《LOST IN SPACE》 Preface ¡°Hi, Viktor.¡± The chairman, who was also the managing director of our team, met me in his office, with a lawyer sitting by his side. I knew that man was a lawyer; I¡¯d met him at our training base before. My heart skipped a beat. Why is he here? I went over all of my recent blunders, but no ready explanation came to mind. The past fine? I paid it in full. The European tournament? We won it. The taxes on our prize money? Paid. I was at a complete loss why the boss had called me in so suddenly, interrupting my vacation. ¡°Sit down.¡± He pointed at the armchair facing his. I obeyed, sweating slightly. ¡°You¡¯ve delivered a good performance over several past seasons,¡± he started. ¡°The team¡¯s happy with you. But, you see¡­ After we won the CIS championship, HiG, of the Empire team, approached us, wishing to become our player. He¡¯s trying to make the global top with his team for the third year in a row, but every time they only score second. First outperformed by Zealots, then by Sheas, and this year¡¯s championship is likely to become ours. He¡¯s craving to become a world champion even if that means changing teams. Taking him on board will make Drones much stronger. And we must do it now. Before it¡¯s too late to request a player replacement.¡± ¡°But he¡¯s their captain! Their best player. Their linchpin.¡± I knew Nikita in person. We weren''t friends, but we weren¡¯t foes either. Our relationship could be best described as a mutual respect between two pros. ¡°And he¡¯s ready to become our fifth?¡± ¡°He¡¯s a great sniper.¡± The chairman reached for a pile of papers on his desk¡ªand pushed them, with a pen, towards me. ¡°No. He¡¯s the world¡¯s best sniper. We need him. You saw the stats. Nikita¡¯s ahead of you this season by whole five percent in hits.¡± My back grew cold as I took the thin paper pile. I did my best to conceal my feelings. This team had been my life for the past seven years. The dream I had pursued playing at pubs and climbing up the rankings, year after year. That dream was now falling to pieces. The document in my hands was a mutual contract termination agreement. I was to receive $100,000 in exchange for not playing for any other professional team for the next three years¡ªand for handing my player account over to my past team. ¡°But what about our recent victory?¡± I still couldn''t believe that this was happening to me. It couldn¡¯t be true. It just couldn¡¯t! ¡°I assembled the team yesterday. Asked whether accepting HiG would be a wise choice for our team. Everyone voted for him.¡± Masha did go somewhere yesterday, I recalled. She kept joking when I asked where she was going. She came back in the evening, casting strange glances at me and kept silent despite all of my attempts to get her to talk. ¡°I don¡¯t believe they would do that to me,¡± I said firmly. But my confidence was gone in a moment as the lawyer showed me the meeting minutes signed by all the team members. Masha¡¯s playful flourish was there, too. Seeing it hurt me more than looking at the other three. ¡°What if I refuse?¡± I managed to say after a minute of silence. ¡°Then you¡¯ll be fired. After that, you may try your luck elsewhere. In Empire, for example. They¡¯ll need a fifth soon,¡± the lawyer replied instead of the chairman, smiling a predatory smile. He knew I would never do that. Drones were the world¡¯s best team. Downgrading just for money was not my cup of tea. I¡¯d rather not lose to my past team every time I faced it in tournaments. ¡°Why do you need my account? You¡¯ll have Nikita¡¯s, won¡¯t you?¡± The chairman winced as if he got a sudden toothache. ¡°Unfortunately, his player account is Empire¡¯s property. In order not to waste time on leveling, we need yours. Having it, we¡¯ll just have to change the ship and pilot name.¡±Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. ¡°The amount of compensation we offer is very generous,¡± the lawyer intervened again. ¡°One hundred thousand dollars is the best price you can possibly get for this account.¡± ¡°Oh, really?¡± I said angrily, retrieving my biometric access card. ¡°I¡¯ll put it up for auction and see.¡± ¡°Viktor.