He gave an easy smile to the waiter when the alcohol came but glanced briefly at the snoopers on the ceiling, making sure they were working

''Zincal is good but whiskey is better at it's job'' he commented, observing the man ''Oh, let me present myself...I am Cybilus Ayawa, under the service of House Richese.''

"Ah, House Richese, a pleasure. My liege always speaks warmly of Count Ilban." The man mused, offering the hand for the half-handshake of the Imperium.

If Bomilcar had realized anything he wasn't saying anything about it. "Good choice," he agreed, having no arguments with whiskey.

At the greeting he finally did the same for the newcomer. "Bomilcar Thorvald. Lord be with you." He let out a tiny clearing of this throat. Sometimes he could get through 6 words fine, sometimes it was a bit more uncomfortable.

"And a Thorvald! What an august company!" The man repeated the gesture. Orantis seemed a jovial man at heart, almost too good for the necessities of House Major politics.

''Now...'' he paused as he took a sip ''Do you have any reason to suspect foul play? Are you sure your young friend did not bring with her the drug of her demise?''

Orantis rubbed his temple. "This is a new thing, this Caladan drug. I don't know how it's distributed, but it has hit the shadow market right after the imposition of spice surtax. You must have heard something about it yourselves. It has spread rather quickly... I don't know how it works, or even if it was that, but this is what I suspect. There's been deaths reported, thought it's from spice withdrawal... The most appalling thing in all that is that it seems to be coming from the Atreides! Leto the Just, Leto the Honourable, that's rich!" The man's knuckles whitened on his whiskey.

"Unfortunate," Bomilcar replies, thinking for a little bit. "Secretly disbursing illegal stockpile?" He looks to the others to see if they might think it's possible.

"I remember some talk of poisoned spice from fifteen years ago, but this is a different thing, some brown liquid you smoke or imbibe, more like things from Ecaz. But I had no contact with it myself." The man turned despondent again.

Something in this story bothered the Richese

''Do you have business on Arrakis? This is why most people are here...''

"No, I change to Enfeil in Rho Librae." The man said absent-mindedly, finally sipping.

''I see'' he sipped and filed the information he received for later...who knows

Bomilcar wasn't good at this kind of stuff. He just sipped whiskey and took mental notes, planning to ask someone to explain it to him later.