Nori felt a pit open in her stomach at his words. She wished Lana wasn’t so quick to talk, but she knew the young Expert had no idea she was revealing information that should be kept a secret. Everything about the new universe that opened up for them was still a mystery. She looked up, meeting the alien’s eyes. “I trust we can rely on your discretion?”

He lifted one arm. “Of course. You are my valued customers, and I would not betray your confidence. Besides, I do not wish to draw the notice of forces whose attention is better turned elsewhere.”

“I’m glad to hear it,” Nori said. “Now, why is it considered so rare? Nathan’s Path transformed the ship to its current form in just a few hours.”

Alzigo shook his head. “I have told you before that you humans are a strange species. I’ve never heard of a Path granting an evolving ship. The piTec cost required of awakening a ship is astronomical. It is the equivalent of giving life, true life, to a machine. You should be careful. Your ship is now easily worth ten times this entire station, and as I said before, you do not want to draw too much attention to it.”

Nori frowned. “Wait, did you just claim Unity is alive?”

“I have so many questions,” Lana confessed.

“To save time, I suggest we first deliver the Trinium to the fabricator,” Alzigo said. “After that, I’ll be happy to answer more of your questions.”

“Good idea.” Nori nodded.

“How much would you like to use? I remind you that one ton can be converted into a hundred thousand of the ones you call twenty-twos—or twenty-five thousand Warped Buster rounds.”

Nori looked at the large Engineer. “Bulco?”

He stroked his chin. “A thousand rounds per person should be enough for a month of defense or one assault on a Warped fort. Half that for the Warped Busters.”

“So a ton of Trinium would arm a hundred men?” Nori's eyes lost her focus. “There are several thousand survivors in the shelters, and I guess that at least a quarter of them can handle a weapon … I think ten tons will be enough for now.”

“Eight, actually,” Alzigo spoke up. “After my twenty percent commission.”

Lana winced. “Yeah, I might have forgotten to mention that earlier. We can either pay a flat rate for using the fabricator or let Alzigo keep some of the alloy as payment instead.”

“I daresay you can afford it, now,” the alien said. “According to your ship’s cargo manifest, you have over eighty tons of Trinium aboard.”

Nori grumbled and looked at Bulco. “So twelve ton?”

He pondered the question for a moment then nodded. “And make a quarter of that into Warped busters.”