29: Chapter 29 Commander

"Maya." Chen Mu chatted, seemingly casually, "When you were a police officer, did you ever face pressure from your superiors?"

"Huh?" Maya snapped back to reality, her footsteps faltering for a moment, the gravel crunching ever so softly under her soles. "Pressure? Of course I did."

"Every time I made a mistake and was called into the Chief's office, I was scared to death."

"You wouldn't know, but the door to our Chief's office had a frosted glass panel on the top half. You could see shadows moving inside, but you couldn't tell who it was."

"Every time I walked up to that door, I would stand there for a while, waiting until the Chief yelled from inside, 'Rodriguez, are you coming in or not?' before I finally pushed it open."

"Chen Mu." Maya turned to look at him. "Are you under pressure now, too?"

Chen Mu nodded and remained silent for a moment, until the fountain on the South Lawn rose and fell according to its programmed sequence.

Amidst the faint sound of water, Chen Mu said softly, "Yesterday, our Commander communicated with me."

Maya's steps stopped instantly, and Chen Mu stopped as well. The two stood in the middle of the gravel path, the shadows of the oak trees falling at their feet.

"Commander?" Maya's heart skipped a beat; she realized this might be important information.

"The supreme Commander of our expeditionary force. He reports directly to the Emperor, and it's fair to say he is my direct superior."

Chen Mu said with some helplessness, "He sent me a message yesterday saying he believes we should negotiate through force, giving Blue Star a show of strength before we come to the table."

Maya's lips moved slightly. "A show of strength? What kind of show of strength?"

"I don't know the specifics. The Commander has always been like that."

Chen Mu sighed. "He has always firmly believed that only force can conquer everything."

"We had a huge argument yesterday. He said the observation period was sufficient, that my patience with this planet had exceeded any reasonable observation cycle, and that the Emperor has infinite time, but not infinite patience."

Maya swallowed hard. "And what about you?"

"I've persuaded him for the time being." Chen Mu smiled bitterly. "But I don't know how long this situation can last. Maybe until the next communication, or the one after that."

"We've worked together for many years, and he has never been a very patient person."

Maya looked at him. The morning sunlight made the exhaustion on his face clear.

She had seen this look before—behind the one-way glass of interrogation rooms, on the faces of suspects who had been sitting there all night, just as dawn was breaking.

This was the tiny crack that appeared when someone who had been holding on alone for too long allowed themselves to show it for a moment, thinking no one would see.

Her heart skipped another beat; she realized that perhaps Chen Mu really did see her as a friend he could confide in.

The next moment, her professional instincts caught up with her, and she immediately realized that this piece of intelligence was far too important.

Because for the first time, it allowed humanity to confirm that the fleet hovering on the edge of the Kuiper Belt was not a monolithic entity.

There were hawks and doves there. Those who advocated for conquest by force, and those who advocated for communication and observation. There was the Commander, and there was Chen Mu. There were disagreements and arguments between them, and there were conflicts that Chen Mu had temporarily suppressed in his own way, but which could erupt again at any moment.

And Chen Mu was the one who advocated for communication and exchange—not because he came from a peace-loving civilization, but because within that civilization, he had chosen to be the one who advocated for peace.

Her mind raced faster than it ever had in her life, and she instantly thought of a perfect excuse.

"Chen Mu, have you ever fired a gun?"

Chen Mu turned to look at her and shook his head. "A gun? No, I haven't. I don't really like these weapons of slaughter."

"Shooting is very stress-relieving." Maya pulled the hand that had been tucked in her dress pocket and made a trigger-pulling gesture in the air. "Whenever I was pressured by the Chief before, I used to like going to the shooting range alone."

"Listening to the sound of the firing pin, it feels like the gun is talking to you."

Her finger pulled again in the air. "When you shoot, the pressure goes out with that click of the firing pin."

She lowered her hand. "Do you want to try? I'll teach you."

Chen Mu watched her animated gestures. "Alright, I'm free anyway."

Maya immediately turned and ran. The hem of her dark blue dress flew up above her knees, and the gravel crunched under her feet like raindrops hitting a tin roof.

"Wait here for a moment! I'll go tell them to set up the range!"

Chen Mu nodded, watching her back, the corners of his mouth slightly upturned.

The reason he had fabricated a nonexistent Commander was to have a convenient scapegoat for the future.

As the saying goes: The Commander for murder and arson, Ambassador Chen for salvation and relief!

Maya rushed out of the small gate on the east side of the garden, where Advisor Cole was waiting in the corridor outside.

"Ms. Cole!" Maya anxiously repeated the conversation she had just had with Chen Mu.

After she finished speaking, her chest heaved violently. Sweat had stained the collar of her dark blue dress, creating a patch of darker blue. A few stray hairs were stuck to her forehead.

Cole was silent for a few breaths. Her light blue eyes behind her rimless glasses narrowed slightly.

She took a handkerchief out of her suit pocket and handed it to Maya. "Wipe your sweat!"

Maya took the handkerchief and pressed it to her forehead. The coolness of the cotton seeped into her skin.

"This intelligence is too important, Officer Maya." Cole spoke very quickly. "You've been a huge help. I'll arrange the shooting range. The Secret Service has an indoor range in the basement of the West Wing of the Presidential Palace; I'll have them clear it out right now. Go back quickly, don't keep the Ambassador waiting."

Maya nodded, folded the handkerchief, and handed it back to Cole.

Cole didn't take it. "Keep it; you might need it next time."

Maya stuffed the slightly damp handkerchief into her dress pocket and turned to run back to the garden.

——————

In the basement of the West Wing of the Presidential Palace, the Secret Service indoor shooting range.

Maya pushed open the door. The shooting range wasn't large, with six lanes, each separated by bulletproof glass partitions.

At the end of the leftmost lane, a half-body human target paper had already been hung up. The bullseye was a red circle, numbered from one to ten, with the ten-ring position exactly where a human heart would be.

On the counter at the start of the lane lay a Glock 19. The magazine had been removed, and the gun had been wiped down, gleaming under the fluorescent lights like a layer of solidified grease.

Chen Mu walked up to the counter and looked down at the gun. This was the first time in his two lives that he had touched a gun, and he felt a little excited.

Maya walked up beside him and picked up the gun.

She gripped the handle with her right hand, the web of her thumb pressed against the beaver tail on the back of the grip, her left hand wrapped around her right. Her index finger extended naturally along the side of the frame, and then she pulled the trigger towards the target paper.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Three shots: one seven-ring, two eight-rings.

Chen Mu didn't know what level this score was, so he could only applaud.

She placed the gun on the counter, muzzle pointed towards the target. "Step one: check the gun first. Before you pick up a gun, eject the magazine, pull back the slide, and check the chamber."

"After confirming it's clear, the muzzle can only point in two directions: the target or the ground. Do not point it at anything you don't want to destroy, including yourself."

"Now, you try!"