¡± The chairman glanced at the lawyer who stopped short. They needed HiG, but more than that, they needed my ship for him to fly without altering his mix of skills. Our fighters belonged to the same class, so he would spend no more than $4,000 on adapting my ship to his particular build. That was nothing compared to the cost of leveling a top account from scratch. ¡°Viktor,¡± the chairman said again. I have never heard him sound so gentle. ¡°You do understand that we¡¯re not offering this money just like that. The team needs your ship to become stronger. Isn¡¯t that what you wanted when you joined us? I remember you working for six dollars per hour under your first contract. Now you make almost $72,000 excluding prize money.¡± ¡°I wanted to make Drones stronger, yeah. But you say that they gave up on me yesterday.¡± As I cited the chairman¡¯s recent words, his face twisted. ¡°Why should I give a damn about them?¡± ¡°Good.¡± He looked at the lawyer. ¡°We can give you $140,000. But not a cent more.¡± I thought it over. Another pro team could easily pay $70,000 or $80,000 for my account: a top player¡¯s ship, with top-level skills and legendary gear. But I doubted that I could sell it for a hundred thousand, let alone hundred and forty. Finding anyone willing to pay that much would certainly not be easy or fast. That¡¯s really a lot of money. I realized that I was considering their offer. Five minutes ago I couldn¡¯t so much as think about parting with my ship. But now, after my team had betrayed me, dropping me for a player whom they thought stronger, I really wanted to forget everything just to avoid seeing their lying faces ever again. The last week we¡¯d been reveling and drinking together, celebrating our victory, swearing eternal friendship and love to each other. Two days later, they dumped me as if I were a piece of trash. Despite the air conditioning being on, my back was covered in sweat. This account was the only thing I had. I had invested about $40,000 and seven years of my life into it. Back in high school, I started to seriously play Starry Sky; it had just opened for beta testing. Once the game had rapidly started to gain popularity, after that big campaign and the first world tournament, I decided to become a professional player. I trained fourteen hours per day, enduring heated arguments with parents about me dropping out of college. I had no social life outside the cyber world.. Three years later I had been hired by Drones, a starter team then, as their fifth player. We trained and grew together, winning our first CIS championship, and then scoring third at the world tournament. What a celebration we had then. The victories and defeats of the past few years flashed before my eyes. I made up my mind. ¡°Hundred and sixty,¡± I said, putting the key card onto the desk, ¡°and we have a deal.¡± Refusing to believe his ears, the manager exchanged glances with the lawyer who hurriedly retrieved his tablet to fix the figures despite his loud announcement a moment before that hundred and forty was their limit. Looks like they care more about my ship than about me, I noted sadly. The printer in the corner spat out the sheets of paper. A small office robot fetched them on a tray. Skimming through the new agreement, I wrote in the date, signed, and put my finger onto the scanner circle at the bottom of each sheet. ¡°When should I come for access transfer?¡± I asked. I knew that transferring the game account access rights was a lengthy procedure, particularly when the account was biometrically verified like mine was. ¡°Tomorrow. Or we can do it today. Nikita¡¯s just popped in to sign the papers.¡± The manager handed me a copy of the agreement. He looked as pleased as one could get. ¡°Well, let¡¯s do it today then. I¡¯d rather finish it and never see you again.