Khan managed to stuff three dinners with his classmates' families in the two weeks that followed his meeting with Professor Nickton. Except for them, his routine remained mostly the same, with only the solo flights being a variable that disturbed his otherwise fixed schedule.
Of course, those disturbances didn't create many problems. After all, Khan could only spend a limited amount of time outside the domes. The ships' small tanks always forced him to return to the Harbor quickly, but he didn't dare to miss out on them, especially with the approaching test.
When the week ended, Khan had seventeen official flights under his belt. He only needed three more to gain access to the test that would grant him the license. He was almost done with that course, and his excitement kept him awake during one of the rare nights reserved for his rest.
Khan's eyes wandered around his bedroom's ceiling without looking for anything specific. He wasn't actually there. At least, his mind wasn't. His thoughts had gone back to the afternoon when he was pushing the ship to its limits on the moon.
'Two more weeks,' Khan thought, 'Three tests, and I'm done. Getting a ship comes next.'
Khan counted the days separating him from the next flight. The week would restart in the morning, so the situation didn't look good. Still, he couldn't find the strength to feel annoyed when his goal was so close.
In theory, Khan didn't need to limit his flights to the weekend. The Headmistress was paying for almost everything, so he could take ships out of the Harbor during school days. He didn't because the mission was a priority now.
The imminent license wasn't the only reason behind Khan's inability to feel annoyed. His day had been great, and his night had been even better. The woman sleeping on his right shoulder proved that, and her random snore eventually attracted his attention.
When Monica's sleeping face entered Khan's vision, his thoughts seemed to disappear. That rare free night had given them a chance to express their feelings adequately, and the room's symphony still carried traces of their affection. It was almost incredible how such wild influences could create such a cozy and peaceful environment.
Monica's mana grew peaceful whenever Khan resumed caressing her. She also let out soft moans and slightly snuggled on him from time to time to express her comfort. Her sleep couldn't stop those reactions, and Khan had long since memorized them.
The urge to wake up Monica tried to make its way inside Khan's mind. He wanted her. He couldn't stop wanting her. Yet, watching her sleep fulfilled another side of his love, which he couldn't refuse. The peace her presence created was almost intoxicating, and Khan couldn't get enough of that.
'How did she even do it?' Khan couldn't help but wonder.
Monica had been innocent in her approach to the relationship. Her feelings had been genuine since her very first kiss, and that had never changed. That purity was odd for someone with a similar upbringing, but Khan could explain it.
Outcasts had many forms, and Monica was a peculiar case. She hid her true character behind elegant and polite manners, but Khan had given her a chance to bloom. Her purity sounded obvious in that context. As for her courage, that was the astonishing aspect.
'You trusted me so openly,' Khan thought. 'You must have been so scared.'
Khan felt the need to leave a kiss on Monica's head, and a smile broadened on her face afterward. She was still asleep, but her mana had felt that gesture.
'Now what?' Khan wondered while pulling Monica closer.
A glance at the phone told Khan that morning was still many hours away. He should sleep, but his brain was fully awake, and the desire to watch Monica a bit longer added fuel to his state. He could feel his accumulated exhaustion, but his thoughts didn't let him give in to it.
Out of habit, Khan unlocked his phone to check the news. Monica and Lucian had become third-level warriors, so articles about them had come out. Madam Wildon had also stayed true to her word, putting George at the center of many interviews, with some even reporting his recent infusion.
The network obviously had articles about Khan. He had stayed put in the past weeks, but his fame wasn't easy to disperse. Multiple sites about him had appeared, and a few even spoke about his potential relationship with Monica.
Those sites didn't have actual proof, but clues had started to accumulate. Khan found a picture of himself from when he met Professor Nickton. Someone had managed to take a glimpse of the dark-red mark on his neck, connecting it with the lipstick Monica wore that night.
The comments were even worse. People kept track of Khan's schedule and shared it on the network, inevitably involving Monica in it. Anyone paying attention could see that she never returned to her flat in the seventh district, and the site made sure to report that.
