ã€ŠProject Dirtã€‹


 Project Dirt chapters 1 A stranger in a strange place.

    Project dirt

    Book 1:

    [Part 1](https://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/1f9f9gg/project_dirt/) . . [Part 2](https://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/1fbxbox/dirt_part_2/) .. [Part 3](https://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/1fee2f2/project_dirt_part_3/) .. [Part 4](https://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/1fgp7mr/project_dirt_part_4/) [Part 5](https://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/1fkfizx/project_dirt_part_5/) .. [Part 6](https://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/1flxxlp/project_dirt_part_6/) .. [Part 7](https://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/1fp787b/project_dirt_part_7/) .. [Part 8](https://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/1fqrrf9/project_dirt_part_8/) P[art 9](https://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/1ftqlpf/project_dirt_part_9/) . [Part 10](https://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/1fw2k6n/project_dirt_part_10/) [Part 11](https://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/1fybnyx/project_dirt_part_11/) [Part 12](https://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/1g0kmam/project_dirt_part_12/) [Part 13](https://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/1g2pwhw/project_dirt_part_13/) [Part 14](https://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/1g42c7x/project_dirt_part_14_when_the_cat_is_away/) [Part 15](https://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/1g6kdva/project_dirt_part_15/) [Part 16](https://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/1g9cq4m/project_dirt_part_16/) [Part 17](https://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/1gax9pz/project_dirt_part_17/) . [Part 18](https://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/1gelqr3/project_dirt_18_druids_presentations_and_business/) . [Part 19](https://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/1gg99uf/project_dirt_part_19_the_dark_side_of_dirt/) . [Part 20](https://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/1gjg8pv/project_dirt_part_20_and_they_just_wont_stop_with/) . [Part 21](https://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/1gma1p7/project_dirt_part_21_factory_and_production/) . [Part 22](https://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/1gosc7z/project_dirt_part_22_unexpected_visitors/) .. [Part 23](https://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/1gpoqxv/project_dirt_23_pirates_and_angels/)

    Adam left the office feeling giddy. He walked towards the hangar as he read the contract for what must have been the hundredth time. He had done it. He had bought a whole solar system, costing him twenty-five million credits, but now he officially owned GKB-12658. It had a yellow sun, three planets, and two gas planets with two asteroid fields. The planets were just barren rocks; only one was within the habitable zone, and the atmosphere was weak. It was 1.003x the size of Earth, with two moons and a ring formation. The moons were half the size of Earth''s moon and locked in an eternal dance with each other. It was a beautiful sight to behold, but he did worry if they would collide at one point. But it was 20 lightyears from the nearest populated system, almost like buying a farm in the middle of nowhere; the nearest hyperplane was 6 lightyears away, and it currently had no stops there. Adam grinned.

    Currently was the keyword. He had spent half his winnings on the planet. He remembered how shocked he had been when he won the Earth''s golden ticket. He had spent 5 credits and won fifty million credits. He hadn¡¯t told anybody; there was nobody to tell, to be honest. Being raised in an orphanage with very few friends. Those he had as a kid had left Earth a long time ago. With his winnings, he knew he could spend money, live a good life, buy a house, and enjoy life. But he wanted something more. He wanted to be something more. He had spent one million on an old space hauler and learned how to fly it; he had bought five droids for protection, ten worker droids and two factory-version 3D printing robots. Leaving him with twenty-two million credits.

    He had a plan, and it was going to work. He had read about it when he was young, about people who made deserts bloom. He always wanted to do that, but now he could do it on a grander scale. Not just grand .. Planetary scale. He had the idea when he saw the article about that family that dumped organic waste in the desert and let nature do its thing. It was a way to fight desertification. He wanted to do that to a whole planet. He just needed to find a planet with a desert planet atmosphere, like the one they always show in the movies. That had turned out to be more difficult than he thought. Most desert planets have no atmosphere or are too cold or hot. He finally found one on the other side of the galaxy, far from everybody. It would have been colonized long ago if it had been closer to the hyperplane. He reached the hangar and looked for the job board. Yep, there it was, the most annoying and boring job in the universe: trash disposal. People thought space stations just recycled everything, but that was not true; with a constant influx of goods, there was no need to recycle, dump it in a crate, ship it near the sun, and waste problem solved. The problem was getting the waste from the station within the sun¡¯s gravity pull. And that¡¯s where he came in.

    He took the job and the next and the next. He filled his hauler up with all the trash he could. It was now his trash; he could keep it or dump it, just not in open space. Ships didn¡¯t like getting hit by a meteorite made out of other people''s waste. He had earned a few credits, too.

    It took him one week to reach his system; when he entered, it came up as owned by Adam Wrangler. He loved it and stared at the screen as the ship flew to the second planet, the most earth-like one. He looked at it. It was just a desert with two large white poles. He ran the scans, and there were traces of nitrogen and carbon. The atmosphere was very weak, with almost no ozone layer. He flew down to the equator, where a vast valley was, and dumped everything there. He looked over the scans and found a place to land. It was a plateau high enough not to end up underwater even if both poles melted but still not too high. He got into the suit and went to the secondary cargo hold where his droids and 3D printers were placed and unloaded.

    He went over the geographic scans and the programs. There was a base blueprint he had bought. It had cost him 2500 credits, a research base that looked like a forty-meter tall cylinder with a fifty-meter diameter and a small observation tower at the top; he had played with the design and added three football-field sized domes and a landing hanger. Those had only cost him 500 credits each. It would take the droids months to finish it, but they would work constantly until it was finished. He might have to buy a few more. Ten more would speed it up.

    He left four of the bodyguard droids to protect it, and then he flew off. He set the course for ¡°the galactic hub,¡± or hub as it was called. The biggest commercial space station in the sector. When he docked, he headed straight to the job board to find the waste disposal jobs. ¡°He leaves a few for us. That¡¯s easy money: just 30 minutes for a few hundred credits.¡± He turned towards the voice. The man was slightly taller and looked like a shaved dog with a pink mohawk. He was wearing what appeared to be blue jeans and a red T-shirt. He had a bandoleer that ended in a pistol; he thought the species was Tufons.

    ¡°How many do you want me to leave? I want the organics anyway,¡± Adam replied as he stepped away from the screen. He had managed to get 20 jobs, and his hauler would soon be full. ¡°Only organics? Why?¡± The alien reviewed the jobs and took four, mostly metal products. ¡°Science project, what about you? You seemed to go for the metal. ¡° Adam watched the alien curious. He had only met a few, though he had seen many.

    ¡°You don¡¯t know? You melt it down and resell it. It takes a lot of energy though, so most stations don¡¯t bother with it, and the crimelords don¡¯t care about the small changes. So what kind of science project?¡± The dogman looked at him now, tilting his head slightly. ¡°Well, just checking if it can turn into manure. Trying to make a farm.¡± It was a little lie, but he didn¡¯t feel like revealing his real plan.This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

    ¡°Well, then you should go to the farms and restaurants. It takes longer, but you will get organics and no metals then. Names Roks.¡± The alien offered a clawed hand to shake, and he took it. It was a firm grip.

    ¡°Adam Wrangler, nice to meet you. I was hoping to get in and out. How much more time are we talking about?¡±

    ¡°Well, if it¡¯s just for one time, then we are talking a few days, but if it¡¯s a regular job, then you can set it up, hire somebody to bring it down here to the waste storage, and then you don¡¯t even have to check the job board. It will truly be in and out.¡± Adam looked at Roks as he thought about it. He had to do some calculations, but yeah, it might actually work. He needed a lot of waste; he was, after all, planning to cover the whole planet in it, and he didn¡¯t have time to work on the atmosphere either. ¡°I have to think about it. Right now, I have to fill this one up and head out. Nice meeting you Roks.¡±

    He added a few more jobs to fill up the ship and headed out. He had enough money to hire a few. He needed one more ship and at least one more pilot. He stopped and looked at Roks. ¡°Do you work for somebody?¡±

    ¡°No, self-employed. Why? Are you hiring?¡± He had stopped as he asked him, halfway out the door.

    ¡°Maybe, my project needs a lot of organic waste. So, I might need to hire a pilot with a ship to do the job. But it¡¯s a week''s travel between here and the dumping place each way.¡± ¡°you better just buy a slave for that; no cargo hauler would do that for trash; a slave working for freedom will. Of course, they might steal the hauler and escape. But that¡¯s the risk you run with even a licensed pilot. Maybe a Clonedroid. Yeah, that could work.¡± ¡°A clone droid? What the hell is that?¡± Adam asked, confused; he hadn''t heard about those. Roks shrugged as he replied. ¡°Ethical clones, they call them, clones with a cybernetic brain. Basically, they will pass as alive, and they can access the common areas; it¡¯s an android brain inside a cloned body. So you won¡¯t have any ethical problems about using them for labor, unlike slaves. Some people, like me, don¡¯t agree with that practice.¡±

    ¡°Are you serious? They clone somebody and remove their brains to put in an android brain? That¡¯s like killing somebody to make a flesh android.¡± Adam was disgusted by the thought, Roks looked at him for a while.

    ¡°You''re human, right? They said your people were different. But yeah, you''re right. Hell, if you want to do the right thing, you buy a slave, set up a contract for servitude to freedom, and set aside some money for when they get freed. Then you roll the dice of fate and hope you bought an honest one. That¡¯s my goal, though. The damn law forbids you from freeing a slave you just bought.¡± Roks seemed a little frustrated as he said the last words.

    ¡°Wait, you''re trying to buy somebody to free them? Who?¡± Adam was curious now; this was an aspect of galactic culture he had not learned at school, the little he had.

    ¡°My sister and her husband were on the wrong side of my world''s civil war and were sold off as slaves. I have them on hold for three weeks: 30 grand for her and 55 for him. He is a biologist, and she is a nurse.¡±

    ¡°Biologist? How much are you missing?¡±

    ¡°I got 22500 saved up now. I might get 1000 more with these jobs, and the sale might give me another. I fear I can only get her out. She is going to hate me; luckily, he is so specialized that I might have another week before he is snatched up.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll buy them. I could use a biologist, and she can work as his aid for what? a year?¡± ¡°You sure? I mean, I don¡¯t even know you. And it has to be a minimum of 5 standard years.¡± ¡°Yeah, but with one condition. You work for me too, paid of course for 6 months. Yeah, that should do it. You seem to know your way around the business of hauling, and I need the help. What do you say?¡±

    ¡°I say, I want to see the contract and credit check first.¡± Adam smirked as he pressed his tab, and his spending credit was shown; he only had 2.1 million credits on it, and Roks whistled as he saw it.

    ¡°Why are you hauling? You''re rich enough to retire with that.¡±

    ¡°I have a bigger dream. Come, let''s find a lawyer and set up a contract.¡± He started walking and Roks followed him.

    ¡°You know a lawyer will cost credits, right?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, but I¡¯ll be honest with you. We just met, and this will be for my security as well as yours. If you screw me over, I can sue you, and if I screw you over, you can sue me. And It will protect us from outside interference as well. Companies get more protection.¡±

    It took them five hours, but Adam was the CEO and owner of Wrangler Company, HQ at the newly named Dirt system. Roks was his employee for one year and paid 50% of the income from each haul. They also set up a standard contract for slaves: five years of work for freedom and a 50,000 reward when they¡¯d served their time. An hour later, they all sat in a cafeteria. Roks, his sister Hara, and her husband Vorts just looked at him while Adam was trying out the food.

    ¡°Are you sure this is edible?¡± He looked at the plate. It looked like a T-bone steak, but the color was not correct. The meat was green, the bone was purple, and the potatoes were green. ¡°Uh, yes, it¡¯s quite safe. The scan you did when you arrived at the restaurant showed everything that would be poisonous on your menu," he replied, but he seemed still in shock. Adam looked up. ¡°What? Is it so strange to see a human eating?¡±

    ¡°No, it''s that you just gave us a chance of freedom. And that contract, you had us sign with a lawyer as a witness. I mean. What do you want from us?¡± Vorts replied to him as he held his wife''s hand.

    ¡°Look, I guess I have to explain it. I bought a solar system, and it has one planet with an atmosphere, a weak one so I need it thicker so It can become breathable. It''s within the habitable zone, but not enough gasses to make it breathable or give it a stable atmosphere. Fortunately, both poles have a large ice cap, mainly water.

    Now, it''s so far away from another system that I got it cheap. So we are going to terraform it unusually. I can''t afford the big terraform machines, so the plan is to collect as much bio waste as possible, spread it out, and melt the caps to release water vapor.¡± He spoke as he ate; the food was surprisingly good, and he sipped the water.

    ¡°Singlehandedly terraform? You must be crazy. But for the sake of argument, does the planet have a strong enough gravity pull to keep the atmosphere?¡± Vorts was a little more interested now.

    ¡°Yes, it is about the same size as my home world. That''s why I picked it. Look, it has potential. The system might have metal I can sell. The goal is first to terraform the planet and then make a profit from it. ¡° He leaned back and looked at them.

    ¡°Look, I can''t do it alone; few humans are this far out from Earth. Earth is on the other side of the galaxy. If not for the hyperplane, then I would never have been able to travel here. It takes a whole year in hyperspace to get here from Earth.¡±

    ¡°Are you running away from your kind?¡± Hara seemed a little worried, and Adam laughed. ¡°No, I¡¯m not running away. I just... it¡¯s a human thing. I wanted to go somewhere far away and start over. I have no family, so I had nothing to hold me back. Right now, you''re all I have.¡± They all looked at each other and back at him. ¡°You''re adopting us?¡± Roks looked confused, and Adam tapped his implant. It must have translated it wrong. ¡°Adopt?¡°

    ¡°Make us part of your family? Become our clan leader?¡± Roks tilts his head slightly, and Adam chuckles.

    ¡°Wow, let''s take it easy. Let''s first find out if you guys even like me. I don¡¯t know how it works out here. Right now, We work together, right?¡±

    Adam looked at them, hoping he didn¡¯t disappoint or offend them. They looked at each other with a strange look. So he continued. ¡°Look, I''m human; I don¡¯t mean to offend or cause trouble. I might have said something offensive. If I did, please accept my apologies.¡±

    ¡°No need to apologize; you own us. We cannot hope for such honor anyway. We will work hard and may be worthy one day.¡± Vorts bowed his head, and Adam smiled.

    ¡°Hey, just cut that master-owning stuff ¡ª your¡¯re employees with a five-year contract. Now, we need to buy a shelter for you guys as you will be working planetside. And some clothes as well. Okay, time to go shopping.¡±

 Project Dirt Chapter 2

    Dirt part 2 Shopping

    ¡°Why don¡¯t you hire a lawyer to find the jobs for you? Perhaps somebody less expensive?¡± Roks asked him as his sister and her husband was shopping for clothes and necessities. Adam had given them 1000 credits; it should be enough to get them cheap clothes. He and Roks sat in what he would describe as an alien fast-food restaurant.

    ¡°Expensive? What do you mean?¡± Adam looked at him, confused; he had paid 10,000 credits for the whole thing, and for it, he now had a company and official documents as well as new back accounts set up.

    ¡°You don¡¯t know, do you? Shit..¡± Roks looked around and leaned towards him, almost whispering as he.  ¡°You are so damn lucky you helped me. Look, I don¡¯t know what system or currency you''re used to, but let me lay it out for you so you don¡¯t get us both killed by some muggers, 1 credit is worth 1000 bits. One bit is divided into 10 bytes. You can buy a meal here for 10 bytes.¡± Then he took a bite of the snack he had bought. It looked like a meat cracker. And he leaned back as he spoke normally. ¡±Now, the other thing you need to understand is that I am not your kin. We have a very different culture.  You bought my sister and in my culture, I only have two solutions for this: hunt you down to kill you so I can free her or take her place if I find you too powerful to kill. My culture doesn¡¯t allow our kind to be female slaves to people outside our culture. And then you bound me in a contract, making it so you are my leader. This means I''m supposed to let you have her, even kill her husband if you wanted her, but with your contract, you prevented that from ever happening. It''s like you are playing my culture against me and making me win. It''s damn confusing. I don¡¯t know if I¡¯m supposed to swear loyalty or what here. You¡¯re a damn peacemaker.¡° He chuckled as he spoke.

    Adam just looked at Roks as he ranted. He liked the guy. He was honest to a fault and carried himself like a soldier, a very confused soldier.

    Adam replied, ¡°Peacemaker, eh?¡± The man probably meant diplomate; the chip implanted behind his ear did not translate everything perfectly.

    Then he looked at his wrist where he had his watch; it contained access to his wealth, and he suddenly realized he was not carrying a few million. What the hell had he won? His mind started to race. Was he truly a complete idiot? 55 million credits times 1000, that would be 55 000 million, but that was bits, and it was not like cents as he had believed. No bits were the dollar. Shit, no, bytes were the Earth credits. And that was 10 more. Oh my god.. when they said he was rich. They were lying. He was filthy rich. He had thought it was one-to-one, but he had been a complete fool. Why did they call it credits? They should have called it Earth Credit and Galaxy credits.  His mind was racing. ¡°you. wait.. 100 I mean.. wow.. so Ahh.. wait¡­ Okey.  Sorry.. I got a little confused here. You''re not going to kill me, right?¡±

    Roks grinned at him. ¡°No, I''m not. I have a feeling you''re going to have a lot of those brain breaks out here. You seem to have no idea about the culture here. Hell.. How do you know the lawyers are not going to screw you over?¡±

    ¡°Oh, that is easy. I took intergalactic law in college. My original plan was to join the Marines and have the military pay for my law school in a colony. They let me join, and I stood guard at a gate for three years. However, I have two years of basic law and one year of Galactic Federation contracts.  I am lucky my last year and got some money, so I didn''t reenlist. I can always go back if this fails.  Anyway, that¡¯s why I decided to pick that lawyer. He had the credentials. Member of the Galactic Law Federation. He came up on the official station listing.¡±

    He got out his pad and checked it, and suddenly, it all made sense. The galactic lottery. He thought it was just a lottery for human colonies; it was a galactic-wide lottery. He searched for his winnings and found that he had split it with 257 others, one of the lowest splits in the last 1000 draws. He looked back at Roks.  ¡°So, I am good with you, right? No killing? What about Vorts? Will he try to kill me?¡±

    ¡°No, you wrote in the contract that he was married to Dara. So, they are now more legally married than they were at their wedding back home. Now, their marriage is documented in the galactic census. Like I said, it''s like you played our culture against us to protect your own skin. You''re good at writing contracts.¡±

    ¡°Just out of curiosity, if I had not signed the contract? What would have happened?¡±

    ¡°We would have killed you and taken your hauler.¡±  Roks said it so casually as if it was the most normal thing that would have happened. ¡°You don¡¯t have any protection with you. No weapons.¡±

    ¡°We are on a space station, the most civilized place in the sector. You would have been caught immediately.¡±

    ¡°We would have done it on your ship.¡±

    ¡°I have protection there.¡± Adam winked, and Roks looked at him as if trying to figure him out.

    ¡°What are you?¡± he finally said.

    ¡°I''m a human. I just want to avoid any trouble while I fulfill my dream.¡° Adam smiled as he saw the two others approach, each carrying two bags and a backpack.

    ¡°Did you buy the whole mall?¡± Roks stood up, shaking his head, as he walked over to his sister. She grinned.

    ¡°No, We just bought clothes and basics for a year.  He said we would be staying on his planet, so we needed a lot of stuff.¡± She looked between Roks and her husband before looking at Adam. ¡°Right?¡±

    Adam nodded. ¡°Yes, head to the hanger, Bay F46. I will call ahead. D01 will aid you. Roks and I need to take care of a few things.¡± Adam looked at Roks. ¡°If you don¡¯t mind?¡± Roks shook his head, and the couple grinned happily. After they left, Adam turned to Roks.

    ¡°I¡¯m going to need help from you. We are going droid shopping, and I need your knowledge of alien culture. As you said, I accidentally dodged a bullet with you guys, and I want to be more prepared. Like knowing if I hire the wrong guy, will I risk getting killed for breaking a taboo I didn¡¯t know about.¡±

    Roks chuckled, ¡°You just had a wake-up call, didn¡¯t you? Okay, I will help you since I like you. You sound crazy, but you saved my sister, and if she fulfills your contract, she will be well off and legally off the galactic slave census. So first off, don¡¯t buy my kind as slaves unless you are going to put them under armed guard. If you are going to buy slaves to free them, I recommend Dushins, Wossirs, and Buginos. Their culture is more honored with such contracts with their lives. Even if they are not very religious, the cultural shame will make them at least be faithful for the duration of the contract. Stay away from my kind and Harans. They will kill you no matter what, or at least try to. We are mostly used as fighters; we are very bad slaves.¡±

    ¡°I wish I had known that before; what about second-hand goods? I have been buying brand new since I don¡¯t know how the market works out here. Back home, I would have gone to FindNet and checked for second-hand.¡° He glanced around and saw a pretty lady walking by; she looked like a humanoid; her skin was blue with red tiger stripes and long, loose, jet-black hair with some braids incorporated. She was dressed in a knee-long green slit skirt and a white blouse.  She noticed he stared, winked with emerald-green eyes, and grinned with ivory white sheets and four sharp fangs. Roks noticed and laughed.

    ¡°You truly are suicidal. That¡¯s a Haran. She would eat you for dinner.¡±

    The woman vanished past them into the crowd; she was beautiful and had an aura of danger.

    ¡°No harm in looking.¡± Adam grinned back, and Roks smirked.

    ¡°It is she if likes what she sees; then she would mark you. The Haran are crazy. Anyway, I don¡¯t know what FindNet is, but here we have the Market hub. We should go there. Just a friendly advice, never buy over the net. That¡¯s how they scam you. Only buy on the net on planets with strict online laws. Off-planet, you always go to the Market Hub so you can see the wares and check them. You should also look for the Hub credentials at the shop to ensure you get the real deal.¡±

    Adam nodded, looked after the lady, and then back to Roks. ¡°Okay, let¡¯s go. We need more droids and an engineer, but I need somebody I can trust.¡±

    Roks laughed. ¡°Trust? In space? You only trust family and clan.¡±

    They headed to the Market Hub, and on the way, he told D01 about the couple and had them store their stuff. The android responded affirmatively. They were halfway down when Roks got a message from his sister; he read it and turned to Adam. ¡°You have a Destroyer droid as a guardian? That¡¯s military-grade shit!¡±

    ¡°What? D01? Yeah, I got a few of them. I bought them off the company. One of my few friends helped me. He worked for the company. Why?¡±

    ¡°You wait... Destroyer droids are made by Ares company. He works for them?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, half my country does. The HQ is on earth.¡± Adam didn¡¯t understand why it was a big deal. It was just the top-of-the-line bodyguard droid. Harold was one of the few friends, well, kind of friend he had. Fuck, he had lied to him when he said it was the standard. Probably got himself a nice bonus for that sale. He smirked. He would have done the same thing. Harold probably thought he scammed him and instead rescued his ass. They had grown up in the same orphanages; he had been his bunkmate and was kind of like a little brother, not that he would ever tell him.

    This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.Roks nodded and quickly returned a message to his sister. ¡°It¡¯s safe, right? ¡°

    ¡°Yeah, he was told to take care of them and make them settle in,¡± he replied as they stepped out of the lift and entered the Market Hub. It was not what he had suspected. It was a large open area filled with booths, but it looked clean and tidy. By the entrance, there was an interactive map. Adam looked around at all the aliens. It took him a few seconds to get over the awe of the inhabitants.

    ¡°What? Still not used to all the different species?¡±  Roks smirked as he navigated the map.

    ¡°Yes, actually. I mean, back home, there were a few, but for some reason, other species tend to avoid Earth. I think we got a bad reputation.¡±

    ¡°Reputation? Yeah, you can say that. Humans are said to be made of chaos, tempered by war and violence, made for war, so you waged war against war. That¡¯s what I hear, and apparently, your world is filled with dangerous animals. But I never met one, and around here, nothing is more feared than the Haran and my kind. We are kind of the top dogs around.¡±

    ¡°So, I should fear you?¡± Adam smirked.

    ¡°Yeah, hell, to make it easier, let''s just say I''m your bodyguard. That way, we are less likely to get scammed, okay?¡±

    ¡°How much would that cost me? Bottle of whiskey?¡±

    ¡°I have no idea what that is, but sure. Let''s go. I found the droid sale. Booth 34, A Duskin seller.¡± Roks started to walk away, and Adam followed; it took him a while to regain composure and not stare at the goods like a kid in a candy store. He had expected aliens to be strange, but things were just bizarre here.

    Roks chuckled as he noticed. ¡°I can see you have just been at the upper levels, where the tourists go.  That is for the Ghorts. They are a half-gelatin species; half the things they sell there are unknown to most people here.  Ahh here we are.¡±  They entered a booth with several display screens and three droids on display. The salesman looked like a green-skinned bald dwarf with several tiny horns that formed a crown. His eyes were bright blue, and he had a short, blueish beard. He wore a bluish one-piece tracksuit with a sleeveless collar and a black vest. He had a pad in his hand. When he saw Adam, his eyes lit up, and his mouth opened in a grin, showing off small fangs. ¡°WELCOME HUMAN!¡± Both Adam and Roks looked at him surprised.

    ¡°Hello? Nice to meet you, too.¡± Adam looked surprised at Roks. ¡°I thought humans were rare here.¡±

    ¡°You are. The gods have blessed me with the sight of a real one. You are a human, right?¡± The Duskin moved closer, took out a glass, and scanned him.

    Adam was dumbfounded as he looked at him; it was something nagging him, something he should know. Something from school, something he had learned about them. Duskin, what was so special about them? They were one of Earth''s allies from that old butcher war. That was 150 years ago, so it can¡¯t be that.

    ¡°Yes, I''m human. I just arrived, and I need a few droids for a project¡ªconstruction droids,¡± Adam replied as he tried to get back to business.

    ¡°So human, you work with him? Damn, they say your Tufons are loyal; you know what they say about them?¡±  The salesman looked at Roks, who was getting more confused.

    ¡°Your best friend or your worst enemy. Children of Chaos.¡± Then he turned to Adam. ¡°My name is Soshu Qirl, but call me Soshu, and yes, I have droids. How many do you need? One? Two? Ten?¡°

    ¡°Depends on the quality. Did you get the Kalvis brand?¡± Roks eyes widened as he mentioned the brand, and the salesman laughed and looked at Roks.

    ¡°Kalvis brand? I got the x1, two of them, but they are expensive.¡± Soshu''s eyes gleamed at the prospect of selling his more expensive goods.

    ¡°How much?¡±

    ¡°1500 credits per droid, only used to stand guard in an office building. Over a nervous owner, had the highest security, and died from an attack. Family is selling off the redundant.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯ll give you 2500 for both.¡±

    ¡°What?¡± Soshu looked around for something to attack him with, and Roks stepped between them.

    ¡°Easy. I don¡¯t think he knows the rules; it''s his first time in the hub.¡± Roks had one open hand towards the salesman and the other hovering over his pistol. Then, without taking his eyes off the now furious Duskin, he spoke to Adam.¡± Apologies to him; you can''t do that here. The price is always finally in the Hub! And especially with the Duskins.¡±

    Adam looked between them. ¡°I''m sorry. I misunderstood the whole thing. Back home, this would just be the start of a haggling session. My apologies. Of course, I will pay full price. Please accept my ignorance.¡± He looked Soshu in his eyes while holding both hands up disarmingly. It seemed to work as he calmed down.

    ¡°So, you buy both? 3000?¡± He stared at him, still a little wary.

    ¡°Yes. I will, of course, want to see them and your other goods.¡± He tried to sound as friendly as he could, and Roks sighed.

    ¡°He doesn¡¯t know; he probably means something else than what you think.¡±  Roks quickly interjected as he was still between them. Soshu closes his fist and grits his teeth.

    ¡°What?¡± Adam was getting confused, and Roks looked at him.

    ¡°You''re insulting his honor; he would never dream of selling something that¡¯s not in excellent condition. That¡¯s why I chose this shop.¡±

    Adam facepalmed at his own ignorance. ¡°Again, I''m so sorry. Okay, let me see your catalogue, and I will pick the ones I want unless you want me to leave?¡±

    Soshu looked at him, confused now. ¡°Leave? I want your respect and your money. How can I get that if you leave?¡± He looked at Rooks. ¡°You need to train him, get him a travel guide or ten, perhaps some history of the species.  He is going to get you killed if you don¡¯t.¡±

    ¡°I¡¯m starting to think so, too; he tried to flirt with a Haran earlier.¡± Roks said as he shook his head in disbelief at the memory. Soshu laughed as he handed Adam a pad, apparently calming down from his insults.

    ¡°A Haran? He does have a death wish. Was it a warrior?¡± He got on another pad and looked at what Adam was ordering, then back at Roks with a ¡®Is this guy real? look.¡¯

    ¡°Naw, she looked like a businesswoman. If it were a warrior, he would probably be at dinner about now.¡± Then he noticed the look and smirked. ¡°He is opening a company. So yeah, he is probably going to empty out your storage.¡±

    Adam handed back the pad. ¡°I guess that should be enough for now. If you don''t mind, I will drop by in a few months and check if you have anything else I need. You actually had something I was planning to buy later, so you saved me one trip. I can store it in the warehouse. ¡°

    ¡°You are aware that the list will end at 245,000 credits. And you bought two different maintenance droids for two different ships. They are not comparative.¡± Soshu looked at him, calculating.

    Adam nodded. ¡°Yes. For a Fareview ZE12 hauler and a Gnusu 2000 hauler.  I need both.¡°

    Roks looked at Adam and then back to Soshu, acting normal. Adam just smiled. ¡°Of course, if you do not want to sell them to me.¡±

    ¡°Shut up, human,¡± Soshu grumbled as he took out the tab for him to pay. You''re going to give me a heart attack.¡± Roks was ready to jump between them at the new insult but relaxed as Adam paid with a smile.

    ¡°Nice doing business with you.¡±

    Soshu stared at him. ¡°Not so much for me; you come here, insult me and my honor, then buy my whole inventory. You¡¯re a menace. God damn child of Chaos. Don¡¯t come back unless you want to buy stuff. Now, where do you want me to deliver it? And when?¡±

    ¡°I''m sorry you feel that way, Hangerbay F46. And as soon as possible.¡±

    ¡°It will be done within two hours. Now, get lost. You are stressing me out, ape!¡± There was a smile hidden behind the insult, and Adam smirked and walked away. Roks followed, slightly confused.

    ¡°You bought me a maintenance droid? ¡° He whispered as they were out of the booth. ¡°Why?¡±

    ¡°I bought it for me.¡± He handed him his own pad with the list of droids. ¡°He had three mining droids. The system has an asteroid field, and the Gnusu 2000 is the cheapest reliable hauler. I''m going to buy one and install the mining system on it. The maintenance droid is for that one; of course, my employees, like you, are free to use it when they are in the system.  We need to buy more blueprints for my 3D printers. It''s an investment.¡±

    ¡°Wait, why buy a new one when I got one? You can buy it from me. I only bought it to earn money to buy my sister and brother-in-law, it was so had a line of work I could claim they would work in.¡± Roks stopped him as he replied, looking at him.

    ¡°Well, what are you going to do then? If I buy it and put the system in, it won''t even need a pilot; it''s just a giant drone.¡± Adam looked at him, a little confused.

    ¡°Your ship. You need me to help navigate society, remember. I¡¯m a better bodyguard anyway. You could have gotten yourself in serious trouble back there. You can buy another ship when you learn the ropes, and I fly that. That way, if your project fails, you will still have a small mining operation.¡±  Roks spoke fast, and Adam thought about it. It made sense; he definitely needed a partner who knew about the different cultures here. Besides, Roks seemed to be honest.

    ¡°Okay.¡± He looked for an information screen, and Roks looked at him, confused.

    ¡°Okay? What do you mean?¡±

    ¡°I mean, Okay. That makes sense. Now, Soshu said something about travel guides, and we still need to find an engineer.¡± Adam smiled slightly at his confused friend. Yeah. Roks might be a friend. Perhaps his first ever that was not involved in his past.

 Project Dirt 3 Lawyers

    ¡°So, let''s go down and get another slave then,¡± Roks replied as they walked, stopped, and checked a screen. ¡°But first books, right?¡± He looked at Adam.

    ¡°Eh. Yes, books first, and why buy a slave? I bought your sister to help you so you would help me. I''m actually against slavery. It''s illegal where I''m from for a damn good reason. That¡¯s why I wrote the contract as I did. They are as free as I could make them.¡± He ignored the screen and looked at Roks, who looked very confused now.

    ¡°Slavery illegal? What do you do with criminals? Captured enemy combatants? And people who can''t pay their debts?¡± He had forgotten all about the books and engineers they needed.

    ¡°We put them in prison. You don¡¯t have prisons? And there are other ways. Besides, we normally hire people who want to be hired.¡± Adam looked at him as if Roks made no sense, and Roks laughed.

    ¡°Wow, you earthlings. Okay, we can hire somebody straight from school, but we might have to wait a while. Hiring somebody takes a long time. We can talk about human ways later.  Man. Prison for every criminal? That¡¯s barbaric. Remind me never to go to a human world?¡± He turned back to the screen and found the shop. Adam wondered if something had been lost in translation. The prison wasn¡¯t that bad; it couldn''t be worse than slavery; he followed Roks to the shop, and as they were about to enter, Roks stopped him.

    ¡°I¡¯ll do the talking, okay? Next time we return, you can buy the books; I don¡¯t want another situation like with Soshu. You okay with that?¡± He was quite serious, but when Adam nodded in agreement, he grinned and went inside. Adam turned his attention to his pad and asked to talk to Vorts.

    ¡°Yes, sir. What can I help you with?¡± Vorts sounded a little worried and looked at the screen.

    ¡°I just wanted you to review the delivered goods and let me know if we need anything. I will grant you access to the library computer. There are some files there. Besides the fertile earth, the first goal is to gain a functional atmosphere, so anything that can help there would be good. ¡°

    ¡°Yes, sir. I don¡¯t think your droid will allow me to look at those files in your quarters.¡± He looked off-screen again to the same point, and it clicked for Adam.

    ¡°D01? ¡°He chuckled and addressed the droid. ¡° D01! They are allowed into the general quarters and access to open files. You do not need to follow them around.¡± Adam said with a slight smirk. He forgot droids take everything literally.

    He heard an ¡°Affirmative!¡± on the screen and the sound of metal boots leaving. Vorts seemed to calm down. ¡°Thank you, sir. I will get right to it. What should I do if I notice something we need?¡±

    ¡°Make a list and send it to me. The ship should have 163 cubic meters left.¡± He checked the ship''s status on the pad. And I want it filled up before we leave.¡±

    ¡°Do you want me to fill the cargo hold with organics? I don¡¯t think we should mix the organic trash with your goods. And you have 13 cubic meters left in the cargo hold 1. Do you want to fill that up with organics? That will leave cargo hold 2, 3, and 4 free for other goods, or you can fill more of them up.¡±

    ¡°Fill up cargo hold 1 and let me know how much is left after the goods are delivered. Can you also check out the files on Project Dirt? We are going to be busy here. We have to find and hire an engineer as well. ¡°

    ¡°Engineer? There was one in the pen; he was a Bugino with a baby boy.¡± Vorts replied. ¡°I doubt people would buy him, so he will probably still be there.¡±

    ¡°Why? Because of the baby boy?¡± Adam felt his stomach knotted at the description. A baby was held as a slave.

    ¡°The Buginos are mostly peaceful and loyal, very loyal to their family, but he is special. Somebody killed the mother, so he went on a rampage and killed the fools with his bare hands. He will probably kill anybody who tries to separate him from his child, and nobody wants a Baby that needs extra care. They are probably trying to find ways to separate them.¡± He could hear Vorts starting up the library computer as he spoke.

