Ever since Humanity left their own planet and started conquering other planets in the star system, the priorities of humanity started to get divided. Everyone started to have different needs and they had their own problems.
They couldn't possibly prioritize other's problems over their own.
That's how it's always been.
It's always been one over the sum.
No human would think about someone else's benefit first if he himself was in trouble.
This very nature of humans is what led to the formation of different groups and interests who had their own agendas in mind. They worked towards their own goals, disregarding the plight of others. And in turn this mindset rewarded them with the power to contend with others.
Those who came on top towered over all others. No one could really do anything to harm them while still in their sphere of influence.
Even when the sparse human settlements across the galaxy came together to form a star nation, these powers didn't lose much of their influence or their power. They instead integrated into the hierarchy of the new power structure.
Even now, these old powers held sway over huge swaths of humanity. Although maybe not as direct as previously, but they hadn't let go of their powers and didn't plan to.
When someone caught their sights, depending on whether it was a positive or negative development, the fate of that person would change greatly.
Kita didn't know if something like that had happened to him, Or if he had caught the eye of some power. But he knew that there were people out there who were after them. Although their motives might not be clear right now, But it could be anything.
That's what scared Kita the most. Knowing the motives of your enemy would be the best, that way you could know what to expect from them. But not knowing who your enemy was let alone their motives meant that he was walking blind.
So Kita could never be cautious enough. Although he wasn't an overly cautious person, he couldn't just ignore this serious development. If not handled properly it could come back to bite him.
So he decided to get Elena to do a background search for everyone currently onboard. This was important.
As he could never fully trust them with his back if he didn't know that they could be trusted. So vetting everyone and making sure that they had no ulterior motives was of crucial importance.
"You think I haven't thought of that already?" Elena asked him with a questioning look. It felt like she questioned his intellect.
"You've already thought about it?"
"Of course! It's my job after all. I'm already in the process of finding out everything about them. Where they were born, their childhood, education, training and everything. You can be rest assured that no stones will be left unturned. I'll try my best to unearth any moles aboard. Of which I suspect there are a few."
"You think there are moles aboard the ship!?!" Kita exclaimed.
"Not think, I believe. It's just a matter of time before I weed them out. So just gimme some time."
"Okay, be very thorough." Kita said.
After talking a bit more with Elena, he walked out of her office with a sighed look. He was really glad to have Elena onboard with him. It would help him increase the internal security aboard the shore greatly.
After that, he headed back to his room. He had been up for past 40 hours. Most of which had been spent holed up in the lab. So he needed to get some rest.
After having a good night's rest, he got up and back to work.
His daily routine had been to go work in the lab for a few hours and then head back to his office and finish up some administrative tasks.
While working on something in the Lab, Kita got a call from York.
He saw who it was and didn't waste any time picking it up.
A familiar face lit up in the projection.
It looked like he was on a planet somewhere.
"Hey, What's up?" York asked.
"Nothing much. Just working on some research projects."
"Huh! You're researching again? That's great! What are you working on?"
"Nothing serious. Just something at the back of my mind. Still in the beginning phases" Kita didn't want to say that he was working on the Vorlaufer project or what it was. That would only worry him.
"I heard that you had bought a ship? Is that true?"
"Yes. You're watching it. She's called The Jeager." Kita said as he looked around.
"Best of all it came with a Lab! Although it isn't as impressive as the ones back aboard the Shore, it's still adequate for my need. I can always upgrade it" Kita said with a proud expression. He was quite proud of the purchase.
"Great! By the way, where are you guys headed to? Dr. Kbom asked me to find out."
"We're headed towards the Handeln system. We need to buy many supplies for the ship, and she also needs some upgrades."
"I see, Handeln system huh. I'm also here. So gimme a call when you're here. Let's meet up! It'll be like the old times" He said with a grin.
"You're there? What are you doing there?" Kita was astonished. He didn't expect York to be there.
"Well, you know Dr. Kbom. He sent me to grab some exotics that recently came up. It was quite urgent so he gave me a corvette and sent me on my way." York explained.
"Ah. The exotics again huh?" Kita knew that Dr. Kbom had an obsession with exotics. The rarer it was, the more he wanted it. The guy didn't have any worries for money. So he spent his buying up expensive and ultra rare exotics.
"Okay then, I'll meet you while there. We should be there within the week. How long will you be there?"
"A couple of weeks more. I have a few other things that I need to do."
"Okay, see you then!" Kita said as he ended the call shortly.
He was excited meeting an old friend.