¡± The hatred I felt toward these two ugly mugs, and the team that did not care enough to warn me about my replacement was suffocating me. All I wanted was to get rid of my ship and forget about the game and the lying bastards who called me their friend all these years. I wanted to forget them for good. I exchanged brief greetings with Nikita, but we didn¡¯t talk as we both felt awkward. I was in a horrible mood. Once everything was done, I left my key card at the checkpoint and received a recommendation letter from the team. Once outside, I tore it to pieces, and threw them into the bin at the entrance. My hands were shaking with anger so badly that I failed to hit the taxi call button on my smart device. I had to calm down a bit before making another attempt. When the e-car arrived, I got in and put my smart device to the autopilot screen. The robot pilot calculated the cost of the ride and charged me. I decided not to pay extra to take a top-level road and save myself an hour of transit; I needed this time to calm down so that I don¡¯t end up attacking my girlfriend, who joined my team in betraying me. I¡¯d rather just look her in the eye and ask her about it calmly, without going hysterical. Chapter 1 Seeing me at the threshold, Masha rushed to apologize. ¡°Oh, dear, please forgive me. The manager prohibited me to tell you anything.¡± She tried to embrace me; I evaded. ¡°He threatened to fire me! Please understand. He¡¯d rather you didn¡¯t know about that meeting.¡± ¡°You could have told me in secret. Given me time to prepare...¡± Kicking off my shoes, I walked into the living room. She ran after me. ¡°Oh, forgive me, dear. Please, please, please. Do you want to hear the recording of him threatening me?¡± The smart device let out a squeak. Retrieving it from my pocket, I saw that the agreed sum was deposited to my wallet. Now I was officially jobless and wanted by no one. Perhaps I was wanted, but the agreement prevented me from joining any team for the next three years, which was ages for a pro player; the game would change completely during that time. The money will run out one day, I reminded myself. $160,000 seems like a large sum, but I¡¯ll spend most of it on mortgage. And the rest on paying my bills until I get a new job. ¡°Dear.¡± Masha tried to kiss me, but I wanted no intimacies after what had happened. ¡°Please leave me alone.¡± Without looking at her, I waved my hand, turning on the video wall. ¡°Okay,¡± the girl gave up. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw her retreat into her bedroom. Shortly after, I heard the entrance door slam, which meant that I was left alone in the apartment we shared. ¡°Breaking news!¡± Switching through the channels, a news clip about Starry Sky caught my eye. ¡°The gaming audience is shocked by Nikita HiG Ostrovsky, Empire¡¯s leader and longstanding captain, striking a deal with the Drones to become their sniper. With the world tournament around the corner, such a move will definitely strengthen Russia¡¯s best team. The fate of their current fifth, Viktor L0St Maximov, is still unknown. We¡¯ve contacted the team headquarters, but they had no comments about this transfer. We¡¯ll be watching how things unfold¡ªand try to get any feedback from Viktor Maximov and the Empire team.¡± The news agencies learned about that at roughly the same time as me, I snorted. My friends¡ªor rather those who called themselves that¡ªtold me nothing. Once the news had ended, my smart device exploded with calls that kept coming one after another. Craving for my attention were all sorts of folks, from past team mates to some undefined numbers. I responded to no one, and put the device on airplane mode. Turning off the video wall, I walked into my bedroom habitually, as I always did, to get some flight practice. But once the capsule was activated and I ran the access card through the identifier, the red flash harshly reminded me that I no longer had any game accounts. I had sold my only one just a couple of hours before. I hadn¡¯t played any other games in the past two years, and had deleted all of their files and saves. That was when I fully realized what had happened. All that was my life for the past seven years was now gone. My ship. My team. My game. Everything vanished. *** In the morning, I woke to something preventing my body from rolling over. Opening my eyes, I saw Masha sleeping with her arm and leg over me, still fully clothed; she must have come home late. Taking care not to disturb her, I released myself from her grip and stood up. I didn¡¯t feel like sleeping, particularly with the strong reek of last night¡¯s liquor coming out of her mouth. Apparently she had a merry night. I looked at the girl. The yesterday¡¯s anger went away, giving place to disappointment, sadness, and annoyance. On the other hand, Masha was a professional gamer, too. Just like me, she had never been anything else. So a threat to take everything away from her was more than enough to scare her into obedience. ¡°Home,¡± I addressed the apartment AI. ¡°Make me fried eggs with bacon.