The walls of the safehouse were dim, made of dark, corrugated metal and harsh industrial fixtures. The walls were weathered steel, coated with a patina of grease and grime. The flickering overhead lights cast long shadows across the concrete floor, broken only by the sporadic hum of distant machinery. There were no windows, just the low hum of ventilation systems and the occasional clang of shifting metal in the distance. Better for laying low.
Gravel had happened to ‘find’ a few old crates of supplies near a public canteen, and everyone sat around, digging into the synthetic food.
Hunter scraped the slop onto her plate—some kind of grayish paste that looked like it was meant to be mashed potatoes, but the texture was off, like they’d had to use recycled material for a thickener. The taste didn’t help either, like industrial soy protein with a hint of burnt plastic.
“Could’ve actually tried getting us sushi,” she scoffed as she played with her food.
“You’re lucky I got you food at all,” Gravel shrugged. “Be grateful.”
“Is that why you’re not touching your food?” She scowled at him.
“I’m enduring starvation just so you can put something in your stomach.” He grabbed his belly. “You be grateful.”
Fang didn’t even glance at him as she pushed the paste around her plate. She was too busy clutching her holo-slate, her eyes flicking between the device and the small group around her. She’d been trying to get Kai on the line for the past few minutes, her finger nervously tapping the screen.
“Does trying to get to him compromise our position?” Hunter gave her a look.
“No,” Fang bit her lower lip.
Priest’s voice cut through the room, his tone steady but firm. “It might not now, but McPherson’s got the tools to intercept any communication you make. You keep calling him, you’ll light up our location like a beacon.”
“Please, old pop. Just one call.” She turned to him, eyes pleading. “He needs to know.”
Gravel leaned forward, shooting Priest a look. “Give her a break, Sir Holy, damn. She’s not some machine, she’s got a life outside of this mess.”
Priest’s visor flashed, and his voice dropped into a colder register. “You’re supposed to be the Captain here, Gravel. Keep it together.” His gaze flicked over to Fang. “She’s not the only one who’s stressed. You’re putting this whole crew at risk by allowing distractions.”
“Well, he’s not wrong. Fang–” Gravel turned to the young lady, but she’d established a connection with Kai. He sighed. “Make it quick.”
Fang didn’t waste another moment. As soon as she had a connection, she brought the holo-slate close to her face, her eyes wide as the reflection from the screen printed on her retinas. The screen flickered for a moment before the image of Kai’s face came into view. He looked tired—dark circles under his eyes, his hair slightly tousled as if he’d just woken up. But his eyes were warm, steady, as always. What an absolute God of Beauty, Fang thought.
“Kai,” she whispered, her voice trembling. “I’m . . . I’m okay. I just—I needed to hear your voice.”
His face softened, and he leaned closer to the screen, his voice quiet but filled with concern. “Sweetie, you’re shaking. What’s going on? Where are you?”
She swallowed hard, trying to steady herself. “It’s just . . . we’re laying low. Things got messier than expected, and I might not be able to check in for a while. You know how it goes.”
“I don’t know how it goes, sweetie. You got to tell me more.”
“It’s just . . . it’s just a phase. I’ll be alright.”
“Is your crew with you?”
“Hey man,” Gravel chimed in from a distance. “So your little girl lost her toy, and we’re taking it back. Care to hear our brilliant plan?”
“He can’t hear you. It’s private connection,” murmured Fang.
“Then you should’ve put on headphones,” Gravel shrugged.
Fang didn’t bother looking at Gravel, as she was too busy staring at Kai’s gaze. His expression had softened further as he listened closely, his brow furrowing. She knew he hated hearing her downplay the situation, but she needed him to stay calm—she couldn’t bear the thought of him panicking.
“Fang,” Kai’s voice was a low murmur, but it held that familiar strength she always relied on. “Just . . . just talk to me, alright? Let me know how I can help.”
Fang’s breath hitched. “I’m sorry; I’m sorry; I’m sorry. Don’t worry, Kai, I’m doing fine. I’ll be back at Crimson-04 in a month’s time.” She rubbed her eyes. “I just—I mean, I’ll be fine, it’s just a little more dangerous than I thought, but it’s no big deal, right? You know, things just got complicated, and, uh, you’re cute. Gosh, I want to pinch your cheek real bad.”
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“Fang–”
Her fingers gripped the holo-slate tighter, her knuckles white from the pressure. “It’s all a phase, yeah. I’ll figure it out, I always do. It’s nothing like last time, nothing like last time at all, don’t worry—really, don’t. You know I can handle it. I’m fine. I’m fine. It’s just . . . just this one thing, it’s nothing.”
“Hua Fang!” His tone brooked no argument. “Stop. Breathe. You’re not fine, and I know you’re scared. It’s okay to admit that.”
“Damn, that is hard to look at.” Gravel commented. He had never seen Fang sob under any other circumstance, but it seemed like every time she talked to her loverboy, all she would do was howl her eyes out.
“Then don’t look. Geez.” Hunter replied.
“If a sabertooth tiger shits gold in front of your eyes, will you look or nah? This is like that,” he replied.
