Chapter 28

A few days later Alexander got a comm message from Fidelity Properties. They had found a suitable location that met his criteria. They just wanted to discuss it over video at his earliest convenience. He supposed that made sense. They couldn't know what time it was where he was located and they were available at all hours. He was honestly surprised they had gotten back to him so soon.Alexander waited until Yulia was asleep before he walked to the nearest terminal to contact Fidelity. He hadn't splurged for a comm that allowed holo video as he didn't see the point.

His daughter – he was still having a hard time conceptualizing that – had bounced back rather quickly from her ordeal. She still asked about her friends, and Alexander really wanted to let her just go play with them during the day, but he was finding it hard to let her out of his sight after his promise. He knew the girl would likely be fine and that he would have to get over the idea that as soon as she left his sight, she was going to get hurt again. That wasn't a healthy mindset for anyone. It seemed they both had things to work through.

This little excursion while she was safely in bed was a test for himself. So far he only wanted to go back and check on her five times since exiting the apartment. He was going to call that an improvement. Soon he arrived at the terminal that was visible from the apartment door. It was a small compromise.

When he activated the terminal, a familiar face greeted him on the other end. "Mr. Kane, how nice to hear from you again. We weren't expecting your call so soon, but this will certainly speed things up."

"You as well, Violet. I wasn't expecting you to find something so soon. What do you have for me?"

"To be fair, we weren't coming up with many prospects. Then we got lucky. An estate sale popped up over on Earth and one of the items up for sale is an abandoned research facility that was established in 2201. It's probably bigger than you wanted, but the price will probably be quite a bit cheaper considering how far from Earth it is."

That made this piece of property almost ninety years older than Petrov station. It was probably going to need a lot of repairs and updates, but those he could manage. It was the other issue he was uncertain about.

"It's not too far is it?" He didn't want to impose on Jasper for multiple months just to fly him out to some dead research outpost.

"Well, you did ask for something outside of STO-controlled space. This place definitely falls into that category. But it's not as far out as you might think. There are four systems between the closest STO station and the facility. So a few weeks of travel depending on the ship."

That wasn't ideal, but it wasn't the worst either. Close enough to purchase supplies, far enough out that they shouldn't be bothered. "It's been almost a hundred years, why hasn't the STO expanded towards the facility?"

"Hmm, I can't say for certain," Violet stated, "but if I remember my history correctly, that was the direction that humanity encountered the Shican in. I believe the STO decided not to expand in that direction to ensure no further hostilities broke out."

"… A home inside a possible warzone doesn't sound like a good proposition."

The woman on the other side of the video laughed. "No, it certainly would not be. But I don't think you'll need to worry about that."

"Why?"

"No Shican vessel has been spotted in my lifetime as far as I'm aware. There are still some human ships that fly through that sector of space. Someone would have reported if the Shican had returned."

That still didn't sound ideal but he had limited options and limited time. With the additional money he might save, he could install defenses. Considering what he planned to do there, he would probably have to install them at some point anyway.

"Ok, consider me interested. How much do you think it will cost?"

"Excellent, Mr. Kane. And we don't need to speculate. Your timing is impeccable, there is a live auction going on now. If you would like I can add you to the call and as your representative, I will try to get you the best deal possible."

"Ok, let's do it."

The terminal he was using flashed and a hologram formed above it, showing all the items on sale in the auction. He watched as prices flickered up on certain items, but others barely moved. Violet did something on her end and the property in question spun towards the front of the image. The current bid on it was only twenty-five million.

He heard the girl chuckle over the comm. "Well, this is even better than we hoped."

She placed a bid, upping the price to thirty million.

It stayed that way for minutes before it rose again in another five million credit increment.

Alexander soon grew bored of watching that single auction and scrolled through the other items listed for sale. Whoever this person had been, they had been filthy rich. There were at least a dozen ships being bid on, starting from single-pilot intersystem ships, all the way up to a Class 4 hauler similar to Jasper's ship. He must have been missing something though because the prices were going insane on these ships.

"Why are the ships going for so much?"

