"Not me," Ellen said. "The one time I saw him at close range he scared me half to death."
"Oh well, you needn't worry. It's just another try for prisoners. The Research Institute wants a live Eglan."
"Haven't they got some? Ed Albertson came in with a few last trip."
"Those were civilians. The labs want a military man or two. There's a lot of differences between the Eglan military and civilians that don't make sense."
"All they'd need to do is look at our fighting men. There's a lot of differences between them and civilians that don't make sense."
Fiske grinned. "Anyway, it's a milk run this time," he lied.
"Don't kid the troops on the home front," she said. "It's big, mean, and dirty."
"It's no worse than any other mission. Sure, they're all bad but I'm on detached assignment and there won't be a lot of other ships around cluttering up space and drawing attention."
"I wish they'd leave us alone."
"So do I. But these mule-eared Eglan militarists aren't going to be satisfied until we pin their ears back."