Birds of a Feather

A bustling office on the exotic world of Ghryne serves as the front line for the Corrigan Institute’s interstellar zoo. The narrator, a sharp‑witted recruiter, watches a parade of alien hopefuls line up outside his window, each eager to sign a contract that promises fame on Earth. Bright flyers in dozens of languages have already drawn the crowd, and the atmosphere hums with the mix of curiosity and ambition that only a galactic talent hunt can create.

The first applicant steps forward: a bright‑green, basketball‑sized Regulan with five arms, ten eyes, and a resonant bass voice. He quickly adopts the human name Lawrence R. Fitzgerald, explaining his love of “Terran” culture, and dives into the terms of a modest yet enticing deal. Their negotiation is peppered with humor and bureaucracy, hinting at the quirky challenges of managing a zoo that spans the stars.