Chase lay in his bunk, swallowed by the suffocating darkness, wishing for oblivion. His body ached, not from wounds but from exhaustion, the kind that ran deeper than flesh, that sank into the marrow of his soul. His mind, restless and merciless, replayed every failure in excruciating detail, cycling through the heist gone wrong, the court battle that sealed his fate, and the moment he felt the cold bite of the needle, lethal chemicals snaking through his veins.

  But something didn’t add up. A missing piece lurked beneath the chaos, elusive yet undeniable. He combed through every detail, tracing every step, but his thoughts circled back to that final, haunting moment. The injection. The sterile hum of the room. The mechanical click of the button being pressed. The weightless second when he realized his crew, his people who had trusted him without question, would follow him to their deaths.

  The thought was unbearable, cutting deeper than a betrayal, deeper than the cold prison walls, deeper than the agony of failure itself. Chase turned onto his side, pressing his face into the pillow as if he could smother the truth, erase the memories, but they clung to him, suffocating, unrelenting. Somewhere, buried within the wreckage of that day, within the deception, the brutality, the impossible resurrection, they had missed something. The only new thread that had presented itself was that the computer language was an advanced form of Fathom. Could their arrival on Mars be as straightforward as Drake had implied, or could there be more hidden away? Is it possible that someone orchestrated it? His breath shuddered, his pulse racing despite the stillness around him. The more he pulled at the loose threads, the more tangled they became.

  Before Chase even registered her presence, Kaya’s voice exploded through the silence like a jagged shard of glass.

  "Do you have a plan?" she barked, her tone razor-sharp and unyielding.

  Chase jolted upright. "Huh? Kaya, I didn’t hear you. I’m sorry. I’m sorry for everything. I never planned for this. I couldn’t have imagined—"

  "Fuck you, Chase," Kaya spat, her words scorching the air as she cut him off. "You’re nothing but a damn child. I’m a grown woman who faced every goddamn risk head-on. Maybe that’s why you piss me off so much, trying to shoulder the blame by yourself. No, Chase. We all carry these consequences. Running away won’t change that."

  Chase slowly rose, locking eyes with her. Their fierce gazes clashed for a painfully long, breathless moment until he finally broke eye contact, the weight of her intensity forcing him away.

  "So, do you have a plan?" Kaya pressed relentlessly, her voice hammering against him with brutal insistence.

  "My last one didn’t work out so well," he admitted, his tone heavy with defeat.

  Kaya stepped forward, her presence almost predatory, her low voice laced with venom. "Do you have a plan? Because I damn well refuse to die in this godforsaken shithole."

  Chase hesitated before offering, "The AI says we have a 2 percent chance of surviving two years. What chance do we really have? This planet is a deathtrap."

  Without warning, Kaya’s hand whipped like a lightning bolt, slamming him hard and sending him sprawling to the floor. His head pounded as she loomed over him, a living maelstrom of fury and desperation.

  "Fuck the AI. I don’t trust a damn machine. I’m done with numbers and probabilities. I’m asking you one more time—Do. You. Have. A. Plan?"

  Chase pressed a trembling hand to his scorched cheek as he forced himself upright. “I have the beginning of a plan,” he admitted, his voice raw and urgent. “But there are too many unknowns. We’re stumbling in the dark. To VORN, this is nothing more than a sick game, dropping us on Mars, watching us scramble for survival, and cashing in on streaming and betting. They haven’t even bothered to explain what this equipment is for. They handed us rudimentary manuals and left us to piece together our fate.”

  Kaya’s eyes narrowed as her tone hardened. “Have you read the manuals? Tell me, how many have you pored over? If you’d done that, you’d know every vital detail about this ship and how to stay alive.”

  Chase’s expression twisted with a mix of despair and resolve. “No,” he confessed. “The manuals are just the tip of the iceberg; they’re only the first superficial layer. To survive, you must know how to ask the AI the right questions and get the critical answers. If you don’t, you’re done for. It’s a trap. They set it up so we’re doomed from the start.” He continued bitterly, “If their goal were for us to live, they’d give us every piece of information upfront. Instead, they’ve imposed a ticking deadline, forcing us to act fast, and making us prone to inevitable mistakes. To them, this is hideously entertaining; they’re watching us die a slow, drawn-out death.”

  Kaya studied him, her gaze dark and unyielding. “You once told me you loved the thrill of a game, the rush of crime that made you feel invincible, alive.”

