Silent

"Oh, Hanton, this plan of yours..."

Kolev looked at the projection screen covered in Sherman Empire script by Yang Ming. His brow furrowed slightly, then gradually relaxed.

"It seems quite feasible," the old man said.

Yang Ming narrowed his eyes and grinned.

Kolev soon frowned again. "But I'll have to pay a bill of at least several million for this."

"Are you short on money?" Yang Ming hooked an arm around Kolev's neck.

"No."

"Then can you live forever?" Yang Ming asked again.

Kolev snorted. "How could I? I've got, at most, another ten or twenty years. I won't make it to the average life expectancy of 120 that those noble lords have been working so hard to achieve. I've got too many old injuries. I've had my cells divide faster several times to heal them, and my telomeres are badly worn down."

"Then what good is keeping your money? Will you still be able to enjoy it after you're dead?" Yang Ming's eyes brimmed with sympathy.

Kolev was taken aback by the question, but still looked conflicted.

Yang Ming said earnestly, "Kolev, your money is just staying by your side in another form. It's become part of your assets. Besides, once you get those six pirate ships back, you can sell one or two of them. You certainly won't have enough crew to sail them all by then."

"Oh, well..."

Kolev fell into thought as he stared at the projection screen.

Yes, Yang Ming's idea was excellent. Although the plan involved some risk, it was more reliable than his previous one and much more practical.

"Hanton," Kolev said, having made up his mind.

"Yeah?"

"Ever since I met you, my wealth has been steadily shrinking. I don't know whether that's good luck or bad."

Kolev shook his head and sighed.

"Give me some time to prepare. The most important things are a small ship with powerful stealth capabilities and an expensive bionic robot. Neither will be easy to get."

"Should we bring Milili in on this, too?" Yang Ming suggested.

"This is a man's war," Kolev said. "Let the women and children hide first."

"You're going to get criticized for that, Kolev."

"I'm a pirate! A pirate!"

Kolev stormed toward his quarters.

"Before any feminists get the chance to question me, the space patrol will have already shot me dead! I haven't even got my pirate fleet back yet, and I'm already hemorrhaging money! Oh, my God! I haven't spent this many credits in the past ten years!"

Yang Ming leaned against the star chart display and gazed at his perfect plan, raising an eyebrow.

With that old miserly streak of his...

The old man must be loaded!

After a complicated and secretive round of purchases and preparations, Captain Yang Ming and his First Mate began putting their plan into action.

A deep-blue stealth assault boat slipped quietly into the tranquil Asteroid Belt.

Yang Ming piloted the ship, while Molly Two assisted from within the Stealth Boat's operating system. Kolev kept a close eye on the integrated sensors. At the first sign of abnormal data, they would abandon the mission and turn back.

The turtle-shell-like Feinan was parked behind a small asteroid, in complete silence.

"Hanton, I think Milili cried because she was angry. Molly told me... Milili's furious that I won't let her take that pirate ship out. What do you think I should do?"

Some old man tried to start a domestic conversation.

Yang Ming didn't have time to entertain him.

He focused intently on the guide lines displayed across the forward window, calculating the crooked course ahead. His hands gripped the square helm as steadily as a rock.

Once they reached a less difficult stretch of the route, Yang Ming couldn't help complaining, "Why did you put the pirate base in the Asteroid Belt?"

Kolev smiled. "There's a route I carved out in the other direction. This is the best cover we could ask for. Even if a patrol ship tracks us, we can easily find somewhere to hide."

Yang Ming said, "And yet we still managed to break in, didn't we?"

Kolev was at a loss for words.

They continued their slow journey for over an hour. Following Kolev's directions, the Stealth Boat easily crossed the lax security perimeter. Its forward and reverse engines ran at minimum power, keeping it still relative to an asteroid ahead.

Behind that asteroid stood a small metal-framed Spaceport, its protective shield enclosing brightly lit buildings.

Two 200-meter pirate ships and one 300-meter ship were docked in the berths, all of them outside the protective shield.

Across the near-vacuum, Yang Ming almost imagined he could hear the lively voices inside the shield.

"Release the spores," Yang Ming ordered quietly.

Molly Two's synthesized voice rang out. "Repeat: release the spores."

Kolev's hands flew across the projection screen. "All right, releasing the spores."

The sleek Stealth Boat opened its tail fins. One after another, electronic devices like tiny mosquitoes drifted out and quickly scattered.

The Stealth Boat hovered motionless.

Kolev anxiously watched the screen in front of him. Tiny points of light appeared on it, slowly approaching the three target ships.

A few minutes later, all three ships were covered in points of light.

The tiny particles attracted no attention from the pirates' patrol squad.

"That's enough. We should leave."

Kolev spoke in a hushed voice.

Yang Ming skillfully pulled back on the helm and slowly headed the way they had come.

Out of the other side's patrol zone.

Out of the other side's radar search area.

As they flew out of that "field of space rubble," a bead of sweat appeared on Yang Ming's forehead. He complained, "This is more exhausting than teaching Milili swordsmanship."

