The silence in Asteroid Pass Fifty was heavy and dangerous.
Ten thousand skull-painted pirate cruisers formed a wall of rusted iron and humming plasma cannons around the Taichu convoy.
High in the rear of the blockade, the golden diplomatic shuttle belonging to the Blood-Tax Star Chamber floated comfortably out of weapon range.
Envoy Kraal’s sneering face filled the main communication screens. His shrill voice echoed through the void, amplified to maximum intensity:
“Admiral Kui! Why are your weapons silent? Sovereign Harkon wired fifty billion coins to your escrow vault! Stop staring like a brainless ape! Fire your antimatter torpedoes! Obliterate the Sovereign Aurora and slaughter every peasant aboard!”
Aboard the bridge of the Sovereign Aurora, Shen Qiaoqiao was typing furiously on her crystal tablet.
Her fingers danced across the glowing runes, bypassing regional firewalls with cheerful ease. Her dimpled smile gleamed as she pulled up the classified historical archives of the Silk Road Naval Bureau from twelve years ago.
“Boss Lin, your Pure-Heart Eye hit the bullseye again!” Shen Qiaoqiao called out, projecting a detailed holographic dossier above the tactical table. “Look at this service record!”
