Andrew woke up in the medical module after a few hours of sleep.
He had no idea what happened to him and was generally disoriented for a moment.
Not to mention that he had mother-of-all headaches and his body felt like someone used it as a football during the World Cup finals.
It took a minute or two before he started to remember everything.
His little chat with Amerin left him with many more questions than answers, but it also enlightened him in a few areas.
Looking around the room he saw Ilia sleeping on her chair, next to his bed.
The doctor, had very little rest during the last few days, as she first took care of Aelita and now him.
So Andrew was not surprised that she finally passed out from fatigue.
Getting up from the bed, he took her from the chair and placed her on one of the other beds, before he left.
Entering the command center a few minutes later, left him speechless and second-guessing if it was a good idea to introduce everyone to chess.
The first pair he saw playing were Tanera and Terelen.
The female merchant was just wiping the floor with her brother, judging from the state of the board, but they were not the only ones.
Aelita, Lanarin, Nairin, Sarill, Jalina, and even Tarina and Runir, were present and every one of them was either playing or spectating a game.
-Dont you all have anything better to do?
Andrew asked, entering the module.
-You're awake!
Aelita rushed to him, turning over the chessboard at which she was playing with Runir.
The next second she wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tightly.
-I'm sorry, If I knew what would happen I would have never agreed to being a medium.
She whispered in a breaking voice.
It was clear that she was doing her best not to cry, but her tears were already falling.
-It's alright and you did well.
Andrew hugged her back and tried to comfort her.
His soothing words took a huge weight from her heart.
They stayed like that for a moment, before finally parting.
-Alright, can anyone explain what was happening while I was out?
The human asked.
-It's good to see you up and about.
Terelen said approaching.
-As for what's going on, Aelita did some modifications to the relay and the station.
Then there was a data stream coming in and she started to download it, which will finish in…
The elf took a look at the download timer.
-... Approximately 4 more hours.
This surprised everyone as while they were playing they lost track of time.
-Would you mind explaining?
Andrew looked at Aelita.
-Amerin promised me a gift for the two of us and taught me how to receive it, so I did as she instructed and now we just need to wait.
She explained.
After a moment of thought, Andrew simply nodded.
-Any idea what it could be?
He asked.
-Nope, but whatever it is, it's enormous.
She said and proceeded to explain about the data storage modules and the size of the file that was being downloaded.
The size of the data storage was no surprise to Andrew since petabyte computers were already in civilian use on Earth and the technology here was much more advanced.
However he could not imagine what could have taken 8500 petabytes, but whatever it was, would be a big deal for sure.
-Sorry to interrupt this discussion, and I don't want to sound selfish, but I have received a message from the guild urging me to go back.
So if you would not mind, could we open the crates now?
Tanera asked.
-Of course.
Andrew answered.
He was a bit embarrassed, that she had to wait this long to make a deal with them.
-Can we come along?
Runir asked.
She was always curious about the pirate crates.
-I see no reason why you shouldn't.
Andrew smiled.
-Also, if any of you want to come, you are more than welcome to join us.
At his words, the ladies started clearing out the chessboards.
-What about Iliana?
Lanarine asked.
-She overexerted herself and is now sleeping in the medical module, I don't think we should wake her up.
He explained.
-You dont need to wake me up anymore and thank you for your concern, but if you leave the medical module on your own again, you'll regret it.
Ilia's voice came from behind him.
She stood there with an angry expression and hands folded in front of her.
-I'm fine, and it would be hard to get your permission while you were asleep.
Andrew retorted with a smile.
-And by the way…
He said, turning more serious.
-If you ever overexert yourself like that again, You'll be the one regretting.
These words worked like a bucket of cold water, dousing the flames of anger she felt.
-This was a special situation, and I could not ignore something as medically significant as that.
She tried to defend herself.
-Whatever the case, try that again and I'll sedate you myself.
Andrew was not impressed with her explanation.
-I'm sorry, It won't happen again.
She finally whispered, unable to beat him in this discussion.
Realizing how easily he turned tables on her the moment these words came out of her mouth.
-Now, would you also like to come open the crates with us?
