The two Canis leaders guided Max and Nico to a bright and airy gazebo that was set with a variety of local meats and fruits, looking more eager with each step. Their thoughts said that they had enhanced their sense of smell to help them survive the early days on this planet, and the smell of freshly roasted meat was nearly overpowering to them.

As soon as they sat down, Nico pulled a silver domed covered dish out of her flat space and placed it on the table.

“A token of our appreciation for your hospitality.” She told their hosts.

“While it sure is pretty, we aren’t really big on shiny trinkets, but we appreciate your gesture.” The man informed her politely.

“No, lift the lid. I’m glad you like the container it came in, but the gift is inside.” Nico laughed.

The big woman laughed and opened the lid, then her eyes went wide in wonder, and her nose began to twitch.

“Is that?”

“Slow-roasted beef brisket. Created by our replicators, and the highlight of today’s crew mess hall lunch menu aboard Terminus.” Nico informed them.

Max probed her thoughts and found that Nico made that roughly thirty seconds before they landed after her scans revealed the abundance of meat dishes for sale in the city. Max hadn’t thought to take note of that. He had been more interested in the people and their technology than their lunch, despite the fact that they were offering Replicators to every planet they stopped at.

Humans all generally ate the same sort of things, so it was all going to be within the capability of the Replicators, but these people had modified their genome enough that they might not like most of the dishes that were available.

Brisket must be popular here, and their hosts were literally drooling at the sight, wiping it away with the back of a hand before taking out huge knives to carve up the hunk of meat.

“Oh, I hope this tastes as good as it smells. Please, serve yourselves anything that you want to try. I don’t know what you will like, but we have a bit of everything that we usually eat here.” The man informed them.

He made a happy whimpering noise as he cut into the brisket, and the juices ran out onto the serving tray. He didn’t manage to get the first bite, though. As soon as it was cut, his partner stabbed it with her blade and popped the burnt end into her mouth.

“Oh my blade, that is amazing. How do you raise animals so juicy on a spaceship?”

Max chuckled at her evident joy. “That’s the trick. We don’t. The replicator creates it. You could make it with a bundle of grass or the worst-tasting root vegetables, and it would come out the same. We use fast-growing algae to feed ours aboard Terminus. Even in the leanest of seasons, there is no need for food quality to suffer with the replicators making your meals.”

“Seriously?” She asked, stabbing another slice of meat and throwing it in her mouth.

“It’s a pretty popular item, and it has convinced a lot of people to join our trade group. Now, I understand that you will need some different terms than most planets that are closer to major trade routes, but I am certain that we can still come to an agreement that benefits both parties.” Max agreed.

“We are limited on resources from what I am told about your culture, but the Hunters tell us that we can sell game tags for the beasts of this world at a good price,” Rill informed them, puffing her prodigious chest out in pride.

[Those things are as big as my head. What do they feed them on this planet? I bet that Cassanova would love it here if he survived the first night.] Nico thought, turning to look at Max so he would notice that she was intending it for him.

[Worry about that later. Finish the deal before you work on increasing the local population.]

Nico turned her genuine smile, not her negotiation smile, on Rill, and the big woman’s tail began to wag. Poker definitely wasn’t their strong suit, and possibly not even a game that they remembered at this point.

“We can definitely agree to that. If you can give us a small guarantee that some tags will be available for our testing and hunting use, we can make a formal deal and trade the first round of fees for any tools or weapons that you might want from our inventory.” Nico agreed.

“Could you take us into space to see what all you can offer? We operate better when we can see what we are facing. It’s part of the animal instinct, you understand.” Ramba requested, looking at his partner for confirmation that she would join them on a trip to Terminus.

Nico nodded and gestured toward the table full of food. “Why don’t we finish lunch, then we can go to Terminus and work out the details before we return to the surface for a hunt? We have some body armor that I think you would love, especially if you don’t hunt using Mecha.”

“Armor? Could any armor deflect the claws of a Komaxx?” Rill asked.

“It can stop a shot from a plasma rifle or a hit from an energy blade. What does a Komaxx look like?” Max asked.

“Six meters tall, bipedal, powerful front arms, armored scales, long tail, and a mouth big enough to sit inside while it eats you,” Ramba explained.

That sounded rather disturbing, but Max recalled seeing some of them on the scans, he thought. However, there were many species that roughly matched that description, so he might be thinking of the wrong one.

“If there are some nearby, perhaps we could go as a small group and hunt them. We can bring the Mecha if it seems too dangerous to go without them.” Max offered.

“They are really tasty. The price won’t be one of the cheap tags.” Rill countered.

“We will offer you the first Commercial Scale Replicator for a Komaxx hunting tag, and you can personally try out the new armor patterns that we offer. We even have augmentic armor that increases your own strength and speed when you wear it.”

“Deal. Let’s eat. I want to see that.”