Blue Star Enterprises-Chapter 224 - 4-40

After tracking down Katalynn and returning to his office for a chat, Alexander asked, "Did you know how the Lokis function?"

"I did," she admitted. "As do all Jarls. Even though they say they do it to grow trust, it tends to cause fewer Jarls to seek their service."

"Gee, I can't imagine why they wouldn't want to work with people who have multiple personalities," Alexander stated sarcastically. "And if you knew, why didn't you just tell me?"

"Would it have changed anything if I did? Besides, the Lokis revealing their origins and how they operate is seen as a sort of rite of passage for new Jarls. They say it helps keep them impartial if they are the ones to reach out instead of another leader. Even I didn't know the full truth until I killed the previous King and took the position as Lagertha."

He grunted in annoyance, but couldn't deny what she said was true. It wouldn't have changed much. "And what about the one you brought down from your ship?"

"What about him?" she asked.

"You don't know what his previous personality was?"

She shook her head. "Just because I work with the Lokis, doesn't mean I pry into all of their secrets. Sometimes it is better to be ignorant of such things. They come to me when they have something important to relay, and that's enough for me."

Alexander threw his arms up in exasperation. "This isn't one of those times. He was literally the Vice Admiral in charge at Varlen. The same one the STO is asking questions about!"

Katalynn arched an eyebrow but had no other outward expression. "I see. That does make your situation a bit more awkward, and it explains why Loki was so adamant about not coming down here."

"Awkward! I don't understand how you can be so calm and casual about this. I should just turn him over to the STO and be done with this stupid inquiry."

Katalynn shook her head. "I wouldn't recommend that. At best, the man would kill himself to protect the Lokis. You can't exactly parade the corpse around because then it'll make you look culpable in destroying an STO vessel as well as capturing and killing one of their Vice Admirals. If you somehow do manage to get the man in front of the STO, which I somehow doubt the Lokis would allow, I can't imagine your situation improving much. And as for why I'm so casual, that's easy. The Lokis don't need to be liked or even trusted. I certainly don't like or trust them, but they have always done what was in the best interest of Asgard. Until that changes, I see no reason not to work with them."

"They literally backed your opposition," he said.

"No, if they had, I would be dead. While it did annoy me that they didn't stop him, I can understand why they did it."

"What do you expect me to do then? Just take the blame for the man's death?" Alexander realized he was getting worked up again.

Katalynn waited for him to calm down before continuing. "Any evidence the STO has or is pretending to have for your inquiry is circumstantial at best. Arriving with the supposedly dead Vice Admiral will only prove that you were involved. I do not doubt that the corporations set this whole plot in motion. They didn't do it simply to drag your name through the mud, though. Those are who you need to be wary of, not the STO's circus of an inquiry."

"I'm well aware of the threat the corporations pose, and I've already taken steps against their interference." He sighed and leaned back in his chair. "You really think the Fletcher Loki would kill himself to prevent being exposed?"

"Possibly," she admitted. "That's the thing with Lokis, you can never quite tell what they are willing to do or capable of doing until they do it. Even if their current personality fears such an outcome, they could probably create one that doesn't."

"Then why work with them at all?" Alexander asked, trying to understand why the Asgardians had chosen to go down such an odd route.

"They have served the Union faithfully since their inception, and because the alternative of having no spy agency is worse," she added. "Attempts have been made throughout the years to start new infiltration teams, but all have failed. Those who were able to blend into STO culture only lasted months before getting eliminated by people like your Mr. Pembrooke, who had years or decades of experience doing the same thing. If we abandoned the Lokis, we would lose any sort of information-gathering available to the Union. If that happened, it would give the corporations the ability to do as they pleased, not only to the STO but the Union as well. So even though their ways are disturbing, they are the most effective spying tool we have."

Alexander considered the woman's words. He couldn't see an easy alternative to the Order's methods, and he had to agree they were effective. They also hadn't lied about interrupting his operations or stealing any of his secrets. If they had, the Asgardians would have learned about them already. That didn't mean he had to like them. And it seemed like he wasn't alone in that feeling. For now, he would continue to work with them.

***

Alexander was glad the conversations about the Lokis were over for now. It didn't address his issue with the STO inquiry, but he had already made plans on how to handle that before he found out the Loki, parading as Fletcher, was still alive.

With a little more than a week before Yulia's birthday, he had a ton of other matters to handle that were far more concerning.

That wasn't something he thought he would admit a few years ago, but it was true.

The first thing Alexander did was check on Yulia's progress on her buggy. She was in class at the moment, but Alexander wanted to know if she needed assistance finishing the last part of the assembly. Her only chance to ride the buggy would be before her birthday, as they would be leaving the day after, and he didn't want her to miss out after all of her hard work.

