“I’m supposed to protect you from . . . from exploitation. But . . .” They made that windy, blowing sound again. “We got here, found you. And we found, not just life, but intelligent life. Not that the company cared about that—or even the government. But word got back to earth that not only was there intelligent life here, but it was squishy knee-high creatures in pretty colors that ate plants, and so it became a question of publicity.”
