Free Grendel Unit 2: Ignition Sequence by Bernard Schaffer Page A

onto the street through the open door. Frank grabbed it before it could close and went in, stopping at the doorway to give his eyes time to adjust to the darkness.
    A dozen alien bodies slithered against one another on the dance floor, the green and blue hues of their skin lit by the swirling , colored smoke curling up and around their legs and arms and tails and tentacles. Frank excused himself as he made his way past a group of large, ominous looking creatures, and headed around the dance floor, trying to find his lieutenant. The air was thick with colored effects smoke and smoke from all manner of pipes and hookahs and tiny rolled up cigarettes that everyone inside the bar was smoking. Frank blinked rapidly and wiped his eyes to try and see as he made his way toward the bar.
    Amidst the winged insectoids and cybernetics, he saw Hill, sitting at the bar, scowling at the writhing figures on the dance floor. Frank worked his way through the crowd until he was close enough to Hill to call out, "Thanks for waiting for me."
    "It was a test," Hill muttered. "I wanted to see how long it would take you to catch up. Consider me not impressed."
    Frank ignored the comment as he looked around the club, seeing nothing but aliens. "Did you find him yet?"
    "No," Hill said. "My tracker went on the blink when I came in here, though. This place probably scrambles our signals. Typical."
    Frank looked at the bartender, a short, squat alien called a Buddha. They called themselves something else, obviously, but their resemblance to the ancient holy figure was remarkable, except that they were little more than five feet tall and had no discernable ears. If anything, they looked like regular humans who'd been compressed into smaller, fatter, figures. The Buddha caught Frank's glance and came around to them, saying, "Are you two drinking or just taking up space?"
    Hill spun around in his seat, one eyebrow raised. "Excuse me?" He leaned forward to press his chest against the bar where the Buddha could see it what was on his shirt. 
    The bartender looked down at the Unification insignia and his expression changed to happy recognition. " First rounds on the house for our distinguished guests," he said, giving them a fast smile.
    Hill grunted as he looked back at Frank, but Frank was too busy looking past him at the bartender as he poured two beers from the tap. "That's exactly why Unification will ultimately win, Frank. Civilization is an inevitable outcome," Hill said, looking out at the dance floor behind them. "Even in places as filthy as this, every single living thing in the universe craves order." He tapped the insignia on his chest and said, "That's what this stands for. That's why I wear it. I represent that order. That's why I wear it, to show these cretins that no matter what they do, we're never far away."
    Frank watched the Buddha finish filling up their mugs, then lean forward and spit something yellow and thick from the bottom of his throat straight into the white foam of Hill's beer. The Buddha plunked the beers down in front of them and said, "You boys need anything else, just let me know."
    Hill picked up his mug of beer and took a long, deep drink. He lifted his face from the glass and said, "You know what this tastes like, Frank?"
    Frank shook his head silently.
    "It tastes like the victory of civilization."
    Frank watched the lieutenant lift the mug and drain it down to the suds, then slam it back down on the bar and say, "That was good." Hill eyed Frank's drink, still sitting on the bar, untouched. "What's the matter, Frank? Scared of sludgesucker beer?"
    A few heads turned at the word, and Frank immediately looked away, trying to pretend that he wasn't with H ill. "Let's just find your friend and get the hell out of here," he whispered.
    Hill 's response was louder than he realized. His voice rose above the clustered conversations of the others at the bar and drew even more attention to them as he said, "Are you afraid of these