Alexander waited in the patient discharge area. People were giving him odd looks, but he was used to that by now. In his hand was a stuffed bear he had printed for Yulia. Despite the advanced meds, they still kept the girl for two days. This was to ensure no complications from her injuries or the medications.
Soon enough, the door swung open and a nurse wheeled a very disoriented-looking little girl out on a wheelchair.
“Alex?” the girl asked in confusion. “Where is Headmaster Wong?”
The girl tried to stand but the nurse gently pressed her back into the seat. “There will be time for walking around later. For now, just rest sweetie. Can you do that for me?” The girl gave a tired nod and the nurse smiled, setting the chair off to the side so Yulia could watch a holo screen with some cartoon of a talking cat playing on it.
“Mr. Kane?”
“Yes.” Although he didn’t know who else she expected him to be considering he was an eight-foot-tall robot.
“There are a few final things we have to complete before we can discharge her to your care.”
“Like what?” he had the new holo emitter he wore project a questioning look.
“First off, Yulia hasn’t agreed for you to become her guardian yet. So we need to wait for Headmaster Wong to arrive to speak with the girl and complete that portion. He should have been here already.”
He had expected this part, but he assumed he would be the one to bring her by the orphanage to complete that. “And the other part?”
“That would be the payment for the treatment.” Without even asking how much it was, Alexander handed her a credit chip.
The nurse looked slightly surprised by this, but she nodded and took the chip, heading over to a terminal to complete the payment. While she was busy doing that, Mr. Wong arrived.
“Apologies for being late. I had a situation at the orphanage to deal with. Where is Yulia?”
Alexander pointed to the wheelchair near the far side of the room.
“Is she lucid enough?” This question was directed to the nurse.
“By any legal definition, yes. However, she may have some memory loss. I would also recommend keeping your questions to the minimum or she may start growing confused.”
“Hmm. Not ideal, but as long as we cover our bases it should be fine.”
“Is something going on? Can’t we just wait until she’s completely recovered?” Alexander asked, unsure as to why they felt this needed to be done right now.
Wong and the nurse shared a look. “Have the Captains not sent a representative to speak with you yet?”
“I spoke to Captain Na if that’s what you mean.”
Wong shook his head. “Captain Na reached out to me through Eva Wu. Are you familiar with the woman?”
Alexander made his avatar nod.
“Good. Anyway, the Captains have voted and you are being expelled from the station.”
After being accused of manufacturing weapons, Alexander wasn’t surprised by this. Seeing no reaction to this statement, Wong continued.
“If we don’t complete this adoption before they speak with you to pass on this ruling, it will block this adoption.”
He didn’t know how to feel about that. He had already gotten her the treatment she needed, so there was no worry there. And was he really the best person to be a father to a little girl? While he had done a lot of thinking on the subject and in general thought he could do a decent job, he would never be the warm loving father figure she might need.
“She is healed, so she would go back into the orphanage then, wouldn’t she?”
The headmaster shook his head vehemently. “That’s the problem. Because I started the adoption process, she would fall under the ruling the Captains have issued for you. But because you are not legally her parent yet, she would not be able to board a ship with you. She would instead be held in confinement until such time as an STO ship comes by.”
“What?! Why? What are you trying to say?” He had an idea, but he wanted the man to spell it out for him because to Alexander it sounded far too cruel and barbaric a punishment for an innocent child.
The slightly overweight headmaster swallowed thickly. “The STO would see her record. It may have been fudged slightly by the previous captain, but we can’t assume this new captain would have the same feelings as the last. They may even report this infraction and get that original captain in trouble.”
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If that were true, they would declare the little girl a pirate and eject Yulia out of an airlock for something she had no part in. These people and their laws were insane. He knew piracy was bad and needed to be snuffed out, but who could ever be cold or cruel enough to condemn a child for their parent's actions?
“What are you waiting for then?” Alexander practically dragged the man over to the seated girl.
The girl looked over at their arrival, her eyes still slightly glassy from the medications she had been given. “Headmaster?”
The man straightened up his ruffled clothing from Alexander’s rough handling and knelt down to the girl. “Hello, Yulia. How are you feeling?”
“Tired,” the girl admitted.
The man nodded sympathetically. “We won’t keep you long. I just have a few questions if you’re up for it.”
He gestured toward Alexander. “You know Mr. Kane, correct?”
She looked confused by the question so Alexander spoke up. “That’s my last name, Yulia.”
“Ohh…” She nodded.
“Good, good,” Wong continued. “Do you like Mr. Kane?”
She nodded again.
“If you could say yes or no please,” the man urged.
“Yes,” she spoke, a yawn escaping her lips.
“That’s wonderful. One last question, Yulia dear. How would you like it if Alexander Kane adopted you?”
“Huh?” Alexander could see she understood the question, she was just overtaken by emotion as her eyes started to water. Then slowly she started to nod.
“You need to say the word, Yulia,” Wong gently prodded.
The reply came tentatively, almost like the girl didn’t believe this was happening. “…Yes.”
