"You say that," Jack says with a shrug, "But how could any of us possibly surpass the Glen? Especially in running! You've quite the advantage in that department."

He couldn't remember seeing any former Olympic runners in the crew manifest, or among the people they'd dragged along with them. 

"And I'm not so sure I would be comfortable partnering with a monastic order. What they might ask for in return may not be mine to give," he added. "You see, I follow a difficult path we call the Prime Directive, which forbids us from interfering in the development of other cultures. At least not without learning everything we can about them, first. And our wise ones caution against interfering with a planet's social development."

"It's similar to an oath our doctors take, which is to do no harm," he added. "First, we must learn more about this custom before we could hope to participate, so as to not do any harm to your reputation."

He hoped that Silbermine would accept that, for now.

He only smiled when Shirik gave his warning. Had his people found an alien ship had scattered bits of itself across the world, they wouldn't necessarily tell them about it all at once.