Chapter One: The Last Light

Only one light still worked inside the Harbor Falcons’ training hall. More precisely, it was the tube in the northwest corner. The others were either broken or had been removed by the landlord against their unpaid electricity bill. At nine in the evening, its pale glow clung to half the battered court like a bandage. Lin Jianxia had barely pushed open the metal door when a football flew past her ear. “Duck!” She did not. The ball struck the door with a crash and rolled back to a young woman in a red training bib. “Good reflexes,” the woman said. “Here to play?” “Here to stop you from losing.” Silence held for two seconds. Then someone laughed.