Page 27 of Thalen

“Morning,” I said, snagging my beloved mug of wake up juice. I took a long appreciative sip, then sidled over to the stove. “Ohh, eggs!”

“And hop-a-long sausages,” Thalen confirmed, quickly scooping the cooked eggs onto the waiting plates. He grabbed a pot holder and lifted the griddle next to reveal perfectly cooked link sausages.

“Those look and smell delicious. Should I make some toast?’

“I need to make more bread. Jason suggested we have biscuits.”

I nodded. Seeing as the eggs and sausages were ready now, there wasn’t time for me to see about trying to make homemade biscuits. The replicator it was.

I grabbed my and Jason’s plates, taking them over to the table. I put them down and took my seat.

“A plate of six Pillsbury Grand style buttermilk biscuits, please.”

A soft hum and a beam of light and voila! I took the plate of biscuits out of the replicator and placed them in the middle of the table. Thalen set the butter he’d taken out of the fridge before joining us there, and after putting his plate down, took his seat.

“D.D. says I only have lessons until lunch time, and then I can play for an hour before coming in to watch a streaming vid.”

Thalen nodded. “Bob sent a schedule over for Jason’s school day. Lunch is to be at twelve, lasting until twelve thirty or so, then playtime until one-thirty. He’s to log back in then, and Bob will play today’s selected educational vid for his section.”

“How many kids are there his age?”

Thalen shrugged. “There are not many children, but I believe there are two or three close to his age, but I cannot be certain. Bob would know.”

“I’ll check with him after,” I replied, thinking it might be good to meet some of the other parents and maybe schedule some play dates.

We finished breakfast, Jason dawdling until he couldn’t reasonably do so anymore. There was still half an hour to go before his classes started, so I had him load the dishwasher and wipe down the counter and table before sending him to brush his teeth and change out of his PJ’s.

“Don’t forget to comb your hair!” I called after him, knowing if he wasn’t reminded, he would and show back up with his hair still sticking up everywhere.

I took a soapy sponge and cleaned the griddle and the grill underneath. There were still three biscuits left, and I decided that they’d be great warmed up with some ham and cheese with a side of alien potato hashbrowns for lunch. I just needed a recipe for making said hashbrowns, or go ahead and use the replicator.

“Did you replicate the alien potatoes last night, or do we have some of those in a cabinet somewhere?”

“I trade some of our milk for those and the carrots,” he replied, using our terms for the things. “Farm across the road grows them.”

“Really? All I saw was wheat as far as the eye can see.”

He chuckled. “On the other side of two of his fields where he’s growing oats, there’s another two fields, side by side, of the ‘potatoes’ and ‘carrots’, before the grasslands. The tops are nearly the same color as the oats, so from the road, they probably just blend in visually.”

I nodded. “That’s probably it.”

“They’re in the pantry, in the root store.” He led me over to the pantry and lifted up a corner of the floor. Nestled inside the compartment were the potatoes.

“The onions I diced up and froze,” he said, pointing at the upright freezer.

I opened it to find a neatly labeled box of onions, but also some containers of frozen juice concentrate. Some were from Earth and were the usual sorts of juice most people I knew bought, while others I’d never heard of but I was game to try.

“Is this where the orange juice this morning came from?”

He nodded. “If there’s one we don’t have and you prefer to not replicate all the time, just order it from the general store. If they’ve not got it, they’ll have it shipped in. Takes a few days, sometimes a couple of weeks, to get stuff that way, depending on how hard it is to get, and if a freighter is coming from where they can get it from.”

That made sense, and to be honest, I wasn't that bothered if the juice was from frozen or replicated.

But maybe I should be. I should look into how much it costs us, either way, so I can plan our finances better. A penny saved is a penny earned.

I took out six of the space potatoes, hoping they’d be enough.

“Thanks. Other than having our bed delivered later today, and finishing unpacking stuff after Jason's school day is over, what’s on the agenda for today?”