Amid the babble of introductions and quick exchanges, I kept my eyes open for trouble. Demmies often rely on their flash-adaptability to make up for carelessness, but I’ve seen it fail too often. So I kept watch on my lovercraft companions, especially the policeman-vigilante, Coalshack, who fingered his weapon while looking enviously at Ohm’s laser pistol. Other obvious dangers included the inhabitant of the sphinx automaton, who seemed momentarily content to rest easy in his pilot chair… and Earl Dragonlord. I gestured for Lorg to push Earl close to the sphinx-ter, so one person could guard them both. And I noted something very interesting as they exchanged brief nods.

They know each other.

Fortunately, Fu Tichi and Cuspitui appeared to have taken to Ohm, posing eager questions about star travel – and I wondered: why did you never ask me? Meanwhile, Katske and Karakal seemed to be in awe of our final arrival, a Standard (living) native with a mane of white hair that only seemed highlighted by a coating of sparkly sugar dust.

“Montessori!” Katske almost shouted, as I approached. “Do you know who this is? It’s… it’s Prof—”

“Professor Ping, I presume? Yes. Of course I’ve heard about you. Tried to reach you, several times, in fact.”

“So I am told, Doctor Montessori.” His voice was a little high pitched, querulous, but confident. “I’m sorry our meeting only happened after many inconvenient convolutions. I’ll wager we have much to discuss.”

I nodded in agreement. But my demmie-sense was tickling. From experience, I knew that someone nearby was very probably noticing, right about now, that he was not – at present – the center of attention. Naturally, that just wouldn’t do.

“Okay, okay!” Captain Ohm said in a firm tone of authority. “We’ll all catch up later. I am sure everyone here has fantastic stories to tell. Such as the way our own band of stalwarts endured capture and imprisonment in the deepest dungeons of Castle—”

I caught his eye. Not exactly interrupting, but keeping him on-topic. Part of the job.

“—but that’s for later. Right now, we have a particular problem to focus on. Like what these here Spertins have been up to, on Oxytocin-41.”

These. I turned to the pair of prisoners guarded by Lorg.

“Captain, I take you mean both of these fellows?”

“Yes, they are both Spertins, members of a conspiracy that has been manipulating the poor inhabitants of this world for a century or more!”

Earl Dragonlord reached into his mouth to remove false vampire fangs, then stripped off and the ear coverings and nose inserts and goatee that made him look more native. And when he grinned – clearly as human as I am – his grimace seemed all the more chilling.

“It doesn’t matter now. You will never stop us!”

How melodramatic. And these cousins-of-Earth actually think they are any better than demmies? Puzzled, I had to ask.

“Stop you from doing… what exactly?”