It took another day for the Black Swan to finally arrive at the Veyra system. To ease his worries, Kai spent the entire day in the training room, pushing himself through as much physical training as possible. It was his way of dealing with the anxiety of the upcoming meeting with the True Kin. He would be on his own, and he wanted to be prepared if things went south.
By the time Kai emerged from the training room, the view outside had shifted. The endless void had been replaced by an asteroid field. Kai guessed they were getting close to Mama Mo's.
He hadn’t even known what Mama Mo's was until the crew talked about it during their last FTL jump. Apparently, Ivan had been there once when he was younger. His father, a cargo pilot, used to bring him along on runs. Mama Mo's was a well-known stop among cargo pilots, offering cheap fuel and food. According to Ivan, it was nothing special—just a hub in the middle of nowhere.
Kai took a quick shower in his room to clean up, and when he stepped out, he found Eliana waiting by his door.
“Hey,” Eliana said softly, a light blush tinting her cheeks. “I was just coming to tell you that we’re about to arrive.”
Things had been a little awkward between Kai and Eliana since the other night. Kai knew Eliana was worried about him going alone, and in his attempt to comfort her, he had pulled her into his arms. Now, he felt like he owed her an answer. What was their relationship? If he didn’t address it, things would only grow more uncomfortable.
“Eliana,” Kai said, his voice steady.
“Yes?” Eliana replied, her blush deepening as she looked at him.
“About the other night…” Kai began.
Eliana turned even redder. “Don’t worry about it too much. I know you were just trying to comfort me.”
“Yeah,” Kai admitted, rubbing the back of his neck. “But I still feel like I owe you an answer. I know we haven’t really talked about… how we feel about us.”
“Let’s not worry about that now,” Eliana interrupted, turning her head away. “You should focus on meeting with the True Kin. That’s what’s important right now.”
Kai nodded slowly, understanding her point. “I’m sorry, Eliana. I promise we’ll talk about it when I come back.”
Eliana didn’t turn back to face him as she began walking toward the bridge. She said softly. “Okay, Kai. Just… please come back safely.”
Kai entered the bridge as the ship began to slow down. He could feel the slight change in gravity as the Black Swan rotated, aligning itself with a massive asteroid. Focusing on the center of the asteroid, Kai spotted a manmade structure carved into its surface. A landing area came into view—rectangular holes built into the asteroid’s side. Several ships hovered nearby, waiting to be assigned their landing bays.
Ivan hailed the station, his voice calm and practiced. “Landing service, this is the Black Swan, requesting permission to land…” He paused for a moment, then continued, “Alright, heading to landing bay 2.”
The Black Swan adjusted its orientation, rolling gently as it approached the asteroid. Kai watched through the viewport as the ship’s hull passed through the force field that kept the vacuum of space outside. The second they entered, Kai felt the gravity shift again. The Black Swan powered down its own gravity generator, and the station’s gravity field took over.
Kai marveled at the sheer scale of it. In a ship as large as the Black Swan, the gravity generator lay hidden beneath the bottom level, sandwiched between the deck and the hull. But to keep an entire asteroid under artificial gravity? The generators had to be enormous, a feat of engineering Kai could only imagine.
The ship settled smoothly onto the landing pad. Ivan wasted no time requesting fuel and rearming for the Black Swan. While the long refueling process began, Kai grabbed the ancient sword Commander Yang had given him and headed for the elevator.
Commander Grayson and Eliana flanked Kai as the elevator descended onto the landing pad. The bay was massive, its walls smooth and polished, revealing the natural rock of the asteroid itself. Kai glanced upward and saw the entrance slowly closing behind them.
The three of them stepped onto the pad, boots clicking against the smooth ground. Kai’s attention was immediately drawn to a group of men jogging toward them. They moved with precision, rifles in hand, their movements synchronized like a trained military unit. Kai guessed these must be the station's guards. Unlike the True Kin Kai had encountered before, these men bore no tattoos, no marks to signify their allegiance.
Kai tightened his grip on the sword’s hilt as the men got close. The tension in the air was thick, but Commander Grayson stood tall, unshaken. Eliana stayed close to Kai, her presence comforted him as they waited for them to approach.
The guards shifted formation as they neared, fanning out into a line before stopping. From the center of their ranks stepped a lone figure who clearly stood apart. He bore a striking resemblance to Commander Yang—same sharp facial structure, same steady confidence—but his face was unmarked, lacking Yang's telltale scars. Kai's attention was immediately drawn to the tattoo on the man’s neck—the same True Kin emblem he’d seen before.
“You must be Kai,” the man said, his tone firm yet polite. His hands were clasped neatly behind his back, and his sharp eyes darted from Kai to Commander Grayson and Eliana. “I apologize in advance, but only Mr. Kai can come with us. The rest of your crew are free to use the station’s facilities as they wish, free of charge, as a kind gesture from Mama Mo herself.”