    ¡°Pretty sad, too. The baby is quite cute, " Dara commented from the side, and Adam smirked. He had an idea¡ªprobably a bad idea, but this might work.

    ¡°What¡¯s his name?¡±

    ¡°Jork Wirt. He''s a level 5 engineer, so he''s expensive. But you have to take his baby, too.¡± Dara had taken over the speaking now; she seemed a little eager now.

    ¡°Well, babies need medical supervision. I¡¯m just glad I already got a nurse. Make a list of what we need for that as well. I got to go now, and I see Roks coming.¡± He hung up as he came over to him.

    ¡°So, what now? Oh, you owe me 850 bits.¡± He handed him a small bag filled with memory crystals, and Adam smiled as he accepted them.

    ¡°You know you''re right; let''s just do it easily and get an engineer from the slave pen. But first, we need to drop by the lawyer again. I need a new contract.¡± He started to walk, but Roks looked confused at him.

    ¡°I thought you didn¡¯t like slaves.¡±

    ¡°I have nothing against slaves; I have something against slavery. I spoke with your sister, and she told me of somebody who needs our help and might be able to help us as well.¡± Adam walked faster, starting to feel a need to fix this. They quickly got to the law office and were greeted by the avian-looking secretary.

    ¡°Back already? Mr Heri-ro-ro will be quite pleased. I will let him know you¡¯re here.¡± She almost sang the words, and They sat down. Roks looked quite uncomfortable where he was sitting. Adam felt more relaxed here; the room was light with an artificial air freshener that smelled of fruit. An android came over with refreshments, and after a minute, the door to the lawyer gilded open, and they were invited in.

    Adam smiled at the lawyer, gave him a small nod, and then stopped a little confused. Next to him sat a lady he had seen earlier; Roks showed his teeth for a second before realizing where he was and controlling himself. Next to Mr. Heri-ro-ro sat the Haran lady they had seen earlier the day. She looked at Roks but did not say anything.  Adam looked between them and back at Mr. Heri-ro-ro. ¡°I''m so sorry; I didn¡¯t know you were with a client. I feel embarrassed now. We can leave and return later.¡±

    The old Avian man laughed. ¡°No, no. This is Mrs Min-na, my colleague and partner. Of course, If your friend is uncomfortable, he can wait outside if he prefers?¡±

    Adam looked at Roks, who controlled himself. ¡°Of course not. I''m sorry for my outburst. I was just surprised. I should have expected a Haran in the law business.¡± Roks replied, a little ashamed, and Mrs Min-Na slowly nodded quite felinely.

    ¡°Apologize accepted.¡± She replied as she ignored him and turned her attention back to Adam. ¡°I was impressed by the raw contract you set up. You must have some law practice?¡±

    You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.¡°Thank you, and you are correct. I need another contract for a slave with a child. I want the child to be registered as a free person if possible. Only the father should be in my service for the minimum needed time.  The rest should be like we discussed earlier. This person will take on the position of engineer in my company.¡±  They all seemed to study him as he spoke, but he ignored it and focused on what he was setting up as he took out his pad, loaded up the contract, and handed it over.

    Mrs. Min-Na took the pad as she studied him and then turned to Roks. ¡°Is this like the contract he sat up? Is he for real?¡± Mr. Heri-ro-ro laughs delightfully as he gets up, walks over to a screen, and activates it. Going through the search history and finding the slave-market and turns to Adam. ¡°You have a name for this engineer?¡±

    Roks nods to her and then shakes his head while muttering, ¡°Humans, children of chaos, and apparently peacemakers. ¡°

    ¡°Jork Wirt, I was told he was a Level 5 engineer. It''s the same firm as the last one.¡± He walked over to the screen, and the man came up there. ¡°Is that a Buginos?¡±

    The man in the picture was about two meters tall, a muscular man with yellow skin and grey dots going down his arms. He had four blue eyes and large floppy ears and was almost entirely bald with two green-knotted braids hanging down his back. In his arm was a small version of him. It was a small bundle that nearly fitted completely in his arms.  The man was an engineer, as he had been told. He had a sentence of 150 years for killing fifteen members of a street gang as vengeance, and he had been given 20 years extra for taking the law into his own hands.  Heri-ro-ro looked at the intel and back to Adam.

    ¡°You can never release him, but you can free the child immediately.¡±

    Adam nodded. ¡°That¡¯s his only crime as well. I think he will appreciate a second chance.¡±

    Mrs. Min-Na got up and handed him the contract. ¡°Let me know if you need a wife. I can get him a good one.¡±

    Adam looked at her as his jaw dropped. ¡°Wife? For whom? I''m not going to force somebody to marry him.¡±

    Roks laughed at his reaction. ¡±For you. She is asking if you want a wife.¡±

    ¡°Me?¡± Adam got blustered. ¡°No... I don¡¯t need one. But thank you for the offer. I think we will be going now... I will transfer the money now.¡° He hurried out the door, stopped, bowed, and said his goodbye before leaving there as he paid for their services. Mrs Min-Na looked confused after him as Roks laughingly followed after Adam.

    ¡°You impressed her.  I have never seen a Haran offering up one of their own before. You were smart to say no. She was probably looking forward to eating you.¡± Roks could hardly contain his laughter as they headed to the slave market. Adam just tried to forget the whole incident, and after 30 minutes, he stood outside the market with his now third slave. He felt sick to his stomach at the thought and didn¡¯t notice the look from Jork. Adam felt like a creep as he walked towards the ship. He could hear Roks and Jork speaking behind him, and he shut it out. This was not what he wanted to use his money on. If he could buy his freedom and set him free, he would accept it, but now he was burdened with being a slaveowner for the rest of Jorks life, maybe even his own. He could not even kill himself. If he died, Jork would automatically become a slave to the government again. His plan had backfired, and he didn¡¯t like it. They got to the ships, and he walked inside, telling D01 who the new crewmates were and their roles. Then he said he needed to retire for the night. He apologized to Roks and the other; he avoided looking at Jork as he could not look him in the eyes. He simply turned and went to his room.

    Adam woke up from that nightmare he had not had for a few years. He hit the wall and screamed in frustration. This was not going to be fun. This place would remind him of that nightmare. He sat up, went to shower, and then dressed. He looked at the cabin door and took a deep breath. He needed to talk to Jork and make him understand.

    When he left his room, he heard laughter and singing. He smelled food also. He slowly walked to the sound, expecting it to stop as he stepped inside, and it did.

    ¡°I hope my singing didn¡¯t disturb you, Master?¡± Jorks said with a smile as he held a frying pan with what looked like a purple pancake being cocked.

    ¡°Don¡¯t call me Master. I''m not your master. I simply gave you a second chance. I... You''re not a slave in my eyes. Understand that. I''m not your Master.¡±

    ¡°If you say so. But you did save me and my son. Little Miker will have a chance to grow up because of you. So, you might see yourself as my master, but You are my Master. And his second father.¡± Jork¡¯s voice was still filled with joy and defiance at not being allowed to call him master. Adam looked at him and the little bundle in Dara''s arms. She looked at him, then back at the bay, and smiled.  Vorts smirked as he chewed on one of the purple pancakes.

    ¡°Second father?¡± Adam looked surprised and sat down, rubbing his temple.¡± I can''t deal with this now. Did you make the list of what we need?¡± He turned to Vorts, who nodded and handed him the pad.

    ¡°I looked at the planetary scans. The dumping of organic is not going to work. The atmosphere is too thin, and the heat evaporates too quickly. The night temperatures reach minus 40 degrees, while the day temperatures can reach boiling points. You need to focus on the atmosphere first. So, you need to melt at least 30 percent of both poles. That will give you water vapors, but there are other gasses you need as well.  You should dump the organics in one of those domes in your building. That way, you can make some dirt, and once you fix the atmosphere, you can return to your waste project.¡± Vorts seemed to understand that Adam needed to focus on something other than the current situation, and he explained as simply as he could what needed to be done.

    Adam looked at the list. ¡°What¡¯s a sun generator? And why do we need 5 of them?¡±

    ¡°They are ice melters. Miners use them to melt away the ice to access minerals in asteroids. You need two for each pole; the last is spare parts.¡±  Jorks replied as he put a plate in front of him.  ¡°They are effective, but there is always a chance they break down.¡±

    Adam looked at him, and the plate grabbed a pancake. He chewed on it as he looked over the list. ¡°Three speeders? No. Just buy the print design. I have factory printers.¡± He changed it on the list.

    ¡°Same here, and this and this. ¡° He changed three more items, then accessed his account and opened a company account.  He put in 50 000 credits and handed it to Vorts. ¡°You and Roks can get this. Once Jork has fixed Roks ships, we will fill up the cargo hold and leave. I need to study the books he got me.¡± He grabbed the plate and got up. ¡°Good pancakes, by the way.¡±

    ¡°What are pancakes?¡±

 Project Dirt Part 4 Reality check

    Adam didn¡¯t leave his room before the evening; he only found Dara and the baby on the ship. The others were shopping and talking about getting satellites and probes. He checked his wrist and saw a few messages, mostly lists of needed things. He had absentmindedly accepted those throughout the day as he had been absorbing more about the different cultures.  He had searched for a civilization in this galaxy sector that didn¡¯t have slavery and found none; the four Fushan and Haran wars had been epic.

    To him, it seemed more like cats and dogs fighting. The two cultures also had several peaceful colonizers and the largest number of cross-species marriages. What he was left with was to use common sense and remember that most people here don¡¯t understand humor or human culture.

    Dara looked up from a pad as he entered the main room. ¡°Are you hungry, mas¡­ what should I call you, by the way? I mean, if you don¡¯t like Master?¡± She asked, and he replied quickly.¡¯

    ¡°Adam, I''m just Adam. If you want to be formal, it''s Mr. Wrangler, but nobody outside a business meeting would call me that.¡± He smiled to her as he went to make himself some food, when she moved to help he had to stop her.

    ¡°I do know how to make food. I''m not a child.¡± He tried to say it as friendly and non-treating as possible. She stepped back, a little confused.

    ¡°I read that Tufons feels comfortable serving others, and I know why you are here and not free to wander the galaxy, but you don¡¯t have to serve me dinner. I¡¯m not a child. ¡° He explained as he continued making himself some food. He saw there were some blue pancakes left and grabbed one.

    She looked at him as she slowly sat down. She had been up the moment she had asked him. Like an eager puppy. ¡°I never got to thank you properly.¡± She said, looking at him, and he chuckled.

    ¡°There''s no need to thank me. I''ll be at the bridge. Where is Jork?¡± he replied as he was getting ready to leave.

    ¡°He is installing the drone drive in my brother''s ship. My brother said you wanted to do that.¡± She replied, slightly confused, and wondered Adam if he had missed something.

    ¡°Oh, thank you. Let me know when they are finished, and send Vorts up to the bridge when he returns.¡± He replied as he went up and sat down in the pilot chair. He turned on the screen while drinking a cup of what he hoped was coffee. He put the plate with blue pancakes and chicken legs on the small table next to the chair.

    ¡°Computer, run check up on all systems and check all reports. No audio, screen only.¡± He stretched slowly so as not to spill the cup as he had given the instructions. He suddenly had an urge for chocolate but remembered eating the last stash weeks ago. Good, he needed to find a way to order some from Earth.  Or find out how to make some here.  He drank the coffee while he went over the reports. He barely heard Vorts come into the bridge and stop next to him.

    ¡°You asked for me, sir?¡± He said while putting his hand behind his back. Adam glanced at him and nodded.

    ¡°Yeah, I know you''re not a Terraformer, but you should know more about this than me. What do you think about the plan?¡± he asked as he leaned on the arm of his chair.  ¡°And please speak honestly.¡±

    ¡°Honestly? Are you sure?¡± He replied, clearly uncomfortable.

    ¡°Yes, if you can see a flaw, then I would like to know before we try. I don¡¯t want to waste unnecessary credits here. I¡¯m not made out of money.¡± Adam smiled as he replied, trying to calm him down.

    ¡°To be honest, It won''t work, sir.  There is a reason why nobody cares about full terraforming. It¡¯s a waste of resources, and there are so many planets around where you only need to change the atmosphere by introducing some invasive oxygen algae and wait a hundred years.  You plan to make it into a breathable planet within ten years. You are aware that the atmosphere is too thin, right? There is not enough nitrogen; only traces of oxygen and argon exist. The Carbon level is way too high; the pressure is too low, so your little atmosphere is slowly leaking out. The lack of a proper atmosphere destroys your other project of making organic waste into dirt. The current atmosphere can''t hold the heat during the night, so it''s like the days are summer and nights are winter.  Hold the waste until the domes are built and dump it there. Then buy fertilizer and spread over them, and within a year, you will have a field there. ¡° Vorts spoke carefully, but when he noticed Adam didn¡¯t get upset but merely listened, he seemed to be more relaxed.Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

    ¡°Okay, so we melt the poles; water vapor should help release more gasses.¡° Adam replied. ¡°Look, I know this is unusual, but just because people don¡¯t do it doesn''t mean it can''t be done.¡±

    ¡°You should record everything; maybe get a research droid to keep a record. If it works, I''m sure many would be interested in how it was done.¡± Vorts replied, and Adam nodded.

    ¡°And how much would that cost?¡± Adam asked as he checked his spending that day. He had 71,000 credits. He needed to go over the receipts when they took off.

    ¡°Those are cheap, and 500 bits will get you top of the line with the above security.  Most students buy used ones and tinker with them to adjust their research results. A new one will ensure you have not tinkered with it.¡± Vorts replied that he had still not moved. Adam looked at him.

    ¡°Then get one, and make sure we have food for everybody, at least six months'' food for everybody,¡±  Adam replied, then looked back at the screen and back at Vorts. ¡°Oh, and thank you.¡±

    Vorts was still standing there, and Adam tilted his head as he asked. ¡°Yes? Anything I can help you with?¡±

    Vorts looked at him for a second, then shook his head as he replied. ¡°No, You meant I can go?¡±

    ¡°Yes. I will see you later.¡± Adam replied and he watched as Vorts left. He was wondering if he insulted him in some way, and for a second, he wondered where D01 was.

    ¡°Computer Locate D01!¡±  He didn¡¯t know why he had given the instruction, but D01 was just outside the bridge. He immediately stepped inside and, with a cold computer voice, reported in. It made Adam a little calmer, and he turned back to the screen.

    ¡°Computer! Show the current budget and compare the cost of today''s spending to the average costs. Show on my screen.¡± He asked, and he leaned towards the screen to check. Most were the same price. But he saw that Vorts seemed to not care so much about the costs, shopping with other people''s money. Roks seemed to be much more frugal. It was clear that Roks would be doing the shopping for now.

    Three hours later, Roks and Jork returned, and they reviewed everything. Only one cubic meter of cargo hold was left, and it was divided between both ships. Adam was eager to get on the way. He paid for the hangar, and then they took off. He loved this part. He flew the ship out, and Rok''s hauler followed perfectly. They quickly made it to the hyperplane and set the course and drop-out point then.

    ¡°Let''s go!¡± He said as he punched in the drive, and both ships vanished into the vastness of space. The autopilot immediately took off, and Adam checked the status of the ship''s connection. Roks stood next to him and seemed impressed.

    ¡°You know your way around the ship. That was some nice flying.¡±

    ¡°Well, I got a level 6 freight certificate. It took me a year and 600 hours of flying along with a six-month course in everything they thought we could encounter out here.¡± He replied as he got up and went to check on the navigation. ¡°The ship is supposed to be flown by three with two engineers in cargo. The most effective crew is ten; that¡¯s why I¡¯m so heavily reliant on the computer. I had it upgraded.¡±

    ¡°Your people don¡¯t sound like Chaos, more like the Kunitos. Rules for everything. ¡° Roke replied, and Adam chuckled.

    ¡°That¡¯s the insectoids, right? They sound like an autistic species. The certificate is just for my safety. Some never get them and stay off the radar while doing odd jobs. Anyway. Everything looks secure, and the alarm is set.  It will be a week before we get to my system. So, I¡¯m planning to study those books you got me.¡± Adam replied.

    ¡°I¡¯ll check up on the others,¡± Roks replied as he headed out.

    Adam found out he enjoyed the company, mainly of Roks and Jorks. Dara was nice and grateful; Vorts was a little cold but never unfriendly; in fact, he was very professional. Dara had told him that Vorts just needed time. The little baby had become the focus of most of the small crew''s attention, from his attempts to join his father in singing to crawling anywhere. In the end, Vorts placed a tracker on him just to be sure.

    Adam was ready when they dropped out of the hyperplane and set the course for the system. It would take three more days before they arrived. Jorks was mainly down in the workstation, programming some drones they had bought. They would be launched and study the system as the original scans had not been very thorough. When they entered the system on the second day, Jork asked permission to launch the drones.  Adam gave the clearance, and as they flew towards the planet, he launched them when they approached points of interest. The gas planets and their moons were all assigned a drone; several drones were sent to scan the asteroid field, and the inner planet got two.

    When they went into orbit over Dirt they launched the satellites. Adam checked up on the building''s progress. The station was 30% finished, but with the droids and heavy machinery he had bought, they would cut down the factory times by at least two, and it would have liveable sections within a few days. He looked down on the planet and smiled.

    ¡°Yes, this can work!¡±

 Project Dirt Part 5: When to speak up.

    Adam looked at his screen at the updated information about the build-up. 30% finished off the three-month-long estimate, which was ten worker droids. Now he could add two more Kalvis worker droids , but only x1, which should reduce the speed quickly. The fifteen others he bought would help, too, but he was worried they would not be compatible. He should give them specific jobs to avoid potential trouble. He needed an external backup energy source. Ten should be able to build a reactor and some power lines, and he had planned for one of the domes. Roks and Vorts had suggested making them all into fields for growing food, but he needed a pool. He had frozen fish eggs from Earth and 500 kilos of different seeds stored in his private storage room. He would be able to grow several different trees, fruit, and grains. He also needed to get hold of a clone machine; then, he could raise chickens, cows, and lambs. But for that, he needed grass. He looked up at the sky. He needed that atmosphere. He had looked at artificial atmospheric shields; it would be a short-term solution, and he would need to litter the planet with power reactors. The cost alone would eat up most of his fortune.

    ¡°Let¡¯s land the ship; there is no need to dump anything yet, " he told them as the ships dived through the atmosphere. He turned to Roks and was told to land the ship remotely on a nearby field so they could unload it before sending it to the asteroid field to search for minerals to mine. Soon, both ships had landed, and they all got suited up before leaving the ship.

    When they left the ship, they were greeted by two of his security droids, which gave Vorts and Dara a slight shock. Adam realized he had forgotten to tell them how many he had. He smiled slightly and walked toward the construction field. They could clearly see the framework of the base, and Vorts leaned over to him and asked, ¡°Are you planning to staff this with more slaves, or are you going to hire?¡±

    Adam looked at him, confused as he replied. ¡°What do you mean? This is going to be my home and workplace. When it''s done, we will find a suitable place to build for you guys. The droids will be enough for the daily operation.¡±

    ¡°Daily operation? This is a scientific none-atmospheric base made for surveying a whole planet. One of this size is made for hundreds of people. May I see the blueprint, please?¡± Vort tried hard to hide his condescending tone, which went over Adams''s head as he handed him his pad with the blueprint. He studied it confused and handed it back.

    Dara leaned over to him as she asked. ¡°What is it?¡±

    ¡°It can apparently operate fully automated. The crew is from 0 to 500. Who the hell makes a drone science base?¡± he replied as he looked at the construction. Jork slapped him on the shoulder as he walked past him towards the building as he said. ¡°Humans, we all know they are crazy.¡±

    Adam laughed and joined him; a droid walked out. It was vaguely humanoid, two meters tall, with a bulky body. ¡°Sir! Welcome back. The first floor will be operational within 12 hours. Unless you want us to stop and unload the ships?¡± It said Adam looked back at the ships and shook his head.

    ¡°Continue the work, WD-01. I just want to inform you that we have bought two more of your brand, but they are the X1 variant, as well as fifteen more of a different variant. They are secondhand, and Jork here will be in charge of integrating them into your workforce. For now, we will keep the different brands separately. So please work with him. I want dome three to be made into a pool area, simple design.¡± He uploaded a pool design as he spoke. There were three pools, one of which was a regular swimming pool, while the other had more natural forms, with a river snaking between them. Jork looked at the design after WD-01 had uploaded it.

    ¡°I want the new brand droids to work on this project. It should keep them out of your way until we can properly integrate them.¡± Adam said, then he looked at Vorts. ¡°I have some genetic material with me from Earth, so I can clone some Earth animals. ¡°

    Vorts studied the design with Jork and replied, ¡°Well, I¡¯m guessing something aquatic. Have you thought of food?¡±

    ¡°Yes, but for that, we need the atmosphere. So, until that problem is fixed, the pools will be for recreational.¡± Adam winked as he replied, started walking back to the ship, and called out, ¡°Roks! I need a hand!¡±

    Roks looked at his hand and back at him as he replied. ¡°Only the hand, and does it have to be mine?¡±

    Adam laughed as he waved him over. ¡°Earth saying means I need some help. I need you to help me unload the X1 droids so they can start unloading the rest.¡±

    Then Adam looked at Jork, ready to give him his instructions. It felt strange; he felt like a boss giving his men their task, and that¡¯s how he would handle it. Tomorrow night, they could rest in their own rooms, and later, he would have the droids build their houses. ¡°And you start to get the drone program for the Sun generators, two at each pole. Find the best position. I want them launched tomorrow.¡±

    Jork returned to the ship, and Dara stood slightly confused with little Miker before she followed. Vorts kneeled down and picked up some sand, letting it slip through his fingers, then he looked at the droids, the base and then after Adam before following him as well. Adam and Roks quickly got the droids operational and gave them the instructions before joining the other inside the ship. The droids were all working and unloading the ships for a few hours.

    They focused on Roks ship first so it could take off for the asteroid field. It took off as the sun went down. Adam and Roks went back into Adam¡¯s ship.

    ¡°You should name it,¡± Roks said as they got inside and got out of their suits.

    Adam sat down and thought about it. ¡°Name the base?¡±

    Roks chuckled. ¡°That too, but this ship. Don¡¯t humans name their ship?¡±

    ¡°Of course we do.¡± He looked at the wall and pondered. ¡°The Ark is the first that comes to mind, but it doesn¡¯t fit. I¡¯m not surviving a disaster. I''m coming here to fulfil a dream. That¡¯s a good name. Dream.¡±

    ¡°Dream? Yeah, it suits you,¡± Roks chuckled as he hung the suit away. ¡°You have to name the base, too. But you have time for that. You know it must be registered, right? ¡±

    Adam hung his suit up as he replied, ¡°Yeah, but I was warned to do it late. They told me pirates tend to attack new settlements.¡±

    Roks nodded. ¡°Jupp, that¡¯s why the most common job for my kind is bodyguards and pirate hunters.¡±

    Adam chuckled. ¡°I get that you are a soldier, but Vorts and Dara don¡¯t strike me as one. I want you to make a plan for the defense from pirates.¡±The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

    ¡°Yeah, they are civilians. Vorts can handle a gun and know how to bite, but my sister is useless in a fight. Damn effective after to heal you up, but during a firefight, we hide her. Anyway, why not buy more of those droids? Do that, and we will have a basic defense ready.¡±  Roks replied.

    ¡°It takes one year to travel just to get there. So, that means it¡¯s two years before we get the delivery, and I don¡¯t want to leave the place for such a long time,¡± Adam said as they walked toward the common room.

    ¡°Well, the Shinutza has FTL communication. So you might be able to cut it in half. That¡¯s a one-year delivery.¡° Roks replied, and Adam slapped his own forehead at his stupidity.

    ¡°Of course. Okay, I need to make a list of things we need.¡± Adam felt so stupid. He had used the Shinutza FTL communication to find and set up the contract for the system. He even bought Dream through it. Vorts was sitting by a screen working; he looked frustrated.

    ¡°Everything okay?¡± Adam asked, and Vorts nodded. Jork was still going over the construction site, working on the droids.

    ¡°Yeah, I''m good. Jork told me to get the suns ready as he is also dealing with the droids. It is simple and all set for tomorrow. We need to use the ship to launch them.¡± He replied, and Miker crawled around the floor, flustered, so Adam picked him up.

    ¡°Where is Jork?¡± he asked. Dara came running to take Miker, but Adam kept him as Miker seemed to snuggle into his shoulder. ¡°It''s okay. I can hold him for a while.¡±

    ¡°He is still working, Sir! " She replied. Adam looked at her and then went to the bridge, where they could see the construction site.

    ¡°Let''s call your dad home, okay? It''s time for some father-son time, don¡¯t you agree?¡± He looked at Miker, who stared at him with big brown eyes, and then hugged him. Adam felt strange as he gently patted the little alien hanging around his shoulder. ¡°Goo,¡± Miker said as he almost fell asleep. Adam took a few extra minutes walking around the bridge, looking out the large port window, before he called Jork up.

    ¡°Hey, Jork, what are you still doing out there? It''s time to come back and eat. Besides, Miker is missing you, " he told him, and there was a silence before he replied.

    ¡°But you need this done. I can''t leave it now, " he replied, and Adam smiled to himself; Jork was a workaholic; he would need to keep an eye on him.

    ¡°You can''t stop because it is sensitive and will break or because you want to please me?¡± He asked, halfway knowing the answer already.

    ¡°You don¡¯t want it finished tonight?¡± He replied, confused, and Adam laughed.

    ¡°Come take care of your son, I don¡¯t want you to work yourself to death. You can continue tomorrow. We can stop construction for a day if that is needed. One day to and from won''t make much difference in this part of the project.¡±

    ¡°Thank you, sir. Give me ten minutes to fix this, and I will stop.¡± Adam could hear a joyful confusion in his voice as he gently patted Miker on his shoulder and told him about the swimming pool he was making.

    Jork returned one hour later and found Miker and Adam sleeping in the captain¡¯s chair. Dara joined him as they saw the two; they looked at each other and made sure to take a photo of them.

    The next day, the droid had finished several rooms and living quarters on the ground level. Dara and Miker were in charge of the moving-in process, while the other spent the days setting off the solar generators. The rest of the day was spent making their living quarters more comfortable. Adams''s room was temporary as his personal quarters had not been built yet. At the dinner, they celebrated with wine and whiskey as they watched the update on the polar melting on the screen. They would not see any results in at least one month, and even then, it would just be a slight change in atmosphere.

    The first dome took a week to finish, and they filled it with the organic waste they had stored. In the second week, the two other domes were finished, and they transported ice to the Aqua dome, as it was nicknamed. Adam had spent most of his free time reviewing ideas and decided to check if he could order droids from Earth as well as goods.

    So, he and Roks decided to head back to the Hub to make the order. He had a list of things he wanted; when they arrived, they first took more organic waste jobs and bought fertilizer and different types of animal food that might work as fish food. After that they went to the Shinutza FTL communication company, where they spent several days finding the correct companies and conducting negotiations. In the end, he had spent one million on five construction droids, DNA samples, a Cloning machine, four science droids, ten cubic meters of earth food and entertainment, and updated blueprints for the 3d Printers, among them a few short-range transport ships.

    The human companies were willing to sell goods and transport goods, but weapons had to be sold face to face. He could, however, do this from the closest human colony, five months travel away. Adam immediately started to inquire how he could register as a human colony, which led them to spend a whole day going through the bureaucracy; among the requirements was an inspection from the Earth navy and a human population of at least 45 % of the total population and the colony had to have at least 500 inhabitants. Adam had applied for it anyway, but setting a date for inspection in 5 years'' time. He needed time to get 224 humans to join him out here. He could allow a refugee ship but would have no control over who they sent. He could get lucky, or one mega-corporation would see it as a way to humanely empty one of their prisons. He needed people who were motivated to come and not just escape a life sentence. Roks had suggested cloning, but Adam hated that idea. It had been what they had debated on the way back. Roks had even jokingly suggested raiding a human world; Adam had jokingly made that the last-ditch plan.

    When they landed, they were greeted by Jork. The base had grown more, and the second floor and secondary energy generator were now finished. The pool had also been finished, and they had also managed to fill it with water. Adam was grateful for the update but was more interested in the result of the atmosphere project. When they got to the command center, they found Vorts going over the reports, seemingly working hard to try different scenarios on the computer.

    ¡°Damn, it didn¡¯t work, did it?¡± Adam said as he walked up to him; Vorts almost jumped out of his skin at that.

    ¡°I''m sorry, sir; I am trying to run other scenarios for you. I take full responsibility for my incompetence,¡± Vorts replied. Adam looked at him and leaned on the desk. The apology was a rehearsed one. Even if he tried hard to pretend, there was no sincerity behind it.

    ¡°This is not your fault; I gave the instruction, so I''m to blame. I''m just curious. Why didn¡¯t you run these scenarios before we launched? That would have told you it would fail beforehand, right? Saved us time.¡±

    ¡°Because you had made up your mind, Sir!¡± He replied, and Adam sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose at his reply.

    ¡°Look, if you know it would fail but don¡¯t tell me, then it is your fault.¡± Adam looked straight at him.

    Vorts was getting confused, and suddenly, he snapped. ¡°HOW! I DID AS YOU SAID!¡±  There was a dangerous growl in his throat, and D01 and DO2 immediately entered the room. Adam was shocked by his reaction and moved a step away as he held out a hand to make the droids stop.

    ¡°Wow, calm down, Vorts! I''m trying to teach you something!¡± Adam spoke as calmly as he could. The others made their way to the room and looked between them.

    Vorts paced the room as he tried to calm down. ¡°I took the blame, and you forgave me! Now you''re giving me the blame? Why?¡±

    ¡°There is a difference between making a mistake and doing as you are told, and it leads to a failed attempt. Knowing it will fail but not telling us about it so we can fix it without first failing is completely different. So, calm down and tell me why you suspect it would fail.¡± Adam spoke calmly, ignoring the others, who seemed very confused.

    ¡°I didn''t suspect, I knew. The atmosphere needs more than just water vapor. You need to increase the nitrogen and carbon. Right now, the water vapor rises above the solar generators and then cools down, becoming clouds and then rain down again.¡±  Vorts looked at him angrily.

    ¡°Good,¡± Adam replied. ¡°That is your job, Vorts. Tell me I''m an idiot before I make a mistake, not after. Your second job is to find a solution to my stupid ideas. My stupid idea now is to find a way to pump those gases into the atmosphere, so find me a solution.¡±

    Dara looked at him, confused but relieved. ¡°You''re not going to punish him?¡±

    ¡°Why the hell would I punish him for being correct?¡± Adam shook his head as he turned to walk out. ¡°I¡¯m going to check the pool and maybe go for a swim. I will see you for dinner.¡±

    Dara ran to her husband''s arms, and her worries about him getting harshly punished vanished. Roks just smirked as he went to check out the new parts of the base.

 Project Dirt 6: Volcanoes and Pizza

    Vorts spent five days running simulations before Adam came and ordered him to bed. Vorts had a wild look in his eyes but did as he was told. Jork laughed and tried to teach Vorts that Adam did not allow him to work himself to death.

    Adam changed his focus on the asteroid field. Some of the blueprints he had bought demanded lots of different metals, and the more he could mine himself, the cheaper it would be to build. Jork was constantly tweaking the droids, and they had already started on the tower that would have Adam''s living quarters.  Roks was getting a little restless but calmed when he was told to go to Soshu and check up on new droids and check with the lawyers to see if they could find some new crew members and have them go over the earth requirements for colony status. He had also been told to get hold of a satellite launcher and a list of different satellites Adam wanted. He had been given a budget of 1.5 million credits, but he must show the receipts.

    Adam was teaching little Miker to swim while the others were working. Jork had initially been worried, but Miker seemed to love it. It was becoming a daily routine fairly quickly, and Miker could swim the whole distance on his own with his doggy paddling.

    ¡°What was that?¡± Adam said as he felt the ground shake slightly, not enough to create more than a few ripples in the water. Miker looked at him, shrugged, and giggled as he jumped into the pool again. Adam helped him up for the hundredth time as he contacted Vorts and asked. ¡°Vorts? I just felt a weak shake, and the water rippled. Did anything happen?¡±

    ¡°Let me check. There are no accident reports. Wait. Ahh, I see it. There was an earthquake 457 kilometers southeast of us. It was a pretty big one, measuring 9.7. But we are quite safe here." He replied. Adam thought about it and called Miker over. ¡°We are coming up. Tell Dara that it''s time for Mikers Lunch.¡±

    ¡°Piz-za Piz-za piz-za¡± Miker started to chant as Adam carried him towards the main building. The large Aqua dome had a pleasant temperature of 25 degrees Celsius and a soft wind. Miker always sat on his shoulder as they walked, and after getting ready, Adam handed him over to Dara and went to the control room where Vorts was already reviewing the information. He seemed nervous as Adam came up.  Jork was running some programs on his terminal and was quiet as well. Adam could feel they were both nervous.

    ¡°Okay. I want to know all we can about the earthquake. Check for volcanos while we are at it as well as the chances of new ones.¡±

    He sat down on what he had called the Admin chair. It was in the middle of the room and had several screens in front of him, but best of all, it twirled so he could see the whole room. Most of the science posts were empty. The screens before him sprang to life with all the intel they had. He saw a drone moving toward the area, and he looked at Vorts and asked, ¡°Did you launch that droid?¡±

    ¡°Yes. Sir!¡± He answered as he swallowed hard. Adam only saw his back, but he could see he was tense; he looked over at Jork, who was just as tense. ¡°Whose idea was it?¡±

    ¡°I take full responsibility Sir! Jork said it might be a good idea when I asked him if I should. But I made the final decision.¡± Vorts replied, Jork nodded slowly.

    Adam started to laugh. ¡°Oh my god. Calm down, boys. You did good! This is exactly what I want from you. Later, you will run the project by yourself and make all the decisions.¡±

    They both seemed to smile at the praise as if a heavy load had fallen off their backs. ¡°Thank you, sir. I will turn on the visual now on the main screen,¡± Vorts replied, and Jork continued his work. The world map came up with all fault lines marked up and their positions shown as a green dot that was safely placed in the middle of a tectonic plate; then, red dots emerged at where potential volcanos could emerge. At the moment, they were all inactive. Adam looked at them.

    ¡°I have an extremely stupid idea.¡± He said

    ¡°No!¡±  Vorts answered, and Jork and Adam started to laugh.

    ¡°But?¡± Adam said.

    ¡°Still no!¡±  Vorts replied as he turned to look at him. He was grinning now, and Jork was trying to calm down.

    ¡°Still I? " said Adam with a big grin on his face, and Vort put a finger on his lips and said,

    ¡°Sshhh. No! No extremely stupid ideas.¡± At this, they all burst out laughing, and it took them ten minutes to calm down.

