Chapter 49 Strange behavior.

Andrew locked the prisoner up in one of the smaller storage modules and told Aelita to close and disable every access point to it.

After that, he came back to the command center and hailed the merchants.

-You can dock now, all the intruders have been taken care of.

He said, to the stunned elf.

-Did you kill them all?

Terelen asked, hardly believing that this human had taken out three pirates in a fight.

-No, two of them died, but the third got zapped by one of my drones and is now my prisoner.

Andrew explained.

-I was wondering if you want him or, should I just get rid of him.

He asked, stunning the elf even more.

-What do you mean, saying that you will get rid of him?

The merchant asked, not sure if he wanted to know the answer.

-It's simple, if you do not want him, then I have no use for him, so I will just space him and be done with it.

Either way, he attacked my station, and I really doubt, that he would show us mercy if they managed to take it over.

-I understand, we will take him, he might have some information that we could use.

Terelen decided.

He wasn't trying to save the pirate from death, but he wanted to save Andrew from becoming a monster.

The human was deadly enough as it was.

What he didn't know was that Andrew would not space the pirate, and only said so to get rid of him.

He was happy that this trick worked, or he would have a hard time figuring out what to do with the prisoner.

-Should I bring him over, or will you pick him up from the storage module?

Andrew asked, not sure how they would take the prisoner.

-We will take him from the module, once our trade is completed, we will be docking in 5 minutes.

Terelen said and closed the channel.

-Would you really space this pirate?

Aelita asked, surprised and a little shaken by his words.

-No, I just wanted them to take him, we don't need a prisoner, and I have no idea what to do with him, so this was the best solution I could figure out.

He explained, making the girl sigh in relief.

She was beginning to worry, that he would become a ruthless killer.

Aelita informed the other ladies that the intruders were taken care of before she focused on the damage to the station.

The damage was not that bad, one life support module had a boarding capsule permanently attached to it now, and one of the solar power modules had a hole in it, thanks to Andrew's rifle, other than that they would need to get rid of the body that was left next to the command center airlock.

-We will just buy new modules, and get rid of the damaged ones.

The human said once she asked if she should initiate repairs to both damaged modules.

It wasn't like they were expensive modules or something, and this was the easiest solution.

Once all the merchant ships docked to the station, Terelen came to greet them, followed by the droids who were bringing all the items, he brought from their last trade.

-Thank you once again for lending us your help.

The elf said, approaching Andrew.

-Don't mention it.

The human said, shaking his hand.

-Are the others not coming?

Aelita asked, surprised that only this one merchant came.

-They can't, I interacted with you before so it's not a problem for me, but they are still forbidden to reveal themselves.

Terelen explained.

-I understand.

She said with a smile.

-You have changed, young Cheroni.

The elf said, looking at her with a bit of interest.

-If I did, then I hope it's for the better.

She smiled shyly at the merchant.

-Definitely for the better.

The elf said, before turning to Andrew and changing the topic.

-You said that you have another deal for me.

-Right this way.

Andrew led the way.

-Aelita, please make sure that all the ships have the resources they asked for.

The human said before they left the command center.

She only nodded and got to work on that.

-What happened, this pretty companion of yours seems much more independent and not as timid as before.

Terelen asked Andrew when they were far enough that Aelita could not hear them.

Not, seeing anything wrong with telling him, the human explained everything about their talk and discovered that her whole life she was lied to.

Hearing that, Terelen was surprised that they managed to unravel so much and that the change in the girl was so sudden.

-Thank you for telling me this, in return I will tell you that there is a bunch of Cheroni and Cherix that are looking for her, through the merchants.

-I had no idea that this was possible.

Andrew said surprised.

-It is, but it's not cheap.

-Then, could you locate someone for me?

-I can try.

-Her name is Alexandra Hajduk, and she's a human like me, I would like to know if she is alive and where she is, as well as any other information that you can find.

Andrew said while Elf wrote down the information on his tablet.

-I will see if I can find out about her, but I won't promise anything.

-Thank you.

-No need to thank me, that's my job and you will have to pay me for the information.

As for that companion of yours, just be careful if there are any of her kind around.

