<Now, what counts as an 'interesting' planet?>

<Well, there is the obvious: the more it is Earth-like, the better. We do have the time and patience to implement a modicum of terraforming, but naturally if the atmosphere is already breathable, the temperature already comfortable, without any outside intervention, that would be ideal.>

<The biggest difference between the preferred parameters of our colonization plan versus those of others is that our colonization plan involves cetacean morphs. Either we need to transport cetacean morphs from the gate to the planet's oceans, or we need to transport sufficient equipment to begin growing morphs on the new planet.>

<This leads to one more important factor: not only must any planet we chose to colonize have oceans of water which are habitable, at least via terraforming, but also the closer the gate is to any oceans, the better: it adds much to the cost of any colony if we need to fly whales several thousand kilometers to the closest ocean.>

<The next resupply opening from Oberon will be a little over a month from now. I have already arranged for that gate opening to last long enough for you to return to Oberon then and give myself, and the rest of the Ecconian community, a report on the new worlds your surveyed. I honestly do not expect any 'perfect' planets to be found within that time span. If, however, you do stumble upon that rare world which is already quite Earth-like, you should know that there is a quantum-entangled comm at Memória dos Cravos. You can alert me via that channel. Of course, QE comms are typically reserved for emergencies or other non-routine messages, but the discovery of an Earth-like extrasolar planet very much counts as a non-routine event.>

She pauses once again, and exhales deeply: a blast of air out of her blowhole from lungs the size of a small human.

<I think that covers all the important details. Any further questions?>