Chapter 57 Beyond his comprehension.

Andrew kept his word and the next morning he took Lanarine to the medical module.

The first thing she noticed was Aelita in the regeneration tank, but He wawed her to the console of a scanner.

-This is Aelita's last scan before she entered the tank, see for yourself.

He moved aside, allowing her to see the data.

She read it for a moment and turned pale.

-How is this possible, who did this to her?

She asked with a trembling voice and tears in her eyes.

-This is a question you should ask her, not me, but the moment I saw this I almost forced her into the tank, and her healing will take more than twice more time than mine.

Andrew said with a grave tone.

-Tell me now that this stick of yours would not kill her.

He added.

The woman fell to her knees, realizing that if they fought and Aelita got hit by her baton, then she might have died.

-I didn't know, I always assumed that she was healthy.

She started to talk, doing her best to not cry.

Remembering how cheerful the girl always was, nothing indicated that there was something wrong with her.

-I also assumed that she was alright until I saw this.

Andrew said, blaming himself for not noticing anything earlier.

-This is why I say that she risked her life for me, she knew her condition.

-I understand that now.

Lan said, looking at the girl in the tank, and hoping that there would be a day she was as brave as her.

-Let's go, I want to get the whole video call done before the merchant arrives.

Lanarine nodded and followed him to the command center.

She felt guilty, knowing that she could have killed her friend, and no matter what Aelita thought of her, she would consider her a friend and ask for forgiveness, when she left the regeneration tank.

At the command center, Andrew explained to her what she had to say, and how his plan was supposed to work.

She nodded.

Not like she had any choice in the matter, but the last night she thought about everything he showed her and the only conclusion was that either way, she would be a slave, the only difference was that with Andrew, she knew what to expect, while with the diplomat or the fleet commander, she had no idea, but considering their manipulation she suspected that it would not be a pleasant experience.

With all of this taken under consideration, she decided to help Andrew with his plan, at least that way she knew that all of them would be safe.

The video call went as planned, she explained to the others that she was busy with the defense system and it should go down within a day at most.

Other than that, the doctor asked about Aelita and Andrew, so she told her that Andrew was sleeping after being drugged and Aelita was in the regeneration tank after their fight as she was previously injured and now needed a lot of time to be healed.

-I'll be there tomorrow and check on her, until then keep her in the tank.

The doctor said, visibly worried.

Before disconnecting.

The diplomat had more questions for her as did the fleet commander and she answered just like Andrew instructed her to.

The only one who didn't even connect was the student, but she usually only connected when they were all online.

-You did a great job.

Andrew said when the connection ended.

-I hope that they believe it and that you will keep your word this time.

She said.

-Hey, it was you who wanted to start that argument over nothing.

The human defended himself.

-I know, and it took me a lot of time to admit to that mistake, but you are not without fault either.

She said, surprising him.

-I admit that I should not have lost my temper in that situation, but you were annoying the hell out of me for a few days before that happened.

He said, and his words made her understand that she really overdid it with her nitpicking back then.

-Let's just agree that we were both at fault and be done with it.

She suggested not wanting to start another argument.

Andrew only nodded, he also preferred to avoid another argument.

-Can you let me go back to my station, to get some clothes?

She asked, remembering that she was running out of the ones he prepared for her.

-Don't bother, just buy some from the merchant.

Andrew said.

-You forgot, that I'm back to being a slave and have no credits left.

She reminded him.

- I'll just allow you to use mine, problem solved.

Besides, if you leave the station, then the others might get suspicious.

He said, ending this discussion.

Lan sighed, and with nothing better to do she went to do some scans.

-I told you that you don't have to work if you don't want to.

Andrew reminded her.

-And that's exactly why I want to do it, Astrogeology is fun for me as long as someone is not forcing me to do it.

She said, with a slight smile, and focused on her work, not letting him get a word in.

The human only smiled and let her have this small victory.

Not long after that, the merchant arrived, this time without any uninvited guests tagging along, and as usual, the first to come was the droid.

