"It is a shrine. The old ones took care of us before they went away. We loved them, and do not want their dead disturbed."
George Seeling grinned with delight. He never enjoyed himself so much as when he was where he wasn't supposed to be.
"We would be very sad if the dead were desecrated," the ghel said.
"Umm," said Seeling impudently, "but what would you do if I went ahead and desecrated them anyway?"
The head ghel looked shocked. He turned his saucer eyes on his companions, and they all squirmed on their haunches and looked shocked too.
"We would be very sad," the ghel answered.
"No hard feelings," George Seeling said, "but if the advancement of science and the dispersal of knowledge were left up to you fellows, the world would be in a hell of a fix." He aimed his rifle suggestively at the ghel's chest. "Do you know what this is that I am pointing at you?"
"It is a death stick. We have seen them before."
"Right. Now, there's something you can do for me, and I'll take it very kindly if you cooperate."
"Kindness is something we understand."