Chapter 3-3

When he first came home and heard Yulia mumbling in her sleep, he went in to check on her. It was obvious from how much she was tossing and turning that she was having a nightmare. Alexander thought about waking her but decided against it. She needed her sleep, and she couldn't have been asleep for very long since he had been here not too long ago and she had yet to return home. He had worried, but he knew Dog was with her and hadn't alerted him to any danger so he hadn't gone looking for her.He did review Dog's footage while Yulia was asleep.

He wasn't sure why she went to Nancy until she started asking her questions. Then the girl mentioned her father and her whole demeanor changed. He was afraid this might happen.

Alexander purposefully did not mention Yulia's biological parents because of who they were and what they were. He didn't want her to think he was trying to replace them or bring up any bad memories she might have had. It's also why he only brought up the question of why she referred to him as Alex instead of Dad that one time. He hoped in time those memories would fade from her mind and she would feel comfortable enough to refer to him as something other than Alex.

It seemed those memories had been brought back to the forefront of the girl's mind by the attack. He knew from the man's own records that he was somehow involved in her parents' deaths because of the record with Yulia's Mother's picture on it. Keeping the claimed bounty records seemed to be like some sick little trophy for Dalton.

Not wanting to leave her alone in case she did wake up, Alexander walked over to the small holo terminal in the apartment instead of going back to his workshop. He would keep an eye on her and wake her if the nightmares persisted.

This did give him time to get his thoughts in order. He needed to figure out how he wanted to approach Matthews about working with the Char family.

On a fundamental note, Alexander knew working with pirates in any capacity was a bad idea. He knew this because he had bad ideas all the time, most he never carried through with though. Unfortunately, some he did. Like his plan to knock Omni down. Going against Omni was a pretty bad idea, but he had a general idea of the stakes involved. The same could be said with him taking Captain Krieger, his crew, and the Dawn back to STO space. Sure it worked out in the end, but he couldn't have known that at the start.

That fact was made abundantly clear to him by a few people, Captain Na specifically. The only reason Alexander ignored their sage advice against taking the STO people back was because he needed to make connections. One surefire way to do that was to return their lost crew and ship, earning him some much-needed goodwill. Even then, Alexander only considered it a viable strategy because he had a general idea of how the STO would react.

He wasn't entirely correct in his estimation, mostly because he wasn't aware of the politics involved.

That miscalculation had almost resulted in a battle against a captain who had been sent out to Varlen as a punishment. The chip on Captain Willard's shoulder had almost ruined Alexander's entire mission. He was sure it would have if Vice Admiral Fletcher hadn't stepped in to put the overly aggressive man in his place.

Knowing what he did now, he couldn't afford to make rash decisions. He needed to speak with people who knew the players involved and get their opinions on his plan before he pushed forward.

Alexander did have an emergency plan in case nobody thought his idea to reach out to the Char family was a good one. It was another bad idea that involved taking the Fury and Resolve and vanishing beyond the reach of Harlow.

Giving up everything he built on Eden's End would be a difficult decision, but he would do it in a heartbeat if it meant keeping Yulia safe. Hopefully, he came up with another plan B so it wouldn't come to such drastic measures.

Morning broke, and Yulia stumbled out of her room, looking like a zombie.

He let the poor girl wake up, eat, and get dressed in solitude. She seemed to need it. Then he walked her to class and went in search of Archie to have a long overdue chat.

Unlike Alexander, Captain Matthews was rather social. He found the man chatting it up with some of the former Hawks outside an establishment that had become Eden's End's first restaurant slash bar.

"Alexander!" the man stated happily as he rose to greet him. "What brings you by the Meteorite?"

Alexander chuckled internally at the name. Someone had explained why the bar was named that way when he first asked about it. It was an inside joke that meant you hit rock bottom. An unfortunate if apt description of the planet.

Just because he lived on Eden's End, didn't mean he actually liked the thin atmosphere and heavy sulfur content. He could imagine most would choose a much more habitable location if given the chance. Even with most of the facility under positive pressure these days, he still heard people complaining about the smell.

"Do you have some time today? I would like to discuss some things with you."

The man chuckled. "I'm currently retired, Alexander. Until you get your academy up and running, all I have is free time. Come, my residence isn't too far away, we can talk there."

"You chose to live in Atrium A?" Alexander asked in surprise.

"I did. While I understand the reasons for you keeping your employees separate, I wanted to get to know the people who lived here. I also wanted to be close to my family when they decided to make the trip."

"When, not if?" Alexander asked as they walked through the quickly crowding streets of Atrium A. "The last time you spoke of your son and daughter, you weren't sure if they would agree to come out here. Did something change?"

