The shuttle quickly descended onto Kirster IV. From the looks of it, they were probably gonna meet in a private place or something.
"That's sad.", Kita hoped to see the ship during the meeting. Osritch had also said that they would be meeting in a private dock of some sorts. So that also increased his expectations. But it seemed that it wasn't meant to be.
As Kita looked out the window, he could see the clouds around him, that meant that they were still descending. Generally in an planetary atmosphere, the shuttles would fly around 3-4 KM above the sea level, But seeing as there was still clouds outside, it didn't seem like they were at that level yet.
After a while, Kita saw the outside clear up as he could see a vast blue ocean. With a clear sky meeting it at the horizon. It was a breath taking scenery. It wasn't often that Kita got to see this kind of a scene, So he fully appreciated it's beauty while he was at it.
After a while, the shuttle flew over one of the many continents of the planet.
Kita could feel that the shuttle was slowing down a bit and was also decreasing it's altitude. That meant that they were close to their destination. He looked outside, he could see a vast green area surrounded by a mountains on 3 sides. It was a vast array of greenery that one couldn't often see on a colonized planet. It was increasingly rare to see such vast swaths of green on a planet. He could also see a few houses and mansions in the area. He figured that was where he was headed. As he enjoyed the scene, the shuttle gently touched ground and the hatch opened up.
The two guards stood up, and then came forward.
"Mr. Kita, Please come with us."
Kita followed them to what looked like a huge hanger bay. It was so huge that Kita couldn't even figure out it's size. He estimated it as at least a few kilo meters long and at least a kilometer high.
As he saw the size, he had an inkling that this might be the private dock that Osritch was talking about. He got excited as the ship might be inside.
The guards escorted him to a small shade like structure where there was a table and a lot of things on them. It seemed enough to feed at least 30 people. But there were no people around.
As Kita took a seat, the guards left him alone and left.
Kita looked around, it was a pretty luxurious area, from the looks of it, he could deduct that everything around him was artificially created to create a sense of one with the nature. But there were many giveaway. the neatly arranged trees, the bushes, the pavement. All these things gave away the façade that the designers wanted to create.
He sat there alone for quite a while. All this time, he didn't even see a single soul around. He could heard birds chirping around some tree or bush, but that was it, he couldn't see the birds themselves. He wondered if the noises were also faked.
Anyway, he decided to enjoy the spread in front of him. He took a dish from the table and tried it.
"Hmm, Quite good." As he took another scoop.
As he was enjoying whatever it was, finally someone arrived. He was alone.
Kita recognized him as Gregor Neverlake.
He quickly put down the dish and put on a professional demeanor.
"Mr. Kita, Sorry for keeping you waiting. I'm Gregor. Thanks for meeting me here" He extended a hand.
"Mr. Gregor." Kita gave a slight nod as he shook his hand.
"Let me get directly to the point. Why do you want to buy the ship? Please consider this question really carefully. Your answer will tell me all I want to know, and will decide if I sell the ship to you." The man said with a straight face as he took a seat himself.
Before Kita answered the question, He looked at the man sitting before him.
For being the patriarch of a bigshot family of the empire, the man wore surprisingly simple clothing. He didn't wear anything fancy or extravagant. He wore a simple shirt and pant. He didn't have an expensive watch on his wrist. Instead he wore an old watch that seemed to be something precious to him.
He had a blank look on his face. He didn't show much emotion. But there was something about him that Kita felt off. There seemed to be a hint of loneliness in his eyes.
Kita wasn't sure if his eyes betrayed him. But he didn't thought too much about it. He was here to buy a ship. He was here to convince this guy in front of him to sell it to him. And that was all there was to it. Kita didn't want to read too deep into the situation.
He took a deep breath as he prepared to answer the question.
"I am going on a voyage. And for that I am gonna need a ship. When I went to buy a ship, Mr. Osritch recommended me this ship. From the looks of it, it's a really good ship and everything about it fits my needs. So that's why I want to buy the ship." Kita decided against saying anything false or misleading. He stated his intentions clearly and made sure that everything got across.
"A Voyage you say. Where do you plan on going?", The Man asked. Again with a blank expression. Kita couldn't figure out if he liked his last answer or not.
"I don't really know. The galaxy is a huge place. There are a lot of things to see that one might only ever experience once in their lifetime. I want to experience those. I want see them before I inevitably die. " Kita said before letting out a small mocking smile.