“Uh-oh. Incoming.” My barback B’bani muttered. I glanced over and he waved one of his smaller arms in the general direction of the door.
“Oh, great. Can you duck into the kitchen and let them know, please?” B’bani nodded, finished putting away the clean glasses and scurried through the door at the end of the bar. I put on my best customer service smile and waited for the newcomers to settle themselves at the bar. Most of the time bartending at the Star Crossing was fine. But there were some aliens I wished I never met and three of them were climbing up onto the barstools right now. Verathi tended to work as pest control and cleanup on the station.
“Ah, barkeep. We need, and I mean need, three milky tuna juices, each with a shot of nip bourbon. And we need them yesterday.” The leader rubbed a paw along the side of his head over one ear, and glared at me.
“Yessir. Three milky tuna juices with a sidecar of nip bourbon coming right up.” I stepped sideways down the bar to grab the appropriate glassware and started making the drinks. As long as they were served quickly, the Verathi weren’t bad customers. But there was a reason the cat-like aliens were commonly known as “nebulacats.” When unhappy, they behaved astonishingly like domestic Earth felines. In other words, they acted all nice and sweet before moving in for the kill at random intervals. Humans had been the most successful in dealing with the Verathi, probably because they had lived side-by-side with felis catus for so many centuries.
I set the drinks down in front of the three Verathi and grabbed some menus. “Are you gentlemen looking for food as well? Or just drinks?” I kept my formal customer service smile firmly in place.
“Of course we want food. We just got off shift and haven’t had food in at least an hour. Gimme the damn menus.” The leader swiped the menus from my hand with a large, claw-filled paw.
“No problem. I’ll be back in a minute to take your orders.” I stepped down to the far end of the bar where B’bani was keeping a low profile while cutting up limes and lemons.
“What’s the deal with you and the Verathi anyway?” I asked. I’d noticed that B’bani and other Aurathi scrupulously avoided interactions with Verathi whenever possible. B’bani gazed at me for a moment before gesturing to himself with one paw.
“We resemble an Earth species known as ‘rabbits’ or so I’ve been told. And apparently Earth cats have been known to chase and kill Earth rabbits. I’ve never seen an Earth rabbit, so I can’t say if that’s accurate or not, but I’m not blind, and I’ve noticed how the Verathi watch my kind. They watch like they’re hunting. I do my best to avoid becoming prey.” He twitched one long ear and went back to cutting citrus.
“Ah. That explains a few things. Okay. You stay down at this end and I’ll deal with these guys.”
“Thanks, boss.” B’bani nodded once without looking up.
Pounding on the bar drew my attention. “Hey! Barkeep! We need some food down here!” The Verathi leader thumped a large paw on the top of my bar.
“Coming!” I quick stepped down the bar until I was in front of the three engineers. Did other space stations have engineers who threatened other workers and did whatever they wanted? I made a mental note to do some research on Earth cats and get a better idea of what I might be dealing with. In the meantime, I had three Verathi I had to try to keep happy.
******
I forgot to send in a prompt last week, so I picked up one of the spares. Bartending at the Star Crossing was fine, except for the aliens… If you head on over to More Odds Than Ends, you can see what everybody else came up with. Enjoy!
Wonder what Terran Catnip would do to those guys. [Crazy Grin]