“Alvin!” Ohm cried out throwing his arms around me in a masculine but heartfelt embrace, which continued as he stepped back pumping my hand, conveying the kind of intense, choked-up emotion that demmies invest in their closest friendships. And… well, after all, we had been through a lot together, over the years. I confess I had to clamp down hard to keep my stoic, human visage – though part of that was from trying desperately not to sneeze. The sugar dust, you know.

“You’ve been adapting sir, I assume?”

He shrugged with expressive insouciance.

“To be frank, we’ve been hobnobbin’ with some goblins. And I see you’ve been busy too, Advisor.”

“Busy, yes captain. And you have no idea how relieved I am to see you. Though first I must report to you that Lieutenant Gala Morell and Crewman Wems—”

“I know. And I’ll have more to tell about them, in due time.” His wink promised one hell of a story… But the moment passed and he turned his attention.

“Hey there Nuts!” Ohm deftly evaded her offered embrace, turning it into a hearty hand-clasp.

I was happy to greet our ship’s surgeon, Commander-Healer Paolim. How I looked forward to hearing what he made of this planet’s weird biology! I had missed his calm (for a demmie) wisdom.

Behind “Guts” stood the burly Lik’em named Lorg, who grunted hello between massive tusks while pushing before him a prisoner with bound wrists, wearing a cape and dapper evening clothes that had seen better days. Despite all the eventful weeks since we briefly met, I had no trouble recognizing the Nomort nobleman, Earl Dragonlord, who so-helpfully led our party into a trap, soon after we landed on this world.

I knew better than to hug the beautiful corpse, Sully, or shake her hand, lest something come off. But she beamed at me – only slightly further decayed-looking than when I saw her last. I answered her questioning look by gesturing toward the nearby wall, where she spotted a sack with remnants of her friend peering over the rim.

While I presented old comrades to newer acquaintances, my ear nanos picked up Sully’s murmured words, spoken to Moulder’s battered head.

“You’ve looked better,” she commented.

“Yeah, every body keeps saying that,” came an answering hiss.

“Yeah, well you left an excellent trail… and I did manage to snag one of your ears from the sand. And an arm and some… private bits…”