Blue Star Enterprises

Alexander’s comm beeped. He looked at it and saw it was the boarding message from Jasper. It was finally time to leave Petrov Station. It was a relief to finally see the message he had been waiting for. He had been receiving daily messages from the Captain, so he knew there was some trouble with station management, specifically Zhang. But Jasper had assured him that was all taken care of and now all of the supplies he had purchased were loaded. The final item to be loaded was his medical capsule because it required special care.

That made him cringe. For the first time since he woke, he wished he could just dispense with the lie. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Jasper, he absolutely did. The man had dropped everything to come to his aid when he didn’t have to. Alexander wasn’t sure if he would have done the same if the situation was reversed. That realization made him feel like a shitty friend.

No matter what Jasper said, Alexander would eventually repay him for this kindness.

He turned to Yulia who was sitting on the couch watching some holo show. "Are you ready?"

The girl turned to him and for a moment it looked like she was going to cry. She sniffed once before nodding. Alexander offered his hand to her and the pair walked toward the service elevator.

They arrived at the lift just as the lights began to blink. Alexander picked up Yulia and covered the rest of the distance, joining the other bulk items being transported around the station. He needed to thank Jasper, or more likely Naomi for timing the completion of their cargo loading so perfectly.

Soon enough they stepped out on the fourth ring where the Zephyr was docked. Considering the lengths Zhang had gone through to keep him here, Alexander was surprised there wasn’t armed security waiting for him. It seemed that might have been a step too far for the Council Captain. He would deeply like to know what the man had against him, but not enough to stick around another day to figure it out.

Alexander walked through the station, carrying Yulia on one arm with ease. The girl kept giggling in delight and asking him to go higher. Eventually, she was standing on top of his rounded shoulders in the place of his head. The girl seemed to have forgotten her sadness as she laughed while holding his hands.

He looked ridiculous walking down the corridor with his hands up in the air holding Yulia from falling, but he didn’t care. He preferred the girl’s last memory of the station to be a fond one rather than one marked by loss. Some of the people gawking at his little show probably thought he was an idiot, but so what? None of their opinions mattered one bit to him.

As they neared the dock, he could see Jasper waiting for him. Alexander could also feel Yulia’s apprehension growing. He lifted the girl off his head, earning a squeal of delight as he tucked her in his arm. She quickly used this new position to hide her face from the Captain. With his free arm, he waved.

The man waved back, a smile on his face. "Alexander! Your timing is impeccable."

The way he said it made Alexander think there was an issue. "Is something wrong?"

"Not yet. Let’s get inside the hangar before we chat." The man deliberately scanned the hallway for something after he said this.

Alexander hadn’t seen anyone following him. He would have if there was. The ability to monitor his surroundings at all times was handy if a bit draining on his mind. That issue had lessened quite a bit since his miraculous repair though. So the ability to see his entire surroundings seemed like something purpose-built into this body.

He followed the Captain inside the hangar, glad he didn’t need to duck due to his height. He wished all the bulkhead doors were as tall as the hangar doors. He wondered how he would fare in the research facility. As soon as they were through the hangar door, Jasper walked over to the control panel and locked it closed with a command code that meant they were intending to disembark.

"Yulia, would you like to explore the Zephyr with Naomi while I talk with your father?"

The girl tried to scrunch in even tighter against Alexander’s frame at the Captain’s words. Understanding that the Captain needed to speak privately with him, he set Yulia down. "Don’t worry, I’ll be right behind you," he lightly nudged the girl toward the smiling woman.

After a bit, the girl reluctantly nodded, shuffling over to Naomi, who offered her hand. The girl took it but looked back toward him for confirmation.

The young woman kneeled down next to his daughter and spoke in a soothing voice. "Don’t worry, Yulia. While the Captain and your dad are chatting, I’ll show you the best places to play hide and seek aboard the ship. That way you can play with your dad during the journey and win," she winked, earning an aborted giggle from the girl.

After they left, Alexander spoke up. "Naomi is exceedingly good at her job."

Jasper laughed lightly. "Of course she is, I hired her. Now on to business," the man’s tone became serious.

"Is this about Zhang causing issues?"

"Not this time, my friend." The pair walked over to a large crate that sat alone on the hangar floor.

Alexander immediately recognized it as his supposed ’cryo pod’.

"We’re friends right?" Jasper asked as he stopped next to the crate and turned toward him.

"Of course."

The Captain nodded. "Then do me the favor of explaining why this crate is housing a frozen animal, and not you."

Alexander visibly slumped. "You checked the contents?"

"I had to. After Zhang pulled his bullshit search warrant, I wanted to ensure there was nothing that could get us detained or worse. So if you’re not in there," he tapped on the top of the crate, "where are you?"

Alexander tapped his chest.

