"OK, Earthman, hand over my fifty zrobniks and don't give me any double talk!" Zrotif waved his claw in a manner I found distinctly unfriendly.

"Take it easy, Glptah!" cooed Heddy. "Ovid here is a friend of mine!"

Jesus! She knows how much that bugs me but I can't kick that nickname ever since I made the mistake of showing her one of my poems. Crazy crab dame!

"You stay out of this, Heddy. This squishy alien worm owes me fifty zrobniks and either he pays up or I break him in half!"

"Here's your filthy zrobniks! Now scram!" Heddy threw a handful of the silver orbs at the crumbling crustacean and Zrotif scuttled off trailing pink smoke.

I swallowed hard and tried to move beyond the reach of Heddy's fluttering pincers. "Heddy, BABY, how can I ever repay you?"

Heddy's eyestalks curled seductively. "You know what I want."