The Space Spoon novel Chapter 13

Glasses collided with dull, atonal clicks, while the waitresses of different alien species served the drinks. For Shayla, the rest of the people there were mere shadows sitting at distant tables, conversing through muffled murmurs.

She took a sip of Tomengaria whiskey, emptying her glass. The drink burned her throat, falling into her belly like a burning ember. After Tejeda left, things had become boring for Shayla. The worst was the constant flirts she had to endure. Why had she agreed to attend the meeting in that red dress?

A Globonian approached her table, nodding at her empty glass. "Do you want another one?"

The massive man had a T-shirt that barely managed to hide his filth. He didn't seem to be a waiter, more like another man trying his luck with the little woman dressed in red. "No, thanks!"

"What a pity," he said from across the table, his fetid breath reaching her even so. "I like a woman who can hold her liquor."

“And I like a man who can hold his breath,” Shayla retorted, her green eyes showing her disgust.

The one-eyed Globonian growled and left. Shayla could only sigh with dismay. When the image of E00 appeared on the colossal screen announcing the next piece put out for auction, she started bidding. She raised the price so high that no one bid anymore. That was one way to keep the robot from being sold. They were the seller and the buyer, no harm there.

Outside, the acid rain had stopped, but there was still no sign of Tejeda. When the door opened, Shayla winced and changed the position of the device that created the hologram. She managed to fix it before anyone noticed that Kalden Deltak's image was distorted. Then she looked hurriedly at the door again, only to be partially disappointed.

It wasn't Tejeda, but she couldn't be upset with the man who had appeared. Although the Zondarian women disgusted her, the men were a delicacy. At over two meters tall and with exceptionally broad shoulders, the creature barely squeezed through the entrance. He bent his head forward, trying not to hit the door frame with the two huge, pointed horns jutting from his long, silky black hair.

The Zondarian looked around the room. His nostrils fluttered, resembling an angry bull, but that didn't make him any less attractive. The massive Globonian who had tried before talking to Shayla stumbled upon the newcomer. The Zondarian turned, took the one-eyed man's arm in his hand, and in one fell swoop threw him around the room. The Globonian remained motionless on the cold floor.

Shayla gaped in awe. What a male! It was strange that people around weren't too amazed by the newcomer's display of power. When two waitresses passed Shayla's table, she caught part of their conversation. “That is nothing new coming from Admiral Vologorn. Being the leader of the Alpha Pirates and their entire armada seems to allow him to do everything he likes. And he loves violence, just as his entire faction does.”