Chapter 23

As he neared the orphanage, he came across more children. These seemed to be about Yulia's age or older. They looked sad and scared. They must have heard about Yulia's condition.The children averted their eyes when they saw him. It was a reaction he hadn't seen in some time. The damage to his body seemed to be completely gone, although, he probably looked much more imposing without his holographic cartoon face to make him appear friendly.

Alexander lightly knocked on the bulkhead door that led into the orphanage.

"Yes?" a voice came over an intercom next to the door.

He had missed the intercom in his rush to meet with the headmaster. Alexander pressed the button to respond. "Hello. I'm Alexander Kane. I wish to speak with you about adopting Yulia."

"Alexander Kane? Yes. I've heard of you. Please hold on a moment and I will let you in and we can speak."

About a minute later, the door to the orphanage popped open, and an older man with greying hair around his temples peeked his head out. The man's eyes went wide at seeing him.

"Oh my! I've heard the kids speak about you, but I didn't really believe half of what they said."

"Sorry about my appearance. My holo emitter was damaged in the attack."

The man nodded solemnly. "Yes, I've been told what happened. I'm Headmaster Wong, please come inside so we can talk."

Alexander followed the man inside. "Someone told you what happened?"

"Oh, were you not aware of who reported the attack?"

He would have shaken his head if he could. He sighed internally, this body was not designed with non-verbal communication in mind. He would need to replace the holo-emitter as soon as he could. "No. The signal to this robot was damaged and it only came back online after the police had arrived."

"I see. Well, I can fill you in. We came back late from a field trip. While I was preparing the evening meal, Yulia snuck out." He looked around to make sure none of the younger children were in earshot. They were all across the room watching some program. Nodding to himself, he spoke quietly. "Don't tell the children, but I know when they come and go. I usually don't discipline them unless I catch them returning. They have it rough enough without me trying to take the place of their parents. Some would even balk at me trying and act out more. Besides, the older kids are good at policing the younger ones. That's what happened last night."

"One of the other kids came across the attack?" That was horrible.

The man nodded slowly. "It was Markus. The boy has always looked out for the younger kids. But I think he has a soft spot for Yulia. He's always getting her out of trouble."

"Is he ok?"

"He should be fine with some help. He's speaking with a mental health specialist at the moment. A lot of our kids suffer from trauma. So we do our best to help them get over it. Here we are."

The man motioned for Alexander to follow him into an office. Honestly, it looked a lot like Doctor Nord's office only a lot less tidy.

"Normally we would have the child present for this discussion. And then conduct a separate interview but that's not possible." The man sat behind his desk and pulled out a folder from one of the drawers. "Yulia's been here for over three years. A few couples have tried to adopt her in the past. But she didn't want anything to do with them."

"What? Why wouldn't she want to be adopted?" He did recall how shy she got around Eva. Maybe she was introverted. Sёarᴄh the ηovёlFire .net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

"…I normally wouldn't bring this up. But seeing as she is getting to the age where further adoption is unlikely, I think it's ok. It's not against the rules for me to tell you, it's just a sensitive subject."

"Is this about her parents?"

"Yes. There is no easy way to say this. Yulia's parents were pirates."

"What? She told me her father fought in the war."

"That may actually be true. I never met the man. But I can confirm he was a pirate. They both were. Her parent's ship was captured trying to extort a freighter in a nearby system. An STO destroyer just so happened to be flying through the system and intercepted them. After disabling their engines, the STO boarded the ship and dispatched the pirates after a short gunfight. When they were clearing the ship, they found the girl hiding in a closet. Instead of declaring her a pirate along with the rest, they put her in the system as a rescued slave."

Alexander winced at that. If the Captain of the destroyer tagged her as a pirate, she would have had the same fate as the rest. It seemed like condemning a five-year-old for their parents' poor choices was just a bit too much. He was glad the Captain had seen sense.

"Since they couldn't bring the girl back to the core, not without uncomfortable questions being asked, they dumped her on Petrov Station."

"That's horrific. Do you think she remembers the incident and that is why she refuses adoption?"

"If she does, she hasn't spoken of it. Now that you know her story, does that change your mind at all?"

"No… why would it?"

The man shrugged. "I have to ask. There are people on this station, and that I know personally that have suffered pirate attacks. I couldn't in good conscience adopt the child out to someone with a history like that. That brings me to my next question. What makes you think you're qualified to be her parent?"

"…I- I don't know. When she was attacked at my shop. All I could feel was pure anger at the men who hurt her. And a desire to protect her at all costs."

The man nodded along. "And how do you feel now?"

He had to think about it for a moment. "Anxious? Worried. Upset. She should be given the best medical treatments possible, but because she is a ward, they are denying it to her. It's not fair."

"I happen to agree, Mr. Kane. But life is not fair. Especially out in space. You are on the second ring with the rest of us, so you must understand. That being said, I am aware of your new financial situation."

"You are?"

"Yes," the man replied testily. "A certain Captain Na, who should be keeping to his duties and not sticking his nose in where it isn't wanted or needed, filled me in. Congratulations by the way. Any time you can stick it to one of the big core mega-corporations, the better. So that covers the financial question. What about a home, Mr. Kane?"

"A home?"

"Yes, a home. You can't expect Yulia to live inside your workshop, can you? What about where your body is stored?"

He wasn't surprised the man knew about his 'condition'. He had been advertising it as much as he could to try and get the word out. "My body is just in a rented storage locker. But I can certainly find a home."

"You would need to do that before I can finalize the adoption. Last question, Mr. Kane. What are your plans?"

Originally, he had planned to just keep repairing stuff and trying to uncover his past. But since the attack, he now had more options. He was no longer tethered to the station, he could board a ship and leave at any time. He had mulled over accepting Dr. Nova Lund's offer to work for them. He had been conversing with Lund and a few of the members of his team over the last few months. And while he enjoyed those discussions and learned quite a bit, he was done working for others or being beholden to others. He wanted to strike out on his own, and now he had the chance to do that.

"I believe I plan on leaving Petrov station in the near future."

The headmaster nodded, not seeming surprised by the answer. "That might be the best for Yulia's sake. A daily reminder of where she got attacked will not be very conducive to healing."

"Does that mean you will approve the adoption?" He felt a momentary flicker of hope spark inside him. If he had any lingering doubts before that he was doing the right thing, he didn't anymore.

"Just hold on," the man gestured. "You need to fix your living arrangement first. A simple apartment would be plenty since you don't plan on staying. But I will mark the adoption as in progress. This will register you as her guardian, and qualify her to receive the medication she needs to make a full recovery. Just read over these forms, sign them, and transfer the adoption fee. The last step will be determining if Yulia wishes for you to be her new father. But that will have to wait until she recovers."

He assumed there would be a fee. Everything had fees in the future. But that was fine. He quickly read through the document and signed it. The fee wasn't even that bad. He used the terminal in the headmaster's office and quickly transferred the sum over.

"Congratulations, Mr. Kane. You are now Yulia's guardian. Considering what you tried to do for her, I am sure you will make a wonderful parent. I wish her the best in her recovery. But if you could, before departing the station, bring her by the orphanage so she can say goodbye. She has a lot of friends here."

"Thank you, Headmaster Wong. I will do my best. And I will certainly bring her by once she has recovered. One last thing. Would it be possible to send Markus to my shop so I can thank him personally?"

The man rubbed his chin. "I can ask him when he returns. But I won't promise he will listen."

"That's all I ask for. Thank you again." Alexander bowed his massive frame before turning and leaving. He needed to get back to the hospital so they could update their records and treat Yulia properly.