¡± ¡°We¡¯re out of bacon, Viktor,¡± the AI informed me calmly. ¡°I ordered it yesterday. Delivery expected: today at noon.¡± ¡° What about tomatoes and cheese?¡± ¡°We have both,¡± the voice didn¡¯t change a tiny bit. ¡°Would you like fried eggs with tomatoes and cheese?¡± ¡°Yes, please.¡± ¡°Estimated cooking time: five minutes. Would you like a coffee?¡± ¡°Tea. Black. As always.¡± I sank into the armchair and waved my hand at the wall. The vigorous voice of the morning news anchor filled the living room. ¡°Baby!¡± a displeased scream came from the bedroom. ¡°Quiet, please.¡± I moved my finger twice to reduce the volume, and started switching through the channels in search of entertainment. ¡°Fried eggs are ready. Should I serve them?¡± the AI¡¯s voice came out of the floorstanding speaker next to my armchair. ¡°Yes. Serve them here.¡± Soon the robot tray came up. I had to move the food from its top to the table myself. Just like the AI, this tray was a rather old model; the newer ones were more humanized to provide full table service. I just didn¡¯t have enough money to buy those, using all my earnings to repay the mortgage for this apartment in a wealthy district next to a large park and the city¡¯s historical centre.This novel''s true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there. ¡°Oh, breakfast!¡± Masha, nude and disheveled, suddenly plumped down by my side and took my plate away. She washed the food down with my tea. ¡°Masha,¡± I said angrily. ¡°You¡¯ve got a lot of nerve.¡± ¡°Oh baby.¡± She waved her hand. ¡°I got so drunk yesterday because of you; my head¡¯s killing me now.¡± ¡°Because of me, huh? Or because you didn¡¯t warn me about my dismissal?¡± I decided to remind her of the real reason behind our yesterday¡¯s quarrel. ¡°I love you.¡± She blew me a kiss. ¡°Don¡¯t be angry, please. I know you have a forgiving nature. I¡¯ve apologized to you so many times. After I finish your tasty breakfast, I¡¯ll give you some more apologies in bed. Will you forgive me then?¡± Glancing at her naked body, I sighed. ¡°That depends on how hard you try.¡± She used the bread crust to collect the yolks smeared across the plate, then wiped her lips with a napkin. ¡°You will give me a moment. I¡¯ll use the bathroom and come back.¡± The lustful glance she gave me made me realize that I wasn¡¯t angry with her anymore. She was just as much of a victim as I was. Both of us had been forced into this. *** ¡°May I use your capsule, dear? You don¡¯t need it right now, do you?¡± Masha asked after our reconciliation during which w discussed the whole matter and reached a common conclusion that the team manager was a total jerk. ¡°Sure you may,¡± I waved my hand, thinking what to do next. I knew pretty well why she asked for that; my capsule was the newest generation, much more advanced than hers. I had used all of my prize money to buy it. She could have done the same with hers, but she bought an e-car instead, while I invested in upgrading my main money-making machine and remained a taxi driver. Getting a grateful kiss, I was left alone as Masha went into my bedroom to tinker with the game console and the capsule. Shortly after, I heard the sound of the lid closing, followed by dead silence. Masha was in the game. Switching through the TV channels, I found nothing worthy of attention. I was itching all over to fly. Glancing around furtively, I softly called: ¡°Home. Show my capsule''s screen.¡± ¡°Access password?¡± I dictated my intricate password. My state-of-the-art capsule allowed remote access to the player screen, so I could see everything Masha was seeing. The wall flashed with bustling spacecrafts and darting missiles. She was in the thick of the battle, as befitted the third player, the team¡¯s tank, shielding the leaders who were trying to shoot the other team¡¯s ships. The breath-taking maneuvers and somersaults looked so different on the video wall than they did from the capsule. I was overcome by regret and sadness. To fly a ship like the one Masha was flying, I had to invest at least $60,000 and several years into leveling. Just when I was about to switch the screen off, an oh-so-familiar voice came from the speakers: ¡°Hi Masha. How¡¯s Viktor?