Michael P. Calligaro - The Daily Dose

About The Daily Dose

This story was originaly told as a series of small daily chunks on the web that ran from November of

1997 to March of 1999. Each page that starts with some numbers (and, possibly a day of the week) is

the start of a day's worth of the story.

If you enjoyed this story, there are over 35 more available for free download from

http://www.mystikeep.com

The Daily Dose

by Michael P Calligaro

This story was originaly told as a series of small daily chunks on the web that ran from November of

1997 to March of 1999. Each page that starts with some numbers (and, possibly a day of the week) is

the start of a day's worth of the story.

November 1997

1.1

The Daily Dose's entry nanocurtain generally slid aside happily, giving the bartender, Alfonso Tanaka, a

subtle audio clue to let him know he had new customers. When the shalk walked through it, though,

Alfonso swore he could hear his little bots scream as they scrambled to get out of the way. A hush fell

over the room, and all but Alfonso's eyes turned immediately toward the creature. Alfonso

self-consciously stared down at the glass he was cleaning.

The shalk were small creatures, roughly a meter tall and covered in thick fur. They had big eyes, little

leather noses, and mouths that rested naturally in the shape of a smile. Many humans, on meeting a shalk

for the first time, made the mistake of exclaiming something to the effect of, "Oh, how cute." Sometimes

the shalk allowed such people to live.

No shalk had ever before come into the Daily Dose. And Alfonso knew this one wasn't here for a drink.

His name was Quixar, the head of outpost security. And he was here to see the owner of the bar. He

was here for Alfonso.

1.2

Alfonso scanned across the bar and found the fiery red hair of a human named Judy. She was watching

the shalk with the same detached curiosity as everyone else. Her eyes flitted to his, and he fixed her with

an intense glare. Ignoring his malevolence, she grinned and looked back to the shalk.

Quixar scanned around the room with the attention of an investigator, his big eyes taking everything in.

People subconsciously glanced down when the shalk looked at them, but their eyes sprang back when he

looked away. He walked up to the bar, where two patrons scurried away to make room for him.

In perfect shalkish, the only language universally spoken in this section of the galaxy, Alfonso said, "You

honor my bar with your presence, sir. What can I get for you?"

Quixar glanced around again and said. "You have a fairly nice place here. How's business?"

1.3

Inwardly, Alfonso grinned. Outwardly, he put on his best innocent look. "Today business has been great.

In the past it's been so-so."

"Do you have any idea why business is booming for you today?"

Alfonso shrugged. "Hey shalk, I just tend bar."

Quixar nodded. "There is only one other bar in Frakar Spaceport. And its owner turned up murdered

this morning."

A gasp rushed through the crowd, and Alfonso covered his face in shock. "But he was a shalk!" Quixar

nodded. "Then another shalk killed him?"

Quixar shook his head. "That's unclear. His death does not appear to have been caused by shalk

weaponry."

1.4

Another gasp went though the crowd. Alfonso laced his voice with a slight hint of desperation. "But

nothing can kill a shalk but another shalk. Your defenses are too strong for non-shalk weaponry, and

your weapons are genetically coded to only work in the hands of a shalk."

Quixar stiffened and grabbed the edge of the bar. Alfonso felt pleased that he'd scored a hit, but he

carefully covered that in a mask of concern. "I'm sorry, sir, did I say something wrong?"

Quixar's cheeks bulged slightly as if he was clenching his teeth. Then he sighed, and his professional

demeanor returned. With only a trace of anger, he said, "The murderer cut off the shalk's hand."

Putting on his most shocked expression yet, Alfonso exclaimed, "But that means he can't become a spirit

and join the celestial palace."

Quixar frowned. "You say a lot of obvious things, human."

Well, he wouldn't be expecting this. Alfonso stared up at the ceiling, as if remembering something. Then

he made shocked realization cross his face. "Oh my God, it's my fault!"

