How not to collect a debt around Humans
The Iscein looked dejected. His antennas were drooping. The Dholnain proprietor stepped out from behind the bar and walked over to the table where the Iscein and a large muscular Craiz'Cae were seated. He put two shots of something on the table, and said, "The first round is on the house. But you have to listen to my story." The Craiz'Cae picked up the tumbler and sniffed it, his large eye widened, and he nodded approvingly. The Iscein, seemingly surprised that he was also being asked, gave an affirmative twitch of his antenna a moment later.
The bartender began, "Did you ever meet ol' Zengrel? If you were on the station more than 3 or 4 months ago, you must have seen him. Biggest damn Kroknid I ever saw. Musta been near three meters tall, and just about as wide around." The bartender turned to face the Craiz'Cae, "He and you were in the same line of work," the proprietor raised a limb in a placating gesture, "and it is an old and honorable profession. Won't hear me complaining about debt collectors. But see, ol' Zengrel made a particular mistake, and I'd like to help you not make that same mistake. Least so as I don't have to clean up the mess, again."
The Dholnain gestured around his bar, "You may a noticed we got a few humans in this bar. It's usually the case. About a third of the traffic this station gets is coming in from their colonies. And you won't hear me complaining about humans, neither. Respectable folk. Never had one of them try to pay me with a poem, and that's fer sure." The last was said with a glance at a Rovit in the corner near the back.
"There' usually at least a couple of humans in here when we're open. And there was six of 'em the last night a ol' Zengrel's life." The bartender continued. "He had a Anqal with him, the usual story, was half a cycle behind on his payments. I won't bore you with the details, all the usual excuses and all the usual threats about what would happen if the Anqal didn't find the money somehow. But that was until ol' Zengrel made his mistake. He started talking about what he was going to do to the Anqal's kids. Now ol' Zengrel always had a way with words. I don't know if you know this, but Kroknids have three sets of razor sharp teeth, and he was very very explicit about what he was going to do to that Anqal's youngins."
The Dholnain made a gesture that encompassed the entire bar, "Now this here is a respectable establishment. And what that means, is that I have the latest weapon suppressors installed, and a secure little bolt hole behind the bar. Ain't nobody going to make a gun work in my bar, and ain't nobody going to catch me with a knife or dart before I'm safely behind my shelter field. But then you knew that, and so did the humans that night. That's why, six knives came out when ol' Zengrel started in on what he'd a done to those kids. Three of them came out of boots, two came out of vests, and one of them... well, I don't rightly know where it came out of but it was big as your primary forelimb."
"Anyway, I did what any sensible Dholnain would do with six humans drawing down on a big old Kroknid. I dove behind the bar and slammed my shelter field in place. When I came out," the Dholnain said with a puckered face, "The bar was empty, except for ol' Zengrel and his Anqal. Needless to say, poor ol' Zengrel was dead, and the Anqal and every other surface in the bar was covered in blood. I did not realize just how much blood was in ol' Zengrel when he was alive. But damn it, it was all out. There was more than a little bit of reddish human blood mixed in with it, but it was mostly his. Don't know how many of them he took with him, although I figure at least one was carried out by his mates. I made the Anqal clean it up, but it took all night."
"So, there's my story. Don't think too harshly a humans." he said to the Craiz'Cae debt collector. "That distillate you drank came from the human world of Ken Tu Kee. Or it may be an island on their home world. Not sure myself, but they sure know their chemistry on old Ken Tu Kee. Anyway, I got more of it if you want it."
The Dholnain took a step back, clearly drawing the conversation to a close. "Now, you two can get back to your business. Like I said, won't hear me complaining about honest debt collectors doing honest work. But I just thought you ought to know." And with that, he went back behind his bar.