¡± I turned the volume up. ¡°Oh Styopa. We had such a shitty quarrel yesterday.¡± Despite being engaged in action, she replied to the team leader who was now her opponent in a combat. ¡°He¡¯s a bit better today, but he''s still upset. Don¡¯t call him. He turned his smart device off. He¡¯d rather not talk to anyone.¡± ¡°Masha. I know he¡¯s your boyfriend, but you must understand. HiG is much better. With him, we are bound for championship! Just imagine: the first Russian team ever winning the Starry Sky World Tournament! This year¡¯s winner will get thirty million dollars in prize money only. Not counting sponsorships, advertising income, and stuff like that.¡± ¡°Styopa. I know that. But it¡¯s not helping.¡± As she was distracted, one of the leaders under her guard got hit by a missile. The speaker belched out filthy swears. ¡°Shut up, you blind idiot!¡± she barked back, vividly describing the teammate¡¯s genealogy. ¡°If not for your miss, third in a row, we would have long finished this sparring.¡± They started arguing, but once the leader¡¯s voice came again, Masha muted the other man despite his yelling. ¡°Do you know what he¡¯s up to?¡± ¡°No,¡± her voice became sad. ¡°I won''t bother him with it for a couple of days. He needs time to get over it and move on.¡± ¡°Keep in mind the new training schedule. We start on Monday.¡± Saying that, the leader destroyed Masha¡¯s ship¡ªI could tell that by her evil hissing¡ªthen did the same to the rest. The battle was lost. Grinding her teeth, Masha reported those who played badly in her opinion, and started to look for a new game. This was no longer interesting; I disconnected and had the AI wipe the logs. I can repay the mortgage in full, I thought, plumping down onto the sofa and taking the smart device. At least some good can come out of this money. *** Four weeks later ¡°Baby, I can¡¯t.¡± Masha released herself from my embrace, and rushed over to the capsule. ¡°I really can¡¯t. We have a tight training schedule, you know. HiG has to be re-trained to work with our team. That¡¯s not easy.¡± The sound of this name stabbed me like a sharp knife. ¡°How good is he?¡± I asked with feigned casualness. ¡°Better than me?¡± She looked away and said nothing. ¡°He¡¯s different.¡± Seeing how hard I tried not to take offense at her silence, she tried to fix it. ¡°Just different. Not better or worse. Developing effective co-operations between ships takes up a lot of time. I really must go, dear. Styopa will be pissed off if I¡¯m late again.¡± Once I let go of her hand, the girl put the access card into the capsule and dived in, closing the lid behind her so as to prevent me from intervening. I loitered about the apartment for a while, watching the news¡ªwhere they discussed nothing but the three upcoming major game tournaments of the year¡ªbut then I broke into my bad habit again. ¡°Home,¡± I said. ¡°Capsule screen.¡± I did my best not to spy on Masha too often, containing the urge whenever I could. But sometimes, like now, I just couldn¡¯t refrain from it. The video wall exploded with Masha¡¯s apologizing voice. Scared, I hurried to reduce the volume, which was pointless since the capsule was soundproof. There was no chance in Hell that she could possibly hear me. ¡°Oh, Styopa, stop that! I¡¯m only two minutes late.¡± She took her place in the ship, ready for a start. ¡°Two. And you¡¯ve already wasted five grumbling.¡± The other team members did not interrupt them; by the occasional giggles in the voice chat I could tell that the guys were on her side. Everyone was, naturally, fond of the only girl in the team. I never stopped wondering how she came to be with me and not, say, with Styopa. I never showed her my love, or flirted with her like the other guys did. Her announcement in the team¡¯s voice chat that we were officially together came suddenly. It startled me so badly that I barely managed to avoid crashing into the gate as I was flying my ship out of the carrier and into the space. Once we got out of the capsules and into the real world, I made no objections to Masha¡¯s proposal. Shortly after, we moved in together into the apartment I had bought. A year had passed since then. ¡°How¡¯s Viktor?