They were flowers—flowers from Earth.
And they were pansies.
Hawthorne pushed them disgustedly from the arms of his chair and settled down in glum resignation.
Morguma took his place at O'Dea's left. O'Dea glanced at Hawthorne on his right and chuckled. He turned to the Centaur,
"Terrestrial flowers? How come?"
"I ecstasize to see your pleasure," Morguma drooled. "One of our brave captains took a ship to your delightful world, succeeded in plucking fragrant specimens of fauna and flora to populate this world. There are now animals and vegetation from Earth thriving happily on this globe!"
"So ... any humans?"
A tear trickled down Morguma's leathery cheek. "Oh it was so sad! The humans resisted—poor misguided creatures! They all lost their valuable lives and we will have to return for more!"
O'Dea put down the Centaurian mushroom he had been preparing to taste. The grin disappeared from his face as he shoved back his chair and faced Morguma. There was a deadly something in his eyes that seemed out of place in the usually carefree features.
"Another of your nonchalant slaughters." His voice was a low monotone. "Morguma, you'll pay for that—you and your grinning murder pals—"