The headmaster blew out a sigh. And pressed his thumb to a tablet he had been holding the entire time. The screen blinked green once and he spoke into it. “I have included the recorded agreement from Ward Yulia. She has agreed to the adoption. As of this date in the year 2398, Ward Yulia is now Yulia Kane.” The man clicked off the tablet and stuffed it back into a satchel he was carrying. “Congratulations to you two, and I wish you the best of luck.”
“Thank you, Mr. Wong. I’m sorry for the rough handling.”
He waved away the concern. “It was for the best. It shows me you do truly care what happens to her. Now I must return to the orphanage before the kids find a way to burn it down. Please do remember to come by.”
“I will before we leave.”
He shook the man’s hand and the headmaster made a quick exit. When the door to the corridor opened, Alexander stiffened. Two station security and a larger man waited outside. The bigger man’s eyes flicked toward him and remained there until the doors closed once more.
“Ahem,” the nurse cleared her throat to get his attention. She held out his credit chip to him. “You are all paid up, Mr. Kane. …There was an unusual delay in the payment processing.”
“Does this unusual delay have anything to do with the three men waiting outside?”
“Hmm. I’m sure I wouldn’t know. But just be aware, only patients and their loved ones or guardians are allowed inside this area.”
“Thank you for that,” he expressed genuine gratitude toward the nurse.
The woman smiled. “I’ve done nothing but my job, Mr. Kane. Now you and your lovely daughter have a wonderful life. And hopefully a quieter one from here on out.”
He nodded. Although, he wasn’t sure how quiet his life was going to be considering he was about to be evicted from the station. Then again, he already had plans in place to leave. He just thought he had more time. If Captain Daniels didn’t respond soon, he might need to find alternative transportation.
“Is it okay if I leave her here for a moment while I have a chat with my guests outside?”
“Take all the time you need Mr. Kane. I’ll be here to keep an eye on her.” She looked over at the girl. “Although, I don’t see that being a problem.”
Alexander focused his attention on Yulia, even as he turned his holographic face to make it appear he was looking at her. The girl was fast asleep.
“Again, Thank you.” With that, he turned and strode out the automatic doors, ducking so he didn’t smash the top of his frame against the ceiling as he passed.
The larger of the three men looked him over, while the two guards looked on nervously, their hands on stun sticks.
“Gentlemen… I assume you are here to speak with me?”
“You’re bigger than I imagined,” the larger of the three stated instead of answering his question.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t get your name,” Alexander responded testily. If these men were going to be rude, he would be rude right back.
The man snorted at Alexander’s tone. “I heard you were a feisty one. Name’s Captain Sergei Zhang. You can call me Captain Sergei Zhang. And you are Alexander Kane. Or at least the robotic puppet of his. I need to speak with you in person.”
“You are,” Alexander replied, being purposefully obtuse.
The man forced a smile on his face, but it never reached his eyes. “You know what I mean, Kane, so stop playing these games.”
“If you know who I am, you know that isn’t possible. My body is in a stasis pod, and my mind is controlling this form. If I turned off the stasis, I would die.” He had come up with this excuse back when he planned this ‘pretending to be sick’ disguise to hide what he truly was. It was meant to prevent anyone from digging too deeply. It seemed his foresight was paying off.
Zhang clicked his tongue in annoyance. “Difficult to the very end. Fine. Have it your way, Kane." He turned to the guards. “Have you two recorded, Mr. Kane’s words?”
“Yes, Captain,” one of the security guards responded.
“Good enough.” He cleared his throat and turned back to him. “Alexander Kane. I, Sergei Zhang, as acting Captain of the Council of Captains, hereby pronounce your exile from Petrov station for the remainder of your life, as well as two further generations of your lineage. You have sixty standard days to book passage off of the station. Failure to do so will result in your incarceration until such time as the STO gets off their collective asses to come to collect you. When they do, you will be charged with trespassing and illegal squatting.”
“Is that all?” Alexander asked in annoyance. While he had expected some form of punishment for the weapons accusations, he thought Mingyu might have been able to mitigate that considering what he wanted from him. It appears Captain Na’s opinion didn’t have nearly as much weight as the man thought it did. It was a good thing Alexander was already making arrangements to leave.
The Captain’s smile returned and he took a step forward. “I hope you don’t find a way off the station. You see, I know what you’re all about, Kane. You think you can flaunt the rules and get away with it. Well, perhaps some forced labor will see that high and mighty attitude wiped away. Although, with your condition, I don’t think you’d survive. I somehow doubt they will let you use your fancy robot in lockup. You have a good day now.”
The trio turned and walked away, leaving Alexander upset and confused. When had he flaunted station laws? True, he had made weapons, but it wasn’t like he wanted to do that, and he had destroyed them. Captain Zhang seemed to have a bit of a chip on his shoulder.
Alexander shook those thoughts away and quickly forgot the captain as he went in to retrieve Yulia. It was time to take her to her new – albeit temporary – home.