#danger averted

… I love birds, even pigeons, who show that they are tired of flying all day… luckily my English Setter was focused elsewhere…

“Why does your commander let them just, do things?”

“What do you mean?”

“Like, that! What the hell are they building and why is the commander letting them?”

“You know, we’re not really sure. The commander has asked and a few others of us have asked over the past few cycles, but they just say it’s going to be good and start rattling off measurements and angles of incidence and talking about needing more washers or something. At this point we’re deeply involved and whatever it is, does seem impressive and looks like it has potential to be more so.”

“So why not stop them, this is obviously a waste of time and resources that can go to other things.”

“That might be true. This could be an utter waste of resources and time, but what is better? Letting them build an idea that might do nothing, or stymie them? Force their desire to work out ideas into small boxes and cripple their creative drive?”

“It won’t cripple their creative drive, it’ll just channel it to better places. Like fixing things on the ship or whatever.”

“They already do that without needing to be directed. It’s why our ships last so long. A full complement of engineers will rebuild a ship from the inside out at least twice inside of the first tour. A tour lasts on average five standards. A ship once it is built is expected to last our people through eight generations before its first major refit.”

“So that’s like what, eighty years or so?”

“No, one of our generations is currently set at two thousand of your years. Right now the newest ship in our inventory, not counting those salvaged from the first conflict you humans had with us, is just now approaching its first refit time. Maybe not for another hundred or so years, but it’s close.”

“That still doesn’t explain why you guys are letting them build whatever that is.”

“No, it doesn't. But we’d rather have them building that, than locked inside a ship with us getting itchy to take things apart and then rebuild them.”