Al waved down the ramp to Jasper with a warm smile, then transmitted to Temrash, "That's kinda what Salem was saying. That Corliss was impossible to reason with. He also threw in a few choice words that I didn't think were necessary. Anyway, if we do our job right, you'll never have to deal with him."
At the bottom of the ramp, Salem shrugged, "Apparently there is. On this rock, anything's possible." He started walking backwards up the ramp of the ship, so he could continue speaking to Jasper as he walked, "So, should I call you Sapttus then? And... would it be prying if I asked why you avoided introducing yourself as a Yeerk? Most Yeerks here are pretty open about who and what they are."
He glanced over his shoulder up into the ship- the outside of the craft appeared to be a featureless ellipsoid, blacker than black and cold to the touch, and the inside would appear to be the same sort of featureless style, but the gray, ovular room was lined with what looked like stainless steel shelving units. In the center of the room was the chair in which Al was sitting, and there were various other surfaces in the ship that seemed to just rise organically from the floor- all still dominated by the shiny, gun-metal gray color. On the walls of the craft, there were a few brightly-colored images that seemed to represent certain spacecraft and people outside. Nearly every raised surface, from the shelving units to the tables and benches protruding from the floor, was covered in a spectacular array of items and artifacts from dozens of different civilizations.
Once he reached the top of the ramp, he turned to face Al and asked, "Where're my little friends?"
Al jerked his thumb over at what appeared to be a work bench situated in the middle of the floor, "They're a little antsy, but they're ready to go."
Salem walked over to the bench and picked up what looked like a small copper tube with a point on one end, and sealed off on the other. It was no bigger around than his little finger, and not much longer. There was writing on it, in a language Salem himself couldn't read, and he knew most people on this planetoid would never have seen. He smirked as he turned it over in his hand.
Without turning around, he called over his shoulder to Sapptus, "Want to look at some of my medical supplies? If you'd like to chat some more before making a deal, I have some business to attend to elsewhere in the shipyard."