The old Khan would have found the matter surprising, but he had been famous for a while, and everything had escalated after the Princess. He had learnt how that environment worked, so he didn't worry. He would have to kiss Monica in the open to make things official, and people would hesitate due to her background, even in that case.
'Madam Solodrey might have to make an official statement at this pace,' Khan found the matter funny.
After reviewing the news, Khan moved to a topic that had caught his interest in the past weeks. He had ended up looking for information about Lord Vegner, even using his clearance to get classified reports, and some of his guesses had turned out to be true.
Incriminating connections grew firmer in Khan's mind while he scrolled through a long list of pictures. He had found part of Lord Vegner's collections, and many items featured mutations caused by the Nak's mana. Rumors on the network even stated that he had a few Nak's cores in one of his estates.
Khan didn't believe everything he read, but the connection with Raymond felt obvious. It would make sense for a collector interested in Nak-related items to work with him. He simply didn't know how that relationship worked. It could be purely financial, as far as he knew.
'Why can't people just tell me what they want?' Khan cursed in his mind before disregarding his phone to turn toward Monica again. The exhaustion was finally getting to his head, so he planned to nestle among her curls and fall asleep.
Nevertheless, a message reached Khan's phone before he could proceed, and the name on the screen hinted at something urgent.
'The main ship just reached the Harbor,' Lucian wrote. 'I can give you a tour.'
'When?' Khan texted.
'Meet me in hangar 3 in two hours,' Lucian replied. 'Unless you want to postpone.'
'I'll be there,' Khan promised and put away his phone. It seemed that the very universe was against him resting that night.
Khan tried his best to be silent, but Monica was on his shoulder, and the pillows were in random spots in the room. Monica remained asleep when he sneaked out of bed, but her eyes opened when he put a cushion under her head.
"Is it morning already?" Monica asked in a sleepy tone.
"Lucian called," Khan explained shortly, rubbing Monica's cheek to ease her way back to sleep. "I have to go."
"Kiss," Monica whined.
Khan complied, leaving a kiss on Monica's lips and forehead before adjusting the pillows. He even pulled up the messy blanket to make her more comfortable.
"Kiss for good luck," Monica whined again, but a smirk appeared on her face at that time.
"I have this for good luck," Khan whispered, slipping a hand under the blanket to squeeze Monica's butt. She giggled and reached for Khan's face to pull him into another kiss.
The two separated shortly after, and Khan went into a different bedroom to get a clean military uniform. He left his flat in a matter of minutes, and a car was already waiting for him when he arrived on the sidewalk.
The second district was distant from the hangars, but two hours were more than enough to reach them. Khan would actually have to wait for Lucian. Still, he was on par with his studies, so he took a nap during the trip.
The driver's voice coming out of the speaker interrupted the nightmare and awakened Khan once the ride was over. The nap didn't disperse all his exhaustion, but he rubbed his eyes and left the car anyway to make his way into the hangar area.
A look at the phone told Khan that he was early, but a familiar presence touched his senses once he entered hangar 3. Lucian was there, wearing a military uniform with three stars on his right shoulder and talking to a group of soldiers.
Khan was approaching Lucian from behind, but the soldiers' reactions revealed his presence and made him turn. A vague smile appeared on Lucian's face, and the words that followed expressed his satisfaction. "Captain, early as expected."
"I couldn't sleep," Khan casually said before nodding at the military salute performed by the soldiers.
"I hope I didn't interrupt anything," Lucian said in a polite tone, but his voice gained a teasing purpose when it reached Khan's ears.
"I was killing time on the network," Khan feigned ignorance. "Are we allowed to speak here?"
Khan was genuinely curious about the ship, but the soldiers could be outsiders. Speaking openly in front of unwanted ears might lead to problems.
"No," Lucian directly stated. "Follow me. They should be ready by the time we get there."
Khan complied, following Lucian silently while he made his way through the hangar. The two ended up walking into the many corridors outside the area, and Lucian didn't hold back from starting a casual conversation once some privacy arrived.
"The doctors have yet to clear me," Lucian voiced while patting his left shoulder, "But I'm confident in getting my second third star once that happens."
