Thoracic Park

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Chirr was polishing a freshly uncovered human skull when the ornithopter landed just outside the encampment, causing great consternation among the broodlings who were methodically clearing away soil from their latest find. Kachinka, his mate, clashed her mandibles angrily and made an obscene gesture with her antennae.

“Attend to the site,” Chirr instructed. “I will deal with this.”

He sank into haste posture and used all six legs to cover the intervening space, but even so the newcomer had already disembarked. “Professor Chirr? It’s a pleasure to meet you, sir.”

“What is the meaning of this intrusion?” Chirr rose to his full height and assumed the posture of outrage-verging-on-attack.

With a hasty, and rather superficial, adjustment to the stance of admission-of-error, the new arrival plunged on. “My name is Nakrok. I believe you’ve heard of me, though we’ve never met.”

Indeed he had. Chirr slowly adjusted to reflect acceptance-of-apology while he considered the situation. Nakrok was the chief sponsor of this expedition, and had donated fully half of the broodlings currently scouring the area for artifacts.

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