1.5

The entire Daily Dose went silent, and all eyes turned to Alfonso. Quixar, the shalk, squinted intently at

him and said, "Explain."

Alfonso made a show of looking around in despair but used the movement to check Judy's expression.

He was happy to see her look worried. Alfonso then turned his full attention to Quixar. "Investigator

Quixar, my apologies for not realizing the connection until now. It's just that it sounded so crazy at the

time that I forgot about it."

Evenly, Quixar said, "Go on."

"It happened over a week ago . . ."

It had been yet another long and unsuccessful business day. Alfonso stared at the blinking red numerals in

his ledger and sighed. The nanocurtain made its refusal of entry sound. Alfonso checked the time--well

past closing. Still, he was here and late night customers were better than no customers. He nodded to the

curtain and it parted, revealing an agitated sliss.

1.6

Alfonso is describing what happened over a week ago.

Like all sliss, the Daily Dose's late-night patron looked like a giant snake. This particular sliss' scales were

currently dark red, denoting agitation and fear.

Concerned, Alfonso grabbed a bottle of sliss juice and said, "Come in, friend, come in." He poured the

deep green liquid into a normal glass and set it on the bar. The sliss' two independent eyes alternated in

their jobs of scanning the room and watching Alfonso. It (Alfonso still hadn't learned to tell one sex from

the other, if there even were two) slithered up to the bar. Wrapping the extremely dexterous tip of its tail

around the glass, it took a long drink. Its color lightened.

"Sank you."

"What had you so agitated, friend?"

One of the sliss' eyes panned over the entry curtain. Alfonso nodded to the curtain and it became solid.

The sliss took another sip, paused, and said, "I have learned ssomesing very imporsant."

1.7

Alfonso is describing what happened over a week ago.

"What's that?" Alfonso asked.

The sliss let both eyes scan around for a second, and its color darkened. "I've learned how to kill a

sshalk."

Alfonso suppressed a chuckle. "And what do you plan to do with this information?"

The sliss looked at him with both eyes, as if he were trying to understand why Alfonso would ask such a

stupid question. "I'm going to kill one."

"Why?"

"You have to assk? Humanss have been even more abussed by se sshalk san se resst of uss."

"But what would killing one accomplish?"

"It will let sem know sey aren't invinssible. It will make sem sink twice before sey abusse uss again."

Still trying to contain his mirth, Alfonso asked, "Well, you seem to have this all worked out. So, why are

you so agitated?"

1.8

Alfonso is describing what happened over a week ago.

The sliss lowered its head. "I don't know which one to kill."

Alfonso didn't really believe any of this. While the sliss were fantastic engineers, the concept of anyone

finding a way passed a shalk's defenses seemed unlikely at best. A blinking red image caught his eye, and

he glanced down to see his still-open ledger. He sighed as his earlier frustration returned. "Why don't you

kill the owner of Frakar's other bar?"

It bobbed its head once, the sliss equivalent of a shrug.

Concluding the story, Alfonso said, "After that, we didn't say much else. The sliss finished its drink, paid

in cash, and slithered out. I went back to worrying about my finances and forgot about it."

Quixar squinted at Alfonso for a moment. Alfonso did a quick scan of the bar and saw that everyone else

watched in interest. Judy, however, looked bemused.

With a sigh, Quixar said, "Well, I can hardly arrest you for making a sarcastic suggestion."

In actuality, he could. By being the most powerful beings in the area, the shalk could do, and generally

did, anything they wanted. The sense of fairness this one was showing was quite unlike them, but it was

also what Alfonso had banked on. "Thank you, sir."

1.9

The investigator asked, "I don't suppose this sliss had any identifying marks--a scar or a damaged eye?"

Alfonso frowned. "No, I'm afraid not."

Quixar nodded. "My job is never so easy. And your name is?"

He knew damn well what Alfonso's name was. He probably knew the names and faces of every

inhabitant of Frakar Spaceport. "Alfonso Tanaka, sir."

