After speaking with Doctor Nord, and the man assuring him that Yulia was now eligible for the advanced healing treatments, he returned to his shop. He needed to secure housing for his newly adopted daughter. As well as other things a child of her age might need.
It was crazy to think a child relied on him now.
As he entered his shop, he found it even more destroyed than it was when he left. “What the hell!”
Nothing had been taken, and there were little evidence tags on everything. There was also a notice stuck to the door.
Evidence was collected in the processing of case 98-3-21-2398
He went to the terminal down the hall to look up the case number. From his research on station law, he knew all case records were made public. It didn’t take him long to find the case log and figure out why they had trashed his shop, instead of just taking images of the damage that was already present.
Victim: Alexander Kane
Accused by two defendants Gino and Svadi Coal of harboring restricted items. A search warrant was issued for the premises. No restricted items were found. The scene was recorded, and no further action was taken.
Alexander had been so caught up in his worry over Yulia that he hadn’t even known the station security had raided his shop.
Again with those damn weapons. They weren’t even functional! But somehow those two mercenaries had spotted them the first time they had entered his shop. Had he known a single glance at the damn things would have caused Yulia to get hurt, he would have destroyed them the moment he created the stupid things.
He checked on the rest of the case. It had been a day or two since the attack, but he didn’t expect much movement. He was proven wrong on that account.
All crew of the Devil’s Bargain were tried and convicted for piracy by the Council. They have all received a sentence of death.
It was quite surreal for Alexander. He hadn’t met any of these other mercenaries, and yet he now learned they were all convicted of the attack and sentenced within a day. And why did the report not list their names like the previous report did?
This was just another reminder that life was not worth what it was back in his day. The laws here were swift and brutal for certain offenses. That didn’t mean he felt any remorse for these people. If not outright part of the attack, they still assisted the two men who did. If they hadn’t, those men wouldn’t have been on the station.
The only thing that gave him pause was consideration for Yulia’s past. Hopefully, the memories of that time were long forgotten. He certainly wasn’t going to bring it up.
Alexander flicked off the case screen and started searching for appropriate housing. That along with Yulia’s agreement to allow him to become her parent was all that was holding up the process.
Finding a house wasn’t a challenge. Even on the second ring, there were ‘houses’. He would have preferred to place her somewhere nicer, but with not being able to use the normal lifts, he was pretty restricted on where and when he could travel across rings. As for Yulia agreeing to the adoption. He was about 80% sure she would.
The young girl seemed quite enamored with him in a way she wasn’t with anyone else. The few times he had seen her interact with other adults, she turned shy or withdrawn. She had a similar reaction to Eva, even though that woman seemed to be able to get anyone to talk. He didn’t hold it against the retiree for working for Captain Na. He didn’t even hate the Captain. He just didn’t trust his or the station's motives after everything that had happened so far.
After flipping through listings, Alexander found a small space that could double as a house. It was even in the same section that his shop occupied. There would be a lot more cleaning in his immediate future, he was sure of that. After purchasing the space for half a year, he closed that window.
He had to sit there and think for a bit. The next decision was far more important and long-reaching than a simple house. Ever since he had realized he was no longer under the restrictions Yuri placed into the holo emitter, he knew he was going to move on from Petrov. He had even stated as much when he met with Headmaster Wong. Even if none of the past few months happened, he knew staying here wouldn’t get him any closer to figuring out how he got trapped in this body. The attack and the station selling him out only reinforced the need to leave.
Alexander hadn’t put any serious thought into where he was going to go though. Maybe a part of him hadn’t ever believed he would be able to free himself from the control box. At least not without destroying the only thing that had kept him awake. That moment before the pulse blast tore the old holo emitter apart, Alexander felt genuine fear. It was masked by the rage he felt at the time, but looking back on it now, he knew what the emotion was.
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Alexander rubbed his hand across the surface of his body. His sensitive fingers couldn’t find the seams of the repair. His body was now completely unblemished. But he had stared at the damage for over three years, so he could trace the contours of where the damage had once been.
The fact that the damage had been fixed by a process he didn’t understand sent a chill down his metaphorical spine. Whatever had accomplished the feat was clearly beyond human technology. It rekindled his need to know where he had come from and how he arrived in this state. That need to know had slipped into the background as he was forced to spend his time trying to just survive.
If what he believed was true, he needed to step out on his own. He couldn’t have the STO, or these corporations breathing down his neck as he searched for evidence of his past. If his body was of alien origin, there was no telling what people would do to get their hands on it.
