I burst out laughing.
“Well, that got people’s attention.”His voice was a quiet rumble.His eyes were sharp, taking in everything happening behind me.
“They all looked when we entered the room, but no one’s paying much attention to us now,” Burn added.
“Give it a few more minutes,” I said.“Maybe something will look promising.”Speaking of promising, my beer smelled like beer, but I wasn’t brave enough to try it first.“Have you tried this yet?”
Burn shook her head.“Too busy juggling.And also too afraid.I can’t decide if this place is just your average spaceport bar or if there’s something more sinister.”
“Me too!”
Dax just shook his head at both of us.
I was going to go crazy if I didn’t have something to do.And drinking was doing something, so...I picked up my glass and sniffed again.Still smelled like beer.“If this kills me, please still try to rescue my sister.”
“We will,” Burn said.She lifted her glass and we clinked.
I looked at Dax expectantly.He sighed in exasperation, but lifted his glass.“Cheers.”
“Cheers,” I repeated.“Here goes nothing.”I took a baby sip of the beer.It tasted...good.Like, surprisingly good.A bit hoppy, with little bursts of freshness.I took another small sip.
Same results.I lowered my glass and stared at it.
The waitress dropped three bags of chips on the table, then reached past Burn to place the fries in front of Dax.“Everything okay with your drinks?”
“Yes,” I said.“No.Maybe?”
She finally tore her gaze away from Dax and looked at me.“What do you mean?”
“I mean, it’s a good beer.I didn’t expect that?”
She laughed.“So you want to know if it’s poisoned or something?”
“Well...yeah.”
“Not today,” she said, absolutely straight-faced.
I looked at her in horror and set my beer down so fast it sloshed.
“That’s a joke.The owner’s grandfather always wanted to make beer, so a few years ago they cobbled together a brewing apparatus for him.He’s been tinkering since.”She grimaced.“Some batches are better than others.”
Practically every planet made beer, but a good, small-batch alcohol could fetch a nice price in the right markets.“Do you sell it off-planet?Are you looking for someone to ship it?”The words flowed out of me so quickly, I worried that there was some kind of truth serum in it.
“You looking for cargo?”The waitress got a speculative look in her eye.
I put my drink down and dialed back my enthusiasm.It wouldn’t do to oversell our hand.“Wouldn’t hurt.Delivered some feed and wouldn’t mind an outbound load.”
The waitress looked at all three of us one by one.“If you’re serious, I can let some people know.”
We all nodded.Dax let me continue the conversation.“Saw the hangars.Got anyone who sells spare parts?This lot,” I gestured at Dax and Burn, “decided to go ‘exploring’ and I’m worried a few of our parts are gonna fritz out.I’d rather have spares with me, if I can, rather than need a part and not have it.”
“Sure.I can put the word out for that too.”There was a gleam in her eyes that told me that she got a cut of any business she sent their way.
“Thanks.”
The waitress took off and instead of returning to the bar, she headed toward the back room.
“Well, we’ve started the ball rolling.”I reached for a bag of chips.My beer was half gone and I really needed to slow down.
