taste it.  He thinks it actually tastes as good as-or better-than the espresso in front of him.

For now, he’s stuck on Midway. He’d probably rather be home on Earth, but and all things considered, work on Midway pays more and, well, all things considered, it’s not a half-bad place to be.  Casinos have floor shows, and with a little bit of time and detective work, he can find the perfect espresso.

He also knows there’s a time and a place for everything.  The problem is, trouble has a way of finding him. Tracking him down even when he’s not actively looking for it. I have friends like that.  We all do.  I call them flypaper for freaks.  When he’s on the case, there’s no stopping him until he gets to the bottom of the issue.  Yeah, sometimes it’s better just to let things go, but Tuck doesn’t really know what that means. Not in his vocabulary.  For Tuck, there is no letting it go.

That leads to a number of problems.  With Lita. With Barnie.  With the new girl who just showed up on his doorstep with bloody feet.  Yeah, he’s never bored, although sometimes he’d like to be that way. And that’s why we like him.  Good old Tuck.