Author: 唇亡齿寒 / Lips Gone, Teeth Cold

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

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Chapter 4

Alois Lagrange glared at the bed board of the upper bunk. His bunkmate had been tossing and turning all night, disturbing his rest as well.

“Are you not used to the bed?” He finally couldn’t hold back any longer. “Stop rolling around! Even if you can’t sleep, I need to!”

“It’s my first time in prison. Can’t I have one sleepless night?” Joshua turned over again. “Talk to me, or I’ll keep thinking random thoughts.”

“What are you thinking about?”

“About whether I’ll die here.” The assassin’s eyes shone brightly in the dark. He stared motionlessly into the darkness, as if there were hidden enemies there. But in reality, there was nothing. It was just a wall. The wall had a window through which you could see the starry sky outside, sparkling like diamonds. “If I die… then there’s nothing. From nothing, ultimately returning to nothing.”

“I think you need to see a psychiatrist.”

Joshua scratched Schrödinger’s chin, and the black cat purred contentedly. The assassin’s eyes searched the darkness but found nothing.

“I’m very afraid of death,” he said. “I’ve been sentenced to 530 years. By the time my sentence is up, there won’t even be bones left. I’m afraid I’ll spend my entire life in prison. I still have a lot of things to do. I can’t die.”

Alois yawned. “You’re really tough. Only you in all of Hecate have a longer sentence than mine. I got 230 years for murder. But I was framed. What about you?”

“I killed a lot of people. I’m an assassin.”

“Uh-huh. I used to be a member of the Royal Guard.” Alois wiped away the tears that came from his drowsiness. Suddenly, something flashed through his mind, fast as a bullet, so fast that he couldn’t catch it before it slipped away.

Joshua asked, “You said you were framed?”

“Absolutely. I was assigned to protect the prince’s lover, but she was killed by an assassin sent by the Duke, and I was framed. Can you understand that?”

“Of course. You’re a pawn in a political struggle.” Joshua stared intently at the window. The starlight was bright, but all he could see was the darkness under the starlight. Everything was dark—darkness was everywhere, and darkness followed like a shadow. He had to quickly find a topic to distract himself, or he’d be swallowed by the inner darkness. “Don’t you want to clear your name and restore your honor? In Hecate, you can’t do anything but be forgotten.”

Hecate was like a ship drifting in the vast universe, unable to contact the outside world and without a destination, blindly sailing into the depths of the star dust.

“Oh, of course I do,” Alois said irritably. “But I’m just a small fry, and my opponents are the Queen, the Duke, and the huge monster of politics. In front of them, I’m like a powerless baby.”

“The first consul of Neo Athens once said, ‘Whoever has power has the right to speak.'”

“Do you have power?”

“I…”

Before the words were out, a “click” was heard, and the cell door lit up with a green light and slowly opened.

“What’s going on?” Alois walked to the door and peered outside. The prison was laid out like rows of matchboxes, and now every box had its door open.

A head popped out from the neighboring cell. “What’s happening? A fire drill?”

The cellmate said, “Maybe the warden lost his cat again? Remember last time he woke us all up for a carpet search? Nearly killed us!”

“No,” Joshua’s denial came from behind. He jumped to the ground, leaned against the iron bars on the window, and revealed a look of eager longing. “No…”

Alois walked over to him. “What?”

“Look, the sky.”

At first, Alois saw nothing, just the usual night sky. But soon, he noticed a few stars missing from the starry sky. It was as if there was a hole in the star-filled night curtain—not a hole, but stars being obscured by something. That thing must be huge, maybe a ship. But that’s impossible! Hecate has five tactical satellites that monitor every inch of the planet around the clock. If there were an invasion, it would be turned into a meteor before entering the atmosphere.

“God! Have the Federation dogs finally attacked Hecate?”

“It’s not the Federation!” Joshua dropped this sentence and then dashed out the door like lightning.

“Come back! Are you crazy?” Alois had no time to stop his mad behavior and followed him out.

The silver-haired man sprinted down the corridor, shouting as he ran, “What are you waiting for? Run! This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!”