The man sighed. "No, not really. Being able to badger them daily through the Qcomm does help though. I've only told a few people this, but I've been estranged from my kids for twenty years. My life as a captain took precedence over being a father. That was something I eventually came to regret but I don't regret my choices, only what they cost me. My time with the Hawks was important. That being said, we all make choices that we must live with. I'm hoping that I can rekindle some of the familial attachments now that I'm retired. I doubt I will ever convince my ex-wife to come out here. She remarried and she hates my guts. And she has every right to feel that way. It's her loss, but if I can talk even one of my children into coming here, I will consider that a win."

They soon arrived at a third-floor apartment. The apartments ran around the entire exterior of the atrium before the dome rose over the area. The third floor wasn't the highest, but it was up there. He would have thought the older man would have preferred a ground-floor apartment. It wasn't like there were elevators inside the atriums, just long winding ramps.

As they entered the apartment, Alexander thought he would find it rather Spartan given Matthews' very rigid persona during his time as Talon's Captain. He couldn't have been more wrong.

The main room had a warm feel with earth-toned furniture, and the walls displayed an array of knick nacks and keepsakes, likely from his long career. There were even pictures. One showed a fresh-faced Captain Matthews. He couldn't have been more than twenty-five in the photo. Next to him was a stunning woman with blond hair, blue eyes, and a toddler in her arms.

The man must have seen him staring and chuckled. "Yes, that's my ex-wife and our firstborn." He pointed to another family photo. In it, he was out of uniform. "That was the last photo we took as a family."

Alexander saw three kids in the photo, but the man had only mentioned two. He was sure there was a story behind that, but he decided not to pry.

"So, what did you wish to discuss? Is this about the academy?" Matthews asked as he sat on a nearby couch.

Alexander gave himself a mental shake and focused on the task at hand. "No. What can you tell me of the Char pirates?"

The man tilted his head. "That's an odd question. I don't know much. They are pirates, if that wasn't obvious. As far as I'm aware, they are the least offensive of the pirate families. I can't say I've had dealings with them, but word does get around. They are also said to be one of the more proficient groups when provoked. Why do you want to know?"

"You know who Dalton worked for, yes?"

Archie frowned. "Yes, hard not to know who Harlow Anazi is."

"What do you know of him?" Alexander had done his own research on Harlow but the publically available stuff was less than useless. It mostly painted the man as some sort of folk hero, something Alexander knew to be categorically untrue. Whoever was pushing that narrative was either a spy, traitor, or fool. Maybe even all three.

"Again, not much. He was famous for strikes into STO territory before he disappeared about a decade ago. Everyone thought he was dead until he returned with his attack on Petrov Station and the former Coalition worlds. Now, he's taken even more worlds, which means he's not just some idiot. He is a man of means, conviction, and at least some talent with tactics."

"Do you think he would simply give up on something he wanted?" Alexander asked.

"I assume you're asking because he wants you?"

Alexander nodded his avatar.

"I can't really say. I would like to think that being on the opposite end of STO space would give you a buffer against the man, but it's obvious he is willing to hire killers to get what he wants. If he's willing to do that, who's to say what the man will do? That doesn't mean you should turn to pirates for help though."

Alexander chuckled lightly. He should have realized Matthews would have put two and two together. "And why not? The enemy of my enemy is my friend as the saying goes."

"A stupid saying," the man grunted. "Why not just go to the STO for help?"

"And owe them? No thanks. Besides, I think they are busy enough with their war against Harlow as it is. As for working with Char, I don't want to ally with pirates, but a mutual defense pact might be doable. The Char family would need to make a few changes before I would agree to that though. I don't want BSE to be seen helping pirates, but I need allies, we need allies. It's only a matter of time before Harlow sends someone else. I can make this system the most unapproachable system in human space, that isn't going to matter one bit if we close ourselves off to the rest of the galaxy. BSE only exists to sell thrusters and eventually ships. If I can't safely bring those items to market in the STO, we are dead in the water, and Unokane won't be far behind." Alexander put his arms down, realizing he had been gesticulating wildly during his little speech.

Archie rubbed his beard in thought, not seeming at all affected by Alexander's outburst. It was a testament to the man's trust in him. Anyone else would have been flinching back as Alexander's arms whipped around wildly.

"You put a lot of thought into this, haven't you?"

"I've had this on my mind from the moment I realized who sent Dalton."

"I still say this is a bad decision, but if you feel there is no other option, I suppose there could be worse alternatives like allying yourself with the corporations or the Xin. If you ever considered either of those options, I would pack up and go back to STO space. That being said, you need to come up with alternatives to this plan, because I can see two options you haven't clearly considered."