The human asked with a slight smile.
Surprised at the invitation she nodded.
A few moments later they were all standing in the storage module which was used to store the crates from pirate ships.
-How many of them are there?
Terelen asked, surprised at the number of crates.
-Other than the two with raw nanites, there are 63 which we didn't open till now.
Andrew said.
It was almost hilarious, normally they would have opened them long ago, but something always got in their way.
While they were talking, Aelita was already scanning the writing on the first crate with her scanner.
-This one says "Armor".
She said the moment the translation popped out on her screen.
-Then let's open it and see what kind of armor is inside.
Andrew smiled and used his bayonet to open the crate.
There were many more and better tools for it, but this has become a tradition, and no one minded.
The moment the crate was opened, they saw two sets of power armor, but this time they were humanoid in shape.
Both sets were black and the only difference between them was that one was lined with gold and the other with silver colored metals.
-What are these doing here?
Tanera gasped, recognizing the two sets.
Everyone turned to look at her, even her brother was surprised as he had no clue what made her react like that since he didn't recognize these items.
-Could you elaborate a bit?
Andrew asked, waiting for some explanation.
This was the first time he saw this reaction from her.
-Sis, do you know whose armors these are?
Terelen asked as curious as everyone else.
-Look at the crest on the Spaulder.
She pointed at the part and her brother took a closer look before he also gasped.
-I take it, that the two of you know who this belongs to.
Andrew said with certainty.
-Yes, these belong to a prominent family of the shadow elves.
Their kingdom borders with our Empire and it was a very big deal when these two sets went missing a few years back.
Tanera explained.
-Want to buy them?
Andrew smiled at her.
-I'm sure that it would help with diplomatic relations if they were returned and who knows, It might be enough to grant you a noble title.
-Yes, I'll take them, how much do you want for them?
The Elf asked excitedly.
-How does a silver credit for each sound?
Andrew asked, barely able to stop himself from bursting out in laughter, seeing how eager she was to get the first crate.
-It sounds like a deal.
Tanera said happily and immediately transferred the funds while calling her droids to take the armor sets to her ship.
She was certain that she would receive a title of nobility for returning these items as it would certainly ease tensions between the two star nations.
-Alright, let's continue.
Terelen said, happy for his sister.
The next crate was full of regeneration tank solutions for the tier 5 regeneration tank, which were exchanged for the solutions that Andrew could use in his tank.
The third one contained some kind of weapon, the description said it was for infantry use, but it was way too big and heavy to be used by anyone on the station so it was sold to Terelen.
As they were opening crate after crate, both elves bought almost everything they found unless it was of use to the station's inhabitants.
The ladies also had fun, opening the crates in turns, once Andrew showed them how to do it.
Some crates contained weapons and armor, others were filled with medical supplies, and a few of them had some jewelry.
They even found two crates filled with helium 3 containers.
After opening 60 crates, they earned over 100 silver credits and some useful items in exchange for what they had found.
They quickly opened the remaining three crates and found mostly the usual items, except the last crate which contained another batch of raw nanites, which surprised everyone.
-How do the pirates get their hands on these things?
Andrew asked not expecting an answer.
-I have no clue, but you can be sure that I'll ask the guild about it the next time I'm there.
Terelen said, as surprised as the human.
Most of the items were from other universes and what was even more surprising, they were not items that normal people could get their hands on.
A beeping sound interrupted their conversation.
It was a proximity alert, indicating that ships were approaching their system.
Everyone rushed back to the command center to see what was going on.
The moment they arrived and sat at their consoles, Lanarine displayed the sensor data on the main holo screen.
-If you want to know how they got the items, it might be easier to ask them directly in about three hours.
She said, looking at the display.
Over 50 pirate ships were coming their way in groups of 5 to 7 ships each.
-I see they learned not to attract the Kraken, but what are they aiming for?
Andrew thought out loud.
There was no way in hell that the pirates could take this station or even destroy it right now.
With all the cannons, railguns, MACs, drone fighters, a frigate, and a corvette, Andrew would make short work of turning their ships into drifting wrecks.
Not to mention the two merchant shops which were also frigate class and heavily armed.