...Nod. 

<If we can change that, then maybe they'll talk.> Tail-lash. <Hopefully we can change that in some fashion that does not endanger your world either.>

:That makes sense. We'll - try to help as much as we can: He looks thoughtful. :We use magic for repairing buildings and roads, sometimes. Wonder if I could help fix your ship faster: 

<...that might be very valuable. I can introduce you to our engineers.>

:Of course: 

He introduces him to his engineers! For most of what's broken on their ship they have spare parts or the ability to make them, but they have to disassemble lots of massive pieces of machinery to swap the new parts in and sometimes just to figure out what's wrong, if the diagnostics are themselves much of what's broken.

Vanyel thinks he can use Farsight and to some extent mage-sight to look inside said complicated machines, including at very fine scale, and he can combine mage-gift and Fetching very effectively to dissemble machines without needing to reach in with hands or other appendages, especially useful when the components are damaged in a way that leaves them jammed. He can also weld metals if they need that done. For delicate fiddly welding or other crafting work, his colleague Sandra is actually a lot better, she does alchemy as a hobby, makes all of her own equipment and has figured out tricks for using mage-techniques to purify various substances from rocks or dirt. 

All of that sounds very valuable in fixing this ship faster! They'd be very grateful for his help and Sandra's, though they are aware that Valdemar is at war and apparently has a dozen mages of which they would then be using three. 

Vanyel thinks that if they bring Sandra in they'll have to exchange her for Savil, probably, so Haven has enough people to take shifts watching the Web. Savil is more useful for wards and shielding but she can maybe do all that tonight. (And then he'll have his aunt's company a little longer. He likes Sandra fine but she's not family.) 

That seems reasonable to the Andalites, who quickly mostly have him swapping out hard-to-reach small broken parts in their enormous machinery rooms.

Vanyel makes himself as helpful as possible with whatever they ask him for. He's quickly concluding that, in fact, it's much less of a security risk than he thought for the Andalites to give him such a close-up look at their technology. It's mostly incomprehensible to him. He's sure Leareth could glean more, but, well, he's not Leareth. 

Several candlemarks after the note is dropped off, before nightfall, a quick burst of Mindspeech alerts one of the bird-scouts to the location of a reply message. The Mindspeaker in question (not Leareth) immediately darts back across their Gate and drops it. 

A bird will go and get it.

The message is written in Valdemaran, so Vanyel can read it out without difficulty. 

:War-Prince Matirin-Ashal-Nelinfir. I understand the constraints you are operating under, both in terms of your people's laws and good sense. I am aware that the burden of proof is on me, to convince you of my trustworthiness, if I wish you to make an exception and share your technology with this world. I remain willing to commit considerable resources to your war effort, though I would like to verify some of the background for this war myself. On further reflection, given the stakes, I do not wish to make my offer of help conditional. This situation is too critical for me to use it as a bargaining lever, and, of course, offering my aid is a way that I might prove my intentions and skills, and earn your trust, so in expectation it will still help my interests to offer unconditionally. If you are reluctant even to ask for that, I would be willing to submit to a Herald's Truth Spell in a neutral agreed-upon location, if you promise safe passage for this. Please give this proposal due consideration. 

- Leareth: 

<Hmmm.> His tail is twitching. <I am curious if you have thoughts on this offer, Vanyel.>

Vanyel thinks for a long time. 

:I suspect it's sincere? He's - kind of right, that helping you is the best avenue for convincing you he isn't like the Yeerks. But - I don't know if my read on him is right, and he could be trying to create an opening to betray you: Grimace. :I...don't really know how? If he meets a Herald in a neutral location, he could basically only harm or kidnap them. Though if he thought he could fool a Truth Spell...: Vanyel shakes his head. :I don't think that's possible, but I could be wrong: 

<How does a Truth Spell work?>

:It's not really a spell, exactly. It's a technique that can use any marginal Gift, even weak Mindspeech or something, to summon a kind of air-elemental called vrondi, which can detect minds and intent, and will react to dishonesty. The coercive version takes a stronger Gift, and - basically gives the elementals energy to settle into a person's mind and force them to answer questions truthfully: 

Unhappy tail-twitch. <I think it makes sense to arrange that, even if there are routes to fool it. Of course, if we accept his offer he will learn a great deal about our technology whether we teach him or not.>

:Yes, I think so. I'm not getting much, honestly, even by looking inside all your machines, but - Leareth is a lot cleverer with engineering than I am. And has two thousand years behind him: 

<There are a lot of prerequisites for starships which I expect he cannot have developed on his own no matter how long he has had, but he could access a technological history, once we're on Earth, and Earth is well behind us but still more than capable of conquering you.

Are the Heralds going to want to help us verify his sincerity in an alliance likely to have those consequences for you?>

:I don't know. But...: Vanyel takes a deep breath, :whatever I suggest to our King, he's moderately likely to listen to. And - I think it's already the case that we can't win a war against him, if he has hundreds of mages. And that we were on track to have that war and lose it. It's...possible...that if he works to help you, and we also do, then - it'd give us a chance to talk, and maybe figure out some sort of agreement that doesn't involve a war between us: 

He closes his eyes. :- And it might be worth it, anyway. If there are five billion lives at stake. For me at least, that - makes the decision not a complicated one: 

<There is plausibly more than that at stake. Working with mages could maybe change the course of the whole war, force a peace somehow... or it could just mean the galaxy is fighting your Leareth in thirty years, or three hundred.

I want to think on it. But I think we'll want the meeting with him regardless. Should you reach out to your king about authorization for it?>

:Yes, I think so: Sigh. :Er, possibly send me back in person, this is going to take a lot of explaining. And we'll want someone who isn't me to do the Truth Spell, I don't want to put myself at risk before we've done the questioning, and Leareth may specifically not want someone who can suicide-murder him in his presence. I guess Masha could do it:

<We can send you back. Tonight?>