"Mr. Woodrow, the gentleman who passed away, was an avid collector of rare items. Some like the ships are extremely sought after as collector's items. Others like the research facility, not so much."

"Who collects research facilities?"

Violet chuckled. "Anything that was rare or unique. It didn't matter to Mr. Woodrow if it was valuable."

"What makes a research facility unique?" It didn't make sense to Alexander.

"Oh, that's all in the attached documentation," Violet said as she opened up the document so Alexander could read it. Sёarch* The nôᴠel Fire.nёt website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

"Last standing remnant of the great expansion?"

"Not a fan of history, I take it?" Violet asked.

"Yes and no. I must have missed that one." The fact that she seemed to accept this excuse just showed how much information had been segregated over the decades.

"The Great Expansion happened shortly after humanity cracked the secret to FTL. I think that started around 2130 and ended in 2212."

"I assume it had to do with humanity populating other planets?"

"It did. Humanity kept spreading out until they realized there were more habitable planets than they knew what to do with. Then they ran into the Shican. I don't know much about the war, most of it is still classified even to this day. But soon after encountering them, humanity stopped expanding. While we were evenly matched with the Shican as far as technology, I think the people in charge back then must have been afraid of running into a more technologically advanced race. Considering the hypergates, I can't really blame them."

While they chatted, the auction continued. Occasionally some other buyer would bump up the price of the research facility, but he noticed it had slowed significantly.

"I've heard of these hypergates. Never used one myself," Alexander stated.

"Me either," Violet sighed. "I've never left Ganos. I've heard they are massive though."

"Not interested in space travel?" he asked.

The woman let out a wistful sigh. "I would love to travel the stars but I get motion sick. I can barely even stomach the fliers that stay sub-orbital. The one time I tried taking a holiday to Haja, our local satellite, I ended up spending my entire time in the bathroom. Even with the artificial gravity, my body just couldn't cope."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"That's kind of you to say. I've learned to be happy where I'm at."

There was a ding and Alexander looked at the holo-screen.

"Congratulations, Mr. Kane. You are now the proud owner of your very own research facility. And you got it for quite the steal."

He didn't quite consider spending seventy million a steal, but considering he was willing to spend nearly two hundred million, he should probably be happy.

"Now, there are a few things to go over before we finalize our end of the deal."

"Such as," Alexander asked, happy that he now had a place to go and a ride to take him there.

"First off, we recommend hiring a mercenary company to clear the place."

"Huh?" He thought he had misheard her.

"Oh, that is just standard fare for buildings left alone on unintegrated worlds. Sometimes pirates like to use them as bases. But most often, we just find squatters there. The mercenaries will also verify the habitable integrity of the location. You wouldn't want to buy a property on a world with poor air quality just to learn it leaks atmosphere from every entrance and seal."

He certainly didn't want to arrive at his new home to find either pirates or faulty life-support. But he also didn't want to just evict people who were trying to survive.

"Can the squatters remain?"

Violet paused. "… It's not normal for people to want to keep illegal squatters in their properties, Mr. Kane, but it's yours to do with as you please. I would still recommend having the mercenaries at least scan anyone there for warrants."

"That's fine, let's do that. How much is this going to cost me? Also, I haven't had the best luck with mercenaries, can you vouch for the ones you're hiring?"

"I'll make a note of your preferences in the action report. The cost will be an additional five million. Normally this is covered by our fee, but since this location is so far out, and so large, it's going to require a much larger investment. And yes, we can vouch for The Hawks of Ganos. They are one of the premier mercenary companies on Ganos and have a stellar reputation dating back to its founding. They are more like a private army, instead of the rag-tag outlaw type of mercenary teams you might find in the outer systems."

He was still iffy about this, but he hardly had any other choice. "Fine. As long as you vouch for them, let's do that."

"Excellent. I will get the action report completed and someone from the Hawks will be in touch to coordinate. I just need your confirmation, and then you will be given the deed to your new property, Mr. Kane."

Alexander sent over the digital certificate that was used in place of signatures in this century. After a few minutes, he got confirmation of the payment and the deed to his new property.

"And that completes the transaction, is there anything else we can assist you with?"

"There might be."