Free Dominion by Scott McElhaney Page B

examining the coin.
    “It’s almost like he wanted to show me that I wasn’t the only thing he’d stolen from the Shomani,” she said, “This is our currency.”
    . . . .
    He lifted the glass mug and examined the speckled beverage it contained.  On the other side of the yellow and red beverage was a lanky young man with beady eyes and a long thin nose. 
    “Try it, my favored guest,” the bartender said with a smile, “If you don’t like it, I won’t charge you for it.”
    Hawke lowered the glass then took a cautious sip.  His tongue was bathed in a cool mixture of sweetness and a spicy heat reminiscent of cinnamon.  He set the glass down and swallowed.  Breathing in afterward, his whole mouth felt the effects of the cinnamon, but it only lasted about a second before the sweetness was all that remained.
    “We have a candy where I come from,” Hawke stated, “Atomic Fireballs.  This reminds me of it in a way, but thankfully, it’s not as painful as the candy.”
    The man laughed.  Hawke lifted the glass and raised it in toast.  He took another drink, then set it down again.
    “My name is Radio Star – named after the very same Radio Star that never shuts up, of course,” he said, “My mom said it’s because I talked too much as a child.”
    “Hmmm,” Hawke took another drink, then watched as two furry beasts entered the bar, “Never heard of a star that never shuts up.”
    The two furry beasts transformed into a couple of sturdy men as they removed their thick coats and hung them on the coat rack.  They greeted the group of gentlemen at the end of the bar and then proceeded to a table where two women had apparently been waiting for them.
    “Of course you have,” Radio Star stated, “There are some of the more obscure ones throughout the galaxy, but Radio Star is the galactic king of all noise.”
    “Seriously, what are you talking about?” he asked, returning his attention to the bartender, “Let’s not forget what I told you earlier.  I’ve been asleep for a couple centuries.”
    He nodded in response, then motioned for him to hold on while he took care of something.  Radio Star refilled the drinks of two ladies nearby, thanked them and then returned to the lonely “spaceman.”
    “I don’t care if you’ve slept since the Shomani invaded Lopanica.  Even way back then, you’d have known about the Radio Star,” he said, pouring himself a foamy beverage in a frosty blue mug, “But nonetheless, I’ll offer you a free course in modern cosmology.  The Radio Star was the first of the noisy stars that had been discovered.  Sadly, that particular star was discovered by a Shomani astronomer named Poe.  But, being a typical ignorant Shomani, nothing much came of that amazing discovery.  At least not until the Cheronook mimicked their telescopic ear and tried to duplicate the results.
    “They not only rediscovered the Radio Star, they located two other stars a lot like that one.  Over the years, seventeen stars have been discovered that are speaking in one way or another.  Of those seventeen stars, fourteen are speaking Cheronook.”
    Hawke choked on his drink, then took a moment to catch his breath.
    “You are picking up human… uh… Cheronook communiqué from the stars?” Hawke asked.
    “Yes, and oddly enough, the most obscenely active is the star that’s the furthest away,” he replied.
    “Dear Lord!  Can I hear that?  Do you have a telescope here that I can use to listen to the star?” he asked, “I’d love to know if my world still exists.  Since you are hearing the language of the Cheronook, I have to believe it really does exist somewhere out there.”
    “You’re the honored spaceman, Hawke,” he replied, “If any guest is going to have the freedom to use our telescopes, it would most likely be you.”
    He stared at his glass, pondering the implications.  The group SETI had been devoted to listening to the stars for decades before Hawke’s journey.  Their