It was a siren.
Lar Luk had tricked me.
You can imagine the pickle I was in, boss. The siren summoned more guards, who came at me from all directions. I tried to get away, pounding across the pavement of the quadrangle. From somewhere, a searchlight cut a bright yellow swath across the quadrangle. It found me and held me.
One of the guards fired a blaster, hitting me in the base of the skull and killing me instantly.
Cordially,
Sammy Trumple
Interstellar Division
Terran Insurance Co.
Baltimore, Md., Earth
Dear Sammy:
I'm glad you managed to get away, but quit pulling my leg, will you? So the guard killed you—and then you sat down and wrote me a letter. Please tell me what really happened.
By the way, I have great news for you. Joanie had a litter of four pups, all spotted brown and white and cute as the dickens. I'm sending two of them to you by Subspace Express.