“Is it that day already?” Alexander asked Matthews over the video conference.
“We have a few days yet. But we are going to begin pulling our people back to the ship. I just thought you could use the heads up.”
“Thanks for the notice. I wish you could stay longer, but I understand why you can’t.”
“You may see some of our people sooner than you think. I believe Travers and Jallen have expressed interest in coming back here once their contracts are complete.”
Alexander put a surprised expression on his avatar’s face. “Really? Why?”
Matthews chuckled, a rare thing for the no-nonsense man. “It’s not for the scenic beauty, I can tell you that. I think it might have something to do with the free access to learning modules you have provided to the people who live at Eden’s End. I’ve heard a few of our engineers expressing interest as well. Heck, even I’m interested and my retirement is coming up soon.”
“…I honestly don’t know what to say. I didn’t think it was such a big deal.”
“That’s what I like about you, Mr. Kane. You are a generous sort of guy, a bit too generous I might add. If someone tried to do what you were doing in STO space, the company that made those learning modules would slap you with a lawsuit faster than you could blink. There isn’t anything the monopolies hate more than losing their profits. And sharing a learning module that is supposed to be for a single person with thousands would certainly cost them money. Getting their attention is not something you want.”
“I’m aware,” he muttered.
The Captain nodded. “I figured you might be aware of that particular problem. Most people who come out here do it to get away from STO or the corporations for one reason or another. Just be careful who you allow in your little community. There are those who would gladly take advantage of you for this opportunity. Or try to take it from you by force. I can’t even say for certain if the corporations wouldn’t try something more unsavory. There is more than one corporation with its own private military forces. And while I find the STO to be useless most of the time, being under their jurisdiction does have its benefits. Benefits that you have waived. You have some decent defenses, but never assume they are infallible. That’s about the only advice I can offer.”
“Thank you, Captain Matthews. And thank your people for their stellar job here. Without them, I doubt half as much would have been accomplished this soon.”
“Speaking of accomplishments, congratulations on your successful engine test.”
Alexander grimaced at that. “It’s not quite successful yet.” He had tested the rest of his engine iterations and found them all to perform far poorer than the Sinorus model, except the last one, which was almost a carbon copy of the Omni design with only a few changes to make it his own. But even that one didn’t outperform the Omni engine.
“Yes, but the numbers are promising. You went from never having designed or built an engine, to having one that beats out one of the major manufacturers. You just need to take a step back and realize this. Do you think either of those companies got off the ground in only a few months?”
“…No,” he sighed. “I know what you’re saying is true, it’s just hard for me to accept.”
The man laughed. “Considering all the crazy stuff you have been doing in the last nine months, I’m not surprised that failure is a hard concept to accept. Someone once told me that you learn far more from failures than you would ever learn from success. So fail and learn, Kane. If you keep at it, I expect when we return, you will have some of the most powerful and efficient engines around.”
They discussed a few other topics, mostly the station, which was now partially operational. It was just the smelter and a storage area to contain the raw ore for now. He was still working on getting fuel storage and processing up there but the challenges of getting those components into space were significantly harder using only the launcher. It took redesigning the fuel storage multiple times before he managed a design that could fit into the capsules and be formed by his robots once it was in place. He hadn’t gotten around to manufacturing those components yet.
He needed to make that happen soon though, especially with the Hawks leaving.
Na and his crew had gone back to their ship about a month ago and were deep in the outer belt of the system, scanning asteroids for mining. They would need to come in for fuel eventually. If he couldn’t get fuel up there, they would be stuck drifting or relying on their maneuvering thrusters to get around.
Alexander hadn’t spoken to Na much during the last few months. The few times he had, the man had expressed his concern over what had become of his home. Na was haunted by the fact he ran away and left Petrov station to pirates. Not that his being there would have changed that outcome. Explaining that fact to him didn’t help though. Alexander hoped that going back to mining would help take his mind off of things in Gliese 667. From the little news coming out of this ‘Pirate Incursion’ as the news outlets were calling it, little had changed since the initial attack.
There had been a few more signs of pirates lingering around the systems that the Hawks patroled, but that had tapered off a few months back.
The going theory from S.A.M. was that the Hawks’ continued presence in the area had made the pirates move on to look for easier prey. Captain Matthews agreed with the machine's analysis based on his personal experience with pirates.
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With the meeting concluded Alexander left the meeting room. He had a lot of things to complete in the next couple of days before the Hawks left.
***
Yulia hid behind a crate, doing her best to remain still and silent even though her heart was beating super fast. She had managed to avoid them for the last few days, but they had finally cornered her in the atrium.
There were no more places to run. The playground was on the far side of the camp and it was open ground all the way to it. They would spot her as soon as she left cover.
She heard footsteps nearby and froze, a dark shadow loomed over her but the figure didn’t turn to face her. Instead, the woman cleared her throat. “Your friends were redirected to a different area, I suggest you hurry before they figure out you aren’t there.”
“Thank you, Zorina,” she spoke quietly before darting out from her hiding spot and towards the safety of the playground.
“There she is!” one of the kids yelled and the chase was on.
Yulia pushed her short legs as fast as she could as the screaming laughing group of kids chased her in the game of tag. She learned early on after arriving at Eden’s End that while she was shorter, she was slightly stronger and faster than some of the kids born here. Not by much, but it was all she needed to barely avoid the lunging hand as she dove onto the playground mat with a triumphant shout. “Safe!”
