For the next two days, both Terminus Trading Company and the Tarith Reavers held their respective positions, with their units spread out over the territory that they had covered, looking for stragglers. That was when the area was declared officially cleared and under the control of the locals, allowing the Reaver forces to return to their ships.

The final signatures had all come through without issues, and deals were being made to secure the technology that they had missed out on by signing in a panic during the invasion.

Overall, it was still a win for the Border Nations, and the Terminus Trading Company hadn't lost a single soul during the mission, only some equipment, so it was a very low-cost intervention on their part, while they would get a nice share of the profits from the Replicators that they were making for their new allies.

"So, when is your mother arriving? She seemed quite determined that she was going to make it here before my birthday celebrations ended." Max asked Nico once he was comfortably back in his office, where she had prepared him coffee and a list of notable events aboard the ship while he was away.

"Within the next few hours. You know how she is. She needs time to prepare herself to make a grand entrance everywhere that she goes." Nico laughed.

"Yes, I certainly do know that."

Nico smiled at his frustration, then hopped into his lap and took over the console that he was working at, finishing the daily ship's logs in an instant using her Innate Talent.

"You really aren't good at dealing with her, are you? Just think of her like me, but older." Nico suggested.

Max snorted in amusement. He wasn't good at dealing with Nico either. He just went with the flow and stopped her when she wanted to go overboard. But maybe that was what she meant. Just let her mother do her thing unless it was too outlandish.

Nico turned around so she was seated facing Max, straightened his hair, then adjusted his collar.

"Perfect, now it is time to greet the tourists. They have been waiting for you to come out after your post-mission quarantine, and everyone is eager to congratulate you on defending a human world from alien invaders. The Shin particularly wish to convey their deepest regards for making the live footage available to them."

"What live footage did I make available? You were in control of the Ship while I was gone." Max reminded her.

"Yes, but you are the Commander who gave the permission, so you get all the credit, not the technicians who actually put the footage together. That's just how it works. Like any other movie, everyone knows the Director and the Stars, but nobody knows who the footage editors were."

"Can you at least tell me what this big birthday surprise is now?" Max asked.

"Hmm, I'm not sure we have enough time. It will take a while, and you have a meeting. How about tonight, right after dinner?" Nico suggested.

"Fine, but I will hold you to that. You have been dodging that answer all week, but I can sense that you're secretly excited to tell me all about it."

Nico laughed and flipped herself off the chair into a standing position, making even the sturdy alloy creak with the weight of the two of them combined, then held out her hand to lead him out the door.

"While you greet the guests, I will go change for the formal dinner. The planetary Governor will be arriving with my mother and some other Border Nation dignitaries for a very political birthday dinner. It should be exactly as annoying and stressful as you think it will be, but it is the last one before we depart."

"Fine, but only because it is necessary." Max sighed, following her out of the office.

The moment that they reached the Cruise Ship area, a full fanfare welcoming party launched into action, with confetti, thousands of strangers congratulating him from a dozen different species that Max didn't recall being on the ship when he left, as well as some political brown nosing from the Border Nation Delegations that had been left aboard during the battle.

Compared to that, even the fur-covered species that licked your hand as a greeting was tolerable.

Max reminded himself to start carrying hand sanitizer in the flat space of his watch and trudged on through the celebration until the official announcement was made that the buffets would be opening for a grand feast drew most of the crowd away.

That was also his signal to head for the private dining room that had been reserved for their meeting and face the exuberance of the politicians and Nico's mother.

Nico met him in the hallway on her way there, holding a pile of clothes for him, and wearing a floor-length gray silk ballgown that accentuated her curves while hiding the fact that she was wearing platform heels to increase her height from 150 to 160cm.

"You can change in the room to the side here. It is secure, and you can store the uniform in your flat space if you have room. If not, I will hold them for you." Nico informed him, tapping an elaborate gold necklace with a pendant that Max recognized as the same base device as his watch, only hidden behind an enormous diamond.

That was an excellent idea for Noble Ladies at parties since they wouldn't be wearing a watch or carrying a purse of any sort.

"Are we selling those yet? I am sure that at least a few of our guests will be interested in knowing about your jewelry." Max asked.

"Not yet. We aren't distributing them outside the Reavers until we have a new and improved version. The only other person who has one is my Mother, whose jewelers set the device for me, so you can tell the guests that it is a handcrafted Family Specialty."

"Got it. Now let's get in there and get drunk. I suspect I'm going to need it."