Kalden Deltak was wearing the best uniform he could find. He straightened his back so he would have a more imposing stature on that uncomfortable chair. Raising his hand to check if his hair was neatly arranged, he instead ended up fondling his skull. That was the moment when he realized he should have polished his head for extra shininess. Why didn’t he think of that before now?

Because now it was way too late for that. The screen in front of him glitched for a second and then the image of a member of the Universal Consensus appeared on it. Kalden Deltak clicked his tongue in displeasure. That alien was almost radiating light from his bright baldness. The Nubilae felt utterly defeated from the very start.

The screen was barely long enough to be able to show the long egg-shaped head of the member of the Universal Consensus. His ears were long and glued to his head while going down up to his chin, where the lobes converged in a single one, left hanging from there.

“State your official designation, unknown vessel,” the egg-headed alien demanded before Tejeda could say anything.

The Nubilae swiped up and the screen disappeared and he could see Shayla who was watching him with consternation written all over her face. “Why did you close the call?”

A stupid smirk emerged on Kalden Deltak's face, giving him the appearance of a scary mass killer. "Oh, huh, Shayla, hmmm, I still don't know what the name of this ship is."

Shayla literally facepalmed. Still holding her hand over her face to cover her eyes and not seeing him anymore, she murmured. "For crying out loud! This is the Syndicate of Cosmic Freedom’s flagship named SCF1. It is called that because it is our only ship. Ha! I think I want to slap my face again."

Kalden Deltak raised his chin proudly and winked at her even if she couldn’t see it. Or was she looking at him between her fingers? Oh, well, he had better things to do right now than to ponder on that too much. He resumed his elegant posture and swiped down.

The screen reappeared and, after a few seconds, it reconnected with the Universal Consensus member. This time, Tejeda managed to talk first. "This is SCF1, the Syndicate of Cosmic Freedom’s flagship. Sorry about what happened earlier. It was a glitch in the system, but now we should be fine. I am Kalden Deltak, the captain of this ship and the leader of the Syndicate of Cosmic Freedom. I have something I want to trade in the upcoming business meeting that is about to take place between you and the Alpha Pirates."

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The Universal Consensus member had small black eyes that resembled two buttons stitched on a white tablecloth. They seemed to shrink even more if that was possible. “You seem well informed for a leader of a small irrelevant organization. We like information and the ways to obtain it. Please, tell us, how did you get this data?”

Tejeda’s creepy smile didn’t have any effect on his interlocutor. "We have a very good hacker at our disposal. He managed to obtain the Interstellar Police database and we got nice intel from there. We may be inclined to share it with you if you are kind enough to get us an invitation to the meeting."

The bald-headed alien, I mean the Universal Consensus member to avoid any misunderstanding, shook his head, making his chin lobe wiggle left and right. “Not yet, but we are interested enough to hear you out. You can call me Uni1.”

“Nice to meet you, Uni1. Are you the leader of the Universal Consensus?”

Tejeda was nearly mesmerized by the movement of Uni1's lobe as his head moved again. "I am the leader. I am the follower. I am everything. I am known as the Universal Consensus. Perhaps your database has become corrupted. You should have known about us and the benefits of our collective intelligence."

Now it was Tejeda’s turn to shake his head and his hand touched his chin to check if he hadn’t a lobe there as well. "I can assure you that the database is accurate and fully operational. The thing is, my head is not big enough to store all that data. I sincerely apologize for my biological faults. I would want to auction off a one-of-a-kind piece of technology. It is a robotic construct that can read people's minds and emotions. It is a breakthrough to link the psionic and technological paths of ascension. Do I have your attention now?"

Uni1 simply remained there still and silent for a few seconds. Most likely, a crucial discussion about what they should do was going on in his brain. Uni1's eyes moved after a while. "We want the database transfer to be made through subspace at these coordinates. Encrypt it using your preferred technique. We will be able to open it."

On the right side of the screen, a series of digits appeared. Uni1 went on. "On the feedback trail of that communication, you will receive an official invitation. How many individuals are expected to attend the meeting, and who will they be?"

“We will be two members. Me, Kalden Deltak, the captain of SCF1, and Shayla Bale, a human female and the second in command, who likes to wear red and has a weird object hung at her neck.”

Uni1 stared at Tejeda for a few more seconds before giving a short reply. “We will be waiting at the meeting for you and Shayla Bale.”

When the screen went blank, Shayla swiped up to see Tejeda. His grin was gleaming with delight. "We completed the task! We are both in!"

Her lips were pursed, and the area between her brows wrinkled in a frightening scowl. He didn't give a damn. Tejeda was triumphantly chuckling. He managed to utter after a few seconds. "All we have to do now is find you a lovely red gown."