“That’s not fair,” one of the kids grumbled.
“Yeah, you cheated!” one of the mean boys proclaimed.
“Cheated how?” she asked indignantly, putting her fists against her waist.
The boy was not intimidated by her actions. “You got that soldier lady to give us false directions.”
“No rule against outside help,” Markus replied in his broken English.
The two boys were about the same age and neither one seemed to like the other very much. She wasn’t quite sure why, but she was glad Markus was on her side.
She stuck her tongue out at the other boy who she hadn’t even bothered to learn the name of. “See! Besides, I didn’t ask for help. People just like me more than you.”
The boy snorted and turned away from Markus. “Keep thinking that way, Princess. Let’s, go. I’m bored with this game anyway.”
A few of the kids left with the older boy, but some still stuck around. They didn’t seem to want to play tag anymore, and the few left decided to run over to the playground equipment instead.
“Why did he call me princess?” Yulia asked the only person left.
Markus sighed. “You know what a princess is, right?”
She shook her head. Yulia had never heard the term before.
“A princess is a girl that comes from wealth and power. Since you are the robot’s daughter, and he owns this entire place, you are the princess.”
She started to smile at that until Markus burst her happy little bubble.
“It’s not meant as a compliment. They are being mean because they don’t have the same advantages you have.”
“That’s not true,” she began to argue.
“It’s not? Why was the playground built? Sure, everyone else uses it, but the robot built it for you.”
“Stop calling him that,” she huffed. “His name is Alex!”
Markus just rolled his eyes, “Fine. Alex built it for you. He also hired the mercenaries for you and him. I even heard that he told someone that the only reason he is defending this place is to protect you and him. He doesn’t care about the rest of the people here, never has.”
“That’s not true! You take that back!” Yulia got so angry, she tried to kick Markus in the shin. He stepped back and she missed.
“I’m just telling you what I heard. You know how rumors spread. Remember on the station? I taught you to keep your ears and eyes open. How have you not heard people talking about these things?”
She had been listening to people. Sort of. “Most adults don’t talk a whole lot when I’m around.”
“Because they are afraid of what Alex will do to them. They are afraid of you.”
“No,” she began to cry.
“I’m not telling you this to hurt your feelings, but you should know how people, the kids, and adults all see you. Even–,”
“Even what?” she demanded through her tear-streaked eyes.
Markus sighed again. “Even your friends, Sarah and Claire are probably only pretending to be your friends because they think they can get something out of it, or their parents do.”
“You’re lying!” she wiped away the tears. “Why are you being so mean? Is it because I got adopted and you didn’t?”
For the first time that she could remember, she saw Markus get angry. “Fine, don’t believe me. See if I care.” Then the boy walked off, leaving her to stew in confusion.
There were only two people she could turn to for answers. And she didn’t want to ask Alex about this, he would think it silly. And he was busy fixing things.
Yulia found Zorina removing some tent poles that had been driven into the dry dirt of the atrium. She paused at that. “Are you leaving?” tears began to well up in her eyes again.
The woman looked up from her work, giving Yulia a piercing stare that made her wish she wasn’t being such a baby at the moment. After setting down the poles, the woman walked over. “We are. You knew we would eventually, why are you crying?”
“I thought it wouldn’t be for a while longer,” Yulia muttered as she looked away and wiped off the tears.
“Is that the only reason?” the woman asked pointedly.
Yulia shook her head. She found she couldn’t ever lie to the woman when she confronted her for doing something she shouldn’t have been doing.
“Tell me what bothers you?”
She told Zorina about what Markus and the other boy said.
The woman nodded. “Your friend tells the truth. At least about what people say. I do not know your friends well, so I cannot say if that is true also.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Yulia demanded.
The woman only quirked an eyebrow at the outburst.
“Please,” she lowered her head at her shameful tone.
“Since you asked nicely, I will tell you. It was not important to our mission. People always talk down about people above them. It is the way things go. Telling you wouldn’t have changed this fact, it would have only hurt your feelings. Your friend Markus could learn a lesson in tact, he shouldn’t have told you this either.”
“Isn’t it better that I know?”
“Is it?” Zorina asked in reply. “From what I can see, all it has done is make you angry, and upset, and shoved a wedge in your friendship with Markus and the other children. Are you happy that happened?”
Yulia shook her head slowly.
“Of course, you aren’t. Let me ask you another question. Do the kids treat you differently?”
“…No?”
“You don’t sound very sure of that.”
“No. Well, some of the older kids do. But they never much liked me to begin with.”
“Then their opinions don’t matter. If you are happy with how the other kids treat you, then that’s all that matters. But… If you think this is important, I will relay this issue to my Field Leader, and they can bring it up with your father.”
Yulia paused at that. She didn’t want to make a big deal out of this, that was why she had come to Zorina instead of going to Alex. After thinking about it for a bit, she shook her head. “No… I can deal with the other kids.”
Zorina smirked. “Good. Let this be a valuable lesson, Yulia. Sometimes, you have to solve your own issues. That doesn’t mean you can’t seek help or guidance from someone older and wiser though.” With a wink, Zorina turned Yulia around and gave her a gentle shove. “Now, I have work to do.”