"The Dome implies artificial gravity, what about that?"

<It was developed about one hundred seventy of our years ago. There are weapons based on it. Yeerks have it also. Ours is more consistent and lighter? I think?>

"They took it from the Andalites originally, though, yes? How did you respond to that?"

<We were horrified. It regrettably represented an end to most Andalite efforts to find and teach primitive societies.>

"Most?"

<Well, Earth was going to have to be a special circumstance unless it was too late for that entirely, and this might qualify as a special circumstance and is in any event out of our hands. But policies were changed to prohibit it.>

"The finding or the teaching?"

<Teaching. The law permits exploring without displaying advanced technology - if we'd had cloaking and landed in better shape we could have landed, morphed, and tried sourcing parts for repairs...>

Well, that answers that question, doesn't it. Back in the capitol: "Ah-huh."

"So they're lying because 'sure, we could give you FTL, but it's not allowed' would go over badly. And he hasn't mentioned that half the soldiers are his immediate family in case, presumably, we're inspired not to leave it at persuasion. - ask Miolee if they told them 'can't do it' or 'won't do it' -"

Eventually: "Miolee says they know how it works and the policy is share no tech."

He looks at the council.

"What are we assuming here - that they're lying about morph and have adopted parallel forms and roles for some reason? That they're your family from alternative circumstances? Something even more ridiculous and science-fictional -?"

"Easy enough to get other demonstrations of morph - ask them to copy someone in particular, ask them to do a bird, ask them to do one another - I don't see why they'd lie about the mechanics of it though I bet they're lying about some of the constraints on it - as for what they really are I have no idea. Some species seeding lots of planets with clones-but-for-species of the same people is the only mechanism I can think of that even runs on known physics. They might have better guesses, not that we can trust them."

"But they could definitely build us the starships."

"Yeah."

"Well, how would we get you build us starships, then, Aitim."

"It's more 'how would aliens get me to build them starships if you'd categorically prohibited it' and they wouldn't. - I mean, you could torture me, but he's greyer and one presumes it is a complicated explanation and not just the password to an explanation on their fancy alien computers.

If the correspondences hold there - might be angles on the other ones -"

"Oh?"

"Green, not blue - I know these ones are neither - they'd be tempted just because teaching us would be fun. I wonder what the range is on the telepathy, they'd be easier to manipulate if he isn't there to notice."

"Since they aren't admitting to mindreading you'd still have to propose it under his nose."

"And we don't know how much trouble they'd be in back home - I think they'd risk their own lives, honestly, but in a war some places might not leave it at that -"

Nod.

He scowls at the possible alternate universe him. "What are the prospects of reverse engineering it without them?"

Someone consults the engineer report.