“You heard the verbal slip,” answered Brodok. “They’re carrying something – their Captain didn’t want to say what it was, and only by accident mentioned that there was anything to begin with. I’d wager that whatever it is, it’s bad enough that they’d rather violate our instructions to de-cloak than risk us detecting what it is. The question is this – can you set up a trigraphical representation of the cloaked vessel?”

“Yes, I can,” answered the Helmswoman.

“Then do so,” ordered the Captain.

“Yes sir,” answered Rielak – and a bright-orange wire frame appeared outside in the shape of the metallic saucer that, moments earlier, the bridge crew had merely gotten a glimpse of.

“Tactical,” said Brodok, “I want that ship disabled. Oh – and let’s call for backup. We may need to board it.”

* * *

“This is an outrage!” exclaimed Captain Tammi half an hour later from the tiny brig cell that had been formed just for him.

“No, it isn’t,” said Brodok, who was now beholding him at his actual squirrel size. “The Interstellar Code permits us to enforce our space policies in a reasonable manner.”

“But you took our whole ship!” protested the squirrel. “That’s piracy.”

“No, it isn’t,” maintained Brodok. “You were clearly informed of our policy and given every opportunity to comply. If you had only de-cloaked as we requested, none of this would have befallen you.”

Another chimpanzee with yellow fur entered the room. “Sir,” she said, “You’ve got to come and see what was found in a cage in their cargo bay.” Brodok took another glance at the Sciurian prisoner and followed his crew member out of the room.

“It looks somewhat like the yahoos at the zoo,” she said while in the elevator, “but not exactly. Doc says he’s sapient.”

“A sapient human?” asked Brodok. “That shouldn’t be too shocking. There’s a number of sapient human species.”

“I know,” she answered, “but I’ve never seen one before.”

“There’s much that you don’t see if you spend your whole life on Kriellis,” he answered. “Keep working in space and you’ll see much more. The question is – why were they carrying a sapient being as cargo?”

Finally, the elevator door opened to the infirmary. Jamarko, the Chief Medical Officer, was busy at work, as was his whole staff. On the table, unconscious, and wearing very unusual clothes, lay a human male. Brodok recognized the species of human - it was a Cromagnid, a member of a species common on a number of planets, including Earth. Based on what he knew about the growth and aging patterns of this particular species, Brodok supposed that this individual was in his early thirties.

“Oh, Captain,” said Jamarko, as he noticed Brodok. “Good thing you made it.”

“What happened?” asked Brodok, as the two chimpanzee men approached the unconscious human on the table.

“He was in a cage in the cargo bay,” answered the medical officer, “so he got tossed around more than the squirrels.”

“Not even the dignity of a brig!” grumbled Brodok, anger flashing in his eyes for the first time that day. “What is his condition?”

“Critical,” answered Jamarko, “but I’m pretty sure I can save him.”

“Do whatever you can,” ordered the captain, “and I’ll try to find out who he is.”

“Oh,” noted the medical officer, “he had identifying documents. Primitive ones – but I’d say the identification is positive.”

“Then who is he?” asked Brodok.

“His name is Richard Muller,” answered the medical officer, “and he’s from a place on the planet Earth named ‘Cannonville’.”

* * *

A report was filed, of course, on this incident. The command staff of the Sciurian vessel was booked for trial on Kriellis for spacial-territory violations. By the time Edmund and Alex, back on Earth, retrieved this report, Captain Brodok himself was well into the process of preparing his report for an interstellar tribunal to try the entire crew for violations of the Nursery Principle – which was the best charge he could bring for Muller’s abduction. They couldn’t be tried for kidnapping for the simple reason that there was no court that they could be tried by for those charges. After all, they couldn’t be tried for that on Kriellis, since that violation was against the planet Earth. Likewise – it was against supreme interstellar law to extradite any sapient being for trial on a world where, on account of their species, they would be denied the right to the fair-trial to which all sapient beings accused of crimes were entitled. Few jurisdictions on Earth, if any at all, would give such considerations to squirrels – or to any non-humans for that matter. The most that could be expected would be a mock-trial followed by a gruesome execution.

“So,” said Alex, after having heard the recording of the report, “it looks like the Cyborg King had nothing to do with Richard’s disappearance after all.”

“Unless the Cyborg King has ties with Sciurians,” reminded Edmund.

“I think I found something,” said Cliff, who was standing at another terminal that had quickly been erected in the base for his use. “You know the guy I saw earlier? The one you said is the Cyborg King?”

“What about him?” asked Alex.