"That's a somewhat strange grouping of human names, isn't it?"

Quixar was letting Alfonso know he'd done his homework and wasn't going to let anything slip by out of

ignorance. Alfonso nodded. "Yes, sir, it is."

With a curt nod, Quixar said, "Then that's all for now. Thank you for your help." He strode purposefully

out of the Dose. His stride, of course, looked more like a cute little waddle.

Emmanuelle, a pretty human who tended to hang out at the bar and chat during slow times, grinned at

him. "That's impressive, standing up to a shalk like that."

Alfonso shrugged, "Oh, I don't know. Quixar isn't so bad--for a shalk."

As the Dose returned to its normal level of noise and activity, Judy stood up and strode over to the bar.

Leaning in close to Emmanuelle, she grinned and said in a quiet voice that was still too loud, "So, wanna

hear what really happened?"

1.10

Annoyed, Alfonso punched a button behind the bar. Thousands of microscopic nanobots poured out of

the ceiling, set themselves up around the three of them, and began to vibrate wildly. They caused a

noise-obstructing hum in the audio spectrum and serious localized distortion in the other spectra. A few

hunter/killer bots went in search of any recording bots inside the screen. The nanoscreen was supposed

to be used for clients to privately unload their sorrows on the bartender. But it was also effective with

people who knew too much but didn't know enough to keep their mouths shut.

Alfonso glared at Judy and replied in the same language she'd used. "If you think speaking in English will

protect this conversation, you're sadly naive. And if you really want to kill me, let's go hand to hand and

be done with it."

She looked him up and down, as if assessing his abilities in that regard. Then she grinned to Emmanuelle.

"Do you think he could take me?"

Alfonso interjected, "Watch out how you answer, Emmanuelle. Judy was a soldier in the Freehdom

wars."

Emmanuelle whistled. "Which side?"

This brought out the most intensely displeased frown Alfonso had ever seen on Judy's face. Would he

have to hop the bar and get between them? Judy snarled, "Which do you think? I'm here, aren't I?"

1.11

A terrified look spread across Emmanuelle's face, and she bowed her head. "I'm sorry, Judy. I didn't

mean anything by it."

Judy paused for a moment, then smiled. "No problem." Her smile became a wry grin, "But if it happens

again, I'll kill you." Emmanuelle looked frightfully to Alfonso, who shrugged and nodded. Judy's tone

became jovial, "Now, let's talk about something more pleasant, like how this shalk really died."

Hastily, like she was glad to change the subject, Emmanuelle turned to Alfonso. "You actually lied to

Quixar? I'm impressed."

Judy laughed, "Alfonso lies to everyone!"

This evoked a frown from him. "'Lie' is such a strong word . . ."

She nodded cheerfully and said, "So, it wasn't last week--"

Alfonso cleared his throat, interrupting her. While he'd hoped to keep the situation secret, it was obvious

that Judy was determined to tell someone. Hopefully, after Emmanuelle knew, she'd keep things to

herself. "I own this place. I tell the stories."

1.12

Alfonso began to tell what really happened to the shalk bartender. "It pretty much went down the way I

said, only it wasn't last week, it was last night, and it wasn't a sliss, it was Judy."

Emmanuelle's mouth literally dropped open and a loud gasp escaped. Turning to Judy with newfound

admiration, she said, "You killed a shalk?"

Judy shrugged and said. "Hey, it's Alfonso's bar. He tells the stories." Then she turned to him and asked,

"I was wondering why you told the cop it was a sliss, though."

Alfonso smiled and replied, "To most shalk, all humans look alike. But even the sliss have trouble telling

each other apart. Also, a small amount of physical or emotional pain will cause a sliss to go into a coma.

That makes it impossible to torture information out of them. I figured if I said it was a human, we'd all be

rounded up and thrown in cells by tomorrow morning. But they really can't do anything to the sliss."

Judy nodded, "A coma, eh? I'll have to remember that."

