Shaper / Mechanist Stories: Spider Rose Summary

Spider Rose watches through telescopes until she finally picks up a signal from an Investor ship a quarter of a million miles away. She targets it and sends it a business offer. Intrigued, they offer her a quarter of a million gigawatts of energy for her jewel which she turns down. Several other offers are unsuccessful. For eight hours, she examines their wares but finds nothing. The Ensign notices a roach fly to her shoulder, and after twelve hours of consultation with his crew, offers her their mascot. The only one they have, named "Little Nose For Profits", is a small reptilian creature with a long, spiny crest, scaly hands with thick digits, and is uncommonly friendly. They offer to leave it with her for approximately seven hundred days, and if it appeals to her...