Trals Scarback's face hit the ground with a dusty thud, and Turtle felt nothing.

"Shit," said Andrea, "he's unconscious. No, don't you dare." She shoved back the tall Eethlek.

"He would have killed you!" The young man said. "He would have killed all of us. Let me - "

"I swear to God, Vrem, I will kick your tattooed ass right back to your daddy's teepee," said Andrea in a mix of Eethlek and English. "Back the fuck off."

Why did Turtle feel that frisson of ...