1.13

Alfonso continued, "Now I hadn't seen Judy in a long time. I thought she'd died in the Freehdom wars.

So, imagine my surprise when she showed up in my bar last night . . ."

The denial of entry sound pulled Alfonso's eyes from the insipidly blinking ledger. Though it was long

after closing, he figured late night customers were better than no customers. He nodded to the curtain and

it slid open. In stepped a tall woman whose pale complexion complemented her fiery red hair. She

moved with the grace of either a ballerina or an experienced martial artist and cast about her an air of

intense confidence. She reminded Alfonso of someone he used to know long ago.

As the curtain closed behind her, she checked Alfonso over and smiled. With three strides of her long

legs she crossed the room and grabbed a stool before him. The sound of her voice jogged Alfonso's

memory, immediately telling him that she was the person he was remembering.

"I heard that some smooth-talking human had managed to cheat a botiira out of his bar. My first thought

was that it had to be my old friend, Alfonso."

1.14

Alfonso is describing what really happened last night.

Alfonso smiled. "Dios mio, Judy, how long's it been? Ten years?"

She notched an eyebrow. "More like four hundred and ten."

This took him aback. "What? You count the stasis and dilation time? No one else does."

After pursing her lips, she said, "You used to be the one who was exacting about such matters."

He shrugged, "Things change. So, what brings you into my bar--which, by the way, I got by perfectly

legal and above-board means."

She laughed. "Legal by human standards or by shalk ones? No, wait, don't answer that." She looked

back at the curtain and Alfonso made it go solid. Nodding, she continued in a quieter voice, "About three

days after we woke up, I saw one of those damn teddy bears kill an associate for giggling. I've spent my

time since then trying to think of a way to fight back."

Alfonso rested his forehead in his hand. It appeared that some things never did change. "Judy, the

Freehdom wars were over four hundred years ago. Forget about them."

1.15

Alfonso is describing what really happened last night.

Judy violently shook her head. "But these shalk are worse than anything we faced at home. We've got to

do something!"

"What can we do?"

She paused, as if trying to decide whether or not to tell him something. Finally, she said, "I think I've

figured out how to kill one."

Alfonso recognized the look on her face, and a chill ran down his spine. "And you want me to help . . ."

"Well, I know I can trust you."

He shook his head. "It's been a long time, Judy. How can you be so sure?"

"I know you, Alfonso. You haven't changed that much."

"Well, I won't do it."

She sighed, "I'll sweeten the deal for you. We'll take out the owner of that other bar that's depressing

your business."

Alfonso glanced down at his ledger again. The thought of removing the competitionwas appealing.

1.16

Alfonso is describing what really happened last night.

Alfonso thought about it for a second, then shook his head. "Sorry, Judy, but no. The shalk are abusive

bullies all right, but we're not at war with them. We shouldn't be killing civilians just to make a statement."

"They have no such qualms. They kill us because they know they can get away with it. If we show them

they're mortal, they may back off."

Shaking his head, Alfonso replied, "You're rationalizing, Judy. What you're suggesting is wrong, and you

shouldn't go through with it."

She frowned, paused, and nodded slowly. "I suppose you're right." Then a wry grin spread across her

face. "Well, it's not a total loss. I could always sell my idea to one of the other races."

Alfonso nodded in relief. They chatted for a little while longer, and then she made noises about turning in

for the night. Promising to come back tomorrow so they could talk about old times, she left. Alfonso

went back to his books.

But he couldn't concentrate on them. Something bothered him.

1.17

Alfonso is describing what really happened last night.

Alfonso nervously drummed his fingers on the bar. No matter how obviously right he ever was, Judy had

never let him convince her to change her mind so easily. He tried to tell himself she'd changed from her

old stubborn ways; after all, he had. Then he shook his head and said to himself, "Who are you trying to

fool? If you've changed at all, you're probably more stubborn now than you were before."

