alien humiliationDawn was breaking when we lay against each other, our passion
spent. Every last drop of tension from my previous hectic day at
the Grain Exchange had been drained out of me from our marathon
sexual orgy of the night before. I lay on my stomach, warm and
happy while Kontar licked me from head to toe with his tongue.
“Will I see you again?” I asked my lover.
“Of course,” Kontar answered. “It should be obvious from last
night that I like you.”
“Why don’t you come to my place tonight?” I asked. “The accommo-
dations aren’t quite as luxurious as they are here but I have a
good job and you might find them adequate.”
“I can make it about six,” he replied. “I have an important
conference today but should be free by then.”
He rolled over and lit one of the unusual-appearing cigarettes I
had noticed earlier on the end table by his bed. He exhaled the
smoke smoothly as he offered me one. “It’s been tested and shown
to be compatible with your metabolism. At least it’s no more
harmful than the native narcotic you Earthlings smoke.”
I inhaled cautiously at first and tasted the unfamiliar spicy
tanginess as it rolled over my palate. “You seem very young to
be entrusted with the responsibility of a major trade
conference,” I remarked as I exhaled the smoke.
“Actually all the sons of the noble houses are expected to begin
taking on such responsibilities around my age,” he replied. “As
a scion of the royal house this conference would normally be
something I would have learned to handle several of your years
ago. Arranging a trade deal for your state’s meat and grain for
our mining colony on Antares IV isn’t that complicated. What I
am really here for is to set up a trade in some of your native
narcotics. Your tobacco, for instance,” he said pointing to the
pack of cigarettes lying next to my discarded clothing, “should
prove to be quite in demand among our people. It’s been shown to
be no more harmful to us than it is to you and our medical tech-
nology can forestall any damage it might do. Your marijuana and
some of your stronger drugs should turn out to be the basis of a
lucrative trade also. I’m afraid we’ll have to ban the catnip
you sometimes give your domestic cats among our people, however.
It’s been shown to set off a murderous killing frenzy in our
species and would do even more damage than it does if the user
weren’t so uncoordinated and disoriented by its effects.”