By the time they arrived back at Santa Maria and got off the shuttle, there was a whole delegation from the Koleska Command Group waiting at the airlock to hear from them about how the meeting went and why they had agreed to take in so many of the cursed nomads.

"Commander, Ministers, please, join us in the sitting room, and we can hold the meeting right here aboard Santa Maria. Mission Subcommander, you should likely stay as well since they will be asking for your debriefing message within the next few minutes." Max greeted the delegation.

"Thank you for your hospitality, Commander. I'm sure you know what we're going to ask already. Your approach to dealing with the Co-Operative was somewhat unorthodox, so we need to report the details back to our superiors." Commander Yuri replied with a humming noise that substituted for a smile among the Koleska, whose skeletal heads couldn't show emotions.

Everyone took their seats, with Nico and Max on a loveseat facing the rest of the group, and the meeting began.

"I will start with the basic details. We discovered the reason that the Co-Operative vessels could be tracked by the Arisen Army was a computer virus. We believe that we eliminated it from their vessels before we sent them on their way, but in the name of safety, no form of electronic device was allowed to go with the refugees that we sent back to our Galaxy.

They left with nothing containing any form of circuit, and they were searched for signs of Arisen life, all forms of signal transmission, as well as subversive or violent thoughts. For that reason, we believe that the ones we have taken will not be a threat to our people. historical

We did send the ships away, though, and we do not believe that they will return. They are going in search of more survivors, and they wish to test the possibility that the so-called curse on them has been broken with the removal of the tracking signal."

The Koleska leaders took notes as he spoke and then turned to the Subcommander that had been sent with them.

He cleared his throat and spoke slowly to be sure he was not misunderstood. "When we arrived, we made it clear to them that the signal we had detected was not acceptable behaviour, but they appeared fully unaware of the situation. They were informed that they would not be allowed contact with or access to any Koleska vessel or facilities as their presence had been deemed unsafe, but the humans determined that there was a possibility that the virus could be countered, so the destruction of their shuttle could be delayed, and the Co-Operative members proved extremely helpful in finding and isolating all potentially infected devices, even taking the initiative to create a detection device according to Subcommander Nico's directions."

That alone would go a long way to starting to rebuild their reputation among the Koleska. The species believed in forgiving mistakes, and if the nomads legitimately did not know that they were infected with a computer virus that was tracking them, there was a small measure of sympathy for their plight, despite the damage that they had caused over the years.

It was not much, but a tiny bit was more than they were deemed worthy of before.

"So, what you are saying is that the nomads might not bring the Arisen Fleet down upon any location where they stop?" Commander Yuri asked.

"That is correct, Commander. According to our analysis, there is a less than ten percent chance that they will still be tracked by the method that we detected, and an unquantifiable chance that they are also being tracked by a method that neither of our species could detect." The Koleska Subcommander agreed.

"Interesting. So, the problem was as simple as the Arisen Army finding a blind spot in our sensors and exploiting it to gain an advantage against us. It makes sense that a new arrival from another region of the Universe would find a way around it, as their sensors work so much differently than our own do.

There is a lot of paperwork to do, but I think this is enough to get us started. Once your official reports are finished, please forward them to Commander Yuri, who will forward them to the rest of us as needed." One of the bureaucrats informed them.

"Would you like to stay for a meal? It is that time again, and we would be negligent as hosts if we let you leave hungry to start on more work." Max offered.

Those were magic words with the Koleska. They hated causing offence, and they would have left hungry to go back to work out of a sense of duty, but now that Max had asked, it was mandatory that they stay for at least one course of the meal, even if someone wanted them elsewhere.

Max got up and brought out a collection of platters from the Replicator, selected by the dishes that the Koleska seemed to like the best, and set them on the table.

"Forgive the informality. The meal will be served family style today." He explained as Nico brought out plates and bowls for everyone.

"Oh, this is a rare treat. I don't think that I have had an informal meal in years." One of the bureaucrats laughed.

"In that case, let me make this properly informal." Nico agreed, then closed and locked the door between the ship and the station, cutting off the security cameras and all other video and data links.

"All surveillance is now disabled. Please, feel free to treat this as a non-work engagement." Nico informed them.

There was a moment of panic in their minds as the data links were severed, but then they slowly began to smile.

?α?dαs ηθνε| Commander Yuri winked at Nico as he served himself a bowl of soup. "I had forgotten that you can do that. It is not possible aboard the station or a Koleska vessel. We are under surveillance at all times so that our suitability for promotion and our job performance can be properly measured. Only inside our homes are we free of the cameras and recordings."

"Then enjoy yourselves. The opportunity won't come all that often, and others will get suspicious if we keep cutting off the surveillance without a good explanation." Max informed them, getting the meal started.