M.J. Markgraf
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BSE Chapter 4-50
🕑 Added 2025-04-07 12:00:12 +0000 UTCAlexander was able to learn quite a bit in the few days he spent at the archives. The information he transferred directly to his tablet gave a great deal of insight into what his diplomatic position allowed him to do.
He wasn’t exempt from laws, but there did need to be actual evidence to convict him of any such wrongdoing. Any evidence used against him had to go through two separate independent experts before it could be brought before a court, with one of those groups being picked by the defendant. That extended to military hearings as well.
It wasn’t the most robust method to ensure a guilty party couldn’t wriggle out of a crime, but it did ensure that the accused at least had the ability to defend themselves.
That gave Alexander some relief, it meant whatever the inquiry was about, it couldn’t turn into some kangaroo court hell-bent on locking him up. Try being the operative word.
His position allowed him to utilize the VIP laws that Theo had spoken about. Finding information on those was easy, unlike his situation. As it turns out, they were laws designed specifically for the rich and powerful, go figure.
Other than that, he learned quite a bit about Earth’s history thanks to Reto. Marte had given up in her attempts to pry information from Alexander and hadn’t returned after the first day.
“Why are there so few documents covering the early half of the twenty-first century?” Alexander asked.
Reto scratched his head. “I’m not actually sure. I haven’t dug that far back into Earth’s history, but we have many more records from before that time and nearly as much after in digital format. Would you like me to speak with an archivist to see if we have any written work from back then?”
Alexander shook his avatar. “As much as I would like to uncover that mystery, I fear my time here is coming to an end.”
Reto nodded. “I will look into it myself. Would you like me to forward my findings to you?”
That couldn’t hurt. “Sure.” Alexander provided the man with his Qcomm ID and bid him farewell. He had been hoping to find some information about his past self, but he wasn’t able to locate any reference to Alexander Kane, which was suspicious in and of itself. He doubted he was the only person back then to sport such a name.
The past would have to wait, though; he needed to prepare for what was to come.
***
Yulia squealed in delight as she hopped off the shuttle.
One advantage of Alexander’s diplomatic status, he could fly or land wherever he wanted, and he took full advantage of that fact. It did mean he would have to pay for any damages he caused by doing so, but he didn’t plan on causing any damages.
The first stop they made was at the Grand Canyon. Alexander couldn’t recall if he had ever visited the site when he was human, but he was glad he chose to do so now.
The shuttle stuck out awkwardly among the cars in the visitor parking lot and drew plenty of attention, but he didn’t mind. Most of the people took one look at him and decided they had better places to enjoy the vista.
Yulia, being Yulia, waved enthusiastically at the other children. Some waved back, but others just gaped at her, Alexander, or their entourage of guards.
“Are there other places like this on Earth?” Yulia asked as she stared at the view.
Alexander walked up next to her as she leaned over the railing, trying to get a better view of the canyon bottom. He reached over and gently pulled her back so her feet were back on the ground. “Not like this, but Earth has many amazing sights.”
While beautiful, colored rocks could only keep a thirteen-year-old entertained for so long. He had to remind Yulia a few times to stay away from the cars in the parking lot. She didn’t quite understand why people might be upset with her milling about their cars and trying to examine them.
That was a failing on his part. There wasn’t a whole lot of personal property on Eden’s End, and most of the technological toys belonged to Alexander or his friends, who had no issue letting Yulia look them over.
Their next stop was a horse ranch in Wyoming. While she got to see animals on Ganos, those were in a zoo. The place they were heading, she would get to touch and even ride some.
Setting up the visit for Yulia cost nearly two hundred thousand credits thanks to a bunch of red tape and ecological restrictions the ranchers had to comply with, but it had been worth it. When she got over her initial fear of the large animals, the genuine grin on her face as the riding instructor led her around was worth any amount of money.
Unfortunately, Alexander was forced to watch from a distance as his appearance spooked the beasts, and maybe the ranch owners a bit as well.
Once Yulia got tired of riding the horse around, which took far longer than he thought it would, they zipped over to Egypt to visit what was left of the pyramids.
He recalled what they looked like from back and his time, and a sense of loss flitted through his mind. War in the region over three hundred years ago had reduced the structures to a husk of their former themselves.
They didn’t stay long because he could see the predatory gazes on the impoverished people who watched their small group.
That region of the world hadn’t changed much, it seemed.
Next, they visited Mount Everest, or at least where the old base camps used to be, so Yulia got to experience snow for the first time. Guided tours of the mountain had stopped a few hundred years ago, and all the refuse and corpses had been cleared away over the following decades to leave the place pristine once again. Most of the thrill seekers stopped visiting the landmark after Mars was colonized, since Olympus Mons was the tallest mountain in the solar system and was slightly less deadly to climb.
“Alex, what is snow made from?” Yulia asked as she scooped up a handful of white powder.
“It’s frozen water.” The bafflement on Yulia’s face made him chuckle.
She had no issue with the thin atmosphere, being acclimated to the atmosphere of Eden’s End. Even so, they had breathing masks if they needed them.
The cold was another thing. She looked like a balloon wrapped up in the winter clothing Alexander had made for her. Even so, she still shivered.
He wasn’t sure why he decided to visit such an inhospitable place, but something called to him when he was looking for sights to see. Now that he was there, he still felt that call, but it didn’t jog a memory for him.
Considering what he recalled of his past, he highly doubted he had climbed the mountain like so many others. He couldn’t quite understand what drew him to that region.
Alexander chose a much nicer venue for their next stop. It was a small private island in the Bahamas that sported a small lagoon, perfect for swimming.
“Are you sure it’s safe?” Yulia asked as she eyed the gentle tide suspiciously.
