"Can't take no chances." Jeb sprawled out as if glad to be off his feet. Johnny turned to Baba.
"Baba," Johnny clicked in the marva language, "can you get out of here, if you want to?" Johnny didn't like to talk in the clicking language with Jeb around, but there was no avoiding it.
"Yes," the little bear answered after a time. But then he whimpered again.
"Doggone it, stop that!" Johnny said in English. Then he clicked, "If things work out right, you aren't going to have to go to Earth or get killed."
"But how?" Baba asked. He seemed to revive a little. "If I got out and came to you they'd just bring me back here."
"I know, but they don't think you're smart enough to do anything else. They don't know anything except that we were up on the rock."
The little bear grinned. Then suddenly he began to sniff. He looked all around him, found the chocolate and began to stuff it into his mouth, making loud smacking noises. Johnny gave a sigh of relief. Baba was on the mend.
"Now, listen, we've gotta make plans."
"But what can we do, if they know we were on the rock?" Baba clicked through a mouthful of chocolate mixed with nuts—his favorite combination.
Johnny took a deep breath. "We could run away into the jungle!" he clicked. He jumped when Jeb moved away from his box.