The Crystal Star by Vonda McIntyre

soft
    promise. She tiptoed away, waved over her shoulder, and vanished into the crowd.
    Han chuckled and strolled into the nearest tavern. He forgot about his encounter with the ghostling, as he
    had forgotten about every other encounter with a ghostling.
    It was pointless to remember them, pointless to dwell on the impossibilities.
    The tavern was hot and dark and smoky; intoxicant incense tinged the air and mixed with the pungent
    scent of wine. Han sat at the bar and relaxed. He could identify the homeworlds of about half the
    customers in the place; the other half were unfamiliar to him.
    Borderland, he thought. A real borderland.
    He smiled to himself, then laughed again.
    It had been too long since he had crossed a border.
    "Two-element minimum." Han turned to the bar. No one was there. He looked up, then down; still
    nothing.
    A slender tentacle tweaked his cuff.
    "Two-element minimum." All along the bar, the slender tentacles waved or waited or curved around mugs
    or wineglasses or flagons. Han rose to look over the edge of the bar, but the slender tentacle stretched
    before his face and motioned him back.
    "If you wish to imbibe, you are in the right place." The voice sounded like a falling stack of steel rods. "If
    you wish to indulge your curiosity, may I suggest the museum in the next dome?" "Sorry," Han said,
    offended.
    "No offense taken. Two-element minimum." The tentacle was poised to serve him.
    Han subsided onto his barstool. "Then give me two elements," he said. "How about polonium and
    plumbum?" "I serve neither here," the voice said.
    "Two glasses of the local ale will do," Han said.
    "A fine choice for a brave individual." The tentacle snapped out of sight behind the bar.
    Han searched his memory for a shy species with many tentacles, but he came up with no one who would
    suit. He leaned against the bar, content. When he returned home was plenty of time to research the
    species he had never met, and perhaps to start an expedition to invite them to join the New Republic.
    He scouted out the tavern. This was not a family establishment. The light was low, the intoxicant smoke
    thick, and small groups of people leaned close together over heavy tables and the occasional meeting
    pond. Han could hear the low tones of many conversations, none loud enough to make out.
    Two glasses of ale thumped on the bar behind him; the serving tentacle vanished before Han turned
    around. Ale sloshed over the lips of the tankards, splashing on the dented wood.
    Han took a gulp of ale, expecting watery swill or throat-stripping solvent.
    Instead, the soft strong ale traced its flavor across his tongue. He swallowed. The ale glowed pleasantly
    in his stomach. He finished the first tankard and started in on the second, still checking out the patterns of
    the tavern.
    A damp tapping drew his attention. The slender tentacle patted the bar, gently at first, then more
    insistently, till one of the suckers on the tentacle fastened to the bar and released, over and over, with a
    loud wet pop.
    "Careful, you're going to get tangled," Han said. He laughed. The ale warmed him with an agreeable buzz.
    He could hear the conversations better; he could almost make out the ^ws. He took another gulp of ale.
    "You have already proven your bravery, sir human," the barkeep's voice said. "No need to push your
    luck by failing your obligations." "My what?" Han said.
    "Your obligations! You occupy my space, you ingest my comestibles--" Han chuckled. "This isn't your
    native language, is it?" "Certainly not," the barkeep said in a highly insulted tone.
    "It works better if you speak plainly." "Pay!" "That's plain enough," Han said. He took a coin from his
    pocket and tossed it on the bar. The tentacle coiled over it, placed one sucker delicately on its surface,
    and lifted the coin. The tentacle snapped away behind the bar, and when it reappeared, the coin had
    vanished.
    "What do you folks do for entertainment around here?" Han asked.
    "We are doing