[We have a wide variety of human and Alliance specialties avable in our Replicator systems, feel free to ask for any items you wish to sample.] Max agreed.


    [We will send a shuttle to you forthwith.]


    Max actually had to think for a moment to recall that the word meant immediately. It was strangely stiff and formal, but it didn''t seem to be a trantion issue, as their thoughts were in the Alliance Commonnguage, indicating that it was their primarynguage. Perhaps that was a trait of the incurious species?


    If they weren''t curious by nature, it would make sense that once a particr phrase or way of speaking made its way into their culture that it would remain there nearly indefinitely.


    His analysis might not be perfectly urate, but Max was confident that it wasn''t too far off.


    It was under a minute before the screen in front of him shed the notification that the nearby vessel was retreating and that one of the others had sent out a shuttle. Max took ast look at their thoughts as the ship moved out of his range and realized that while they were the leaders of the strike force, they were not the leaders of the negotiation force, who woulde from the other ship and get the first chance to try the human delicacies.


    eαglesn?νel It wasn''t a fact that they were happy about, but their nature insisted that protocol be followed, and they couldn''t resist.


    They had gained a level of curiosity that allowed them to desire new things, but they hadn''t evolved to the point that they couldpletely deny their upbringing and gic imperatives. In short, they weren''t quite a curious species yet, but they were well on their way, and the next generation might be all the way there.


    That would inevitably lead the''s government to determine that they were dangerously out of control, as many before them had called free-spirited generations that didn''t want to follow the dogma of generations before them, even among the human species.


    The shuttle arrived at the side airlock of the transformed ship, and Max got up to go greet them at the door. They weren''t exactly enemies, as they were still Alliance citizens, and they hadn''t actually attacked, only threatened to. They also hadn''t rebelled yet, as far as he knew, though maybe by their species'' standards, they had, with this whole hiding out in the middle of nowhere thing.


    There was simply too much he didn''t know about their species, and there wasn''t time to read it all.


    Then he remembered he could copy a System Function from another Kepler pilot, and he had Nico right here.


    [System Function Copied: Nico]


    Max quickly flipped through the ship''sputer and pulled up all records of the rg. It was surprisingly sparse, as they only called one home and had no notable inventions of their own that were still in active use. They were originally not the only species on their homeworld and were the servant ss to another species, which invented a great variety of Warp Technology but were eventually exterminated after annoying the Valkia. <novelsnext></novelsnext>


    It was so long ago that the rg no longer had records of it, and nobody cared enough about them toe to visit them, so routine business trips to nearby systems and an asional worker exchange were the extent of their interaction with other Alliance worlds.


    They were short and pudgy creatures, gically manipted to be able to survive for long periods of time without food or water, as their original overlords found it inconvenient to feed them daily when they were on a work detail. But that was about all that the records had to show.


    The whole process of assimting the records took under a second, and Max realized just how big of a cheat Nico was working with when it came time to do paperwork. He could do his whole day''s report analysis in under a minute every morning by using her skill since it effectively merged her mind with the device she was manipting, and he let a small portion of her mind process data at the maximum rate that theputer was capable of.


    He was definitely keeping this skill active unless he had a very good reason to use something else in the first slot of his copied skills.


    "Wee, representatives of the rg. I am Commander Keres Max, and this is Summander Tarith Nico of the Terminus Trading Company. As we exined earlier, we are looking for the source of potentially illegally dumped hazardous biomatter that can survive in the vacuum of space." Max greeted the diminutive crew with a smile.


    "My name is Jarl. I will be the speaking representative today. Is it human custom for one or more persons to speak during meetings?" The man at the front of the group asked.


    "Both of us are authorized to speak on behalf of our vessel and Company today. Please follow me to the meeting room, and I will prepare the refreshments that your other vessel''s crew inquired about."


    The excitement in all their minds to try something new was almost as overwhelming as the Innu after a coffee break. This would be their first step into the world of the curious species, and they would try things that none of their species had ever experienced before.


    "ording to the records on your species, your cuisine tends toward tart vours, so I have prepared an arrangement of pies in individual serving sizes. Starting at the left, we have a strawberry rhubarb pie, then a green apple vour, followed by lemon meringue, pumpkin, blueberry and finally, a key lime pie.


    If you start at the left and work to the right, you should find more familiar vours first and then more exotic ones toward the finish." Max exined while Nico poured out shots of Reaver Rum for them all and replicated a tray of sour juices that the Alliance records indicated this species was fond of.


    If they were going to introduce new things, they couldn''t overwhelm their guests withpletely unfamiliar vours.


    "The Rum has a habit of causing a burning sensation in the mouth and throat of some species, but we have determined that it is not highly toxic to yours, though it is still an intoxicant. The juice will help with the sensation should you find it unpleasant." Nico exined as she set the drinks down.


    Her eagerness to see a species try Rum for the first time was nearly as intense as their desire to try new things for the first time. This might not be part of their mission, but at least it wasn''t boring.