“I am listening, Ya’Va Vsum. How would the Tau like to alter their relationship with the Stellar Fleet?”

“We are anxious about our possible treatment by other Imperials as the Stellar Fleet approaches Imperial Territory. We are also fed up with being prisoners.” He points his thumb at the kids playing the Promenade, “Our children should not pay for our mistakes.” He taps the dataslate, “Especially as we have paid our due as well.”

“One cannot bring back the dead, Overseer.” Yes, I am aware of the fallacy of that statement. “As such, there is no mitigation for your crimes, only penance. You made war upon a peaceful planet, snatching people for your experiments. While I have benefited from that knowledge, the Tau still performed reprehensible acts. Before you mention Imperial atrocities, know that I only hold you responsible for your own actions. I expect the same in return.”

“What is the point of penance if there is no hope? We cannot continue to labour for your benefit without due recognition and compensation.”

“That’s a lie. You have the means to apply the genetics research I have sponsored to the Tau. I am reading it off the data-looms as we speak. You have been paid, and paid well. Bother me with these false statements a second time and I will close all negotiations for a year. As for recognition? You did good. Well done.”

“What?”

“Thank you for your exemplary work, Overseer.”

“I...er, you’re welcome?”

“Let’s move on. You did not come here without a plan. What do you propose?”

Ya’Va Vsum clears his expression and looks me in the eyes, “We wish to purchase a fifty percent stake in the Macro-Ferry in exchange for the ZFR Horizon Accelerator Engine. In exchange for the ZFR Drive, we also require the rights to permanently move to the Macro-Ferry, permission to use the Exo-wombs, and the sole rights to maintaining any ZFR Drives that you install on the Macro-Ferry. Finally we wish to be free of our prisoner status and acquire Imperial Citizenship.”

“That’s a lot of demands and a fairly reasonable offer. First, the ZFR Drive. I am willing to accept this in trade. As part of the exchange, you will work with my Tech-priests to convert your technology to Imperial Standards and assist in the construction and installation of a prototype on an Adder-Class voidship. You will go along for the ride. Should the test prove successful, I will consider the trade complete. Is this acceptable to you, Overseer?”

“Yes, I expected those conditions.”

“Good, as for what I will actually give you for it, the best I can give you is two percent percent of the income, after expenses, generated by the Macro-Ferry.”

“Two? Don’t be ridiculous, Magos. The ZFR Drive will save your Macro-Ferry almost twenty years for each round trip! You could potentially double your income with it. Fifty percent is generous. The fuel and reaction mass savings alone are enough to make the trade worth it.”

“‘They’’’ be your savings too, Overseer. Four percent.”

“Forty.”

“Five percent.”

Ya’va Vsum scowls.

“Four percent,” I say, “for the Tau community and one percent for the voted leader.”

Ya’va Vsum opens his mouth and pauses as he takes in what I just said. It’s potentially more bytes than he could practically spend.

I continue, “Four percent, one for the leader, and access to rejuvenat treatments for you and your immediate family.”

“You want me to sell out my people for trinkets and a longer life in a cage?”

“Then let us discuss freedom for the Tau. If you want sanctioned xeno status, I am going to need more from you. You will need to adapt your philosophy of the Greater Good to the Imperium and officially adopt the Cult Mechanicus for your faith.”

“That’s absurd!”

“I am not asking you to abandon your faith or your distant people. A people who never bothered to search for you, I might add, but to fully adopt a new culture.”

“You can’t know that.”

“Well, either way, they’ll never find you now as the vessel you went down with hasn’t even been built yet.”

Ya’va Vsum grimaces, “We have been in contact long enough that I know your faith well. The Cult Mechanicus is fractious and pugnacious with all whom it declares have impugned upon its tenets, often at the whim of whichever half-brained moron has the the most and biggest mechadendrites. While your own priests are usually mild in comparison to the available records and the culture classes you inflict upon us, freedom is not enough of an incentive to dive into that oily pit.”

