 Why did Gwayne ask the alien leader about barmaids and puppies?
Captain Gwayne cursed and rolled over, reaching for his boots. The starlanes between Earth and her potential colonies were rough on the men who traveled them now. Earth couldn't turn out enough starmen in the schools, so promising kids were being shipped out for training as cadets on their twelfth birthday. Earth had ordered him to detour here, after leaving his load of deep-sleep stored colonists on Official World 71, to check on any sign of Hennessy. One, at the front, was stuttering into life, and Gwayne dashed for it as the exit port slid back. "I want that thing to live—and you're detailed to save it and revive it. I want to know what happened to Hennessy and why that ship was buried against detection.
 To test if he was Hennessy.
 To see if he spoke English.  To test if he was Hennessy.  To test if he was familiar with Earth culture.  To get him to speak so he could listen to the sound of his voice.