"Why lie about that?" Jasper asked, sounding genuinely hurt.

"Fear. I essentially woke up on this station without most of my memories. I had no idea how I got here, or how I ended up in this body."

"What?"

Alexander sighed. "It will be easier if I just start from the beginning."

He told Jasper about everything. His time being a mindless robot under Yuri, the scrambling he had to do to escape after the scrapyard was purchased out. His inability to do much of anything with that damn control box attached to him, everything. It all just sort of poured out of him as he began to recount the last few years.

After he was done, he felt like a weight had been lifted off his chest.

"So that’s what happened to old man Yuri. I’m sorry he used you like that. I doubt he would have had he known."

"I’m not sure I believe that. The man seemed perfectly fine dealing with shady people."

"Hmm, maybe you’re right. It has been quite some time since I last saw the old man, he could have changed. So… you’re what? A brain inside a robot body?" The man seemed to be trying to wrap his head around that.

Alexander chuckled. "Your guess is as good as mine. But probably not the brain thing. I tried some industrial scanners to see if I could figure it out. The images either came back grainy or couldn’t penetrate deep enough into my exoskeleton. I assume it has something to do with the damage I had before or some sort of shielding."

"I was going to ask about the damage next, but shielding?"

"I haven’t needed to recharge since I woke up. Something has to be powering this body. And something that powerful has to be shielded I would think."

The man took a step back. "Is it safe?"

"It hasn’t caused any harm as far as I can tell. And there isn’t any radiation leaking from my body. That would have been picked up right away. As for the damage, I honestly don’t know. I lost consciousness after the attack. When I woke back up, the damage was just gone. Not repaired, but like it had never even been there in the first place."

"I have to ask this, Alexander, because your story makes little sense. Are you sure you’re even human?"

Alexander shrugged his large shoulders. "As far as I know. I have memories of a life back on Earth."

"Earth? It’s rare to meet people from the homeworld. Do you think someone back there might know what happened to you?"

"Hmm, probably not."

"How can you be so certain?"

"Hoo boy. This is another issue I encountered when I woke up. My memories seem to be from around the mid-2050s, as best as I can guess."

"…What?"

"I know it’s hard to believe. Imagine the last thing you remember is some time from almost four hundred years ago. I was quite lost when I realized I was on a space station floating out in a system I had no memory of. I can see you want to ask the question. I have no clue who did this to me or why. And yes, it could have been aliens. I haven’t seen any human technology even remotely close to what this body is made out of. Have you ever heard the saying, sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic?"

The man nodded woodenly.

"Well, I don’t see that with this body. I see joints and servos. Slightly more advanced than human tech, but not much beyond that. That’s also why I don’t think I’m a disembodied brain. Unless there is some ridiculously advanced stasis technology at play, I just don’t see how a brain could survive that long. And I can’t imagine humanity even coming up with such technology in the next hundred years. My best guess is I’m some sort of digital transference. The why and how of that escapes me though. But you see my dilemma?"

Jasper took a seat on the crate that held the cryo pod. "I can see why you would have wanted to keep this quiet. I’ll be honest, that was not the story I expected to hear when I confronted you."

Alexander made his avatar quirk an eyebrow. "Really? What did you expect? And does this mean you believe me?"

"Of course, I believe you. The story is too insane to be fake. It also explains why you seemed so naïve, even though you lived out on the fringes."

"I wasn’t that naïve," he grumbled.

Jasper chuckled. "Trust me, you were. As for what I expected? Honestly, I don’t know. Someone in hiding I guess. Although, that is technically true. Maybe an escaped runaway from some criminal organization. There are enough of those around."

"You thought about me like this the entire time? And still worked with me?"

"Not the entire time. Your story didn’t make a whole lot of sense so I did some digging. I only dug into your background after your work. By then I already knew you were a stand-up guy. So unless I found you to be some pirate hiding from the law, I figured you were fine to keep your secret."

"I put a lot of thought and work into that cover," Alexander muttered quietly.

The Captain smiled. "You simply lacked the right information. We’ll have plenty of time during the flight. I’ll work with you to correct that lapse of knowledge. Now let’s get aboard before your daughter gets upset."

"So, you still want to take me now that you know my secret? What about my cover?" Alexander asked.

"Alexander, I judge people by their actions, not by their circumstances. And everything you’ve shown me leads me to believe you are an upstanding person. As for your other concern. This little discovery will stay between you and me. It isn’t my place to reveal people’s secrets. It will be up to you if you want to tell the rest of my crew."

Alexander nodded. "I would prefer to keep this between us for now."

Jasper nodded and motioned toward the end of the crate as he readied to lift one end. "This thing isn’t going to carry itself. You going to help?"

Alexander chuckled and lifted the entire thing by himself. "After you, Captain."