He half-staggered across the room. The Things within him screamed and tore at his very soul, but he managed to snatch the bottle from Sammy's hand and gulp it hurriedly. The Things tried to make him vomit, but he held the hot liquor down until he felt it warming him deep inside.
The shock of the liquor reached into his blood stream and he felt the Things' frantic struggles wane.
Yah, he thought exultingly, yah! One man's drink is another man's poison. And, Things, are you going to get poisoned!
The Things died. I'm just a little drunk, Kent Knight thought. He looked down around him. For a moment, he thought he saw a half-dozen shadows on the silvery deck. But then the shadows were gone and his mind was free again.
Sammy was staring at him with worried eyes. Knight bent down and kissed Sammy's bald spot with a loud smack.
"Bless you, you stinking drunk," Knight muttered, and staggered out, bottle in hand.
Sammy was still sitting there when Knight came back with four guardsmen. The bottle he had was removed from his hand and Knight and the guardsmen staggered out.
Sammy didn't mind the second or the third or the fourth time, but, when Knight came back with Mallory and snatched the fifth bottle, he rebelled.
He hung onto the bottle. "What in the name of space are you doing with my liquor? Are you trying to put me on the wagon?"