"Don't accelerate too quickly. A steady acceleration will help this little ship stay hidden," Kolev reminded him. "There's a big shark cruising through this sector, too. We have to be as careful as possible."

"Don't worry, First Mate."

Yang Ming smiled. "I've always had good luck."

Molly Two suddenly spoke. "A scanning frequency has been detected. A small probe ship has appeared. Its projected course will intersect with ours."

Yang Ming's smile froze.

Damn, he'd jinxed it!

A blinking signal appeared on the radar display.

"Turn back," Kolev immediately said. "We have to turn back! It's probably a probe ship from the Guer Alliance!"

"No, wait, Kolev. Turning back would take us too far. They must be watching the Asteroid Belt. If we can detect them, that means we're within their range, too. It's just that our stealth systems are working."

Yang Ming spoke in a low voice as he quickly pressed a row of buttons in front of him.

"Molly, first bring the ship to a stop relative to the Asteroid Belt, then shut down the engines."

Kolev immediately understood what Yang Ming intended to do. He turned to look at the Asteroid Belt still in sight, hurriedly switched off several instruments beside him, and fastened his seat belt.

A dozen seconds later, the Stealth Boat was moving in sync with the Asteroid Belt.

"Engines off. Residual heat cooling," Molly Two reported, her voice growing softer.

Yang Ming said quietly, "Turn off the active radar."

"We'll be blind!" Kolev whispered.

Molly Two repeated Yang Ming's command. "Turn off the active radar."

A tiny point of light appeared in the distant reaches of space.

Their own cockpit was completely dark.

Yang Ming leaned forward, crouching over the square mechanical helm, his eyes fixed on the approaching point of light.

The other ship was moving fast.

"Number Two, cut off our encrypted connection, but keep the noise on the same frequency band."

"Understood. Cutting off the encrypted—"

Molly Two's voice abruptly stopped, leaving only two sets of breathing, one light and one heavy.

Kolev was breathing somewhat rapidly.

"Kolev," Yang Ming asked quietly, "do the spores we released have antennas? How do they communicate with us?"

"They're components, like electronic viruses that infiltrate software systems. When a ship opens its outer hull, they slip into gaps in the ship's structure, look for a chance to connect to its circuitry, then use the ship's own antenna to communicate with us."

Kolev stared out the porthole and spoke quickly.

"The next drop-off point should be easier. This is the hardest part of the whole plan, right at the start. And your little sweetheart won't be waiting nearby."

Yang Ming grinned. "Come on, Lina's a great white shark. Right now, I just want to scrub her clean—scrub her memories of me clean."

The point of light appeared forty-five degrees off their front right.

Yang Ming calculated the other ship's speed. His finger hovered over a discreet button on his left, and he flipped open its safety cover. He counted down three numbers in his head.

Main battery off.

Life support off.

Yang Ming held his breath, his finger resting on the battery button. He left the remaining oxygen in the cabin for Kolev.

The point of light appeared thirty degrees off their front right.

Twenty degrees.

Fifteen degrees.

Five degrees.

Straight ahead.

Five degrees to the front left.

Fifteen degrees to the front left.

"I'm... having trouble breathing..."

Kolev's face began to redden, and the cabin temperature was slowly dropping.

They still had to wait.

Kolev raised a hand to his throat.

Yang Ming hesitated.

Restoring power to the ship now would be risky, but he had no choice but to take the chance. It would still take time for the oxygen levels to return to normal, and the old man couldn't afford to be deprived of oxygen.

Yang Ming pressed the main battery switch. The life-support system came on, and the cabin's oxygen level rose rapidly.

Kolev slumped back in his seat, barely breathing.

Yang Ming turned to look at him and asked with reasonable sincerity, "Want me to give you mouth-to-mouth, First Mate? We should've prepared a couple of emergency oxygen tanks or portable spacesuits."

Kolev waved him off and coughed violently twice. His lungs began working hard.

The point of light appeared sixty-five degrees to the front left.

Yang Ming returned to breathing normally and slumped in his seat. He raised an eyebrow at Kolev and grinned. "Tell me, First Mate, what did that ship look like?"

"How are you still so full of energy, Hanton...?"

Kolev wiped the sweat from his forehead, his eyes unfocused. He spoke slowly.

"Probably a bulky probe ship shaped like a motorboat. It'd have to be that big to fit all the instruments inside. But I'm sure the Alliance technicians aboard are drinking coffee and chatting about some crew member's engine-like ass... They didn't notice us at all."

"Let's go. They're probably running a regular patrol."

Yang Ming quickly pressed a series of buttons in front of him. Molly Two's virtual image appeared between the two men, hovering silently.

"Captain, based on the available information, you haven't been detected."

"Number Two, take the helm," Yang Ming said. "Return to the mothership."

"Understood. Returning to the mothership."

The projection screens in front of Kolev came back on one by one. He looked at the live data coming in from the three pirate ships, and a relaxed smile slowly spread across his face.

"The fun is about to begin, Hanton. From here on out, nobody can stop us! Nobody!"