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After making it through five [traditional Nabian] bat-meat dumplings without any sign of food poisoning, Trig and Salvo got up to say thank you to the Nabian waiter.

‘Forget gratitude, it’s service.’

‘We wanted to show appreciation for the history lesson,’ said Trig, pointing back through the Escherian maze to their table [for some reason]. ‘And for you taking the time to be nice to us.’

‘Also redundant.’

‘Err…okay, well-…’

‘But if you really wanna show appreciation, make sure not to ask basic questions.’

‘We’ll try.’

‘Study the pad. Learn.’

‘Got it.’

‘And, most important, don’t tell anyone I told you any of this. Nabians are not babysitters.’

Trig and Salvo both smiled, him without teeth, her without sincerity. When they’d gotten far enough away from the restaurant not to be overheard, she turned to Trig and said in a matter-of-fact tone, ‘Nabians are weird.’

‘He was okay.’

‘Felt like he was looking down on us.’

‘Maybe. A little bit.’

‘That babysitter line, don’t tell anyone I talked to you, calling us lowers…did you hear that?’

‘We just need to adjust first, be careful about the questions we ask.’ He pulled the pad out of his pocket, leaned against the Kontolian Forgiveness Pole. ‘Study the alien profiles a bit before engaging anyone.’

‘I wonder how Cav handled all this.’

‘Like a deranged fire ant, probably.’

‘Yeah.’

‘Though he didn’t really piss anyone off. Otherwise, he would’ve been in the Security Office or the…hospital? Medical Bay? Whatever they call it here.’

Trig pulled away from the pole [it had started to vibrate – probably a warning, he thought] and looked around for some kind of physical reference, but they were next to the loop line and there didn’t seem to be any public service facilities nearby. In fact, far as he could tell, all the mundane services were all on the ground floor, or the first floor, whereas the floor they were on focused on leisure and entertainment.

‘I’m guessing he stuck close to the humans,’ continued Salvo, guiding Trig onto the loop line. ‘Like Katya and his hologram. Maybe the Nabians too, if he was desperate.’

‘Wait, where are we going?’

‘I’m not tired yet.’

‘That’s not a location.’

Salvo kept her eyes on the outside part of the loop line, ticking off each bar and café. ‘I wanna get a drink. Look at the glowing blue planet again.’

‘We can do that from our dorm.’

‘Bar is better.’

‘Really? It might be crowded, lots of alien-types…’

‘A loop line bar. Somewhere we can sit down in peace…’

‘But not our dorm?’

‘…and drink. Right now.’

‘Okay. Fine. If you’re that thirsty.’ Trig scoured the immediate area, noticing a tailor shop that was still open, and a café with lots of Kontolians inside. ‘How about that one?’

Salvo looked over, saw a Pos Pos glide out and shook her head.

‘Too alien?’

‘Too busy.’

‘Okay, what about that one? It looks fairly sedate…’ Trig concentrated on the space up ahead with legless ring tables circling strange, grey-dotted non-stripper poles running up from floor to ceiling, and only one human currently inside, either a Nabian or one of those sleazy Terzoan Collective guys. He tried to think of another selling point, something quotidian to attract Salvo, but then he glanced back and realised she was already five metres ahead and completely uninterested.

‘Let’s try that Yum La place,’ she said back to him, at least remembering he was still there. ‘It seemed quiet before.’

‘That was in the early evening.’

‘Yeah. I think it’s just down here on the left. Very close.’

‘You sure you don’t wanna try the place I just said?’

‘Yup, I was right, there it is.’ She scooped his arm somewhere between her own and led him with gentle force towards the entrance before stopping abruptly to check the interior. ‘See, it’s practically empty. Only a few humanoids scattered about.’

‘What’s that guy doing?’ asked Trig, squinting at a table to the left.

Salvo followed his line of sight and coughed when she saw a tall-ish Trvian figure standing over a puddle of liquid with an Eek-Eeesh lying prone in the middle of it.

As if to counter the word prone, the Eek-Eeesh suddenly lashed out with one its cables…one of its limbs…and caught the TRV on their wrist. Surprisingly, they didn’t bring down whatever tool was in their hand on the offender, but instead rubbed the injured spot on their arm.