"Only two?" Alexander asked sarcastically.

Archie just gave him a deadpan look before continuing. "The first is, what if she simply turns you down? You would be completely out of options at that point. The second option that you haven't considered is that she simply attacks you, either before you're ready to meet with or or when you arrive in her home system. Can you say for certain you could win against a seasoned commander?"

"…I- You're right. I hadn't considered either of those options. This is why I needed to speak with you, to tell me what I missed." Alexander had considered a fight might break out, but not the part where Char came back to Eden's End before he was ready. Also fighting a skilled commander hadn't been a consideration of his until now. His plan was to simply match them in ship numbers and hope he could deliver his message. Now he wasn't so certain that would be enough. He also hadn't considered she might simply tell him no.

While he was pondering Archie's last words, the man continued. "I won't even recommend you hire other mercenary groups to pad your numbers. First of all, I wouldn't trust them, and secondly, most mercenary companies don't have access to warships. So they wouldn't be much help. You should bring this up with Captain Bloomright. I'm sure the Hawks would jump at the chance to offer more assistance."

"I know, and I will. I wanted to get your opinion on the matter first before I brought in my captains and the Hawks. Even with their help, that's only three additional ships."

"They might be able to bring some more frigates. It would depend on whether the Hawks sister company finished their mission or not. I know it's not much, but two more ships are better than none. If you do plan on approaching Katelynn Char, you need to do so from a position of strength. The Char do not respect outsiders or weaklings from what I recall. If you're deadset on doing this, I'll support you in any way I can."

"I appreciate that, but I'm not sure four frigates, an assault ship, and two gunships will be enough to get their respect." He suspected he would need some larger ships to even the odds, considering how many ships she fielded against them when she attacked.

"Unfortunately, getting you more ships is not something I can do," Matthews said with a sigh.

"I may have a way to get five more ships. I'm going to need more crew though."

"You have five more ships lying around? I mean, I know you are working on two more pirate frigates, but I don't recall seeing three more ships sitting around."

He reached into his pouch and produced the five fusion activation crystals that he had retrieved from Arkonis Anazi. Ever since Shall had broken into his storage room, Alexander had kept the crystals on himself or kept them locked away in the computer core if he was on a dangerous mission. "I found these among Arkonis Anazi's belongings when we stripped his ship."

Archie whistled. "That is quite the haul, assuming you know where the ships they belong to are… I assume that you do since you are showing them to me."

"There was a picture inside the hidden compartment. The picture was taken with the backdrop of a destroyer under construction, and a starfield behind it. I was able to triangulate the system to three possibilities. And they are not that far away."

His friend didn't look convinced. "When you say not that far away, what do you mean?"

"A few month's travel, at most," Alexander admitted.

"Ok, let's think about this logically. Let's assume those ships are there, and they are completed and waiting for the crystals. Now, let's also assume that the station is armed because it's a pirate station, and if it were unarmed, that would be rather foolish considering what it's being used for." Archie paused to make sure that Alexander was listening.

"Ok, I'm still with you, continue."

"Assuming you can take the station, without damaging the ships, you need to provide, not one, but five full crews. You're looking at three or four hundred people at a minimum."

Alexander had been figuring on thirty to forty people. He had completely forgotten that the pirate ships would not have supercomputers to help automate most of the ships' processes. This is why he needed people who knew about this sort of stuff. He could plan, but he tended to miss small details like this. That wasn't an issue when he was designing because he could just fix the design and continue.

"What if we just take one ship at a time?" Alexander asked, trying to find a workaround to the personnel shortage issue.

"Doable," Archie added, "But you're going to extend the time it takes to retrieve these ships by half a year or more. And that still doesn't resolve the issue of not having enough crew to man them. Inviting Katalynn Char to Unokane to have a discussion where you can use the ships without crew might work, but that isn't really a show of strength. She would more than likely take that sort of invitation as a challenge. If you want her to take you seriously, you need to meet her on her home ground. That means going to their homeworld of Asgard."

Matthews was right. Alexander also couldn't go galavanting across space to retrieve these ships either. He had to rely on his people to do it for him. "Ok, so crew is the biggest issue. I don't suppose you have more people that may be willing to lend a hand?"

Archie shook his head. "I'm afraid not. Although, Captain Krieger may soon be available. It seems like the STO is starting to tire of parading him around. If you can convince him to join up, the Hawks can probably field the rest of the crew. They aren't exactly trained, but if you're willing to offer learning modules and the Hawks agree, I'm sure I can get them familiar enough with starship operations to bring those ships back with at least skeleton crews." S~eaʀᴄh the Nôvelƒire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

Alexander thanked the man for his wisdom and headed out. He had a lot to think about.