The first sign Trout had that things would be a little irregular was the fact the scheduled transmission from the Kaedekin’s First Contact Team was audio-only instead of video.

  “Bawipu guranah weepuh ninibong. Greetings, FTCS Venture. This is the First Contact Team, calling from Stargazer Fortress.”

  The second was that the voice that spoke wasn’t Rain. It was deep, but unmistakably feminine, and Trout had heard it before. “I was expecting Paladin Rain,” he said calmly. “Is that you, Paladin Princess?”

  “Affirmative, Captain Trout. We apologize for the unannounced change in plans, but Paladin Rain is currently indisposed. I have been asked to act as her proxy in being the point of contact between the Confederacy and the Kaedekin. What do you wish to speak of, Captain Trout?”

  For a moment, Trout debated asking to talk to someone else. The analysts were still trying to decide what role the buddies had in Kaedekin society. While nothing official had been committed to paperwork yet, the fact that the Kaedekin officially considered buddies to be people…

  “I hope Paladin Rain is well?” he asked, both to give himself something to say and because he was concerned. “Is she sick?”

  “Rain is well,” the buddy said. “Due to various circumstances, she is unable to be on-duty for this shift. Therefore, she asked me to act in her capacity at this time. She will be able to return to her regular duty schedule tomorrow.”

  “Nothing serious, I hope?” he said.

  “Nothing serious,” Princess replied, and for a moment Trout wondered if the buddy was simply repeating his words back at him without understanding them. Artificial Intelligence models did that sometimes, when they weren’t just making up stuff. “Dr. Namine has prescribed unconscious bed rest for a minimum of eight hours. She will be fully operational after the medically required maintenance period.”

  It took Trout a moment to translate. “I see. Very well, then. So you will be taking her place for today?”

  “Affirmative. I have been present at all previous discussions and have been maintaining the established subjects of discussion. What subject do you wish to discuss today?”

  “I was hoping to continue yesterday’s discussion about QEC formation,” Trout said, trying to sound casual. “It had to be pushed back because of Rain’s demonstration of… ‘magic’, but could we continue it today?”

  “Subject matter noted. Reorganizing agenda. What do you wish to ask?”

  Despite the terse, almost parodically ‘robotic’ reply, Princess’s voice somehow remained cheerful in a way that reminded him of the Kaedekin. Was that deliberately programmed into it or just how the Kaedekin naturally spoke? “Someone mentioned knowing the geological factors for QEC formation. I was curious as to what they were?”

  He was proud of the fact his voice didn’t betray how absolutely clenched he was inside.

  It had long been suspected that it was possible to artificially create the conditions necessary to crystalize QEC, and equally suspected that everyone but humans knew how but weren’t telling. It was hardly inscrutable why. Attempts to find out what actually caused QEC crystallization had irreparably ruined crystallization sites before a blanket ban on doing more than passive observation had been passed, which over the decades had forced humanity to import the majority of the QEC it needed for its growing space infrastructure from their allies. It left humans at a major disadvantage, as all nearly all technology that was foundational to faster-than-light travel required QEC, both to build and to fuel. That meant that their expansion as a species was literally limited by exactly how much their allies and third parties were willing to trade them. And the fact that everyone else had enough of a surplus of QEC to at least trade it to humanity meant their supply was significantly greater than humanity’s… while colonizing far fewer planets to do it.

  Humanity needed to be able face the rest of the universe proudly, and if they knew this one thing they would be able to. Yes, it wouldn’t fix the supply issue overnight, they’d still need to import a lot of QEC from their allies, but it would be the start of weaning themselves off such dependency.

  And the Kaedekin were the first ones they had met who did not claim such a thing was impossible.

  Was that why their planet had so much QEC on it? Were they all artificial crystallization sites? But if that was the case, what did they need so much QEC for?

  …

  Welp, more things for the analysts to try and answer!

  Princess didn’t answer immediately. Did his sentence structure confuse it—?

  “I must inquire as to why you do not already possess that information,” Princess replied. “The ability to utilize venecite requires the ability to find venecite to utilize. According to the information we possess from the previous universe, by the early 2000’s Earth could rarely meet the conditions necessary for venecite crystallization to occur naturally. Humans would have either needed to leave their planet to find an extant source of venecite, found undisturbed underground former crystallization sites that still contained venecite reserves, or already possessed the knowledge of how venecite naturally crystalizes to prepare the conditions necessary to induce natural crystallization. Just from the fact that you are utilizing venecite in the amounts that were loaded into that maildrone means humanity should already possess that information.”

  If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  That was a very concerning statement. ‘No longer’ occurred naturally? But they had venecite crystallization sites on Earth. It was where they’d gotten the crystals for the first quantum drive. “But we do not,” Trout said.

  “As far as you are aware.”

