“I have no idea. That wasn’t a question that entered into general conversation.”

“Do they have sexual taboos?”

“Your line of questioning strikes me as peculiar, elder.”

“They cook their meat by burning it over an open fire?”

“Their cooking facilities were restricted. Maybe they require the additional carbon. Or it might be purely a ritual thing. I never asked.”

“Is their vision comparable to ours? They utilize only those two simple single-lensed eyes.”

“It seems to be. They can see much farther, I think, but not as well up close or in the dark.”

Then came the voice of the military observer, speaking for the first time, in a soft whistle. “They took energy rifles from two of the guards.”

“Something I meant to ask,” Ryo said quickly. “Was anyone injured during their escape?”

“Injured, yes, but fortunately not killed. As you’ve noticed, they are physically more massive than we. Their balance is unexpectedly good.”

“Yes, I noticed that right away,” Ryo admitted.

“They are not as vulnerable to a severe blow as we are,” the military elder went on, “but they are far more susceptible to damage from cuts and scrapes. Their thin exoderm is incredibly fragile. However, if it is tom it heals far more rapidly than a chiton break. There are pluses and minuses to such a structure.”

“Beauty is not one of the pluses,” commented one of the two younger scientists, adding a gesture of third-degree disgust.

“The two guards,” the tenth-level officer continued, “were merely stunned during the escape, when their rifles were taken. The planning was admirable. They set off two explosions—”

“We heard them both,” Wuu said.

“They were set to create a diversion. This was accomplished. Those who misinterpreted the situation have already been disciplined. The creatures took, as I said, two energy rifles, yet did not use them.” He shifted in his saddle, putting a little urgency into his tone. “You said you observed them in use?”

“Yes,” Ryo replied. “I’m sure they studied the weapons around them before settling on the rifles. Despite having only two arms and hands, they seemed to manage quite well. I have no doubt that had the circumstances required it, they could have employed them against soldiers as efficiently as they did against game.”

The officer did not seem surprised at this, simply entered it into his recorder. “Did they talk at all about their home world or about their vessels?”

“Nothing about their planet of origin save that it was colder than Hivehom seemed to be. Little about their ship except that the principles behind its method of propulsion seemed similar to ours. Neither of them is an engineer.”

“Anything about weapons, military strength, or posture?”

Ryo had been waiting for that question from the time the officer had taken his saddle. Nevertheless, he was surprised at the resentment he felt when it was finally asked.