Time: Oct 8th, 2166
Location: Qaltra, Thessia
Mabel Krantz was part of the research and development group of a successful Earth-based tea company. She was tasked with discovering and creating new flavors to add to its product line. When humanity was given an embassy on the Citadel, the way was opened for trade with other civilizations. Hanar and salarians would soon know the joys of drinking Pepsi or biting into a pizza. And humans could enjoy off-world treats such as Burgat and Tupari. Mabel visited many distributors and sampled many of their offerings, but just couldn't find that killer flavor she was looking for. And then one fateful day, she was invited to the residence of a wealthy asari on Thessia, an owner of several farms growing plants for food and medicine. A drink was poured and a toast was offered to a prosperous future of community and cooperation. And when it passed Mabel's lips, it was almost as if she could hear a choir of angels. She had found her company's new taste sensation at last: asari Dusk Amber tea.
Dusk Amber looks similar in appearance to hot chocolate, but it packs the wallop of espresso. Its sharp, rich flavor was enjoyed only by the asari elite until about one hundred years ago. It was an enormous concession on their part to finally allow the tea to be marketed and sold to the general public, but one part was still a highly guarded secret at that time: the harvesting of the plant used to make it. Mabel absolutely had to get her hands on the stuff, but could not get a single word out of her asari host. She was warned to just leave the matter alone; there were already negotiations with other human companies to sell the tea and she was more than welcome to have her employers submit a bid. But Mabel wanted the goose that laid the golden eggs and set off to try and learn the secret.
Over the next several weeks, she learned just how guarded Dusk Amber tea leaves were when she started to track down botanists and resellers. Everyone she tried to speak with or reach out to would have nothing to do with her. Even her attempts to buy a serving of tea in order to send it back to her company's labs for analysis were met with outright denial. Mabel had been blacklisted by her socialite friend as a company spy trying to undermine the asari tea monopoly. Well, she wasn't the only one in town with money and influence. Mabel convinced her bosses to advance her a substantial amount of credits in order to hire someone that could bring her the coveted tea leaves or, better still, an entire plant.
After several more weeks of plumbing the underbelly of galactic society, she hit paydirt. To keep up with the increasing demand for Dusk Amber tea, many farms turned to automation in yet another break with long standing asari tradition. A salarian mechanic working on harvester machines was willing to send over as many intact leaves as he could salvage and sneak out as he made repairs. He would get the rest of his pay only after he delivered the goods. While she waited at a cheap hotel, she researched instructions on the preparation of the asari beverage, a much less formidable undertaking. There's a special skill involved to get the flavor and consistency just right, or at least passable for mass consumption. Hopefully, the salarian would send her an ample amount to experiment with and still have enough left over for cultivation. Days later, a package is dropped of at the concierge desk; Mabel's little salarian friend came through.
After shutting all the windows and vents in her room, Mabel set to work trying to blend and recreate the wonderful tea she fell in love with months ago. As she learned, one never gets it right on the first try. The resulting mush didn't taste too bad, but it was probably better eaten with a spoon than drunk out of a cup. Mabel tried again and again, but she just couldn't get the mix right. She should have become frustrated by now, but instead she felt strangely tranquil and serene. More than she had ever been in her entire life. As she mixed up yet another batch, she didn't even mind that her supply of leaves was now dangerously low and that she may not even get another opportunity to get such a large sample. Her reaction time slowed greatly, spilling water over herself and her desk. Her vision began to cloud over and she was finding it harder to stay awake. Dusk Amber was supposed to pick you up, not lull you to sleep…
Mabel, Mabel, Mabel... if you and your salarian buddy only knew what the secret ingredient really was!
The yserkba plant is native to the asari homeworld of Thessia. In the wild, it grows in lush low valleys absorbing ample moisture, heat and sunlight. Like many plants found on Earth and throughout the galaxy, the veins in most of the leaves of the yserkba fan outwards down and away from the stem in a V-shape. But on a few leaves, the veins fan upwards towards the stem. This mutant "arrow" leaf is the main ingredient of Dusk Amber tea and is hand sorted from the others by knowledgeable and trusted farm workers. The yserkba plant is also harvested for medicinal use. The non-arrowed leaves contain a chemical compound that is an isomer of diazepam
Or as it's more popularly known…Valium. And Mabel had enough in her system to make an elcor look like a speed freak by comparison.
The hotel concierge showed up at Mabel's door with police after she ignored repeated calls to open her door to housekeeping or pay her overdue bill. Overriding the door lock, they entered her room and found her with her head down on her desk, water and leaves all over the floor and her hot plate cooking an empty glass pitcher. Silent, still and very much… dead. All of her vital functions had slowed to a crawl and then much further down with each new helping of ill-prepared tea. It almost seemed a shame to move her body; she had the widest smile on her face. Mabel Krantz had cost her company tens of thousands of credits in a gamble to get a piece of the asari tea racket, which sucked for them. It was a loss for the hotel as well, though one of the more creative ways a guest had checked out of their establishment. Mabel should have just gotten in line and waited her turn, but it really was a good cup of tea.
Good… to the last drop…
Way # 4093: Tea Totaled
Author's Notes and Thoughts:
- Dusk Amber tea gets a brief mention in the story First Contact, but the folks in that story live, fortunately