¡± the first player, the team¡¯s best attacker, intervened. ¡°So-so. Hasn''t entered the game since then.¡± Masha took off, following the first numbers and keeping slightly behind them. ¡°Can I call you? I have been feeling awful since then. I could talk to him. Maybe that helps.¡± ¡°Yeah, sure. This weekend. I¡¯ll try to prepare him.¡± She sniffed, but the enemies had already appeared on the screen and the chat fell silent. There had been enough talking, it was time to get serious. Chapter 2 Three months later ¡°Fantastic! Amazing! The whole nation is congratulating our heroes whose brilliant play tore the victory from the hands of the Chinese team! HiG was marvelous. If not for his sniper attacks, our team would probably have fallen short of the championship. Yes, I mean it. Right now my colleagues are telling me he¡¯s been awarded theBest Playeraward and has become the happy owner of aLamborghinisuper-car! Congrats toDronesand all fans of space battles! That was unforgettable!¡± Lying on the sofa, I listened to the TV presenter go into raptures over my past team¡¯s victory, my mood worsening with every word. There was no one present who could drag me out of my fortnightly melancholy; Masha was far away in Vancouver. A couple of months had passed and I still hadn¡¯t made up my mind on what new career to pursue. My inbox had two dozens of offers, including those sent by foreign teams; offers I couldn¡¯t accept. Since no one knew the details of my termination agreement, everyone was rather surprised that I still haven¡¯t joined a new team. Masha will get great prize money. Tardily, I realized that my apartment, and its luxurious spot and surroundings, would no longer seem incredible to her. That money would buy her an apartment just like mine if she wanted it. This realization worsened my mood even more. ¡°A state courier service staff member is waiting. Should I open the door?¡± The apartment AI¡¯s hologram appeared by my side as the doorbell rang. ¡°What service?¡± I was surprised. I¡¯d never heard of a state courier service in our country before. ¡°Linking to Wiki,¡± the AI told me instantly. ¡°The State Courier Service is¡­¡± ¡°Hey, stop,¡± I interrupted. ¡°I¡¯ll read that later. The guy¡¯s waiting out there. Open the door.¡± ¡°Yes.¡± Five minutes later, I was looking at a mailman in a blue uniform, with a military gun on his belt. I must have been peering at him too closely. The guy smirked, although he had a poker face when I opened the door. ¡°Sorry,¡± I said. His smile embarrassed me. ¡°This is the first time I meet someone from¡­ from your organization. I didn¡¯t even know that it existed.¡± ¡°No problem,¡± he laughed openly. ¡°A package for you. Sign here, please.¡± I put my finger onto the package, then onto his bag. Having my retina scanned, I finally got my hands on the hard cardboard package littered with red stamps: MINISTRY OF DEFENSE and PERSONAL. Parting with the mailman and scratching the back of my head in confusion, I returned to the living room and tried to open the parcel with my hands, but the cardboard was so thick that I had to use a knife. Inside of it was a single sheet of paper with several typed lines: The Ministry of Defence of the Russian Federation is inviting Viktor Maximov to take part in the candidate selection process for a military project. The project information is top secret. Security clearance level required: AAA or higher. Upon successful completion of the selection and testing process, all participants will be enlisted in the military service at the rank no lower than that of a Lieutenant, and given allowance according to their rank. The salary paid during the testing process will be 700 rubles[1]per hour. The salary paid to those enrolled in the project will be determined individually at a level no lower than 1,500 rubles[2]. Application letters should be sent to the email below. Use your personal ID to apply. ¡°What bullshit is this?¡± I was immensely surprised. I¡¯ve never served in the armed forces, never came in touch with the military in any way¡ªand yet I got this weird letter. ¡°Rubbish.¡± I would consider this a bad joke had the package been slipped underneath my door, or delivered by snail mail. But a uniformed, armed mailman was too much. No one would go to such lengths just to play a trick on me. ¡°Home. Browse the web for the words ¡®ministry of defense¡¯, ¡®game¡¯, and ¡®recruitment¡¯.