Chapter 553: Preparations Before Departure
In the atmospheric garden of Nightingale's house, Kian sat in a robe with his arm around Nightingale, a glass of red wine in his hand.
Through the glass dome, he watched shuttle after shuttle lift off outside, carrying huge loads of cargo up to his Sword-class escort in low orbit.
Kian took a sip of wine and murmured:
"Hauling cargo day and night, and it still took over a month to fill the ship's holds. That's way too slow."
Nightingale sighed and stroked her slightly rounded belly.
"You think time's too slow. I think it's too fast.
"You're like a shooting star. You stop on our planet for two short months, and then you're rushing back out into space to carry on with your journey."
Kian tightened his arm around her.
"From now on, I'll come back and spend a day every week. I promise.
"And if I get a bigger, safer ship someday, bringing you and the kids to live aboard isn't out of the question."
Nightingale gave Kian a sunny smile, wrapped her arms around his broad shoulders, and gave him a kiss.
"It's a deal, then. I'll be waiting for you to come pick me up with a fleet big enough to blot out the sky!"
Afterward, Kian left Nightingale a large supply of Holy Amasec, sanctified oil, and special medicines, and left the two boys a pair of pendants he'd had sanctified that month.
The pendants were shaped like small golden swords, representing Kian's family crest. He'd sanctified them on the Emperor's Shrine, and they gave their wearers some holy resistance and helped their mental strength grow.
Kian said to the two topknots:
"Your old man's heading out into space to earn the family fortune for you two. Barring emergencies, I'll be back every week from now on.
"Whenever your mental strength can stand up to two thousand cogitator engines, I'll send back two Knights so you can pilot them!"
He still had several unclaimed Knights with Inquisitor Trasolh. They couldn't find pilots, so leaving them there was a waste. He might as well ship them home in his vault for his two little rascals to pilot.
Kian had a vision. He wanted to found his own Thousand-Knight House, a Knight House with a thousand Knights!
This Knight House wouldn't be loyal to the Emperor, and it wouldn't be loyal to the Mechanicus. It would be loyal only to him, a Knight House that fought for him alone!
Once Nightingale had their third child, there'd be a fourth, a fifth, a sixth.
With the absurd medical technology humanity had in Warhammer 40K, someone of Nightingale's status could keep Rejuvenat doctors at her side, and childbearing wouldn't harm her body at all.
And with rejuvenat treatments, a human could live three hundred years at the very least. Nightingale could stay fertile for at least another two hundred years. Old Kian's vintage would turn to raisins long before she was done.
Of course, if she got tired of having kids and didn't want any more, Kian didn't mind. The kids could just go find girlfriends and have kids of their own.
Then they'd set up the grandkids with Knights too. Old Kian was going to build a Thousand-Knight House one little Voss at a time!
Kids weren't the problem. Where the Knights would come from was a big problem.
Kian decided he'd become a galactic day labourer and work his back off to get enough Knights for his sons and grandsons!
When Butch and Biff heard Kian say this, they both cheered. Mechs! They wanted to pilot big mechs!!
Kian had missed the childhood that shaped who they were, but after the time they'd spent together lately, they'd found their old man was a really fun guy.
And not just fun. Their old man was super strong and super capable.
He'd gotten himself a warship and his own big mechs. To kids like them, their old man was a straight-up idol!
Right now they wished they could take some steroids, bulk up bigger than a bear in a hundred days, and head into space with their dad to conquer the galaxy.
After saying goodbye to his family, Kian went to Governor Zeppelin's office and chatted for a while with the old man who'd given him a hand up.
Kian complained:
"Our planet's lift capacity is terrible. It took more than a month to get supplies from the surface up to my ship. That won't do. We need to find a way to make it more efficient!"
Governor Zeppelin smiled.
"Your captain already told us about that a long time ago. He said our planet's orbital space is as empty as a country lane, not a soul in sight.
"So in the next cycle, our planet's development projects are building a space elevator and a cargo station.
"Once those two are built, our planet's cargo capacity will skyrocket. It should draw plenty of traders from the surrounding area to do business with us, and then our planet will really prosper!"
Kian asked:
"Where are the resources for the space elevator and the cargo station coming from? Have you figured that out?"
Governor Zeppelin nodded.
"Don't forget, the Captain left three hundred cargo rockets running freight between our planet and the Forge World.
"Every rocket that reaches its destination generates a huge amount of value!
"The Forge World has already restored its basic low-orbit stations, and they can build some warships again.
"Within three years, the value we've built up trading with them will be enough to hire them to come build the station and the cargo elevator for us.
"Oh, and we're also planning a magnetic rail launcher, so we can fire cargo containers into orbit from now on.
"No more chemical rockets. That'll cut our shipping costs to two percent of what they are now, and making money will be even easier."
Kian listened to Governor Zeppelin's plans and nodded again and again.
"As long as you've got a plan, that's what matters. The worst thing is standing still.
"This way our planet changes every two or three years and keeps up with the times.
"I'll be back often. If I find anything special out there in space, maybe it can make our planet stronger.
"Uncle, you've got to get our planet's basic industry in shape. Otherwise, when I bring back something good and we can't produce it, that'd be a joke.
"And while I'm out there, I'll keep an eye out for some way to turn our planet into a tithe-exempt world."
Governor Zeppelin's eyes lit up. If their planet could become a tithe-exempt world, that would be amazing!
With no Imperial tithe, everything the planet produced could go toward its own development. He didn't dare imagine what paradise that would be!
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