-Can your master come? I have another deal for him.

Andrew asked.

-My mistress, can't meet you personally, so you will have to conduct your business with the other merchant when he visits, next time.

The droid said, after a moment of silence.

-I understand, as for the resources, you can see them on the console.

Andrew said and didn't insist, simply continuing the trade.

-The price would be 2 silver credits, 412,769,000 credits.

The droid said surprising Andrew.

-Excuse me but what are the silver credits?

He asked.

-Each billion of credits is worth the same as one silver credit, this is a new currency introduced to make trade easier.

The droid explained.

The human only nodded and started selecting the modules that he wanted to buy this time along with clothes and some other items that he needed and Lanarine did the same.

The list was surprisingly short for his usual shopping, but the price was anything but small.

He bought two Hangar modules, a dock module, 4 gas separation modules, a jacuzzi module that just finished being researched in the morning, 12 gas storage modules, and 40 solar panel modules.

That was it, but the price was staggering, especially for the hangar modules.

Each one of them costs 1 silver credit, but the thing is that there are no upgrades for this module and it comes fully equipped to service, fighters, shuttles, and small ships.

The next one to unlock would be a tier 3 module capable of hosting up to a destroyer class ship inside.

But that was far into the future as there were hundreds of researches to complete, before reaching the third tier in any of the main groups of science, and before building even a fighter there were still at least dozens of steps to take and technologies to unlock.

But he had already taken the first steps and now Aelita would be able to research the captured pirate ships if she so desired.

Not to mention that now he was in the undisputed lead as far as the fleet building was concerned.

Altogether the bill was a staggering 2 silver and 355,700,000 credits, leaving him with loose change to add to his savings.

The price was high but Andrew was more than happy to pay it, especially since this meant that he could make Aelita happy, once she left the tank.

-You do know that others will get suspicious of these modules.

Lanarine said once the merchant left.

-Let them, you can always say that you bought them to upgrade your new station, with the funds you got by selling the resources.

Andrew explained and proceeded to sort the items they both bought.

-Well, the fleet commander will be happy about that, she always wanted the hangar modules, but she will get pissed once she realizes that they are not for her.

-By that time there will be nothing that she could do about it.

Andrew said, looking at one of the items he just bought.

-What is that?

Lan asked, seeing the thing in his hand.

-These are the slavery chips, in their form before being implanted.

He said showing her the small tube with a blue liquid inside it.

there were twenty of them and a pistol syringe to administer them.

-These are different from the one I got.

She said looking at the box in his hand.

-Yes, these are preordered and already coded to me, so no one will be able to take control of them other than me.

Your chip on the other hand can be taken over as long as someone has the device that I got when I first bought you.

He explained.

-So once you inject them into others they will become your slaves?

-Yes, and it has all the same functions as the one inside of you.

He confirmed.

-I wish there was another way to do this.

Lan sighed.

-We already talked about it, if you can find me a better solution, then I'm all for it.

-The problem is that there is no other solution, at least not one that you would be willing to accept.

She said, with resignation in her voice.

-Then there is no point in discussing this again.

He said and went to store his things, leaving her to do the same.

Once they were done, with the items, Andrew started working on the modules that just arrived and simply added them as he saw fit for now.

When Aelita came back she could rearrange them to fit her design.

Of course, the arrival of new modules was noticed by the others, just like Lanarine said, and they called immediately to ask what was going on.

She simply told them the version, Andrew suggested, and to her surprise it worked like a charm.

The other ladies were not exactly happy that she didn't consult this with them but approved the upgrade to their new station and the fleet master even praised her initiative.

Hearing this conversation Andrew had a hard time not laughing.

He could understand The student, who was young and inexperienced, and the doctor who seemed only interested in medicine, but how the hell did the diplomat and fleet commander achieve their ranks was beyond his comprehension.

If they even really were who they claimed to be, because til now they were far from the minimum level of any diplomat or officer that Andrew ever heard about except for Lanarine, who he started to believe was really only a scientist with a military rank.