Even though Poseidon Alpha One might have been a new outpost, it was rather messy and not as pristine-looking as advertised. Sarah Brigham walked through the various sections, witnessing the lack of care and cleanliness, giving her the impression that, perhaps, it wasn’t “as new” as led to believe. Sarah navigated herself to the closest bar, the only one she could find on the register, anyway. Even the schematics for this station was lacking in updates. Still, she was told by the maintenance staff that there was only place worth going for a drink. The Trident Club sounded a bit too on the nose, in keeping with a Neptune theme, she just hoped it wasn’t too touristy or full of awful greek inspired paraphernalia.
When she found it, she was surprised how subdued the decor was, both outside and inside. Much like the rest of the station, the bar was unkept. In fact, it was a downright dump. The lighting was poor, the space was tight, and the rummies hanging about were less than pleasant to look at. They were all old, decrepit looking men. The only woman in the joint was a waitress that might have been far older than her own mother would be.
“Just like home.” She snickered, thinking about similar pubs she’d been in back in England. “No smell of puke, that’s a plus.”
She stepped in and took a spot at the narrow bar. The bartender wasn’t there. She glanced about and tapped on the table.
“Yo! I need a drink! How’s a gal to get a pint around here?”
“The AI hologram will be with ya in a moment, sugar…” The waitress stated from across the room. “It takes a second to load up while it scans your ID.”
Sarah forgot about that. Every officer in the ECUF has a chip imbedded in their hand as a means of identification and payment. All their expenditures and billings are sent back to the main office and taken care of. Anyone enrolled in the Earth Core United Fleet are instantly compensated for anything they need; Food, clothes, drinks, living arrangements, and anything else necessary to provide them. Sarah wasn’t use to it all yet. On Earth, they were lucky to get enough funds to buy Christmas gifts, let alone, pay for a round of drinks. Half the time, she was mooching off her lovers to get the money to do that.
Sarah flinched as the holo-barkeep suddenly materialized in front of her. He was reminiscent of something from out the old west; He had big handlebar moustache, greased back black hair, a big ol’ smile on his face, and spat into a big glass stein to shine it up with his rag in hand.
“Greetings Sarah! What’s your poison?” He winked at her.
“Pardon?” She eyed him in confusion.
“Your poison, ya know, choice of drink? Whisky? Bourbon? Ale? Come on young missy, I ain’t got all day, ya know…”
She glared at the holographic guy. He looked real enough, a slight blue halo outlining his form, but real almost to touch. When she poked at him to see, she was startled to notice that he was real!
“What the…” she gawked, “how the hell are you…”
“Holo-gen technology, lil’ missy! All the rage these days,” he proudly winked. “Genetically engineered holograms… energy converted into solids and back again. Heck of a time we live in, ain’t it?” He snickered, giving yet another quick wink to her. He leaned onto the bar top and rested the glass onto it. “I could, uh, go into the mechanics of it all, but, that’s a deviation of my programming.”
“Right…” Sarah said, stilly prodding him with her finger as she studied him. “Uh, how bout, just a pint…”
“Pint Of what?” The man shrugged. “Ginger beer?”
“God no…” She rolled her eyes. “Just regular pint… of beer… or Ale… whatever you call it.”
“Got ya…” He nodded. A frothy cold beer suddenly filled itself into the glass stein. “One ale as ordered.”
Sarah marvelled at the beverage and picked it up in her hand. It was real. She could feel the chill of the frosted glass, the smell of the fermented barley, and gave it a quick chug to see if it actually tasted like it. To her surprise, it was really, really good. She smiled and chugged it back like a pro. The bartender raised his brows in surprise, as this young female officer downed a hole pint in one go. She plunked the glass down after finishing and belched in satisfaction.
“Geez Louise!” The holo-man stated. “Take it easy, that’s not synthetic stuff you know… that’s the real deal, young missy.”
“Another…” She said, wiping her mouth with her right sleeve. “Keep them coming.”
The holo-man nodded and refilled her glass immediately. Just as she downed that one, a group of lower ranking officers from her ship wandered into the bar. She turned to look and saw a few pretty-looking young women in the mix. She grinned, drank the next refill that materialized and brushed her hair back slightly.
“Looks like it’s going to be one of those nights… which one do I sleep with first, eh?”
She spun around, made eye contact with each of them and gave her classic charming grin to lure them in.
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* * *
Doctor Nyjiumu casually walked through the station’s main section with both Commander Yang and Science Officer Jen Sakura by his side. The big open space, with it’s domed structure and multileveled floors surrounding the edges of it, reminded them of the shopping concourse on Earth’s Lagrange station. While many of the shops were occupied, there were still a numerous amount that were not. The main level they were on had something like a flea market style about it. Yang and Sakura stopped periodically to check out the merchandise, and Nyjiumu headed over to a table that sported some antiques and ration bars with varying prices labeled on them.
“Greetings, see anything you like?” The old merchant man bowed and gestured to his table. “Ration bars of every flavour… jewelry… old parts from ships… you name it.”
Barakai Nyjiumu leaned over to inspect it, hands clasped behind his back, and studied each item he could. Commander Yang joined him and pointed at one of the object displayed.
“Is that a bottle of rum?”
“Oh! Yes!” The merchant smiled. He took it off the table and showed it to him. “This is a very valuable item, indeed. Uh… not many still around, of course, such a long way from Earth you understand. I could give it to you for a special price… say… uh… five hundred?”
