“How should I talk to a fellow who has taken away my belt pouch and all my tools, and now holds me captive in a subterranean chamber, a little over two meters in height and roughly three meters long by four wide, with a tunnel exiting along the long axis? There you are, standing almost two meters tall, though in a bit of a forward-canine crouch, on the other side of a table piled high with raw steaks, and you have the nerve to ask—”

“We’re homing in on your signal now, Advisor. I don’t think we can read quite the kind of detail you’re giving us. Not through solid rock. But the room dimensions should help us track you down.”

“—have the nerve to ask why I’m talking like this? You really don’t know why I’m talking like this?”

The Lik’em shook his head vigorously, eyes betraying growing worry. “Look, Doc, maybe we got off to a bad start. My name’s Lorg.” He hurried over to a pile of tarps in the corner. “Here, let me get you that blanket—”

“Got it!” The voice of the ship’s exec cut in. “Hold on, Advisor, we’ve found your locus, in a cavity underneath one of their streets. I’m warming up the blasters right now. Just give us a few seconds. We’ll rip away thirty meters of rock and have you outta there in a jif—”

“No!” I cried out, leaping to my feet so fast that I lost contact with the throat mike. Lorg jumped back in dismay, yelping like a puppy with its tail caught in a door.

I pressed my uniform collar once more. “Don’t you dare!” I reiterated. My heartbeat raced, knowing how quickly demmies can work when they think they’re coming to the rescue of a friend. Any moment now, the planetary crust over my head might start boiling into the atmosphere, surgically peeled in molten sheets by a giga-terrawatt laser.

“Just… just hold it right there,” I added, in a lower tone. “Hold it and stay calm.”

Lorg stared at me, clutching the blanket in front of him, his jaw quivering, tusks and all.

“I’m calm. I’m calm!”

Commander Talon also replied – “Roger, Doctor Montessori. Understood. Standing by.”

I tried to think. So far I’d been improvising… a technique which isn’t taught much at Earth’s Advisor Academy, since that skill is usually left to demmies. (It is their strongest trait.) But sometimes a human has to do the demmiest things. At this point I had my captor intimidated, but I knew that would give way when he realized my loud bark wasn’t backed up with bite.

I took an assertive step towards him. “Where are we now? In the sub-urb?”

Lorg nodded. “Under my own place. You were closest to the manhole, so I grabbed you before the Renks snatched ever’body else.”