"The Harbor is an extremely complex environment," Lucian announced, using the holograms coming out of his phone to make his explanation clearer. "Even the families don't know how many activities choose it as their home."
Lucian leaned forward, leaving his armchair to reach for the phone on the table among the group. His commands made tens of routes light up on the holographic representation of the Harbor's system, adding enough info to trigger the worst headaches.
"We can assume the issue involves anything requiring a pilot," Lucian continued. "Sadly, the Harbor's nature and position attract all sorts of similar activities, and these are only those I'm aware of. There is a good chance our friends' business doesn't appear here."
George, Anita, Khan, and Monica inspected the holograms with as much concentration as they could muster, but no revelation dawned upon them. Things were as Lucian had described them. They knew too little about Wayne or Mister Chares to spot a motive in that messy scene.
Khan was the first to divert his gaze from the holograms to inspect his companions. George and Anita were on the opposite couch and looked as lost as he was. The same went for Monica, who sat closely at his side, uncaring of his unbuttoned uniform.
Lucian looked like the only one happy to be in that situation, and Khan didn't miss that. The latter had partially updated him about the recent issues, obviously omitting the Hive and other private matters to keep his knowledge in check. Lucian suspected as much but didn't show any displeasure or hesitation.
"Of course," Lucian stated, "This business might be secret enough to be among these. There is nothing like hiding in plain sight to catch your opponents by surprise."
Monica let her eyes linger on the holograms for a few more seconds before looking at Khan. Her expression said everything he needed to know. She couldn't help him, and her face gained an apologetic vibe because of that.
Khan showed a reassuring smile, reaching for Monica's cheek to clean a faint trace of blood left during the previous interaction. He had already washed, which explained his open uniform, and Monica didn't hold back from holding the hand on her face.
The scene was nothing surprising for Khan's friends, but Lucian didn't hide his amazement. He had teased Khan about Monica often, but that was his first time seeing them dropping their façade, and the event shocked him a bit.
Lucian's reaction didn't go unnoticed, and George immediately voiced his suspicion. "Why do you know so much already?"
"I obviously did my research days before Captain Khan's message," Lucian declared. "I don't enjoy remaining in the dark during such exciting times."
George didn't like that answer, and Lucian even retained a challenging smile. It was evident that more was happening inside their minds, and Khan didn't even need to look at them to understand their reasons.
Lucian saw that invitation as an opportunity to exploit the unexpected situation. Being in the front rows after Monica's interview and a possible ploy that involved the entire Harbor was simply too appealing to him.
As for George, he was being protective of Khan. He realized that compromises were necessary, but the invitation had been too sudden. Khan didn't even give him the time to prepare for Lucian's arrival.
"We still can't confirm a connection between Wayne and Mister Chares," Khan exclaimed to change the topic. "This might have nothing to do with Tyler and pilots in general."
Khan made himself comfortable on the couch, and Monica didn't miss the chance to claim a spot under his arm. Lucian inspected everything thoroughly, and his eyes grew wider at each explicit sign of affection.
"Stop staring," George warned. "It's not like you didn't know about them."
"You must forgive me," Lucian cleared his throat. "After knowing Miss Solodrey for so long, I find adjusting to her real character quite hard."
Monica glared at Lucian. She shared George's protective and untrustworthy stance, but Khan made her turn toward him by covering her eyes and leaving a kiss on the top of her head.
An annoyed groan left Monica's mouth, but Khan's following words covered it. "Lucian, I invited you because I need your brain, but we are playing by my rules. So, drop the Captain and Miss Solodrey's stuff."
"As you wish, Khan," Lucian responded while his amazement remained evident. "Still, I wasn't lying. This is truly shocking for me."
Khan let Monica's eyes go, and she immediately pointed them at Lucian. Yet, the evident shock on his face made her slightly shy. That was her first taste of how the outside world would react to her openly being Khan's girlfriend, and the faint happiness she felt generated a cuddly mood.
"Take your time," Khan whispered to Monica's ear when he realized what was happening. "It's better if you get used to it before facing Zoe again."
Monica's cheeks went on fire when she recalled her last words to Zoe, and Khan inevitably became the target of her complaints. "I said that because-! It's your fault!"
"I didn't expect you to lay everything out so openly," Khan laughed.
"Shut it, you scoundrel!" Monica shouted, almost climbing on Khan's lap to start a scuffle.
The bickering didn't stop there, and Lucian's mouth hung open as surprising words and scenes reached him. He had always suspected that Monica's elegance was a façade, but her current behavior was the exact opposite of that.
"Are they always like this?" Lucian couldn't help but ask while turning toward George and Anita.
"They'll calm down in a minute or two," Anita explained, trying her best to avoid taking sides.
"Unless they go on all night," George snickered and brought his drink to his mouth to hide from Anita's glare.
Khan and Monica held back due to the nature of the situation but still ended up in a relatively compromising position. Monica sat on Khan's lap with her arms crossed and his uniform's edges in her hands. She pretended to use his clothes as a blanket while Khan hugged her and kept his chin on her shoulder.
