The Treecuu were vegetarian by choice. In the days of the republic, eating other beings was seen as highly immoral. However, some hardliners, especially in the Committee and higher ranking members of the Security Police ate meat as a way of felling dominant. There were even rumours that they feasted on some of the more exotic subject species. Regardless, the members of the Treecuu delegation had been given an injection on nanorobots that would assist them in processing the alien food and neutralise contents that would be harmful to them. Being able to predict all eventualities and have a solution for every situation was a sign of strength. Having the guts to demand other to change came only second, and that was why everyone in the Treecuu delegation ate whatever was served.

The Treecuu mammalians had been blessed with a highly sensitive gustatory perception. The soup, and especially the water in it, had an intriguing taste. Cuul narrowed his eyes while concentrating on identifying the different ingredients, nodding slowly.

"I don't mind sharing the basic principles, as long as you return the favour" Cuul looked at the king.

"We let highly volatile particles collide and annihilate each other in an chamber. As they do, an enormou amount of energy is released which is shunt into something that could be called a capacitor. Manipulating the energy rate and the physical properties of the 'capacitor' allows forming and controlling a local gravimetric field that contracts space in the direction of travel, and expands it in the rear, thus continuously shorting the distance that needs to be travelled."

The President smiled.

"Or this is at least what they teach us in school."