"The same reason you're here," he purred in my ear, with an unusual accent."The same reason you're here," he purred in my ear, with an unusual accent. His long, raspy tongue flicked out then to lick my ear and I felt a shock of icy coldness run through my entire body, as if I had suddenly been flung into a bath of cold water. I went wild. My hands reached up to pull him against me and I lost myself in the feel of his fur and the musky odor of male cat scent. He re- sponded, continuing to lick my ears and face before his tongue flicked into my open mouth. We rose and moved towards the bar entrance together by common unspoken consent. He was slightly drunk and I became strongly aware of the odor of alcohol on him mixed in with the male cat scent and the tobacco aroma on his fur. With the edges of my mind I was aware of the shocked glances from the other patrons in the place. "I hope I know what I've gotten myself into!" I thought. "I won't be able to stop him if he decides to spray the whole house, and I don't know how he'll get along with Alexander and Hephaestion." We didn't go to my place, however, heading instead for the gleam- ing metallic saucer-shaped antigravity vehicle that he had parked in the lot next to the bar. A drunk staggered towards us, rais- ing a broken bottle in his hand threateningly. My new friend hissed and arched his back. I stepped forward intending to kick the drunk in the balls and disable him before my friend got us both involved in the first interplanetary murder case. The sight of the aliens unsheathed claws and gleaming white fangs penetrat- ed even the drunks alcohol-fogged brain, and before I could reach him, he staggered away in terror. My new friend drew me into the circle of his arm as he operated the vehicle's controls with one hand. "What's your name?" I asked as we ascended swiftly into the air. "Kontar," he answered, "Kontar isem Taurid." "Mine's Brad Carson," I replied. The antigravity vehicle continued rising, soaring in one smooth motion from the parking lot of the bar to the roof of the Amfac Hotel, less than four blocks away. |