no warnings that I can think of in this chapter. enjoy~

They were on the fifth jump out of the solar system before the probe's light slowed perceptibly. Hyukjae breathed out and leaned back in his chair as they paused for the moment. “How's the power?” he asked Song Qian, who was yawning and blinking her eyes rapidly.

She nodded. “Power levels have dipped, but not critical yet. Where are we?”

“Moving towards the core,” Amber said. “We are a few jumps away from some mercantile areas, it just depends where we can get in. We do not have too much for a bribe and some of these places we have avoided for a cycle or two.”

“We would have to make about eight jumps to get to the nearest place that will not ask questions or does not require much to bribe the space controller,” Donghae chimed in, his hands tapping against the console.

“That would send us into critical power levels again,” Song Qian sighed, shoving the hologram back down to the floor in frustration. “It took us over four farn just to get this much power.”

“Let us head towards the closest mercantile area, we can make a final decision when we get to the jump point,” Zhou Mi said.

“Confirmed,” Donghae agreed. “We have one more empty jump, but we will have to change the designation again.”

“I'll do it,” Hyukjae volunteered. “Not like I can really do anything in this chair at the moment.”

“I will assist,” Song Qian replied. “Do not push the engines too much and we will be fine for the next two legs without having to divert power,” she warned.

Both Donghae and Amber nodded in unison as they warmed up the engines for yet another jump.

“Where's this designation at? And what is it?” Samuel asked.

“It's in one of the areas that's still in vacuum,” Hyukjae said. “It's... uh, basically like an identification thing. Identify friend/foe,” he said, suddenly remembering what he wanted to call it.

“Have you got any identifications that aren't hot?”

“One or two,” Hyukjae answered breezily as he swept out of the flight deck with Song Qian on his heels. “Which ones do we have?” he asked her quietly as they walked quickly to the area where their space suits were.

“The one we choose will make the choice of where we go,” she replied.

“You saw the list?”

She made a wordless sound of agreement. “I believe Qinyan would be a better choice. Larger planet and more numerous markets.”

“Slightly dangerous, though,” he pointed out as he pulled on the overall suit, pressing the seal to close it firmly. “I think all of us are wanted for one thing or another there.”

“We are, but it is easier to evade detection from the Zhang soldiers within the large crowds. I believe it is time for the Night of Lanterns, so there will be even larger crowds.”

Hyukjae hummed. “Good point. A lot of the black market items will be available as well, but how are we going to get in?”

“We still have a cargo vessel designation that does not have too many wanted briefs, and we can possibly get some of your people to pose as crew enough to get us in.”

“Oh yeah, I didn't even think about that,” he muttered, sealing his helmet as they approached the airlock. “Zhou Mi?” he asked in the built in communicator.

“Admiral Thorn,” the voice corrected. “He's watching the power output while we're in flight.”

Hyukjae met Song Qian's eyes through their helmets, both of them sharing the inherent distrust of others, but she held up two fingers apart and then sliced them across her neck. He nodded, accepting what she was telling him. They would hear a change in the engines if there was a takeover attempt, because Donghae and Amber would immediately stop everything to fight. Both he and Song Qian were also armed, so when they finished, they could safely enter back onto the flight deck without risking themselves. “All right,” Hyukjae said, his voice tight. “We're headed into the airlock, keep a watch on our signals.”

“Roger.”

Song Qian looked at him, her face screwed up in confusion. He waved a hand, meaning he would explain the terminology later. They cycled through the airlock, entering the vacuumed off area and moving towards the closed area that would normally be bustling.

“No matter how many times I do this, this is still creepy as hell,” Hyukjae muttered, looking around at the dim red lit hallways, feeling his heart flutter.

“Zhou Mi wants to know if you need additional power.”

“No, I need someone to go back in time and stop me from watching the entire Alien series, along with half of the zombie movies I've seen,” Hyukjae replied, barely able to stop his imagination from creating various horrors from shadows.

“Yeah, can't help you there,” the admiral replied, his voice amused. “Even Alien vs. Predator?”

“Yeah, both of them, I marathoned it before I left,” he replied. “Okay, we're here,” he said, stepping into the small room. When the ship was fully functional, it was staffed to maintain contact with planets and ships in its patrol area, but it had been almost one of the first locations to experience a vacuum. He flipped through the list, seeing the cargo identifications, along with the list of wanted briefs. Finding the one they could use for Qinyan, he looked over the briefs. Petty theft, evading authorities, and smuggling, nothing that would raise any serious red flags when they got to Qinyan. “Ready to flip the identification when we get to the jump point.”

“Can't you do it now?” the admiral asked.

“No, it doesn't change while in flight.” Hyukjae knew that it was to prevent criminals like him from being able to evade detection when they dropped into a jump point.

“Okay, we're dropping out soon.”

“Copy.”

“Out,” Donghae said into Hyukjae's ears. Hyukjae initiated the change of identification, watching it slowly load. This was the most dangerous part of their lives, because they had to maintain a still position at a jump point where any ship could come in at any time and still pick up the old identification while the new identification was loading.

“Come on, come on...” Hyukjae said, watching the readout load.

“How much longer?” Donghae asked, his voice tight.

“Not long,” Hyukjae replied back. The readout flashed and Hyukjae looked it over. “Done, get us to Qinyan,” he said, walking back to Song Qian.

“Confirmed,” Donghae said, the ship shuddering as it began moving again.

