Rob perched on a stool, his second pint in his shaking hand, but he didn't spill a drop as a he drank. He grinned, ruffling his white hair, as he leaned over to say, "There's always a pub, even in the future and the other side of the world. So much for these savages not being civilised!" He scratched his beard and a shower of encrusted dirt fell to the floor.
The red-haired bartender pressed her lips together as she caught my eye. I placed more cash on the bar. "For the cleaning bill," I said softly. She took my money and nodded.
A man in an armoured suit pounded his fist on the bar. "Another drink!" a computerised voice intoned. His armoured companions agreed in equally canned voices. Notes were slapped down and the girl started to pour.
Clutching the three beer glasses together, she stuck a straw in each of them, before carrying them to her armoured patrons. There were only the six of us in the pub – no one else. Maybe because it was ten in the morning.
I watched the three connect the straws to their metal masks, before the beer levels in the glasses started to drop. Drinking beer through a straw – what other crimes could these Neptunians commit?
I shook my head and concentrated on drinking my coffee.
"What manner of knights are these? They drink their strange brew through even stranger devices and don't even take their armour off to drink!" Rob laughed.
I set my cup down on the bar. "Those, mate, are Neptunians. You don't know the half of it."
YOU ARE READING
Curvaceous Kevlar and other inspired tales
Short StoryCurvaceous Kevlar: Commander Jamie Church, first woman commander in the SpaceCorps, on her first day on the job. New uniform, new crew and a new ship. She's dressed to impress and you don't want to stand in her way. Curvaceous Kevlar and Luscious Le...
