"You know what happened on Zelta when an advanceman was careless? You want that to happen here?"
"I...."
On Zelta? He knew it should be familiar to him. He cursed inwardly, reaching for other memories, to see how many he had lost.... A sentence, unbidden, flashed across his mind: "Never sell an Oholo short." It was what someone had told him once. "They think differently than you do." How, he pondered confusedly, could they expect him to think like an Oholo?
"I can't think like an Oholo," he said tonelessly.
"You could.... Never mind."
"I could? Listen, how can they be thinking, to leave a flank like this unprotected? Why didn't they take this planet into protective custody long ago? How can you think like that? They aren't logical. How could I know they'd let a woman...."
"Parr!" the Ship ordered sharply.
Parr gulped. "Sorry."
"Insubordination on your record."
Parr clicked off the comset.