Chapter Four: The Ship That Never Sank

No one appeared on the airlock camera. Bare footprints merely ended at the hatch. Zhou refused to open it. The outer side held vacuum, and one mistake could kill the base. Thermal and mass sensors read zero, yet three knocks returned every thirty seconds. “Who is she?” he asked. “Insufficient clearance,” Miguang replied. “Then she waits. Hospitality begins with safety.” The knocking stopped, but the prints remained like an unfinished address. Ten hours later, Gu Chengjun arrived aboard a black shuttle with six guards, two doctors, and a climate-controlled case of gold. At sixty-three, his hair was white and his gaze razor-sharp. “The billion is in escrow.” He placed an old photograph on reception. “I want Gu Yang alive.”