Finally deciding that he couldn't possibly get any work done without first checking on Judy, he looked up

her quarters on his terminal. What he found confirmed his worries. She hadn't registered with any of the

regular places. That most likely meant she'd planned to stay with him. So her previous talk of turning in

was a lie. She didn't have anywhere to turn in to.

"Damn," he muttered, "she's planning to go through with it."

He locked up the Dose and, though his heart raced, he calmly walked down the poorly lit hallways of this

section of Frakar Station. He didn't want anyone to remember him sprinting worriedly on a night when a

shalk got killed.

1.18

Alfonso is describing what really happened last night.

It took him about five minutes to get into the shalk section of the station, with its wider halls, better

lighting, and lower ceilings. Having assessed the competition before acquiring his bar, he knew right

where to go.

The shalk bar (the concept of naming an establishment was a human one) had no nanocurtain or other

such security measures. The shalk wore their security on their persons. The bar also had translucent

windows at shalk head height. Alfonso bent down and tried to peer through the window.

Sure enough, he could see Judy's red hair. She and the shalk bartender were the only two in there, and it

looked like she was rubbing the palm of his hand. The door was unlocked, of course, and Alfonso

rushed in.

The shalk looked up at him in surprise, and then his already large eyes grew wider. He yanked his hand

away from Judy and stared down at it. He clutched it into a fist, released it, and then grabbed at his

chest. Making a gasping sound, he fell to the floor behind the bar.

Judy turned to Alfonso and beamed. "Perfect timing, Tanaka-san, I knew I could count on you."

1.19

Alfonso is describing what really happened last night.

Alfonso ignored Judy's playful use of the honorific form of his name and raced behind the bar. He felt for

a pulse on the shalk but didn't really know where to look. The usual places revealed nothing, though.

"Shin de ru . . . I think you actually did kill him." He jumped up and grabbed her hand. "We've got to get

out of here."

He dragged her to the door and stopped. "Wait a minute. How were you planning to cover your tracks?"

She shrugged, "I knew you'd think of something."

He shook his head and sighed, "Nothing has changed at all, has it?" He pulled out a pocket nanofactory

and punched a few codes into it. He held his hand next to the opening for a second and then held it near

Judy's arm.

"Okay, I've programmed some hunter killers to destroy anything with either of our DNA patterns. Now

let's go."

Alfonso finished the story, "And so Judy stayed with me last night." He noticed a twinge of

disappointment on Emmanuelle's face and added, "But she's finding her own space tonight, or she's

sleeping in a hallway."

1.20

"And that's the extent of story," Alfonso said.

Judy pursed her lips and stared intently at him. He glared back at her. Their eyes locked for over fifteen

seconds before she blinked and nodded.

Alfonso added, "And if she tries to tell it to anyone else, she'll be sleeping outside without a psuit. Am I

clear?"

She nodded again.

Emmanuelle excitedly asked, "So, how'd you get passed the shalk's defenses?"

Judy held up her hand and displayed long nails filed to points. She wiggled her index finger and said

"Poison on this nail. Their defense shields will stop any fast moving object, but they still want to be able

touch each other. Rumor has it that they're wild in sex and often scratch. That gave me the idea that I

might be able to worm my way into scratching one. I also heard they love to have their hands rubbed. So

all I had to do was go in, commiserate with the bartender over his rough day, and offer to rub his hands

for him."

Alfonso sighed. "And, here I am, her too predictable stooge. I surprised him and gave her a chance to

scratch his hand."

Judy smiled, "If the poison hadn't worked, I'd have said I slipped when Alfonso startled me."

Emmanuelle nodded. Then, a second later, she frowned. "But they can't be so easy to kill!"

1.21

Judy reeled back as if she'd been struck. "Easy? Do you know what I had to go through to develop a

poison their internal bots wouldn't counteract?"

Emmanuelle frowned. "But in the centuries that all these races have been living together, no one thought

to try poisoning the shalk before?"

