[Nico, we need to divert some staff. I have an idea for how to make Terminus truly famous. An Elite Academy in the stars. I want to free up five hundred meters of the ship, behind the visitor bays, to use as a private academy for Alliance kids.]

[You really are going all out for your sisters, aren’t you? We’re about done making the Canis adorable, and we’ve updated the Augmentic suits enough that they will need another round of testing, so we can drop today’s plans, other than the Cloaking Device live stream, but we can start that now and work on the ship renovation plans afterward.]

The two Innu parents were still shocked at Max’s suggestion when he finished talking to Nico, and the professor had begun drawing on a data tablet with a stylus.

“Terminus is what, fifteen hundred meters wide? Multiply that by five hundred meters long and a kilometer tall. Are you making an Academy or a small city?” He finally asked.

“An academy. Our crew’s children will attend in addition to the others once we have children that age. But I plan to make it self-contained. Unlike the guests, the Students won’t be wandering the Cruise Ship at will, except on their day off. So it needs dorms, the academy, some sporting facilities, and other faculties.” Max explained.

Usually, a private Academy was very closed off to keep the kids focused on education, but being able to get live feeds from outside the ship was enough to make it ultra-prestigious, and there was a chance that they could make shoreside excursions as a group if they found a suitable planet, the same way that Terminus did for the Cruise Ship guests.

“I know just exactly who we need to talk to. Auntie Medusa. She has been the practice headmistress, and she’s an architect that makes schools that don’t suck.” One of the Innu girls suggested.

“We have the technology to communicate back to your home Galaxy if you like. We can also send a shuttle to go get her if she wants to come to examine the facilities that need to be reworked, assuming, of course, that she agrees and that her resume checks out.” Max replied, trying not to laugh at the girl’s description of her aunt’s capability.

“She has six doctorate degrees, including early childhood education, architecture, business, psychology, and two in engineering fields.” The Mother explained.

“Six doctorates? The Innu really do love their education, don’t they? What is she doing for work now?” Max asked.

“She’s between positions.” The woman replied politely.

“She called her boss a stupid head and told him that he made kids’ life suck.” The helpful little girl added before being silenced by her mother.

“You know, I can hear her thoughts, right? Silencing her mouth doesn’t stop anything.” Max reminded the Innu woman.

“I swear, she’s a good employee. She’s just very outspoken about implementing policies that help students.” The woman apologized.

“Yeah, she’s the best.” The girls agreed.

“Alright, let’s make some comfortable couches again, and we can contact her before lunch.” Max agreed, much to the children’s disappointment.

Medusa, as the daughter called her, appeared in front of their eyes only a few seconds later, picking up very quickly after the call from her sister came in.

“Lucy, darling, tell me you’re bringing those wonderful little imps to come to see me again?” She greeted her sister.

“Not quite. I have a job offer for you from Commander Keres of the Terminus Trading Company, the human who runs the cruise ship where we are on vacation. He wants to build an academy for exchange students on the ship, so they can tour the Galaxy with his group.” She explained.

“Students on an extreme cruise ship? Is that safe or wise?”

Max chuckled, catching the woman’s attention. “I assure you, it is quite safe. We travel with a very capable escort, and I want the students to be housed in an enclosed Academy, not wandering the ship as a whole. If you think it might still be too dangerous, I can arrange a small armada to accompany us wherever we go.”

That was going to happen anyhow, as they had sent a number of ships to be refit already and recommissioned under the Terminus Trading Company banner, but he hadn’t chosen Commanders for any of them yet. Most likely, he would give the honor to the Four Battalions and keep one with him since there were four Cruisers, and he would sell the rest of the captured vessels to Mary Tarith.

That would mean that he needed to train a whole new Regiment of Mecha Pilots, but that was nothing new to him, and it would be better to have the other ships under the command of someone he trusted and knew very well rather than having strangers represent his Trading Company.

“You mean the Five Cutters that I have seen in the video feeds of your intervention against the Narsians? Yes, that would be more than sufficient to convince the parents that their children would be safe.” Medusa agreed.

“Those are part of the ship’s armory. I was suggesting additional forces, but if they’re not needed, I am happy to continue as we are.” Max informed her.

“It seems I must see for myself what I am working with here. There aren’t any outside views of your ship available online. I looked once I saw that my dear nieces would be visiting you. How large is Terminus?”

“Just over five kilometers in length. While it would be considered understaffed by human standards as a vessel of war, it is more than capable of defending itself against the forces of a small nation, should that become necessary.

We are on a diplomatic mission, so ongoing conflict isn’t the goal, only a side effect of intervening to assist other human populations.”

“Give me fifteen minutes to pack a bag, I live right next to the gateway, and I have a private shuttle, assuming you can open a portal this far.” Medusa agreed.

“I will have traffic control send you coordinates, and I will patch you through to them, so you can inform them of any local traffic regulations in your system. We don’t have a full database yet.” Max agreed.

“See you soon.”

With that, she cut the link, and the girls turned to look at their parents with great hope in their eyes.

“Does that mean we’re staying here on a forever vacation with Auntie Medusa coming to visit?”

“It looks like it. I had better get in contact with the academy right away. You lot have fun, and Commander Keres, I will contact you directly later this afternoon. I believe the Academy might have a proposal to help with your staffing issues. They have branches on forty-seven planets, all exclusive private facilities, and they might be interested in expanding, even after my Sister in Law told off the board of Governors to their faces.” The Professor replied.

This Innu woman was sounding like more and more fun all the time. Max loved strong personalities. They were honest enough to tell everyone what was on their mind. They just had to be accepting enough to deal with the fact that they might not always be right, and they made for great leaders.