After a few minutes of scans, the station's flight control officer informed them of their approved status, and the warnings on the displays inside their ship faded away.
[Welcome to Archibald Station. You are clear to depart your vessel, Santa Maria. An escort and welcoming committee will be waiting for you.]
"Make the little one an augmentic suit. Then, we should all go out together, just set the ship to automatic defence." Max told Nico quietly.
"I'm way ahead of you. There is an Android Pilot in the cockpit who will be waiting here, and I will start making the suit for Annabelle now. It looks like there are a lot of places to go shopping, so we can look around while you listen for whatever caught your attention earlier." She agreed.
Annabelle was overjoyed to get a new suit of armour that was as cool as this one, and she was happily hopping around the room, getting used to her enhanced strength.
"Calm down before we exit. If you are going to attract unwanted attention, we will have to leave you aboard with an Android to make sure you're doing homework." Max warned her.
"Got it. I will test the limits of the suit later. I promise I won't be a nuisance, and I will stay close to Lead Researcher Nico." She agreed in a hurry, so Max didn't change his mind about letting her off the ship.
Once everyone was in their armour with their helmets stowed in the flat space, Max led the group down the walkway to where a small group of alien dignitaries was waiting for them.
"Forgive our formality. We haven't had any prior dealings with the Reaver Trade Group, or any humans, for that matter." The spokesperson greeted them.
That explained the empty bay. Max had gotten so used to being around the Envoys that he had forgotten that nobody inside the Alliance was actually familiar with his species or the treaties that they had signed with the Alliance. The information was public but not something that was a focal point of most people's news feeds.
"I am Commander Keres Max of the Terminus Trading Company, a Reaver Company, and part of the Reaver Trade Group. This is my Subcommander Tarith Nico, and Annabelle, family to one of our crew members along for the ride." Max replied politely.
"I am Darryl, and this is my brother Darrell. We are the Liaisons to foreign visitors here aboard the Archibald Station. Does your Company have Alliance Credits, or would you prefer to trade for local units?"
Max nodded to Nico, who took the hint and brought out a small cluster of crystals from her flat space. "We have Alliance Credits, but we prefer to shop locally. How are your exchange rates for a pattern seven Warp Crystal Cluster, tuned for compatibility?"
The locals here were not much taller than Max but with four arms and a long, hairless tail. Their facial features were blocky like they were crudely carved sculptures, but expressive. Even without reading their minds, Max could tell that the Liaison was very excited to see the Warp Crystal.
"We can offer seventy percent of the wholesale value without any paperwork or ninety percent of wholesale if you can document where the crystals came from." He agreed.
Max had expected the man to drive a hard bargain, but he started out with a reasonable offer right from the initial conversation. That would make dealing with merchants here much easier than usual.
"I have documentation. Terminus Trading Company produces these Crystals." Nico informed him with a smile.
"Is that so? Perhaps our two species will get along very well." The four-armed man practically cheered.
Changing the entire crystal array was one of the few ways to actually change a ship's warp signature, so for a Black-Market station, who would presumably have a good reason to want to hide a ship's signature, getting a supply of new Warp Crystals with no associated vessel was a godsend and worth far more than wholesale value.
Nico handed over the crystals in a containment barrier to hold in the dangerous radiation, and a technician rushed forward to inspect them. The tech was an Innu, and she stopped in shock when she saw Annabelle since she was expecting three humans, but her curiosity about the Crystals wasn't delayed for long.
"Yes, very good. These are indeed balanced for use together. They can be installed in any vessel under one hundred meters in length with very minimal tuning to the ship's nacelles. The Crystal Array is also suitable for low warp vessels in larger sizes, but not for a Portal Capable class of ship." She informed her boss.
"Can your Company supply such Crystals?" The Liaison asked hopefully.
"For the right price, we can arrange the creation of a Warp Drive for a World Ship. We have the facilities and technology." Nico replied.
The technician got so excited that she actually launched herself forward and hugged the petite Cyborg before collecting herself.
"Sorry. We've been waiting on Crystals for a few of our ships for a long time now. The manufacturer that we work with is way behind, and we're not a high priority like the Government contracts." She explained sheepishly.
"That's fine. We are quite used to excited Innu. Tell me, have you heard of Coffee?" Max asked.
If they were going to make trade arrangements with the Black Market, he was going to make sure that he got the best possible trade deal that he could.
"Is that a new form of warp crystal balancing agent?" She asked.
"No, it is a beverage. I can have a sample created by our Replicators if you would like. It has proven to be incredibly popular with the Tech Nomads and other Innu aboard our ships." Max explained.
Those words calmed the fears of most of the Station staff. If these strange aliens called humans had a good relationship with the Innu and catered custom beverages to them, then they should have a good idea of how things really worked in the world.
"Tell me, Commander Keres. What is a Reaver? What role in society do they fill among the humans?" One of the men in the back of the group asked.
He looked like a security officer, but his thoughts said that he was an enforcer for the ship's shadier activities, so Max answered fairly honestly.
"We are both transport and acquisition specialists. We are very good at getting hard-to-find products with very few questions asked, and we can deliver them all over our species' territory without any interference from Government forces. We also produce a large number of items ourselves these days since there were no other reliable and trustworthy sources."
The big goon smiled at Max's answer and nodded his head toward someone outside the room.
"In that case, perhaps you could find us Warp Drive Crystals for six Barge Class ships? Unused and unrecorded would be a necessity for this order." The enforcer asked.
"That isn't a problem. We have some in stock, as long as I understand your definition of Barge Class correctly. They are roughly one kilometre in length and only need a warp seven rating. If they need to be tuned for higher speeds, I will need to have them custom-made, which could take a few weeks." Max agreed.
"How soon could you have them to us if they were in stock?" The man behind the wall asked.
"If you can open a portal to Absolution, the World Ship class vessel that we have in Alliance space right now for a research mission, I can have them delivered today. If they need to go through an intermediary, have them place the order and open the portal. I will approve the delivery as soon as payment is made."
A tall Valkia with jet-black wings stepped out from behind the wall with a smile.
"In that case, welcome to my Archibald Station. I will have the payment ready for you in Gray Credits within the hour. They can be redeemed at any of the seventeen thousand linked markets, and the map of their locations, as well as the access code, are included on this membership card."
Max took the card and scanned it into his memory using Nico's System Function that he was borrowing, then placed it in his flat space for safekeeping.
"Nico, if you would kindly get these Ladies and Gentlemen some coffee and send the order through for processing so that it is ready when the portal opens."
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