"Well," Lucian coughed, doing his best to bring back the topic to Khan's last statement. "It's hard to ignore a possible connection. Mister Chares proved himself able to slip past the Headmistress' control, showing us that he has the means to plant someone like Wayne."
"But that creates more problems," Khan pointed out. "Even if the birth control incident happened by mistake, sending someone after me would still be overkill. It can't be cheaper than finding a new pilot."
"That depends on the nature of the business," Lucian declared. "If, for example, Mister Chares had something to do with the kidnapping attempt, it would make sense for him to want trustworthy assets."
"Nippe 2's events happened weeks ago," Monica uttered, "And the Harbor already scoured the planet. I can understand the Headmistress' security having holes, but not when the nobles are involved."
"Though, it would make sense," Lucian pressed on. "An organization able to plan a kidnapping attempt on a noble would have the means to ignore the Harbor's security."
Khan kept his gaze on the holograms, but his thoughts ran wild. He didn't say anything about the Hive to Lucian, so that hypothesis could be his way of probing his secrets. Yet, Khan also had to admit that the connection would make sense.
"Let's say you are right," Khan announced. "What are they trying to achieve by targeting me? It can't be just out of spite."
"Realistically speaking," Lucian responded, "You still can't know what they are trying to achieve, especially if what happened with Wayne was an incident. The real offer might arrive only after their first clear move."
Khan fell silent. Lucian was right, but Khan had put Wayne's mana through his senses. The latter didn't seem to have any idea about his role in that ploy.
"Destabilizing Khan's fame might make his evaluations unreliable," Monica suggested. "With the right moves, they could turn Tyler into the hero who dared to call him out."
"I thought about that," Lucian voiced, "But that would take months to accomplish. Khan said that Mister Chares can't wait years, so a similar ploy might also be too much."
"I'd exclude it altogether," George stated. "That might have been their original plan, but Monica made it unfeasible with her interview."
The topic was still embarrassing for Monica, but she had to agree with George. Her romantic involvement with Khan made his fame airtight.
Silence fell into the flat, and Anita experienced some shame at her lack of opinions. She couldn't ignore her position like George, Monica, and Khan, and her intentions had no hidden purpose like Lucian's. She wanted to help her friends, but that troublesome environment threatened to make her head explode.
"I might provide better support if I knew everything," Lucian eventually broke the silence.
"I'd tell you more if you were trustworthy," Khan responded without bothering to look at Lucian.
"We are on the same side here," Lucian chuckled.
"Your side?" Khan wondered.
"Our," Lucian corrected.
"You know," Khan sighed, looking past Monica's curls to eye Lucian, "It would be far easier to trust you if you didn't sound so manipulative."
"You want my brain," Lucian uttered, "You get my manipulative side."
"So," Khan didn't let that statement scare him, "What does your brain suggest?"
"Go off the grid," Lucian suggested. "Wayne can't do anything to you if you aren't there."
"I still have to attend classes," Khan pointed out. "Differently from you all, notes aren't enough for me, and her mother will never acknowledge me if I get bad grades."
"You need good grades to score a suitable job," Monica corrected, tilting her head to face Khan.
"You are better than any job," Khan teased.
"I'm already yours," Monica whispered before approaching Khan's ear, "And I have yet to give my favorite pilot his gift."
Lucian couldn't disperse his surprise in a single night but adapted quickly to that intimacy, so he spoke even if the couple wasn't looking at him. "In that case, become unapproachable. I can help during the classes, but the rest is up to you."
Khan didn't answer. He had similar plans, and hearing Lucian agree with them confirmed their alliance. Khan didn't know how long it would last, but keeping that path open sounded necessary in the current situation.
Monica agreed with Khan on that alliance. Yet, differently from him, she could use threats that went beyond simple violence.
"Lucian, I want us to understand each other," Monica called, leaving Khan's ear to show one of her fake elegant smiles to Lucian. "I appreciate your help, no matter how honest it is. However, if I ever sense ill intentions, I'll use the entirety of my influence to take you down."
Lucian remained calm, and his smile didn't flicker, but some fear appeared. He felt able to smell the crazy hidden behind Monica's elegant expression, and Khan didn't need introductions. The couple represented the best and worst of two worlds, and a single misstep could turn Lucian into their enemy.
Still, excitement soon arrived. Lucian knew that Khan and Monica were his tickets to greatness. Being their consultant was the role his family had trained him for.
"She really will," Khan added, "And her family already hates me as it is, so try to play nice. I'd like my crazy girlfriend to give interviews only about things I can tease her about."
A message reached Khan's phone while Monica turned to complain. She was ready to ignore the event but reading the Headmistress' name on the screen forced her to remain silent.
"Speaking about going off the grid," Khan announced once the message's contents became clear. "Do you know any available side business on Honides? I'm kind of in a hurry to make some money."
Monica began to play with her curls since she knew the purpose of Khan's last line, and George and Anita opened the network to study the topic. Only Lucian decided to question Khan. "Honides?"
"I'm flying there next weekend," Khan explained, showing his phone to let Lucian read the Headmistress' message. "I guess I've become the Harbor's official errand boy."
