Khan smiled wistfully, feeling that the universe was toying with him. After joking about becoming a space pirate for so long, Khan now had to look for one or more than one if those people didn't cooperate.
Of course, that childish dream was now dead. Khan couldn't play the part of a space pirate anymore. His very existence acted as a flapping banner that announced his superiority, and his clothes didn't help. No one would ever mistake him for a random criminal.
Nevertheless, Khan believed he had to dive into that criminal world to seize information the regulated environnts lacked. If his hunch was correct, the criminals in the area probably had more detailed star maps, which could help him search for the Nak.
Moreover, Khan could make great use of those recorded illegal colonies. Even with Nott Station's support, establishing better checkpoints would take so ti, but Khan was done waiting, and those makeshift settlents could help in the anti.
The issue was getting the colonies to cooperate without accidentally blowing them up.
'I'm sure pirates are all wise and reasonable people,' Khan thought, jumping off the interactive desk to connect his phone again and download the recent discoveries.
"Is that all?" Khan questioned, his eyes darting between the holograms and his phone's screen.
"Yes, Prince Khan," Captain Lochport confird. "This is all the information I have on these quadrants."
"Good," Khan nodded. "Thank you, Captain. This was quite enlightening."
"I'm glad Nott Station could be of service, Prince," Captain Lochport stated. "I'll send the order to release your statent next. Do you need anything else?"
"No," Khan shook his head, retrieving his phone and eting the Captain's eyes. "I'll retreat to your quarters now to handle sothing. My Uncle should contact you in the anti."
"Your Uncle, Prince Khan?" Captain Lochport asked, slightly hesitant about the matter. He had chosen to believe Khan, not any other stranger. The Captain didn't feel comfortable negotiating Nott Station's matters with soone who could have ulterior motives.
"Yes," Khan said. "He'll tell you what I need and which precautions you should take."
Captain Lochport started to regret his decision when he heard the word "precautions". He felt he had thrown Nott Station into a ss far bigger than anything he could imagine, but Khan's following lines easer those worries.
"Oh," Khan recalled, turning toward the exit. "Feel free to demand anything that cos to your mind, even if it sounds like a rip-off."
"A rip-off?!" Captain Lochport gasped. "Prince Khan, I wouldn't dare-."
"Dare to," Khan ordered, peeking past his shoulder to look at the Captain. "It's also in my interest. I need Nott Station to beco the best version of itself."
Captain Lochport remained speechless, his brain freezing at the idea of ripping off nobles. Yet, Khan didn't linger in the eting any longer and opened the tal doors to leave the room.
Mary had waited outside for the entirety of the eting. The doors' whooshing noises startled her, but she promptly wore a military salute, eager to offer her services to Khan. Her mouth opened when he appeared, but the hand that landed on her head stopped any attempt at speaking.
"I'm sorry," Khan half-mindedly apologized, patting Mary's head. "I'm in a hurry."
When Mary looked up, she realized that Khan had already disappeared, only leaving a whisper of his intense presence in the air. She looked at the other end of the empty corridor, her face carrying a trace of disappointnt and longing, but soone loudly cleared his throat behind her, forcing her to turn.
Captain Lochport couldn't help but sigh when inspecting the embarrassed Mary. Her reactions couldn't have been more obvious. Previously, he would have scolded the woman, but Khan's revelations added a certain sadness to the whole topic.
"You shouldn't abuse the Prince's kindness," Captain Lochport warned, "Nor hold any hopes. He is in more pain than he lets out."
Mary lowered her head before caressing the spot where Khan had patted her, muttering a childish comnt. "But he is so nice."
"Won!" Captain Lochport cursed, running a hand through his curly hair to soothe his rising headache.
anwhile, Khan rushed through the space station's corridors, not wasting a single thought on his previous actions. He had already walked those paths a few tis, so he easily returned to the Captain's quarters, ignoring the working crews to isolate himself inside.
Khan had uncovered much during the eting, but the real gains could only take shape when cross-referencing the data on his phone. He quickly summoned holograms, inserting various directives and filters. The device handled everything else, and his eagerness to study the results almost made him forget to send a ssage to his Uncle.
It wasn't long before a more detailed star map took shape. Khan now had all the data accumulated before his departure, his findings on Chuwei, and the information retrieved from Nott Station. Their fusion created a far less barren landscape, allowing Khan to make more inford decisions.
Previously, Khan would have picked one of the four uncovered paths randomly, hoping his luck or instincts would lead him sowhere. That would have involved many risks due to the unclear distance and lack of checkpoints, but the situation had changed now.
The nearby quadrants had t far more illegal ships than colonies, but the latter existed, and so did align with the four paths. However, Khan couldn't get anything from simple warehouses and makeshift hangars. He needed sothing relatively big to increase his chances of finding soone slightly knowledgeable.
That vastly narrowed Khan's options. Actually, it only left one, which Captain Lochport and Nott Station as a whole never interacted with. They had only learned about it through rumors and gossip while negotiating with so crews, but Khan found it promising.
'They actually gave it a na,' Khan read. 'Blue Moon. It doesn't have translations, so it must be mainly human.'
Khan studied the allegedly big colony on the star map for a while before getting to work on devising a flight path. His ship was ready and had a new destination. Khan only needed to jump on it and set off now.
As tedious as flying through space could be, Khan itched to jump back in his ship and set off. Curiosity and childish desire to explore the unknown had previously fueled that urge, but Khan now only felt a sense of duty and helplessness.
Khan had to get rid of his curse. He had lost too much because of it to delay that mont any longer.
Nott Station went through monuntal political changes in a matter of hours, which would usually demand careful and direct supervision. Still, Khan delegated everything to his Uncle, heading for the private hangar as soon as he completed his preparations.
It was the night of the sa day when Captain Lochport and a crowd of mostly female workers gathered before the pristine white ship. The vehicle had already lowered its tal ramp, and Khan stood in front of it to exchange the last goodbyes with the Captain.
"I should return relatively soon," Khan announced. "If you have any problem, just contact my Uncle."
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