The Mercenaries all looked at the staff with great interest when they produced Rum and snacks from the Replicator and placed them in the middle of the table.
Max was the first to move, pouring a dozen glasses of Rum, which emptied the bottle, and then taking a cream puff from the tray and popping it into his mouth.
"There's just something about the taste of Replicated whipped cream, you know? It's not the same as the reconstituted powder stuff that we used to keep in our pantry." Max told them between sips of his drink.
"We use the Replicator for almost all our meals now, it's just better than keeping a full pantry, but we do grow some of our own fresh food aboard the ship. The Rum, though, that is the best part." Max laughed as the Mercenaries were still looking nervous about the offering.
"If you want to call for a Cyborg, we can wait," Nico suggested.
"Bah, the Reavers wouldn't kill someone like me with poison in the first place." One of the guards laughed, then downed the Rum and popped a pastry in his mouth.
His eyes immediately began to water, and he let out a soft wheeze and tapped the table. His allies all began to reach for weapons before he waved them off with a growing smile on his face.
"Damn, I forgot what good Rum is like. We make ale here on the station, and it might as well be water in comparison," he explained.
"And here I thought you were just confident in your drinking ability." Max chuckled, realizing what had happened.
Now that the initial test was out of the way everyone else gave the food a sample, with most going for the sweets but a few going for the meat and crackers.
"It tastes fresh, like we are in an agricultural world, and picked it all up at the market. That's incredible. We don't have an inhabitable world of our own, the Company isn't large enough to defend one all the way out here, but with this, we can live like kings." The Mercenary Captain sighed.
"What do you have to input to make things like this?" The first man to drink asked, looking at the Replicator in the corner of the room.
"Any form of biomass will work. We use algae from our hydroponic labs, but you could use anything you have in abundance. Hell, you could use chopped-up Klem if you were brave enough." Max told them with a smile.
They all shuddered at the thought, and Nico rolled her eyes. "It's recombined. I don't get why everyone treats it like eating bugs."
A young woman from the Mercenary team laughed at her expression, then did a double take as she realized that Nico was a full conversion and not just a Reaver with artificial eyes.
"You might have forgotten about the necessity of food, and I don't know how long it has been since you were fully human, but even the thought of Klem inside me is enough to be repulsive."
The man sitting next to her smirked at that and decided to taunt his teammate. "Like a bit of cooked Klem would be the most disgusting thing you've had inside you."
The young woman slapped him directly off his chair to the uproarious laughter of the rest of her team, as well as the Reavers, who were close enough to hear his comment.
"It's good to see a team that gets along so well. The last group we visited was a bit uptight and rigid. The last two, if you count the idiots of the Holy Truth." Nico laughed.
"You get used to them. We are the station crew, so we don't get out much. We just sort and repair and repair some more. We've got more Mechanics on the station than anything else, and some days it's still not enough to keep things running as smoothly as I would like." The Captain, who seemed to be the Base Commander, answered.
"Well, we've got top class Materials Printers for everyone who signs the treaty, a Reaver-developed technology that every Trade Group member will have access to. It should make life easier for your staff if they can toss the damaged part into the printer and have it repaired.
The Replicator is mostly a quality of life improvement, and it has been pretty popular, but the Materials Printers are more practical." Max told them.
"You aren't afraid of the Embargo?"
Max shook his head at that. "They will either join the Trade Group, or they will be wiped out the first time they attack a member. There won't be an embargo for long, and the Reavers are hoping that this part of space can be developed to a higher state than it is now, so we don't have patches of humanity living in the technological dark ages while others are already pushing Warp 10 trade vessels and unconcerned about food supplies."
"Then what do you need the Mercenary Companies for? We're not national powers." The station Commander pointed out.
"You're not. But you are skilled fighters and trade groups. You might deal in the gray market, but with some new vessels and an agreement that will eliminate competition with the Reavers, you can take trade missions all over the human territory."
They spent a long time thinking about that and talking among themselves while the staff brought out more bottles of Rum and, eventually, a full meal.
Max could read in their thoughts that they were in contact with the Mercenary Company's real bosses, so he didn't interrupt their quiet conversations. Each of them was linked to a Ship Captain of the fleet, and they were discussing it on behalf of their representative faction.
"Everyone has seen and read the agreement, but we are waiting for two more Captains who can't be contacted right now. The Black Wolf rules say that all alliances must be unanimous, and without the last two votes, we can't make a decision right away." The Station Captain explained.
"That's fine. We have both time and patience. Would you like to spend the evening on the Cruise Ship portion of Terminus? All we ask is that you behave and don't harass the alien guests." Max offered.
"You have aliens aboard?" The Captain asked.
"As Customers, Guests and Employees, yes. All of them are from the Alliance, the so-called Ghost Ships, as many of the Mercenaries call them." Nico replied before Max could and then called in one of the Innu Technicians.
"Well, I'll be damned. You really do. It is a pleasure to meet you, Miss." The Captain greeted the Technician.
"Do you bring new things? Or do you need old things fixed?" The Technician asked, not aware of why she was called in.
"They are going to go to the Cruise Ship, and we didn't want to startle them too much," Nico explained.
"Oh, so you don't need me to recalibrate his Laser Pistol? It's down over thirty percent in output due to the damaged reflector." The Technician asked sadly.
"Not today. But we can offer him a new one if it makes you feel better."
"Please do. Poorly maintained equipment hurts the soul." The slender woman with pink skin agreed, her hair tentacles wiggling in frustration.
"The Innu can commune with Technology. She meant it when she said it was mentally painful to see a piece of gear in poor repair. It annoys them as much as if you were wearing your coat one button out of even." Nico explained as the Technician left the room in frustration.
The Station Captain was rendered nearly speechless.
"Oh, I see."
