Tail-nod. <It looks hard on the fur, see, and we have our own procedures for the aftermath of tail-to-tail combat.>

"What are they?"

<Ancient rituals, with the addition of modern medical practice. We get clean but, ah, not with this particular procession of soaps.>

"The particular procession is a sort of combination compromise option since the advent of international trade; people used to have different procedures. I'm sure we can work something out."

Tail-nod. <Is it required after hunting animals also?>

"Hunting animals is no longer common but no, it isn't, only people's bodies require this level of comprehensiveness."

<Any kind of people or Amentans in particular?>

"I think the consensus is that aliens would count, although you're the first ones we've met in practice."

Tail-nod. <None of the other species on this planet are near-intelligent?>

"Some are smarter than others, but no, not really."

<If you were a Yeerk who took some Amentan soldiers captive, what would you do from there?>

"- as of right now?"

<I'm thinking ahead to once there are Amentan soldiers involved in the war, but I suppose that question also merits some attention.>

"I'm not really familiar with Yeerk tactics. I suppose they'd put Yeerks in them and then try to find pretenses to get others alone near - wherever they keep Yeerks who are going to go in people. The protocols we're working on amount to eliminating as much as possible all legitimate excuse to be unsupervised."

<I appreciate it.>

"And we appreciate the warning!"

<Yeerk contact with Amenta would have been disastrous.>

"I agree completely."

And he reads about local capabilities a while longer and then asks about someone to talk to about the politics side.

Kalana asks Aitim to recommend someone.

Aitim recommends Lisint Asan, who runs the foreign affairs office.  "You've done really nicely, I appreciate it."

"Thanks!" says Kalana.

She emails Lisint. Lisint appears.

Matirin wants a sense of under what circumstances Anitam might find itself backing out of their commitment to the war effort, and how that can be avoided.

"If we find the situation's been misrepresented, that would certainly do it, or if corresponding commitments on which basis we made ours were reneged upon."

<Those do not worry me. If lots of people are dying? If the Yeerks start destroying planets as they lose them, to deny you your spoils?>