The Barmaid and the Drink
By Nigel Daft
K-Nine was so taken with the vision of beauty that faced him, that he overheated and his drive motors blew a fuse !
However, he wasn't really concerned about his temporary lack of mobility as he was warm, dry, comfortable and in the presence of a charming and intriguing young woman.
“Do you by any chance write poetry ?” he said to the barmaid.
“Why, yes” she replied “Would you like to hear some ?”
K-Nine nodded.
The barmaid recited a few of her poems to K-Nine ... poems about life, science fiction and fantasy and the beach, which was one of her favourite places. The beach, thought K-Nine and it reminded him of the time when he travelled with the tall curly-haired chap with the long scarf and his lovely assistant Romana ... ah Romana ...
After a while K-Nine's thoughts were interrupted by a voice saying, "Well, what would you like to drink ?"
"Have you got any WD40 ?" asked K-Nine.
"Sorry, I don't think so, but we do have some bottles of WKD, that sounds similar, care to try one ?"
"Is it blue?" He asked a little uncertainly, due to a deep placed mistrust of the colour blue.
"No" she replied. "It's bright green and glows in the dark."
As the barmaid went to pour the drink, one of her colleagues rushed into the bar in a panic, shouting "Stop ! Don't pour that drink ! You know what happened last time !"
K-Nine was intrigued. "This could be a case for the Doctor" he thought.
Too late ! The barmaid had already poured some of the bioluminescent green liquid into a glass and placed it nervously on the bar. The room was shrouded in a mysterious and eerie green glow and K-Nine wondered what was happening !
Everybody and everything in the room froze as a strange, loud electronic scream filled the air. A swirling vortex opened up and pulsated away to the rhythm of some eerie electronic music.
K-Nine realised that they were caught in a cliffhanger and would have to wait until the following Saturday evening to find out what happened next …