Eliana turned to Kai, her worry written plainly on her face. She reached for his hand, her grip warm. “Please come back safely, Kai. Remember that you promised me you would.”
Kai nodded, squeezing her hand gently. “Yes, I promise..” He held her gaze for a moment longer. Slowly, she let her hand slip from his grasp.
“Stay safe,” she said softly.
Kai glanced at Commander Grayson, silently asking for reassurance. Grayson returned the look with a nod and a small, encouraging smile. He patted Kai on the back, the gesture firm and steady, like a father sending his child into the unknown.
Kai managed a faint smile in return, masking his own nervousness as he turned to face the guards. He stepped forward.
The figure extended his hand, an unexpected gesture of trust. “Please don’t feel afraid,” the man said, his voice authoritative. “Commander Yang informed me of your arrival. You are not in any danger. On the contrary, you are a very important guest to us. I’m Li Baiyan, and I will escort you to meet Mama Mo.”
Kai accepted the handshake. Baiyan’s grip was firm, and Kai immediately felt the rough calluses on the man’s palms—a sign of hard work and hardship. Baiyan’s face was young, but his eyes told a different story. Cold and sharp, they studied Kai with an intensity that made him feel like every inch of him was being analyzed. But Kai didn’t look away. He met baiyan’s gaze head-on, refusing to let doubt show.
Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
After a moment, Baiyan’s expression softened, a faint smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. “Don’t worry,” he said, his tone more reassuring this time. “You’ll do just fine.”
With a wave of his hand, the guards shifted seamlessly into a diamond formation, surrounding Kai and Baiyan at the center. Kai glanced back, hoping to catch one last glimpse of Eliana and Commander Grayson, but the massive frames of the guards blocked his view.
Kai followed Baiyan into a maze of twisting tunnels, their path winding deeper and deeper into the asteroid. He could tell immediately—this was not the entrance to Mama Mo’s that Ivan had described. There were no crowds of cargo pilots, no bustling energy of a station hotspot. Wherever they were headed felt hidden, exclusive, and deliberately protected.
The sound of boots echoed off the stone walls, each step reverberating through the narrow passage. Finally, the guards came to a stop, turned silently, and departed, leaving only Kai and Baiyan standing before a small, unremarkable door. It looked plain and unadorned, blending almost seamlessly with the tunnel around it—insignificant, if not for the weight of what lay behind it.
Baiyan turned to Kai, his expression serious. “We’re about to enter a part of the asteroid unknown to the outside world—a place where people like me have sought refuge, a place we call our heaven, hidden from the rest of the universe.” He paused, his eyes narrowing slightly, as though testing Kai’s resolve. “I ask you to take everything you see with an open mind, no matter how strange or different it may look to you.”
Kai swallowed hard and nodded. Baiyan knocked three times on the door. A sharp clank sounded, and the door unlocked with a hiss, sliding open slowly. Baiyan gestured for Kai to step inside.
Kai hesitated only a moment before walking through. The shift was immediate. The dim tunnel behind him was replaced by a blinding glow that assaulted his senses. He squinted, momentarily disoriented, as the overwhelming light enveloped him. It took a moment for his eyes to adjust, but when they did, the sight left him breathless.
The “room” wasn’t a room at all—it was a vast cavern carved into the heart of the asteroid. But this was no rough, hollowed-out space. Neon lights blazed from every direction, their colorful glow reflecting off walls smoothed to a perfect sheen. Massive columns stretched upward, vanishing into shadowy heights that Kai couldn’t even see. Walkways crisscrossed through the vertical space like veins of an impossibly complex labyrinth. Holographic signs flickered and flashed, pulsing with symbols and languages that Kai didn’t recognize.
There was too much to take in at once. His senses were overwhelmed—his eyes darted from glowing advertisements to the faint hum of industrial machinery in the distance. He could hear voices, laughter, and the steady thrum of some unseen power source. The smell of food—something savory, yet unfamiliar—hung faintly in the air, mixing with the metallic tang of the asteroid itself.
For a moment, Kai didn’t know where to look or how to react. It was as if he’d stepped into an entirely different world, he felt lost, and looked back at Li for guidance.
"This is the part of Mama Mo's that's only known to us. It's one of the larger True Kin hideouts. Welcome to China Town," Li said, gesturing grandly.
What Baiyan said sounded like some sort of encrypted message to Kai. China? He’d heard the word before—he remembered using bowls and cups during meals back on Velmorra that were called china. But this place clearly wasn’t a reference to dinnerware. Confused, he decided to ask.
“Why name it ChinaTown? Was it originally selling utensils or something?” Kai asked.
