"Stop here." The car stopped. It blew off steam and sat trembling as the hot engine idled roughly. Retief opened the door, took his foot off Shluh. "Sit up," he ordered. "You two in front listen carefully." Shluh sat up, rubbing his throat. "Three of you are getting out here," Retief said. "Good old Shluh is going to stick around to drive for me. If I get that nervous feeling that the cops are after me, I'll toss him out to confuse them. That will be pretty messy, at high speed. Shluh, tell them to sit tight until dark and forget about sounding any alarms. I'd hate to see your carapace split and spill loveable you all over the pavement." "To burst your throat sac, evil-smelling beast!" Shluh hissed. "Sorry, I haven't got one." Retief put the gun under Shluh's ear. "Tell them, Shluh. I can drive myself, in a pinch." "To do as the foreign one says; to stay hidden until dark," Shluh said. "Everybody out," Retief said. "And take this with you." He nudged the unconscious Groacian. "Shluh, you get in the driver's seat. You others stay where I can see you." Retief watched as the Groaci silently followed instructions. "All right, Shluh," Retief said softly. "Let's go. Take me to Groac Spaceport by the shortest route that doesn't go through the city. And be very careful about making any sudden movements." Forty minutes later, Shluh steered the car up to the sentry-guarded gate in the security fence surrounding the military enclosure at Groac Spaceport. "Don't yield to any rash impulses," Retief whispered as a crested Groacian soldier came up. Shluh grated his mandibles in helpless fury. "Drone-master Shluh, Internal Security," he croaked. The guard tilted his eyes toward Retief. "The guest of the Autonomy," Shluh added. "To let me pass or to rot in this spot, fool?" "To pass, Drone-master," the sentry mumbled. He was still staring at Retief as the car moved jerkily away. "You are as good as pegged out on the hill in the pleasure pits now, Terrestrial," Shluh said in Terran. "Why do you venture here?"
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