“There we go, darling, all fixed up and no scarring. Not that you would, but still,” Chalice said with a smile.

Kiera had woken up at the field’s edge where they had met Ling that morning, Chalice already healing her leg. The pain was gone but just thinking about that monstrous insect made her tremble.

“See, this is why women should stay home where it is safe,” Ling said, “I was so looking forward to making more money from you, Jac.”

“One bite isn’t going to stop me,” Kiera said, “You said I had a week, Mr. Ling.”

“You should know by now that my sisters are rather tenacious,” Jac smirked, “Especially Kara.”

“You also never said that I had to kill them by myself,” Kiera said, “I got the first one.” She was putting on a brave face. She didn’t think she could face another one of those things, and she wasn’t going to go into the tunnels.

“It was implied!” Ling said, “I’ll cut you some slack because you saved both my men and the chrysalis, so shooting back at it was reasonable. Next time do what everyone else does and use a plasma rifle, pulse shots are the best. Crazy girl using a sword. No more help, no more healing.”

Kiera scowled, that was just rude. If it wasn’t for the fact that this man was a sponsor and that Jac would be losing out on a season she would have walked off. There were other things she could drink. It would be a lot different if she could use her mecha!

She blinked, could she use her mecha? “Mr. Ling, quick question. Does it matter what kind of weapon I use to exterminate the ankheg?”

“No, I just want them dead!” He shook his head, “One week.” He said and walked away.

“Hey Jac, how hard would it be to get my Mercury up here?

-[]-

The ankheg’s hard carapace may have been excellent protection against plasma fire but when that plasma fire came from a weapon designed to damage mecha it might as well have been made of paper. Kiera killed eight ankhegs in the afternoon after her Mercury was delivered. She had to wait a few days until the qualifiers and the races were over, but she had plenty of time. Zax made a great showing with his rookie debut winning his race; her brother also won his. Kiera qualified for the minors and in her first professional race took sixth place. Jac was over the moon with the look of disbelief on Ling’s face when twice the number of heads he asked for was presented.

“You used a racing mecha?” he asked.

“I asked if there were limitations on weaponry. You said you didn’t care,” Kiera said, “So I used a weapon that would do the job, and a vehicle that would let me wield it.”

“Don’t get any ideas,” Tamarial interjected, “The Navy won’t approve of this as a long term solution. Mecha weapons outside of racing are still prohibited. Jac’s organization received an official warning that if it happens again their machines will be confiscated and no one in the organization will be permitted to operate them, let alone own them.”

Ling grumbled, “There are two tasks left. The next is to harvest the Xho both on the light side and the darkside. You will need to harvest enough of each to produce a bottle of each of our three blends. It is harvested by hand and is very difficult. The first fields will be ready in a few days.”

“I thought out drinking you was the first task?” Kiera asked.

“No, that only lets you attempt the three tasks,” Ling said. He returned to his mansion leaving them with the heads. The house servants took the heads away.

“The third task is to brew the whisky and pass some kind of taste test, isn’t it?” Kiera asked looking at Jac, “These tasks don’t seem to be super secret.”

“The technique to harvest the Xho is, the need for the laphridurms to pollinate it and prep it, the method of brewing all are. That’s what you’re really learning. Very few people know the whole process. I think that’s why he’s extra irritated that Emily and Chalice are here.” Jac shrugged.

“You said this was going to be a prank,” Kiera said, “What was the prank?”

“You drinking him under the table,” Jac said with a smirk, “Guess it got out of hand, huh?”

-[]-

Ling wasn’t kidding when he said harvesting the Xho was hard work. Xho grew like a hybrid of corn and wheat. The stalks at the top of the plant had to be cut off then the pods could be harvested. The pods that could be used in the whisky were a dark, shiny color. The ones that couldn’t be used were dull; those were the pods where the stalks hadn’t been eaten. They still needed to come off so they could be planted for the next harvest. Any stalks that were left had to be collected with the pods.

Kiera spent the first day watching the men work; Ling forbade them to show Kiera how to harvest the plants. It didn’t take her long to catch on. One worker would walk down the rows using a sickle to harvest the ready pods. Another worker would use a scythe to cut off and collect any remaining stalks; a third worker collected the dull pods. Kiera had to do it all herself and found a cart she could use to push through the rows and put her harvest in instead of having to carry three sacks. The hardest part was dealing with the laphridurms.

Laphridurms were anywhere from a foot to five feet along from tip of their nose to the tip of their tails. They had large ears, long prehensile tails, leathery wings twice the size of their bodies, sharp claws on their four clawed feet, sharp hooked teeth and squishy flat noses. Their feet had three claws facing forward and one facing backwards which they used to grip the stalks. Their teeth were suited to shear the grain from the stalks.

They would swoop down landing on the scythe or on Kiera’s shoulder, try to steal the grain from the stalks she harvested, and generally be a nuisance. When they landed on Kiera they’d bite her hair looking for grain and dive bomb her when their scythe perch would get knocked out of her hands. The ones who lived on the darkside were worse than the ones on the lightside. They took more offense when shooed away or when the scythe was knocked out of Kiera’s hand and dove at her more. They would also steal pods for the sole purpose of dropping them on Kiera.The lightside ones were persistent in their thieving and roosting attempts. A small group of them thought it was great fun to cling onto the scythe and be pulled to the ground.

Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

Ling would check on her during her shifts asking her if she wanted to give up. Kiera refused. The darkside was cold and she’d sweat in her jacket while she worked, the light side was hot and she needed to wear long sleeves, but she persisted. After nearly a week of working on each side for four hours a day, Ling grudgingly passed her.

