Blue Star Enterprises

During the trip back to Eden’s End, Alexander slowly introduced himself to Mingyu’s family. This was after Mingyu had told them about him, and he had spoken to them through video calls. He didn’t want to startle them with his appearance, but it seemed like he was overthinking things. Much like the people on Eden’s End, during his initial meeting, the Na family had very little reaction to his appearance. At least the older members of the family didn’t. The younger ones’ eyes went wide at seeing him, but he could tell they held back any other sort of emotion.

Considering how prim and proper the family acted, he wasn’t too surprised by this. Mingyu’s father, Huang personified the word regal, or maybe stoic was a better word. Alexander found it a bit strange since he knew Mingyu didn’t act this way. As he took in the Captain’s extended family, he realized Mingyu was the most normal of the bunch.

The family all bowed in respect as he and Mingyu approached, with Huang giving only a cursory nod that Mingyu returned. "Father. I know you have spoken to him already, but may I introduce you to our gracious benefactor, Alexander Kane."

At a loss as to what to do, and with no head, Alexander simply bobbed his holographic avatar in the approximation of a nod.

The patriarch of the Na family seemed pleased by this as he nodded in return. "As one father to another, I wish to thank you for taking in my son and his crew."

"I was only doing what was right." And benefiting from the arrangement. "Do you have any plans once we arrive?"

"Let me dismiss the children and we can speak of work." The man sent the younger children, who were likely his grandchildren, off with his wife, leaving only him and Mingyu’s siblings in the room.

As soon as the children left, the remaining group seemed to relax slightly like they had been acting that way only for the children’s sake. "I apologize for that, but I could tell the children were at their limit and would have soon started pestering you with questions. I would also like to apologize if we seemed a bit pretentious. I know how our stoic behavior can come across to others. That was simply how I was raised and how I chose to raise my children. I found it helps to instill a calm and thoughtful approach to life. Although it is not suited to every situation, such is what we find ourselves in right now."

"So you were acting?" Alexander asked in surprise.

"Yes and no. Children tend to emulate their parents, and someone far back in the Na line realized this could be used to help raise children to think before acting. There are probably better ways to do this, but it works for me and my family. But enough of that, let us sit and discuss your question. I assume you ask what I plan to do once we arrive because you have an opportunity you wish to offer?"

Alexander had to chuckle at that. He almost forgot who he was dealing with, but Huang Na was a Council leader for most of his life, and the Captain of The Moonlit Destiny until he turned that over to his eldest son, Mingyu.

"You got all that from one question?" he asked as the group of five sat. Only Mingyu sat on Alexander’s end of the conference table, marking a clear separation from his family that didn’t go unnoticed by the father.

"It wasn’t hard to figure out. Those in control only discuss plans with people they wish to work with directly. Otherwise, you would have ignored us during the trip and put us down on the planet and that would be that."

When the man explained it that way, it became pretty obvious. "You are correct. I do have an opportunity I would like to offer you. I may have opportunities for the rest of you as well, depending on your skillsets but we can get to that later. Mr. Na, how would you like to teach?"

That man had no outward reaction to the question. That alone gave Alexander a glimpse into how effective he must have been during his time as a Councilor for Petrov Station. The man sat there quietly, and Alexander eventually realized he was waiting for more information. Alexander smiled at the man, he could sit here and play the same game, but it wasn’t necessary. It was time to lay some of his cards out on the table so to speak. "I’m in the process of starting an academy. One where people can learn anything from mathematics, advanced engineering, starship operation, and even military training."

"You either have a death wish, Mr. Kane, or a bottomless pocketbook. Which is it?"

"Neither, I can assure you. As to the deathwish comment, I assume you are referring to the corporations’ stranglehold over learning?"

The man gave a terse nod.

"Can I be blunt, Mr. Na?"

"You might as well call me Huang, or it’ll start getting confusing. And yes. I would prefer if you just speak your mind."

"Huang, I couldn’t care less about the corporations and their arbitrary rules. I left STO space so I didn’t have to deal with that bullshit. By the time they realize what I’m doing, I will have turned Y6X-3H2 into one of, if not the most fortified systems that humanity controls. Then it will not matter what they think."

"That is a risky game, Mr. Kane. The corporations are not stupid. They have other ways to stop people who try to upset their bottom line, including cutting your system off entirely. Are you prepared for that?"

"If we’re going to be on a first-name basis, call me Alexander or Alex. As for your question, no, I’m not equipped to deal with that. At least not yet. Which is why I’m starting slow. The academy I envision won’t be a reality for years. By then I hope to earn some allies in key positions and establish myself within the STO." Time was both his greatest asset and his greatest enemy at the moment. Alexander needed to walk a tight line to keep himself off these mega-corporation’s radars while still growing.

Huang leaned back in his chair, the first real change in his demeanor since the conversation began. "If we were having this conversation back on Petrov Station, I would have told you no, and gotten you expelled from the station to protect the people there from any backlash that this nonsense would have garnered."

"But we aren’t on Petrov Station are we."

