At the curb, Retief held out his hand. "Give me the power cylinder out of your rifle, Jake."
"Huh?"
"Come on, Jake. You've got a nervous habit of playing with the firing stud. We don't want any accidents."
"How do you get it out? They only give me this thing yesterday."
Retief pocketed the cylinder. "You sit in back. I'll drive." He wheeled the car off along a broad avenue crowded with vehicles and lined with flowering palms, behind which stately white buildings reared up into the pale sky.
"Nice looking city, Jake," Retief said conversationally. "What's the population?"
"I dunno. I only been here a year."
"What about Horny and Pud? Are they natives?"
"Whatta ya mean, natives? They're just as civilized as me."
"My boner, Jake. Known Sozier long?"