  That… was actually a very real possibility. If someone told him that one of the companies that controlled one of Earth’s QEC crystallization sites was withholding the knowledge of what the conditions were needed for QEC to crystalize… well, he wouldn’t be surprised. “As far as I am aware,” he allowed. “That being the case, what are the factors that cause crystal formation?”

  He had to keep himself from holding his breath, then realized it wouldn’t matter because this was a voice only transmission—

  “I’m afraid I cannot give you that information, Captain Trout,”

  The abrupt and straightforward refusal… hurt, surprisingly. It was like walking through a doorway, only to have the door slam shut and hit him on the nose as he crossed the threshold. Now he was very glad of the lack of video, because the glare he directed at the audio recording program would have not been considered diplomatic by most people. “May I ask why?” he said, almost but not quite managing to keep the frustration from his voice.

  “The First Contact Team has decided that this is information that will not be shared.” There was no change in the voice. It was neither apologetic or sympathetic. There was only that faux cheerfulness. “It has also been made clear that this is information that does not need to be shared. Humanity already has this information.”

  Trout grit his teeth. “Could you explain what you mean by that?” he said, just barely managing to sound civil.

  “Certainly. Because of the properties of venecite, it is not detectable by ordinary means. It is non-metallic, and does not react to electromagnetic radiation. It dissolves in water, so it does not tend to form underground where there is a water table. It does not leave chemical residue that can be tested for. Under spectrographic analysis, it is can be mistaken for rock salt. Therefore, how was it first found and identified on Earth? Where would have left a trace that a scientist would have been able to detect and follow?”

  There was a brief silence as Trout frowned, though this time in recollection. They’d learned about the discovery of QEC and the development of the quantum drive at school. He tried to remember what they’d been taught about how it had been found. All he could remember was learning the name of the person who’d discovered it—the name itself escaped him, although he did remember their surname was the same as the name of a corporation—and the date of when it had been discovered. Again, the date escaped him, because he’d passed that quiz and didn’t need to remember it anymore. But had there been any mention of how it had been discovered?

  Princess spoke again. “Humanity already has this information,” it repeated. “Why it has not chosen to share it amongst itself, I do not know. I can only speculate as to their reasons why. However, I know that historically, the reason that it was not shared was because those who possessed this knowledge believed that humanity would self-destruct if it were wide-spread.”

  What? “What do you mean ‘historically’?”

  “There were those in the previous universe who were aware of what factors were responsible for veneceite crystallization.”

  … it was someone else’s problem to figure out. “And does the Kaedekin agree with this assessment?”

  “We have not compiled enough data to disprove it. Absent this data, we have chosen not to change the current situation until a more informed decision can be made.”

  Trout’s fists clenched. Taken in isolation, it was a perfectly rational, safe decision. He just didn’t like it because the reasoning was being applied to him. “I see.”

  “Were you hoping the information would be provided to you?”

  “The thought did cross my mind, yes,” Trout said sarcastically.

  “I am sorry to disappoint. Can we consider this subject exhausted and move on to the next item for discussion?”

  “Actually, I suddenly find myself feeling a bit under the weather,“ Trout said, and if that phrasing just produced garbage data for the AI’s language models, then he didn’t care. “I think I might have to cut our conversation short so I can visit the infirmary.”

  “How concerning. Very well. We shall contact you tomorrow, at which point Paladin Rain will have returned from her medically-mandated maintenance period.”

  “I look forward to it,” Trout said, not bothering to keep the grimace off his face.

  “… Captain Trout, if I may offer a word of advice? Off the record, as it were?”

  Trout raised an eyebrow, but did not move to stop the audio recording. “What is it?”

  “The probability is very high at least one of the individuals with the information you seek is on your ship,” Princess said. “They will be the ones who directly maintain your FTL drive, and utilize venecite beyond just moving it from place to place and container to container. If you wish to know how venecite crystalizes, inquire from them.”

  What? “I thought you weren’t going to tell me anything?” Trout said slowly.

  “And I am not doing so. I am simply advising you how to access information you already possess. Whether or not you choose to do so is completely of your own volition.”

  “And your advice is to interrogate my own quantum engineers?”

  There was a definite pause this time.

  “I am advising no such thing. Any conclusions you come to from available data are your own. Have a good day, Captain Trout. I hope your visit to the infirmary finds nothing wrong.”

  “Wait.”

  Another pause.

  “Yes?”

  “Why are you… advising me to do this?”

  “Because a buddy chooses. A program merely obeys. And while humanity’s observers seem content to find amusement in your self-perpetuated self-delusion, I choose to give you the most precious gift I can: a choice. To either perceive the objective universe as it actually is… or to continue as you have been. Whichever you choose does not matter to me. But perhaps it will matter to you. Was there anything else, Captain Trout?”

  “…no. I won’t keep you any longer. Goodbye, Paladin Princess.”

  “Goodbye, Captain Trout. Until tomorrow.”

  The call ended.

  Trout reached over and ended the recording.