When he arrived at the underground workshop, he found the car was a bit farther along than it had been the last time he was down here with her. He sighed and shook his avatar in exasperation. That answered the question of whether or not she had managed to sneak down here unattended.

Alexander ignored that problem and took a look at the remaining build log and parts. There were at least three weeks of work left on the vehicle if he let her work alone. Despite her flaunting the rules, he would offer his assistance tonight at dinner to help her finish the project. Hopefully, she would accept it otherwise, the buggy would remain incomplete until they returned.

After verifying the progress on the vehicle, Alexander moved to his workshop and checked in with Krieger.

"How is the shakedown flight going?" he asked the man over the comm node connection.

The bridge crews and engineering crews of all the ships were now privy to the existence of the nodes, so there were no more awkward attempts at having to hide the item's existence or pretend.

"We haven't run into a single issue so far, which is surprising," Krieger admitted.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence," Alexander responded with a chuckle.

Taking the joke for what it was, Krieger smiled slightly. "You know that's not what I meant."

"I know," Alexander admitted.

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It was surprising not to have a single failure on a completely untested design. When he first built the Stingray, the prototype had many such issues. The Sharks had fewer when they were first being tested, but there were still some changes Alexander had ended up having to make.

The fact that the first Orca-class ship, which had been slightly modified from its original design, had none was a shock. He didn't want to get a big head and just assume everything was perfect either.

"The weapons systems have yet to be tested, but I'll let you know how that goes."

Alexander nodded his avatar. He had the urge to tell Krieger about Fletcher, but he chose not to. It had nothing to do with the new Loki technician in the room. He just decided it was better that Fletcher remained dead in Krieger's mind. Nothing good would come of explaining that whole mess to his Admiral.

The rest of the week went by in a blur as he checked and double-checked that everything was ready for the trip. During that time, Alexander also got the transponder and comm node installed in the Valkyrie. Once that was complete, he checked in on provisions for the ships and made sure the escort vessels, which consisted of two Sharks and eight Stingrays, were all ready to go. And last but not least, he convinced Yulia to allow him to help her finish the buggy.

She had been reluctant at first as she wanted to do it by herself, but she relented when Alexander mentioned that if he didn't help, she might not complete it before it was time to leave.

"Are you sure it's going to be ready?" a worried Yulia asked as she handed a part to Alexander.

"It'll be done," he assured her. "You'll be able to ride it all day tomorrow with your friends. Then the day after, we'll celebrate your birthday."

"Okay," she replied.

That wasn't the first time she had asked the question, nor the first time she seemed appeased by his answer, but he understood her worry. Yulia had put so much effort into getting the vehicle designed and built that it would be a shame to miss out on using it.

They were nearly finished. A few more hours' worth of work and all the parts would be assembled and in place. Even if his daughter fell asleep before it was done, Alexander would finish it before she woke in the morning.

He quite enjoyed the process of assembling devices. With his printers, he didn't often get to do that anymore. The last time he had the opportunity was when he reassembled the chip fabricator.

His daughter's worries were wiped away a few hours later when Alexander hefted the last tire into place and Yulia placed the lug nuts on the studs.

The girl wanted to test it right away, but Alexander stopped her. "It's dark out right now, and while we did install lights, I think it's better if we wait until the day cycle starts at about eleven tomorrow."

Yulia pouted and kicked her feet, but Alexander stood firm. Once she saw her antics weren't working, she sighed. "Alright. I'll wait."

The next morning came faster than Alexander would have liked. He stood by while Yulia drove the buggy like she had stolen it, whooping and hollering the entire time through her mask. Her friends Sarah and Claire, who were along for the ride, didn't quite share Yulia's enthusiasm for the off-road vehicle, or maybe it was just for his daughter's reckless driving.

That feeling probably didn't improve any when Yulia somehow managed to roll the thing over. Thankfully, he had added proper restraints to the vehicle. The kids were shaken up, but not hurt. He flipped the buggy back over and checked it for damage. Other than a few scratches from the rough dirt and rocks and a bent light mounting bar, it was fine.

Yulia's friends declined further rides in the buggy, leaving Yulia to go all out by herself. The fact that she had been holding back for her friends' sake was amusing and a bit terrifying to Alexander.

A few hours later, the battery pack finally ran out of juice, and Yulia was forced to bring the buggy back to the parking garage.

Sarah and Claire tried to hide their relief with that outcome, but they did a poor job of it, and Yulia stuck her tongue out at her friends once they were back inside and the masks were off.

His daughter's birthday party was a smaller affair than the previous year or the first year they had celebrated it. She was old enough now and had enough friends that she could decide who was invited.

Alexander wasn't surprised to see Markus, Sarah, or Claire in attendance, but he was surprised to see Charlie. He did note that the boy's mother had not dropped him off or come with him.