“I will make your privileges as second class citizens official.”

“No, Magos. We may not have the status, but in practice we are already second class citizens. You use that designation for prisoners only. While you still provide the stipend, second class citizens do not get basic healthcare, nor receive water, air, plain food rations, or even spartan accommodations without paying for them.”

“No Tau has ever made a Human a first class citizen. Why should I do the same?”

“Because that is the only scenario in which I will trade for the ZFR Horizon Accelerator Engine away for four percent, and your additional incentives, of a single, oversized voidstation, or consider spending the years of my extended life it will require to persuade my people to properly adopt the Cult Mechanicus.”

“Then what will you trade for Exo-womb and maintenance rights?”

“The Drive, as I first started. You will give the maintenance rights so that all Tau have jobs and so that they do not cause trouble and have meaningful work. The Exo-wombs will boost our population to the level required to maintain such a large drive and supply the labour to maintain our community.”

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

I am not happy about conceding to Ya’Va Vsum, but I have no counterargument. I can impose restrictions though.

“Your work will be subject to routine inspections, much as it would be if it was my own people doing the work. Should inspections be inhibited, or the Tau refuse to perform the work, for which they will receive reasonable pay, the same pay a Human would to perform that job, the sole right to maintain the ZFR Drive will be lost permanently.”

“I am aware of the necessity for checks, balances, and bureaucracy.”

“Exo-womb use will be permitted to maintain up to fifteen thousand Tau. Any further Tau must be natural born. Should your population exceed three percent of the Macro-Ferry’s permanent Human residents, population controls will be applied. If the population does not drop below the three percent cap within three years of it being exceeded, or exceeds the cap a second time within a ten year period, sexually active Tau males will be forcefully sterilised until the Tau population drops again.”

“How does that possibly make us first class citizens?”

“Procreation rights are not part of citizenship in the Stellar Fleet. The problem is not enough births, not too many. Besides, if my vessels get too crowded, I can expand my fleet or encourage crews to retire and settle on the planets we will pass. The Tau do not have that option and your living space is fixed. While you can and have earned expansions, you do not have enough space for three percent of the minimum crew required for the Macro-Ferry’s base module, that’s thirty thousand Tau, let alone what the final crew might actually grow to.”

“Fine, I agree to your terms.”

“I haven’t quite finished. We’ve only talked about what you want and my concessions.”

Ya’va tuts, “What additional demands do you have.”

“Our previous agreement will remain standing as well. The Tau will continue to research the subjects I assign in exchange for compensation. As before, bonus discoveries made in your own time and at your own expense will be compensated for, though if I want what you are selling, you must sell. There will be no withholding of discoveries made using my labs. As I own everything in the Stellar fleet, there is no escaping this clause.”

“What happens if you die and the Tau survive the fallout?”

“All of my assets will pass to my designated heir, Quaani. This includes the deals I have signed. If my heir does not stick to my agreements, they will have to deal with the consequences of how you choose to act when agreements are broken.”

“You have a fancy way of saying ‘Not my problem’.”

“I doubt it will be yours either. You will have to massively improve your species, in your own time, if you wish to outlive me.”

“We shall see.”

“As for the accommodation available to the Tau on the Macro-Ferry, which we did not address before you stated your agreement, in recognition of achieving a better than expected result for your mutation research, the Tau will be provided with enough living space for fifteen thousand individuals. It will be similar to your current xenos-habitat.”

“Thank you, Magos. My people will be pleased. Would the caveat be ‘upon successful application of new treatments to mutated Human individuals.’”

I chuckle, “That it would. One final thing before I go. I wish to purchase the Tau Gravity Hook technology. Be aware that I have the data to recreate such a device as well as alternatives. Like the Exo-Womb, this deal will be available to you until I can recreate it. Do you wish to grab an advantage while you can?”

“What are you offering?”