“Not the most tactful are ya?” Hunter hissed.
Kai’s expression softened further, his eyes never leaving the screen. “Fang,” he said again, his voice steady. “I know you. I’ve seen you handle worse.”
Her fingers trembled against the holo-slate as she wiped her eyes, still not looking at him directly. “I–I’m trapped, Kai. They took my ship,” she mumbled, her voice quiet and shaky.
“Talk to the officials, Fang,” Kai countered, his voice firm but full of warmth. “Remember the time we confronted the immigration officer on Brann-7? You were so damn scared, I thought you might actually pass out. But you didn’t. You found a way out. You handled that mess better than anyone I knew could.”
Talk to the officials? Gravel thought. You think your little lover’s out here practicing law or something?
“You led us out of there. We couldn’t have done it without you,” Kai reminded her. “That’s who you are, Fang. That’s why I know you’ll figure this out, too. You’ve already pulled us all through the fire once. You’re gonna do it again.”
Fang opened her mouth to reply, but before she could say anything, the connection flickered. The image of Kai’s face distorted, then turned into a blur of static, his voice breaking up. “Fang? Fang, can you hear me?”
Her heart raced, panic surging through her veins. She slammed the holo-slate against the table, cursing as the screen froze entirely. “No, no, no!” she muttered, desperately pressing buttons, but the device remained unresponsive.
Then, from behind her, a voice cut through the chaos.
“Don’t reconnect, child.” Priest’s tone was calm, but firm. “You need to be mindful of the time you spend connected.”
Fang froze, her chest tightening as her hand trembled over the holo-slate.
“I was just—” She glanced at the screen again, the signal still dead.
Priest was already standing nearby, his visor reflecting the dim light of the safehouse. “You should understand safety protocols better than anyone else.”
“Yes, pop.” She slumped against the wall, head down. Hunter came over and put a gentle hand on her shoulder, not saying anything else.
“A Chinese who’s honest with her feelings. Crazy stuff,” Gravel grinned.
“That joke didn’t land before and it’s not landing now, Boss,” Fang barked back.
“Alright. Now that’s out of the way, who wants to hear my brilliant fucking plan?” Gravel threw his hands into the air.
“Sure,” said Hunter.
Gravel leaned in, eyes alight with mischief as he spread his hands even wider. “Alright, alright, hear me out.” He threw a look around the room. “It’s simple, really. We’re laying low, right? But we need to move—gotta keep the heat off. We’ve got the supplies, well not yet, but we will. Anyway, now we need distractions.”
He paced back and forth, speaking louder as he warmed to his idea. “First, we steal a transport ship. Nothing too fancy—just something fast, low-profile. We can paint it over, change the serial numbers, slap on a fake registration. Simple stuff.” He made a sweeping gesture, like it was the simplest thing in the world.
“Next, we grab a few dozen crates of—get this—synthetic meat. And I don’t mean the stuff we’re eating now. I’m talking about the real stuff—the kind that smells like it came straight from a corporate lab, ready to be ‘flavored.’ We ship that thing off to a secondary port, set up a drop-off, and boom!” Gravel smirked, clearly pleased with himself. “We’ve got a decoy op. They’ll think we’re moving something important, while we just hightail it in the opposite direction, using the ship as bait.”
Hunter stared at him blankly, brow furrowed. “Wait . . . you’re going to make a fake meat shipment the center of your plan? They’re going to know it’s fake within minutes.”
“Details, details,” Gravel waved a hand dismissively. “That’s the beauty of it. The minute they start digging, we’ll be gone. Trail’s already cold. By the time they figure out the meat is synthetic, we’ll be in a completely different system.”
Hunter blinked, looking more confused than ever. “What’s the actual point of all this? We don’t need fake meat. We need to lay low—keep moving under the radar.”
“Exactly!” Gravel’s face lit up like he’d just solved world peace. “By not needing the meat, we create a perfect cover! Nobody will be looking for us if they think we’re just another cargo ship with some fake food on board. They’ll be tracking the wrong thing, while we slip under the radar.”
Priest crossed his arms, his visor flashing ominously. “And what happens when they realize there’s no actual cargo, Gravel? They’ll know we were using it as a distraction.”
“That’s when we do this!” Gravel snapped his fingers, clearly proud of his own ingenuity. “We plant a decoy ship wreck somewhere close to the port—real easy, just leave some wreckage in a distant, isolated area. They’ll focus on that, thinking it’s part of our escape plan.”
“. . . Dear Captain,” Hunter groaned, “that’s exactly what they’ll expect.”
“Yeah, and that’s the beauty of it!” Gravel was practically bouncing on his heels now. “They’ll overestimate our stupidity, which makes us unpredictable. By the time they get to the wreckage, we’ll be long gone.”
The room was silent for a moment.
“Horrific,” Hunter muttered under her breath.
“It’s not that bad,” murmured Fang.
“Don’t you enable him now,” Hunter lightly tapped Fang on her shoulder.
Priest took a step forward. “How about I propose an alternative plan?”