"I'm sure your family already has tailor-made spells ready for you," Khan commented.
"It does," Lucian confirmed. "We actually have a vault with many spells collected over the years. I think it's almost a century old now."
Khan pretended not to notice the hidden meaning behind that boasting, and Lucian was smart enough to take the silence for an answer. Wealth couldn't make Khan falter, and human spells weren't too interesting for him.
"Did you check your site?" Lucian wondered. "You gathered quite the fanbase. They even know when your team practice ends."
"The tech expert is leaking info," Khan revealed. "He takes pictures of me whenever I leave the training hall."
"Why didn't you fire him?" Lucian frowned.
"He is good and cheap," Khan explained. "He should ask five times his current pay, but I never heard a single complaint."
The tech expert was a core part of the mission. That role was more important than the gunners due to the many calculations and responsibilities it involved. Khan was willing to trade a few harmless pictures for the sake of his career. Besides, firing Seth wouldn't save him from the consequences of his fame.
"Compromises," Lucian praised. "The foundation of good leadership."
"I'm not really leading," Khan admitted. "I'm just putting most of the mission on my shoulders."
"Is that the right choice?" Lucian questioned.
"You didn't give me much to work with," Khan stated. "I hope the unavoidable expenses are worth it."
"You'll be the judge of that," Lucian teased, and Khan couldn't help but feel interested. He didn't have the best relationship with Lucian, but ships had priority.
The conversation ended on those words. Lucian opted for silence since he knew Khan preferred it in that context. He would have attempted to talk a bit more under normal circumstances, but risking worsening things with Khan wasn't worth it when his mission was at stake.
The walk lasted for minutes, and a few soldiers even escorted the two when they reached specific corridors. It took a bit, but Khan and Lucian eventually entered a circular hall with a familiar oval machine at its center. The consoles near the walls almost were an unnecessary clue there. Khan knew he was in front of a teleport.
"Come here," Lucian called when one of the soldiers at the consoles searched for his gaze. "I'm sure you'll like the scenery."
Khan followed Lucian to the console, and his eyes widened when he looked at the screen. The monitor showed a giant ship flying toward the Harbor's moon. According to the numbers on the machine, that vehicle could fill an entire dome by itself.
"The Harbor doesn't have hangars for this class of ships," Lucian explained. "They usually land on the moon when the situation requires it, but we are sending it directly toward Lauter."
"Does it have a teleport?" Khan asked due to the current location.
"Yes, even if with limited range," Lucian revealed. "Don't worry. These expenses won't add up to your mission."
"Sir, we have established a connection," One of the soldiers on the consoles shouted toward Khan and Lucian.
"Good job," Lucian praised while glancing at Khan. "Captain, do you want to see how it looks from the inside?"
Khan didn't want to give Lucian anything he could use, so he limited himself to nodding. The two stepped on the teleport, and synthetic mana filled the machine before activating its functions.
The teleport couldn't do anything to Khan. He didn't experience any side-effect after a different circular hall unfolded in his vision. The environment had changed, and his senses never stopped studying the environment.
Khan's eyes darted left and right. The new teleport area couldn't reveal much, but the people on the consoles were the first clue. They had white medical coats instead of military uniforms. They were specialized personnel who didn't show allegiance to the Global Army.
"Master Lucian," A bald, middle-aged woman bowed when Lucian's gaze focused on her. "The ship is ready for the inspection."
"Give us a tour, Viola," Lucian ordered, jumping off the teleport. He didn't need to glance at Khan since he followed closely behind him.
Exiting the teleport showed more differences. Many saw the Harbor as a glorified space station, but it limited the number of claustrophobic areas iconic of those structures. Lucian's ship didn't even try to do that, and the narrow corridors and cabins Khan noticed confirmed that idea.
The personnel met during the walk also added value to Khan's initial impression. The group encountered many soldiers with no special tasks, and they all prioritized showing respect to Lucian. The Global Army's ranks didn't seem to matter much up there.