    Adam was still chuckling as he finally got enough self-control to speak again. ¡°Okay, quick question then. Volcanos spew out gasses, right?¡±

    ¡°Yes,¡± Jork replied, and he looked at Vorts. ¡°I think I know what his insane idea is.¡±

    ¡°Insane? Not extremely stupid?¡± He replied, looked at Adam, and sighted him as he asked him. ¡°Okey, what is this insanely, extremely stupid idea?¡±

    ¡°Well, volcanoes spew out gasses, right? We need more gasses in the atmosphere, so why don¡¯t we burst a few on the other side of the planet? Safely away from us?¡±

    ¡°He is insane,¡± Vorts told Jork as he turned his attention back to Adam. We need Nitrogen, and you won''t get much of that from a volcano. It''s mostly water and water vapor, carbon dioxide, and sulfur dioxide.¡±

    ¡°Yes, but you said water, and we also need Carbon dioxides for the planet that hopefully will come later, right? So if we start now, we can find Nitrogen later and add that. I''m not talking about a supervolcano. ¡° Adam replied. The more he spoke, the more he liked the idea. He had read something about volcanos and the formation of the Earth. ¡° Besides, what''s the worst that can happen?¡±

    Vorts was about to counter but then stopped himself. ¡°Yeah, well, it''s early in the terra-forming stage, so yeah, you can try it. It will fail, but it won''t cost you more than a few shots from the ship''s defense system. It will be a nice sight. ¡° He started to go over the screens. ¡°I should have a few potential targets available within an hour.  But just for the record. This is insanity.¡±

    Adam let out a mock maniacal laughter. ¡°Mwhha ha ha ha?¡±

    The two looked at him strangely as the joke went over their heads and Adam''s sight. ¡°I need a cat to stroke when I laugh, " he said as he looked at the other reports. There was a message from Roks, and he looked at it. ¡°When did we get a communication satellite?¡±

    ¡°You don¡¯t want it,¡± Jork replied, and Adam looked at him.

    ¡°No, I want one. I just didn¡¯t know we had one. I haven¡¯t bought one yet since we could not find one that was secure. I don¡¯t want pirates to find this place.¡±

    ¡°Oh,¡± Jork replied. ¡°I will take it offline then and work on the security. It should not be too difficult to fix. We only need a GHS 5.6 security program. Can you ask Roks to pick it up?¡± Then Jork went back to his screen, and Adam looked between them. Vorts would never reply like this but it seemed to be natural for Jork. Both tried to do their best for him, but Jork would surpass expectations, while Vorts was scared to take that initiative.

    ¡°Let me reply to him; then you can take it offline until it''s fixed,¡± Adam replied. Jorks turned back to him.

    ¡°He can send that through the current system. That way, we don¡¯t have to wait a week for him. Just a suggestion.¡± He replied, and Adam thought about it.

    ¡°Yeah, but no. I want it down as quickly as possible, and don¡¯t open it before it''s secured, okay?¡± He told him and then opened the message. It was a written text; it was safer with long-distance messages.Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work!

    ¡°I obtained what you requested. I found new employees with the same five-year contract, and they requested to bring the family. Please confirm. Found three students who would like to study your project; Miss Min-Na vets them. Awaiting approval from you.¡±

    He looked at the message and thought for a moment. They had enough space, and Mirker would not be alone then. He quickly wrote down a reply.

    ¡°All Approved. Buy the GHS 5.6 security program before returning, and use the remaining credits to buy as much soil as possible. This line will be closed until we install that security program.¡±

    He pressed send and turned to Jork, ¡°Follow the message. When it''s received, you turn off the satellite. Next time, ask me about anything that involves contact with the outside until we have it secured. We must sit down and make a few rules when Roks returns.¡±

    They both looked at him. ¡°We make? What do you mean? You¡¯re the boss. You make the rules.¡± Jork said, and Vorts nodded in agreement. Dara came in with Miker, who squirmed out of her arms and ran to his father. Adam smiled at the sight before replying.

    ¡°I want to hear your opinions at least, and maybe you guys have some good ideas as well, but yes, I will have the final say. That doesn¡¯t mean I don¡¯t want to hear what you guys think. I don¡¯t want to make rules that go against your culture or nature.¡±

    They looked at him as if he had just confused them more, and Dara broke the silence. ¡°He is human. This must be a human thing. They seem to care about their slaves, " she said, and they agreed with her. Adam sighted.

    ¡°You''re not Slaves! It''s just the damn contracts. Your employees. I have hired you, and unfortunately, I got you in a way that would have gotten me tossed in jail back home.¡± Adam burst out, annoyed, and Dara looked shocked at him.

    ¡°Illegal? Is slavery illegal in the human world? Is that why you want this to be a Human colony?¡± She asked.

    ¡°Yes, if we become a human colony, all slaves are automatically freed. Even Jork, I could even grant him amnesty for his crimes if the human court feels his action to be justified or his sentence already served.¡± He replied, and Jork thought for a moment as Miker climbed up on his lap.

    ¡°What about you? You would be arrested for having slaves. Since you knew about the law of the human colonies?¡± Vorts said as he looked at him worried, and Adam nodded.

    ¡°Yeah, I¡¯m going to need a damn good lawyer. Anyway, we have a few volcanoes to blow up, so let''s focus on that now. We need to have the droids print a transport with a cannon attached, and I think that is also technically illegal.¡± He replied, and for a few seconds, they were quiet.

    Then Dara realized what he had just said.¡°Blow up a Volcano? Are you crazy?¡±

    Vorts replied that she had forgotten about the other part. ¡°A medium-sized one on the other side of the planet, we won''t even notice. It''s one of his insane ideas.¡±

    Jork put his son on his shoulder and turned to the screen. ¡°Now watch as Daddy makes Adam a flying cannon. I will teach you when you grow up.¡± Miker giggled and pulled his father''s ears as he worked. Adam watched them with a smile as he wondered if this was what it meant to have a family. He accessed a science screen and checked on domes 1 and 2. Both showed signs of decomposition. One small step closer.

    The next day, they all stood in the control room looking at the screen, which showed a large dormant volcano. They had five lined up, and then Adam kneeled down to Miker and handed him a small pad with a red button on the screen. ¡°Press the button, Miker.¡±

    The little toddler pressed it again and again as he giggled. Each press turned a drone into a fireball that flew straight into the volcanoes. Then, nothing happened, and Vorts looked at Adam. ¡°I told you it was an insane idea.¡± He said, Adam shrugged.

    ¡°Yeah, you did. Oh well, let¡¯s find another solution. At least Miker had fun.¡± He walked towards the kitchen for lunch and the other followed.

    ¡°Maybe a drill would work better?¡± Jork said, and Adam snapped his finger in agreement.

    ¡°Yeah, we''ll try that, but let''s do one first. There''s no point in wasting too many resources. Oh, and make ten more of those drones. They would be great for defense.¡± Adam replied as he took out the plates, to Dara¡¯s annoyance. Jork chuckled.

    ¡°I have a solution to the kitchen problem!¡± Jork said.

    ¡°What kitchen problem?¡¯ Dara said as she tried to set the table, taking the glass out of Adam''s hands.

    ¡°A maid droid. It''s easy to program, and he already has the basic design in the 3D printer.¡± Jork replied as Vorts laughed, looking at Dara.

    ¡°There is no kitchen problem, and it¡¯s a boss problem. We have a boss who doesn¡¯t know how to be a boss! Sit down, Adam, and that¡¯s an order.¡± Adam sat down as ordered.

    She pointed at him. ¡°See! He doesn¡¯t know he is the boss!¡±  She said, slightly frustrated, as she finished setting the table and bringing out the food. ¡°He even tries to cook if I don¡¯t stop him!¡±

    ¡°His cooking isn¡¯t that bad; he taught you how to make what''s it called Piz-za?¡± Vorts said as he picked up the pad and started looking at the report coming in. Miker immediately turned towards Vorts. ¡°Piz-za? Piz-za!¡± he said, and everybody groaned.

    ¡°You had to say the word,¡± Dara said, and she started to get some pizza out of the fridge, much to Miker¡¯s excitement. Jork turned to Adam. ¡°You made him a monster!¡±

    Adam would have replied if not for Vorts'' exciting cursing.

    ¡°What?¡± Adam asked, and Jork sent his report to a screen on the wall screen with a swift motion.

    ¡°It almost worked.¡± He said. ¡°Volcano Five has only a seven-meter crust, preventing it from bursting, and there is a build-up. It might go active. The others are reacting as well. But number five is the most likely to burst. Just need a nudge. ¡°

    Jork got up, placed Miker on Adams''s lap, and grabbed a slice. ¡°I will start production. We should have one ready within an hour. The flight will take a few hours. You should think about getting atmospheric transport.¡±

    Adam nodded. ¡°That¡¯s in the program; we don¡¯t have enough material for it; if we don¡¯t find a vast amount of iridium, then we have to buy one.¡± He grabbed Miker, who used the chance to stand on his knees and lean at the table, trying to grab a slice.

    ¡°I will look into that after this. Save a few slices for me. ¡° as he headed out.

    Roks entered the orbit of Dirt and looked down at the planet. There were clouds now, black clouds and white clouds over the pools. The woman next to him checked the reading. ¡°I thought you said they had a weak atmosphere, about 30 percent of standard M-class? This one is 42 percent. Whatever they did must have worked.¡±

    Roks checked his scanners. ¡°Looks like they set off a bunch of Volcanos on the other side of the planet. Tell the others we are going to land.¡± The lady nodded and walked back to the common area.

    Adam saw the ship land with three fighters escorting it, two light and one heavy; he also knew he had not asked him to buy those. D01 approached his side, and Adam had the four others getting ready. This might be their first pirate attack. Then the door opened, and Roks came. Behind him was a large group of people; Adam counted at least 20, most of them small, like children.

    ¡°What''s with the ships, Roks?¡± He asked, and Roks chuckled. ¡°Those are my employees. I''m now the CEO of Rocks¡¯ Escort agency, which is part of your company.  And don¡¯t worry, I pay for them, they are my old wing. Meet Kina, Surn, Barro, and that¡¯s Kunna.¡±  Four Tufons raised their hands, and Adam calmed down a little but felt the need to regain control.

    ¡°Hi there, Nice to meet you guys.¡± Then he turned his attention back to Roks. ¡±I will take over the paychecks if you don¡¯t mind, and we need to set up a contract.¡±

    Roks agreed, and Adam waved them toward the base. ¡°So, how did you find them? And can you send me their contracts?¡±  Adam looked at the rest of the group as he led them toward the base.

    ¡°I bought; some pirates kidnapped them when they were fleeing the destruction of their colony and sold them into slavery. So, the same contract as with my sister. And they are farmers and engineers, but they came with families, so I got them cheap.¡±  Roks smiled, and Adam sighted.

    ¡°You bought them? Why? I don¡¯t want to buy slaves. Okay, they were taken by pirates, so that¡¯s illegal capture. I can free them immediately!¡±

    A lady behind him replied. ¡°Only if you had freed them from the pirates, but when they went into the slaver pen, they became officially slaves, and now you have to keep them for a minimum of five years.¡± Adam turned to look at her, and she held out a hand; the helmet hid her face, so he had no idea who she was. Two arms and two legs, at least. ¡°¡¯ I¡¯m Mir-na. You have met my grandmother. She suggested I should study your project for my studies. I''m studying planetology.¡± Adam shook her hand, confused.

    ¡°My colleagues are Kinita Sumina, who is studying geology, and Ced-dry Miga, who is studying Meteorology and Climatology. We won''t be in your way.¡± She said as the two waved behind her. Adam waved awkwardly back.

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry about that. I will probably put you to work if I can.¡± Then, he addressed the whole group. ¡°I will get you all settled then. Dara will give you all a check-up, and Maidy will show you where you can stay.¡± He replied as they all got inside. A humanoid droid that looked like she was made of white plastic, wearing a long black dress and face made of rubber. She spoke with a pleasant voice. ¡°Please follow me, and I will get you all settled in.¡±

    Adam held Roks and his crew back as the other left.

    ¡°Next time, let me know you bringing in an armed crew, okay?¡± He said and Roks nodded.

    ¡°Sorry, sir. I knew you would disapprove of it if I asked, and you need protection. What idiot set that communication satellite without a security program? That¡¯s when I reached out to them. And they agreed.¡±

    Adam looked over them. ¡°You have to do more work than just escort here. I need transport pilots as well. Are you okay with that?¡±

    They agreed, and Adam felt a little better. ¡°Do well, and I will reward you.¡± He said, and Roks chuckled.

    ¡°Do well, and this crazy guy will have you bless the ground he is walking on; fail him, and I will personally toss you into the sun.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Sir!¡± they said; Adam stared at him and shook his head.

    ¡°No, you''re not; come, let''s get you a room and pizza.¡± He replied as he walked out of the room, wondering what the hell he had gotten himself into.

 Project Dirt 7: Students

    ¡°What is He doing here?¡± Surn, one of Roks crew, pointed at Vorts, his hand went to his sidearm. Adam looked between them and immediately got between them.

    ¡°What¡¯s going on, Roks?¡± He asked as he looked at Surn, and he heard a soft growl.

    ¡°Stand down, Surn; you knew he was my sister''s husband,¡±  Roks replied, his eyes fixed on his colleague.

    ¡°He was the leader of the rebellion. I thought he got the death penalty; we barely avoided a freaking civil war because of him.¡± Surn replied, and the other crew members seemed to agree with the sentiment.

    ¡°What''s going on here, Roks? Vorts?¡± Adam repeated the question as he turned to Vorts, who seemed frozen, looking at the four pilots.

    ¡°Well? Can somebody explain?¡± Adam continued.

    ¡°Vorts led an organization that spoke up against our nobility. There were a few demonstrations, so his people were sold into slavery. That¡¯s the short version of it.¡± Roks explained, and Adam tried remembering what he had read about the Tufons culture.

    ¡°Wait, wait. Vorts spoke out against the nobility. Did he take up arms against them?¡± He looked past Roks at Surn, who looked confused for a second.

    ¡°No, he spoke up and gathered people; they openly showed disdain for them.¡± He replied, and Adam grinned then chuckled.

    ¡°I know the military service on your kingdom is for life unless you go on self-exile. Aren''t all of you on self-exile? It doesn¡¯t seem like any of you like the nobles either?¡± He said, trying to act as calm as possible.

    Surn''s brain quickly malfunctioned as he thought about it, and Roks started to laugh. ¡°He got you. You hate those bastards more than Vorts. Vorts was only stupid enough to speak up.¡±  Surn hand left his pistol, and laughing and teasingly shoving Surn around teasingly. Roks came over to Adam.

    ¡°This is why I call you peacemaker. Thank you. I was wondering how to get that part into their thinking heads, then I remembered I got you.¡± He laughed and went over to his crew.

    Adam smiled and turned to Vorts. ¡°Are you okay?¡± He asked him. Vorts nodded slowly as he looked at him before returning the question. ¡°You have no problem with this? About my past crime?¡±

    ¡°Naw, It sounds like you were politicians in a world that doesn¡¯t allow it. We had tons of people like you, some even got elected to be leaders. You have to befriend those guys, though. None of us wants the hostility.¡° He replied, and Vorts thought about it for a second and then walked over to them. Adam watched them for a while, making sure they didn¡¯t kill each other, but to his joy, they seemed to bond over it. None of them seemed to like their nobles and being free from their grasp seemed to relieved them.  He thought for a second if he should track down the others of his ¡®revolution¡¯ who got sold into slavery but stopped himself. He didn¡¯t have the resources to do this, money yes but not the manpower and it might attract the attention of the Tufon nobility. Something he definitely did not want unless he had a dreadnaught between him and them.

    He headed into the base to the kitchen and found a beautiful Haran woman standing with two aliens he could not place.  One looked like she was made out of plastic with a reddish gel floating inside. The plastic blurred most of the inside, but there was something else moving inside; it looked like a female, purely out of the feminine shape it had on the outer shell.  The other was a green humanoid with short golden hair and four brown eyes; he had sharp nails and was the same size as Adam.  It was when he first moved that Adam could see the difference; his legs had an extra joint, almost like a rabbit''s.  The Haran lady turned to him as he came in.

    ¡°Thank you for letting us come, Mr. Wrangler. Let me introduce us again a little more properly. I am Mir-na, I think you have met my grandmother, and this is Mr Ced-dry Miga. He is a geologist, in the last year of his master''s, and a very good dancer, and the last one is Ms. Kinita Sumina; she is doing her master''s, two of them in Meteorology and Climatology. She also likes swimming, and she was told there was a swimming pool. It''s such a strange thing to enjoy. ¡°She said as she smiled at him with all the youthfulness of an eager student.

    ¡°And what did you study again? Law like your grandmother?¡± Adam asked, slightly amused at the trio; they still had their bags with them and seemed lost.

    ¡°Oh, me. I¡¯m doing my masters in Planetology. I study the whole of a planet and how to study the planet''s usefulness for the federation. You know, like this planet. It was rated as a level 2 planet, useful for some automated mining operations. Still, no massive mineral deposits would justify the long-distance haul to sell the mining products. Basically, it was deemed not cost-effective.¡± She replied. ¡°Our university heard about your project and wanted to send somebody to investigate. If we report anything of interest they would want to send a whole team, with your blessing of course.¡±Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.

    Adam chuckled. ¡°They view this planet as not cost-effective; that¡¯s just the way I wanted it. So, you want to check if that report was correct? Is that why you guys are here?¡±

    ¡°The report and scene were correct; it¡¯s just that something might have been overlooked.  What you''re doing here might change how we rate planets. Of course, you might also have been scammed and wasted your credits here.¡±  Kinita commented. His voice was surprisingly soft.

    Ced-dry seemed to be a little impatient. ¡°Do you know where we can put our stuff, by the way? I want to settle on and start checking out this place.¡±

    ¡°First off, you are guest, so of course we have space. I think they thought about placing you on the Third floor overlooking the Aquadome, there is a wing there you can use, it should be a few rooms and an office or two for you guys to use, but you will also have to wait to get full access to our work. I don¡¯t want to suddenly have some mega-corporation coming and take over what we are building here. So why don¡¯t you get settled in? Tomorrow after breakfast, I can go over the situation here.¡±

    They looked at him, confused, and Maid came into the room and offered to take them to their designated rooms.  Adam waited for them to leave, then went to his hidden blue pancake stash for a plate and went to the control room.

    The rest of the day went quietly as everybody was busy settling in, Jork was already at his place working. They discussed building speeders and transports but found out they lacked iridium and osmium, so they set a few of the drones in the asteroid field to search for them. Vorts came after a while and thanked him for taking the time to clear up the air with his fellow Tufons. It made sense for Adam now; Vorts had been a leader, and now he was a slave. He knew what it meant to be a slave and what to expect, so he behaved like one, and then he ended up with Adam, who did every wrong for a slave master. Who wanted him to act like an employee and speak to him as an equal. Adam wondered if he would have more trouble with the others.  When the evening came, they went over the reports; small lakes were now around both pools. Vorts wanted to investigate those pools for signs of biological life. They might get lucky and have a few bacteria or one-celled organisms or at the very least, the conditions for some.  The volcanos had done wonders for the atmosphere, though there was too much carbon in the air, it was a thicker one. The students was too busy going over their new location, apparently the wing had top of the line system and they had expected one room dorms not a small apartment.

    The following morning, Adam woke up to a base filled with life. As he exited the elevator, he could hear children laughing and parents desperately trying to keep their children in check. Roks came up to him. ¡°They have been waiting for you to give them tasks. Where should we do this?¡± He asked, and Adam thought for a second.

    ¡°Auditorium 5, it¡¯s a small one. Put the children in Auditorium 4, put on some movies, and have Maidy serve them food, " he replied. I think we need to have a meeting with everybody, your guys included.¡±

    ¡°Yes, sir!¡° Roks said and grinned. ¡°Time for you to step up and be more than a peacemaker.¡±

    He walked away to make sure everybody would come while Adam went to the auditorium and got the room ready. It was not the biggest one, only a place for 50, but with him, there would only be 21 adults, and in the other room, the 13 children would be mesmerized by funny movies while the grown-ups talked. Adam could not help but think that the place had grown up too quickly. It didn¡¯t take long before they had all arrived, and he stood in front of them, feeling nervous.

    ¡°Welcome, I am Adam Wrangler, the owner of this little place I like to call Dirt. I know some of you have come here by your own will, to learn what is happening here. ¡° He looked at the students, ¡°Some of you have come to help me protect this place. ¡° He looked at Roks and his crew. ¡°And some of you unfortunately had no choice in the matter. For that, I apologize. Dirt is not a place where you should be forced to go; it should be a safe haven where you can find a new future. A future we will build together. And for those of you who had no choice, when your time is up, I will personally make sure you are free and have a new start. I will not keep you here any longer than you have to, and I will do my best to make sure your time here is not negative. I will protect you, and I only ask that you work. I see you as my worker and only that. Your belongings are yours. Your children are already registered as free. The same goes for your bonds. I will not break them.  As for what I am trying to do here, my goal is that we can walk outside without protection and swim in oceans one day.¡°

    He stopped and looked over the audience. They looked at him, mostly shocked. He saw a couple that was Dushin, elf-like species with bright red skin, with fur instead of hair that stopped somewhere on the back; he could not see as they wore blue coveralls, but they all did.  They were smaller than him and had fangs and sharp claws but seemed to study him like a house cat. They didn¡¯t not really understand why they were so free.

    Then, there were five Wossir. Two couples and one single. They looked like walking turtles without shells, but the shell pattern on the body. They were teal or sandy in color and had beaks and holes for ears. They moved much faster than he had expected. They definitely didn¡¯t move like turtles. He could see their hands were slightly webbed, and they watched him thoughtfully as they listened but didn¡¯t say a word. The two last were probably the oldest of them.  Bylgyno Buginos like Mr.Heri-ro-ro, his lawyer. They nodded slowly and seemed to understand what he was talking about. Adam smiled as he looked at the rest of the group, Roks crew was just astounded and the students were taking notes. It made him smile.

    ¡°Any questions?¡± He asked.

    ¡°But they are slaves?¡± Kinita Sumina said, and Roks burst out laughing.

    ¡°I intend to free them all as soon as possible, so in my eyes, they are only employees, and you will treat them that way. Is that understood?¡± Adam replied.

    ¡°Yes, sir. It''s your slaves. We are just guests, " he replied, and Adam sighed. This would take some time.

 Project Dirt Part 8: Call back home.

    Adam looked up at the police officer, and the man looked down at him, confused. ¡°What did you say?¡± the man said as he kneeled down to look him in the eyes, and Adam repeated the words. ¡°Please save us. They are going to take us to a bad place. I heard them talk about it.¡± Adam told him.

    The police officer scanned him with a pen-like device and looked surprised at the result. He looked at Adam worriedly, then stood up and called it in while he looked down at him, ¡°Hey! I got a kid here who says somebody is going sell him to bad places. He has no bio-ID and is not in the system. Can you send a car and social services for the kid?  Wait, I see somebody coming from the block the kid came from.¡±  The police officer said. Adam turned to look back, suddenly feeling wet in his hair. When he turned back to the police officer, he saw his head was gone, and his own hands were covered in blood. He tried to scream.

    Adam woke up with a scream; he sat up in the bed, looking at his hands as they were shaking, then he hit the wall again and again until it was bleeding. He screamed again, got out of bed, and showered. He was glad he had made the rooms soundproof; this was not a side of him he wanted them to know.

    When he got dressed, he got into the elevator and took it down to the second floor, where the kitchen was. It was still early, so nobody was up. He saw D03 quietly stalking him to make sure he was safe.  He had probably spotted his elevated stress. He ignored it and went to make himself some coffee.  He took the cup and went up to the control room on the third floor, found his desk, and sat down. Halfway through the coffee, he heard a noise and turned, expecting to see Jork or Vorts. Instead, he saw a Dushin boy about ten years old or older.  The boy had bright red skin and short yellow hair, wearing a white t-shirt that was too big, black sweatpants, and no socks or shoes. The boy held a cup of coffee and went to sit down at a desk, copying Adam.

    ¡°Are you ready to work?¡± Adam asked, a little amused, and the boy turned and nodded seriously.

    ¡°Yes, I''ve got to earn my keep; my brothers and sister think they can sleep the day away, " he replied, and Adam had to hide his laugh.

    ¡°Ahh, those lazy kids. So, since you are ready to work, let''s start. First, open up your screen. Put your hand on that green pad.¡± He told him, and the kid nodded slowly as if he had learned that everything should be answered with a nod. He put his little hand on the pad, and the screen appeared.

    Adam smiled. ¡°Now I need to say your name to the computer,¡± Adam said, and the boy nodded seriously.

    ¡°My name is Kywar Shishan, First son of Miwar Shishan; My mother is Pylla Shishan. I am twelve years old, Slave of, ¡° He said, and Adam stopped him.

    ¡°No! You are not a slave, Kywar! You are a free man! As is your brother and sister. Your parents will be free in a few years. They only work for me!¡± Adam felt panic rise again, and Kywar looked at him confused, so confused he forgot to nod.

    ¡°I''m free? So, I don¡¯t have to work?¡± He asked, and at that, Adam laughed.

    ¡°Yes, you don''t, but you can if you want.¡± Adam said with a smile, and the boy looked at Adam back at the screen and saw it spring to life. He lost all interest in Adam and grabbed his coffee cup with both hands, took a sip, and immediately put the cup away. Adam accessed the control, started a drone, and gave Kywar control over it. It was a simple observation drone with an anti-collider program installed, and when the control was activated, Kywar quickly started trying to control it as he laughed. Adam watched him for a few minutes and then called Maidy to bring some juice for the boy.

    An hour later, Vort and Jork came in and stopped at the door, watching the boy flying the drone around the edges of the northern pole.  ¡°Why is he flying a drone?¡± Virts asked, and Adam grinned.

    ¡°He is working. I have him scan all the lakes he can find. Apparently, that is easy work.¡± He replied.

    Kywar suddenly stopped and turned to Adam. ¡°Okay, the lazy people have woken up, so I''m going to find my brothers and sister now. Bye bye!¡± Then he ran off, and the two others watched him vanish down the hall as they found their place.  Maid came to clean up after the boy.

    ¡°I thought the students were going to join us?¡± Vorts asked as he turned his chair to face him, Jork turned his halfway so he could watch the screen simultaneously.

    ¡®Well, we have to go over a few things first.  We can¡¯t tell them everything. They are reporting back to the university, and I don¡¯t trust that too many people will know what we are doing here before we have set up a good defense. ¡° Adam explained as he sipped on his third cup of coffee.

    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Jork asked as the report from the asteroid field came up. Adam looked at it and suddenly whistled, " Wow.¡±

    Jork also turned to look at it, and his eyes went wide. Vorts leaned over. Then his jaw dropped at what he saw.

    ¡°I mean like that. If they report that back, what do you think will happen?¡± Adam said as he remotely closed the door to the room and pulled it up on the big screen. Two asteroids, both around 15 km in length, about 22 km wide, and 17 km deep, with a content of 74% and 81% iridium.

    They all just looked at it as the other reports came in. Most of the asteroid field was worthless, but one-quarter was filled with valuable materials.  Jork looked at him.

    ¡°That¡¯s enough for a large mining operation. We can mine all of that with what you have.¡± He said, and Adam nodded.

    ¡°Yes, and if I buy what we need, then somebody is bound to follow after and find this place. Do you think they will let me have it? ¡° Adam said as he asked the computer to assess the value quickly. It came up as 126 million credits if all were sold at the current price. Adam stared at the number and looked back at the two. ¡°This does not leave this room. Jork, you have to hide those Asteroids. Move them somewhere they won''t look for them.  This find has just made all of us very rich. Yes, I''m not so stupid to think I can keep this from you guys. Just don¡¯t tell anybody. Understand.¡± He looked between them, and they both nodded seriously.Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

    ¡°I''m not suicidal. They would kill everybody to make sure nobody found out.¡± Vorts said.

    ¡°Good, now clean this up. Let us find a trace of iridium later; we need some to print those speeders and transports. Two metrics should be enough. Don¡¯t overdo it.¡± Adam looked at Jork, who agreed. They all went to work, and the program was hidden one hour later.

    Adam sat silently, staring at the screen, thinking as Roks entered. ¡°What''s up, boss?¡±

    ¡°We need to try to buy more droids from Earth again. I need to get hold of Harold!¡±

    ¡°Harold? Wait, your friend from Earth, right? The one working for Ares?¡± Roks asked.

    ¡°Yeah, remember when we tried to get to droids last time? I completely forgot to call him. It¡¯s a long call. All the way to earth, but I need to make it. It''s going to cost me an arm and a leg. Anyway, do you want to go shopping?¡±  Adam asked.

    ¡°Sure, I just need a job for my crew, and if you call him, I want more of that earth whisky,¡± Roks replied. Adam got up and looked at Jork. ¡°Have the pilots run drills for pirate attacks and do a proper scan of the gas giants; I have a feeling the guys who surveyed this system were sloppy.¡±

    Jork looked at him and grinned. ¡°You don¡¯t trust them? What about the students?¡±

    ¡°Give them the project''s current status and plans, have them review it for flaws, and update the communication system, the security patch, and logs.  Now that we are growing, we might attract more unwanted attention.¡± Adam replied then left with Roks.  When they entered the elevator Roks turned to him. ¡°So, you called me partner when we met.  How much of a partner are we?¡±

    Adam chuckled.¡± That is why we are going to the hub. We have to set up a few things and make it official. I¡¯m suggesting 10% of the company, which land when the project is finished.¡±

    ¡°Only 10%? Well, I didn¡¯t invest anything, so I¡¯ll take it. I have a feeling it will make me very rich anyway. Right?¡± He winked, and Adam chuckled as the elevator door opened, and D03 was ready to escort them.

    ¡°Yes, my friend, you are correct as long as that mouth stays closed.¡± Adam winked, and Roks closed his mouth, showing his fangs. Apparently, it was his people''s way of showing they would not speak.

    They spent the week it took to get to the hub discussing what they should do. The more Adam thought about it, the more he knew he was making the right choice. Roks was the right man to have by his side¡ªsomebody who would call him an idiot to his face but still be loyal.

    Mr Heri-ro-ro looked over the contracts and back at Adam, then at Ms Min-Na, who looked between them. ¡°You do understand what you sign here, right?¡± she asked Adam, who had taken the contracts and signed the first and then gave it to Roks.

    ¡°Yes, I am very aware. Roks is not my second in command. He owns 10 % of the company and 10 square kilometers of his liking of the planet''s dirt. He would have a second choice after me, which basically is Homebase now.  And I am now officially ¡°as he signed the second contract. ¡°Founder of Clan Wrangler, with all the rights and duties that entitles in the galactic federation, and if Roks signs, he becomes my second in command.¡± He gave the second contract to Roks, who quickly signed it.

    Min-Na just looked at him with admiration. ¡°You sure you don¡¯t want a wife?¡± She asked, and Adam laughed this time.

    ¡°No, but Roks might want one.¡± He replied, and Roks winked at Min-Na.

    Adam got serious. ¡°Yes, I know this is crazy, but I¡¯m alone here, and this is how I secure myself. I trust him. If he wanted my credits, he would have tried something long ago. He is an honest and honorable man. As for the last contract.¡° He looked at it and then at them. Mr Heri-ro-ro took it and signed quickly, handing it to Min-Na, who also signed it.  ¡°Good, I should have done this a long time ago.  You are now my representative on the hub, and I will contact you directly through our satellite system. It should be up and running by now.  Now, if you would excuse us, we have some long-distance communications. We will probably stay a few days this time around.¡±

    They said their goodbyes and left the office for the Shinutza FTL communication office. It was an expensive call, and it took three hours to get to Earth Ares company and then thirty minutes to contact Harold, who seemed excited when he popped up on the screen. He was a few years younger than Adam and beamed as he saw him. ¡°BRO! Where the hell are you?¡°

    ¡°Hey there, Harold. I''m safely located in sector N47, as I told you. How are things at the office? Did you ask that girl from accounting out for a date?¡± Adam said, and he could not help but smile. It had been a long time since he had seen a human face, and Harold had been the one he had been closest to back then.  His roommate at the orphanage was more like a little brother. He had always watched over him and the others but had never been close to any of them. There was only one other he felt close to from back then.

    ¡°Dina? Yeah, we¡¯re married. I wish you had been at the wedding, but it was kind of hard to get a hold of you.  Man, it''s good to see you. Everybody is asking about you, trying to find out your real name. I haven¡¯t told a soul, Not even Dina.¡± He replied, and Adam scratched his hair.

    ¡°Everybody?¡± He was confused about who else it could be.

    ¡°The whole batch. Come one. You just left, man. I thought you were kidding when you said you were going that far away.  Wait if you call from there. Are you in trouble? What do you need?¡± Harold suddenly got serious, and Adam looked at him.

    ¡°Hey, it''s my job to ensure you''re safe, not the other way around. Remember? But yeah, I need a few things,¡± Adam replied.

    ¡°Well, you called the right man. So, what do you need? Name it, man.¡±  Harold replied.

    ¡°I need more droids; I might have a pirate problem. Your company said they don¡¯t want to sell to somebody this far out.¡±

    ¡°That is correct; if we sell this fare out, somebody has to follow the gods, so I need to find somebody to deliver it for you. Which won''t actually be a problem.¡± He replied.

    ¡°Oh? Why not. Who wants to take a year to come here?¡± He asked, and Harold grinned.

    ¡°I know somebody who will jump at the opportunity, and it will take this person six months from where she is right now, its you best bet. ¡°He replied.

    ¡°Who?¡± Then he realized who he was talking about. ¡°No. she won¡¯t. She isn¡¯t that crazy.¡±  Adam said, and Harold smiled while rubbing his hands with a grin.

    ¡° Oh Yes she is. So, send me a list, and I will give you a good price, but you have to pay for the transport. Are you okay with that? I can get around that one, but if you pay the transport, I can toss in a hell of a lot of extra goodies.¡± he said. Adam took a deep breath and then sent the list, and Harold looked at it. ¡°Wow, that¡¯s 1.5 million plus transport. Are you sure? That would be 1.6 in total.¡±

    Adam sent the credits. ¡°Yeah, and see if you can add a few crates of whiskey. Have a friend here who got addicted.¡±

    Harold looked shocked as the credit got through. ¡°Wow! You really stuck gold out there. Damn Bro. You just made me the top seller. I¡¯ll get you that whiskey, and I¡¯ll toss in a few company goods for VIP customers because you just got on that list. Your friend will be very happy. ¡° Then he got serious as he looked at him.¡° Please keep in contact. I miss you, man.¡±

    Adam smiled.  ¡°I miss you too, little bro. It is getting expensive here. I promise not to wait another year before I call. Take care now.¡°

    Adam hung up and started to cry. God, Harold was a married man now and not the little boy five-year-old he had comfort when he had nightmares, and here he was still fighting his own.

 Project Dirt Part 9: The priests and his wives

    Adam got out of the booth. He was glad the next call didn¡¯t need to be video or audio. He went to the restroom to clean himself up. Roks noticed and came over.

    ¡°You, okay?¡± He asked, Adam nodded.

    ¡°Yeah, we just walked down memory lane a bit. He was my roommate at the orphanage. I just realized he must have seen me as his big brother. I never knew. Anyway, let me clean up, and we are almost finished here. Did you check for the jobs? We can fill it up again. Make a few credits,¡± Adam jokingly replied.

    ¡°Well, there is a Buginos farming colony 15 lightyears away. We can pick up a load if you want, sell half here on the hub on the way back. Should earn you some pocket money.¡±

    Adam thought about it. ¡°How long will it take?¡±

    ¡°A week, different direction, might be smart now, in case somebody is trying to track you back to Dirt,¡± Roks replied, and Adam smiled.

    ¡°Let¡¯s do it, and we can also check if they have a few plants we want. I don¡¯t want a complete copy of the Earth''s fauna and flora. Kinda want to make it exotic. Which reminds me, any plants or animals you want on Dirt from your home world?¡± Adam asked as he cleaned his face in the restroom, and Roks thought about it.