I don't know if she explained this to you, but others might challenge you for her.

-Why would they, as far as I know, they are afraid of her.

Andrew said surprised.

-That was in the past, right now she is one of only around a dozen engineers, that are left from her species, and the Cheroni want to gather them to be sure that there would be someone that can build their education capsules and other equipment.

The elf explained the issue.

-She can definitely build an education capsule, she just made one the other day, but if they want to take her from me, then I wish them good luck.

Andrew said, amused by the whole idea.

As far as he knew he was much stronger and faster than any of her people, not to mention that he came from a much higher gravity world and was also sturdier.

-Oh, You have one of these?

The elf looked a bit surprised.

-Would you be willing to sell it?

He asked.

-You would need to ask Aelita about that, it belongs to her.

Andrew answered.

-I hope she will sell it, her people will pay a good amount for it.

-We are here.

Andrew said opening the airlock to the storage module.

-There are fewer crates than before.

-Yes, we took some stuff from them, the ones that we want to trade are all here.

Andrew said opening the one with the jetpack.

Terelen was shocked seeing the device.

-Before you even ask, I can't give you a jetpack designed for you, in exchange for this one.

The tier is too high, and for now, I don't have access to such things.

The elf explained.

-I thought as much, but if that's the case, then I want a tier 4 education module with the virtual reality training upgrade.

Andrew said.

-Easy there, this thing is valuable, but it's not worth that much.

The elf said, surprised at the demand.

-Then how about if I throw in one of these?

The human said opening the other crate and taking out the container of helium 3 from it.

Terelen's eyes widened in disbelief.

-Where did you get these?

He asked.

-The same place as the rest of the crates.

Said with a grin.

-Oh and if you are interested, then the two ships outside are also for sale.

He added.

-Ok I will get you the education module and the upgrade, for this jetpack and the container.

What do you want for the rest of it?

The elf asked, getting over the shock.

-I want to trade three more containers for three railgun modules and the rest I want to sell for credits unless there is something that Aelita might want, but I doubt that.

He said closing the crate.

-We have a deal, and I will even add 2 tier 2 shield generator modules as a bonus for you.

The elf said excitedly.

With this trade, he would get a lot of profit, while investing almost nothing.

Just as they shook hands, to seal the deal, Terelen saw a box they took the jewelry from.

The elf approached and picked it up, looking at it from every angle.

-Where is the contents of this box?

He asked, looking at Andrew, and dropping the box.

-If you mean the jewelry, I gave it to Aelita.

Andrew answered, surprised at the question.

-But I don't think she will be willing to sell it, she likes it very much.

He added, seeing that the elf was getting excited.

-Whatever she wants that I can grant, I will trade it for one of the boxes.

Terelen said seriously.

-By the way, how many sets were there in the boxes?

The elf asked.

-We found six of them, but why do you want one of them?

Is it something important?

Andrew asked, he had never seen this elf merchant so serious.

-I'll tell you once we go back to the command center.

Terelen said and turned to the exit.

The short merchant almost ran to the command module.

-How was your trade?

Aelita asked seeing them come back.

-It went well, but Terelen here has something to ask you.

Andrew said.

She was surprised by his words and even more so when the elf came to her and bowed.

-Station master Aelita, can you bring the jewelry you found in the boxes and show it to me?

 He asked.

-It's very important.

He added.

Aelita was confused about this request and looked at Andrew, hoping he could help her a bit.

The human only nodded with a serious expression.

Elf's behavior was strange, and he could only suspect that the merchant was desperate at this point.

-I will bring it here, please give me a moment.

She said, still a bit confused.

-Thank you.

Terelen said, not raising his head.

Elite left the command center to bring the jewelry, and to escape this whole situation.

It was the first time that someone bowed to her, making her uneasy and confused.

A few minutes later she came back carrying the six boxes of jewelry.

Seeing them Terelen's eyes almost began to glow when he recognized the boxes.

-They are all here.

 She said putting the boxes on the holomap table and opening them one by one.

The merchant carefully inspected every piece of jewelry and once he finished, tears started falling from his eyes.