“The rewards you didn’t pick last time when you traded for better MOA production: political power, a T’au flora and fauna aquaponics bay, or personal labs.”

“I have not forgotten your offers, Magos. Access to redacted meeting minutes and petition rights would be a great help with our planned population increase, but that isn’t something we need immediately. Many have forgotten, or have never known the touch of home. I would like the aquaponics space. Also, would we be permitted to sell T’au produce to trade for other things? Another source of work and income would do much to tackle our ennui.”

“That is acceptable. I cannot guarantee Humans will be willing to buy or become repeat customers, but I will not hinder the supply of T’au foods, so long as it meets the fleet’s strict standards.”

“Then I would ask that you include processing facilities in the deal so that we may properly prepare and preserve our goods. Would not Tau wines, scented oils, and fine herbs prove interesting?”

“We shall have to see. Are you sure you would not like the laboratories? I would be willing to add twenty years of moderate funds to the deal.”

“The Tau are more than scientists, Magos. You may not see it because all you have ever faced are our machines. Like you, we have music, theatre, holo-vids, and games. We must restore the spirit of our community if we are to thrive beneath the yoke of another.”

“Very well. I am interested to see if your gamble pays off. I will include a small food processing facility in the deal. I will even pay for the staff that will monitor your products. Fair warning, the last time an Imperial world traded for food with xenos, the food was tampered with, even though the Imperial’s minerals were not. Both sides suffered. There will be no second chances if any skulduggery is attempted.”

“It will not come from me. I can only ask that you do not spray us all with the same machine lubricant should one of my people be so foolish.”

I chuckle, “Even my own crew aren’t that lucky. A community should watch out for each other, don’t you think?” I shake my head, “Enough of this. We both know the deals and the stakes. I will have Eire draw up our preliminary agreement. You can debate further minutiae with her. We will sign our final agreement at our next meeting.”

“Agreed, Magos.”

We shake hands.

Ya’Va Vsum clears his throat, “Would you like any refreshments, Magos? I will pay.”

I stand, and peer down at Ya’va Vsum. “Perhaps another day, Overseer. I believe that, in both our cultures, refreshments are usually offered before negotiations. It is also polite to meet the individual you are petitioning at the door to your home. Not have them wander about, staring at vases until you can be bothered to turn up.”

“My apologies, Magos. It won’t happen again.”

“Don’t worry about it, Overseer,” I walk to the exit, stop, and turn around. “If you were feeling too humble to accept another two percent to your population cap, I promise not to tell.”

“I hope your Omnissiah curses you, Human!”

I wave and saunter off, calling over my shoulder, “Once our agreement is signed, He will be your god too. You can pray to Him for forgiveness.”

Looks like the Melodium I installed in the Distant Sun, and later moved to the Iron Crane, has finally paid off. The Tau have been worn down by its subtle tones and now feel like they are part of the Fleet’s crew and are loyal to it. Combined with a change in leadership, I finally have enough sway to bring them to my point of view.

Feeling in a good mood, I decide to walk to the prow of Iron Crane, see how the repairs to the front bay are holding up, and stare at the busy shipyard for a while. It’s such a busy space that few will bother me as they have their own work to do.

While I like watching all the intricate machinery moving about, I’m more interested in chatting with E-SIM. I noticed something unusual about my kill count when the Striking Scorpions died nearby.

I’ve been putting off the conversation as I’ve been feeling anxious about the planned relativistic strike on Kinbriar V and didn’t want to add to my troubles. Hopefully my good mood will carry me through the discussion. It’s about time E-SIM fesses up. The ancient Machine-Spirit has always had a ready excuse for not telling me exactly how my kill count works and I have had enough of being fobbed off.

At least I don’t spot any more shabby work as I walk through Iron Crane. Hopefully, the sabotage was an empty act of hate and there isn’t anything sinister brewing within the Stellar Fleet.

Forming three new penal companies of educated workers is a horrible waste of resources. What a bunch of hateful fools.