Location: Keres-7

  Luka Dragomir watched Vera’s retreating figure, raised his right hand, and made a gesture with two fingers. A waiter standing to his right followed her.

  The waiter didn’t leave until Vera stepped into Room 1313.

  That night, while Vera ordered room service, a female attendant knocked on the door.

  Vera stood at the doorway in a robe and looked at the attendant.

  When the woman tried to wheel the tray inside, Vera stopped her, saying she’d handle it herself.

  After closing the door, Vera inspected the food, then set it down.

  Twenty minutes later, she returned to her room with some food and drink taken from the hotel kitchen.

  As Vera sat in her room and began to taste the food, everything she did appeared on a display at Dragomir’s table.

  

Time: Eight days from the Gemini system. (Main thread)

  Karl’s room.

  “My child, there is a video. Shall I extract the relevant information?”

  “Mother, tell me the results.”

  “Blood. Distress. Cargo missing. The initiator of the message is — Kol Wolkov.”

  At those words, Karl’s body went rigid; his mind blanked, and his hands trembled.

  “What happened? Mother?” Karl asked, voice shaking.

  A video unfolded before Karl.

  A blood-stained hand appears in the footage, then an explosion is heard. The camera shows what appears to be a restaurant.

  On the floor nearby lie several people in camouflage; among them seems to be a woman Karl recognizes — someone who has appeared beside Drake. The final frame freezes on Wolkov and, behind him, a man with a long facial scar.

  Karl’s hands clenched.

  “Mother, who is that man?” Karl’s voice grew cold.

  “Database cross-check identifies him as Luka Dragomir, one of the three bosses of Keres-7’s underworld. The number of people predicted to have died at his hand exceeds yours,” Mother replied.

  “How did Wolkov get into a fight with him? This was Wolkov’s first trip to Keres-7.”

  “Frame analysis gives an 84.7 percent probability that the woman on the ground is related to the incident. Vera Costa is Drake’s most relied-upon assassin. Her first combat record is the scar on Dragomir’s face. Modern gene tech can patch most wounds, but Dragomir deliberately keeps that scar as a reminder of the humiliation he suffered.”

  “So it’s all a coincidence? Wolkov and Vera met and were spotted by this man, who then decided to kill — took out my people and Drake’s people, and stole the cargo?”

  “Current analysis places that possibility above sixty percent,” Mother answered.

  “Sixty percent? What other possibilities are there?” Karl asked.

  “There’s another possibility: Wolkov may still be alive; the information simply hasn’t arrived due to communications delay. Although the video shows heavy bleeding, the spray angle suggests no arterial severing. Also… there is a half-second signal loss in a critical moment; that’s characteristic of deliberate interference.”

  This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author's work.

  Having heard Mother’s analysis, Karl sat at the table and forced himself to calm down.

  A few days earlier, Moretti had died in the bath — a normally weak, small man. While Moretti was bathing, someone used a heated-melt tool to break off the head of a toothbrush and drive it into his chest. Moretti’s guards had been reassigned to other cells by that same order.

  When Drake learned of the news, he was very satisfied. Everything seemed to be unfolding according to plan.

  Until Karl received this video. Until now, he had felt confident about his plans.

  “Mother. No cargo and no weapons. How should we respond to those two?”

  “Only by arranging a meeting between the parties might this be resolved. They may accept that it was an accident, but your prospects could be ruined by this. Without weaponry and the ‘Elysium Echo,’ you cannot escape control by both powers. Especially Drake’s side — Annie’s return will be a major obstacle.”

  Karl pictured Annie as a child, her pale, sick face and purple lips.

  A stab of pain shot through him.

  “Mother, then arrange a meeting between the two. I think they’ll accept my proposal.”

  “Karl, what do you intend to do?”

  “Atonement.”

  

Time: Thirteen days from the Gemini system. (Keres-7)

  Location: Keres-7

  Dragomir sat in his room with several men beside him; one of them was the male waiter.

  “Based on the intelligence gathered these past days, Vera and a man associated with Kol Wolkov were trading cargo worth hundreds of millions of credits. The trade took place in the suite at that restaurant,” one man reported.

  “Are your weapons ready?” Dragomir’s hoarse voice asked.

  “Are you reconsidering? The rules here forbid the use of weapons. Two other factions are watching us,” another man said.

  “You’ve followed me for a long time. You know how I got this scar. Do you want me to spare a woman? Or do you think your skill alone can beat Vera?” Dragomir stared at the man who spoke, continuing: “Vera is a born killer. I only survived her once because your brother paid with his life.”

  He touched the hideous scar on his face as if it still throbbed. In this lawless world, fear is the best passport.

  “Yes. I was wrong. I’ll prepare immediately.”

  

Time: Fifteen days from the Gemini system. (The truth)

  Vera watched Wolkov’s retreating back.

  She smiled slightly. “Karl von Reiss — you really underestimated him. He killed Drake’s couriers, impersonated them, tried to kill me too, then swallowed both sides’ cargo. Annie, you and your brother live in two different worlds. For being your brother, I’ll spare you this once, Karl. But I’ll keep this man of yours as interest — I expect you’ll be able to pay me back the favor next time we meet.”

  At the same time, Wolkov returned to his room and took off his coat. His back was soaking. For the first time, when facing that woman, he felt a crack of fear he’d never felt before.

  That was the presence of Death. While talking with her, he felt the blood in his head briefly reverse.

  If he could choose now, he’d rather go to the front alone and face an enemy attack than share a room with that woman.

  (End of Chapter 129)

  ? JunkyardJack369 2026, All Rights Reserved