"We are not. And that is not the only reason I am entertaining your dangerous idea. If it wasn’t for the STO’s actions, or lack thereof in the case of Petrov Station as a whole, I may still have told you no and asked to be returned to STO space. As it sits, I find myself not a fan of the STO’s decisions lately. They have grown indulgent and lazy because there is nothing left to keep them in check since the Shican left and the Coalition was disbanded. I fear their hubris is going to get a lot more innocent people killed before they finally take action. What does this position entail?"

Alexander spoke at length of what he had in mind. He used the information Mingyu had told him about his father to entice the man into accepting. It was too bad the man wasn’t interested in being a captain again, he could have used a few more.

As for Mingyu’s siblings, none of them were qualified to be captains since the Na family only had one ship and Mingyu was nearly a decade older than his nearest sibling and the only one even close to being qualified when Huang was nearing retirement. Even without being a captain, they were still all engineers and business owners. It wouldn’t be hard finding them work, but he decided to discuss the points with each of them to make sure that was what they wanted to do.

Before he got too far into his explanation, Mingyu’s oldest sister, Ju interrupted. "I apologize for being rude, but what if I don’t wish to work for you? What if I wish to establish my own company?"

"Out of curiosity, what sort of company?" Alexander asked.

If it was something he could use, all the better.

"I mainly worked as an importer on Petrov. I enjoyed the work and would like to do so again."

"That could be a problem. There isn’t much in the way of imports and exports coming to Eden’s End."

"But you do have a station, do you not? If that’s the case, you will eventually have both."

"…I do… but I will not be turning over importing and exporting rights for any of my stations to anyone outside of BSE. Too easy for people to take advantage of that as I’m sure you can understand."

"I see. Then what about hiring me to run your import and export operations? While I would have preferred to be my own boss, I would like a position similar to my previous one back on Petrov."

"Hmm, we can do a trial run, if you do well, we can discuss details. I will get you a list of our transport assets before we arrive so you can look them over. Did anyone else wish to start their own business?"

He should have figured they would all say yes. Wei Na was the next oldest sister and thus the next to speak up. "You spoke of this academy? Do you have chemical engineering learning modules?"

"We do. Did you wish to do something related to chemical engineering?" He could see a host of uses for someone like that.

"Not particularly. I studied bio-engineering and crop improvement techniques for my work as an agronomist. I always felt I could do more if I had a better understanding of chemical engineering. I assume you have farms?"

"They are more like small family farms, but yes, we have farms. I can put you in touch with two of the farmers who would probably love to pick your brain. If you’re looking to create a plot of your own, I’m sure we can find some room." The woman thanked him and the discussion moved to the next Na family member.

Yi Na was Mingyu’s brother and their age had to differ by at least fifteen years if Alexander had to guess.

"To avoid stepping on Blue Star Enterprises’ toes, what do you produce?"

"At the moment, everything. But the main focus of my company will be engines, robotics, and anything to do with space."

"That is quite a list," the man replied. "What areas are you wishing to divest interest from?"

It wasn’t hard for Alexander to choose. "Construction. While I’m capable of doing it, I am not a structural engineer."

"If what Mingyu told us is accurate, I assume that there is a lot of this construction?"

"More than I can keep up with," Alexander said without hesitation.

The man nodded. "I wish to offer my services for the sake of running any construction efforts on the surface, with the understanding that once those initial efforts are complete and I start my own company, I can have first refusal of any contracts for the next ten years."

It was an interesting offer, and he had to think about it. The Na family would have quite a bit of power. Alexander didn’t want to be accused of nepotism or have monopolies forming. The only sticking point was the first refusal of any project. Alexander assumed the entire Na family was aware that there would be no access to credits until they established a Qcomm link, which would only be a few more months from now.

As he mulled over his decision, he asked a question of his own. "Do you have any qualifications to be a structural engineer?"

"No, but I ran one of Petrov Station’s largest maintenance companies on the ninth ring. So while I am not qualified, doing that sort of work means I needed to understand how the infrastructure went together."

It wasn’t much, but his qualifications were leagues better than anyone else on Eden’s End. And if Alexander was honest, he was sick of having to split his focus on trying to keep the repair crews working efficiently. "I’ll agree, but only for first refusal for five years. Trust me, there will be plenty of work."

The man thought about it for a bit before agreeing.

That left the youngest brother of the Na line, Jin Na.

"I don’t wish for anything as grand as my siblings. I’m a pure engineer, so anything in that vein will suit me just fine."

"We have a few homegrown engineers that are working for Eden’s End’s civilian leadership. I can put you in touch with them, I’m sure they would be thrilled to get another member to ease their workload."

After the discussions, Mingyu’s family went back to their cabins.

"Thank you for working with them," Mingyu said tiredly, "I know my family can be rather overbearing at times. Especially my father. Even after he retired, I think he forgot he wasn’t in charge sometimes."

"It’s fine. I would have preferred they all work for me, but we don’t always get everything we want. Your family wanting to do their own thing is probably better in the long run anyway. Forcing them to do what I want would have only bred resentment." That being said, Alexander was going to keep an eye on them.

Mingyu’s family was used to being top dogs, he didn’t want them bringing that attitude with them and causing trouble or strong-arming any possible competition that might come along. Competition would come along eventually, it was only a matter of time. Heck, he already knew a lot of new faces would arrive when the Hawks returned.