    ¡°The Hurnsa! But that means you need Busgan and Bolbska for their food. And they need Sashal to eat. So that¡¯s a plant. Damn so much to think of. Can I get back to you about it? I need Vorts to help me there.¡± Roks said, and Adam looked at him. Hurnsa? I think I remember that from your books. It looked like a mix of a tiger and a velociraptor but had yellow stripes and black fur instead. How big are they?¡±

    ¡°They won''t get big; the biggest ones are around my hip. We use them for hunting and guarding our home.¡±

    ¡°Sounds like our dogs. Good, I need to get you a book about Earth.¡± Adam replied as he went to reception to arrange for the next call, which was more of an email order of things he wanted, such as food. A hundred kilos of chocolate, he changed it to two when he remembered the children. Then, he added a library of entertainment and blueprints for toys. The last was a request to the Earth Administration about potential settlers. He gave a vague description of his location. He quickly got a reply that they would have to send an inspector to check before they could officially approve the planet open for colonization, or he could try the private organizations. Adam knew that was a hit-or-miss; he might end up with a religious zealot group that would take over, something he wanted to avoid. He felt a little better dealing with humans; he understood their hints so much better and didn¡¯t feel like a child among grown-ups. He approved the inspector and was told he would be there within eight months and expected to be picked up at the Hub. Adam had no problem with this, as it gave him time to set it up. He had mixed feelings when he left with Roks; he was both grateful and worried. He hoped this would be the correct thing; at the very least, he could free his friends. He stopped and thought about it. Yes, they are his friends. It made him smile.

    ¡°What are you smiling about?¡± Roks asked as he saw his grin.

    ¡°Oh, just realized something; anyway, let''s go eat and then find out what this colony has ordered to be delivered. I''m sure we can use that as an excuse to visit them.¡± He replied, and Roks gave him his pad.

    ¡°I already checked. There are lots of goods, and they will fill up your hauler almost completely, and we will end up with 5 K in pay.¡±

    ¡°Well, let''s see what they need: machinery and some closed boxes with private belongings. Wait. It also says six passengers.¡° Adam commented.

    ¡°We can cancel if you want.¡±

    ¡°Naw, it would be nice to have some guests along. Let''s help them settle.¡± Adam replied.

    They had a great meal overlooking the nebula outside the HUB, where Roks told him war stories that sounded more like exaggerated fishing stories. They were told several times to quiet down, though Adam''s check suddenly gave them lots of leeway and offers of female companions that they politely declined.

    ¡°My wife would kill me if she found out.¡± Roks commented as the waiter left after the offer.If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

    ¡°Wait.. what? You are married?¡± Adam looked at him, surprised. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you tell me? When can I meet her?¡±

    Roks grinned. ¡°You already have. I''m married to Kina. Why do you think it was so easy to get them to come?¡±

    ¡°You''re allowed to marry within your troop? Wow, back on Earth, they would never allow that. Now I understand the story of the pirates on the ice planet. If she is your wife, then yeah.¡± Adam replied as he thought about it.

    ¡°Soldiers are not allowed to marry in human worlds?¡± Roks looked shocked, and Adam laughed.

    ¡°No, No. Soldiers can marry, but you can¡¯t be in the same troop. It¡¯s to avoid potential trouble. ¡° Adam replied.

    ¡°What about you? No wife or mate?¡± Roks said, and Adam thought about it.

    ¡°There was one. She grew up at the orphanage. She wasn¡¯t one of... never mind that. Well, she found somebody else. That¡¯s when I joined the military for a scholarship.¡± He emptied the glass, and Roks looked at him.

    ¡°What¡¯s an orphanage? You mention it a few times, and I thought it was a school, but I feel I''m mistaken.¡±

    Adam was glad for the change of question. ¡°It¡¯s a home for the orphans, children with no parents, either by a loss like Evelyn, abandoned by their parents, stuff like that. ¡° He said.

    Roks stared at him in disbelief. ¡°You abandon your children? Why? Is that what happened to you?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know why they do it; some people are crazy, and some are just evil. Some feel that they are giving their children a better chance of life by doing it. Tell you how bad their life has to be for them to do that.¡± Adam avoided answering about himself as it was not something he felt comfortable talking about around others. Roks seemed to notice but ignored it as he tried to wrap his head around it.

    ¡°You guys are crazy. You have prisons and can abandon your children. I have heard stories about your crazy military and hells, and your droids are illegal on several planets, which reminds me. You need a pistol for the colony. They will freak out at the sight of your droid, and you don¡¯t go to places like that unarmed.¡±

    ¡±I do have weapons on board. I knew I needed weapons when I traveled here.¡±

    ¡°I should have known; how many other secrets will I accidentally find out?¡± Roks replied.

    ¡°As many as you will let me accidentally find out, my friend; when are we picking up our passengers?¡± Adam said as he called for the bill. Twelve credits or twelve thousand earth credits.

    ¡°Tomorrow, it''s getting late, and we should check in with the others. See if the place is still standing,¡± Roks said, and Adam smiled.

    ¡°And you want to check in with Kina?¡±

    ¡°Well, yeah. She and Dara need to hear about the clan and if they want to join.¡± He replied.

    At the ship, Adam went to his weapons locker and got out the pistol and belt. He left the spare pistol and the two rifles in the locker and checked the storage. The tech droid had stored all the goods and was running a maintenance check, so Adam went up to the bridge where Roks was talking to his wife.

    ¡°Are you sure he will allow us? But he doesn¡¯t know us. Of course, I will accept, and I''m sure the others will, too.¡± She said, and Adam leaned against the door frame.

    ¡°Am I disturbing?¡± He asked. Roks turned his head and shook it. ¡°Nope, can you please calm her down?¡±

    Adam came over. ¡°Hello Kina, Yes. I would be honoured if you joined my little clan. It''s not much, but we have great potential.¡±

    She looked at him on the screen, and he saw her smile.¡± I would be honoured, too. Should I ask the other if they want to join?¡±

    ¡°Sure, but no pressure. Nobody has to join. So what else is happening?¡± He asked.

    ¡°The students are working on a presentation for you, and Jork has built two speeders that they are using to inspect different parts of the planet. Vorts said you would be okay with it. He has been guiding them around.¡±

    Adam grinned. ¡°Yeah, I''m okay with that. So, you''re saying they spend most of the days outside the base? Good. Tell them we are taking a detour and will take two weeks, so we will be back in three weeks. I will send Jorks instructions on what I want him to build. He needs to find a place and start the project. The blueprints are in the server.¡± He looked at Roks and back to the screen. ¡°I¡¯ll leave you two alone and take an early night.¡±

    The next day, the six passengers arrived, and Adam looked at Roks as he saw them. One male and five females, all were dressed in conservative clothes, covering their full bodies.

    ¡°Thank you for the transport. My name is Fader Kungo Mytt, and this is my wives. They will not disturb you during the travels.¡± The elderly Buginos said as his young wife dutifully waited behind him. Adam tilted his head slightly.

    ¡°You have five wives? Well, I''m not the man to judge. Welcome onboard. Your goods have already been stored. We are leaving after the precheck.¡± Adam replied as he stepped aside to let them pass.

    ¡°Gurron has blessed me with many young wives; when we arrive on the colony, we will start our family.¡± The old man smiled friendly as he walked past. ¡°Come, my wives, we are leaving this den of sin now.¡± Adam looked past them at D03.

    ¡°Show them to the quarters, please.¡±

    It replied with an ¡°Affirmative!¡± As he guides them inside. Adam looked at Rooks. ¡°What?¡±

    Roks stared after them. ¡°Five wives? And that young? He only said it was him and his family. I thought those were his children.¡±

    ¡°Is it normal for the Buginos to have a harem of wives?¡± He asked, and Roks shook his head.

    ¡°No, it must be something religious; we got an hour. I¡¯ll run to grab some books about them. He said his god was Gurron?¡± Roks said, and when Adam nodded, he ran off. Adam went inside as he wondered how he should deal with this. He looked down the hallway and past the airlock with a distant look. Those girls better not be forced into this.

 Project Dirt part 10 A nice cup of coffee

    Adam guided Dream out of the hangar as Roks worked the secondary utilities. It became apparent to Adam that it was better to have two than one on the bridge. Once they had made it out and set the course, they turned to each other.

    ¡°So what now?¡± Roks said, ¡°I have two books, but I think we should also contact Jork. He might know something about this. It''s his people, after all.¡±

    Adam nodded and looked down the hall. ¡°Okay, keep them busy. I don¡¯t want them to hear us debating this. For now, you don¡¯t do anything. It might be completely normal in their culture.¡±

    Roks got up. ¡° Yeah, but five young and one old? It just feels wrong. I never heard of that in a good way before. But I guess there is a first time for everything.¡± Then he walked out, and Adam closed the door behind him and turned to the communicator; after a few minutes, he got it to work. He really should get somebody to deal with this. He had accidentally scanned the whole system for minerals and got a warning from the hub.

    ¡°Yes, sir. What can I help you with?¡± Jork was at his post as he answered.

    ¡°Hi there, I have a weird question. How many wives are permitted in your culture? We have a passenger with five wives.¡± Adam didn¡¯t want to small talk as he didn¡¯t know if the line would last after they reached the jump point. He guessed he would have at most ten minutes.

    ¡°Five wives? Is it a noble or a priest? Normally, we have enough with one. Nobles can afford more, but those would have their own ships. Some priests marry old widows to ensure they are well taken care of.¡± He replied, a little shocked.

    ¡°He seemed like a priest of Gurron. He said something about being blessed with many wives and that they were going to start a family. The wives looked young,  very young," he said, and Jork thought for a second as if he tried to recollect something, then sighed.

    ¡°He is a Gurron worshipper? That¡¯s a cult, so yeah, that is something I would not put past them. They are not very much liked. They claim it''s their duty to be bountiful and have many offspring they can make, so they do crazy stuff like this. Be careful. I don¡¯t want to seem prejudiced, but those guys have been known to be in league with criminals. The reputation is that they use their wives as prostitutes to help get them pregnant. It''s all about having many kids.¡± Jork said with a serious voice. ¡°But I only heard and read about them, never met any.¡±

    Adam nodded. ¡°So we are talking about religious zealots. Okay. Thank you for your help. Did you get my instructions, by the way?¡±

    ¡°Yes, I''m looking for areas; the students are building a map of potential sea levels we can experience later, so I''m trying to find a safe place. One of them mentioned it might be smart to build an aquatic base already since it is easier to build it while the land is still dry.¡± He replied.

    ¡°Sounds like this seems like a good idea. Find a safe location, start producing earthquake sensors, and deploy them along the fault lines. That way, we can monitor it and keep the students busy. Okay, I¡¯m getting to the jump point now. I will lose contact; if something important happens, call the lawyers. The hub has enough communications arrays to contact us in hyperlanes. Cya in a few weeks.¡± He hung up and got ready for the jump. It went smoothly, so he went to find the others. He found Roks and Fader Kungo Mytt in the mess hall.

    ¡°Where are your wives?¡± Adam asked as he entered, and Fader Kungo smiled at him. ¡° They are in the cabin, where they belong. I will bring them food later, " he replied, and Adam looked at him and then at Roks.

    ¡°I''m sorry, but why? Some religious reasons?¡± Adam said as he got out a bottle of dark fizzy drink and sat down.

    Fader Kungo nodded. ¡° You are strangers and I am alone. They would feel safer there. You are not Buginos. No offense but it¡¯s scary for young women to see such strange creatures.¡±

    ¡°Oh, they have nothing to fear from us. I''m a second father to one, Miker. He''s a beautiful little boy.¡± Adam replied, and Roks agreed.

    Fader Kungo smiled. ¡°Miker? It sounds like you have gained somebody''s trust. Who are the parents? And what denomination do they belong to?¡± He asked as he sipped the coffee that Roks had given him.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know which denomination, and the father works for me; unfortunately, the mother has passed. He doesn¡¯t speak too much about his people. I know his late wife was the love of his life, and it broke his heart when she passed.¡± Adam replied as he studied the man in front of him.

    Fader Kungo drank more coffee. ¡°I''m sorry to hear about her passing; he should get more wives and spread the love. If you bring him to the colony, I might be able to help him with that. ¡°He sipped his coffee and smiled. ¡°This is good. I would love to buy more. It seems to give me energy.¡±

    Adam thought about it. He could actually plant beans. He had the seeds, and it would take at least ten years before he could get enough to sell. ¡°I will keep it in mind. But as you see, you don¡¯t need to lock your wives in the cabin. As you know, it will be seven days before we arrive, and the more, the better the company.¡±

    Roks smiled slightly. ¡°He told me he plans to open a Tavern on the colony. He already has friends there waiting for him.¡±

    Adam nodded to Roks. Something about this didn¡¯t sit right with him; they needed to get more information if he could only get the wives out of the cabin.

    ¡°Yes, company is always better,¡± Fader Kungo replied as he ignored Roks. ¡°But I''m worried since they are not properly trained yet.¡± He leaned a little forward. ¡°But maybe you could help me train them for a price, of course .¡±

    Adam looked at him, then at Roks and back to the Fader. ¡°I thought you said they were scared of us?¡±

    ¡°Yes, but they need to get used to it; of course, they will mostly deal with our people, but there are always some with strange urges.¡± The Fader replied. ¡°I''m too old to keep up with five young ones; I might as well earn some money on them as they increase the fold. Better to be pragmatic about such things. My lord commands me to ensure a big brood.¡±

    ¡°Well, we do not have such urges, but they are free to walk around and get used to strangers.¡° Adam said. This would work to their advantage, and they could find out if they were okay with what he felt was a horrible fate. He wanted to help if he could, but this might be completely normal for them, poor souls. Roks was tense, and Adam could sense it; everything he said went against his Tufon honor, but he held his tongue. Fader Kugo nodded. ¡°I see you won''t stop asking, but it will cost you 14 credits, even if it is just looking, but it is for seven days straight.¡± Adam sent him the money. Adam could see Roks would rather jump the Fader and tear him apart but restrained himself, and the old man left for the cabins. The moment he was out of hearing, Roks turned to Adam.

    ¡°What''s wrong with you? We should toss him out of the airlock. He is about to turn them into whores. And you are paying him!¡± The words were whispered with a growl, and Adam looked after the Fader,

    ¡°How else can we talk to them and find out if they want this? They might be religious zealots who want this. If we kill him, we will be branded as pirates; we need to find a way to rescue them and not be seen as pirates. Having them locked in the cabin will only make that harder. We need to separate them from him so we can get them to talk. If we find out they are held against their will, then we will rescue them.¡° Adam spoke quickly so they could finish this before they returned. ¡°Besides, you can look through the books and see if you can find anything we can use.¡±Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author''s consent. Report any sightings.

    Roks calmed down a little and took a deep breath. He still wanted to kill the old man but tempered himself. Soon, the Fader returned with the wives, now dressed much more revealing clothes, leaving little to the fantasy.  They looked shyly around. Like Jork they had the spotted grey pattern going down their arms and back, but their skin was of different shades of yellow to green, and they had green to orange hair hanging loosely down or in complicated braids¡ªtheir four eyes color from blue to bright green. Their clothes were made of layers of silk that barely hid anything. They were as tall as Adam, and for a second, he just looked; it may have been the shock of the complete change from what he had seen at the hub. Then he caught himself and stood up.

    ¡°Welcome, ladies, make yourself at home. These are the common areas, and you are all welcome to relax and enjoy food and drink. There are two alcoves along the wall where you can watch entertainment or listen to music. Please ask before you go to the bridge, engine room, or storage. The rest of the ship you can walk around in.¡± He said with a smile and they all bowed, as they looked shyly around.

    ¡°They only paid for the company, nothing else. If they ask, they have to pay first. Remember that,¡± Fader Kungo said as he found himself a new cup of coffee without asking and sat down. Adam just smiled and showed them around. It felt like talking to teenage girls, which made him sick to his stomach. Only one of them seemed to be an adult. After the girls and the Fader retired, Roks and Adam sat down on the bridge to discuss it. They both wanted to toss him out of the airlock, and Adam started to think they could not make this trip without killing Fader.

    ¡°I hate this. I''m not a killer, but it''s testing my limits,¡± Adam said as he looked out the window; Roks sat at his station scanning the books.

    ¡°I have no problem with killing; just give the order, and he will be dead, " he replied, and Adam sighed.

    ¡°What if it''s all legal? Then, we are criminals and can be turned into slaves. Everything we have done goes away. If we do it, we need to do it legally.¡± Adam countered. He didn¡¯t like it, but he also had to think about the others.

    ¡°Well, nothing in the books stops it; any man can marry as many as he wants in their laws as long as the woman has come of age. And they have no laws against prostitution. It seems what he is doing is legal, even if it is disgusting.¡± Roks said as they turned the screen off.

    ¡°Woman of age? What does that mean? And can they be forced to?¡± Adam looked at him, and Roks opened the screen again and quickly searched the question.

    ¡°Coming of age for women is sixteen years old in their culture, and they are sold into marriage and have no rights to deny, though most seem to ignore that part. Remember Jork told us he proposed to Mike¡¯s mum after dating for two years? " He said as he read the laws.

    ¡°Looks like we got the good one back home and met the asshole version here. Okay, we need to talk to them without him being around?¡± Adam mused.

    ¡°Whiskey, we put it in his coffee, and he will fall asleep or get talkative. Remember, Jork can''t hold his liquor; he goes to sleep early.¡± Roks suggested, and Adam thought about it.

    ¡°Okay. Computer. When Fader Kugo orders coffee, I want you to add a little whiskey, not too much; I don¡¯t want him poisoned. Do not inform him about it, but start monitoring him so we can make sure we are not killing him with the coffee. Don¡¯t let him know.¡±

    ¡°Affirmative, starting protocol now.¡± The computer replied, and Roks looked at him.

    ¡°We are looking for a reason to kill him, so why be so careful? Happy accidents happen.¡± He said, and Adam chuckled.

    ¡°Yes, but I¡¯m securing our ass as well so if anything does happen, we can prove we didn¡¯t intentionally try to kill him.¡±

    ¡°You are too kind. I''m going to bed,¡± Roks said and headed out. Adam sat down in the chair and looked out into the vastness of space as it flew by.

    The plan worked perfectly. The Fader really liked the new coffee even better, and he quickly fell asleep, leaving the girls alone with Adam and Roks. In the beginning, the girls seemed to fear what the men would do to them, but after a few days of Adam letting the youngest, who was only sixteen, watch movies and listen to music while they talked to the two eldest, they calmed down.

    The following days they got to know the girls better, the oldest was Skee Laf. She was 23 years old. Through her, they found out they are all sisters bought by the Fader when their family got into debt with a group of criminals. Skee had been studying at the university and had just finished her master''s in ocean biology. She returned home to the family farm when the criminals threatened to kill their parents and older brother if they didn¡¯t pay. Apparently, their parents had borrowed money to send her to the university. Then Fader Kugo suddenly showed up with money and told them he would pay the debt and give them some extra for the right to marry all the sisters. Her brother had tried to fight it, claiming Fader Kugo was part of the gang. The next day, he was beaten to an inch of his life by the gang by a chance encounter.

    ¡°That¡¯s it! I''m killing him.¡± Roks hand went to his pistol and Adam stopped him.

    ¡°Stop, let''s be smart about it. I want something on him; if we can get him to admit what he did, then we can arrest him and release them from their bondage.¡± Adam said, and then the second oldest. Maya shook her head; she had been sitting next to Skee and listened.

    ¡°No, they are waiting for him at the colony. He sent a message to them telling them about your ship. They are planning to steal it. That¡¯s why he wants us to distract you guys and wear these ridiculous clothes.¡± Maya said. Roks and Adam looked at each other, and then Adam looked back at her.

    ¡°When did he send the message?¡± Adam asked

    ¡°Yesterday, as we were getting closer, we arrived tomorrow, right?¡± she replied, and Skee looked at her.

    ¡°How do you know this?¡± She asked, confused.

    ¡°He always wants me to sleep in his bed, remember? He thought I was sleeping as he sent the message.¡± She replied, and Adam looked at the sleeping Fader.

    ¡°What system did he use? His own or the ship¡¯s?¡± He asked.

    ¡°Your ship¡¯s, he is so impressed by it. He wants it for himself.¡± She replied and Adam got up and walked over to a terminal.

    ¡°The computer showed me all the messages Fader Kugo sent, and three messages popped up. The first was about the girls with a clear indication of being put to work, and the second was the description of the ship and Adam and Roks. There was a reply from somebody about how they would get ready to take the ship; the last made it go cold down his back; not only were they planning to take the ship, but he asked them to get a crew ready so they could raid Dirt. He turned to Roks.

    ¡°Toss him into the airlock now while I stop the ship. We are not going there. He is a pirate, and now we got the evidence. I''m going to sentence him before we toss him out.¡± He said coldly, and Roks grinned. Then he immediately moved over, lifted up the drunk Fader, placed him in the airlock, injected him with sober medicine, and walked out, closing the Fader in the airlock. Adam stopped the ship in the dead of space, then went to the airlock, played the three messages over the loudspeaker as he looked at the Fader.

    The Fader looked at them as he stood up. ¡°Let me out and I will let you live.  If not then know they will find you and kill you for this. My son will have you killed! And they will find those bitches¡¯ families and kill them too. ¡°

    Adam looked at him for a while as the old man ranted, and then started cursing him. He  pressed the speaker and addressed the old man.

    ¡°In the name of the federation I, Adam Wrangler, captain of Dream and clan leader of the Wrangler clan, sentence you to death for planning to commit piracy on my ship and suspicion of extortion of the family Laf. We are confiscating your cargo, and the cargo that was supposed to be sent to your team, which we now know is waiting for us. We will inform the law when we return to the hub. May whatever gods you believe in have mercy on your soul. Because I don¡¯t, I curse you to the coldness of space forever.¡± With those words, he pressed the button, and The Fader vanished into the cold, dark space.

    ¡°Let''s get you girls safely home.¡± Adam turned and went up to the bridge to set the course for the hub.

    The girls looked surprised, and the younger panicked for a moment. Skee ran after him as Maya calmed her sister.

    ¡°What are you going to do with us? If you send us home, they will just kill us. You might have killed our parents by doing this. Those guys are not the forgiving type.¡± She seemed worried and on the brink of panicking.

    ¡°We must report it, or they can claim we are pirates.¡± He took a deep breath. ¡°I can''t believe I''m going to say this¡­ ¡°He turned to look at her. ¡°I know of a colony where you can be safe. It¡¯s a planet we are terraforming, so the atmosphere is not breathable yet, but we have space. Enough for your whole family. If you accept, you can travel there and be free from them. We can probably pick up your parents if it''s not too far away.¡± He looked at her, and she thought about it.

    ¡°It''s about two weeks to travel there; is that too far?¡± She looked at him with puppy eyes, and Adam cursed, then chuckled.

    ¡°Aww fuck it. Why not.¡±

    Two and a half months later, Dream landed on Dirt with a new family and a cargo filled with farming equipment. The record and some expert legal arguments from Minna had secured them the rights to the cargo and annulled the marriages of Fader Kugo. Adam saw the planet was covered with dark clouds. They got into view, and he immediately scanned the planet. The atmosphere was 70% of the desired goal, and five great lakes were being formed. However, the air was still not breathable.

 Project Dirt part 11- Who is Jork?

    Adam woke up the next day. He had a nightmare, but it was not as bad this time.  It had stopped before they killed the police officer. He sat in bed, looked at the wall, and pressed his knuckle at the spot. ¡°Not today, today''s a good day.¡±  He got up and started his morning routine. It was six in the morning, a habit from when he was a child. He had always got up and made sure everybody was there, then used the few hours before they woke up to get the monsters out of his head. He had managed to get those monsters out long ago; now, they only dropped by when he was stressed, but the habit stayed. He was looking forward to the morning coffee in silence. When he got to the administration office, he turned on the screen and then sat down to check the report.

    Last night had been strange. Jork and Mirker had greeted the new family, and the girls had immediately taken to the toddler, but he didn¡¯t like the attention and hid behind his dad''s legs.  But to Adam, the funny part was how Mirker had treated him. At first, he was really upset with him, refusing to look at him and deliberately looking away when Adam tried to talk to him.  Then suddenly, he cried and ran over to hug him, refusing to let go; Adam had to hold him until he fell asleep. Much to the girl''s disappointment, Mirker completely ignored them for Adam. Jork said he had always asked about him when he was away. He started to love the little one. The students had asked for a meeting today to discuss what they had found out. The farms had managed to plant seeds in the first dome, and he had seen saplings there. The plan was to make the second dome more like a forest, trying out different trees, flowers, and bushes. Even if the planet didn¡¯t go green, they had managed to start growing things.

    The biggest shock was Jork¡¯s new army of droids. Now, he had twenty maid droids moving around, taking care of everyone''s needs. Apparently, he found the maid''s blueprint and built a 3D printer that could build them. He had hacked it, so Adam¡¯s permission for five droids turned into 500. He officially blamed it on a bad copy of the blueprint program. He had also managed to build five speeders. Adam was glad the base had a garage, but he had to tell Jork that he could not copy more Speeders as they might be fined for abusing the copyrights.  Jork had sworn he would not copy any more speeders, and Adam had a feeling he would regret not asking more about Jork''s other projects, which he apparently had a lot of.

    He was lost in thought when he noticed four children walked in and sat down at different desks. They all had a cup of juice and some food. Kywar nodded to him. ¡°Morning, sir, just getting the morning scan runs done.  We won''t make too much noise.¡±

    ¡°No music today? Damnit, " one of the Wossier kids said, and Adam sipped his coffee and walked over to them.

    ¡°So, what are you checking today? Oh, and Music is okay as long as it''s not too loud.¡± The kid grinned and turned on the music, which wasn¡¯t too bad, while Kywar explained today''s missions. They had ten places to scan, and after that, according to Vorts and Jork, they had an hour of free time to play with the drones. It wasn¡¯t a bad idea, and the kids seemed to like it, so he told them to carry on as he went to check the updates.  The problem was always the same. No nitrogen. He needed that, or it all would be pointless. Without it, the plants would not grow. The kids worked quickly, and he could hear Kywar telling Bendy, the Wossir kid, to do a proper job, or they would not be allowed to come tomorrow. When Vorts and Jork arrived, they walked over to him.

    ¡°If what my brother-in-law said is correct, then I am humbly asking that my wife and I be allowed to join your clan when we are freed.¡±

    ¡°I humbly ask that my son be allowed to join your clan.¡±

    Adam looked between them. ¡°No! If you ask, then I humbly accept. You''re not waiting until you''re freed; I accept you now. Having you both in my clan would be a great honour.¡± Adam replied as he stood up and placed his hand on their shoulder. ¡°You are part of this world just as much as I am.¡±

    Both men looked at him, Jork with tears and Vorts with a genuine smile, all of them not noticing the small ears that heard everything.

    ¡°So, let''s get to work, okay? Later today, we can sign the paper and send it to get legally notarized. That way, you will have clan protection in the eyes of the court. ¡° They both smiled and immediately went to work; Adam sat down and suddenly noticed Kywar standing next to him.

    ¡°Yes, Kywar. What is it?¡± he asked, seeing that the boy had a question.

    ¡°Why does being part of a clan give you more protection?¡±  He asked, and Adam tilted his head. The boy was smart for his age.

    ¡°Well, if somebody comes here and tries to steal somebody from the clan, then we can send out distress and bounty on the kidnappers. If they are rescued before they reach the slave market, they will be returned here, and law enforcement will see it as a legal action. And it means that when you are freed from slavery, I, as the clan leader, am dutybound to ensure you have a place to live and food to eat.¡±  Adam could see the boy''s mind working overtime.

    ¡°So its protection and a future home? Can anybody ask?¡± Kywar asked, and Adam smiled.

    ¡°You are a little too young to ask. You have to be of legal age, but you don¡¯t have to worry. You have a home and food as long as your parents stay here.¡± He replied.

    ¡°But if they leave after the five years? Then we are on our own?¡± He asked.

    ¡°Well, yes, but they won''t leave empty-handed. They can even stay and just work if they want.¡±

    Kywar nodded slowly and started to walk away, then stopped, turned, and looked at him as he said, ¡°Thank you, Mr. Wrangler. " He took a few steps and then ran like crazy out the door. After saying their goodbyes, the other kids finished playing around with the drones and ran out as well.

    Adam looked after them and then went back to work. He small-talked with the two, getting the latest gossip.  The farmers were excited about the potential and seemed happy with the freedom they had been given. Adam had only given them some grass seeds and potato and carrot seeds to see if they could get it to work. All were growing.

    The father of Kywar turned out to be a mechanic, so Jork had put him to work in the garage. They were working on a project, and Adam was not yet allowed to know what it was.  Adam told him they could continue if it would not blow up or use too many resources.  The Bylgyno couple was a teacher and a farmer who was also a priest.  He had asked for a room to hold sermons, and they had given him one; they had listened in, and he was open-minded, according to Jork. The Wossir fishers had been working on making one of the pools into an algae soup that they could later use for fish food.  Jork had also found the plots and started on the new large dome. It would take just one month to make it. It was, after all, just a dome 5 km wide; the hard part was the foundation where all the cabling and plumbing was, but they had already worked on it for a month. What the droids could do was amazing. Work 48 hours in one go, 1-hour recharge break, and back at it. It was almost a 3D printing building.  The dome would be big enough to build a small town inside, and he was planning to build a few; with double the number of droids, he would get one up monthly as long as he had the resources. He needed more drone ships. Two more would do the trick; he could spend five million on a mining platform, which would attract unwanted attention. It would allow him to sell off some minerals, but again. Unwanted attention. Once he got a decent defense up, he could do it. He spent the time before lunch reviewing the different scans and found a few things of interest. Then they went for lunch, and he took Miker for a swim. The other kids wanted to join but had been told it was Adams''s pool, which made Adam laugh and told them they were wrong. It was the community pool, and everybody was allowed to use it for recreation; the two other pools were for research and food production. The hour in the pool was quite wild, and then when he left, Miker wanted to stay, so Dara took over as the babysitter.Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

    He got himself cleaned up and headed to the student''s wing as it was now called, and knocked at the door.

    ¡°Come in, Sir,¡± Mir-Ra said on the other side, and he entered, finding the three students all working at their own research desks. There was a maid droid in the room with the 012 tag on the shoulder.

    ¡°I hope I''m not disturbing. And please forgive me for leaving you guys alone for such a long time. I had things to do, and then other things happened.¡±

    Mir-Ra laughed. The blue-skinned Haran, who apparently was his lawyer''s granddaughter, got up. She was elegantly dressed in white jeans-like pants and a blue top under a light reddish lab coat. They all seem to wear the same type of labcoat. ¡°It is your planet and your base. We are simply guests, so of course, you are not disturbing.¡±

    Kinita Sumina, the Sandorian, looked up from the holographic map of the tectonic plates and volcanoes. He wore grey cargo pants and a blue T-shirt with some alien text and a logo under his lab coat. ¡°I¡¯m just glad I get to examine this planet; it''s so interesting. It¡¯s rare to have the opportunity to study this type of planet. I mean, you have increased the atmosphere, and  it fascinating to see the affect it has on the tectonic plates, there will be a few great earthquakes coming up, Your picked a good place to build the base.¡±

    The last one chuckled. Ced-dry Miga wore a yellow jumpsuit over her plastic body and a blue belt, and like the other, she wore the lab coat. ¡°Don¡¯t get him started. He just loves to get away from the university. He can''t wait to graduate so we can explore unknown regions.¡±

    ¡°Well, I''m glad you all enjoyed it,¡± Adam replied as he looked around the room. ¡°Now that you have spent a month here and explored the planet, what do you think?¡±

    ¡°Oh, it¡¯s going to fail.¡± Ced-dry replied; there was no malice or disdain in her voice, just a fact to be stated.

    ¡°Hey, be nice.¡± Kinita replied. ¡°It''s not going to fail on all parts, its just never going to be a planet with life. Everything has to be in a dome, but you seem to have understood that considering your latest plan.¡±

    Adam looked at Mir-Ra. ¡°You agree with this?¡±

    ¡°Yes, sadly. The planet doesn¡¯t have Nitrogen. Without it, you can¡¯t get the planet to grow properly, so forget about outdoor plant production. There are a few other problems, but they can all be fixed with spending resources. The nitrogen part is what''s stopping you.¡±

    ¡°So, how much nitrogen do I need?¡± Adam asked.

    ¡°Between 4000 to 45000 trillion tons.¡° Ced-dry replied.

    ¡°That¡¯s just for the atmosphere; add some more trillions for the ground,¡± Mir-Ra added, and Adam whistled.

    ¡°That¡¯s a lot, too much to buy.¡± He replied.

    ¡°That¡¯s why you got the planet cheap. There is nothing here to build. It has lots of minerals, so it would be good for mining operations, except it¡¯s too far from the hubs.  If it only had any really valuable minerals like Francium, Osmium, Hafnium, iridium, or palladium. Heck, even gold would make it valuable. We only saw a small trace of it. Less than expected.¡° Kinita explained. Adam nodded slowly to hide his smile.  Vorts and Jork had done a good job, but maybe a too-good job.

    ¡°If we found nitrogen, we could make the planet breathable, right? " he asked, and Ced-dry dryly replied.

    ¡°4000 trillion tons, where are you going to get that? And how are you going to transport it?¡±

    ¡°Freeze it and use a tow line? It''s in space, so I don¡¯t need to worry too much about the energy needed. I mean, once we get it away from any major gravity pulls,¡± Adam replied. Kinita laughed, but Mir-Ra watched him quietly.

    ¡°You can pull something on a tow through a hyperlane. That¡¯s faster than light travel.¡± Ced-dry replied, but Mir-Ra tilted her head as she studied Adam.

    ¡°He doesn¡¯t need to; he¡¯s already found it in the system. Haven¡¯t you?¡± she asked him, and Adam nodded.

    ¡°There are two gas giants in the system, as you remember. One of them has a Nitrogen pocket the size of Dirt, so when they scanned the system, they checked this planet as it''s in the habitable zone and probably scanned the asteroid field for minerals and metals as well. They probably also scanned the gas giants but didn¡¯t think about pulling out the nitrogen from it to seed Dirt. So, when they tried to scam me and sell it for cheap. As you know. People don¡¯t do terraforming here. They don¡¯t think about it.¡° He smiled and winked at Mir-Ra. ¡°And as your grandmother can tell you, a deal is a deal when it''s signed and notarized. ¡°

    Mir-Ra started to laugh,, and the others seemed shocked. Then Kinita started to laugh as well. Ced-dry took some time to get her head around it before she ran to her desk. ¡°So, how much can your ship pull? We need to do the calculations.¡±

    ¡°You should talk to Jork, he is the engineer here.¡± Adam replied.

    ¡°By the way what level of engineer? We need at least a level three for this, four would be better.¡±  Mir-Ra asked as she went to help her friend.

    ¡°He is a Level five. I think he should be good enough.¡± Adam said, and they all stopped and looked at him.

    ¡°Level five? That¡¯s a research-level engineer. Wait Jork? Jork Wirk?¡± Kinita replied, confused.

    ¡°Yes, that''s his name. Why?¡± Adam asked, confused.

    ¡°The Jork? The guy who singlehandedly built customized research vessels for SaSu University from scratch? The guy who went berserk and killed a bunch of criminals? He is a legend. The university tried to find what slavepen he was sent to so they could buy him. That¡¯s him? Gods be damn.  They are going to offer to buy him off you.¡±  Kinita was ecstatic now as he realized he had been speaking with Jork many times and never asked for his last name or made the connection.

    ¡°What are you talking about?¡± Mir-Ra said, and Kinita turned to her.

    ¡°He built the Gunstaron explorer and the Wornuran as well. Everybody drools to serve on those ships, and he built them when he was only 20. He is a genius, and he is here.¡±

    Adam started to laugh. ¡°The slave pen did not know that; they put him up as a criminal with an engineer background and child. Anyway, I don¡¯t want to sell him; he is part of my clan. I consider him family.¡±

    ¡°Can we talk to him? And can he build ships here?  Wait, he built the speeders, didn''t he? That¡¯s why the scanners are so good. Oh, my good!¡± Kinita was having a full-on stress attack as he had to sit down.