“Five hundred?” Yang gawked in disbelief. “That’s insane!”
“Actually,” The doctor interrupted. “That’s a pretty good deal, all things considered.”
“Are you kidding me, Doc?”
“No, my boy, no…” The physician chortled. “Look at the date of it, twenty-twenty seven, that’s a rare find most assuredly. I once saw something similar go for over two thousand…”
“Uh… really?” The merchant cut in. “Well, then, um… I meant to say, two thousand… ah, yes… that’s what it is…”
“Now-now…” Barakai waved a finger at him. “You gave the price to the man… don’t you dare go and change it now…”
“Just keeping with the price of inflation, is all…”
“I doubt it’s even genuine.” Sakura said as she joined the others. “The bottle is clearly of the time, but I highly doubt the alcohol inside is genuine.”
“What? How dare you! No-no-no!” The old merchant man scowled at her. “It’s real. I wouldn’t sell anything that wasn’t…”
“Look at the seal…” She pointed at the top of the bottle. “It’s been broken, someone consumed the contents and probably refilled it with another kind of liquid of similar colour.”
“What do you think it’s filled with?” Yang glanced at her.
“My guess… some type of sugar water.” She took the bottle from the merchant’s hand, and eyed the contents. “Hmmm… of course it could be watered down motor oil, it has the same consistency of it…”
The merchant snapped it out her hands and placed it back on the table. He grunted at her and grimaced at the group.
“If you’re not interested, then piss off! How dare you accuse me of selling ill-goods! Stupid Earthers! Go harass someone else…”
“We’re not harassing you…” Jen cocked brow and folded her arms bitterly. “I’m just pointing out that you could be selling something under false pretences.”
He flipped up his middle finger to her and shoved it into her face. Yang immediately grabbed his arm and yanked it back. The man yelped in pain and Yang took him to the side.
“That’s no way to treat a lady, sir!”
“I-I-I’m just… just trying to make some money… I… ah…” He struggled in Yang’s tight grip. “P-p-please… I have a family to feed.”
“Let him go…” The doctor said as he passively placed his hand on Yang’s shoulder. “He’s just a common swindler, I’ve seen many like him before. Let him go and move on.”
Yang looked at him, then back to the merchant and over to Jen. She also agreed with the Barakai and motioned Yang to do so. The Commander thought about it for a second, and then released the elderly man.
“Don’t you dare sell that to anyone else, you hear me?” He warned the merchant. “If I see it back on my ship, I’m coming back to place you under arrest for fraud.”
The old man nodded while rubbing his sore arm. The trio then walked away and continued on their tour of the station. Yang didn’t seem to care much for this place. It was like the worst location in the entire solar system. It would only be a matter of time before other scum balls like that guy would be filling up places like this. The solar system migration was well underway. The ECU would be taking control over all of it soon. Like any governing body trying to incorporate other regions, it would soon find all kinds of people and crime organizations trying to capitalize on those gaps it couldn’t control.
The merchant sneered at the group walking away, and kissed his poor hand. He was about to place the bottle back onto his table of goods, when someone else reached over and took it.
“What is actually in this?”
The merchant was surprised, and gazed up to see another Deep Contact officer standing at his table. He took note of the man’s rank, he was the captain of the visiting vessel. The merchant froze in fear, and trembled slightly as tried to explain.
“It’s… uh… something of a… well, home-brew, if you will.”
“Whiskey?” Captain Riley eyed at him while opening the bottle and taking a whiff. “You’re not trying to con people just to poison them to death, are you?”
“Oh-no, no-no! I wouldn’t ever do that.” The man sheepishly grinned. “It’s just a… you know… a fermentation of several local vegetables and fruits, with my own spices, maybe a tad bit of non-toxic dye to give it some colour. But I swear, nothing dangerous… please… don’t arrest me.”
“We’re not the police, friend.” Riley snickered, as he gave it a few more sniffs. He flinched at the sharp alcoholic odour, it was a potent mixture to be sure. “Whew! I bet you could strip the paint off the bulkhead with it, damn.”
“Five hundred…” The merchant grinned. Riley closed the lid and peered at him, his eyes saying something else entirely. The merchant’s smile dropped. “Uh, four then?”
“It’d be a shame to report this to station security.” Riley exhaled, handing the bottle back. “My crew and I might not be the ones to enforce the law here, but, I hear the governance on this station is rather… um, brutal?”
The merchant got his meaning, he pushed the bottle back to him and sighed. “Fine, you can have it for a mere fifty creds.”
Riley accepted with a nod. He held out his hand, and the merchant scanned with a small black device. All citizens of the solar system have such chips embedded in their upper palms. Transferring of funds is easier that way. It doesn’t matter what brand of currency, the AI banking system on Earth manages to convert it instantaneously, thanks to the highly advanced, interconnected satellite networks. In a few years time, all currency is to become one (eventually), as the ECU consolidates it forever.
Riley thanked the man and proudly took the bottle. The merchant slapped the black device back on the table and grumbled. Riley looked down the way, hoping that Yang and the others didn’t see him purchase it. He quickly strode off back to the docking bay, and hid the bottle under his uniform jacket.
“It’s just a precaution.” He assured to himself. He thought about his wife, and how she wouldn’t approve of his actions. “Don’t worry, Linda, I won’t use it. I made a promise… this is to keep me honest. A symbol and a deterrent… punishment, if I dare drink it.”