. Kron was busy
rehashing the old days when we were opening Niobe to viscayaculture.
Trade didn't interest him very much, and Hartmann interested him less.
Niobians are never too cordial to strangers, and he had never seen the
BIT man before this meeting.

Anyway, the talk got around to the time he introduced me to vorkum, a
native dish that acts as a systemic insect repellant--and tastes like
one! And right then I got the bright idea that nearly wrecked Niobe.

As I said, there was both Niobian and Confederation food at the banquet,
so I figured that it was a good time as any to get revenge for what my
dog-headed friend did to my stomach a good decade before.

So I introduced him to Terran cooking.

Niobians assimilate it all right, but their sense of taste isn't the
same as ours. Our best dishes are just mush to their palates, which are
conditioned to sauces that would make the most confirmed spice lover on
Earth run screaming for the water tap. They have a sense of the
delicate, too, but it needs to be stimulated with something like liquid
fire before they can appreciate it. For instance, Kron liked Earth
peaches, but he spiced them with horseradish and red pepper.

I must admit that he was a good sport. He took the hors d'oeuvres in
stride, swallowing such tasteless things as caviar, Roquefort and
anchovy paste without so much as a grimace. Of course, I was taking an
unfair advantage of Kron's natural courtesy, but it didn't bother me too
much. He had rubbed that vorkum episode in for years. It was nice to
watch him squirm.

When I pressed him to try an oyster cocktail, I figured things had gone
far enough.

He took it, of course, even though anyone who knew Niobians could see
that he didn't want any part of it. There was a pleading look in his eye
that I couldn't ignore. After all, Kron was a friend. I was actually
about to stop him when he pulled an oyster from its red bath and popped
it into his mouth. There was a 'you'll be sorry' look on his face. I
gestured to a waiter to remove the cocktail as he bit into the oyster,
figuring, somewhat belatedly, that I had gone too far.

The grateful look I got from him was sufficient reward. But then it
happened. Kron stopped looking grateful and literally snatched the
cocktail back from the startled waiter!

He looked at me with an expression of disgust. "The first decent food
thus far," he said, "and you attempt to send it away!"

"Huh?" I exclaimed stupidly.