Honor

The nirt squeebled to and fro. "Excellent," it hissed through the translator. "Nirtliss are ALSO mouth feel species. Let us mouth feel." A gab widened in the middle of its spiny brain shield (under the middle four ocular stalks) and a kind of moistened flap extended, covered with soft, fleshy barnacles that swelled and shrank as they tasted air. "Uh ... one moment, please," Commander Nunn responded and turned to his second-in-command with a desperate look in his eyes. "This honor belongs to you, My Leader," Second Command Harvey replied softly, "and to you alone." Harvey had waited a long, long time for Nunn (or NASA ... or both) to get some payback and she was already digging out her phone to record the first installment.