‘Is that drunk?’ asked Trig.

‘The earphone alien?’

‘Yeah. What are they called…Ee something…Ee seesh? Fuck, I always forget this one.’ Trig took out his pad again and swiped until he found the answer. ‘The Eek-Eeesh. That’s it. Kinda looks like it is drunk.’

‘What’s the green fur guy doing?’

‘The Trv? I don’t know. Based on his behaviour…he could be a friend of the Eek-Eeesh.’

‘Friends?’

Hearing the sudden raised volume of Salvo’s voice, the Trv looked up and tilted their head towards a nearby table. Despite seeing at least five better choices on the other side of the bar, Trig headed over, with Salvo tucking in behind.

‘That table,’ the Trv said, pointing near the window.

‘Are you the bartender here?’ asked Trig, as polite as he could make it.

‘I’ve never heard it called that before. But yes, I manage this bar at present. Take a seat, I’ll be over you soon.’

‘Over us?’ asked Salvo, eyes fixed on the Eek-Eeesh limbs wildly flicking outwards.

‘I think they mean with us,’ whispered Trig, pulling out a surprisingly old-style metal chair from the under the table.

The Trv lowered their forehead and covered half of their face with their hand. It was a move Trig and Salvo had seen before, in the Security Office…perhaps a move familiar to all of the Trv species. Or maybe just the Trv on Dah Station 7. There was no way to tell, not without gigantic amounts of cultural data.

‘Should we get our own drinks?’ asked Salvo, looking over at the bar.

‘I think we’re supposed to wait.’

‘For what? He’s not doing anything.’

Trig looked across at the tables on the other side of the bar. There were a couple of Kontolians silently drinking together, and a single Asaaaaa leaning against the window…and that was about it. No sign of Katya or any other humans.

Shifting to the décor, he tried to make sense of the symbols housing giallo red light on the ceiling and one of the walls, but it was clearly too fixed to be translatable by his nano implants. Or maybe it had no meaning at all. Like triangles or squares, they were just pretty shapes.

Looking up at the same thing, Salvo laughed. ‘Looks kind of like a brothel.’

‘Or a nuclear sub.’

‘I guess the pale red coming down on us isn’t so bad…almost relaxing when you include the view outside.’

‘Yeah, very relaxing.’

‘The music’s pretty chilled too…if that’s what it even is.’

‘Sounds a bit like the wind.’

‘Yeah, with wood-cracking noises every few seconds.’

‘Could be alien meditation music.’

A sudden howl erupted from the ceiling, followed by a strangled whoosh before the wind fought its way back in.

‘Maybe not,’ Salvo said, correcting herself.

‘I wonder where it’s coming from.’

‘The ceiling.’

‘Can’t see any, but I think there could be speakers hidden in the lighting. Or maybe it’s part of the lighting itself. I don’t know.’

A mass of green fur appeared on the table, making Trig jump a little and Salvo attempt to swat it away. When she realised it was connected to the arm of the Trv bar manager, the whole top half of her body froze [with the right leg shaking involuntarily under the table]. Finally, the word sorry managed to crawl beyond her lips.

‘The lighting is Nabian-centred,’ the Trv said, ignoring the apology and keeping the green, furry hand fixed on the table. ‘Red is soothing to them. To others, it is either soothing or neutral.’

‘What about the music?’ asked Trig.

‘That is Asaaaaa nature mix. Very popular among other humanoids, especially the Nabians. Though their own attempts at mimicking it are fairly substandard.’

‘Is this a Nabian bar?’

‘Originally. Now it is in my hands.’

‘You are the owner?’

The Trv or Trvian pulled their head back, again like the Security Officer, then smiled with red-stained teeth, which was brand new. ‘I am correct then. You are humans.’

‘Yes…’

‘How did you know that?’ asked Salvo.

‘This word owner. It is only used by humans, and some of the older Nabians. And as you questioned the lighting, you could not belong to the latter.’

‘That makes sense.’

‘Also, you do not have the attitude of a Nabian. Even the so-called ‘anti-generalist’ types. They would’ve come in here and made some remark about Ee-Wan over there. The pair of you, however, merely looked like rock sprouts.’

‘We’re new,’ said Trig, skipping right past what he figured was a Trv idiom.