¡± ¡°Ten relevant results found, Viktor. Displaying them onto the wall,¡± the AI replied instantly and showed me a bunch of very old links. The newest one was two years old. ¡°Hmmm.¡± I went over the letter again. A great idea popped into my head.Why not? I don¡¯t have anything else going on anyway, and a $50,000 salary is hard to come by. ¡°Home. Open the console. I need to type a message.¡± When the projected keyboard appeared beneath my hands, I quickly typed a consent message and sent it to the email mentioned in the letter. I received a reply almost instantly, confirming my registration and stating the date, hour, and the address of the test site. I was pleasantly surprised that the spot was close to my place; it was a ten minute walk away. ¡°Perfect!¡± I rejoiced. ¡°Home. Schedule a reminder two hours before the start.¡± ¡°Reminder added. August 2nd, 2050, 7AM. Attend an event at Admiral Nakhimov Street, 15.¡±The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. ¡°At last.¡± My forced idleness, albeit free of money worries, had long felt like a burden, so this strange invitation came in handy. *** Coming to meet Masha at the airport with flowers, I joined the line of ecstatic fans waiting for the plane from Canada. The first-ever victory in the world tournament won by a Russian team excited many young minds. The news of their arrival spread like forest fire across social media networks. I got lost in the crowd. Lots of placards, banners, and flowers¡ªthey would try anything just to get spotted by the adored team. When the familiar faces appeared at the gate, the arrival hall was filled with a thunderous applause, whistling, and shouts of delight. The guys, apparently surprised by such a welcome and a mob of fans, smiled hesitantly and looked around, heading for the square where they could take a taxi or get into their own cars. They spotted me, but I ignored all of their invitations to come closer. The team no longer existed for me. After their betrayal, after them robbing me of the victory that was already close at hand, I decided to forget them for good. All of them but Masha... The anger and bitterness that gnawed at my heart when I saw her signature on that document were still there, but love eventually overcame anger. I pretended that our relationship was the same as before just to see what it would eventually come to. But one thing I knew for sure: our past carefree romance was gone. The girl saw me, but getting through the crowd of fans was not easy; they surrounded her from all sides, begging for an autograph or a memorable kiss. I had to step in and take her away, despite the crowd¡¯s din of displeasure. They tried to stop me, but I elbowed our way outside and to the taxi that had been waiting for us. Giving the flowers to Masha and getting her seated, I tossed her suitcase into the truck, then plumped down by her side. The taxi drove off once we fastened our seatbelts. ¡°How are you?¡± I reached for her and got a kiss. ¡°Dead tired,¡± she confessed. ¡°Craving for home, hot bath, and two-three days of sleep.¡± ¡°I promise not to wake you.¡± I caressed her arm. ¡°I can wait to hear how things went.¡± She was surprised. ¡°Didn¡¯t you watch it?¡± ¡°Sure I did. I¡¯m your biggest fan, after all. But I¡¯d love to hear how it feels to play in a world tournament.¡± I did my best to appear carefree, although I couldn¡¯t stop thinking aboutmystolen victory. She paused to think. ¡°It¡¯s nothing special. Yes, dear, I mean it. It¡¯s just like any other tournament. More pompous, though.¡± She gripped my hand. ¡°How areyou? Have you found anything yet?¡± ¡°Not yet.¡± I shrugged. ¡°Got one offer. The interview¡¯s tomorrow.¡± She seemed interested. ¡°A different game?¡± ¡°Don¡¯t know yet.¡± I decided not to tell her that the offer was sent by the Ministry of Defense. ¡°Tomorrow¡­ I¡¯ll tell you then.¡± She put her head on my shoulder. ¡°I¡¯d kill for some rest.¡± She fell asleep during the ride. I had to wake her once we reached our destination. Half-asleep, she followed me like a zombie while I, carrying the suitcase, opened the doors for her. Masha didn¡¯t even go to the bathroom¡ªshe just collapsed onto the bed and fell asleep. Closing the bedroom door, I switched on the news in the living room. ¡°We¡¯ve interviewed theDronescaptain, Stepan Mazzur Mazurenko.