They cycled back through the airlock, and Hyukjae pulled off his suit helmet.

“They do not sound coerced,” Song Qian quietly said as they stripped their space suits.

“Agreed, I'll enter first, just in case. I won't have my weapon out, but I'll be ready.”

She nodded and followed him back up to the flight deck. He kept his hand curled around his weapon until he'd peeked into the flight deck. Everything looked normal, the admiral had only seated himself in the weaponry chair, and given the unconscious hand rubbing at the knee, Hyukjae could understand why. Donghae and Amber were doing their synchronized flight thing and most everyone had gathered around the hologram projector towards the back, giving the twins plenty of room. Pulling back, he took his hand off his weapon and nodded to Song Qian. She blew out a breath and pulled a soft smile onto her face before gracefully walking back onto the flight deck.

Hyukjae followed, but took a spot next to the admiral. Hyukjae waved him back down when he adjusted his cane to get out of the chair. “Knee problems?”

Admiral Thorn sighed and tilted his head briefly in acknowledgment. “Yeah, damn thing finally fell apart on me and I had to have it replaced about four months ago. Too many damn bad landings.” He sighed and leaned back, wincing as he stretched his leg out. “I think it's the cold getting to me more than anything else.”

“Probably,” Hyukjae agreed. He looked over at Donghae and Amber as he heard the engines changed again. They both stood up and stretched before walking around and Donghae walked right to him, giving him a hug. Donghae burrowed his head under Hyukjae's chin, sighing. “Okay there?” he asked.

“Charging,” Donghae replied cutely.

“Oh recharge time,” he teased, then twisted his head as he felt another body fall against his back, hugging him. “You too Amber?” She grunted at him, making him laugh. “All right. How many more jumps?”

“One, but it will be a standard to Qinyan,” Donghae replied, snuggling closer as Hyukjae wrapped one of his arms around Donghae's back while the other pulled Amber tightly to him.

“Want me to fly?” he offered.

Donghae shook his head. “We just need a charge before we fly again.”

“Charging?” the admiral asked, having twisted around slightly in the chair to view the probably odd looking scene.

“Yeah, they need to relax for a few minutes before they start flying again,” he explained, softly Donghae's back. “It gives them a little energy boost to swim around in my brain, since they're going to be flying for the next several hours.”

Admiral Thorn snorted. “Carry on, then. Last thing we need is tired pilots,” he said, rubbing his knee again.

Leaning his head forward, he closed his eyes and breathed in, letting both Donghae and Amber find some solace for their tired brains within his mind. They'd never be able to read his direct thoughts, but he knew that they could easily pick up on his dominant emotions, so he let both of them soak up the love and trust he felt for them.

The three beeps from the console made him freeze, dread crawling through his stomach.

“What was that?” came the whispered question.

“That was an official Zhang ship querying our identification,” Donghae said.

“How many wanted briefs does this identification have?” Zhou Mi asked, then cursed inventively, waving his hands around the hologram.

“Less than ten,” Song Qian replied. “Probably more, but several have expired, and no more than what a cargo ship would have normally.”

“Well one piece of good news – it is not the ship that has been chasing us,” Zhou Mi said, pointing at the holographic picture of the probe, which was blinking at a steady rate. “The bad side is that they could have been contacted.”

The three beeps sounded again. Hyukjae absently gave Donghae a kiss as his lover walked back over to the console, and even though he was waiting to find out how things would go, he still took a second to admire Donghae's well-shaped backside and luscious thighs when he bent around the seat to look at the console.

“You wondered how we figured it out?” Sora slyly asked as she stood next to him.

Hyukjae snorted a laugh, the corners of his lips twitching up. “Yeah, I know, I have a type,” he replied quietly. “What are they doing?” he asked louder.

Static hissed for a second. “Andante, respond visually.”

“,” Hyukjae hissed. “Do we have enough power to run?”

“No. We have enough to get to Qinyan, but not to outrun a Zhang ship, too,” Song Qian replied, her hands weaving through the power levels.

“Andante, respond visually.”

“Two,” Zhou Mi warned.

“We have to run,” Hyukjae said. “We...”

“Impossible,” Song Qian yelled, her voice firm. “We have to respond.”

“And then we'll be boarded, and if we're lucky then we'll be killed immediately...”

“Shut up,” Alex yelled, her hands pulling at the bun her hair was piled up in. “The if I am getting caught less than a day out here. Someone tell them that you went to go get the captain,” she ordered. “Amber, I need to borrow your shirt, Admiral, out of that chair please, Latu, try and give your hair that after- look. Park, go park your in Donghae's seat, Donghae show him what he needs to look like he's doing, Lee Sora, you in the other chair,” she continued, pulling her shirt up and off.

Everyone averted their eyes as Amber easily pulled her shirt off and swapped it with Alex's far more colorful wear, but started moving towards their assigned places, looking skeptically at her.

“What the hell are you doing?” the admiral barked.

“Trying to save our asses since no one else has any better ideas,” she replied, breathing a little faster. “Someone tell me who I am, what kind of ship I have my hands on, and if this is everyone that needs to be here.”

Hyukjae looked at Zhou Mi and Song Qian, who looked equally surprised.

“Come on, I need answers so I can try and convince these s. Your faces are known, ours aren't.”

“Give them any name you want,” Zhou Mi replied. “You are on a former p