Heth grabs at the talon hooked into his armor, gets his thumb under and bends it back, not quite with enough force to break the bone but definitely hard enough to hurt. He and Jory exchange a quick glance, with some unease in it.

"Leave him," Jory says, low and flat. "See what the captain says."

"Yeah," Heth says, but reluctantly, looking back at Phil with a clear itch to do some more petty violence. "Yeah, in a moment --"

"And just what," says a new voice, sharp and drawling, from the doorway, "is keeping you two? Shall I go back and tell Dr. Ripley that a pair of little boys are just too much for you to handle?"

The newcomer is a human man, in blue and black leather armor, boyishly handsome under artfully tousled brown hair. Both guards snap to some species of attention at his appearance, Heth dropping his grip on Phil.