Unlike the store, the Restaurant hadn't become incredibly overcrowded, thanks to the efforts of the staff to keep those who weren't intending to order anything from entering. Most of the people were happy to wait on the street for the announcement anyhow since they had been assured that they would be updated when new information came in.

So, when the Valkia Envoy appeared on the balcony, the entire crowd in the streets turned to pay attention and even called many more out from the nearby shops and arcades to come to hear what the representative had to say.

"Greetings, citizens of the Alliance and of the Terminus Trading Company. It is with great pleasure that I can announce that we have reached one new trade agreement today, as well as two official decisions regarding the situation within the Alliance." He began.

There was a lot of confusion about what he meant by a trade agreement and why it would have been a priority when the talk of every data net was about the planets in danger from hostile invaders, but the Envoy was held in high enough esteem by the general population that they were mostly waiting for his announcement and not shouting at him to get on with it.

"First of all, an agreement has been reached that will allow the programming of coffee beans and derivative drinks into the replicators of all Government vessels." He announced, and a huge cheer went up from the Innu in the crowd, earning them a lot of annoyed looks.

Once they had seen that the humans could take care of a planetwide infestation, they had become much less concerned about the Klem and much more concerned about getting all the new human foods introduced to their home ships. By Innu logic, if the Envoys were in discussions about the matter, it had already been handled and was no longer of immediate concern to them all the way out here in another Galaxy, which had its own Klem infestations to deal with.

Max totally understood that sentiment. You only needed to worry about things that were within your power to affect. The teary-eyed sentimental pleas for trillions of dollars that were playing over Alliance media had already raised more than enough to rebuild the planets from scratch, even if they were purged entirely and terraformed back to a clean slate.

Assuming that the plutocrats and nobility of the planets actually let any of that money out of their hands, that is. If Max's estimation was correct, they would soon be begging the government for funding to clean up the problem so that they could keep the funds they raised.

He would say that they were doing it already, but they were still begging for Government intervention, and asking for both military rescue and recovery money at the same time would just be tacky.

The Valkia used a handheld device to amplify his voice so he could be heard through the area without using the ship's intercom. "In addition to the trade agreement on Coffee, two declarations have been approved today regarding the Klem situation. First of all, the Council has determined that they are an artificially introduced hostile invasive species, and not at risk of extinction, with the stable presence they hold in this Galaxy."

At that point, he had to pause again as the eco-activists began to lose their minds, shouting, screaming and crying in the streets, then beginning to smash storefronts and attack pedestrians until the black-clad security forces of Absolution moved in to detain them.

"I have RIGHTS! This is a PEACEFUL PROTEST!" One man was shouting while he swung a metal bar at the security forces.

The officers looked up at Max to see if he had any additional instructions for them, but Max only winked at them and then deliberately turned his back on the crowd so that he could talk to the Envoys.

"This should only take a minute. The security forces are very efficient." He explained.

The shouts and sounds of breaking glass ended in an instant, followed by the sound of running and then fleshy thumps. Within a minute, the crowd was silent again, and Max turned back to face the street.

"It is good to see that our security forces were able to prevent any major damage. Shops in the area will be compensated for any damages that the vandals have committed." He called to the crowd, using the street intercoms to make himself heard.

"What exactly was that?" The Giant asked, shocked by the brutal way that the humans had used batons to beat the protestors into submission.

"Just be glad that we didn't go by Kepler rules. They shoot vandals in the streets as undesirables. The Reavers just beat the stupid out of them. You can shout and scream, even fight in the streets if you like, but property damage isn't tolerated by our protest rules." Max explained.

"Still, that was pretty brutal. Are they at least getting medical treatment?" The Dryad asked.

"Of course. We're not barbarians. They will be levied a fine equal to three times the damage that they caused and spend one night in our jail cells. Then they will be released. If they can't pay, they can sit in the cells to pay it off with time served at the rate of one hundred credits a day." Max explained.

"As long as they won't be left to suffer. My people consider it cruel." The Dryad explained.

"Not with injuries anyhow. Our jail cells are far from luxurious, and the guards won't give them any information while they are in there. We have found it to be an effective psychological deterrent. Nobody stays long in prison with Reavers, though. If they owe more than they can quickly pay, Reaver criminals are assigned to hard labour to pay off their debts. Then once that is finished, we don't hold it against them in the future unless they re-offend."

The Dryad nodded happily as the crowd recovered from their shock and realized that most of the protesters were still standing around at the edge of the crowd. Only those who had damaged property had been hauled away. Max could sense that many of them were just now realizing that they were truly on a foreign ship with foreign laws, and they wouldn't get away with the same things that they did at home.

The lesson learned was worth much more than the effort of arresting a few dozen vandals.