A young star ship officer is given a small, apparently routine job. Washen needs to convince an alien passenger to surrender his home for a brief visit by a high-ranking official. But the alien, Hoop-of-Benzene, has no interest in allowing anyone inside his abode, and there is a story behind his stubbornness, thousands of years old and still horribly fresh. "Even among his species, Hoop-of-Benzene was an enormous creature—a towering biped whose muscular body was covered with glistening armored plates and long golden spines. The broad black eyes stared at the young captain. Beneath the eyes were two mouths, the top mouth for speaking and breathing, the other intended for eating and delivering the worst insults imaginable." The Great Ship stories are on ongoing venture by Robert Reed.