Coffee

“The world seemed like a dark place to so many people and filled them with despair.  They all raged at each other because they thought each other was to blame.  They saw trickery in the shadows and thought they were right.  They could not feel the ebb and flow of the universe any more so they remained in their desperate locked lives trying to see monsters all around.  They did not see the light that is underneath the waves of their turbulent lives.  They had forgotten how to surf the waves of the universe and were stuck in whirlpools of despair and could not escape.  They had forgotten times had been dark before like collective amnesia.  This forgotten past should provide strength in times of trouble.  It was not about agreeing on political ideologies or anything like that.  They had forgotten the collective times when people were kind.  It was that kindness that got us through those tough times.  People don’t have to agree to be kind.  The greatest strength is in the many small acts that make something impossible possible.  There are always tough times but it’s the small seemingly unimportant acts that provide people with making it possible to endure.  So cast your open hand and help your fellow human no matter what”.  From a ancient scroll yet to be discovered

On a dusty new colony settlement there was a small population setting of the colony of Ribbon named for the ribbon like debris  clouds that were above its atmosphere.  No one understood how such a small planet did that but that is how the universe is without little placards that explain everything like some sorta poorly run museum with all kinds of displays but no explanations or any order for them in the gallery.  Like the art work of a child on a fridge.  This is the life of exploring the universe, many beautiful things but no explanations.  One of the residents of Ribbon was a man named Triple because he had an extra hand implanted on him.  It gave him to do many extra things including flying transport ships by himself which increased his profits.  Most ships need two pilots but he could charge a cheaper rate than those other companies.  It was still a lonely life and he decided to settle on this new world.  He wanted to open a bar with food.  He had sources in fresh produce that would send him suspended produce at a discount.  Farming had not started up on this new world but he had amassed a stockpile for the whole year.  He wanted to sell beer and tapas.  He thought this new world wanted tapas and beer.  He had synthetic meat but if they had brought cattle to this new world that could be fresh too but it depends on what is optimal for this new world.  His bar was the only on the planet so he knew profit would be good for all the travelers til more residents decided to move there. 

Triple had seen all kinds of things on his travels so nothing much excited him.  He had met a few aliens which was rare because the universe is so big and most stay away from humans because our gear is rubbish compared to theirs.  We were a new kid on block and we were mostly ignored after a couple of scans.  They had their own worries it seemed.  Some war far away against some truly scary race.  We were of no importance unless we had something to defeat their enemy.  

Orbital alert blared in the background telling me someone was going to land.  The sensors showed it was an unknown ship so it was an alien ship.  It was quite rare for that to happen but he had a universal translator installed in his brain from previous encounters.  He sent a message of universe greeting to the ship.  Maybe he could trade some meals for some of their old tech.  Plus he could have a picture on the wall from the visit.  That would bring lots of new business.  They must have tracked where the universal greeting was sent from and they entered the restaurant.  They were bright pink in color mostly humanoid looking.  He had not met that kind before so this was really exciting.  He would get even more customers.  It’s funny his ancestors might have been afraid to meet a completely new species but Triple was so excited he was fidgeting around while he waited for them to get seated.  He turned on his translator and told them he had beer and topas.  He described them in more detail and gave them a chemical readout to them and provided samples for them to scan.  You don’t want to kill your customers.  He brought out a sampler platter and all his various beers.  They scanned with their instruments.  He asked them what they were called.  They answered Pree in unison.  He said he never met any Pree before on his travels.  The pree with the most emblems on his clothes seemed to be the leader and said that had been at the front of the war and was on rotation so that all species shared the war.  They looked so tired in their eyes.  They had found nothing would kill them and tried everything and drank so much beer.  They were singing songs by the end of the evening.  He let them stay in the spare rooms upstairs since they could barely make it out the door.  Triple laughed about how he was having an alien sleepover.  He made breakfast the next day and introduced them to coffee.  They scanned the coffee and the scanner made a noise that sounded like a siren.  They said it was very deadly to them so he took it away.  They had orange juice instead with their eggs and bacon and toast.  They loved the meal.  He drank his coffee in the back so he would not spill it and kill them.  They thanked him for the good time and hospitality.  There was a buzz sound and it was a communication from someone higher up because the posture had changed but it was scrambled so he could not eavesdrop.  After a very long conversation they came to him and wanted a sample of coffee so he brought them a bag of beans and cainster of it.  They offered many tech items that were probably 100 years old and he took them.  They seemed to be excited and he asked why they wanted something poisonous to them.  They didn’t want to talk about it but you never know maybe it’s a medicine to be made.  They left in a much cheerful mood.  He put a picture up with aliens on the wall.  He went through the old tech and figured out what each thing did.  One was a scanner for lifeforms, another was a water purifier which used a form of radiation that had a short halflife of 1 minute. One was a comm system.  Valuable enough to buy a lot of fresh produce. 

Many years had passed and the colony had finally decided to grow wheat so the beer was locally brewed and the wheat and barley came from the planet.  The restaurant was very busy.  Triple even had a hotel next door because of the booming business.  It had been a good place to settle down. He enjoyed his life and thought it had been quite successful.  

The alarm blared and it was an alien ship that was landing but he recognized it was Pree ship.  He got a sampler platter and beer ready for them.  He was so excited to have returned alien customers his topas must be good.  He wondered how the colonists would react but he could calm them down with free beer if he needed.  Some of them had never encountered aliens before and only learned about them in school.  He ushered them to a table and turned on his translator to talk with them.  They seemed very happy and scanned the food and went to consume it right after it came back safe.  He brought more food and beer.  They enjoyed the meal and wanted to talk to him after the meal.  He brought out pound cake as dessert with chocolate dipping sauce, the most expensive thing on the menu because chocolate is so expensive.  They scanned and enjoyed it with delight.  They asked if he was the human had served the pree before many years ago.  Triple said yes and showed them a photo on his holo display.  They had him sit down with them and told them a story about a great war that would never end because the enemy was powerful and wanted all the planets.  They had massacred many worlds to bring terror and scare them into submission.  The war was vast and fought by all the local races together.  They had to fight hard and lose many of each kind that fought them.  They had not much hope.  There was something that had changed that many years ago when they had wandered on to this place and you made a bunch of hangover officers something you call breakfast.  You offered them something called coffee and it turned out to be dangerous to us but we got a sample of it.  We turned that sample into a gas that made it inhospitable to the creatures.  We developed a way to keep the gas from hurting the locals by giving them coffee that was very weak and their body accumulated to it and it was not harmful.  We unleashed the gas and drove them out of the worlds they held onto and now they are contained.  They wanted to give him the highest honor they have.  He said thank you but I just made breakfast and they insisted he take a shiny metal shaped like a square.  They took a video of the whole thing and he thanked them.  He put it on his shirt to show them respect and gratitude.  He insisted the meal was free.  It was a great honor to feed them.  They left and returned to the sky.  Triple thought who knew breakfast was going to be so important.  Triple wondered what this all meant as he laid in bed.