The prison was in an uproar. The inmates finally realized this wasn’t a drill, nor was the warden playing around. Hecate’s central computer had lost control, and every door was open for them. Someone took the lead and shouted, and soon each matchbox was pouring out a few people, more and more, forming rivers and seas, shouting as they rushed towards the main gate of the prison.

Several night-shift guards waved their batons, trying to drive the crowd back to their cells. “Get back, you scum!” A prisoner grabbed one of the guards from behind, but another snatched the baton, and hit the guard on the head.

“Riot! It’s a riot!” The captain of the guards took out his walkie-talkie and shouted to the central control room, but the response was a piece of lyrical singing by the galactic diva Camilla. “Damn it! The computer’s been hacked!”

Alois followed Joshua closely, afraid of losing him. Luckily, the assassin’s silver hair was particularly noticeable in the dim prison.

“Come back, Joshua Planck! You’re inciting a riot!” he shouted.

Joshua slowed his steps, looked back at Alois. “Don’t you want to escape? Do you want to rot in here?”

“I don’t want to be a fugitive!”

“At least if you get out, you’ll have a chance! Stay here, and there’s nothing!” Joshua extended a hand, as if inviting him.

He had only one second to think. In that second, many images flashed through Alois’s mind. He thought of the innocent Miss Leia, who had been brutally murdered at home; he thought of the timid but kind Prince Annot, who always stood with his sister, Princess Alveira, in his memories; he thought of the letter from Caspar last month, which read: [My friend, how are you in Hecate? At last month’s reunion, I met our old school beauty…]

Alois grasped Joshua’s hand.

The assassin pulled him into a sprint. They squeezed through the frenzied crowd, rushed out the door, and onto the empty playground outside the cell block. Many people were already crossing the playground toward the helipad. Guards, woken from their sleep, were firing beam guns into the crowd. A few prisoners fell, hit by the beams, while more continued forward, trampling over the fallen.

Joshua didn’t head towards the helipad but instead ran toward the women’s cell block. The spaceship that obscured the starlight hovered right above the women’s prison.

“Lagrange! Stop!” A guard’s warning came from behind.

“Don’t look back!” Joshua tightened his grip on Alois’s hand.

A laser beam grazed Alois’s arm. He grunted, enduring the searing pain, and kept up with the assassin. Another beam narrowly missed him, and Alois wanted to crouch down and surrender, but Joshua’s firm grip wouldn’t let him break free.

“Damn it! If I die here, I’ll haunt you!”

“Feel free!”

The women’s prison was right in front of them, but Alois saw, with despair, a high wall blocking their path. The wall was topped with electrified barbed wire, and it looked too smooth and sturdy to climb.

They stopped before the wall. The footsteps behind them indicated that several guards had followed. Alois didn’t dare turn around. He knew several guns were pointed at his back, ready to fire if he made any sudden moves.

“You’re trapped! Surrender now!” a guard shouted.

“Joshua…” Alois glanced sideways at his cellmate. The silver-haired assassin was staring dreamily at the starry sky.

The guard shouted again, “Hands on your heads! Squat down! Now, I’ll count to three!”

“One!”

“Hurry…” Joshua’s lips moved.

“Two!”

“I’m here…”

“Three!”

From behind the wall, a small spacecraft rose—a “Gondola” model made in Neo Venice. The Gondola shone a bright light, blinding the guards. Alois shielded his eyes from the painful brightness.

The Gondola flew over the wall. Its hatch opened, and a woman leaned out, showing a wild smile. “Good evening, Mr. Mourner.”

“For an assassin, the day is just beginning!”

The woman extended her hand. “Come on up!”

Joshua gave Alois a push. “You first!”

Alois, bewildered, grabbed the woman’s arm, and she pulled him into the Gondola’s cabin. Joshua then jumped up and climbed aboard.

Laughing, the woman lifted the craft, not even closing the transparent hatch. The howling night wind rushed into the cabin. Alois would never forget this scene: under the starlight, the woman’s red hair blew in the wind like flames, like a blood-stained flag fluttering. And Joshua Planck was pressed against him, the golden rings around his pupils shining like the light of the star.

“Rejoice, boys! We’re free!” The woman sang as the Gondola rose higher and higher, leaving the rioting prison and frantic guards far below. It flew like a bird towards the spaceship darker than the night above them.

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