  Chase shook his head slowly, haunted by the unbearable cost of their choices. “Kaya, I’ve realized we’re not playing games here, the pieces are real people. I can’t, I won’t, treat this like a contest where sacrificing my crew is just collateral in a win.”

  Kaya’s eyes blazed as she gave a curt nod. “Then play it smarter. Think like a chess master, set traps, coax your opponents into your web, and strike when the moment’s right. But remember, time’s not on our side. The clock is ticking, Chase. It’s time to make your first move.”

  Chase paused, his inner turmoil evident. “It isn’t like chess, Kaya, you can’t simply wait. If you’re too cautious, your opponent will be there, laying traps that seal your fate. I need the crew now. I need them to figure out where we are and start building a foundation for our survival.”

  Kaya’s tone softened ever so slightly, though her intensity never waned. “Don’t worry. They’ll appear for the next morning meeting. For now, maybe try not to rub their nose in the chaos too hard.” Kaya’s gaze sharpened, her challenge hanging in the air like a dare. “So, what’s your plan?”

  “It’s simple,” Chase declared, a wry grin tugging at his lips despite the tension. “Don’t die, and don’t kill anyone else. And Kaya, remember this is a reality show before you slap me again. We’re streaming worldwide. We’ve already given them great content for the week; we don’t have to spill every secret.”

  Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

  Kaya’s eyes sparkled as a slow, knowing smile spread across her face. “Ha, hadn’t thought of it like that,” she replied, her tone edged with mischief. “Maybe I’ll make it a weekly ritual—one powerful slap and I become a celebrity. Who knows? NASA, VORN, or a mob of raving fans might just launch a rocket to collect me for my epic slaps.”

  Chase’s cheeks burned with embarrassment as he forced the words out. “I’m not so sure, Kaya. I’d say it’s a tie between you and LJ, she might not look it, but she dishes out a mean slap.”

  Kaya let out a sharp, mirthless laugh and shook her head. “Here’s a little free advice: stay away from Janette. Seriously, what are the odds that a stunning twenty-year-old crosses your path by accident? I don’t know much about her yet, but I suspect she’s as clever as she is dangerous, possibly even your equal. They handed her the command only to snatch it away on purpose. They’ve set you two on a collision course, and trust me, it won’t end well.”

  A spark of youthful defiance flickered in Chase’s eyes. “Now that’s a game I’m willing to play. Win or lose, it’s one hell of a challenge.”

  Kaya’s tone turned razor-sharp with caution as she fixed him with an unyielding stare. “I’m warning you; you’re playing with fire.

  Kaya returned to the command module and found the crew sitting like wary animals, their voices low and strained. Julie’s dark coffee, still steaming, was the only distraction from a silence so thick it felt suffocating. The crew’s eyes darted nervously; rigid postures betrayed the unspoken terror that clung to each of them. In that charged moment, Kaya realized that isolation was no longer an option; each of them was now bound to the same impending storm.

  Her promise to Chase pulsed in her mind like a ticking bomb. With trembling resolve, she clutched her mug, a feeble shield against her own mounting anxiety, and approached Sam. In one explosive moment, she struck him with a resounding slap that shattered the fragile quiet. The shock on his face was immediate and grotesque, his eyes widening as if he’d been jolted awake from a nightmare. The room erupted into a frozen tableau where every face burned with a cocktail of shock, anger, and raw betrayal. In that harsh instant, regret glimmered in her mind, a fleeting wish that she might have chosen a less painful target.

  “Do you even understand why this had to happen?” she spat, her voice slicing through the silence like a blade.

  After an agonizing pause, Luke’s voice trembled out, “He just looked at you wrong?”

  Without a beat’s hesitation, Kaya advanced on Luke, her gaze igniting an inferno of determination. Her next slap landed like a thunderclap. Luke did nothing but meet her eyes with a resigned stillness, as if he were already drowning in the gravity of her warning.

  “I hit Sam and Luke because you’re all teetering on the edge of oblivion,” Kaya declared, her tone fierce and unyielding. “Consider this your brutal wake-up call, a plunge into reality that none of you can ignore.” Stunned murmurs surged through the room as her voice climbed with fierce insistence.

