“You really can get your hands on anything, can’t you?” said the African lion with a long scar over his right eye, greedily toying with the Federation-standard combat rifle in his hands.

I tapped the table lightly twice, signaling to him that my part of the deal was completed as agreed.

“In such a hurry, aren’t you?” The lion gestured to his bodyguards, who moved closer. “Everyone wants to get out before we hit the Roche limit, making this...” He deftly twirled a silver card between his fingers. “...skyrocket in value.” His amber eyes locked onto mine, his smile brimming with greed. “So...”

The two bodyguards placed their hands on the weapons at their waists, openly displaying their intention to alter the terms of our agreement.

I sighed, nodding to Ali, who stood at the back of the room. He had warned me that things might go this way. He smiled in response, his red eyes glinting.

Waving dismissively at the lion, I stood up, signaling that he could do whatever he wanted, and walked out onto the terrace. He seemed puzzled but was clearly pleased with the cache of military hardware he’d just acquired.

The sound of scuffling and liquid splashing came from the room behind me, followed by a mix of screams and gunfire. When silence finally settled, Ali joined me on the terrace, placing the silver card on the flat surface beside me.

“Do you know what the Roche limit is?” Ali asked, wiping the blood from his face. I could hardly distinguish the dark red liquid from the color of his eyes anymore. I shook my head in response to his question. “It gave me an idea.” He smiled, just like he used to, back in those days when all the bad things hadn’t yet happened to us.

We stayed there, quietly leaning against the terrace, staring out at the distant sky.



“Dahl Cheetah?” A muntjac at the security checkpoint asked. I nodded in response. He scanned my collar, suspiciously accepting the silver card. Finally, he shrugged, clearly deciding that whatever the problem might be, it was beyond what his salary required him to care about.

He waved me through, signaling me to board the airship.

I found my seat and waited for takeoff.

As I felt the familiar resonance, I couldn’t help but smile—it was the Pegasus-class skyhook, an old friend here to see me off.

“Ladies and gentlemen, we are about to take off. This is a flight bound for the Lunar...” We began to accelerate along the superconducting magnetic track, then launched. I had expected some kind of jolt or vibration when the grappling hooks caught the craft, but there was nothing—just an eerie calm.

And so, in this unexpected silence, we were flung into space by the skyhook.

“I’ll always be here,” Ali whispered, taking my hand. “I’ll never leave you.”

I squeezed his hand gently in response, feeling the warmth within.

I knew this was the most important promise of all.