"Interesting. Tell me, you said that the Terminus was once the equivalent of a hippie wagon, a fundamentalist group looking for a low-tech restart. Were they of your species? If so, the data that we found in the logs might shed some light on their origins.
There was another ship traveling with ours at the time its engines malfunctioned and were deemed unrepairable. All of the essentials were moved to the other ship, and both crews packed into one colony vessel, but we have no idea where they ended up, and the Narsians are the closest thing we have seen to fitting the description of the ones who were here." Max asked.
"Indeed, it was us. Do you have those logs accessible? I had hoped to see the ancient vessel myself, but I had never dreamed that it would have remained so intact that it would have recoverable data."
Brick was so excited that his foot tapping was slowly shaking him out of his oversized chair, so Max pulled up the information that they had onto his data tablet, then realized that he didn't know how to transfer it.
"Say, I don't suppose that you have a data network do you? Or the technology to grab files off this tablet?" Max asked hopefully, making the pink-skinned and slender women giggle, a motion that was more a waggling of the tentacle-like 'hair' on their heads than a vocal noise.
"Just let me touch it and the problem will be solved. My species is in charge of most technology in the Noctem Fleet because we can decipher almost anything electronic." The woman informed him with a smile.
Max realized that the eclectic crew of their ship served the same purpose as the carefully selected System Functions of his own crew. Specialists for every purpose, based on innate talent.
The Valkia all smiled as Max had that thought and Nena nodded. "Exactly right. We choose our crews as a balance of species that have innate gifts for the various roles that we need to perform. Everyone is happier when they are doing what they are best at, and it provides much-needed insight into other species that we meet." Nena told him.
Their setup was starting to make Max envious, and he briefly considered asking if they would be willing to do a small crew exchange, but that would only cause issues for everyone. The other Human nations wouldn't react well to random aliens in his crew, and the ones chosen to exchange would be out of place in both ships, whose crews had already been optimized for productivity. If anything, a short vacation aboard one of the vessels might be the closest thing to a beneficial exchange program.
They could certainly trade information though, and it looked like Nico and Theta were already doing exactly that, judging by the excited ripples in the creature's surface.
"How can you tell that he is excited without knowing what he is thinking?" Nena asked Max, watching Theta carefully as the metallic blob interacted with Nico.
At this point, her arms were buried in the creature, and their conversation was done by direct vibration, which Max could only assume was more efficient than sonic communication.
"Look at his surface. It is placid and shiny when he is calm. When the shape changes, it seems to be for specific reasons, like greetings, or to express an emotion. At the moment, the surface is rippling from dozens and dozens of different spots, and Nico doesn't seem perturbed at all, so it must be a sign of excitement, not an attack of any sort." Max explained.
"Humans use interesting logic. I learned to read his species by comparing their temperature and volume changes. As they get more excited, their density increases you see." Nena explained.
That subtle change was too minute for Max to have picked up on, though if he watched closely enough, he might manage it. That seemed unlikely though, and this way was much easier.
[Can someone send in a spare Replicator? They want it for their museum pieces.] Max asked his crew during a lull in the conversation.
[On it boss. We will pass it to the honor guard at the door to the ship, and they can give it to the locals.] Colonel Klinger responded right away.
There weren't too many other pieces of tech left on the ship, and he had already sent over the majority of the initial data that they had collected to Brick, whose species seemed to have made the ship in the first place.
The item arrived in only a few minutes, carried by a very curious giant, who was eager to see what it could do. The crew from Terminus had even brought it with a sample of the Algae that they were using as its base material so that the Museum Curators could make a proper video and record data of it working.
"I would like to reward you for this find, as it seems that this is an original model from the ship, with your custom programming added. But I am uncertain of what we might really be able to trade with you.
You don't lack raw materials, and as a species at war with itself, most of our technology is prohibited by alliance law to be transferred to humans, or any of the other species in this Galaxy." Brick sighed.
"Is that why we don't see your ships very often? Because the law so severely restricts our interactions that there isn't much that you can offer us, while our technology means there is little that we can offer you?" Max asked.
"That about covers it. You are a very astute man. Though it looks like your second in Command and our design specialist are close to coming to an agreement." Nena laughed as the buzzing between Nico and Theta increased in intensity.
She was trying to convince Theta to trade a sample of himself for a sample of Kepler Nanotechnology, which was very different than the technological path that Theta's species had taken. Theta seemed to be unsure of the legality of such an exchange, given that Nico was a soldier, though as his categorization system determined that she was a Species with a sample size of one individual, Nico insisted that the prohibition didn't need to apply to her, despite the fact that she worked with the humans.
It was a very Nico bit of logic, but it seemed to be getting through to Theta. Nico only wanted the sample to continue evolving herself anyhow, so there really wouldn't be much harm in it either way.
"Here's a thought. Could you trade us a new model of the replicator for the old version? Sort of a like-for-like change?" Max asked.
There was an intense discussion about the prospect, which led to a stalemate between the species, as the letter of the law was unclear on the matter.
"The new one fully recombines atoms. With a supply of heavy elements, you could make anything from a new Mecha to a replacement limb to be sewn onto an injured crew member. The military potential of the trade would be too high." Brick sighed eventually, giving in to the majority.
"That is understandable. The item is a gift, I don't require any payment for it, but if there is anything you can teach us, to help us move past the necessity of war, it would be appreciated. I will also send over the original data of the ship before we renovated it." Max informed the group.