¡± Once I activated the video wall, it turned on the channel that I had been watching that morning, and the captain¡¯s huge face covered the entire wall. ¡°Our reporter met with him at the airport.¡± ¡°How are you, Stepan? How does victory feel?¡± ¡°We didn¡¯t expect such a welcome, but we are really pleased. I¡¯d like to thank all our fans for supporting us in this tournament. We could feel your support. It gave us the strength to win.¡± ¡°How was the team? The last battle was very challenging. Were your opponents stronger than you expected them to be? Whom can you give special credit to?¡± ¡°I¡¯m very happy with the whole team.¡± He thought it over for a moment. ¡°Sure there were minor issues that we¡¯ll be fixing in the future. But, overall, each team member gave their 100%. This victory was truly deserved.¡± ¡°But who was the best?¡± the reporter insisted. ¡°Our fifth. HiG,¡± the captain said reluctantly. ¡°His hit percentage was something special. The tournament committee made him MVP for a reason.¡± ¡°Do you think you would have won if your past sniper, Viktor L0St Maximov, was in his place?¡± ¡°No comments,¡± he snapped angrily when another man intervened. Seeing him, I couldn¡¯t help but gnash my teeth. ¡°I¡¯m sure we wouldn¡¯t.¡± The manager¡¯s face was asking for a slap. ¡°70% hit success is too low for a champion.¡± ¡°But the game¡¯s average is about 60%.¡±Why is this reporter so interested in me?¡°Indulge me, please; our audience is really curious about this sudden transfer. You took a great risk by accepting a new player in an already-flying-together team right before the world tournament. Did you fear that he might not fit in and that your performance would suffer?¡± ¡°Sure there was a risk.¡± Brushing Stepan away, the manager spoke alone. ¡°But Nikita¡¯s performance in group practice convinced us that he could do it. I don¡¯t want to criticize Viktor, but he was falling short of the new performance standard the team had set in preparation for the world tournament.¡± These words brought me to the end of my rope. I switched the channel. Ungrateful pig. Weren¡¯t you kissing my feet until recently, begging me to sell my ship? Had I not agreed, you wouldn¡¯t have gotten this victory. Anger and depression came and went in waves. One moment, I was itching to see the manager and punch him in the face, and in the other, I wanted to collapse onto my bed and stare at the ceiling. *** I was having breakfast when Masha came out of the bedroom, wearing nothing but her underwear. ¡°Are you leaving?¡± ¡°Yeah. The interview¡¯s in half an hour. I told you about it yesterday.¡± I finished my sandwich and washed it down with some tea. ¡°Don¡¯t know how long it¡¯ll take. If you want to go out, go alone. Don¡¯t wait for me.¡± ¡°I¡¯m not going anywhere.¡± She plumped down into my lap. ¡°I¡¯ll be relaxing at home. Come back as soon as you can. I have plans foryou.¡± Stroking her leg, I moved her aside hastily. If she kept teasing me like that, I wouldn¡¯t be able to go anywhere. I had things to do.
[1]About $12
[2]About $25 Chapter 4 Hello, friends! The book is ready! At last! It was rather a difficult way. And I am happy, that the first step is done! The date of release is 13 Sep. So, in several days you will be able to read the end of the 1st book on Amazon. Additional thanks for those who had bought the book, was giving feedbacks and rating to the book here: "Guys! You are real friends! Thank you very much!" I hope you will find a couple of minutes and leave a short review on Amazon or Goodreads after the reading. It''s very very important for me.Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. For the no-name author, it''s rather difficult to start a book on Amazon or somewhere else. When the book is on the bottom - no one will buy it. Unfortunately, translating and money are inseparable things. However, I am full of enthusiasm and believe, that the sales will cover the translation. Here are the Links for those who missed: LOST in Space. Book 1. Amazon - 3.99$: https://www.royalroad.com/amazon/B07WHLG29M Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dmitriyr2008