Part 11 of SCUM by J. A. Johnson

"Ah, Caravello, dear fellow. Thank you so much for allowing us to usurp your office. Ograd, this is Banastre Caravello, manager of the Starview and, oh my, several other places here and there." Rudof Dyll's lean face lit up in a thin smile.

The chubby Human stood still for the space of a heartbeat, then trotted towards the desk and took a seat.

"Not at all, Master Dyll, not at all!" he boomed in a voice three sizes larger than expected. "You're always welcome. Now, what have we here, what have we here?"

Simikus knew this was his moment. If he could get this new Human to accept him as a supplier, he was as good as rich.

"Let me fill you in a bit, Banastre." The smile was still on Dyll's face, but there was quite another look in his eyes—one that had nothing to do with humor. "Master Ograd Paxa here has a little…proposition that he suspects you might have some interest in. Something to do, I believe, with that nasty drug called straz."

"Oh, does he now?" Caravello's chubby face also lit up with a grin. It did not make him look happy. "So now, Ograd—I may call you Ograd, may I not? What's the story on this straz supply?"

"Story?"

Caravello studied him in silence for a moment, and Simikus tried his best not to squirm under the scrutiny. The Human had looked pleasant and cheerful—at first. Now he seemed as cold as the storage space where Simikus kept his ka'frindi.

"What grade straz are we talking about? What volume? Who's your supplier? How did you come to know about it, and where is it now?"

Caravello seemed to place more emphasis on the last question, but even in his jangled state of mind, Simikus had no intention of revealing that information.

"It's top grade stuff, top grade." That sounded good, Simikus thought, but Caravello regarded him impassively. Well, if that wasn't enough to interest the Human, the quantity surely would. "I have one hundred and ninety one grams of it."

Caravello's thin brows lifted, and Simikus could feel his confidence lifting with it.