Those thoughts vanished when a long and spacious hall unfolded in Khan's view. He entered an area divided into two floors connected by simple metal staircases. The lower part mostly had consoles and specialists, while the upper side had multiple holographic screens and a structure he recognized.
'How big is that control desk?' Khan shouted in his mind at the sight of the machine standing at the center of the second floor.
"Viola, it seems we got Captain Khan's interest," Lucian laughed. "Come and take a look. I'm sure the boss won't mind."
Khan snapped out of his amazement when Lucian headed for one of the metal staircases. He followed him and even ignored Viola performing a military salute and waiting on the lower floor.
Lucian nodded left and right whenever the personnel called his name. Those interactions never lasted too long, and the soldiers always went back to their tasks afterward, but the situation changed when the duo approached the control desk.
"Master Lucian, the control desk is a private area," The burly man standing in front of the central machine scolded without bothering to turn, "Not a tourist destination."
"Boss Edcoll is the pilot and Captain of the ship," Lucian explained while stopping a few meters behind the burly man. "Boss, this is Captain Khan. He is weeks away from getting his pilot license."
Khan didn't really care about Boss Edcoll. That spot at the center of the upper floor granted him a unique perspective on the various holograms. He felt unable to lower his gaze when so much was happening in the scenes around him.
On the right, multiple holograms were keeping track of the ship's course, obviously including the gravitational pull and other interferences of the planets in the system.
On the left, the holograms kept track of the ship's integrity, from the hull to the multiple engines and central core. Khan even saw a corner checking the state of the weapons onboard.
As for the holograms in the hall's front, they showed what the ship's scanners were recording. Khan could see the universe and the Harbor in the distance, and the onboard computer even added a grid to make everything easier to understand.
Khan couldn't help but look at the control desk once his inspection of the holograms ended. He even tilted himself to his left to peek past Boss Edcoll's big figure, and his eyes darted to no end.
The ship's control desk was at least four times what Khan had grown used to during his flights. Such a big vehicle obviously had more functions, but it still felt odd to be unaware of the purpose of so many keys.
"He is a lively one," Boss Edcoll commented before Khan's evident excitement.
"Is that area meant for weapon control?" Khan wondered while pointing at the control desk's left side. "What's the purpose of the consoles down there?"
Boss Edcoll showed some surprise, and Lucian nodded when he glanced at him.
"Leviathan class ships have many security protocols," Boss Edcoll explained. "Especially when involving weapons."
"But you can overrule them, right?" Khan questioned while still checking every corner of the hall. "Protocol 201-1 enforces martial law and gives the ship's Captain complete control over most functions."
"This ship doesn't belong to the Global Army," Lucian commented.
"But this quadrant does," Khan pointed out, "So the ship falls under the Global Army's regulations."
Lucian's comment had been an instinctive boasting that carried no real value, but seeing Boss Edcoll's slow nod revealed that Khan's words were spot on. He actually knew more than Lucian in that specific field.
Of course, Lucian didn't feel annoyed or angry. Seeing another proof of Khan's expertise put a confident smile on his face. He had chosen that figure for his mission. He deserved a share of the praises.
"Captain Khan, did you get your fill of the main desk?" Lucian eventually questioned.
"I'd need days for that," Khan admitted. Still, time was short, and the morning was only a few hours away, so he straightened his position and nodded at his employer.
"Until next time, Boss Edcoll," Lucian politely stated before heading toward the metal staircase. Boss Edcoll didn't bother to perform salutes but exchanged a simple glance with Khan when he smiled at him.
Viola resumed her role as a guide once Khan and Lucian reunited with her, and the group left the main desk to head to the lower parts of the ships. It took a few minutes, but they eventually reached a magnetic railroad with cabins able to cross most of the vehicle in a short time.
Lucian knew that speaking was pointless, but his confident smile remained. Khan couldn't hide his interest in that immense vehicle, and noticing Lucian's reaction didn't do much to his state. He couldn't care about giving things away in front of such magnificence.
Most of the math behind Lucian's mission became clear as Khan's knowledge fused with the images captured by his eyes. A leviathan class needed a crew of at least a hundred men to operate, and Lucian's ship probably had more than that. When Khan added fuel and weapons to those costs, the expenses stated in the reports actually felt too low.