‘Only here for a short time,’ added Salvo.

‘I recognise this, on both counts. I’m Enhlo. Your signs?’

‘Err…I’m Trig.’

‘Salvo.’

‘Good, short and pronounceable. And vaguely familiar too.’ Enhlo tilted their head left and studied the two human forms, something that Trig and Salvo were quickly becoming used to. Though to be fair, this Trvian was making a much better impression than the last one they’d met. He hadn’t threatened to put them in a holding cell, for one. ‘You are friends of Emma Goldman,’ Enhlo said finally.

‘Who?’ asked Trig, before his brain caught up. ‘Ah, you mean Cav.’

‘You’ve seen him?’ asked Salvo, almost putting her hand over Trig’s mouth. ‘He came here, talked to you?’

‘Every night for two weeks. As most humanoids do when they first arrive. As you will too, no doubt.’

‘What did he say?’

‘At first, very little. His face was similar to that wall over there. Then, on the second night, he tried to escape through the teleporter room. No, don’t look alarmed, this is normal for accidental pick-ups, especially solo types. And he was okay after the instant sleep beam. Third night, he was better. Fourth night, better still. By the thirteenth night, before his first mission, he became annoyingly gregarious. That’s when he mentioned you.’

‘He did?’

‘Only your signs, and that you were friends. Nothing beyond that.’

‘Did he seem okay, on the last night?’

‘I cannot say. Your species psychology is not my area of study. Though as I said, he did talk a lot.’

‘Sounds like Cav,’ said Trig, smiling at Salvo.

‘Yeah.’

Enhlo seemed to notice the empty table for the first time and looked over at the bar. ‘You must be thirsty. Let me get you a drink.’

‘Thanks.’

‘Do you have human drinks?’ asked Trig.

‘No need to concern yourself with that, I know what to give you.’ Enhlo glanced over at Ee-Wan, who was starting to slither out of the liquid pool. ‘Keep an eye on Ee-Wan for me. Don’t let them slide away.’

‘Okay.’

Enhlo left the table and headed over to the bar, briefly checking on the other customers as they went. Salvo followed their movements, trying to see what they were pouring into the glasses, but it was hard to discern as the Trvian had turned their back to them.

‘Good to know Cav adapted okay,’ said Trig, rubbing his elbow. ‘Considering he was on his own…it’s quite impressive.’

‘Apart from the first few days.’

‘Yeah, a bit rocky at first, but the guy said he stabilised after that. Just like us. Though we’re together so it’s a bit different.’

Salvo grunted, still preoccupied by the Trvian behind the bar.

Trig went back to drunk alien observation duty, trying to figure out what exactly it was the Eek-Eeesh was sitting in. Couldn’t be alcohol, as surely that would be unethical on the bartender’s part, which meant it had to be something else, something healing perhaps?

Trig’s speculation was interrupted by a loud noise from the loop line outside, something akin to a piece of metal hitting the floor, followed by a retaliatory splash from the Eek-Eeesh pool on the table nearby.

The Asaaaaa nature mix reacted too, adding another wolf-like howl over the wind bassline as Trig regathered his composure and checked to see if Ee-Wan had slipped beyond the pool boundaries.

Fortunately, it hadn’t.

In fact, it was motionless again.

‘That liquid must be some kind of recovery fluid,’ muttered Trig, jumping a little as one of Ee-Wan’s cable limbs flicked outwards again.

‘I don’t know,’ answered Salvo, eyes still on the bar, apparently oblivious to the barrage of xeno-noise that had just struck them.

‘It’s probably absorbed into the cables…the limbs. I think Jemba said something about that too. They absorb cosmic rays when they rest, like their version of eating or drinking. So they must be able to absorb liquid too. Which clearly makes them drunk if they take in too much.’

‘Yeah.’

Trig nodded to himself, satisfied with the one-way analysis, and looked out the window. The planet Napla’a was only half visible, which meant the slight spin of the station was not completely in sync with the planet. To be honest, he didn’t even know if it could be. Science fiction was an interest of his – Star Trek, Blake’s 7, Gah Council, Wai Si Lei novels –  but his actual knowledge of physics was pretty weak.

