Ellik grunted. "Unfortunately, Johnny, there are subtler differences. The darker aliens, the indigo-colored ones, seem to be definitely down further on the scale of local evolution. They must be an inferior race to the lighter, azure species."
Chon had been looking at us and listening to everything. Finally he said, "You can't be sure of that, Mike. You haven't seen all of the Indigos. Some of them may not be as far down as the common carriers."
Ellik sighed. "Explorers have to make snap decisions on insufficient data. We don't have time to see the whole damned planet before we write up a report."
"Yes, explorers have to make snap decisions," Chon repeated to himself. "Are you going to take a look at those buildings, see if it's a village?"
"I thought I'd see if our blueblood friend out there wants to show it to me," said Mike Ellik.
"He won't," I said.
They both looked at me.
"You don't have any chair and nobody to carry you," I went on. "He'll think you're just a slob."
"Jonathan," Ellik said, "you show occasional flashes of genius."
I smiled and shrugged it off. "I know I'm not nearly as smart as you boys. But that doesn't mean I can't think at all."