And honestly… He wasn’t willing to work for anyone other than himself. Alexander decided to write Dr. Lund first.
Dr. Lund,
First of all, I just wanted to thank you for assisting me with the few questions I had. Our discussions were eye-opening. I’m messaging you to let you know, I will be turning down the offer to join your research group. Some things have changed for me recently, and it simply wouldn’t work.
I understand what you are doing is important. But I feel working for myself is simply the better option. If you ever feel like getting out of the theoretical game, send me a message. I may have a job for you instead. Please keep in touch.
Alexander Kane.
He hit send on the message. Depending on whether their ship was near a station with a Qcomm or not, it could take hours or weeks to get a response.
Before he sent his next message, he did some research. Unlike the station’s listing for properties, there wasn’t one central place to find properties for sale across human space.
Instead of wasting his time trying to locate one that would fit the goal he had in mind, he contacted a real estate agency located in a core world called Ganos.
“Fidelity Properties, My name is Violet. How can I be of assistance today?”
He was surprised to see a video window pop up instead of the standard text interface. The video came through grainy, but he could hear her just fine.
“Oh, it appears our connection is rather rough. I do not see any image, are you hearing me ok?”
“…I am. Sorry, Violet. I’m on a public terminal, and I don’t think it even has a camera.”
“Oh, that’s fine. How can I help you today…”
“Alexander Kane. I’m looking for a property.”
“That is wonderful news, Mr. Kane. What type of requirements are you looking for in this property?”
He listed off the items he would need. Even through the grainy video, he could see the woman frown slightly.
“Those are some very specific requirements, Mr. Kane. May I ask what sort of budget you are working with?”
When he told her the amount, she immediately perked up.
“Well, that will certainly make things easier. It may take some time to find something that meets your needs, but I believe it is doable. Do you have a timeframe?”
He wanted to say no, but he honestly wanted to get off this station as soon as he could. “Is a couple of months doable?”
She tapped in some items on a screen off to the side. “It will limit your options to already vacant properties. But we should be able to make something work. Do you have a personal comm number I can contact you at?”
“Not currently. I have a merchant account though, so just send any correspondence there.” He sent the merchant account information to the woman.
“Alright, I have the information and what you are looking for. We will be in touch soon, Mr. Kane.”
He thanked the woman and closed the connection. Alexander knew requiring the property to be outside of STO-controlled space was a big ask, but it was mandatory if he wanted to work in peace.
The next message was a bit more difficult for him to send. First off, he didn’t want to rely on anyone else if he could avoid it. That obviously hadn’t helped him so far. But he didn’t have the resources necessary to buy a ship, learn to fly it, and operate it all himself. He could purchase a ship and pay a crew, but that money would be better spent purchasing his new home.
He was also forced to consider where this home would be. It certainly wouldn’t be on a world that humanity wanted. But it did need to have a breathable atmosphere. Wherever he ended up needed to be safe enough for Yulia, yet outside of the STO’s reach as well as any local government. There was no point shucking off the reins of the STO, only to be saddled with some local force that was equally as shitty, if not more so.
In his research, he knew humanity had explored quite a bit farther than they currently claimed for territory. The thing is, nominally habitable worlds, were not all that rare. Earth-like planets were, but there were still five of those that composed the core worlds of the STO’s territory. And they had another dozen worlds that were being terraformed as they were populated. If you didn’t like that, there were orbital installations like Petrov, satellite colonies, bubble habitats on worlds like Mars, and even certain asteroid installations.
There was no lack of space to live. Humanity had picked the closest and easiest-to-reach targets to occupy and the rest was just waiting for them to expand outward at a later date. He figured their reluctance to spread themselves out too far probably had a lot to do with their run-in with the Shican, the first alien species humanity had encountered.
He added that to his list of things to research. It wouldn’t do him any good to establish a home in some distant world, only for those aliens to show up.
Another major consideration was supplies. Wherever his base of operations ended up, it would likely need constant replenishment from shipping. It might be a decade or more before he managed to establish a self-sufficient economy, if ever. It really depended on what resources the world had to offer.
Then there was hiring workers and getting families over and… He paused, his mind spinning from all the details. Details he didn’t need to worry about at the moment. It was at times like this he wished he could take a calming breath. Instead, he centered himself as best he could in his mind. Then he composed his next message.
Jasper,
Is your offer still good? I may need some assistance. Contact me as soon as you get this message.
Alexander.
Now he would wait and see.
He closed the terminal and headed back to his shop to clean. Then he would head to the new apartment.