“I’ll be with you the entire time,” he said as he held out his hand.
Alexander watched his daughter as she wrestled with the decision. With conviction, she reached out and took his hand, and they slowly waded into the waves.
To be honest, Alexander wasn’t sure what salt water would do to his body, but acid rain and vacuum hadn’t done anything, so he decided to risk it.
He could feel the slight pressure of the water, the wetness, and the warmth, but everything seemed to be functioning fine, so he continued until Yulia could barely reach the sandy bottom.
“Ready?” he asked.
Yulia nodded, and they continued out until Alexander was nearly up to half his torso. He instructed her on how to float and doggy paddle.
She clanked back at Dog, who kept pacing along the beach, waiting for them to return. Alexander might be waterproof, but Dog certainly wasn’t. Even the salt air was enough to rust some of Dog’s components, meaning Alexander would likely have to disassemble her companion and ensure that everything was good after they returned to the ship.
In time, Yulia figured out how to swim, and Alexander strode next to her as she made laps back and forth.
The sun turned out to be their enemy as it soon fell, casting the area in darkness.
Alexander and Yulia’s guards spent their time setting up a campfire and cooking since they had the entire island to themselves, so by the time they exited the water, Yulia was both exhausted and starving.
They enjoyed a rare treat of fresh meat, vegetables, and fruit. The beef came from the horse rancher and was part of the exorbitant cost of her training. Real grass-fed beef instead of the manufactured stuff.
Afterward, Alexander tucked Yulia into bed, thankful that there was an actual house on the island. She probably would have been fine sleeping in a tent or under the stars, but he preferred to have a wall and roof over her head in case of inclement weather.
He needn’t have worried, their night went by uninterrupted, and he continued his world tour, showing Yulia as many sights as he could.
Next, they visited the Louvre in Paris. Travers was especially interested in the visit since his family hailed from France. Dorry, Yulia’s other guard, didn’t have any interest in the art or the city, which wasn’t too much of a surprise given that the man was born as a drifter. The same could be said for Alexander’s guards, but they were both Asgardians.
Those two were more interested in the next stop, which was a museum that specialized in Viking history.
Yulia wasn’t a huge fan of that.
She would probably enjoy visiting some auto racing, but most of that had gone out of style hundreds of years ago, and the big push to restore natural beauty to the planet had killed off the rest of it.
There was one type of racing that was still popular, but it wasn’t done by car, and he wasn’t sure he wanted her to experience it because he knew as soon as she did, she was likely to want to try it herself.
He sighed internally and bit the bullet; she would likely learn about that soon enough, so he might as well take her to watch a race, or she might never forgive him for allowing her to miss out.
***
It didn’t take much effort for Alexander to procure tickets for the Stellar Sprints. The trick was money and lots of it. As it turns out, the high-speed races across Sol were a huge hit amongst the rich and famous.
An obstacle course was set, and the single-seat vessels started at the station/viewing platform. The objective was to return to the starting line with the best time.
Yulia was immediately fixated on the bespoke ships designed to push the vessels and pilots to the limit.
Alexander had to admit some curiosity about the ships, but he was more interested in the current champion, which belonged to Omni.
The race was essentially bragging rights on who had the fastest, most efficient engines, and Omni held that title for the last fifteen years. The year prior to that, some new company destroyed their previous record, only for that company to vanish.
Alexander glanced over at the Omni team and the man who had been staring at him since they entered the VIP suite.
Instead of looking away, the man nodded slightly before smirking and turning back to the massive holo display that showed the ship getting ready to make its run.
The vessel launched from the starting line and would have been an impossible blur to follow for normal eyes, but the camera for the race flawlessly tracked the vessel as it sped through the course, weaving in and out of the obstructions without issue.
It drifted elegantly around the end of the course and accelerated back toward the starting line to complete its pass.
The competitor’s ship did not beat out Omni’s record, though.
Alexander was pulled from his thoughts by Yulia’s excited squeals. “Alex, did you see what he did at the end?”
He smiled. “I did.”
“Do you think I could ever do something like that?” she asked, which earned a derisive snort from that same Omni employee who had wandered over.
Alexander turned toward the unnamed man. “Do you have a problem with my daughter's dream?”
The pointed question got the attention of his guards as well as the man’s, causing everyone to tense up.
“Hardly,” the man said without hesitation. “I just find it amusing that a child would wish to race in one of the most dangerous sports known to man. I would think a man such as yourself would want to keep their daughter away from such dangerous pursuits, or is everything I heard about you wrong, Mr. Kane?”
“You know who I am, but who are you? Normally, it’s polite to tell someone your name.”
“My apologies,” the man smirked and bowed slightly in condescension. “I’m the CEO of Omni’s racing division, Augustus Hawthorne III.”
“I see. Well, Gus,” the man’s smirk instantly vanished at the nickname. “It may be dangerous, but if it was something my daughter truly wished to do, I would allow it.” He knew as soon as Yulia saw the races that she would eventually want to try them for herself, so there was no point trying to stop her forever.
“Well then. I guess we might meet again in a few years once she’s old enough to qualify. I wish you luck, this is not a sport for the faint of heart or those without means.” He nodded slightly to Yulia before strolling out of the room.
Alexander watched the man go, thankful that Yulia was struck bug-eyed and speechless by his comment. There was going to be a long conversation with his daughter later to try and convince her to wait until she was older.
Comments
Shmooggie
“husk of their former themselves.” —> ‘former selves’
Ding Bang Aw
I understood it as they could try to lock him up but he already had an escape plan if needed. Should probably change the line to "some kangaroo Court hell-bent on trying to lock him up". Then "try being the operative word" would make more sense