The cabin led the group to a vast hangar filled with multiple ships, and Viola led Khan and Lucian among them to show off the Hencus family's wealth. That area alone seemed to contain more Credits than the entire Harbor, and Lucian had been able to summon it with his influence.
"Oh, there it is," Lucian eventually announced when a small battleship unfolded in the group's vision. The vehicle was rectangular, with four cannons at its sides and two engines on its back. Its metal was also pale blue, probably meant to mask it on Lauter.
Viola stopped in her tracks while Lucian and Khan approached the ship. Its side doors were open, so the two could inspect its insides and check its general state. A mere look at its control desk told Khan he could fly it, and his knowledge added details that only a test ride could provide.
'This is quite fast and nimble,' Khan thought while spreading his arms to gain a better grasp of the ship's size. 'It's a good ship.'
"You'll get down with this during the mission," Lucian announced during Khan's inspection. "I hope it matches your requirements."
"It might be too much even," Khan admitted, entering the cabin to memorize its contents.
"It depletes the same fuel as other ships," Lucian explained. "I found no reason to hold back. Obviously, any damage will lead to expensive reparations."
"I have established a security protocol for that," Khan revealed.
"That's reassuring," Lucian stated. "Still, if the situation requires it, I can afford to lose this ship as long as I get the outpost."
Another hidden message reached Khan's ears, and the privacy of the ship made him voice a rather straightforward comment. "I get it. Your family has more of these."
"Not as many as you might think," Lucian declared, "Especially this leviathan class. I think we have only four or five of them."
That was a lie Lucian didn't even bother to hide. Khan knew he would never reveal the true number of ships his family owned. Lucian was only giving Khan a vague idea of how rich he was.
Khan ignored Lucian and continued to inspect the ship, but the latter decided to speak more openly. "Captain, why don't we stop squabbling? We can help each other. We simply have to allow ourselves to do it."
"I might still fail at this mission," Khan remarked. "You should wait for after my success for additional offers."
"If you succeed," Lucian exclaimed, "The Solodrey family will get to you before anyone else. This is my only opportunity to get an edge over them."
Khan couldn't help but shoot a cold glance at Lucian, and the latter didn't hesitate to explain himself. "Don't take me wrong. This goes beyond that interesting topic of yours. Even without Miss Solodrey's involvement, her family would still have priority."
Lucian's words were accurate. Khan had gotten his spot in the Harbor thanks to the Solodrey family, which granted them multiple advantages when trying to recruit him. It would be seen as offensive to refuse offers after what they had given him.
"I'll see after the mission," Khan didn't change his mind. "It's pointless to make plans right now."
"On the contrary," Lucian objected. "Still, I respect your decision. I just want you to keep something in mind."
"Which is?" Khan asked.
"You'll always be a lapdog if you make things too easy for them," Lucian declared, "And lapdogs don't get the princess."
Khan wanted to resume inspecting the ship to hide his reactions, but those words touched the right keys in his mind. Lucian was onto something. To paraphrase, Khan needed the Solodrey family to see him as more than a soldier to get Monica.
"Let me guess," Khan voiced. "You want to help with that."
"I could give you an insane offer right below the Solodrey family's limits," Lucian suggested. "I'd obviously make the matter public, which would force their hand."
Khan didn't need to ask if that plan would work. He knew it would since Lucian had suggested it. The problems lay elsewhere.
"All of this to get me on your payroll," Khan commented.
"I changed my mind about that long ago," Lucian scoffed. "You can become a valuable ally and push me into the upper echelon of my family. You just have to choose what kind of relationship we can have."
Khan didn't answer. He simply couldn't in that situation. His silence was his best weapon when his opponent wielded all the available cards.
"Captain, everyone knows your goals," Lucian stated. "Scoring a job in the embassy will put you on the right path. With my family or Monica's help, you'd even get into a proper diplomatic office. You just have to choose how you want to play it."
****
Author's thoughts: Shoutout to DaGrumb for the Magic Castle!
