The engineers followed Max down to the factory floor, where the gravity had been increased high enough to walk properly and took out their scanning tools to examine the ship on a molecular level.

Nico had verified that the devices did not record or transmit anything, so the technicians would have to verbally describe what they had seen to the other members of their teams, whose communications were monitored.

So far, none of them had broken the confidentiality rules that were in place, but they weren’t going to take any chances, especially after the first team to see their work had tried to place a nanotechnology bug in the lab, which most facilities would have missed.

“Is this the same pattern of vessel as your other shuttles?” One of the technicians asked.

“We have a few like this, but the ones we use for the majority of the labor work are not warp capable and don’t need to be, so they are a much simpler design. This is a passenger shuttle, suitable to be repurposed as a small yacht with its twenty-meter size. Inside you will find that the design team has set it up for couples travel, with a single luxury bedroom suite and comfortable seating, including an in-flight holographic entertainment system.”

Max led them through the small shuttle in groups so that nobody missed his details of the ship’s features, and then back outside to extol the virtues of the warp 12 capable design, using the newest generation of their crystal-based warp drive technology and a new design of warp field hybridized from Hunter’s technology.

There were demands for the patent verification device to be brought in again, so Max had the group wait while a lawyer team was brought down with the large machine, and the scan was run on the shuttle.

[Patents belonging to the Terminus Trading Company detected]

[Expired Patents verified for generic use detected and confirmed free of charge]

[No other patented parts or software found]

“Is it even possible to create an unpatented Warp Field at this point? Hasn’t society already patented them all?” One of the lawyers asked.

“Five hundred years after the first patent is issued, a warp field configuration enters the public domain. Many budget shipbuilders use such obsolete technology to keep their costs down for consumers.” One of the Engineers informed him as if the man was an idiot for not knowing such a simple fact.

“Patent device, when did the Patent for the Warp Field Configuration in use on this vessel expire?” The lawyer asked the pile of machinery sitting on the floor.

“All patents relating to Warp Drive Components and configurations belong to the Terminus Trading Company and were registered within the last standard Decade.” The Machine informed him.

“Then what are the expired patents for generic use?” The lawyer asked.

“Forty-seven structural alloys licensed for generic use by the Hunter civilization are detected. Three Holographic Display Technologies patented by the Innu civilization and licensed for generic use are detected.”

“They used five-hundred-year-old holographic technology for the display? That’s incredible. The fact that they could make it work with their own new software and hardware alone is an engineering marvel. Those parts belong in a history museum.” One of the engineers announced after looking up the patents that the machine had displayed.

A number of assistants and lawyers ran out of the room at that point, relaying the message to their bosses since no communications were allowed in this region of the ship, and the engineers began to comb over the design of the shuttle again.

“What will be the blueprint cost for this shuttle when you put it to market?” One of the engineers asked.

“For the moment, we are not planning to enter the private yacht market, so this design will not be mass-produced or the blueprints licensed at this time,” Max informed the group.

They had enough angry people on their ship without bringing in the Yacht designers.

“When you say not mass produced, do you mean that those with influence might have one custom made here aboard Terminus?” Someone asked, hopefully.

“That might be possible in the future, but as a new design, this shuttle must also undergo thorough evaluations and test flights before we allow anyone outside the organization to obtain one. Our reputation is too important to allow an untested space vessel to leave our control.”

That they all understood testing generally took years so that they could go through every possible scenario and evaluate long-term wear in a real-life situation before anything was sold. When technology was already so advanced, it wasn’t a delay to anyone’s development to thoroughly test new products. The industrial revolutions of any interstellar species were millennia in the past.

Though, as they watched the Terminus Trading Company working with the Innu to develop new technology, it was a bit like the humans were undergoing a second industrial revolution of their own, from interstellar flight capable primitives to a technologically advanced developing species in a single generation.

“Just what would it cost to have a custom yacht built here aboard Terminus? I want to get one for my fiftieth wedding anniversary, so my wife can enjoy the trip between our home by the main facility and the vacation house on Kugox Seven. She absolutely despises flying on commercial flights.” One of the engineers from the willowy Dryaa species asked, flashing his very best smile at Max, in what his thoughts said was a pleading expression for his species.

“How custom are you looking for? A replica of this Patent, or would you like an individual yacht made, with the Patent guaranteed locked, so it will always be a one-of-a-kind hull?” Nico asked.

The mere thought of an individual hull made many of the attendees flinch at the damage such a thing would do to their wallets. The fee for a custom design was exorbitant enough. They should know they were engineers, but to have it locked for a century before the designer could produce another was a huge loss to their business, so only the most wealthy would dare to even suggest it.

“I was thinking Cutter Class, and your existing hull design simply wouldn’t do. It’s too militaristic. Perhaps something more elegant?” He suggested.

Nico turned to the Technician closest to her, who handed her a tablet with a series of numbers on it.

“Is six months delivery fine? Human standard months, that is. This is the price estimate, including Patent fees and single unit production upcharges.” Nico informed the man, handing over the tablet.

He looked it over for a moment, frowned, sighed, and then frowned again.

“I may have been overly optimistic. How much if it becomes commercially available afterward, with a limitation on factory application of my specific interior color scheme?” He asked, handing the tablet back.

The technician edited it for a few moments and handed it back. The man’s face brightened, and he flipped through the options she had prepared.

“What is this last one?”

“That is the Tech Nomad method. All units sold with your specific design will be marked as the Lord Governor Moop Edition of the vessel, including an engraved placard by the cockpit and main doors, letting visitors know that it was designed to honor your wife.”