"In the night," Klaft hissed and clucked, "when none would think to watch him, they tell me ... and quite rightly, I think—"
"Get on with it, Klaft! Please!"
"In the night, then, Albirken left the chamber in which he lay. He can walk some now, you know, because of Dr. Chuxolkhee's metal pin. He—he stole a ground car and is gone."
"He did?" Kinton had an empty feeling in the pit of his stomach. "Is it known where he went? I mean ... he has been curious to see some of Tepokt. Perhaps—"
He stopped, his own words braying in his ears. Klaft was clicking two claws together, a sign of emphatic disagreement.
"Albirken," he said, "was soon followed by three police constables in another vehicle. They found him heading in the direction of our town."
"Why did he say he was traveling that way?" asked Kinton, thinking to himself of the spaceship! Was the man crazy?
"He did not say," answered Klaft expressionlessly. "Taking them by surprise, he killed two of the constables and injured the third before fleeing with one of their spears."
"What?"
Kinton felt his eyes bulging with dismay.