As Ferguson was entering the Arcadia two Freeport XV Guards passed by - between them a drunk man he thought to be recognizing: 'Lennox, yes!' This man was a frequent guest at Ral's lately. He stopped one of the guards and said in a low voice:
See after him. I believe he is on the verge of settling here.
Then he entered the bar and looked around to spot the special guest he was here for tonight. John Roary Santiago was already sitting at the table Ferguson was using for the Omicroner business, a kind of a regulars' table. The table was placed between two steel beams forming a comfortable niche in one corner of the octagonal layout of the bar. Beneath each beam Kiss was always placing a few clean glasses and some bottles of rare liquors from all around Sirius for the Omicroners and their guests. The entrance to the niche was rather narrow, but the back side was braced by two huge windows providing a view on the jumphole to Theta, and on Tirane. The table itself was one single plate made from some strange wood a Zoner brought from his travels to Kusari - the color of the table was ever changing - but Corinth actually never really cared for plants, not that he knew, and even less for the interior of this bar.
As he approached the niche the color of the table changed from royal blue to blood red. Ferguson had never been superstitious, so he barely noticed the change of color. He was rather concerned to remember the specific codes for each of the poisoned steel pins built into the table, ready to burst out of the plate when activated, in order to eliminate any potential threat. He was told that this poison was effective in less than a second, but he was doubting this defense would last forever. This poison was some organic compound extracted from amphibians originating from Gaia, and organic matter has to perish sooner or later. He denied further thoughts about it because he realized once more that he did not remember these activation codes. 'Useless' he thought 'no man can remember the code for each of the 160 pin positions around the table'.
He reached the table and smiled.
Rorry, what a pleasant surprise to meet you again so soon. I hope I'm not too late ...