Baiyan chuckled, shaking his head. “No, China is—was—a country. Long before space travel, it existed on an ancient planet called Earth. Most people here can trace their bloodline back to it. We’re just one part of the True Kin, a group of people who chose, no, forced to live in the old ways.”
Kai frowned, still struggling to wrap his head around it. He’d never heard of this “Earth” or its country called China. The books he’d read growing up—histories, myths, legends—never mentioned any of this. As he looked around at the people in ChinaTown, he couldn’t help but notice how different they looked from him: dark hair, unique facial structures, and an unfamiliar language humming in the background like white noise.
The realization sent a chill through him. This wasn’t just another group of outcasts. These people carried history—real history—that no one in his world had even known existed.
Kai shook his head, overwhelmed. He could feel it deep in his gut—whatever he was about to learn would shatter his entire understanding of the universe.
Baiyan seemed to sense his disorientation. “Don’t worry,” he said softly. “I think it’s best to let Mama Mo herself explain our story to you.”
Li and Kai climbed their way up ChinaTown one level at a time. Kai never stopped turning his head, soaking in as much information as he could. He tried to make sense of the language that surrounded him. A particular word caught his attention, appearing on many signs outside eateries—“饭店.” He guessed it meant restaurant. Yet, as they passed more establishments, Kai noticed variations. Some used “小馆” or “食府,” while others had no such words at all. Each sign seemed unique, adding to the complexity of the language.
It baffled him. If this was just one language spoken by the True Kin, how many others existed? And what about the ship they found buried in the mine?
“Are there True Kin who speak the English language?” he asked, the thought lingering in his mind.
Li considered the question for a moment before replying, “I think there are a couple of countries that spoke it, yes. But, like I said, it’s best you save your questions for Mama Mo herself. She knows the most about the old world.”
Kai thanked Li and returned his focus to the signs, occasionally glancing at the people around him. As they walked, he noticed the residents watching him as well—not with open curiosity, but with quiet, fleeting glances. However, it wasn’t him they were staring at. It was the sword strapped to his back. Whatever it represented in their culture, it clearly held significance.
The climb was long, but eventually, they reached the top level. Kai turned to look back at the street below. From this vantage point, the entirety of ChinaTown spread out like a living tapestry. The bustling lower levels, alive with noise and movement, now seemed distant. Here, the atmosphere was different—quieter, more refined. The streets were less crowded, and the people better dressed, their movements elegant, their manners dignified.
“Come on, Mama Mo is waiting,” Li called, motioning for Kai to follow him through an ornate gate guarded by two men in heavy armor. Their stoic faces and imposing presence made Kai’s heart pick up speed. The realization hit him—he was about to meet THE Mama Mo.
Yesterday, her name had sounded like a simple fabrication, something to make the station seem more welcoming. Now, it carried weight, shrouded in mystery and importance. Kai adjusted the strap of the sword on his back and took a steadying breath.
“And this is as far as I can go,” Li said, motioning for Kai to continue forward.
Kai nodded and stepped ahead. The tunnel darkened with each step, a shadowy stillness settling over him. His unease grew sharper, but he pushed forward, his hand instinctively brushing against the sword on his back for reassurance.
He stopped at a heavy door made of deep red wood. A guard, silent and unmoving, stood beside it. Without a word, the guard pulled the door open. As Kai stepped closer, he noticed a small threshold at his feet—an unusual design. He hesitated, then carefully raised his foot and stepped over it, the act feeling oddly ceremonial.
The world beyond the door was a sight he hadn’t expected. A pathway stretched out before him, illuminated by rows of red lanterns hanging from tall, slender posts. The lanterns concealed their light, casting a warm, golden glow that softened the darkness. Kai opened his mouth in surprise as he looked up—stars twinkled overhead, impossibly clear and vibrant, as if the tunnel had opened into the night sky itself.
A cool wind brushed against his face, carrying with it the faint scent of something he couldn’t quite place. It felt so real—too real for the confines of an asteroid’s heart. Kai took a steady breath, letting the moment settle, and continued walking.
Halfway down the path, a figure stepped into his way, emerging from the shadows. Kai almost didn’t see him at first. The man wore a suit of ornate red armor, the polished plates reflecting the soft glow of the lanterns. The armor was intricate, carved with flowing patterns that seemed to ripple like flames in the shifting light, similar to the art on Kai's sword.
The man stood tall and still, his imposing form blocking Kai’s path to a gate behind him. Kai instinctively stopped, his hand ready to reach for the sword on his back.
He stared into the man’s eyes—they revealed no emotion, no hostility, only an unreadable calm.
The man bowed deeply, a gesture of both respect and formality, then, with one smooth motion, drew his sword from the hilt at his side.