“Wonderful,” the merchant said. “I will transfer the orders to the autoloaders. Your ammunition shipment will be ready within an hour. In the meantime, may I extend my hospitality? I have prepared a lounge area for you while you wait.”

Several robotic arms extended from the station’s hull toward Unity. A bright force bubble erupted around the ship, then its upper hull opened up.

“Huh,” Bulco said. “I didn’t know she could do that.”

The arms effortlessly passed through the shield and dipped into the ship’s cargo hold. A moment later they retracted, carrying one of the containers.

“This way, please,” Alzigo motioned them to follow.

They walked to the main deck, passing through the vast open space toward one of the faraway walls. An entire section of the wall had transformed into a huge window and Earth was clearly visible through it. A variety of benches, chairs, and even hammocks in all shapes and sizes were spread in front of the window.

The alien motioned toward them. “I’ve researched your species’ favorite relaxation habits. I found many confusing and sometimes conflicting examples, so I took the liberty of creating several options. Please, sit.”

Lana and Nathan grinned at each other and sat down on a large and comfortable three-person sofa. Nori took a dining chair and Bulco threw his heavy bulk into one of the hammocks, letting out a satisfied sigh. “Oh, yeah, that’s the stuff.”

“So you had a question for me?”

Nori sat straighter in her chair. “We do. We found an excavator on the moon. A big machine with some sort of energy weapon it used for mining. There was no one around to operate it and it attacked us when we approached.”

Alzigo frowned. “Self-sufficient excavators are expensive. They can be dropped on spots with high-mineral concentration and left alone to work. The owner only has to make the trip to pick up the mined resources and perform maintenance.”

“We found log entries that suggested the same, but they didn't explain why someone would go to the trouble of starting a mining operation on the moon.”

“I suspect the ships that Infused your planet could have been carrying mining equipment. They likely deployed it when they realized your moon contains valuable minerals. Now that I think about it, it does sound like an excellent opportunity. This star system is seldom visited, and human technology apparently isn’t advanced enough to easily reach the moon. It’s a very lucrative opportunity for an enterprising miner. The risk of losing their equipment would be small.”

“Well, it’s ours now,” Bulco said defiantly. “It’s our moon, our resources they were mining there. Finders Keepers. That’s the galactic law, right?”

The alien nodded. “Indeed. However autonomous excavators are expensive, as their AI matrix requires a lot of Tec to create.”

“AI Matrix?” Lana asked.