    ¡°You can talk to him when you calm down; I guess I need to speak to him as well, as I only knew he was a level five engineer. Please don¡¯t tell the university about him unless he allows it. ¡°

    Mir-Ra nodded. ¡°Yes, of course. Now that we have the new information, we just need to readjust our prediction models. And Kinita needs to breathe a little.¡±

    Adam left them and walked back to the administration room. ¡°Jork? Did you use to work for the SaSu University?¡±

    Jork turned and looked at him. ¡°Shitt, they found out? They are going to hassle you now.¡±

    ¡°They told me you build research ships. Is that what you''re building? Your own ship?¡± Adam asked as he poured a cup of coffee, gave it to Jork, then made one for himself. Vorts was already deep in his fifth.

    ¡°Well, yes. You need a hauler that can pull large nitrogen out of the gas giant and lower the ice safely to the planet to be melted. So, I have been tinkering with a few ideas. It is probably best to have two or three gas extractors due to the massive gravity pull for the gas giant; then we can use a smaller vessel for the transport, which could even be a large drone ship, and lastly, a ship to cut the ice, in the proper size and lower to the planet. It should take a year once it''s all up and working. ¡° He explained as he took the cup and showed rough designs of the plan on the screen.

    ¡°How long to build the ships?¡± Adam asked

    ¡°Two months. Musby Jord will be a great help; people tend to ignore the Outlander mechanics. I found they sometimes know more about engines than most engineers.¡±

    ¡°Okay.¡± Adam replied.

    ¡°Okay, what?¡± Jork asked, and Vorts chuckled.

    ¡°Okay, you can do it. That project is now your priority.  The faster you can get some nitrogen down, the better.¡±

    ¡°I can get you a couple of tons with what we have within a week. ¡° Jork replied.

    ¡°Good, do that. We need it for the domes and the plants. As well as our oxygen production. It''s about to run out, you know.¡± Adam said as he looked at the screen, and they both stared at him.

    ¡°Shit, yeah, we need it fast.¡° Jork said as he ran to the garage to work on the craft.

    Adam looked after him, winked at Vorts, and left. He needed something stronger.

 Project Dirt part 12 â€“ A few drinks between friends

    Adam went to his stash, grabbed a bottle of whiskey, a 25-year-old Glenfiddich, and two glasses, and went to the lift. He messaged Roks to bring ice to the top.

    The view from the top was impressive, one hundred meters above ground and ending in a black orb that was only transparent from the inside. It was a two-level observation deck. The lower part had workstations, and one day he might have to assign somebody for the job of air controller. The top observation deck had a few comfortable sitting areas and an unfinished bar, unfinished in the manner that it was empty.  Droids didn¡¯t know how to make things cozy, so it was all metallic floor and felt rough.

    He found a place with a nice view. Next year, he hoped it would be much greener. The dark red soil was nice, but he would prefer a greener view, maybe a lake. He heard the lift door open, and somebody walked out and headed to the bar. Then, he heard ice poured into a metal bucket, and a few moments later, Roks put the bucket between them as he sat down. Adam put one ice cube in each glass and poured Whiskey into each glass. None of them spoke as they leaned back and just enjoyed the silence and the view.

    ¡°What happened to your Mohawk?¡± Adam said as he looked at Roks, his tall red Mohawk was not cut down to a short one, no more than a few centimetre over his skull.

    ¡°Wife hated it so, it had to go.¡± He replied and Adam chuckled. ¡°I know that feeling. I used to have  these cool fingerless gloves, but my ex told me to lose them.¡±

    ¡°She is not here now so you can get a new pair.¡± Roks replied as he stroke his hair in mourning of the loss of a tall mohawk.

    ¡°Well, she was right, I looked stupid with them. I guess they are better at fashion than us.¡± He replied, and they both smiled before Adam got serious.

    ¡°They are going to search for us,¡± Adam said.

    ¡°I know, and we will be ready. You saw the message. They don¡¯t know our location, so we have to be more careful when we go to the hub. We should wait until we have built more defense.¡± Roks replied.

    ¡°Jork has a few kamikaze drones; we used them to set off the volcanoes, but I don¡¯t know if they are easy to hack. I don¡¯t want them turned against us.¡±  He looked at Roks who seemed to consider it.

    ¡°Barro can go over them,¡± he finally said. ¡°He is the second pilot of the heavy. He¡¯s our EWO.¡±

    ¡°What¡¯s an EWO?¡± Adam finished his drink then poured another.

    ¡°Oh, Electronic War Operator, that¡¯s a military-trained Hacker.  Come to think of it, he should go over our communication security as well.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, that¡¯s a good idea. Can you ask him? We will also need them as pilots as we start mining Nitrogen from the Gas planet.¡±  Adam said.

    ¡°Which one?¡± Roks finished his glass and poured himself another glass.

    ¡°The biggest, I guess I need to name them. I¡¯ll have the kids help me.¡± Adam said

    ¡°The kids? Well, that won''t backfire.¡± Roks laughed.

    Adam grinned. ¡°What is the worst that can happen?¡±

    They both fell silent and after a few minutes Roks asked. ¡°So why are we drinking? Not that I mind? Anything to do with the nightmares?¡± Roks looked over at him, and Adam shifted in the chair.

    ¡°How do you know?¡± He looked outside.

    ¡°I heard you scream and hit the wall. Later, your hand was fine, but I smelled the medical, and there are days when you look like you haven¡¯t slept.¡± He said, and Adam looked back at him.

    ¡°Well¡­  wait!¡± Adam looked at him, surprised. ¡°You can hear that through the walls? Your room is one floor down from mine. How good is your hearing?¡±

    Roks chuckled. ¡° You¡¯re not that far away on Dream. You''re right next to me. Besides, you sometimes fall asleep in the captain''s chair and talk while asleep. I don¡¯t think ¡®no no¡¯ and ¡®please help me¡¯ are good dreams. But then again, you''re human, so...¡±

    Adam looked away; for a while, he just looked at the whiskey glass, emptied it, and poured himself a new one. Roks waited patiently.

    ¡°Yeah, I have nightmares about my childhood. I thought they had passed, but they come back when I''m stressed,¡± Adam sighed. It¡¯s from the time before the orphanage. I came here when I was nine years old, before that¡­¡± He emptied the glass and looked at the empty glass. ¡° Before that, I was a product to be sold.¡±

    ¡°A product? What do you mean?¡± Roks looked at him, confused.

    ¡°I was made for a very wealthy couple. They wanted to choose their baby, but I didn¡¯t make it, so I was kept around in case the one they chose needed a donor later. They made six of us. Using the latest in cloning technology.¡° Adam sighed, put an ice cube in the glass, and filled it. ¡°I was just number 1 until I was nine; that¡¯s when the organization that made us decided to ship us all to a whorehouse so they could make some extra money on us. You see, they made children for the rich and famous, helped them get their designer children without the trouble of pregnancy, and then used the spares to make some extra money. Some were trained to be goons for them. We were expendable, and as long as one of us was kept in perfect condition in case the chosen needed spare parts, then the others could be put to work.¡±  Adam sipped the glass, and Roks just listened, clearly shocked.

    ¡°So, when I overheard that we had chosen to be sent to the whorehouse, I tried to escape. I managed to get outside the factory, but then they saw me and tried to catch me. I ran like crazy, and then I saw a policeman. I thought my luck had finally arrived, so I ran over to him. The police officer name was Michael Wrangler¡­ ¡°He stopped for a second to remember the man,¡±  I asked for help, and he, without hesitation, said he would. Then, he tried to call it in.¡° Adam stopped again, closed his eyes, then touched his cheek as it had become wet.

    ¡°They shot him right in front of me and then tried to grab me, luckily for me, they forgot that the police are never alone. His Lawdroid partner immediately opened fire, killing them. Then his human partner ran over to grab me and got me to safety. I was in shock, and I honestly don¡¯t remember much until I was in the orphanage. I apparently told the police everything I knew, and they busted the operation. It became a big media case. They gave me a name, Noah, and placed me in an orphanage named Kent. So my name was Noah Kent for as long as I lived there, I changed it the moment I left. Anyway, some of the children got adopted, but I was so traumatized that when I was over it, people had forgotten, so I was stuck in the orphanage with the leftovers.  So now you know.¡±Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

    ¡°So what are you? A clone of a human?¡± Roks poured himself another glass.

    ¡°No, and yes, They took genetic material from my mother and father''s donors and created me. I¡¯m not a clone of them; I¡¯m genetically a child with no physical or heritable defects, so I don¡¯t have a clone status. I''m human, just made in a lab.¡±

    ¡°Wow, not what I had expected. So the nightmare is about that?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, it comes and goes. It got worse when I started having slaves.¡± He looks at Roks, who suddenly understood.

    ¡°Ohhh... so my bad? And no cloning, right?¡±  Roks said.

    ¡°We only buy if we can rescue somebody and not to help create a bigger market. As for clones, I¡¯m okay with cloning animals, but once we have a few, they will get to reproduce the old-fashioned way.¡°

    ¡°I can understand that. We need to find some humans as well. Maybe get you a wife?¡± Roks said as he poured Adam another drink.

    ¡°Ha! Find a human out here? Good luck. Now let''s drink. I don¡¯t want to think anymore tonight.¡±

    ¡°You should get some music up here and a bartender,¡± Roks said as he looked at the empty bar.

    ¡°Jork said he could build one. But yeah, get somebody to print some speakers and stuff.¡±

    ¡°We can ask the students to do it. It seems to be something for the young ones,¡± Roks replied. Adam grinned. ¡°Hey, I¡¯m not that old. I¡¯m only 27,¡± and emptied his glass, then he turned to Roks.

    ¡°So, what about you? Why did you leave the military? Was it because of your sister?¡± He ask and Roks nodded slowly.

    ¡°I arrested her and Vorts, trying to save their lives; I knew a kill order had gone out; they got my brother and were going after her. So I arrested them publicly to save my family¡¯s honor and theirs.¡±  Sighted then finished his drink.

    ¡°Your brother? I¡¯m sorry, so you left to protect her?  They don¡¯t look too pissed up about it. Why?¡±

    ¡°If I had not arrested them that day, then they would have been killed the next, and our families would also lose status; it was enough that we lost my brother. This way they went from enemies of the state to exiled slaves instead. I gave the government the opportunity to make a show of them, banished and enslaved, never to return home. In their eyes, that is the harshest punishment they can give.  Then I was told I could stay a captain for the rest of my life or seek my fortune elsewhere, only being allowed ten days per year in the homeworld.¡± Roks smirked slightly.

    ¡°Only an ignorant fool who has never left their home world thinks banishment is a punishment. Kula is a beautiful world, but it is possible to live elsewhere.¡±  He finished his drinks and looked at Adam. ¡°Besides, if I had stayed, I would never have met you.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, you really have bad luck with choosing your friends!¡± Adam poured them both a glass, and they both laughed.

    It took two days for Adam to function again and he swore never to drink again as he crawled out of the bed. Adam remembered sending one of the Maidy droids for more drinks, but he doesn¡¯t remember much. At one point, Kina came to drag Roks to bed. He thinks she stayed a while to listen to him and Roks discuss something. He had no idea what they had talked about.

    Adam got out of bed and showered before going to the kitchen for a cup of coffee. Vara appeared to have told the droids to tell her when he was up, and she quickly arrived to give him a full medical check-up. Then she yelled at him for poisoning himself and her brother. In her mind, alcohol was only to be used in moderate amounts. Adam had to promise not to try and kill himself with whiskey again. Which he had agreed to; next time, it would be tequila. She didn¡¯t like the joke.  She gave him something for the hangover, and it vanished after a few minutes. Apparently, she had tried to give him this earlier, but the door was locked, and his droids had been ordered to shoot anyone who tried to enter. Adam laughed as he realized just how drunk he must have been.  He went to the administration and found it filled with life. The kids, students, and Vorts were at stations at ten in the morning. Jork was at the life support department installing a new machine. Outside were ten cubes of ice; each cube was about five times five meters.

    ¡°What is that?¡± He asked, nursing his cup of coffee.

    ¡°Frozen nitrogen, don¡¯t worry, they are in a forcefield.  We are testing out concepts. Besides this, we need our life support and the fields.¡±  Vorts explained. ¡°We used Dream to pick it up.  Jork is working on an insane idea.¡±

    ¡°Oh, so he is allowed to have insane ideas?¡± Adam replied, and Vorst nodded.

    ¡°Yes, he is an engineer; you¡¯re not, " he replied, and Adam did not argue against that, so he sat down.

    ¡°Okey, it¡¯s time we named the planets of the system. We got Dirt. ¡°He brought up the scan of the system. It showed three planets. There was one closer to the sun than Dirt. After Dirt was the asteroid field, then came a gas planet followed by a mega rock planet and a bigger gas planet, or more a giant asteroid field they had not really explored much off.

    ¡°its time to name the rest.¡± He said. A girl whispered to the other kids and all the kids burst out laughing.  Adam looked at them.

    ¡°You got an idea?¡± She blushed immediately as he asked. He recognized the shyness even if she was a Wossir. Some things are universal.

    ¡°She had a name for the Gas giant.¡± Her brother replied with a grin.

    ¡°Well, let''s hear it?¡± Adam said, and without hesitation, the boy replied. ¡°Onic!¡±

    The students turned and looked at Adam and shook their heads in panic, and Vorst started to laugh. That decided it for Adam so he added the name to the gas giant.

    ¡°Eh, Sir? Do you know what Onic means?¡± Kinita Sumina asked carefully, as the kids roared with laughter.

    ¡°No, but I guess it¡¯s something the kids find funny.¡± He replied and Kinita looked at the kids and back at him.

    ¡°Yes, it means fart. As in pass gas, but Onic means a stinky fart. Are you sure that¡¯s a good name for such a planet?¡±

    Adam looked at the kids and started to laugh. Vorts looked at the students. ¡°Humans have a weird sense of humour. I think we should get the kids out before we name the rest, or all the names will be just as bad.¡± Then he got up and ordered the kids to the kitchen for ice cream. The bribe worked, and soon, there were only adults in the room¡ªwell, adults and Adam.

    They discussed the name, and after a while, they had a list. The moons would be named later, and the planets would be named later. For now, they were moons of the planets they orbited. Adam looked at the list. He had written down what the names meant as well. At least he had done some work today if naming was work.

    Sun ¨C Doumu ( Chinese godess of the stars)

    <ol>

    <li>planet ¨C Pele ( Hawaiian goddess of volcanoes and fire)</li>

    <li>planet ¨C Dirt</li>

    </ol>

    Asteroid field ( Daren field ¨C Field of the dead in Haran)

    1 Gas Giant ¨C Onic (Stinky Fart in Wossir language)

    <ol start="3">

    <li>planet ¨C Yamar ( God of the cold mountains in Tufon religion)</li>

    <li>Gas Giant ¨C Hanori (Perfume in old Wossir)</li>

    </ol>

    Large Asteroid field (Xan-bo field (secret treasure in Ghorts))

    He looked over the list one last time, then got up to leave as Mir-Na approached him. ¡°Sir, as you know, we have made reports to the library, and when they heard Jork Wirk was here, then they asked for permission to visit and speak with you. Partly to see our works and perhaps buy him from you.¡±

    Adam pinched the bridge of his nose. ¡°What did you tell them?¡±

    ¡°That we had to ask you first.¡± She replied, and Adam smiled slightly.

    ¡°Good. I want to talk to Jork about it first, and if he agrees, then we will pick them up. We have to be a little careful now, as the last family we rescued might have gotten us into a dispute with some pirates. This reminds me: The oldest girl, Skee Laf, has a master''s in Ocean biology. She might be of use to you guys as the lakes start to form.¡±

    Then he excused himself and went to find Jork; he didn¡¯t like the idea of visiting professors; they tend to talk too much.

 Project Dirt part 13 -A new trade route

    ¡°Drak! We can''t avoid it; they will probably send my old colleagues as well.¡± Jork leaned back from the screen. The workshop was remarkably clean, and the ship they were working on was almost finished.

    ¡°Up to you. If you say no, I will tell them no.¡± Adam replied, and Musby Jord peeked over from the craft.

    ¡°Just get it over with better now when they are in a good mood. You might even get them to strike a deal with you. Start a small shipbuilding company and have him build the ships here. I know a few people you could hire if you think it¡¯s doable.¡±

    They both looked at him, and Adam called him over. ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    ¡°Let''s be honest. They want his ship-building abilities. Those old farts in the administration are now thinking about the money they can save if they can buy him off you. They can make him work for as little as possible. So, offer them a deal. They can buy those ships from you, and you will make a profit. With his reputation and the fact that he had a whole workshop to control would ensure high quality. Of course, that means you need more people, and I know a guy who might fix that problem for you. He is a piece of work, though. An old Haran, old being the key part. He has an illegal operation that custom builds smuggling ships, and he knows they are catching up on him. He wants out, but he doesn¡¯t dare sell to the criminals as they would see it as a weakness and just kill him and take it, and no sane person would buy his whole operation of forty mechanics and engineers with a record. So they are sitting targets. My nephew is one of them, and I can vouch for him.¡±

    Adam looked at Jork. ¡°Vorts will kill me.¡±

    ¡°Roks will kill you first, but desperate men tend to be the most loyal if you save them.¡± He replied.

    ¡°I need to think about it,¡± Adam said as he started to got towards the door.

    ¡°Oh, one more thing, they got a human working there.¡± Musby said and Adam stopped looked at him.

    ¡°A Human? Are you sure?¡± He didn¡¯t believe it. Another human this far out?

    ¡°Yeah, she is the bodyguard of the old man. Crazy lady, they say, but good at her job.¡±

    ¡°Okay, one thing at the time. Do we allow the professor to come?¡± He turned to Jork.

    ¡°Yeah, let''s get it over with.¡± He replied.

    ¡°Okay, I will contact the lawyers and set up a shop with a delivery point at the hub just to cover our ass. And then about the other guy. I need his name so I can have him checked out. ¡° Adam replied as he addressed them both.

    ¡°The old man is Kor-Nan; he operates out of the Surga Hub, the next stop on the hyperplane, so ten days past our hub.¡±  Musby replied, and Adam thanked him.

    ¡±Good, I''m going to let the students know. Expect the professors in a month''s time. Let''s see how much we can have done with the atmosphere by then.¡±

    Then he left for the office to contact the lawyers. Min-Na had heard of the man. A famous businessman who got caught up in a pirate scandal. They stole his haulers, and he was accused of selling them. By the time he finally proved his innocence, his reputation was destroyed, so he started a workshop for haulers as nobody would trust sending gods with him. He had constantly been accused of working with criminals but never proven.  She could check him out and approach him as a representative of a potential seller. Adam permitted her to reveal his species but nothing more, and the whole operation would have to be relocated. He also wanted to know if the rumor of a human was true but to do it discreetly as he didn¡¯t want to come off as a creep.

    Then he told the students the good news and allowed them to send the reports. Roks had his man check the messages to prevent the place from being located.

    When he finished, he realized he had not much to do for a while.  The oxygen problem was fixed, and the large dome was being built. It would be finished within the month, so he also had to start planning that. He sat down at the admin chair and looked at it.

    Five kilometres wide, well, time to play city builder. He started the program and gave it the perimeter. Then, he started to play around with the program.  Maidy brought him dinner at one time, and he continued to work. He vaguely remembers having the kids around to help him design a school. It had a swimming pool and drone stations, among other things. He continued to work as the kids got all away, and when he looked up, he saw the sunrise. He looked down at the town he had built in the program. The price tag was 5 million, and it had everything.  It looked more like a hideaway for the rich and famous than a place for colonists. He saved it for later. He got up and yawned as the kids came up for their drone work.The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

    ¡°What do I pay you guys?¡± He asked

    They looked at each other and then nudged Kywar to answer. ¡°Playtime.¡±

    ¡°We have to fix that.¡± He yawned as he walked out. ¡°I need to sleep.¡±

    Adam woke up in the evening and checked the reports. In the first attempt to extract nitrogen from Onic, they tried to get a block of 1 cubic kilometer, but it broke up, and the pieces were dragged back to the planet by gravity. So, they were working on adjusting the forcefield.  The students were working hard to present all their findings and theories; they had little over a month to prepare. Roks said it seemed like they were getting ready for exams.  He was busy drilling his crew for an attack, so Adam picked up Miker and went exploring. They ended up with the farmers. They were initially surprised to see him but became happy when they saw Miker. Adam found their company quite relaxing. They spoke about the plants and fields and how they grew so much better now that they had added the nitrogen and the plans for the coming weeks and months. When he asked them for plant suggestions, they had many suggestions, and he started making a list. The fisherman also had some suggestions for animals, so he spent a few hours discussing the matter with them.

    The rescued family was among them, and they were quite happy with their situation. They treated Miker like a prince. He spoke with the parents of the children, and they agreed on a weekly pay of 2 bits, in addition to their playtime for the drone work.  As he was leaving them, the oldest girl, Skee Laf, came over and shyly asked her if Jork had a mate, and Adam had to smile. ¡°No, he don¡¯t. God knows he needs one. Anyway, I''ll leave you guys alone now.  Come Miker, it''s bedtime!¡± He said, and Miker came over and started to climb up to be carried.  Skee Laf blushed and nodded as He and Miker went to find Jork.  After he dropped off Miker and suggested to Jork to get to know the Buginos family they had rescued. Jork just looked after him at the suggestion. Adam smiled innocently as he left. Jork was young, all, about 30, he would guess.

    It took them a week to fix the tractor beam problem. The first square cubic kilometer of Frozen Nitrogen was placed within view of the home base, now named Piridas by the old priest. Adam had completely forgotten that one of the farmers was a priest, but he liked the name. The name apparently meant something like a safe haven. So now he had an address and a title. Administrator of the colony Dirt, in the settlement of Piridas.

    But more importantly, he had Nitrogen. They relocated one of the artificial suns to melt it and release the gas.   He then went to check on the scans from the kids and called up the students and Skee.

    ¡°We have a small ocean, and nobody seemed to tell me?¡± he asked, showing them 10 million square kilometers of water around the South Pole on the screen. Around the North Pole were five grand lakes ranging from 500 to 5000 square kilometers, not counting the untold number of lakes that had appeared on the planet and rivers.

    ¡°You didn¡¯t know?¡± Mirena replied, and Adam shook his head.

    ¡°I have been busy with other things. So we have lakes and oceans. Any life?¡± He asked and they shook their head.

    ¡°Sorry, empty water. And again, the Nitrogen.¡±  Mir-na replied, and Skee Laf agreed.

    ¡°Of course, we can jump-start it if you dump some of that nitrogen in those oceans. Then we can take some of that algae soup we have been making and seed it, ¡° Skee added, and Adam smiled.

    ¡°I like the way you think. Okay. Do that. I get two blocks to be inserted into lakes, and you have to find a way to ensure it doesn¡¯t evaporate into the atmosphere. ¡°They looked at each other and then grinned.

    ¡°Wait. You take suggestions?¡± Ced-dry Miga asked, a little confused. Adam chuckled as he rarely heard her confused.

    ¡°Yes, I will listen to suggestions; if I like it, I will follow the advice.¡±

    Kinita laughed while he said. ¡°She has not been paying attention. So, I will take her back to the office and let her make her list. She has been getting ready to request equipment from the university.¡±

    ¡°Send it to me first. And maybe we can go shopping.¡± Adam smiled as they left, then went back to work.  After an hour, Roks contacted him to arrange a meeting with one of his pilots.

    ¡°So you''re saying you can make a long haul to the hub past these systems and then jump into the hyperplane at this point.¡± Adam pointed at the sector map. ¡°And doing that will make it almost impossible to track us back here,¡± Adam asked.

    ¡°Yes, there are over seven hundred mining operations within five days of each point. So, there are too many potential points of origin. You can sell at this mining hub as well, then go from there to our Hub or to Surga hub; as you see, it¡¯s a triangle hyper lane here due to the many colonies and mining operations. We are opposite this whole mess. There is nothing here, according to most surveys. Just empty planets.  You do know the nickname for this sector area, right?¡± Kunna said as she explained everything.

    ¡°No. Actually, I don¡¯t, and I have a feeling I would not have bought this place if I knew.¡± Adam replied and Roks laughed.

    ¡°The Dead Desert,¡± She replied, and Adam chuckled.

    ¡°Jupp didn¡¯t know. So, this is going to be an oasis in the desert. We definitely need better defense because people love those things,¡± Adam said, then looked at Roks.

    ¡°It looks like we are going on a long new trip. We have a few things to sell and maybe something to buy.¡±

 Project Dirt part 14 - When the cat is awayâ€¦..

    Jork and Vorts watched as Dream took off and vanished up into the cloudy sky.

    ¡°There he goes again,¡± Jork commented, and Vorts grinned.

    ¡°So now we can work. Okay, let''s see that list he left.¡± He turned from the window, walked back to his desk, and brought up the list on the screen. They were alone in the administration office, and Jork looked up at the screen. Well, that one he can just forget about. ¡°Vorts agreed, and they deleted it.

    ¡°What about that?¡± Vorts said, and Jork thought for a moment before he replied

    ¡°If we have time, put it last. Oh, and hell no on fifth, not like that, I don¡¯t have time.¡±

    ¡°Can the droids do it?¡± Vorts asked, and Jork thought about it.

    ¡°I need to print a new one just for that task. Okay, I hope he never finds out we copied those 3-D printers of his. He better not find out about the warehouse.¡± Jork said, a little worried.

    ¡°You really think he would care so much?¡± Vorts replied

    ¡°Yeah, I think he will care that I helped you build a cave system on Mount Lisha; you know it¡¯s the size of a small city, right? He better not ask where all those twenty droids and equipment went.¡± Jork replied.

    ¡°Well, when it''s done, I will tell him. I know he wants that shiny new city, but have you seen those specs? Only the rich can afford it. You ever think he will let us live there?¡± Vorts said, and Jork laughed.

    ¡°Yes, he would. He will give you a mansion if you ask. You still haven¡¯t figured him out, have you? I know you distrust people in power, but he just wants to do the right things. For all we know, the city he wants to build might be a typical human city. And not a noble village.¡± Jork countered, and Vorts thought about it.

    ¡°Yeah, you''re right. He is not like the nobility, but I still started that project before he even thought about it. What should I do about it? Leave it? ¡°

    ¡°We turn it into a factory complex, parts productions, and then we make a worker''s city outside. And we base it on the middle-class city. I can have the blueprints ready in a few days.¡± Jork replied.

    ¡°Okay, so what about that ocean-nitrogen project?¡± Vorts asked, and Jork sighted.

    ¡°Well, it''s going to fail, so we have to adjust it.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, you need the nitrogen mixed into the gravel, made into fertilizer, and then seeded. I think I can find the recipe, and you can find a way to make it work.¡± Vorts replied, as Jork chuckled.

    ¡°You just love making me work, don¡¯t you? What about the clone machine? Is it working?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, just a few last tweaks, got perfect bacteria and fish eggs; they are trying to hatch them. If it works, then I think I can get that dog thingy you want. How did you get that anyway?¡±

    ¡°He gave me access to his design and blueprints. He forgot that it included his clone cell library. Not my fault.¡±

    Vorts laughed. ¡°He is such a moron about these things.¡±

    ¡°Or he is playing us. Have you thought about that? He might do all of this on purpose. My guess is that he will return with at least ten new strays and some new great idea.¡±

    ¡°I agree with the strays, but playing us? No. He is just lucky. My guess is that some deity is watching over him. Just wait, and he will start some religion. He is probably a prophet from one of those earth religions.¡± Vorts countered, and Jork thought about it.

    ¡°Maybe some of both. You heard what the farmers called him, right?¡±

    ¡°No? what?¡± Vorts turned and looked at him.

    ¡°Galios!¡± He shook his head slightly at the words.

    ¡°Galios? Him?¡± Vorts laughed, then stopped. ¡°Wait, you serious?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, they call him the savior that will walk out of chaos to bring order. He is human, after all, remember. Children of Chaos, and here comes Adam, who will bring life and order to this planet. Showing us how to do it.¡° Jork was serious now.

    ¡°Yeah, but Galios? That¡¯s a myth, and he isn¡¯t showing us; we are doing it. He is just bumbling around.¡± Vorts replied as he stopped his work on the screen and turned to look at Jork.

    ¡°Or is he? Look at his newest plan. Dump nitrogen in the ocean, we go ¡®That¡¯s dumb. You have to do it this way. ¡® and then he will reply with a ¡®Oh, that¡¯s smart. I should have thought about it.¡¯ ¡° Jork imitated Adams''s voice, and Vorts smiled but then got serious.

    ¡°Frack! Yeah, then we get to take the credit, which will make us do it more and take more risks. And he can pretend to be a bumbling idiot, hiding in plain sight. But that doesn¡¯t explain everything. Nobody knows what''s happening here, and he always tries to hide us.¡±

    ¡°What happens if you try to hide something in the galaxy?¡± Jork asked, and Vort hung his head in defeat.

    ¡°People get curious and try to find out so they can copy it. He is teaching us how to terraform, isn¡¯t he? Then, we will teach the rest. Hell, the students want to travel the galaxy to explore planets, and their whole point is that the planetary scaling system is broken. He might not be Galios, but he is doing something right.¡± Vorts said.This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

    ¡°You know Galios is not one person, right?¡± The voice came from the door, where Dara was coming in with Miker. She let him down, and he ran to his dad.

    ¡°What do you mean?¡± Jork said as he picked up his son and put him on his lap.

    ¡°Galios is a god of many faces, appearing when needed, always a stranger, and always bringing change for the better. It''s just people trying to explain how new ideas can bring benefits; strangers can be Galios or Burimo, who is the bringer of change through chaos and disaster. Adam is from Earth, and they have many new ideas for us. He is bringing them to us. He is a Galios, not the Galios. If he was, he had to be born without parents, left discarded among the unwanted, and then protect, nurture, and save them, before traveling the ocean of night after gaining the love of the goddess of luck and the god of wealth. He also has to die to meet his wife so he is sons can be born. Does that sound like Adam? If so, where is his Wife? He is also supposed to have the protection of the Knight of the gods, as well as the crafter and gods of life other the others, even the god of death will bow to him. Where are those gods? Gods surround the real Galios; do you see any others around? No, he is A Galios, a stranger bringing new ideas. And there are many of those.¡± She explained, looked at the screen, and shook her head. ¡°I¡¯ll do the seventh, but he can forget about the eight.¡±

    They looked at her and agreed. ¡°Yeah, it''s just farmers talk. Anyway, I will go talk to the students, " Jork replied as he headed out with Miker, who had now climbed to his shoulders.

    In the following days, they worked on different small projects. The students were checking out the lakes and trying to figure out which one to use and where to start; when they found a place, they borrowed two droids to build a small observation post. It took a week while Jork worked on repurposing some of the farming seeding tractors they had acquired from the pirates to be both aquatic and able to seed underwater. Then, they had to make the fertilizer producer, which was easier than they had thought. It was basically carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, phosphorus, sulfur, potassium, calcium, and magnesium. All of those they had access to; they did, however, divert time and energy from the other project. Jork was tinkering with making a mega hauler if he could get a crew. It would need a lot of resources, but it should be able to cut down a lot of the time that was needed.

    Unfortunately, he started to get a little distracted as he started to spend more time with the farmer. So Vorts had to have a talk with him about not fraternizing with the workers. Beside, wasn¡¯t Skee married. Of course, when they found out she also worked with the students, Jork started spending more time with them as well.

    Vorts and Dara had to take Skee aside to discover what was happening. They found out she was not married and didn¡¯t mind Jork''s attention; in fact, she liked it. So they gave up and just reminded them to not forget the work.

    Miker also seemed to take to Skee, Something Dara first got a little upset about until she found out that she was expecting, which made Vorts panic as his child would be born into slavery. It took all of them to talk him out of it. Even Mir-Na had to sit down with him and call her grandma to check the contract. It was first when she told him Adam had already put that into the declaration. No child would be born into slavery on Dirt. It surprised them as it was not included in their contract. What was this declaration? Then they found out Dirt declared that they were tasked with writing into legal language for the official input in the federation databank. It¡¯s not to be released yet as it will reveal the location to the galaxy as well.

    When they found out, they looked at each other as Adams''s urgency for defensive systems made sense. Some of the things they had ignored started to make sense now, and they started going over all the lists, and it all fell into place. Those extra storage houses underground was for hiding and storage of weapons. The redundant satellites around the system were warning systems, as were the constant drone scanning on in all the asteroid fields. He was building defense without them even knowing it. Every small project he had not personally assigned was suddenly put on hold as they had a long list of things to complete.

    ¡°You called him a bumbling idiot? I guess we were the fools all along.¡± Jork commented as they sat in the administration office, Vorts agreed. ¡°Yeah maybe he is the smart one?¡±

    ¡°Smart? I think this is his human part; he probably is unaware of what he is doing. Humans like their defense and are very good at war. Children of Chaos also means they are children of war. ¡° Barro replied, he was the pilots¡¯ cyberwar expert and was working on securing the systems.

    ¡°I thought warriors were the deathworlders?¡± Jork replied, and Barro chuckled.

    ¡°Deathworlders are shock troopers, good at war. Like us and the Haran. Chaosworlders are more dangerous. They are unpredictable, and they expect and plan for chaos. And war is Choas! He doesn''t know if he will be attacked or how, so he is just trying to predict any type of attack and is probably going overboard. If we follow his plan, we will immediately know if anybody enters the system from any entry point, even above or below. He seems to treat this as a gamebn   .¡± He said and they looked at him.

    ¡°Are you sure?¡± Vorts asked.

    ¡°Yeah. This is what gamers do, nobody would do it in real life as it''s mostly a waste of resources, but he has those resources we need in abundance. I mean, this system would be perfect to make a military outpost, not so much a colony for people.¡± Barro replied as he grabbed his cup of coffee. ¡°The bastard got me addicted. I would take my pay in coffee by now.¡±

    They all laughed. ¡°Thank the gods he made it free, or he would have a rebellion on his hand.¡±

    ¡°So where would you build a military base here then?¡±

    ¡°Some barracks and a hidden city for R&R, probably make it underground. Then, a few manned satellites were placed in the asteroid field, and a space station was placed above the planet. The only problem is the lack of iridium. We will need a few tons of the stuff. ¡°

    ¡°Yeah, piety. ¡° Jork replied.

    ¡°And it would take about a thousand worker droids and about a hundred crafting ships about a year to make it.¡± He continued. ¡°But it would be pretty nifty. Imagine Dirt protected by a proper military force. Hells, he could turn the whole place into a free state and do as he pleases. And the rich and famous would love to use it to escape prying eyes. That¡¯s what I would do: Build a few casinos and enjoy life.¡± Barro said, then shrugged. ¡°But I''m not Adam; he will probably do something insane that turns out for the better.¡±

    ¡°There is a problem with your dream. Where can you get all of the materials? I mean, you''re talking about a space station that¡¯s a lot of materials, and you said we only need Iridium?¡± Jork replied.

    ¡°Well, the next system out is dead. Just a sun and asteroids, filled with all you need. Except. You guessed it, Iridium. We use that system for training exercises, just four light years away; that¡¯s a short jump of about half a day. And we scanned it. It''s not tech, and we have seen no trace of iridium either. Everything else, just not that damn stuff. ¡° He replied as he worked, and Jork and Vorts looked at each other.

    ¡°Just a sun and asteroids? No claim? No tech? Are you sure?¡± Vorts said.

    ¡°Yeah. Well, it''s only fighter scans, so you should do a proper scan. But you know how they are. That¡¯s a rubble system with a high risk of destruction, so they leave it open. Anybody could mine it unless somebody claims it.¡± He replied, and Jorks grinned.

    ¡°Don¡¯t tell anybody about it; we must talk to Adam about that. We can set up a mining operation there.¡± Jork demanded, and Vorts thought about it.

