Page 3 of Purring, Presents, and Parties

Resting a hand on the door to steady herself, Ari looked over her shoulder. The Talin was still there, walking slowly and looking down at his Ident. The moment he looked up, he’d see her. Should she hide behind the house? There wasn’t a door back there but there were several windows. She wasn’t sure they opened, but she could look inside to see if Zuri was even home.

Even as she decided to run again, the door slid soundlessly open. Because she’d been leaning on it to steady herself, she fell inside. When she tried to catch her footing, she tripped over her own feet and tumbled to the floor.

“Ari!” Zuri exclaimed, jumping back to avoid getting bowled over.

Looking up, Ari grinned at the startled woman. “Heya! How’s everything?”

Handing her a smooth, thin-walled stone cup, Zuri took a seat on the puff across from Ari. Talins didn’t do padded furniture, so what they came up with to accommodate the “soft” humans was always comfortable, but sometimes strange. The puff was the latest thing. It looked like a giant cotton ball but was so heavy most of the humans couldn’t move them.

The core was some kind of programmable material. It would take on the firmness of a pancake at one and was hard as a stone at eight. Most of the humans set them between three and five, but Zuri had hers at two, so she sank down into it with a little giggle.

“Have we heard anything more about Tolvern?” Zuri asked after she’d gotten comfortable.

Ari look up from where she’d been staring at the steaming liquid in her cup. “He’s still waiting for permission. I guess Baz can’t sponsor him for some complex reason, so we’ve got to talk someone else into doing.”

“Poor Sunny, she’s so worried about him,” Zuri murmured.

“I know, but we know he’s safe with his family at least,” Ari pointed out then took a sip of her tea then promptly choked. “What’s in this?”

“A shot from my latest batch,” Zuri explained, nodding her head to a closed door at the back of her little house. “I think it came out pretty smooth.”

“Sure,” Ari agreed with another exaggerated cough, then spoke as if she’d smoked most of her life. “Really smooth.”

“Isn’t a hit of the good stuff what you came over for?” Zuri asked.

“I…maybe?” Ari confessed. “I didn’t realize you had it up and running.”

“It’s been working a while, but this is the first batch that’s drinkable.” Zuri took a sip then grimaced. “Mostly.”

Ari set her cup down on the floor next to her puff. “I’m going to let that cool, or, um, eat through the mug. Whichever comes first.”

Zuri laughed. “It’s anyone's guess.” Struggling out of her seat, Zuri disappeared into the distillery room then came back with a small bottle filled with some kind of thick black substance. “Add some of this.”

Ari didn’t even ask; she dumped a quarter of the contents into her steaming mug then picked it up for another sip. It was much sweeter now, the additive smoothing the edges of the harsh drink.

Taking another sip, Ari sat back and sighed. “Yeah, that’s it.” She held up the bottle. “What’s this stuff?”

“Complicated,” Zuri answered. “But the short of it is, I figured out how to make a type of syrup from one of their food reconstituter’s waste products.”

Ari raised an eyebrow. “I’m going to need more explanation.”

“You know that black flatbread they eat with every meal?” Zuri asked. Ari nodded, it was hard to miss. It reminded her a little of rye bread from Old Earth. “One of the major ingredients is a black seed that’s actually pretty sweet. They grind it, then separate out the parts that make it sweet. Normally they ship the powder off planet for trade with other species, but I got my hands on a couple of vats to use in the distillery. It makes horrible alcohol, but when concentrated and mixed with a stabilizer, it makes a great sweetener.”

“It reminds me of honey,” Ari said after swallowing another mouthful of her sweet, spiked tea.

“That’s what I thought too,” Zuri agreed. “Kasium thinks all I make is the sweet stuff. I swear, he must smell the alcohol but there’s nothing like willful ignorance.”

“Tell me about it,” Ari said with a roll of her eyes, then drank half the contents of her mug.

“Uh, Ari, you might want to slow down,” Zuri said with a half-smile. “The sweetener makes the drink taste better, it doesn’t make it less alcoholic.”

Ari looked into the dark liquid of her drink with a slight frown. “I’ve got nothing else to do for the rest of the day. Might as well get drunk.”

Chapter 2

Bazium

It was dark outside by the time Bazium was finished. He’d been forced to not only contact the mavins, the civilian law-keeping authorities on Talarian, but also the Committee for Pet Welfare. In the end, it turned out that Darra and Mani were fine. They’d been asleep, and their Talin owner refused to disturb them for something as unimportant as an inspection.

---