Girls night out
"This looks like a good place," said Trance. "I like the music."
Beka, Rommie, and Trance were walking through the portion of the spaceport that was frequented by off duty spacers looking for entertainment the less refined type. The area was composed mostly of bars, restaurants offering food of questionable quality and even more questionable preparation practices, and tri-D video theaters depicting beings of various species engaged in different types of sexual activities. The establishments were brightly and garishly lit,with loud laughter and even louder music emanating from most of hem.
The place that Trance had selected was advertised by a multicoloured flashing sign showing a human head with the top part of the skull apparently blasting off from the rest of the head. Underneath the sign were the words. 'The Blast Off ' and in smaller letters 'Home of the galaxy famous Brain Blaster' The music coming out of the door consisted of some sort of stringed instrument playing loudly with a heavy dependence on the bass notes.
The women looked at each other then Beka shrugged and indicated that they should enter. The stepped into the establishment and paused just inside the doorway lettingt their eyes adjust to the dim lighting. The interior was filled with beings of nearly every oxygen breathing race known to the Commonwealth. Barmaids were maneuvering through the crowd delivering drinks and slaps while dodging groping hands, tentacles and other forms of appendages. In one corner of the room was a Nightsider manipulating some sort of electrical equipment, the music was coming from the equipment. Along the left side of the room was the bar, behind which were several human males who were busily mixing drinks and passing them to the barmaids. There was a buzz of conversation in dozens of different tongues. The room was filled with a cloud of smoke, which smelled of numerous substances most of which were illegal on the majority of planets within the Commonwealth. The women walked to one of the few empty tables attracting stares, whistles and 'hubba hubbas' as they walked across the floor. No sooner had they taken their seats than a barmaid came up to take their order.
"What you girls want?"
"Am I correct in assuming the brain blaster is an alcoholic drink?" asked Rommie.
"To put it mildly."
"I'll take one," said Rommie.
The bar maid gave her an odd look. "You sure honey?"
"Quite."
"I'll take one too," chimed in Trance. She had no idea what a brain blaster was but the name sounded interesting.
"Mineral water for me," put in Beka. "One of us is going to have to stay sober."
The drinks arrived and Beka bought the round, sliding her universal identification card through a slot in the serving tray and verifying the purchase with her thumbprint. The cost of the drinks was automatically deducted from her bank account and transferred to the account of the bar.
The drinks were sweet and fruity with no taste of alcohol at all. Rommie quickly consumed hers and signaled the barmaid for another. This time she bought the rounds, brain blasters for herself and Trance and another mineral water for Beka.
After the second drink Trance started feeling depressed. The occupants of several of the nearby tables were engaged in some passionate pre-copulatory activities and she began to miss her boyfriend.
"You'd think," she said to the universe in general and no one in particular, "that for a girl who can see multiple futures, pick the best one and exists in several universes simultaneously I wouldn't have any trouble getting a date. But no, I have to hook up with a man who lives 3,000 years ago and in a universe I don't have an incarnation in. And then whenever I do get a chance to sneak off to see him, half the time he's off on some strange planet saving his galaxy from a bunch of parasitic snakes. I tell you it isn't fair."
"You're so right," slurred Rommie she wasn't quite sure what Trance was talking about but she agreed.
"Wait a minute," said Beka. "What do you mean when you sneak off? When have you been sneaking off to see Dr. Jackson?" Her voice was somewhat slurred as well. She hadn't been drinking but some of the products being smoked had drifted over to the table the ladies were a occupying and the fumes were beginning to affect her.
Trance was saved from having to answer by the arrival of tall, dark and obnoxious. The creature approaching their table was approximately seven feet tall and appeared to be a cross between a goat and a lizard. It had a vaguely goat like face and lower limbs but its body was covered in dark green scales. It smelled like it had just bathed in the port's sewer system.
"Which one of you homely females wishes to be honored by accepting a dance with Kull," it asked.
"None of us," replied Beka.
"Then in that case I will pick one of you." As he said this he reached out and grabbed Beka's arms pulling her out of her chair.
As she came out of the chair Beka brought her knee up into the juncture of Kull's legs. There was a satisfactory thumping sound and Kull backed off a bit but didn't double over in pain as Beka was expecting, rather he pulled her closer to him.
Rommie took a millisecond to search Andromeda's database. She then stood up and brought her foot around in a sweeping motion catching Kull in the back of the knee joint. The lizard-goat collapsed on the floor writhing in pain.
"That wush a Treakan," explained Rommie. "Their shex organsh are in the back uf their knees." Her slur had gotten even more pronounced and she needed to place one hand on the table to steady herself as she walked back to her chair.
While Kull had been harassing Beka, Trance had felt a tickle in her mind. She tickled back. On the opposite side of the room a creature that looked like a madman's conception of a spider crossed with a horse suddenly jerked spasmodically and fell onto its side. It curled into a fetal position and began sucking on one of its manipulative appendages.
It was Trance's turn to buy the rounds. She did.