    ¡°He needs more people. ¡°

    ¡°Let''s see how many he brings this time. Hopefully, he brings some ships as well.¡± Jork said.

 Project Dirt part 15: Pirates and dates

    ¡°What¡¯s that?¡± Adam looked at Roks, confused, as he got tossed a box.

    ¡°Hangover pills. I guess you wanted them; don''t tell my sister I got you those.¡±  Roks grinned as he left the navigation chair and headed to the mess hall. We need to get a maid droid on the ship!¡±

    Adam shook the box and opened it to look inside. ¡°Hey, no drinking before we are in FTL! I might need your sharp brains.¡±

    Roks returned with two bottles. ¡°Sharp brain? What are you talking about?¡± He grinned as he handed him a bottle.  It was some sort of soda with no alcohol in it. Adam opened it and took a sip. ¡°Taste almost like beer? God, I miss the beer. I need a beer. Whiskey is good, but a cold beer is better after a hard day''s work.¡°

    Roks looked at him with a grin. ¡°You hard days of work? What do you do that is hard?¡±

    ¡°Well, for starters, looking after all the small projects Vorts and Jork have isn¡¯t going overboard. I mean, Jork has made three illegal copies of the 3-D printers, And I have to buy the damn license so we won''t get into trouble.  I would get angry at him if he used them for pleasure and toys, but he is using them to improve the droids and ships he is building. I wish he just would ask first.¡±

    Roks sighed, ¡°You have to get him in line. I know you have a soft spot for him, but if he were a regular employee, you would never accept this.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, I know it. Well, they...¡± Adam began but was at a loss for words. He knew what he wanted to say, but it didn¡¯t sit well with him.

    ¡°Act like children?¡± Roks suggested. ¡°You treat them as children, so they behave like it and get away with it. ¡°

    ¡°I know, but you don¡¯t stop a genius when he is working. I just have to find the correct time to tell him.¡± He knew Roks was right, but it was not how he wanted to treat them.

    ¡°There will never be a right time with either of them. They probably think they own the place when you''re gone, and the others probably agree. What if they rebel?¡±

    ¡°They won¡¯t,¡± Adam replied; he didn''t want to think about that.

    ¡°Vorts almost started a rebellion back home, it¡¯s part of his nature. What do you think would have happened had the nobility not arrested him? It would have grown and turned violent. As much as I dislike that bastard, there is a point in their insanity.¡± Roks said as he checked the screens that everything was in green.

    ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll talk to them when we get back. After we drop off the professors. We need to buy a new transport soon. One with a EXL Drive, would cut the traveling speed down to half.¡±

    ¡°That would be a good idea. We need more ships.¡± Roks replied.

    ¡°More ships means more people. Are you trying to grow the colony? How big do you want Dirt to become?¡± Adam said, and Roks only laughed as he realized that a colony was exactly what Dirt would become.

    ¡°Okay. Once the defense system is up, we can start opening for the colony. ¡° Adam said.

    The first part of the trip went calmly. Roks learned about poker and chess. He was good at chess but horrible at poker. Roks tried to teach shooting, and when Adam tried to teach him boxing Roks was surprised as they already had a version of Boxing. It quickly became clear who the better boxer was, even if Roks held back. After ten bruises, Adam decided they should calm down.  After a week, they had a makeshift gym set up, and they spent the days getting into better shape. Roks introduced him to more of this part of the galaxy music, and they had arguments when Adam claimed that some of these songs were of human origin. After checking the Net they discovered a company had been buying human entertainment and selling it around the galaxy for hundreds of years, even from before humanity had discovered Faster than light travel. One evening, they got into a discussion about the future of the clan, what the motto should be, and the founding ideas behind it. Roks were thinking about getting a tattoo of the clan when they realized they didn''t have a clan symbol. They were discussing a few suggestions and were glad the kids were not there, as they probably would have ended up with something insulting. They agreed on the motto. ¡°Growth through change, peace through words, protection through unity.¡± They never got to agree one a tattoo, so they decided to discuss it with the others, without the kids, later.

    When they broke out of Light speed, they arrived near a mining hub and docked to sell their goods.  Mostly, the Iridium they had mined from the hidden asteroid and other metals like Osmium, Platinum, Gold, Nickel, and Iron. They had chosen the other as they would make it more likely that they just got lucky about the Iridium, and they had an area where they could, in theory, have mined it.  They had 30 cubic meters of Iridium, and the remaining 170 cubic meters were the other. Forty cubic meters of each of the rest except iron was only ten. Probably given them an extra few hundred thousand.

    Adam and Roks went to the buys and looked at the prices. The price of iridium had risen, but the price of osmium was almost as high as that of iridium. Roks looked at Adam and then went back to the screen. Another miner came up, looked at the prices, and grinned.

    ¡°Damn, I''m lucky I got one cubic of Osmium. I just love it when pirates do stupid shit.¡±  He said, and they looked at him in confusion.

    ¡°You didn¡¯t hear? Some pirates blew up the main osmium mining hub in the sector. The Navy will really go after them now, which means new military ships. Iridium and Osmium are going through the roof.¡±

    ¡°Wow, that¡¯s good news for you,¡± Adam said as he looked at Roks. ¡°And for us. I¡¯m glad we cleaned up that asteroid.  Okay, thanks.¡± He continued and dragged Roks with him.

    ¡°We need to sell and get the hell out of here.¡± Roks said, and Adam nodded.

    ¡°Yeah, and we can forget about going to the hub now. So, sell it and head to the Surga sector Hub instead. We can risk anybody following us back. We need to contact Mr Heri-ro-ro. See if he got hold of that mechanic.¡±

    They went straight to the administration to sell their goods. It took an hour to check the metals for quality and to ensure that they were raw and not stolen. Adam didn¡¯t like waiting around, so they didn¡¯t buy anything there. The buyer, a Haran, understood them well. It was a lot of credits, and they needed to be out of there before the rumors spread. They had not been at the station for more than three hours before they left, but they had earned 3.3 million in that short time due to a desperate need for the metals they had sold.  Still, they didn¡¯t feel safe and immediately sat course for the Surga sector; it would be one more hour to get to the jump point, so Roks was on the weapons system, ready to defend them. Adam focused on getting to the jump point.

    They were almost at the jump point when five ships dropped out around them. Pirates and immediately started to fire at them. Roks returned fire with inhuman accuracy and managed to blow one of the pirate ships'' engines off as Adam sent out the distress signal and tried every evasion maneuver he knew. But he could see this was a lost cause. Roks managed to hamstring another ship as Dream''s shield started to flicker.

    Suddenly, two pirate ships exploded. The last one was hit by something that made it go dark. Adam looked at Roks, praying that whoever did that was not also coming for them. Roks checked the scanners as a ship came into view. It looked like a manta ray of black and white metal. It was twice the size of a dream and stopped right in front of them. They could see into the bridge that somebody was moving around.

    ¡°Sorry we were late; I¡¯m impressed you survived that long. ¡°The voice was feminine and strangely familiar, something about how the words were spoken.

    ¡°Thank you for the assist. Do we owe anything for the assistance?¡± Adam replied over the come, and there was laughter at the other end.

    ¡°I don¡¯t think you can pay me what I want, but if you want, then you can find me in the Surga sector hub at Caisers bar. Ask for Captain Kira Nam. And who might you be, by the way?¡± she replied. Roks looked at him and then focused on the screen. He listened while he also checked the damages; at the same time, he watched the security scanners to see if they were being boarded while the captain was distracting them. They had been lucky and not gotten any serious damage.

    ¡°My name is Adam Wrangler. It¡¯s a pleasure to meet you, Captain Kira. I will look you up in that bar if I drop by.¡±

    ¡°Adam? That¡¯s a human name? Are you human?¡± Her voice suddenly changed, and Adam looked confused at Roks before replying.

    ¡°Yes. I¡¯m human.¡± As he spoke, the request for video was transmitted, and he accepted.

    ¡°Oh, my god, you are good-looking too. Fuck¡­ I mean, Hi! I''m Kira.¡± The woman was on the bridge among a dozen crewmates. All aliens of different species. Mostly Tufons and Harans.

    She seemed blustered and quickly tried to fix her long red hair; Adam had not seen a woman who seemed so seductive and deadly simultaneously. His athletic figure was well-trimmed, and her green eyes seemed like cat eyes. She had olive skin and looked Asian; It was as if somebody had granted her all the most seductive features of the Earth, many diverse ethnicities. She was truly a daughter of earth, She looked like she belonged in a movie yet had this deadly aura about her. And still, she also looked like a blustering teenage girl as she looked at him, almost blushing as she continued to speak; it wasn¡¯t as surprising to him as he thought; he could not believe there was another human out here.This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

    ¡°So, when are you going to be at Caisers bar?¡± She bit her lips, and somebody made a comment behind her. She immediately turned to the person who seemed to be scared for his life, then went back to Adam. ¡°You said you wanted to pay me for my services, and a few drinks or more would be a perfect way to pay me.¡±

    Adam smiled as he looked at her, an actual human out here and a beautiful woman as well. ¡°Well, we are heading that way, so we will be there in about five days. I''m surprised to see another human so far out.¡±

    ¡°Yeah. Me too. You¡¯re the first man I have seen in five years, and you''re not ugly either. Okay. Five days from now? At Caisers bar? Is that a date?¡± She seemed ecstatic, and Adam had to smile.

    ¡°Is that what you want as pay? A date?¡± Adam asked, confused. A girl like her could get whomever she wanted; he guessed she must be desperate to get down to his level, well five years could get anybody desperate, he guessed.

    ¡°Yes, that is exactly what I want. So yeah, you better be there, or I will hunt you down.¡± She said with a smirk, Adam didn¡¯t know if she was kidding or not.

    ¡°Well, then, I will be on my way, so I won''t be late for our date, " he replied, and she smiled as if he had just made her day.

    ¡°I will be there as well¡­ Goodbye, Adam Wrangler. I''m looking forward to this.¡±

    Adam said goodbye and flew the ship to the jump point; Roks just looked at him with a grin. ¡°You''re going to get laid. She was so desperate.¡±

    Adam laughed. ¡°She is human, don¡¯t be so sure. Besides Me? She must be blind.¡±

    Roks just laughed as Dream jumped into the hyperlane.

    The Hub of the Surga sector was smaller than theirs, and it became clear why theirs was just called the hub. It was twice the size of Surga. Adam had contacted the lawyers and set up a meeting with Kor-Nan. Apparently, he had a good relationship with Min-Na and liked what he had heard about Adam. He would meet with them in a week. That gave them time to check out what the hub had to offer and ask around about Captain Kira.  She had quite a reputation as a pirate hunter: cold, calculated, and effective. She was also known to be a bounty hunter if the criminal was despicable enough. Of course, for humans, almost all criminals that got a bounty on them were that.

    When Adam showed up at the bar, he found it to be a very high-end bar that surprised him. He asked for Captain Kira and was led into a private room, where he was met by a woman who took his breath away. She did not look like she belonged on a pirate hunting ship but instead at a high-end party. She wore a long black dress with a long slit and shoulder straps. Her hair was set up with a few loose strands of hair falling down. She blushed, and Adam found himself staring.

    ¡°Sorry. I know ¡­ I just wanted to look nice for you.  I should change. You don¡¯t like this.¡± She seemed so vulnerable as she spoke, and Adam heard his voice coming back.

    ¡°No, no, it''s not that. You''re beautiful. Really, I''m the ugly one here, " he replied, and she beamed.

    ¡°I''m beautiful. Do you really think so?¡± He took her hand and led her to the couch. Then she sat down next to him and looked at him. She seemed to want to touch him but instead got herself a drink.

    ¡°Champagne?¡± She gave him a glass, and Adam took it.

    ¡°Thank you. It¡¯s been a while since I tasted this.¡± He said, and they clinked the glasses.

    ¡°I''m more of a beer girl myself, and no, you''re not ugly. I bet you ran away from a harem of girls back home.¡±

    ¡°Harem?¡± Adam laughed. ¡°Naw. I had one, and she left me to get married, so no harem. I''m damaged goods.¡±

    Kira grinned. ¡°Her loss is my win; besides, I''m more damaged than you.¡±

    ¡°Oh? How so?¡± Adam looked at her, and she downed her glass.

    ¡°I¡¯ll tell you tomorrow when I have to leave. It will make it easier! Tonight, we drink, dance, and well, You know what I want after that!¡± She grinned and then blushed as she could not believe how frank she had been.

    Adam laughed and finished his glass. ¡°Well, I wished we had beers then. I''m a beer and whiskey guy!¡±

    Kira pressed a button, and a keg of beer rose from the table. then pressed another button, and music started blaring.

    Adam woke four days later as Kira got out of bed; the date had turned into more than a night. The last four days had been fantastic, and they had both forgotten about the others; he vaguely noticed that Roks was hanging around her crew. He reached out to her as she got up and she turned and looked at him with sad eyes.

    ¡°God damnit, you¡¯re too good, Adam Wrangler! I should have left you days ago!¡± Then she took a deep breath before continuing. ¡°I have to go. This isn¡¯t going to work. I mean, you''re great, best that¡¯s happened to me, but I can''t.¡° He could see tears in her eyes as she spoke, and he pulled her gently down into bed and held her.

    ¡°Hey, it¡¯s okay. We can work through this.¡± he replied softly.

    ¡°NO! Look, there is a reason why I''m out here. I''m dangerous. I mean, real dangerous!¡± She looked at him with a serious face as she wiped her eyes. Adam wanted to joke with her but saw that would be pointless.

    ¡°What do you mean?¡±

    ¡°I don¡¯t know if you know about this story. About 30 years ago, a little less, actually, this kid escaped a human design factory run by the Costa cartels. They made designer humans for the rich and criminals. He managed to escape. Because of that, he blew the lid on that operation, and thousands of kids were saved. I''m one of those kids. My sister and I were designed to do wet work for that cartel. Both our donors were psychopaths, and I''m working hard not to become like them. But those bastards had started to train us. We were only six years old when we were rescued, and we had already killed five people. That¡¯s why we are out here. We¡¯re dangerous, and I like you. " She took a deep breath, and Adam thought she would cry. "I won¡¯t put you in danger. You need a nice wife, somebody who can support you and not thinking about all the ways she can kill you.¡± She kept looking him directly in his eyes. She took a deep breath and got up. ¡°I like you, Adam Wrangler; I wish I could be what you need, but I''m not. I am just a freak of nature.¡±

    Adam looked at her, shocked, and she smiled weakly now, almost like she was relieved to get it out. ¡°See, I told you I was more broken.¡± She was about to leave when Adam got out of bed.

    ¡°Wait. You said you were rescued because of a kid who escaped?¡±

    She stopped and nodded. ¡°Yeah, number one, that''s what we called him. His name was Noah Kent. Without him, we all would be slaves to those bastards. I owe him my freedom. We all do.¡±

    Adam sat down, shocked. ¡°You don¡¯t owe him anything. He is just happy you''re free... I''m one of those he freed.¡° He didn¡¯t know why he lied; maybe it was self-preservation. Noah was a dead name for him, and he did not want the baggage attached to that name; out here, he was not him.

    ¡°What? You¡¯re one of us? Wow. No wonder you are good-looking. So how do you know that about him?¡± She was leaning on the wall, now looking at him. ¡°What did they make you for?¡±

    ¡°Ehh. Made me for.. oh, spare parts and pleasure. I was a complete failure.¡± Adam chuckled.

    She walked over and pushed him back into the bed. ¡°No, you''re perfect! So, tell me about him. How do you know that about him?¡±

    ¡°He told me. He told me he was just glad he could save so many. He is pretty banged up that they didn¡¯t get all.¡± Adam didn¡¯t know why he continued the lie; maybe it was because she spoke about him as if he were somebody special.

    ¡°Well, he saved us all that fool. I wish I could thank him. I would¡­¡° She grinned and looked down at him. ¡°Well, you have to do.¡± Then she kissed him.

    When Adam woke up the next day, she was gone. There was a note. ¡°Don¡¯t look for me.  Kira ¡±

    Adam found Roks in the bar waiting for him. ¡°How was it?¡±

    ¡°She left me. I guess it was never meant to be.¡± Adam replied, and Roks chuckled and slapped his back.

    ¡°Well, the crew left too, but they gave us two kegs of something, courtesy of their captain. And you look drained. ¡°

    Adam just smiled. ¡°Well, she was a wild one. God damnit. I''m going to miss her. So what do we do now?¡±

    ¡°Well, tomorrow we have the meeting with Kor-Nan, so let''s rest up and get ready. Rest a bit, then we can call Min-Na and check up with her. You won''t find her anyway. Their ship left an hour ago.¡± Adam nodded and went to rest and get a meal. They called Min-Na and spoke with her about Kor-Nan. He was quite nervous at the moment. Adam took it all into account as he got ready for the meeting.  The meeting took place in a private room in a restaurant, and when Adam and Roks arrived, they were met by another human. The second human Adam had met this far out, And she was as beautiful as Kira, but with slightly darker hair. She looked him over and smiled slightly. She looked familiar, but it took him a second to realize who she was.

    ¡°Please join us. My boss is eager to meet you,¡± she said, and Adam nodded as he walked past her into the room.

    ¡°Thank you, Miss Nam.¡±  She looked at him as he spoke, then grinned.

    ¡°You''re observant. Yes, she is my sister. I heard you made her very happy. She deserved that.¡±

    Then she closed the door behind them, and at the table sat Mr. Kor-Na. He had black hair with some white stripes in it, and his blue skin started to show a few wrinkles. The reddish stripes were fading like all on the old man, but his green eyes were still as sharp as a young Haran. He was dressed in a nice dark green suit with black edges.

    ¡°It''s so nice to meet you, Adam Wrangler. I have been informed about your desire to buy and legalize my company.¡± He said, and Adam sat down and smiled slightly.

    ¡°Yes, I need a crew of mechanics for my associate.  I want to open up shop, and I have the resources, and he has the skills.¡± Adam said, looking at the man.

    ¡°This is Jork Wirk you are talking about? That¡¯s one impressive man, and I¡¯m so sad he is a slave at the moment. I believe you bought him?¡± He replied, and Adam nodded with a sigh.

    ¡°Unfortunately, yes, I wish I could have freed him; he is also a member of my clan. Of his own choice.¡±

    ¡°You allowed a slave to join your clan? You know that if you take over my business, you will also have to take all my slaves.¡± Kor-Na said.

    ¡°How many slaves?¡± Adam felt uncomfortable, and Kor-Na stared him down.

    ¡°Eighteen, some have families. Are you willing to take their families as well?¡± He asked, and Adam nodded.

    ¡°Yes, if they want to come. I will, of course, have to have your slaves transferred and signed my contract.¡±

    ¡°You mean I have to sign? They are, after all, just slaves,¡± Kor-Nan replied, and Adam shook his head.

    ¡°No, all my slaves sign a contract with me.¡± Adam replied.

    ¡°May I see that contract?¡± He asked, and Adam transferred the copy to his pad.

    After reading it, he looked up at Adam. ¡°Frack, she wasn¡¯t lying. Is this binding?¡±

    ¡°Of course it is. Why?¡± Adam replied, confused.

    ¡°Just answer the question, please, and I will explain. Are you getting all of these contracts notarized?¡±

    ¡°Of course. It would be stupid not to. This way, they get a way out, and I can get them freed as soon as possible. I don¡¯t want any slaves, but I''m forced to here.¡± Adam replied, and Kor-Nan laughed

    ¡°No, you not. I also have 30 employees. Are you going to fire them?¡±

    ¡°No, I''m not going to force them to follow me, but if they want, then they are welcome to follow the company,¡± Adam replied; he was trying to read this man, but he was hard to read.

    "So my whole operation with families are 74 people, 26 are kids, and you''re willing to take them all and house them?" He asked as he leaned back on the couch, studying Adam.

    "Yes, that was part of the plan." Adam replied.

    ¡°Do they have to join your clan to keep their job?¡± He asked.

    ¡°No, of course not,¡± Adam replied, glanced at Roks, and then back to Kor-Nan.

    ¡°Can they join your Clan?¡±

    ¡°Yes, but I prefer that they wait a while to see if they actually like me and the clan. I don¡¯t want to force anyone. Anyway, are there any problems?¡±

    ¡°Yes, you''re giving me a chance to save my men and their families, and I haven¡¯t met anyone like you. It''s scary¡ª more scary than Sarah and her sister. I can understand them. But you? What do you think, Sarah? Can I trust him?¡±

    She nodded. ¡°yeah, you can trust him. She told me he is of my kin. If he betrays you, then I will hunt him down. But I have a feeling we don¡¯t ever have to do that.¡±

    Adam just looked at her and back at Kor-Nan. ¡°So, are we good? You asked for 2.2 million credits.¡±

    ¡°Yes, we are good, but only if you take them all, well, all who want to go with you.¡±

    Adam reached over the table to shake. ¡°You got a deal!¡±

 Project Dirt Part 16: Visiting Professors

    Adam watched as Kor-Na''s ship left the hangar, setting course for the Earth of all places in the universe. He had told him it would be the only place he would be safe from the criminals who would fear him revealing their secrets. Five of his crew joined him, mostly those working in the administration part of his operation. It made sense; those were the guys who knew who the clients actually were. The rest, all 64 of them, were joining him. All mechanics and low-level engineers, to a few high-end, were willing to join him. Some even asked about joining the clan for extra protection. Adam had told them they would be allowed after a month on Dirt, but he would never ask. They would have to approach him about it.

    They had three ships that he got with the deal, along with equipment for a lot more than he had paid for. It wasn¡¯t until Kor-Na had left he found out why. Five goons had cornered him and inquired about Kor-Na¡¯s; Adam told them he didn¡¯t know as it had been part of the deal. He even showed them the contract to prove he knew nothing. It clearly stated he was not allowed to ask where he had left. Kor-Na had told him but that the goons didn¡¯t need to know that part.  Instead, he assured them that Kor-Na had retired and promised never to reveal his client list.

    When one of the goons didn¡¯t believe him, Roks stepped in and beat him to a pulp while Adam¡¯s Droid took a protective stance in front of Adam. After Roks had finished, he addressed the rest, telling them that the business was closed and not to try anything. One positive part was that the workshop was still there, and they could easily take it over and hire a new crew. The remaining goons had to agree on the positive news and scattered like roaches into the dark underbelly of the Hub.

    Adam chatted with the rest of the crew and realized why he got it so cheap. Kor-Na was already rich, and he had only been looking for protection for his crew, not profit. Adam had shown that he would be able to provide them that. He gave them one day to prepear and then they were ready to leave.

    As they were about to leave, Adam pulled Roks aside. ¡°I need you to take them to Dirt alone and get them settled while I head to pick up the professors. And I want you to be my rage when you get home. Take Jork and Vorts aside, expose their extra project, and tell them I''m very disappointed. They will have until I return to prove it was worth spending resources on. No violence, okay? That way, I can be the good cop, and you¡¯re the bad. Oh, and have The Dream loaded up again and do another run, but dock at the hub and wait for me there when I return with the professors. Pick somebody you trust.¡±

    ¡°What you guys know about good cop, bad cop?¡± Roks said surprised and they booth realized it must be a galactic thing.¡± I love playing bad cop. Sure, I will put the fear of the Gods in them.¡± Roks grinned before he asked. ¡°How are you getting there?¡±

    ¡°I bought a yacht. If we are going to shuttle people, we should do it in a certain style. It costs as much as The Dream, so this one is hopefully an investment we can have this crew work on later.¡± Adam replied, and Roks looked excited.

    ¡°I got to see this one before we leave, and I want to take it for a spin later.¡±

    ¡°It¡¯s at the hub, I¡¯m taking the shuttle, and I ordered this one there. Is should be fuelled and ready at the docks when I arrive.¡± Adam took out his pad and showed him, and Roks whistled.

    ¡°Damn, okay I got an idea. I will have Kina do the route and join you when you return the professors. Then, we take your yacht for a spin while you take your dream home. Deal? She will love that. ¡°

    ¡°Sure, Just don¡¯t crash it.¡± Adam laughed.

    ¡°Bring D01 with you to the hub. I don¡¯t want to find out you got in trouble without me.¡±

    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. If I get into trouble, I will call you to come and join me. But yeah, I¡¯ll bring him along to make you feel safe.¡±

    ¡°You just got jumped by a bunch of goons, so yeah, I will be worried,¡± Roks replied.

    Adam smiled. ¡°And that¡¯s why you''re my best friend, second in command. Now get those people safely home.¡±

    He headed to the shuttle transport agency to book a trip back to the hub. It was one week of relaxation as he worked on his pad. He tried his luck at gambling but didn¡¯t win much, though he met a few interesting people and learned more about the sectors and politics. When he arrived at the Hub, he went to the lawyers to pick up the deed to the ship, which came with a butler and maid Droid and set him back a million credits. He named it Gateway and made arrangements to pick up the professors. He really hoped it would pay off in the long run.

    With their assistance, the three professors were clearly impressed as they met him, and Min-Na decided to join as well to help with any legal issues that might arise. Adam expected it also had to do with the yacht.

    Adam found the dean and professor of exploration, Professor Jayko, to be the most interesting companion. He was a Buskar, a species known for being curious and patient. Jayko looked humanoid with a head like a rabbit with whiskers and red eyes but with short ears and hands with six fingers. He also had a monkey¡¯s tail and wore a violet robe with a green belt. He looked almost like a monk if it were not for the bright white hair that hung in four large ponytails.

    ¡°I''m impressed with your work. Thought you seemed to have had a lot of luck here.¡±

    ¡°Well, I suspect the luck was the bad initial survey of the system. They saw empty planets without nitrogen, so they assumed the planets were dead ones. Then, they scanned for minerals and focused on the wrong materials. As I understand, this part of the galaxy is not so focused on terraforming?¡± Adam replied as the Maid droid served them a non-alcoholic drink.

    ¡°That¡¯s not completely true. We do a lot of terraforming, but not at this scale. It''s too costly and takes a long time. However, you seemed to have been able to do it much cheaper than expected and faster. To set off the volcanoes was a stroke of genius. It allows you to control the flow of gasses and the downfall of ashes and where they affect the planet. Of course, the lack of nitrogen is a huge problem.¡± Jayko replied, and the others agreed. It was clear he was the voice of Authority among these academics. Min-Na sat silently observing them.

    ¡°Yes, but we have more than enough Nitrogen on the gas planet Onic. We simply need to transport it from there to Dirt.¡± Adam said calmly, completely forgetting what Onic meant. The name was not lost on the academics, some of whom laughed politely.

    ¡°Onic? And an interesting name for a gas giant.¡± Jayko replied, and Adam caught on and then chuckled.

    ¡°I let the children name that one, and it¡¯s a fun joke. The other gas giant is named Hanori just to counter the smell.¡± He winked, and even Professor Jayko smiled at that.

    ¡°So, you plan to seed the planet with resources from the system to make Dirt habitable?¡± One of the other professors asked. Adam turned to her and nodded.

    ¡°Yes,  We humans will do this. We try not to give up and work with what we have. That¡¯s how we ended up with the Asteroid cities. They are humanity''s backup plan. Not everybody knows where these hollowed-out moons are, but we know a few million humans live there with access to all our technology in case humanity gets attacked, as they did during the Butcher War. Not that we need them now with us spreading so far and wide.¡±Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

    ¡°I hope I¡¯m not stepping out of line. I heard about the Butcher War, but it sounds too incredible. Earth exterminated the Galactic Republic and several of their seventeen species.¡± A Haran professor named Birn-Nan asked, and Adam leaned back on the couch.

    ¡°Oh, that old war? From what I have read we got pushed against the wall and had a choice to make. Us or them. You guys should be glad we chose them. They viewed everybody who was not in their Republic as food. That would have included you guys. Honestly, I don¡¯t know much about the actual war, only that it was bloody and we broke many of our own rules of engadment. We don¡¯t like what happened, but we see it as an unfortunate necessity. I only learned about it in history class. It''s one of the few cases with a clear bad guy to fight.¡± Adam replied, drawing mostly blanks as he tried remembering his history classes.

    ¡°So that¡¯s a human trait? To choose fight instead of flight in extreme situations?¡± The professor asked, and Adam realized why he had asked.

    ¡°Yeah, we tend to. We dislike giving up, and we consider it a weakness. Even the physically weakest of us will be admired if they show endurance. It¡¯s why I saw this system as a fixer-upper and not something to abandon. I was planning to do it all by myself, then I met Roks, and well, now there are about a hundred living there.¡±

    ¡°It''s impressive. Even if it fails to become a breathable atmosphere, you have made it livable by making the bases there. From a research standpoint, we have much to learn by observing your actions and studying the planet and system. So why are you so hesitant to allow us to come?¡± Professor Jayko asked.

    ¡°Mega corporations and pirates. If the corporation finds something they like, then they might just invade, and before I can lodge a complaint, I would be killed in a hostile takeover. Pirates are self-explanatory.¡± Adam said with a shrug, and the professors wanted to argue against it, but the professor raised his hand to silence them and looked at Adam.

    ¡°And you fear that us coming there will make that happen?¡±

    ¡°Yes and no, I don¡¯t think you will do it intentionally. I fear some will accidentally reveal something that would attract them before I have secured my system against at least a clear attack. We all know what would happen if, let''s say, we find a large node of precious metal. They will come in, take over, and strip mine the whole system, and you can forget about gaining more research on this form of terraforming. They would cut you guys off as well, and they would not leave any witnesses, so in a way, I''m protecting your colleagues and students as well.¡± Adam replied, and Min-Na smirked.

    ¡°He is correct. There is not much I would be able to do if he is dead. Any mega-company would have at least three to five years of access to the system before the court would toss them out, and by that time, any victims would be just a matter of a couple of thousand credits in fine.¡±

    The professors and assistants looked at her, and Adam nodded to her. ¡°Business at that level is deadly; they only care about profit, so I must keep my system off their radar at all costs, which is why she is here. You have to sign the non-disclosure agreement. It¡¯s a simple contract to ensure that you do not reveal the location and allow me to approve information you can share. Now I¡¯m not going to stop anything else except the information that would risk our lives.¡±

    Min-Na got out the pads and handed everybody one. ¡°Please read and sign when you''re ready. We will not enter the system before everybody has signed, including me, which is why.¡° She signed her pad and gave it to Adam, who looked at it and handed it to the butler droid.   ¡°I will sign first, and if you know anything about me and my firm, then you should know it is safe. ¡° The others acknowledged her and then read the contract. Min-Na had to clarify a few points, and then they all signed. When they had all signed, Adam allowed the alcohol to be served.

    The rest of the trip went quickly, and Adam started to suspect that Min-Na and Birn-Nan were sneaking away for private time. They apparently knew each other from before. Adam spent the time between exercise and discussing with Professor Jayko about planets with mixed flora and fauna. He recommended keeping the biospheres separated at the beginning. They went over the map of the world and how the oceans would divide the planet. The obvious plan would be to seed each continent with a different biosphere and have a few smaller islands with mixed biosphere for observation. When they arrived at the system, they had already made a rough plan that could be set in motion, and the university would help provide the new biosphere flora and fauna DNA to be planted.

    Adam was surprised when the alarm went off when they entered the system. Then he smiled as he went to the bridge, took personal control of the system, and contacted Dirt.

    ¡°You got the warning system up?¡± He asked, and Surn replied.

    ¡°Yes, we did; I got the traffic control duty. I got a nice view here.¡± He replied and Adam chuckled.

    ¡°Well, we are inbound. Anything I need to know?¡±

    ¡°You will see. They had a slight panic a week after you left and almost worked themselves to death. I think you will like what they did. You should stop by Onic and check it out. I think your guests will like it, giving Vorts and Jork time to wake up. Roks has really had them working.¡° Surn replied, and Adam laughed.

    ¡°Will do. Please send me any intel about that operation so I have something to tell the guest.¡± He asked, and Surn sent him the update. Adam thanked him and set the course as he reviewed the information. It was impressive. It was clearly Jork¡¯s unrestrained brain that was working there. He put them on autopilot when they got close and gathered the professors on the observation deck.

    They saw a small platform with several drone ships being charged up. Rising from Onic¡¯s atmosphere was a cube of frozen Nitrogen 10 square kilometers. Sixteen drones were attached to the ice cube, keeping it within a forcefield; the whole cube was being pushed out of the atmosphere by a Roks hauler that seemed to have four extra drones attached to it to help with the push. Once it broke free from the gravity pull, the drones took over and started the long haul towards Dirt. Roks hauler waited for sixteen new drones to detach from the platform and attach themselves to the hauler before diving back down to start the process again; the professors watched in awe at the simplicity of the operation.

    ¡°How long until the Nitrogen reaches Dirt?¡± They asked, and Adam checked his pad.

    ¡°34 hours. Three are already on the way. If we can get more ships and drones, we can speed up the process. The satellite platform has a reactor that chargers the drones and can hold sixty-four drones simultaneously. It is fully automated with a simple directive. Gather nitrogen and transport it to Dirt. We can shut it down or reprogram it from Dirt, and if needed, we have shuttles that can come up to do repairs. We plan to attach an engineer droid to the platform for simple repairs.¡± Adam tried to relax but realized Jork must have mass-produced drones. He dreaded to find out the number.

    ¡°That is truly impressive; it will take you a couple of million trips, thought.¡±

    ¡°Not necessarily; now that we got it working, we can expand the amount. All sixty-four droids at once should be able to take fifty square kilometers or even bigger. We have to do the math. It should give us a chance to seed the oceans with nitrogen, and if we can add oxygen, we can get algae life in the wild, which is the first goal. Another project we are working on. We will see how far they have gotten with that when we arrive. Shall we?¡± He walked back inside, went to the pilot seat, and started to fly towards Dirt, ensuring he passed the Nitrogen cubes as closely as he could for the guests to admire.

    As they got closer, they saw two cubes hanging above the atmosphere. One was currently being cut into smaller pieces and lowered into the atmosphere. The other was inside the atmosphere, and the bottom was being melted into gas form and released about 50 km above the surface. Adam was as shocked as his guests, but mostly because his scan showed 0.5 oxygen in the atmosphere, and where the five giant lakes were, there were oceans, not small oceans. They had finally melted twenty-five percent of the poles, only five left. It was clear where the oceans would be formed now, and he saw several small oxygen factories. Spewing out oxygen into the air and water. He aimed the yacht toward one of the factories and flew past it. They could see green algae on the surface, and Adam was impressed as he set the course for the base. When they approached, he saw they had built a hanger big enough for the yacht, and the droids were also working on constructing another. It was a new model, and he realized what had happened. Jork had truly gone berserk. He must have dissected construction droids and made his own version. They were not as effective as the factory once, but if you had enough, then it wouldn¡¯t matter.

    He parked the yacht in the hangar and checked the sensors. When the air was breathable, he gathered the professors and walked outside to Roks.

    ¡°Welcome back, Master Wrangler. You were right. All we needed to do was to put the fear of gods in them. I suggest we let them sleep a little longer.¡± Roks grinned.

 Project Dirt Part 17: Rain

    ¡°Welcome to Piridas, as we call this base, and welcome to Dirt. Let us get you settled.¡± Adam guided the guest through the hangar and toward the base. He hoped he was escorting them in the right direction, and he felt relieved when he saw the students waiting to help take care of the professors.

    ¡°Ahh, they will show you to the rooms. We have a whole wing set aside for the students¡ªyou can say it''s our academic wing. It has an office area and a few rooms.¡±

    ¡°He is too shy; it¡¯s big enough to house a whole department and students. We have set you up in your own rooms and given you a temporary teacher''s office. Mr. Jork has reprogrammed two maid droids to work as administration droids, and we are awaiting ten science droids from Earth.¡±  Mir-Na replied, and Adam simply smiled.

