Baldy chuckled. "He was after food, not your ugly hide. But in your unseemly haste to escape, you dropped a valuable tool. A very careless blunder. And now instead of mold specimens, you've collected a human. I knew this expedition would prove interesting."
"We have to dispose of him!" Ursi shrieked and waved a black tube at Clark menacingly.
"You'd kill him to recover your tool?" Baldy's nose twitched. "Remember we prepare separate reports for the Council. Don't expect me to aid in breaking the law."
Ursi was painfully silent.
Baldy seemed to relish his companion's distress. "You realize, Ursi, you're responsible for this illegal contact? Also may I remind you that the Law reads in part: On pain of death, no human shall be molested, coerced or in any way injured by an expeditionary member's overt action."
"Can't we bargain with him?" Ursi asked irritably.
"Why, of course. Offer him our ship or your life," Baldy said.
Ursi scowled. "If we take the tool and induce amnesia—"
"The Law clearly prohibits that."