Free Connection by Ken Pence Page B

about ten times ‘til I thought I had it down. I held up the brown liquor. I pointed to the liquor and asked, “How old? Name?”
     
    He looked puzzled for a second and then said, “Eight years. Sema LeSlur.”
     
    I pointed to the light and said, “ Sunlight, ” and held up eight fingers three times.
     
    I’m afraid my hands momentarily distracted him and then he got the drift of my meaning.
     
    “Earth is twenty-four lightyears from here! How long did it take you to get to LesMa?”
     
    “Finally – someone said the name of this planet – LesMa,” Cassandra said through his subcutaneous link. “Same as the language…”
     
    I held up two fingers and said the local equivalent for ‘ two hours ’.
     
    LeSlur was obviously shaken and got up and came back with the bag of espresso. He gave that to me. His hand trembled a bit holding the pack – he was not one easily surprised but he was ‘shook up’. I reveled in the rich smell of the espresso. LeSlur looked like he thought I would pull out a needle and start shooting it into a vein.
     
    I took the bag, got up, and asked “Food” or the local equivalent I had learned. LeSlur looked puzzled but a bet was a bet. He had agreed to give a bag back to me even though it was worth a huge amount locally. We got up and walked down a corridor. We turned into an enormous room that was obviously a well-stocked kitchen. I went scrounging through the drawers and cabinets as LeSlur looked on with growing interest.
     
    I finally found an obvious teapot and filled it with water before putting it on the oven to heat. As soon as the water came to a near boil, I put a measure of the espresso into another pan with the near boiling water and waited four minutes. I then poured the mixture through the strainer to remove any coffee grounds. I took the steaming mug of coffee over to a little kitchen table nearby and sat down in a chair. LeSlur was freaked but I sure didn’t know why.
     
    I held up the mug and said, “ Coffee . Drink…breakfast food.” The only Earth word I used was Coffee .
     
    LeSlur was aghast as Robert blew on the liquid and sipped it. LeSlur didn’t know how to ask but he did anyway. “Drinking that liquid like this doesn’t make you awake for long periods?” Then he said the word, “ Twasolo. Does it make you want women?” Cassandra translated.
     
    “Oh…Robert. I think he means caffeine. It must have an exaggerated aphrodisiac effect on these people. Tell him this…” Cassandra said.
     
    Cassandra repeated the sentence several times ‘til he thought his mental repetitions would let him pronounce it properly.
     
    I said the sentence. “Twasolo is weak drink with morning meal. Good flavor in types I brought…no other effect. I understand.” I decided to add my own sentence. “Always want women.”
     
    Cassandra harrumphed through my communicator but I caught an amused undertone. I was amazed she was so…so lifelike.
     
    LeSlur continued with Cassandra doing an almost instantaneous translation, “The effect is different on my people. That effect is why it is banned. There is a lot of government misinformation about Twasolo though. For us – it makes us very alert and is an aphrodisiac. It makes females very receptive to sexual advances. Nothing harmful but it does have an effect. No one gets hurt but strong doses can make a person paranoid. It is tolerated in some areas and not others. Your coffee is so strong with Twasolo – we don’t know what to do with it. We are having a difficult time making it weak enough to use. We will not need to get another shipment for a long time or we will need to increase our sales. Twasolo is mildly addictive.”
     
    Cassandra translated what he said and it made sense. Fifteen years for smuggling was pretty harsh but LeSlur said their prisons were harsh. “Tell him we have technology that he can make and sell that will be more profitable than any Twasolo sales. We have many drinks and