    Professor Jayko looked at Adam. ¡±Is this true? You didn¡¯t tell us about them?¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s because they haven¡¯t arrived yet, and they are just meant to aid Vorts and the students in the cloning program as we seed the planet.¡±  He replied not really thinking about it.

    ¡°What type of droids are we talking about? Is it the Garvons? Sharoos?¡±

    ¡°A human version, Galileo X42. I''m not so familiar with the versions you use out here.¡±

    ¡°The Galileo version? I have only heard of them. They are supposed to work independently at an M-Polo science station. I would love to inspect one of those. It''s supposed to be able to work without any crew or host up to five hundred scientists to live comfortably. I must be allowed to return when they arrive.¡± The professors seemed excited by the idea of studying the human science system. Adam just smiled as Kinita Sumina could not hold back.

    ¡°Then you¡¯re in luck, Sir. This is a M-Polo Science status with upgrades.  I honestly don¡¯t think Mr. Wrangler knew what he ordered being built.¡±

    The professors all looked at Adam, who shrugged. ¡°The colony base required material I couldn¡¯t access and would not really help with the terraforming. So, I built the one who seemed to be able to help me best. Besides, it would be able to function without people. Anyway, I¡¯ll let you settle in as I must deal with some administrative work.¡± He apologized as he said his goodbye and walked away with Roks.

    ¡°Okay, get me updated. Let''s go to the administration.¡±  They walked up, and Roks admired his choice of Yacht and reminded him about their agreement. Adam laughed, and once they got to the administration, they went into a side office, and Roks called up the different reports.

    ¡°Okay, when I got here, they had already started to get their act in order, so I used that against them. You know if you look guilty, you have to be guilty of something, and with a little pressure, they buckled.¡±

    A list of projects came up, and Adam, who was sitting, just leaned his head against his fist, looking at the list. ¡°Wow, they did all of that when I was away? Did they do anything I asked them to do?¡±

    ¡°I asked the same thing, and these are the things they finished before, and here are the projects they had ignored. That¡¯s 26 projects ignored.  For Vorts, I told him he could expect five years added to his contract for each project not finished before you returned, and for Jork, I simply reminded him that you had saved him and his son and you could sell you to the university or anybody else for that matter. He took the hint. So, for the last fifteen days, they have worked with less than 4 hours of sleep per day and only have this one left. They were halfway through, and I had to put them to sleep. I don¡¯t know how important it is to make another base on the other side of the continent, but Roks made fifty droids and sent them over to start the project. He sent one of your construction droids to oversee the project. He has now made fifty droids per your construction droids to help them. ¡°

    Adam sat up, opened the project files, and smiled slightly. ¡°Well, I know why they didn¡¯t understand this before seeing the latest list. I guess that¡¯s my fault. Okay. I need to sit them down again.¡±

    ¡°Just out of curiosity, Why does he try to make the same type of droids as your Earth ones?¡± Roks asked.

    ¡°My droids have a quantum processor and subatomic power generators. They look like androids, but millions of nanodroids reform into what is needed; one droid is worth a crew of a hundred workers.  It''s how Earth managed to build so fast. I don¡¯t even know all their settings; I have seen them swarm back home and build a house in three hours. Basically 3D printed it, and I¡¯m afraid to give Jork full access to them. He would print god knows what.¡±If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

    ¡°A good defense? Some cannons?¡± Roks said hopefully, and Adam shook his head.

    ¡°No, they are not able to make anything more then some small arms weapons, but if he makes a full city before we have people or protection then we have to redirect to many resources to maintenance. We have to keep a balance and I fear he doesn¡¯t know how to do just that.¡±

    Roks listened and thought about it. ¡°Yeah, you''re right. So let¡¯s not reveal that before we have a crew that is big enough.  By the way. Your clan now has sixty members.¡±

    ¡°What? How? You let them join?¡± Adam looked at him, shocked, and Roks sighed.

    ¡°Two nights with the farmers, and they are convinced you¡¯re some sort of divine god.¡±

    ¡°Come again please?¡± Adam could not believe what he was hearing.

    Roks sighed and called for the maid droid. ¡° We need drinks for this.¡±

    Adam just shook his head and checked their private projects as they waited for the bottle. Vodka and two glasses. Roks poured them and took a deep breath before downing the whole glass, then refilled; Adam followed him.

    ¡°Okay, what¡¯s this talk about me being a God?¡± Adam asked, and Roks looked at the bottle and back at Adam.

    ¡°You drink poison? Anyway. God... yeah. Well, there is this story about a god named Galios who brings change for the positive. He is supposed to do all these wonderful things and, according to some legend, awaken and be surrounded by gods who have been put asleep. It¡¯s a whole big mess. ¡° Roks drank more vodka, and Adam looked at him.

    ¡°Like a savior type?¡± He sipped his glass. ¡°That doesn¡¯t sound like me.¡±

    ¡°Not so much a savior, more a bringer of a new way of life. He comes from chaos with new laws and ways of living that will improve life in many ways. However, others say he is a savior as well. So many damn legends about this god and what he will do. Everything people want to happen is chucked up to Galios will do it.¡±

    Adam looked at him and burst out laughing, then stopped himself. ¡°Are they really thinking I¡¯m that?¡±

    Roks nodded, and Adam started to laugh again; Roks joined in. It took them several minutes to stop, so they drank more and laughed more. After a while, they took the sobering pills and hangover pills and put on a straight face. I thought it took one look from a farmer as they entered the caf¨¦ to have them both buckling over laughing. Adam could not take that seriously. These guys had access to space and technology that would make them gods on many planets, and a rich idiot from Earth was who they decided to exalt to godhood. He decided to take the rest of the day to test out a speeder and check out the different projects around the planet. Every time he got a call from the base, he had to grin. In the evening, he had managed to calm himself down enough not to insult the farmers and returned to the base. Vorts and Jork woke up when he was away and completely misunderstood Adams''s request to inspect the planet and calm down to be Adams''s anger towards them. So when he landed the speeder, he saw two humble men awaiting him. They looked like sad puppies and Adam had to bite his lips to not laugh.

    ¡°So¡­¡­ ¡° He took a deep breath to control his mind. ¡° You decided to ignore my requests. You can be glad Roks decided to deal with you and give you a chance to compensate for your lack of trust in me. I would have allowed all of your projects if you had done what I asked for or given me good reasons for why you did not do them. You either tell me or you do them. Understand?¡± His voice was surprisingly soft, and both of them nodded. Adam then smiled. ¡°So, for me, this is water under the bridge. Don¡¯t let it happen again, and give me a list of the projects you want done.¡±

    They both nodded again.

    ¡°And Jork. No more droids unless you get my approval first.  How many do we have now?¡±

    ¡°Besides those you bought I have made 600 construction droids, 100 maid droids, 5 administrative droids, 5 medical droids and I was beginning construction engineering droids. The maid droids are all multipurpose and are more service droids.¡± He suddenly realized just how many he had build and swallowed.

    ¡°You have made a small droid factory here, haven¡¯t you? On that hidden base you two made? What else is in there?¡± He looked between them, and they looked up slowly.

    ¡°Only that and a mining operation to gain the materials needed. The plan was to make an underground city, Sir.¡± Vorts replied.

    ¡°Okay, then we do just that. And you sit down with Min-Na and get all of your droids patented. Once that is done, we can produce a few thousand of them to help with the coming process. Oh, and that city your building is going to be named Hades.  But I want my city built at the same time. Understood?¡±

    They looked at him confused, then nodded.

    ¡°Good, then we are past this. Let''s grab something to eat. I hope you have some of those blue pancakes.¡± Adam smiled as he patted their shoulder and started to walk back. To his luck, he saw a fisher and didn¡¯t burst out laughing, which was good. He joined the crew for dinner and invited the Professors and students, plus Vorts, Harra, Jork, and Roks, to the observation tower to relax over a few drinks and some calm music.

    Adam was quite happy with what they had done with the place as they enjoyed some calm music and polite conversation. It was clear that Professor Jayko and Jork were good friends and had several inside jokes. They ended up sitting by the window going over different projects. Roks was sitting in the bar with Adam as they watched the whole group. Vorts and the rest of the students were discussing which animals they should start with to introduce first.

    Roks looked at Adam. ¡°What are you smiling about?¡± Adam held a pint in his hands with a big smile.

    ¡°Rain.¡±

    Dara looked at him as she was sitting in the bar with them. ¡°Rain? What do you mean?¡±

    Adam just grinned and sipped his pint as the windows started to get wet, and all conversation stopped. Rain had come to Dirt.

 Project Dirt Part 18: The apple tree and the druid

    Adam woke up the next day, and it was still raining. He got himself ready, went to the kitchen, and grabbed a coffee before going to the admin. It was still early, so the kids had not arrived yet. He asked the computer to transfer all the reports to his pad and then went to the lift. He took it to the observation deck and sat down as he watched the rain, enjoying the coffee. He slowly went over the reports.

    It had become his morning routine now, and this was how he had discovered all the hidden projects his employees had. The rain stopped around seven, and he looked at the wet ground. If he had been a kid, he would have loved to jump in the puddles. He thought momentarily, then headed down to his storage and opened his seed bank. He found what he was looking for, grabbed a shovel, and walked out. After he got into the suit, he walked out, found a nice spot about five hundred meters from the base, and started digging. WD-40 came over and looked at him.

    ¡°May I help you, Sir?¡± It asked. He looked up and chuckled at the number on its chest.

    ¡°Naw.. wait, yes. A small fence around this plant and make sure it gets some fertilizer. Hopefully, it will grow up to be a nice tree.¡± He finished up and looked around. ¡°I think we are doing a nice job. Hmm, maybe we should start a plant-spreading program.¡±

    ¡°Start the program by searching the database for the best method.  We need a plastic oxygen tent and fertilizer and better soil.¡± It replied, and Adam chuckled. ¡°I¡¯m changing your designation to Druid. I will tell Jork and Vorts to help you with your mission. Oh, and not only apple trees like this, be diverse within logical parameters.¡±

    ¡°Affirmative. We''re building a small fence before starting a new program.¡± As he spoke, his designation vanished and became the words druid. Adam nodded to the droid, grabbed the shovel, and returned inside. When he returned to the administration, he found the two working kids were leaving as they had finished their duties. Vorts had seen him outside and asked what he had done, so he explained that he had planted an apple tree, and a droid had asked to help. He told them to add Druid¡¯s new mission into the system and give it the resources, just as an experiment. Vorts started working on seed cloning as Jork launched a science droid to report Druid''s work; he named the droid pet and gave one of the engineers the job of creating a storage unit they could use. After that, they promptly forgot to give instructions on how to plant trees for two droids with a ten thousand-year lifespan.

    Instead, they focused on the coming day, the student''s presentation, and Adam¡®s daily swim with Miker. They had a short meeting about the different projects and a few new ones that were being suggested. Adam had to hold back on a few as some got a little too excited about the oxygen in the air. It was still only 0.5% a long distance from the 21 to 22% they were aiming for. It was a good beginning, and the algae was starting to produce oxygen, as suspected. Vorts was working hard on the cloning process and requested ten more machines. Adam was going to look into it. He was, after all, going back to the Hub soon to pick up goods and return the professors.

    Vorts suggested they should ally with the university, allowing them access at a price. Adam told him he had already thought about it, which was one reason for Min-Na¡¯s presence. Any deals could quickly be hammered out. After that, he contacted Min-Na and told her he would like a meeting with her after the presentation. She agreed as she was now tailing the professors and her granddaughter and enjoying the sights.

    Adam then went to pick up Miker to go swimming. It was a happy reunion, and he was happy showing off his new swimming skills. Then they went to check the fish that had hatched in the other pool. The little boy showed him all the new things until they ended up in the kitchen, making Pizza for lunch. After lunch, He had to say goodbye to the boy, change, and meet with the professors and students. Besides them, a few others wanted an update and to understand what was happening. The new crew was curious, and some were highly educated.

    The students did a great job with the information they had, showing the state of Dirt when bought, the scans done by the survey and Adam, and how they matched up. Then, they went into the difference in mindset and how Adam, with a relatively low budget, had managed to change the planet. If the same survey team had arrived now, they would have definitely marked the planet as potential for colonization.

    They followed up by reviewing the major projects and their impacts, discussing ideas considered stupid, such as activating the volcanos and taking nitrogen from Onic. They still smiled at the name, how it had actually worked, and how they had adjusted when finding out seeding the sea and making fertilizer was a better method as it started the photosynthesizing process, creating oxygen and distributing nitrogen into the soil. Not only that, it removed the CO2 from the atmosphere as well. They might be able to make the air breathable much quicker than first assumed. All they needed was more algae and aquatic life. They also talked about mushrooms and moss to help with the process, which could be spread through drones as they spread the fertilizer over the land.

    Adam was impressed as he listened and took notes; they then went into the production part of the terraforming. The system had an abundance of the common metals but little of the rare ones, making it not ideal for mining, but it gave them access to materials for construction.

    Then Jork came up, which surprised Adam. He spoke about what he had the potential to do on the planet out of the limelight of the university and mentioned Adams''s new company, which produces ships, drones, and now androids. Then Jork turned to Adam.

    ¡°Boss, are you okay with engineer students coming here for an internship?¡±The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

    Adam chuckled as he facepalmed for a second, then looked at him and the professors who were looking at him.

    ¡°Hell, if the university wants to rent the wing, they can decide themselves what kind of internships and research projects they would like to do.¡±

    He could see Professor Jayko eyes brighten at the thought. Min-Na smirked as she knew what would happen, so Adam continued. ¡°I also plan to build a few more bases around the planet. You could be allowed to rent one as a department.¡±

    ¡°We will definitely look into that, yes.¡± Professor Jayko replied.

    Jork smiled and continued, going over a few new patents Adam¡¯s company had made, including a new explorer. Then he turned on the galaxy map to remind them that Dirt lay on the edge of a huge part of the unexplored galaxy. As all the planets explored in this direction, the locally known dead part was like Dirt: empty.

    The professors suddenly became interested as they could see the potential for exploration and expansion via this new type of terraforming.

    When Jork was finished, Vorts came up and started talking about the potential biological experiments they had started here. Showing them the files of all flora and fauna DNA Adam had brought with him, he then talked about how they had unique chances to experiment and find ideal flora and Fauna that could be a template for these barren worlds. Of course, this meant they needed more personnel and access to high-quality cloning programs. While Adam could provide funding, he unfortunately did not have access to the hardware and personalities. Something that the university could help with. Of course, if they thought this too much, then Adam and the company could contact other Universities. Galactic Federation Science and Exploration University (SaSu) was the best, but there would be a less important university that would love to jump on the chance.

    Adam had to hide a smile. Vorts was the final speaker, and he was clearly closing the trap. When the presentation ended, the professors retired to the Wing to discuss the matter, as Adam had something to discuss with Min-Na.

    They walked towards the administration but passed it and entered an empty office area; an administration droid and a maid droid were there, making the room ready.

    ¡°This room will be your company''s office next time you decide to arrive here. We will have three guest rooms ready at any time.¡± Adam smiled, and she smirked.

    ¡°Are you trying to buy our company?¡± She asked, and Adam winked.

    ¡°Not buy, but invest. I bought some stocks, but that is beside the point. As you heard, we might invite companies to come here and work. That means more contracts and work for you guys. ¡°

    She leaned on a desk, looked at him, and started to laugh. ¡°Mr. Wrangler, be careful so you don¡¯t grow too big too fast.¡±

    Adam smiled. ¡°I know, it''s my biggest worry. Now, I''m simply trying to build defense and protection while overseeing their projects. I feel more like a CEO than a terraformer.¡±

    ¡°You are a CEO and a clan leader. Doing pretty well at it as well.¡± She moved around the table and sat down. ¡°When do you open for normal colonization?¡±

    ¡°When the defense is up, I feel secure enough to keep it. ¡°He moved over to the table and started his city blueprint program. His domed city appeared as a hologram. ¡°I plan to build five of these. Each with a focus on one different type of economics.¡±

    She sat up and stared at it. ¡°You''re going to need a lot of people. How many can each city hold?¡±

    ¡°Max comfortable capacity is one million, but it is more comfortable at half that size. There is the possibility to expand as well. It¡¯s how we humans build cities on barren planets. But this system allows for the dome to be opened once the air is breathable. It also allows me to make a city for species with different needs for breathing gas to survive.¡± She studied the map very interestingly.

    ¡°What is the time frame for this?¡±

    The five cities will hopefully be ready within 5 to 10 years, depending on how many colonizers we get. I might get unlucky and badly need one. The build of the first is already on the way before the year is over.¡± he said, then changed the place to a smaller dome connected to five bigger domes.

    ¡°These are the farm projects we have. Each dome has five fields that would be secured from the environment and allow us to grow flora that needs special environments. Once we get more droids, we will start this project. The first goal is two, one for flora and one for fauna so that we can produce our own food. The centre dome is a smaller village type with room for about fifty thousand. And the time frame depends on the amount of people living here.¡±

    ¡°So you, why are you showing me these?¡± She looked at him curiously.

    ¡°Because with more people comes more need for the law, lawyers, judges, etc. And I don¡¯t know how that works in this part of the galaxy. From what I understand, there is a trade union that takes care of intergalactic law, right? But the colonies were free to do as they pleased, to a certain point, like freeing slaves, as it interrupted trade.¡±

    ¡°Yes, except humanity that, due to its trade exceptions, is allowed to free slaves. But only within your own colonies. You guys were willing to go to war against the whole galaxy because of it. Wait.. oh, that¡¯s the reason. But they will arrest you!¡±

    ¡°I will need a good lawyer who can defend me. Why do you think I keep you guys around? I know your company represents several mega-corporations, and I was only allowed to talk to you because of my credit score.¡±

    Min-Na grinned slightly. ¡°Yes, and then you surprised us. We see great potential in you and your growing company.¡± She looked around the office. ¡°I will assign a lawyer to this department permanently. Just a question: when did you realize who we were?¡±

    ¡°When I saw your branch department at the Surga Hub. You¡¯re the vice CEO of a company that spans five sector hubs. Mr Heri-ro-ro is your employee. Why the masquerade? ¡°

    ¡°Because you came from nowhere, had the credits, and bought a dead solar system, yet you acted as if you already knew this would work. I simply wanted to get in on the business before the others. If it failed, you could still pay. You never missed your bills yet. But your potential here. Yes, we are talking billions in income if you can make it right. I saw that the first city is a casino one. That will bring in money if you attract the right people.¡±

    Adam sat down opposite her and switched it back to the first city. ¡°Yes, the easiest way to earn money. There are five casino resorts in that city with a small private hangar. I guess you can attract the correct clientele when it is built. It will be legit, so please, no crime lords.¡±

    ¡°She nodded. I can also set up a few investors, but I guess you don¡¯t want that. So, when should we get this up and running?¡±

    ¡°One year. It needs to be built, staffed, and tested. I will set aside a penthouse for you and an office building. Free of charge.¡±

    ¡°Are you head hunting me? I don¡¯t think you can afford that.¡± She chuckled, and Adam just smiled.

    ¡°Naw, this is just setting up a good business relationship. Oh, find me a judge within that timeframe, somebody who can understand me. There will be a human colony sooner or later, so it can''t be somebody pro-slavery.¡±

    She nodded. ¡°It will be my pleasure. Now, let''s see if we can get these professors to sign some deals.¡±

 Project Dirt part 19 â€“ The dark side of Dirt.

    The next day, Adam arranged for a guided tour of the planet. The students eagerly wanted to show off their projects. He had a good grasp of his people¡¯s projects, both official and secret, but not so much with the students, so he was ready to learn a few new things about his planet.  Jork and Vorts joined, and when he wanted to take the yacht, Vorts chuckled and said no.

    Adam looked at him, confused, as they made their way to a reinforced transport, to his surprise. The professors didn¡¯t seem to think it was strange, so Adam decided to shut up and not come off too ignorant. The transport was quickly filled up by the students, professors, and their assistants. The transport took off. It was the size of a bus and quickly rose to the atmosphere where Kinita Sumina, the geologist student, stood up. ¡°As you know, we set off the volcanoes to release the gas within. It worked. The atmospheric pressure has now reached the desirable level; we have an atmosphere we can work with. If this had been the atmosphere during the initial survey, it would alone have made them increase the planet''s level as it is now. The atmosphere protects against radiation from the sun and allows liquid to flow due to its pressure, which means that you can see outside: water, liquid water. We now have access to fuel. However, as you know, we now have another problem. As you know, setting off volcanos leads to a lot of volcanic dust and other gasses that we don¡¯t want to be spewed into the atmosphere. The genius part of Mr. Wrangler was selecting one area to set off the volcanos. Continent Three, we are working on the names, and I refuse to let the kids name them.¡± She glanced at Adam who just grinned back. ¡°So, while there is some fallout on our side of the planet, we have managed to keep the fallout away from us; with a weak forcefield that allows them to keep the dust contained yet allows the wind to pass, we have been using artificial suns by Mr. Wirt, which helped us modify. As you will see, we are going high in the atmosphere to let you observe.¡±

    Adam looked out the window and realized what he had not before: one-third of Dirt was covered in a giant layer of black clouds. Around the edges, he could see a shimmering field, and he turned to Jork.

    ¡°I didn¡¯t know you could do that. Could it cover the whole planet?¡±

    ¡°Yes, but I''m constantly repairing them. They are working on 110% capability and doing something they are not really programmed to do.¡± He replied.

    ¡°A few students are working on a similar problem, dealing with super volcanoes and the after-match. I am sure a few would love to help with this project. They can bring their equipment and blueprints. One is working on a prototype to collect and repurpose the fallout.¡± Professor Jar-dric said, and Adam turned to look at the pad he was showing him. He had rarely heard Jar-drive speak; the Ghort had chosen a genderless exoskeleton and was a conservative from what he could understand. The Gorts, after all, were gelatine-like creatures in need of those suits to move about, and they either embraced one sex completely and were very open about it or, like this professor, muted, trying to be as neutral as possible. From what Adam understood, the conservative was a shrinking part of the Ghort society.

    ¡°Well, as we discussed yesterday, I''m willing to sponsor programs that will benefit the terraforming of Dirt. ¡° The professors immediately jumped at the chance, and Adam smiled. ¡°They can come here and finish the project if they want and use the cloud to test it.¡±

    ¡°That will be quite beneficial for all of us. I will inform them as soon as possible. They are mostly Ghorst, so I hope you do not mind.¡±

    ¡°Why would I? To me, you are all aliens, and I happen to like aliens, so I don¡¯t care how you look.  You know, humans don¡¯t care; we are one of the species that interbreed and have been known to enter marriage without species. ¡°

    ¡°You can interbreed? That is rare.¡± Professor Jar-dric replied, seemingly pleasantly surprised. ¡°Do you need genetic assistance for it or natural?¡±

    ¡°From what I know Natural, it was a big surprise when it was discovered. We don¡¯t know why, but there is the theory that we are one of the engineered species from ancient times and that all engineered species can interbreed.¡±

    ¡°Do you believe that?¡± One of the assistants asked. She was a Duishin named Sarna Daiar, she was a little excited at the idea and Adam smiled.

    ¡°I don¡¯t know. I only know humans have crossbred, and it was a shock when it happened for Earth but not for the species that believe they were engineered. Anyway, let''s get back to the topic. The volcanos and forcefield. ¡°He was getting a little uneasy about the comments; he was not interested in this; Vorts, on the other hand, seemed to be and started to talk to the assistant.

    Adam looked out the window at the cloud and back at Jork. ¡°You moved the base building, right? There is no way we can build down there. ¡° He was glad to change the topic.

    Jork wiggled his hand. ¡°Just a little, it¡¯s on the edge. Harder build, but it''s close enough, so what do you want to call this one?¡± They all looked at him as the shuttled divided into the chaos of the volcanic ashes and aftermath of the volcanoes; he saw a few were still smoldering, and he chuckled.This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

    ¡°I think I know; I saw this really old movie, and it was a fantastic one. There was land there just like this called Mordor, so let''s name the base after that for now. Once it clears up, we can change the name. ¡°

    As they spoke, a giant cube of frozen nitrogen descended into the hellscape, guided by the drones toward a large volcano. Adam looked at Jork.

    ¡°Why?¡± He looked at Jork, who was smiling excitedly.

    ¡°School project, Mrs. Arah Poter and the kids wanted to see what happens. It will melt, but they will get some kick out of it. It''s just a cubic kilometer one. As you can see, there are a few drones following it. That¡¯s them watching from the classroom.¡± He saw Jork was a little too excited to do this little experiment as well, but part of him wished his teacher had access to somebody like Jork when he was at the orphanage; the kids there would have loved it; he saw the professors were watching like little children as well.

    They probably knew exactly what would happen, but there was something about knowing that childish curiosity allowed this to happen, and it made him smile. He started to wonder just how many students they would send. Yesterday, they agreed to build a base like Piridas connected to three domes, one being a dorm that can hold a thousand students, five kilometers north of Piridas. With staff, it would be able to hold fifteen hundred people; he doubted they would fill it up, but they would pay rent for it, a nice little side income. Jork had put a few projects on hold and started the construction.

    Adam thought about it. It would take about three months with ten workers, which was no longer a problem, mostly due to Jork and a bigger crew. The place might be finished within a month if they are lucky. He turned his attention back to the tour as they flew along lava rivers and lands so filled with ash they could barely see a hundred meters, flying blind and then stopped hovering over a pole stuck in the ground as Kinita Sumina explained how their early access had granted them the ability to place these sensors all over the area just as the second round of volcanoes had gone off. The sensor uses nanotech to dig itself down and allow it to monitor the geological effects of the volcanoes on a completely different scale. They were going to set up a new volcano in a month''s time and would place these sensors all around as a grid as well as monitor it from weather satellites. After exploring Mordor, they left for the south part, where they came to one of the small seas that was rapidly growing bigger. They stopped by a half-built base with three droids working. The research base was ten-man-sized and was meant to be underwater, and with Adams''s permission, Adam revealed one of those underwater reach bases would be an M-Polo base; the project was called Maranda, a famous underwater city from a Dushin legend; the kids had named it. Adam started to realize that he was starting to have a few too many M-Polo bases, and he would have to buy more licenses.

    Ced-dry Miga was excited at that news and then explained how they were building four such bases around the planet on places they knew would be a hundred meters below the surface when the poles were finished melting. This would also allow all the oceans to connect, and they could start research on seeding the planet. Adam just watched. This was going pretty fast for him. There was so much missing, and the professors seemed to be missing things as well. Ced-dry Miga explained that the beginning would be introducing and feeding algae and fertilizing the ocean with Nitrogen-enriched soil. Apparently, the volcanoes and the Nitrogen from Onic added to the ground soil allowed them to make fertilizers. It was on a small scale now, but they would be able to industrialize it with more engineers. The goal was to cover one continent with this fertilizer and place CO2 transformer around the planet.

    They had strategically placed twenty of these converters already and started spilling out oxygen. The whole process, including building more such devices, could take everything from five years to five hundred, depending on how many they can build and at what size. They should also be able to start seeding the sea with small life once the algae has reached a big enough number. That would include a forcefield and controlled areas in the beginning to safeguard the flora. They did expect several failed attempts until they could perfect the process. Then the ship took off again and set course for the big surprise, and they flew north, where they found a large cave blocked by a force field. They flew through and entered a large cave. Adam saw they had set up a reactor near the door and that some cables were going inside and out of the cave. Inside, they came to a large cave with an artificial sun on the ceiling. Adam realized he should have kept a much more careful eye on the students as they, proud as a little kid, showed off a cave about 100 meters long and 50 meters wide with a small pond and grass on the ground; he thought he saw some bushes as well. Mir-na opened the door before anybody could react, and fresh air poured in.

    ¡°This is our little secret experiment. We have done what Adam is trying to do on a small scale, planet size, and it worked, as you can see. Green grass, a few plants, and the pond have algae and actually fish, the smallest we could find. We are going to introduce bugs here later. As you can see, we have monitors attached to the ceiling and two drones with a charging station further in. ¡°

    Adam chuckled as he walked around and let the students and professors chat. He just wanted to walk around and check the cave. He walked down to the pond and looked inside, seeing some movement. He looked at the students and shook his head in amazement. ¡°If you want to, you have a job waiting here when you graduate. I''m very impressed.¡±

    They looked at each other and then agreed. Jork gave them high fives, and he realized he had been played. The tour was not for the professors. It was for him. They wanted to stay after they graduated. This had been their job application. Professor Jayko congratulated them, and Adam laughed as he got inside the shuttle.

    ¡°Let''s get back; tomorrow, we must bring the professors back to the Hub, and I must pick somebody up.¡±

 Project Dirt Part 20 â€¦.and they just wont stop with those stupid prophecies

    Adam docked on the Hub with the crew and escorted the professors back into the hub; Roks winked and stayed back. Adam could see Kina, so he asked her to wait before they left. He wanted to speak with them. Afterward, he said goodbye to the professors and Min-Na, telling her he would drop by the office later as he would stay a few days. The professor was quite excited as he promised to drop by the school before he left.  Then, he returned to the yacht and called out before entering. He didn¡¯t want to interrupt anything, and after a while, Roks came out with a grin as he put on a shirt.

    ¡°She really likes the yacht. So, what can we help you with?¡±

    Adam chuckled. ¡°Just a quick update and ask a favor.¡±

    ¡°Okay, well, She sold for 1,8 million. You were right. It will take a few more months before the market adjusts. It should be in the company account, and the trip went flawlessly. Looks like somebody is really going after the pirates in that area. Maybe that friend of yours is making an impact.¡± Roks explained and Adam accepted the update.

    ¡°Well, that¡¯s good, Okay, for the other part.  You guys are allowed to go back to your homeworld, right? If you want to drop by and pick up some flowers and genetic material, then please do. Now that we will have islands, I want to make one with more Tufon flora and Fauna so you can get your Hurnsa; buy the whole genetic sample of the ecosystem system from the Hurnsa down to the grass the prey eats, and we can see if we can''t get it done.  And that island will be a primary Tufon, so we might build a village there. Let''s just call them refugees, if you get my drift.  I might have one for the Haran¡¯s later.¡±

    ¡°That¡¯s going to cost some credits, probably 10,000 credits.¡±

    Adam looked at him, confused. ¡°Yes? And?¡±

    Roks shook his head as Kina came out. She smiled. ¡°What are you guys talking about?¡±

    ¡°He wants us to go home and buy the genetic material for a Tufan island so we won''t feel homesick at Dirt,¡± Roks said with a grin, and Adam just nodded.

    ¡°You got me. Now go have fun. I have to fix a few things, and I expect I won''t see you for at least a month or two.¡±

    ¡°Aye sir!¡± Kina said, and Roks just grinned.

    He left them and watched them leave, then checked on Dream. The ship was in great state, and D06 made itself known, awaiting orders. He told it to wait and monitor his vital signs. If he ceased to exist to document it, send the documentation to Min-Na and Dirt, then return to Dirt awaiting further orders, unless He gave him new orders. The Hub was safe, but now he had grown bigger and he had to worry about the megacorporation who might just want to take over the operation. It was a risk to show the plans to Min-Na. She could betray him to make a few extra credits.  He had to ensure she would see him as a better long-term investment.

    He went to check the goods terminal and saw that the first batch of cargo from Earth had arrived, so he transferred it to Dream. He had barely filled one cargo section with the load, but the droids were the newest on the market, and he knew Vorts would go crazy to play with the cloning machine he had bought.  The DNA prints contained over a million different samples, everything from plants and bugs to all types of animals; each sample type came with 30 different DNA strands to ensure variations. He glanced at the different types of entertainment; the kids would love the games, books, and movies he had bought. 500 Exabytes of each media should be enough to keep them entertained.  He checked the ship again and went to sleep; the next day, he went to Min-Na for a chat.  She greeted him and introduced him to some of her other employees. They discussed different business opportunities and investments he could invest in. One of her lawyers, a Haran named Hart-nei, mentioned the slave companies, and Adam just stared at him. Min-Na explained that while Adam had made a fantastic short-term contract that several of their clients had copied when they wanted to buy free friends, he himself was actually quite against slavery.

    Another lawyer, a beautiful humanoid orange alien with long silky black hair and golden eyes that he recognized as a Scisya, looked at him surprised and asked why he had bought so many then. Min-Na smiled as Adam looked back at her.  Her species was one of the most sought-after slaves due to their sensuality. ¡°Because I intend to free them all.¡±

    ¡°Even the one with a life sentence?¡± She asked, and Adam nodded.Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site.

    ¡°Even them.¡± Min-Na said.

    ¡°How?¡± She tilted slightly and could not help but look even more sensual.

    ¡°Now, Mis-jin, do not seduce our client.¡± Min-Na interrupted, and Adam smiled.

    He turned to Min-Na. ¡°Look, I don¡¯t mind a beautiful lady. And neither do you, my dear Min-Na. And I don¡¯t mind answering as you already know it.¡± He turned back to Mis-Jin, who seemed to blush. It was clear she had not intended to seduce him.

    ¡°I''m human; we don¡¯t allow slavery, and we simply do not accept it. When my colony is up and running, we will declare it a slave-free system. Being a human, I can gain Earth¡¯s support, which would mean any attack on Dirt would be an attack on Earth¡¯s sovereignty. I will, at that point, lose Dirt to Earth, and they will appoint an administrator to take my place while I will be jailed for keeping slaves.¡±

    ¡°What? You are going to free the slaves just so you can go to jail?¡± She looked shocked.

    Adam nodded. ¡°Roks will take over the clan and the business in my absence; I will be jailed for between 10 to 30 years unless I have some good lawyers to get the case tossed.¡±

    ¡°And if you win the case? Do you still lose Dirt?¡± Hart-nei asked.

    ¡°If I win, then I become the true owner of Dirt, can choose my title, and control it with Earth''s protection. Earth might want a presence here.  With any luck, a few human companies will also set up shop here. That¡¯s where the opportunities will come. I might be able to interest Ares Company* to set up at least a shop here.¡±  He replied, and Hart-nei looked at Min-Na with greedy eyes, and she simply smiled.

    ¡°Wait, you¡¯re willing to risk everything to free the slaves? Tell me, were you born or made?¡± Mis-jin asked, and Adam shrugged.

    ¡°Does it matter?¡± Adam replied.

    ¡°Not really; well, my people have this legend, prophecy about a stranger from far away, he who was made. He is supposed first to free his own people, then travel the dark sea until he comes to our land, there he will build a home from nothing and then die to protect the bound. He will be killed, but his mate will bring him back. Then, he will face the hammer, and when it strikes, our world will change, and we will no longer fear to be bound. It¡¯s a kid''s tale, but the point is we have been waiting for that guy for centuries. We call him Jad-him. So, I just want to know if you were made and if you have a mate who is a sort of healer?¡± She looked at him seriously, and Adam chuckled.

    ¡°I have no mate, so it can''t be me. Besides, If I die, you won''t be able to bring me back; I''m just human.¡±

    She bowed her head, ¡°I''m sorry, it was way out of line.¡±

    Min-Na grinned. ¡°What was it that farmer called you?¡±

    ¡°Galios, another legend. It¡¯s just because I''m a stranger from afar with strange ideas. ¡° Adam smiled at that.

    ¡°Next, somebody will probably claim he is Kasus.¡± Hart-nei added, and Min-Na burst out laughing.

    ¡°Him? The peacebringer?  The one who finds the path to Hissian?¡±  They all laughed and Adam didn¡¯t get it.

    ¡°Who is Kasus, and what¡¯s Hissian?¡± He asked, and Minna smiled.