  “We have just landed on an alien world! None of us came here voluntarily; some believed we’d been executed, but none of us were ever properly trained. If we were meant to colonize Mars, we would have spent years preparing. Instead, we’re thrown into chaos with only two years of food, zero backup, and scant know-how. We’re given glossy gear paired with manuals that skim the surface. And worst of all, every shred of information comes from an AI, a leash designed to keep us in line. They want control, so they hold all the answers.”

  Her eyes swept over the room as she continued, every word deliberate and loaded with meaning. “The reason I slapped Sam is simple. Remember: this is streaming live to Earth; they’re watching every move and setting the rules. This isn’t just a crisis; it’s a staged game where our lives are the ultimate stakes.” Kaya looked around, daring anyone to challenge her. “I also don’t think that goes any different for anyone else, we are all in this together, whether we like it or not.” Kaya paused, letting that soak in. “Now, on the topic of leadership, Luke, remind me, how long did we plan that Dubai job?”

  After a heavy pause, Luke responded with measured disbelief. “Six months of high-level planning, then a two-month sprint before the job went down. We drilled, refined our kit, and infiltrated flawlessly; it was seamless. Six hours in and out, and we were gone like the wind.”

  Kaya leaned over the table, her tone edged with challenge. “Be honest, Luke. With a brand-new team and only three weeks to plan, do you really think we could have pulled it off?”

  Luke almost laughed at the absurdity. “No, it would have been a disaster, maybe a few of us would have scraped through with our lives. Chase would’ve conjured some wild last-minute plan when the shit hit the fan, but most of us would have been toast.”

  Kaya’s voice rang out again, now laced with defiant pride. “Did you catch that, everyone? Chase might have scrapped together some crazy last-minute plan for everyone not dying. Not me, not himself, not Robby or any of the other members of the crew, no it would have been Chase that came up with the plan. He may be young, and he may be frustrating, but if you give him just a chance, you will realise that he is capable. On that note, Rob said earlier that Chase took over this crew, but what he didn’t spell out is that this was my crew. Ask yourself, do I look like a weak-willed woman ready to cave to someone with childish delusions of commandeering a thieving crew? No. Chase assumed command because his competence was undeniable.”

  Kaya’s gaze hardened as she addressed the entire room.

  “We’re in this game now, and already behind schedule. There’s no time for endless team bonding or arguing over who’s in command. Today, we learn everything about each other, our backgrounds, and our interests. Tomorrow, we meet in the command module twenty minutes early. Julie, get that coffee brewing. Let’s prove, beyond any doubt, that we are professionals.

  "One final note to those both her and those watching back on Earth who call us criminals or a murderers, let me be clear: we never set out to kill anyone. We execute In-and-Out jobs—break in, secure what we need, and vanish before anyone notices. Every operation is meticulously planned to be clean: get in, get out, and ensure no one gets hurt while a bit of money changes hands. Sure, not every plan unfolded perfectly, but that was always the goal. The last job which was used to paint us as murderers, went disastrously off-script, something even we can’t fully explain. We were blamed simply because we were there, not because we intended to murder anyone."

  Kaya deflated a little as if she had used all of her energy, but perked up for one last thing. Saying almost joyously with a twinkle in her eye, “And gentlemen, Janette is off limits.”

  At that moment, Janette’s eyes snapped up in disbelief. "I am what?"

  Kaya fixed Janette with a twisted smile. "You are off limits; reserved exclusively for Commander Chase."

  For a long, tense second, Janette’s face paled. "I am reserved for no one. How dare you!"

  Luke glanced around and muttered, "Yeah, how dare you?"

  A few of the other men exchanged disappointed looks, as if they had secretly agreed with Kaya’s harsh verdict.

  Kaya pressed on, her tone laced with irony. “Think about it: why would Mission Control appoint a stunning, super-intelligent woman like Janette as commander, only to replace her nearly immediately before any of us had even awoken? Let me tell you why: they’ve set you two on a collision course, and the ratings will be off the charts. I don’t want anyone else caught up in your little game.”

  Janette’s eyes narrowed dangerously. "I am not playing any games with your commander. Nor do I have any interest in playing games with a child. If Chase were truly that smart, he would not be here."

  After a heavy pause, Janette continued, his tone softer yet resolute. "Without orders from our 'child commander,' I am in charge. We have a mountain of work to do, so let us get moving. While Kaya’s methods might seem extreme, getting to know each other is crucial. By tomorrow, I expect each of you to have spoken with everyone else. We will meet in the command module twenty minutes early, Julie, have that coffee ready. We will prove that we are professionals; there is no room for excuses."