Guesswork based on direct observation, with Jemba telling him the basics first, okay, manageable, but actual science with real scientific words…

He glanced over at the Eek-Eeesh, their cable limbs slithering within the pool, then returned to the visible half of the planet Napla’a outside.

Maybe the Nabian waiter was right.

Compared to the other species there, they were lowers.

How could they be anything else?

There was no way he could explain one tenth of all this technology, even after reading the pad. Gravity plating? Nano-implants? They were just things that had happened to him. He could get the basic concept, the same way an idiot could say a plane goes up and a TV shows moving pictures, but the actual process? No chance.

The music from someplace above shifted again, adding droplet vibrations.

As if acting on a trigger, Salvo stopped her surveillance of Enhlo’s drink prep and turned to her fingernails.

‘You feeling relaxed yet?’ Trig asked, gesturing towards the red bulbs above.

‘A little.’

‘Me too.’

‘Doesn’t seem to be much going on here.’

‘I thought that’s what you wanted.’

‘Yeah.’

‘It is what you wanted? Or…’

She held out a hand. ‘He’s coming back with the drinks. Let’s have half to be polite then head back to the dorm.’

‘If you want.’

‘Not want, just feeling a bit tired suddenly. Probably that bat meat we had.’

‘Or the lighting.’

‘Maybe.’

Enhlo placed the taro-coloured drinks carefully on the table then stepped back as if they’d just installed a piece of art.

‘What is it?’ asked Trig, going with the obvious question.

‘Division Juice.’

‘Okay.’

‘Ratio-wise, it is a drink friendly to the highest number of humanoids. It is also what your friend drank on his first night.’

‘What’s in it?’ asked Salvo, not hiding her scepticism.

Enhlo opened their mouth, probably to explain the ingredients, but then flipped to the side and started shouting at a human-looking guy to get away from there.

It wasn’t clear at first where there was, but then the human moved to the side and Trig saw that he was standing right next to the Eek-Eeesh.

‘You want that kind of thing, go to the Dating Centre, or back to your dorm. Not here, understand?’

The human, who, judging by the leer on his face, was probably another sleaze from the Terzo Collective, shouted back that he was just making sure his friend was alright, then came drunkenly over to their table.

‘See, what I really wanted to do…’ he started with an incredible amount of slur, ‘…was sit down next to this primitive beauty here.’

‘Table’s full,’ said Enhlo, stepping across to block the man, but not fast enough as he swerved to the right and pretty much tripped onto the stool next to Salvo. Somehow, it didn’t topple over.

‘Saw you on the reports…your lovely round moon face. Usually I’d wait until the third night, when you’re not so irritating…but then other Nabians might’ve pounced on you by then and…me, I’m the pouncing one…should be…definitely with you and those…beautiful dress lumps, those tight little-’

‘Okay, comrade.’ Enhlo picked the alleged Nabian up by the back of his jacket collar and pulled him away. ‘Go sleep it off, okay?’

The Nabian shrugged Enhlo off, and rubbed the back of his jacket as if it were a loyal pet. ‘What do you say, Earthling? Come back with me? Let me unzip that nice blue dress and…’

‘Jacket,’ she corrected, acidic.

‘…slide it off…that dress jacket thing, get it off your chest and see what lurks beneath. No?’

Salvo looked at her drink, looked at the Nabian’s face and, if it weren’t for Trig’s hand shooting across to stop her, definitely would’ve thrown it at him. Or perhaps not, as when Trig did get a firm grip of her arm, there was limited resistance.

‘Exit’s over there, comrade,’ said Enhlo, slicing a green hand forward through the air.

‘I know my exits, monkey,’ spat the Nabian, spinning in a full circle then adding another half until he was facing the right way. ‘Didn’t wanna poke her anyway. Midget brain cavewoman.’

The drunk weaved his way back out, bumping into a table on the left and stopping again by the Eek-Eeesh. He shouted something at the ceiling, possibly the theorised speakers pumping out the Asaaaaa nature mix, then grabbed one of the earphone heads of the alien and placed it on his crotch.

Bad move.

Apparently, the Eek-Eeesh wasn’t as out of it as it appeared to be, with two of its other cables/limbs lashing out and connecting with the Nabian’s neck.