    ¡°Another legend is from the Haran mythos. You can say Kasus is our saviour who will befriend the universe, and the universe will let him open the door to Hissian. That is where all our Paradis worlds are hidden because we did not deserve them. He will wash away our sins and let us pass. Oh, and he will also die for this and be resurrected by the one who loves him the most and pushes him hardest.  The galaxy has many such myths, and there is always somebody claiming to be this guy.¡±

    Adam laughed. ¡°Well, I just want to help my friends; the whole galaxy seems a little out of my reach.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, so let''s get back to business. Human companies on Dirt!¡± Min-Na said, and Adam focused on her, missing the look Mis-Jin gave him.

    He spent several more days on the Hub talking to the professors and ended up with twenty-five new students and three assistant professors to join him. Before he left, he went to Soshu, the trader, and emptied his stocks again, both to his joy and annoyance, as Adam had not changed and almost gave him a heart attack with his unusual way of doing business. He was about to leave when he walked past the slave pen and, to his shock, saw the new stock coming in. Thirty Scisya children and seven adults. Before he knew it, he stood inside; he saw too much suffering. When he left, he cursed himself. He had bought the whole lot, a hundred and fifty new slaves. Then he stopped and walked back inside. He took the trader,Mr. Knug, aside and told him he had a better offer. He could provide human-designed droids that would sell for a much higher profit.  He showed him the design of a maid droid and sold him on the lack of extra cost with storage. The droid didn¡¯t need food or care.

    The Wossir owner was interested when Adam discussed the profit margin. He also noticed that Adam was human, and another human in the sector had targeted pirates and slavers, so the cost of buying them for resale was higher.  Adam contacted Min-Na and drew up a contract. Adam made a few adjustments, and Min-Na was quite impressed. The man had not noticed that he had sold the company to Adam for the price of the slaves and a million credits. The Adam now owned the slave license and the warehouses. Adam told him to keep the pens empty while he worked on restocking the wares.

    When he finally left, he messaged Jork about building a droid factory to mass-produce the maid and construction droids.

    When Adam arrives at Dirt, he gets a message from Mr. Knug. He has orders for one thousand droids and asks about delivery time. Adam sighed as he looked down at Dirt. Well, at least he is home.

    He watched in silence as the three other ships'' decedent and a ten cubic kilometer ice cube of nitrogen were being turned into gas in low orbit. He also thought he saw the beginning of a large satellite with a construction platform. He started regretting letting engineers loose. What the hell would be the next thing those idiots would make him? They don¡¯t have enough for a space station.

 Project Dirt Part 21 - Factory and delivery

    Vorts and Dara just looked at him as Adam led the newcomers inside, and then Dara started to laugh.

    ¡°What are you laughing about?¡± Adam asked as he went over to them and watched as the newcomer was helped.

    Mir-Na cared for the students and the old Bylgyno priest, whom Adam had completely forgotten for a moment. What was his name again? Masos something. Meses Poter. Yeah, that¡¯s who. Then he remembered why he didn¡¯t want to think about him. He was the guy behind the damn prophecies¡¯ speech, he was a nice guy, and his wife was the local teacher, Arah Poter; she was ready to help with the children.

    ¡°We just wondered what you would bring back this time. What happened?¡± Dara said.

    ¡°I bought the slave pen. We are going to turn it into a droid shop.¡± He walked with them as they were stunned and then ran after him.

    ¡°You did what?¡± Vorts said.

    ¡°I saw the kids being dragged in, and I just couldn''t leave it be. But if I bought them, he would think there was a market for them and buy more, so to stop that from happening, I had to buy the damn shop. I kinda tricked him, so now I own the shop, and he has 10%.  Anyway, I need to talk to Jork about it. We need a droid factory that is up and running fast. Where is he anyway?¡±

    ¡°Oh, he is in the Admin working on your projects.¡± Vorts replied, ¡°So, how many did you buy?¡±

    ¡°All of them, hundred and fifty in all. It will be you two who have to find them some new jobs. Go over them and let me know if there are any hardened criminals we need to be aware of. Is there anything you might think I would like to know?  At least fifteen people came through the court system, but I was too busy dealing with everybody to review it properly. Beside the one I looked at said eatery, life punishment.¡±

    ¡°Shitt, eatery? That means they ate somebody. I guess we have to use the jail room this base has.¡±

    ¡°Yeah, go over all of them. I don¡¯t want any surprises.¡± Adam replied and went to find Jork.

    ¡°Wait, you spent a whole week with them and didn¡¯t check it?¡± Dara asked.

    Adam stopped and looked at her. ¡°I put the all those from the criminal system in hanger D alone with D05, now nicknamed Kus-ja by the guys, whatever that means. Anyway, that means everything from politicians and petty theft to violent crime and then I focused on the others. They behaved and watched movies for the duration, so they were not on my mind with all the kids and constant questions from the academics. To be honest, I want to sleep for a few days; I''m dead tired.¡±

    ¡°Kus-ja ? sounds like the guard of hell in the Haran hell. Was it a Haran who named him?¡± She asked.

    ¡°Yeah, a guy named Sig-San. Anyway, I need to talk to Jork.¡±

    He found Jork in the admin with Miker on his neck. He walked over and picked up Miker, who hugged him and climbed up on his shoulder instead. ¡°Missed me?¡±

    ¡°What this talk about building a droid factory and producing 1500 hundred maids for shipping?¡± Jork turned to look at him and then smiled. ¡° And yeah, we all missed you. Saw you found some more strays. What did you do? Emptied the slave pens?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, and if we don''t finish and ship 1500 maid droids and 500 construction droids within a week, they will start filling up again. I don¡¯t trust that bastard to follow his instructions.¡±

    ¡°Wait, you bought the slave pens? That must have cost a fortune.¡±

    ¡°Business was down, hard to get slaves. So I got it cheap and we are going to use that to make people buy droids instead.¡±

    Jork chuckled. ¡°They will maybe switch into clonedroid at the most; they like the fleshy parts, you know. Droids feel too hard; that¡¯s one of the reasons we use slaves.¡±

    Adam smirked and called the new science droid; it looked like a human made out of metal with two slits for eyes.  ¡°Meet SD-1¡±

    A metallic voice replied. ¡°A pleasure to meet you sir.¡±

    Jork looked at the droid and back to Adam. ¡°Metal.¡±

    ¡°I know, SD-1, I would like you to change your appearance, I think to Albert Einstein.¡±

    ¡°As they spoke, a soft gel was poured out from several tiny holes around the droid, slowly transforming the metal droid into a perfect copy of Albert Einstein. Jork stood up, surprised.If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it.

    ¡°How does it feel to the touch?¡± He asked.

    ¡°You can feel for yourself self,¡±The droid replied in a slight German accent, and Jork just looked at Adam, confused.

    ¡®Einstein¡¯ held out his hand and Jork touched it and then touched his arm and face and hair.

    ¡°It feels real; what is this?¡±

    ¡°It''s called Mudskin. It¡¯s an organic plastic that can emulate any type of skin and hair. It is very popular on Halloween masks.  The best part is that the base version has expired the copyright and license claim. So we can claim it for our Maid droid. We just need scans and texture samples, which we really can get here or in media.¡±

    ¡°What is Halloween, never mind, yeah This will take care of most of the slaves'' use. But you''re missing a big market share. You know. The one they wanted to put Skee and her sisters into.¡± Jork looked at him, trying to keep it kid-friendly around his son.

    ¡°That can also be scanned and implemented. The mudskin droids were originally made for those kinds of bots.  It won''t remove the market, but there will be a significant decrease. But there are always some idiots around; trust me, I know.¡± Adam replied as he looked at the droid.

    ¡°Einstein. You are now the personal assistant to Jork Virk, helping him with developing a mudskin prototype for his design of Maid droids.¡±

    ¡°Affirmative,¡± Einstein replied, and Adam smiled and turned to Jork. ¡°Now about the factory. What can we use? You guys built something inside that mountain, right? Can you make those tunnels breathable and set up a factory there?¡±

    Jork thought about it. ¡°Yeah, there is a half-finished droid face.. wait, you knew, you bastard. ¡°

    ¡°Yeah, I knew, and that¡¯s why we can do this. You focus on that one now. You have a week to get the factory up and running; we have five new worker droids, the newest model. And I emptied out Soshu¡¯s shop again, so that is 20 more low-level construction droids. As well. All yours to command and build me that factory. ¡°

    Jork looked at him. ¡± And what are you going to do?¡±

    ¡°Spend time with Miker and have pizza, then I have a few academic meetings, check on the crops, and give Vorts some instructions. After that, sleep.¡±

    ¡°Pizza Pizza,¡± Miker said, and Jork chuckled.

    ¡°I¡¯ll get it done; this takes priority, right? I might need some more engineers.¡±

    ¡°Yes, Take as many engineers as you need for this. You guys drive me nuts anyway,¡± Adam replied as he picked up Miker. Miker looked at the droid and smiled strangely.

    Adam and Miker went to the kitchen to make Pizza, which the kids learned about. So, there were a lot of pizzas and something new called hamburgers. Adam realized it was too late and should have waited to teach them about that. At least the kids didn¡¯t find out about the ice cream machine. He had Skee and Dara come to take over the kids'' party before heading to the academics wing, filled with life as the new students settled. He found Mir-Na talking to the assistant professor, and they ended up having a quite boring meeting about the framework of what they could and could not do as well as what they got access to. Their liaison would be Vorts, and then Adam left to find him.

    Vorts was busy at the Admin going over the now growing number of projects, silently cursing at the new highly priority project as he muttered under his breath, not knowing Adam was standing behind him. ¡° What the hell is he thinking? One week, is he expecting a miracle?¡±

    ¡°Yeah, he must be a complete idiot,¡± Adam replied, and Vorts stopped dead, looked at him, and then smiled.

    ¡°Yeah, you are. What can I help you with?¡± Vorts replied, and Adam smiled as he sat down next to him.

    ¡°Oh, there are more projects. I bought you a new cloning machine. Here is the new project that I was thinking about.¡±

    He put it in the memory storage, and the computer showed the planet with the projected sea levels. Then, several islands were highlighted, between 80 000 to 150 000 square kilometers. ¡°I want each of these islands to reflect a specific homeworld. People are going to miss home, so this one will be Tufon, that one should be Haran, and so forth. There are twenty of these islands besides the continent.  So, you need to make projects for it. Use the students if you want, oh, and I have a present. ¡° He called a science droid for him. ¡°This is Darwin; he will be your personal assistant.¡± The metal droid slowly turned into an old Charles Darwin as he spoke. ¡°You can change his looks if you want, but he currently only has famous human scientists stored. You can change the age as well. Have fun. I''m going to sleep. ¡° Adam laughed manically as he left but stopped as Vorts simply shook his head and didn¡¯t get the joke.

    He slept for a whole day, and when he woke, he was met by Jork in the Admin. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you tell me that your engineer droids are made of nanotech that can print simple structures?¡±

    Adam sighed; he had feared that, Einstein must have told him. ¡°Because it takes a lot of energy, you need all the materials ready before they start.  And I fear what you will do with that knowledge.¡±

    Jork grinned. ¡°The factory will finish in two days to produce in two days. Production will be a hundred per hour.  So, who do we send to deliver because it won''t be you? We must build more buildings before we let you loose; you might come home with a thousand new settlers.¡±

    Adam grinned. ¡°I have to go to introduce the new droids. I¡¯ll try not to come back with that many.¡±

    Vorts looked at him from his desk and shook his head. ¡°Focusing on Project city. Dome or underground?¡±

    ¡°Domed, and make it one of those farm villages. We are going to need more of them. You got about a month?¡±

    ¡°God damn, Chaos Walker, I want to say it can''t be done, but I know you will make me do it anyway.¡°

    Adam laughed and stopped, ¡°I need a cat to stroke! I can''t be an evil villain without one.¡±

    The crew looked confused at each other, and Adam realized that the administration was now filled with workers who did different work. One of the farmers was remotely overlooking the farms, and students were working on controlling the nitrogen program, among other things.

    So, he left to find something to do. How did he end up with so many people working for him? He checked his credit account and saw it had grown. He had spent over 5 million credit, and his investments and the presales of the droid had eaten up the loss and increased his wealth, not to mention the presales of the drones Jork had made.  He went to the farm dome and looked at the crop, then started to work, helping the workers. He needed to do something else than think. Yeah, some hard work with dirt would do him good.

 Project Dirt Part 22 - unexpected visitors

    When Adam docked at the Hub, he was met by Mr. Knug with his two bodyguards; Adam walked over to them. Mr. Knut looked around and saw three droids with Adam.

    ¡°Nobody else? No bodyguard?¡± Mr. Knug asked, and Adam smiled.

    ¡°Archangel, here is my bodyguard. He is quite enough. Besides, we are at the hub. We are all civilized, right? The worst I should fear is a lawsuit.¡± As he spoke, D01 changed its name tag to ¡®Archangel.¡¯

    ¡°Yes, we are mostly safe, Mr. Wrangler. Did you bring the wares?¡± He looked around, and Adam nodded.

    ¡°These two will be your promotion droids. I have 2000 maid droids and 2000 construction droids in the hull. We can talk about other designs at your office.¡±

    ¡°The maid droid does not look like much; they won''t sell much.¡± Mr. Knug said, and Adam just smirked.

    ¡°Are you sure? Scisya slaves are the most popular for such work, right?¡±

    Mr. Knug smiled and nodded. ¡° Yeah, they sure are easy to¡­ wow¡­ what?¡±

    As he spoke, the Maid turned into a very exotic-looking Scisya woman. Adam just smiled. ¡°She is fully functional. If you know what I mean, or do you want a male version?¡± The droid turned from female to male.

    ¡°Perhaps is the hair color wrong? You want one with blue hair?¡± As he spoke, the droid changed its hair color to blue. Then Adam turned to the droid. ¡°Return to factory setting, please.¡±

    Mr. Knug just stared, lost for words, as the droid turned back to its original shape, a plastic version of a bipedal android.

    ¡°Shall we go to your office? We can talk about all the settings and apps that we can add. ¡°

    Mr. Knug shook himself out of shock. ¡°Yeah, this one will sell. Let us go to the office.¡±

    Adam ensured that Mr. Heri-ro-ro joined them; he wanted somebody on his side in this discussion. Adam explained how the Maid Droid worked when they got to the office. He could see Mr. Knug plotting, and Adam started to get worried. It was late into the evening when he had enough.

    ¡°Look, I don¡¯t know how many times we have to go over it. No, you don¡¯t get access to the MudSkin formula or the nano processor, and honestly, I do not know why you even ask. If you sell those, I will sue you for three times what they offered you, and they will most likely kill you to hide their source. You are now part of my company, which will introduce the Mudskin to this part of the galaxy, and our competition will be months behind us before they can produce this quality.¡± He was tired as he shifted in the chair, and suddenly, the door opened, and Mr. Knug lowered his head.

    ¡°I''m sorry, they threatened to kill me if I didn¡¯t keep you here.¡± He said, and Adam simply let out a deep breath.

    Adam looked over the newcomers. Five lawyers stood at the door; it was clear from their stance and clothes and Mr Heri-ro-ro''s reaction as he saw them.

    ¡°Mr. Jar-Mork, I see you brought your cheerleaders.¡± He said then Mr Heri-ro-ro turned to Mr. Knug.

    ¡°I see what happened. I think you should leave and let Mr. Wrangler and I deal with them.¡±

    Adam looked at his lawyer and then at Mr. Knug and gave him a nod. ¡°Put the droids in the storage and start the sales according to plan. We will talk about this later.¡±

    Mr. Knug left quickly, and Adam looked at the new lawyers. ¡°And what may I help you with?¡±

    The identified lawyer sat down opposite Adam and took out a pad. ¡°You can sell your company to the Mugga Corporation; we have put together a fair offer.¡± He handed it to Adam, who looked to Mr. Heri-ro-ro, who took the pad, looked at it, and laughed.

    ¡°That¡¯s not even close to what the company is worth. It¡¯s actually an insult.¡± He said, finding the offer amusing.

    ¡°It¡¯s the best offer he will get; he is growing too big too fast, and you know it. Your boss has been hiding him, but there are rumours about him. His last sales of minerals, his investments, and how his contract have been circulating. He is getting dangerous. And now this. He was buying up a slave pen and changing it to a droid company. We would normally ignore such foolishness if it weren¡¯t for how many clients he got. That put him on our radar; every mega-corporation has now seen what happened on the dock as he came in. We all saw his droid, and they all will want a piece of it.¡± The lawyer completely ignored Adam and speking to Mr. heri-ro-ro. Mr. Heri-ro-ro calm ly turned to Adam.This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

    ¡°Looks like you ruffled some feather, Sir. What do you want to do about this?¡±

    Adam thought for a moment, then smiled. ¡°Sell¡­ ¡°Mr. Jar-Mok smiled, but then the smile vanished as Adam continued. ¡°Sell more droids, of course. Yes, I offer something new, and from where I¡¯m from, That leaves you with two choices: adapt or go broke. These new droids are coming to the market with or without me. You¡¯re forgetting I¡¯m just one human. Do you think I¡¯m the only one? ¡°

    He looked at the lawyers behind Mr. Jar-Mok. ¡°You represent a giant company and their interests. Why try to crush me when you could work with me? You come here trying to threaten me? That will not work, so please leave and let us sell our goods. This conversation has, of course, been recorded. If anything happens to Mr. Knug, this shop, or its customer, then I have to inform the federal government about your attempt to sabotage commerce. You might win, but you will have to go to court, which will drag on for a long time. Your company¡¯s enemy would love to help us kick you off the hub, as you would them. So please leave and next time you come to visit. Show some manners. The smart ones bring gifts, not treaths. ¡°

    Jar-Mok smirked,¡± It will be hard to prove that in court. There isn¡¯t any recording device in this room that works.¡±

    ¡°Archangel, did you record the conversation?¡± Adam said, and a small hologram of the room appeared between him and Jar-Mok, showing the whole conversation.

    ¡°Humans had the same problem when we used our jammers against alien tech. It¡¯s not that ours is better, it¡¯s just too alien for your jammers.¡°Adam smiled and stood up. ¡°So, now that it¡¯s proven, let¡¯s start a new one next time I¡¯m at the hub, and maybe we can negotiate a beneficial deal between us. You¡¯re, after all, a mega-corporation, and there are things I would like to change that your guys can help me with.¡±

    Jar-mok stood up, smiling. ¡°Like what? ¡°

    ¡°Well, an alternative to slavery that would be profitable for all of us.¡±

    ¡°We got Clone-droids for that, and we still have slaves. People prefer alive people; droids are simple AI¡¯s and not as good as a person¡¯s natural cognitive process.¡± Jar-Mok said, and Adam sighed.

    ¡°Guess so? Still, what we offer is cheaper and doesn¡¯t require a growth period; the factory can spit out a thousand a day now, probably a hundred thousand within a year. Maybe I¡¯m wrong and go bankrupt, or I might be right and do pretty well. We will see. So, let¡¯s just agree to wait and see then.¡± Adam replied.

    ¡°I guess so. Let¡¯s hope you stay safe until we find out. Here is some friendly advice: There are lots of pirates who are already upset with you. Apparently, you killed one of their pirate lords as he was traveling incognito with his brides. If his men find out where you are, they will attack and enslave you all. Have a nice day.¡± Jar-Mok said as he stood up and left the office.

    Adam looked after him and then to Mr. Heri-ro-ro as they were alone. ¡°Did he really threaten me with pirates after I showed him everything was recorded?¡±

    Mr. Heri-ro-ro chuckled. ¡°Yes, and it was meant as a friendly warning. It can only be used against him and his company if you actually get attacked by pirates. Mugga Corp will claim he acted on his own. But give me a copy of this meeting and I will start building a case if something happens.¡± Adam agreed, and Archangel sent Mr. Heri-ro-ro a copy. Then, Adam talked to Mr. Knug about what had happened. He found out several of the corporations had sent lawyers; some had wanted to invest, and others tried to push them out. Which was strange as the goods were not even on the market yet.

    Adam told him that he should contact Mr. Heri-ro-ro the next time this happens. Now, he should start selling the droids. If pirates came by, he should tell them the truth. You don¡¯t know where my location is, but they can leave a contact, and Adam will get in touch with them. He smiled as he left. Anyone who was stupid enough to do that would be leaking to Kira; he just needed to find a way to contact her.

    After that he contacted Min-Na and explained the current situation, she insisted on sending a couple of media personnel and federation inspector to Dirt for inspection. If they could approve of his operation they could apply for military protection from pirates, as they now had a credible threat.

    The argument lasted two hours, and in the end, Adam had seven journalists, five inspectors, two lawyers, and a law clerk to inspect the office at his base. Well, at least the trip back was interesting.

    Both Mis-Jin and Hart-Nei did their best to help him navigate the media personnel, who were doing their best to discover everything they could about this human.

    Adam was fed up when they entered the system. One of the media personnel had started to talk about the chaos that came to bring order and life to the dead world. Adam laughed and said, ¡°Another one? Does this guy die, too?¡± After that, they tried to find out what he meant with another one and had already heard about Cansha. Adam quickly changed the subject and did his best to avoid the media; they were crazy.

    Instead, he focused on showing them what they had done. The inspectors were impressed and discussed the potential for a new large-scale industry. Adam played it down when he saw the Nitrogen cubes had grown in size to 75 cubic kilometers and that there was a steady stream going toward Dirt.

    When they landed, Vorts and Jork met them. Vorts looked at the media following Adam and then at Jork. ¡°Looks like Kaina won the bet. She will be happy.¡±

    Adam spent the rest of the day guiding them around the facility and answering questions. The next day, he let them wander around by themselves because they wanted to do some interviews without him hovering nearby. He had somebody watching them anyway because he didn¡¯t trust any of media.

    Roks and Kina arrived the next day with a full cargo and lots of good news. Several groups would like to settle at Dirt, so they wanted to make sure it was okay with Adam before they brought them here. Adam said it was, of course, okay, and they would pick them up when the inspectors and media returned to the hub.

    The next day, he was sitting down at lunch when the alarm went off, and he contacted Surn, who was in the admin room on control duty.

    ¡°Surn? What¡¯s the alarm about? What¡¯s happened?¡±

    ¡°We got five inbound ships, sir! Military ships, Sir. They just blew up the observation satellite. They missed the secondary system. I think they are pirates, sir!¡±

 Project Dirt 23 â€“ Pirates and Angels

    ¡°Are you sure?¡± Adam was out of his chair and ran towards the admin. Roks was already there when he came in and looked at the screen as five ships approached Dirt. The ships were bigger than a Dream; he would guess corvettes or frigates, but the first was a Destroyer.  Roks called for the fighters to take off, and one of the new crewmates took over for Surn as he ran to get ready.

    ¡°ETA?¡±  Adam asked as Surn left his seat.

    ¡°One hour, sir!¡±  Kanus, a Dushins former communications officer, replied as he sat down. He had taken over for Surn. Adam had barely time to notice as Kywar commanded ten of the children into the drone room.

    ¡°Okay, everybody, calm down, open a channel, and start preparing the Dream for take-off with the children. If necessary, the Evacuation will be toward the Galileo colony.¡±

    Vorts looked at him. ¡°That¡¯s six months away. ¡°

    ¡°Yes, but it''s the nearest human coloney so it¡¯s safe from slavers. If they invade, you can escape there and live free at least. Now open the channel.¡±

    The room looked at him briefly as if they realized he had not included himself in the plan, and then Kanus opened the channel.

    ¡°Channel open, sir.¡± He said, and Adam nodded and looked at the screen.

    ¡°Hello. My name is Adam Wrangler, and I am the administrator of this sector. Who am I addressing?¡±

    The screen suddenly jumps to life, and for a second, Adam though that fader Kungo Mutt had survived, but this one looked younger.

    ¡°I am Captain Jargy Mutt of the Lainran pirates. I think you met my father? I have come to avenge him and take what is mine.¡±  They could barely see the bridge, but what they saw looked strange. The ship looked new, almost as if it had just come straight from the factory.

    ¡°So you¡¯re the son of Kungo Mutt? You know he planned to have me kill and steal my ship. I only defended myself and my property according to the intergalactic law. If you have any grievances, then bring them up with law enforcers. You can even sue me if you believe my reaction was unfair, but if you attack me then you give me the right to defend myself, my clan, my guests, and my property.¡± Adam tried to act calm; if he could make this fool believe he had a proper defense, then they might have a chance of leaving without bloodshed.

    Captain Jargy laughed. ¡°They will all soon be mine to sell to the highest bidder. I already have buyers for you; you are quite a prize.¡±

    ¡°I guess we have nothing more to talk about now.¡± Adam cut the communication and turned to Roks. ¡°What do we have ready?¡±

    ¡°We can start with drones; once those are exhausted, the kids can run to the ships. All the men and women who can fight are armed. My squad can probably take out one or two of the smaller ones, but the frigates and Destroyer might be impossible. We need to ready your droids. Well, two of them took off.¡±

    ¡°Took off?¡± He turned to the Archangel, who was next to him. ¡°Why?¡±

    ¡°Defense of the system, sir. They will attempt boarding one of the frigates and use it to crash into the Destroyer.¡±

    Adam sighted. ¡°Did you run this by Roks?¡±

    ¡°No, why?¡± Archangel replied.

    ¡°Because he is second in command and security officer, if I''m incapacitated, you follow his orders. But yes that¡¯s a good plan, hide behind the nitrogen cubes.  The last three stay here. Have one defend the children.¡±

    The droid¡¯s blue light lights up briefly as the new information is uploaded; Roks nods and then turns his attention to the screen. ¡°We hide the ship with the youngest children under the volcano ash. Anybody left here after 30 is here to fight. ¡° A countdown of 30 minutes showed up on all screen and instructions to bring the youngest children to safety. Then Roks looked at the media and inspectors and smirked. ¡°Or to observe, though I don¡¯t think the pirates will care, probably kill you to ensure you can''t witness. So, make up your mind. Stay or go to the hangar now.¡±

    Adam walked into the drone room, saw Kywar, and winked at him. ¡°Crash mode is activated; give them hell; focus on the smallest ships.¡± Kywar cheered and started barking orders to the other kids. The media had no plans to leave, as they were too busy recording everything. The inspectors wanted access to the communication, but Kanus told them it was jammed. It seemed like pirates had access to military-level tech.

    Kina reported that the scanners showed the Frigates were of Haran design and the Destroyer was a Tufon design, the latest model. As she reported, the drones attacked, and suddenly, there were only four ships left as a corvette had been bombarded by kamikaze drones. They could hear the wild cheers from the room next, and Adam could not help but smile a little. The second corvette was more prepared and moved closer to the Frigates as the drones tried to take it out again. Kina used the opportunity to attack the Frigate, and the heavy bomber managed to damage one of the frigates so much that they changed their focus towards her and her fighter escort, which gave the kids the opening they needed. Drones bombarded and booth ships, and they started to implode.  Adam smiled as this seemed to go their way.

    ¡°Ship inbounds! It looks like they called for reinforcement.  It¡¯s a Bylgyno carrier. God damn it, they are launching fighters.¡±

    Both Roks and Jork cursed. Adam looked at them. ¡°What?¡±

    ¡°My people really liked drones; each of those fighters will have ten drones as escorts.  Remove our squad and use the drones against them. If we are lucky, we can keep them from reaching the planet.¡° Jork replied, ¡°They are going to swarm us. The fighters are better suited as escorts. Now, we can use the nitrogen cubes against the carrier. I have an idea. I¡¯ll take control of the drones drones.  Get the kids out.¡±

    Adam turned to the droid next to him. ¡°You¡¯re the Bodyguard; make sure the children are safe, defend them, and escort them to the ship now!¡± The droid''s nametag changed, and they immediately walked in to get Kywar and the kids. He could hear them try to protest, but the droid ignored everything they said and ordered them to the ship. Adam looked at the result; the kids had aimed at the fighters with their drones, and the pilots found out that a kid playing video games can be quite dangerous when given access to a kamikaze drone. The Pirate pilots started to follow Kina but kept falling out of range, but not from Kina''s heavy fighter, and she kept the fighters at a distance, picking out the fighters one by one.

    ¡°If any of you want to leave, you leave now. I will try negotiating, but I fear we might have to fight out of this one.¡±  Jork gave Mirker to Skee Laf and told her to keep him safe. Adam smiled as he saw how Jork tenderly caressed Skees¡¯ face. They had connected, and he was happy for him. He was about to order him to follow, but he knew he would ignore that order. Instead, he focused on the task. The Destroyer was getting dangerously close to Dirt, and they saw the two droids make contact with the frigate on the screen.  They seemed to cause full panic on the ship, but the Destroyer shot the frigate with several Ion canons; the frigate stopped its erratic movement and just floated, dead in space.

    This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report itRoks cursed, and Jork sat down to work. ¡°Carrier in range, moving the icecube now.

    They watched on the screen as the Carrier was rammed but didn¡¯t break. Instead, it started to push back as the drones and ships started to shoot away at the drones pushing the giant ice cube.  Jork maneuverer all the free drones behind the carrier, creating a blanket of static drones as a second ice cube came into position, and the carrier ship was crushed between them, to Adam¡¯s surprise. It was as if the carrier had no idea the second icecube was approaching. The Destroyer was now only five minutes away.

    Adam looked at Jork, who turned to the screen and turned the lasers that were used to cut melt the ice cube towards the Destroyer, but the moment they turned towards the ship, the destroyer blasted the whole giant ice cube and the drone there.

    ¡°Shitt!¡± Adam said as a shot was fired from the destroyer in orbit, hitting the ground outside the base. Leaving a large crater in front of the base.

    ¡°Damnit, we can''t fight them like this; we need to get them down on the ground. Call him up again.¡±

    Kanus turned the channel again, and Adam looked at the screen. ¡°Okay, you made your point. I surrender to you.  You have to come down to get me.¡±

    ¡°That was always the plan. Stand down as I call the rest of my fleet.¡± Then he cut the communication as Kanus looked at the screen. Three more ships entered the system; wait, make that four; that last one is a beast; why did they keep that one back?¡±

    Adam looked at Roks. ¡°Once he is down, I will go out and talk to him; try to stall; you get the men in position; if we can get the ship, we might have a chance.¡± He turned to Kanus. ¡°What were the other ships?¡±

    Kanus checked the data. ¡°Two transports, one more frigate, and the last looks like a Destroyer or carrier, or a mix of the two. Never seen that type before. Heavily armed thought and fast ¡°

    Roks looked at Jork. ¡°Once we engage the pirates, you start going after those transports and frigates with everything. We get the destroyer and try to take out the last one.¡±

    Adam agreed to the plan, went down to suit up, armed himself, and went to meet the pirate.

    He watched as the destroyer made its way to the surface. It was a giant ship, about 500 meters long, looking like a giant hammer. When the ship touched down, he walked out. He just hoped the others were in position. He looked at Archangel, who suddenly stopped, and he could see its blue lights blinking. Great time for an update. He cursed silently as he walked out.

    The ramp from the destroyer opened, and he saw a group of pirates walking out. Above them, in the distance, he thought he could see four dots approaching. They needed to do this fast.

    Captain Jargy stopped five meters from him. ¡°Are you Adam Wrangler?¡±

    ¡°Yes, and I¡­¡± Adam didn¡¯t hear the shoot or felt it. He just saw the pistol and the flash. He touches his side, right side, the lower rib; there was blood and¡­ but ¡­. He could hear the pirate say something, but all he could see was the four dots. No, now there were two dots, one dot? What happened to the other dots?

    Then he fell, and then darkness came.

    Dara screamed as she saw it. The bastard had just shot him. She barely noticed the firefight had started, and she didn¡¯t care. She ran out of the administration, ignoring everybody as she grabbed her Emergency kit. She heard the shouting and screaming behind her, but she had only one goal: to get to Adam; there might still be hope. When she broke out of the door and stepped out of the base, she suddenly saw something fall from the sky.

    It was humanoid and landed on top of Adam, took out something that looked like a medkit, and kneeled down to examine him. The Pirates were about to shoot at it when ten metallic shapes dropped around Adam, forming a protective shield; she immediately recognized them. They were human battle droids, like the one Adam had. But this beauty was newer and slightly bigger. They immediately engaged the enemy; she saw Roks looking confused and then grinned as he started barking out orders that these new droids followed.  The person with Adam picked him up like a child and carried him toward her.

    ¡°You are Dara, right? The medic, let''s go. He needs the medical station.¡±

    Dara looked at this metallic warrior with a slightly feminine voice, then saw 30 more dropping from the giant ship hovering over them.  ¡®Adam¡¯s Ark¡¯ was written alongside the symbol of the United Human Colonies.   She realized these were humans, human soldiers, and they had come for Adam.  Right now, she only needed to focus on saving him, and they both ran inside.  Inside, the crew was looking as they made it inside the medical bay.  Everybody followed them as they got him inside and quickly got him out of the suit. The human was clearly not a doctor but knew how to activate the different programs, so she called for a doctor Jansen. She had removed her helmet now, and Dara was stunned. Her beauty rivalled the Scisya, and it didn¡¯t make sense; Adam looked dead, but this woman was talking to him.

    ¡°No no no! You don¡¯t get to die on me now, you fucking bastard. I will kill you if you do! DO YOU UNDERSTAND!¡± She hit his chest in pure frustration, and a jolt of electricity jumped from the woman''s fist and made Adam shock, and she saw on the monitor a heartbeat; Dara pushed the woman away. ¡°I got this!¡± She started to work as a human man came in. He saw what she was doing and immediately started to assist as he shouted to the woman. ¡°Major, get out of here. There is nothing more you can do here. You have to secure the area.¡°

    The woman looked at Adam, and saw the heartbeat and smiled. ¡° You damn fool¡­¡± Then she grabbed her helmet, put it on, and left.

    Adam woke up in a bed feeling like shit, but he didn¡¯t open his eyes. Instead, he tried to breath; it was painful. He knew he wasn¡¯t dead, the pain clearly told him so, it was so painful to move. He touched his side, where he knew he had been shot. It felt weird. He slowly opened his eyes and looked around.

    In the chair next to him slept an angel.

 From project to outpost!

    So, this is the end of book one, the story continues in Outpost Dirt. There are four books planned and I hope you enjoy the series.

    here is a little taste of chapter 1 in Outpost Dirt

    Adam didn¡¯t know how long he had looked at her, his mind trying to comprehend that she had come to him of all people. She was as beautiful as when she left him five years ago; she should be married now, so why was she here? There was no ring on her finger, so maybe they broke up? But why her? Wait, Harold had said he knew someone who would take the trip. No, she must have been here with the inspector that he expected, or this is a dream. He decided to get up and break the dream. He tried to sit up, and the pain in his side made him groan in pain.

    Her eyes shot up, and she looked at him. None of them said a word. She looked worried and relieved at the same time.

    This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

    ¡°I must be dreaming. I¡¯m finally going crazy.¡° Adam said softly, and she smiled and got up.

    ¡°Going crazy? You were always crazy.¡± She was standing by the bed now, so close he could reach out and touch her.

    ¡°That¡¯s what you would say. You have to be a dream; you would never come¡­¡±

    Her lips pressed against his, and she kissed him passionately. The shock was short and pleasant as everything else was forgotten, and he tried to pull her into the bed. Which was a very poor idea, as the pain in his side shot through in his side, and he groaned in pain. She stopped and checked the wound.

    ¡°God damnit, Adam. You lost a rib from that shot. You fucking idiot! What the hell were you thinking? He was a pirate! They said he even told you he came to kill you!¡± She hit his shoulder, and he could see tears in her eyes.

    ¡°Hey, I¡¯m still here, still alive. We had a plan. I just thought he wanted me alive.¡± He managed to sit up.

    ¡°I had a plan?¡± She said in a mocking voice. ¡°You never make a plan where you die! I could have lost you. I¡­ ¡°She kissed him again and slowly stopped as she whispered. ¡°Never do that again.¡±