"Visitors," Gooraroo greeted them on their next trip. "I have a proposal."

This ought to be good, Nick mused. Even across species and language barriers, he always sounds like he's offering us an Amazing Deal on a used car.

"We are listening, Gooraroo," Captain Geh!aoa responded.

"In exchange for ongoing, regular food shipments to Ooafa, we would like regular transportation to and from Uranaga Four."

Where's that? Nick wondered.

"I'm sorry, we're still not fully translating. Where do you mean?" the Captain hedged.

"The yellow star 6.83 light-years from Arrurra. You shared your survey of the system, and the fourth world has oxygen in its atmosphere. We would like to establish a colony, and we have all the materials, but we need transportation. We also would like a commitment to regular deliveries so that our people are not stranded there."

Now, wait a minute. They're talking about a regular shipping schedule, so when are we going to get to Earth? Nick waited to hear how the conversation played out.

"Ah, I see. That is an interesting proposal. We will have to have many talks about this before we could commit to such a plan. We have many different things we want to do, and only one starship."

"Then, as an alternative, would you share the design of your system for faster-than-light propulsion? If we could build our own ships, even small ones, that would remove the pressure on your ship's schedule."

Nice try, Gooraroo, but the answer's still no.

"As we have said before, we are willing to share the design for that eventually, but not until we have all had time to learn more about galactic civilization. We need to make sure we don't go blundering in and start an interstellar war, by accident or design." Geh!aoa was gesturing to indicate that she meant everyone, Arrurrans and Ooafans alike. "We also do not want to cripple or destroy your economy by delivering advanced knowledge too quickly."

It was a standard response that Geh!aoa had learned from Doctor Vickall, and it wasn't the first time she was telling the trader, either.

"I understand the limitations you are working under. Perhaps, to make it more appealing, we could establish a joint colony on Uranaga Four. Arrurrans and Ooafans, cooperating, both making their first interstellar colony together."

"That...is interesting. We should definitely discuss the possibility," Geh!aoa conceded.

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"Excellent! I am sending various plans to my son the Ambassador."

Even across the translation, Nick could hear the pride in Gooraroo's voice. Talking about his son seemed to be the one thing that snapped him out of schemer mode. He was happy for his friend, that buried under all that greed was still some affection.

* *

"He's right, you know. We could really use more ships. A lot of people are going to have a lot of trouble if anything happens to the Kalash-Quovo," Sana pointed out in the next meeting.

Nick rubbed his forehead in frustration. "I know. I really want to avoid tipping off the Goldaskians about us, but you're right. We need more ships if we're ever going to make time for a trip to Earth. So, where can we get them?"

"According to our maps, the closest world in the galactic network is Galgazor, about seven days' travel from here," Dr. Vickall told the group.

"And they are likely to tell the empire about us, right? Can we fake our registry?"

"We won't be able to hide that we're a Goldaskian cruiser if anybody gets a good look at us. We could stop at the edge of the system and send in a message, then leave before they know we are there."

"But then we wouldn't know if anyone heard us or was interested in helping," Geh!kin pointed out.

"Is there anyplace that has starships but isn't part of the galactic civilization?"

"Of course...not..." Nick raised an eyebrow as the doctor trailed off.

"Doc?"

"Well...we could try to contact smugglers. Gray or black market dealers. I don't know where we could go to try that...but I know who might."

"Your fellow Goldaskians?"

The doctor nodded. "I'll start by asking the ones on the ship, but I'd like to contact the exiles. It would be in their own interest for us to get more transportation, after all. They'd have no reason not to cooperate."

"Unless they wanted us to get caught. They might figure that is a fast way to get the Empire to come rescue them," Geh!aoa pointed out.

"Getting more ships around here would likely be a faster way," Sana countered.

"Well, gather the information, Doctor, and then we'll see what we can make of it."

"Next question, though—how do we get the ships to come? Do we buy them? Hire them? Offer raw materials in trade? I get the impression that gold isn't as valuable in the galaxy as it is on Earth."

"It's useful material, to be sure, but not that expensive. You might want to print out an advanced device or two from Petra's blueprints and offer those in trade."

"Good point. What kind of things would a race with starships want?"

"We can brainstorm a list. I can ask my former crewmates about that, too. I can tell you right now, healing swarms will be valuable."

Geh!kin groaned. "Those took enormous resources to make, and one of your beeps destroyed most of our supply when you invaded."

Sana did a half-shrug. "That idiot paid with his life, so beep has spoken. Medical scanner swarms then. Machines for surgery. Prosthetics. I'm sure Petra has lots of goodies to offer in trade. See what you can make quickly, Nick."

"I'll do that. We really need to keep stockpiling raw materials on board, especially for the long trip to Earth."

"Well, as the food crisis gets alleviated and we finish finding people to rescue, we can shift more resources towards searching for and gathering the rare elements Petra needs. We're all interested in getting more of Petra's bag of tricks built."

There was general agreement around the table. "All right," Geh!aoa concluded. "Let's gather information and see if we can find a quiet port to visit, and what we can offer them."

Nick was both pleased and worried. This could be very good, or very bad. Oh, well. All I can do is my best for Earth.

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