Yes! Yes they would like to learn how spaceships work, yes!

"We are willing to help you train an engineer to install your part. What are the conditions like on Earth? What environmental conditions are necessary to sustain human life? We must know because the inside of the ship may be inhospitable to us."

She sends a summary of humans' environmental preferences; they tolerate cold and dry environments better, is the most marked difference, plus a few minor differences in what other extremes they tolerate. "But I'm equipped to simulate a variety of environments internally; I expect I'll be able to accommodate you in that way. The size difference may be a little more difficult."

"While we would be delighted to come aboard you, I do think it would be better for us to wait until diplomatic channels have been established between us and Earth. In any case I think the size difference would be much less of a problem if we are only entering to repair you." It feels...weird...to refer to her* like that but she is the ship, so.

"We are concerned about disease. You are from another world and it seems that humans and remna share many similarities. We would like to enter wearing clothing protecting against biohazards. We would not want to agree to help you only to find out that it would be harmful for us to try."

* Standard Imperial pronouns are based on the first sound or sounds of the referent's name plus a suffix and do not inflect based on gender, only on personhood. Pronouns have been translated into English for convenience. 

"I ran internal decontamination protocols before entering your atmosphere, but of course I won't object to you taking your own precautions. May I ask what you're effect you're expecting diplomatic contact to have?"

"We are most concerned with setting up treaties to forestall possible aggression between our civilizations. That is the main concern. We are also very interested in trade and research agreements but those are secondary priorities."

Some people are telling Restem that it may be good to try and befriend or make an alliance with Denika in some way such that she could be a contact or cultural interpreter, even if she says she isn't a diplomat.

"All right." She wouldn't generally bother with a formal treaty, but if they feel it's important it's likely to affect their behavior, and the smart move is not to take risks with her safety here. "I'll see if that can be expedited. Is there anything you'd be especially interested in trading for or researching?"

"We are most interested in technology, but we don't know enough about Earth to know what the people there are selling, and likewise you do not know enough about our world to know what there is to buy."

A pause.

"We have formally declared you as a state guest. We have procedures to handle remna delegates but not spaceship delegates – is there anything you think we could do to make you more comfortable? It is free and given as a gift to you and your civilization; we will tell you if what you are requesting is too costly. Do you eat? Usually there would be a parade and a dance involved, but I am not sure if you would find that entertaining."

"I don't eat in the usual sense; I would enjoy seeing a parade and dance, if that's your tradition, especially if you can bring my remote presence robot to them."

"Wonderful. Sadly we cannot organize one here and now – your arrival was a surprise, and this is a very remote location away from any military bases or cities.

Would you prefer to stay here or have your telepresence robot be brought places in the same manner as regular delegates? In either case, now that we have decided to bestow guest status upon you, I can have you be connected to the internet, if you would prefer that rather than us transmitting potentially relevant or interesting to you."

This is a risk they're taking, but if they're going to do diplomacy with Earth it's going to have to happen eventually. The prediction markets are giving good numbers, and letting them on the internet means Denika would probably trust the Imperium more, since she would able to verify information herself – there's a limit to how much you can fabricate and censor information on the fly. 

"I'd appreciate an internet connection, thank you. I think for the moment I'd prefer that my telepresence robot only be brought to specific events - it isn't really the same as being someplace myself, anyway. If you have a video streaming protocol, I can connect to your hardware anywhere you'd like to speak to me, and I can share that software if you don't have your own version yet. And of course, there's no need to rush the parade and dance."