"Ok, fine. I will teach you some things.", I finally said. "Under a few conditions though."

Rutha had never looked more excited. "Anything." What a naive thing to say.

"When you are 16, you will go to college. You will find a job doing whatever you like but you will never use anything I taught you for making money.", I announced, glaring at him testingly.

"Ok.", he looked less excited than I had hoped. "I will do that" 

The kid obviously had no idea what was good for him.

"You will only use weapons for self-defense."

He nodded promptly. Right now he had not grown into the type of person that would harm someone if it was not for self-defense yet. What a responsibility. I did not know a lot of people that did not grow up to be vicious. How was I supposed to teach someone not to be vicious?

I was struggling to find more conditions, something to ensure his future would be different.

"If I come up with any more conditions later on you have to agree to them.", I said when I was done pondering.

"How can I agree to that now?", he asked. Such a child.

"Do you want to learn?", I commandeered.

"Fine. I will agree to whatever you want.", he looked down like a broken spirit. Good. He was learning not to offend his foreperson or so I hoped.

Hmm. How was I going to teach an innocent child what I myself had learned only through necessity?

"Ok. Let's start with your techdevice. Open shieldstar."

"But that's a game." When would he ever learn not to talk back to me? 

"So? Even soldiers train with simulations. Don' t talk to me until you have a high score of 2500 points."

"That's too high.", he complained.

I gave him a very disapproving look until he disappeared into the living room.

I supposed that he could accompany me when I bought groceries in Lukra. On the other hand, after that incident with the captain I supposed I would be doing my groceries in Chaus again for a while. Not a good place for a child. I could order the supplies to my ship, but Chaus was not exactly known for reputable refund options.

I watched Rutha play shieldstar in the living room. There is an app for learning almost everything. But only trauma could give one the vigilance needed for staying alive in Chaus. Only trauma made one cruel enough to thrive under the worst circumstances. Not exactly something you would want to pass on to your children. Perhaps that is why Chaus people only thrive when they are raised by someone other than their parents? Love kills.

How was I supposed to teach innate vigilance to the kid? Not that I loved him. Did I?

I pondered that his one time run-in with death didn't actually hurt his chances. In hindsight, maybe it could just be enough to make him scared enough not to do anything this stupid again in the future? He did not look regretful. Not even at all. If anything, he was determined. 

I just had to keep him alive a few more years, after that I would drop him off on some peaceful planet with a strong enough economy to afford Lex's protection. It was painful to admit that the bastards were doing some good too. I had just never been lucky enough to benefit from that until now. They liked to name Chaus as an example of what would happen to a planet if it was not protected by the Lex. Politicians are always liars, no matter a planet's economy.

I downloaded some training videos and simulations for simple self-defense techniques. I would train each and every szenario with Rutha. A few hours later Rutha and I were play-fighting and he was sweating hard. I was surprised by the endurance of that boy. More willpower than I had anticipated. I tired him out and then told him to go to rest. 

Defending yourself against melee attacks is one thing and it is not unimportant. But then there are other weapons. Guns for example. Or trust. That boy was born into a place where he had been loved.