Alfonso spoke up. "I suspect those centuries have a lot to do with it. Everyone here knows the shalk are

'unkillable.' They have been for as long as anyone can remember. And, while individually they're bullies,

they haven't been sacking planets or any other such nonsense that would make organized resistance

spring up."

Judy nodded, "Yeah, especially amongst these damn races. No one wanted to help. As far as everyone

non-human is concerned, the shalk are the way they are, and that's it. The wimps make me sick."

Emmanuelle said, "But couldn't anyone kill them now? Just poison a dagger and attack."

Alfonso shook his head. "No. In a battle they'll set their shields to not allow anything through. Killing one

requires an element of surprise and some amount of trust on the part of the shalk. They too have known

forever that they're unkillable, and that made them careless. I doubt any others will be letting their guards

down any time soon."

Pursing her lips, Emmanuelle said, "I suppose you're right." Then her face lit up, like she'd just

remembered something. "Wait a minute, how did the shalk corpse lose its hand?"

1.22

Judy started to say something, but Alfonso cut her off. "Someone must have come by, seen the dead

shalk, and cut off his hand. A severed part of an unkillable creature might be very valuable to the right

kind of person." With a frown, he added, "Our big hope, though, is that whoever it was wasn't as careful

as we were. Maybe Quixar will catch him and pin the murder on him. If anyone figures out it was a

human, we're all in danger." He glared at Judy.

The two women nodded, though Judy was less enthusiastic than Emmanuelle.

Alfonso added, "Now, you two can stay and chat, but I've got a bar to run. He stepped out of the screen

to choruses of calls for drinks.

Damn, he'd hoped no one would want anything. It seemed dangerous to unleash Judy on an innocent

mind like Emmanuelle's and he wanted to get back into the screen and keep an ear on their conversation.

Still, he couldn't afford to annoy his new customers on their first day here.

He covered everyone at the bar and made a quick pass of the tables. Then, just as he was about to head

back into the screen, Judy and Emmanuelle stepped out. He disabled it and said, "Judy, I meant what I

said. You tell no one else."

She nodded.

"So, where will you be sleeping tonight?"

Emmanuelle smiled, "My place. I've got an extra room."

1.23

Later that night, long after Judy and Emmanuelle had left, the Daily Dose started to wind down. They'd

done a hopping business for most of the day, but now people were starting to trickle out and go home.

Alfonso didn't need to bring up his ledger to know that he was in the black for the first time since he'd

acquired the Dose. How had that botiira managed to hold on to this place for so long?

He checked over the night's remaining clientele, making sure everyone was happy. Then he noticed

movement in the far back corner of the bar. The lighting was bad back there and he'd assumed no one

would want to sit in the dark. Worried that the patron had been waiting a long time and perplexed that he

hadn't called out for service, Alfonso wandered over.

As he approached the table, a shiver ran down his spine and the hairs on the back of his neck stood on

end. A creature of indiscernible race sat in the darkest part of the room. It appeared to be taller than a

shalk and, judging from the shape of the robes it wore, it was a biped. But the robes were extremely

baggy and far too large for the creature, making the sleeves and legs obscure its hands and feet. The

robes also had a hood, which was pulled up. In the dark Alfonso could not make out anything of the face

inside.

"I'm sorry. I didn't see you back here. What can I get you?"

1.24

The creature spoke in a quiet, raspy voice that sounded male. "Is it required that I purchase something to

sit here?"

Alfonso frowned. "I would prefer it. After all, I don't charge rent."

The hood nodded. Strange. That was human body language. Was this a human, or had the creature

studied his people long enough to pick up their mannerisms? The right sleeve rose above the table and a

value transfer card fell out. Alfonso picked it up and checked the offered value. His heart almost

stopped. It was just over half the cost of the bar. "What's this?"

"For rent. Is it enough?"

Was this guy for real? "And what do you think you're buying?"

Michael P. Calligaro - The Daily Dose

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