"Maybe you can pick up a little more vocabulary from me," Needles was in the alley now.  He had followed behind Nightstar, tracking his energy signal in exactly the same way that they were tracking their quarry through space.  He had been caught up in a conversation with a xenobiologist he had encountered in the bar.  Apparently the being in question had run off with grant money from its university, and was living like a king nearby.  It missed lecturing in a university, and had been happy to answer some of Needles' questions, even when it turned to the creatures that Mason had gotten into a fight with.  

He had slipped out of the bar about a minute behind Mason, when he realized that the aliens might not be able to differentiate between humans and he could be mistaken for Mason.  

"Sorry to sneak up, I'm a friend of his.  Charlie, or Needles if you like."