The boy seemed far more mature than the last time he had seen him after their little altercation at the racetrack. It seemed like those self-defense classes were having a positive effect on him. That was good to know.

There were quite a few other children Yulia's age whom she invited as well, but Alexander didn't know most of them. There were a lot of new faces on Eden's End these days, and some that were missing.

Ten months had gone by since Harlow's defeat, and a good chunk of refugees had left to return home. Alexander thought they were jumping the gun in assuming the STO had retaken those worlds from the pirates, but it was their choice to make, not his.

Despite those people leaving, the population continued to grow. Each week, a new ship arrived with settlers from other worlds. Most were Asgardian, but not all.

Thankfully, the groups came in smaller numbers, making it easy to incorporate them into the population.

While the children were busy enjoying the games, Alexander made his way over to Char and her people, who were standing off to the side of the gathering, looking a bit out of place.

"Do you not celebrate birthdays?" he asked bluntly, knowing the group preferred that to beating around the bush.

"We do, just not to excess," Katalynn replied.

He chuckled lightly at that. If they thought this party was excessive, they should have seen her first party. "Are you prepared to leave in the morning?" he asked.

She nodded as she took a sip of the drink she had been holding. Her face scrunched up as she looked at it before setting it down on a table. It looked like a simple juice drink, one that was a very popular export to Asgard.

"Not to your tastes?" he asked.

"I find my palate to be less accommodating since my bout with Isbjorn. I fear it will be a lingering effect of his actions."

Her advisors all grimaced at that.

"Oh. I'm sorry to hear that. Has the remains of his fleet been located?"

"No. It seems they vanished from Asgardian territory and none of the scouts managed to spot them, so they likely dead-jumped to wherever they were headed." She looked around to ensure nobody was close enough to overhear before continuing. "Your satellites should ensure that's the case."

He nodded. Her advisors had been brought up to speed on the comm satellites, so there was no point hiding the information from them. "There are a lot of systems to cover; it may take years to produce enough units to create a full net, but we can focus on the border systems first."

"Still, each one makes our job easier," Vyrik stated.

If anyone knew the importance of those satellites, it was Katalynn's tactician.

"Are all of you going with Katalynn?" Alexander asked.

Vyrik and Haldric Vynnson, her Sub-Commander, shook their heads.

"Once your people install the comm nodes aboard my other ships, I have ordered them to visit the front to relieve one of the Jarls and also notify them about the devices and where to get one. Considering the tactical advantages that can be gained, I'm sure they will immediately jump at the opportunity to buy the devices. They will likely want priority installation as well, so you may want to notify your people so they are ready to accommodate them," Char replied.

Katalynn was correct. Instant communications from each ship, no matter where it was, would change their ability to protect against Xin and other threats.

Accommodating the Jarls and their fleets wouldn't be a problem, mostly because he had two dozen comm nodes ready to go with more on the way. He also had a team of ten engineers who he had personally trained to install the devices. He was expecting Katalynn and her people to spread the news of the comm nodes to their people, so he had prepared well ahead of any possible arrival. He also had planetary nodes in the works, but those would take more time to prepare as they would require quite a bit more bandwidth allocation.

The space station was nearly complete as well. Another month, and the final exterior components would go into place, and it would be able to host people.

There wouldn't be much inside other than life support and lighting for some time, but it could finally be put to use. It was too bad he wouldn't be around to christen it once it was fully operational.

He could delay his trip to make that happen, but everyone was already here and ready, so doing that would be just petty on his part.

For the rest of the party, Alexander mingled with the rest of the guests and enjoyed the company of people he knew he wouldn't get to speak with in person for some time.

When it came time for Yulia to open her gifts, he held his for last.

Alexander handed her the small faux-wood box.

She took it eagerly and studied the intricate designs on the exterior before opening it.

Everyone who was gathered around to watch the presents being opened gasped as she pulled the necklace from the case. Yulia's eyes sparkled from the reflected light inside the orb at the end, but she had a slightly confused look on her face. He was pretty sure her friends liked her present more than his daughter seemed to.

"It's so pretty," Claire stated excitedly.

"I wish I had something like that," he heard Sarah mutter softly.

Alexander wasn't surprised by Yulia's reaction, she had never been a big fan of jewelry.

Then Yulia looked at the sphere attached to the end of the necklace more closely, and a genuine smile lit upon her face. She had discovered the moving parts within, and that meant it was a mechanical device instead of just some pretty decoration. It didn't matter what the device did or if it did anything at all. His daughter only cared that it was mechanical.

She ran over and gave him a hug with the box in one arm and the necklace in the other.

Alexander was glad she liked it, otherwise, it would have been much more difficult to get her to wear it all the time. He didn't want her to know what it did because he didn't want her to use it as an excuse to do anything reckless. She did that enough as it was.