‘Fucking dev…’ he screamed, taking a sharp step back and swatting away a second limb slash. ‘Drunk little-…’

‘Deserved,’ finished Enhlo, shoving the Nabian with surprising force out of the bar, and then immediately raising his hands in defence as the Nabian shaped to counter.

‘Fascist green cunt.’

‘Keep moving.’

‘Should smash your fucking head in…hands on me like that.’

‘Or I’ll call Security.’

‘Disrespecting all Nabians…interfering in innocent sexual transactions with primitive cave slu-’

‘The real fascist green cunts. How about that?’

Something finally clicked in the Nabian’s brain, the survival button perhaps, as he lowered fighting hands and staggered off, visibly muttering to himself.

Enhlo waited until the Nabian was out of sight then re-entered the bar and placed the Eek-Eeesh back into the liquid. After staring down at it for a few seconds, they changed their mind and looped the prone alien around their left forearm.

‘Hey, Luugi, watch the bar,’ yelled Enhlo, already halfway out onto the loop line.

One of the two Kontolians on the other side of the room slapped their shoulder in response and moved over to the counter.

‘That was dramatic,’ said Trig, leaning in towards Salvo, keeping his voice low.

‘Yeah.’

‘Weird that it was a Nabian.’

‘Uh-huh.’

Trig paused, noting that Salvo was staring blankly at her drink, then tried again in a less conspiratorial tone.

‘I thought that kind of thing would be beneath them. Based on what the waiter told us before. But then…if they still get drunk like that…maybe not.’

‘Right.’

Trig picked up his drink and leaned back as far as he could on his stool without toppling over. More of the planet was visible now, but if he stared at it, he’d just be worrying about what Salvo was doing, so there was no point.

He put his glass back on the table and looked up at the ceiling. ‘Seems like a never-ending song.’

No response.

‘Wind and wind and more wind.’

‘Yeah.’

‘You think it ever stops?’

‘Probably.’

Trig tapped the edge of the table, watching her continue to be hypnotised by her drink.

Was it the Nabian that had knocked her out of sync again?

Had to be. She’d been doing okay up to that point. Talking to the Nabian waiter and eating bat meat. Suggesting coming into this bar. Not being afraid of Enhlo.

But then…she’d already said they should leave before the Nabian appeared, so it couldn’t be that.

What was it then?

General uneasiness?

The drunk-looking Eek-Eeesh?

Or was the day just finally catching up with her?

Trig took a sip of his drink, wincing a little at the initial sourness, then saying ‘ah’ as it turned into a kind of sweet lime flavour.

‘It’s not that bad.’

‘Too sour.’

‘I mean, the aftertaste…it’s quite sweet.’

Salvo moved her hand around the side of the glass, the liquid almost full to the top, and tilted it to one side. Then the other way. Then back again. Like a little metronome was ticking back and forth in her head and she had no choice but to follow it.

‘We should test each other on the alien names,’ said Trig, giving up on his drink and pulling out his tab. ‘See how many we can get.’

‘You’ll win.’

‘It’s not a contest. And there’s only about thirteen to remember, so if we can get the ones we’ve already met or seen then…’

‘Let’s go back.’

‘Right now?’

‘I don’t wanna have any more of this,’ she said, lifting up the glass an inch, ‘and the nature music is making me feel weird.’

‘Okay. I guess we can do the test back in the dorm.’

‘To be honest, I just want to have a shower and lie down.’

‘That’s okay too.’

She got off the stool and looked over at the Kontolian behind the counter, holding up her glass. They stared right back at her. If there was any signal related to what to do with the glass, it was lost in cultural translation.

Or perhaps they were wondering why she was holding up a full glass?

Either way, Salvo didn’t hang around to find out, leaving the glass on the table and making her way to the exit. Trig hung back a few extra seconds, taking a last sip of his drink and watching the shape of her back as she went. It was funny, despite her constant claims that it was supposed to be like that, her jacket really did look like a dress, even more so from behind.

Back in Hong Kong, people might have noticed, laughed at it.

Here, on Dah Station 7…nothing.

Trig put his drink next to Salvo’s, waved at the Kontolian, whose vertical eyes were still fixed on them without any recognisable trace of emotion, and hurried after his best friend.

Behind him, the Asaaaaa nature mix continued blowing, oblivious.