The last task was exactly what Kiera predicted: she had to help brew whisky from the harvest that she collected. The recipe was a strict secret as as they approached the brewery, Kiera was surprised how small it was.

“This is our premiere brewery,” Ling said, “We have breweries all over the moon. Our brewers are all trained by our master and only when he approves of them do they actually start working. It will be your job to gain his approval. If your whisky doesn’t pass his test then you fail and can never attempt to join the club again.”

The master brewer was a six and a half foot tall, heavily muscled lean man with various tattoos on his arms in scripts that Kiera couldn’t read. His face was covered in a heavy beard streaked with reds, oranges and browns, his hair the same myriad colors and gathered in a wolf’s tail braid. His ears were the most fascinating part of him, they curved round themselves like a cinnamon roll and ended in sharp claws. His nose was wide and flat, he had branching ridges on his forehead, intense red eyes, and his fingers ended in small claws.

“Master Bierjin! I have someone who wishes to join the Honeymoon Club,” Ling greeted, “The blonde girl thinks she has what it takes.”

Kiera approached the large man and offered her hand, “Kiera Sol, it’s a pleasure to meet you, Master.”

Bierjin took Kiera’s hand, “I am glad that you are no stranger to hard work. Let’s begin.”

Kiera did every step of the process herself, spending a week malting the pods and grain she collected. She mashed them with purified water collected on the moon, added the yeast collected from mushrooms only grown in the laphridurm caves. She distilled the wash in Beirgin’s pots and assisted in filling the casks made from the wimble trees. Then she repeated the process twice more to produce the other two types of whisky, while still having to keep up with her schoolwork. The IVN made that easy; you could be on any planet in the Empire and attend the same school.

“I’m not going to have to wait twenty years to find out my results, am I?” Kiera asked once she was finished with her casks. None of them were very large; maybe making one or two bottles of whisky at the most. Bierjin chuckled at the question.

“There is one final secret to making this whisky that is only known by three people. I will let you know when it is time for the tasting,” Bierjin said offering his hand, “Your hard work impressed me, Miss Sol. No complaints, at least not to me. Willing to listen to criticism and accept corrections, you improved each time you went through the process. I look forward to your tasting.”

Kiera took it with a grin, “I couldn’t have done it without you, master. Literally. Thank you for giving me this chance and teaching me. I have a much better appreciation for this whisky after understanding how much effort it takes. Those laphridurms were super annoying, I thought they were cute at first.”

Bierjin laughed.

-[]-

“I have been brewing whisky on this planet since I arrived thirty years ago. When I met Wu Xing Ling he was so impressed he wanted to partner with me to distribute it. I agreed. He learned the process and decided that it should be an exclusive drink. I disagreed but lost that fight. Tonight we are gathered to celebrate the newest members of the Honeymooner’s Club, Kiera Sol and Tamariel Nova. Miss Sol demonstrated her willingness to go through the entire process without ever a complaint, even the waiting which she met with humor. She told me she had gained a new appreciation for the whisky we make, which is the requirement to pass our test. Anyone can go through the steps, but not all gain the appreciation.” Bierjin said.

“I have known Tamariel for several years, ever since she was a Lieutenant on the station. She had requested time and again to go through the process to join, and each time Mr. Ling refused to allow her to join. She is given a membership tonight as part of a wager hinging on Kiera’s success. But don’t think that she is any less of a member than anyone, I’m certain that she can drink you all under the table!”

Bierjin’s comments were met with laughter and one voice called out, “No one’s doubting that Bierjin!” Which came with more laughter.

Bierjin held up a glass, “Please join me in a toast. To Tamarial and Kiera! Welcome to the Honeymooner’s club!”

“To Tamarial and Kiera!” the other members said in unison, raising their glasses, “Welcome to the club!”

Kiera grinned as she lifted her own glass and took a drink. Ling was sour faced and grumpy. He objected to Kiera’s success after testing the whisky she made, but was overruled by three members of the club who were selected to sample it knowing nothing about the candidate. None of the other members seemed to be upset in the slightest that their club included women. Kiera heard comments of ‘it’s good to see some beautiful women who can hold their whisky’ and ‘why haven’t we had women in the club before?’ Many of the members brought their wives or significant others to the party. Bierjin gave them both a card and a pin with the appearance of a laphridurm on it.

After receiving congratulations from several of the members, Kiera and Tamariel joined Jac, Chalice, and Zax at a table. “I really want to be mad at you, Jacquin,” Tamariel, “Not that I had any doubts that Kara would succeed with how hard she works at everything. Still, getting her involved in a wager just to stick it to Ling.”

“She could handle it, and you deserved it. Especially with all those years of Ling trying to convince you to marry him,” Jac said, “Congratulations, Kiera. I’m really proud of you.”

“We both are proud of you, Kiera,” Zax said, “Frank is, too. I think we’ll see more women starting to join the club. Ling would be happy, but that’s why he drinks in the first place.”

“I thought it was grief over not being able to marry Liri,” Kiera teased, taking another sip of the whisky.

Chalice laughed, “Did you know that we sent an invitation to Ling to attend our wedding? He refused to come!”

“You did a really great job, Kara,” Tamariel said, putting her arm around her younger sister and giving her a half-hug, “I am so proud of you. I am really looking forward to watching your races.”

“Thanks, Liri, and thank you everyone. This has been a bit crazy, but I think I learned a lot getting into this club. It was hard work, but not impossible,” Kiera said, “It makes me that much more confident about getting into the Academy.”

“Of that, I have no doubt,” Tamarial beamed, “You’re my little sister, after all.”

They all chuckled. Zax lifted his glass, “To Kiera, proving that a woman can do anything man can, and to a successful racing season!”

“To Kiera!”