"More details. Just give him a dirty look and say what's necessary. You know the technique."
The car passed under the stern of the first boat, then the second. There was no alarm. It rounded the third and shuddered to a stop by the open port of the last vessel.
"Out," Retief said. "To make it snappy."
Shluh stepped from the car, hesitated as the guard came to attention, then hissed at him and mounted the steps. The guard looked wonderingly at Retief, mandibles slack.
"An outworlder!" he said. He unlimbered his scatter-gun. "To stop here, meat-faced one."
Shluh froze, turned.
"To snap to attention, litter-mate of drones!" Retief rasped in Groacian. The guard jumped, waved his eye stalks and came to attention.
"About face!" Retief hissed. "Hell out of here—to march!"
The guard tramped off across the ramp. Retief took the steps two at a time, slammed the port shut behind himself.