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Cinq gives me a sympathetic and small grin. “I’m sorry, but I literally can’t. We have laws and you aren’t equipped.”
I need a device or tool to learn new languages and this guy thinks I care about legal when stranded on a near deserted planet? “So, equip me and I won’t tell the authorities.”
S’Tou brings over a bowl of what smells like heaven. “Gripey little thing, isn’t she?”
“You’re speaking in English, space butt, and I’m right here, able to understand you.” I lean forward, looking at his food. “What is that?”
“Pajii stew.”
My stomach growls and everyone looks at me. I put a hand over my tummy. “Sorry, but I’m starving. You managed to download information on foods safe for Earth people, didn’t you?”
“I did, actually,” Cinq says. “Let me get you something, then you can continue your interrogation.” He heads for the food dispenser thingy. “I’ll dial up something with no spice.”
“Regular spice is okay. Just skip adding the biological hazard spice to anything but insecticide or weaponry.” I get up and follow him to the table. “Also, if there was anything in the water adding fuel to that fire, can we skip that, too?”
Laughing, Cinq reassures me with, “Nothing was in the water. The liquid merely spread tikk from one part of you to another.”
“Tikk, huh? Sounds lovely.” I watch as he brings a plate from the dispenser, grabs a spork, and comes back with everything. Nothing looks too weird, except the purple salad. “So I can just eat this with no ill effects?”
“You can,” Cinq reassures me and puts the plate in front of me.
Quin grins, bringing his food over, too. “The ossan gave me gas the first couple of months here.”
“That’s more a warning for us than her,” Nilt snarks, giving me a wink to soften the dig.
I would respond but something looks suspiciously and deliciously like mashed potatoes. After taking a little bite, I’m in love. About three mouthfuls in, I realize this is like potatoes and could use some salt, but so what? I’m starving.
There’s meat, too, so I take a taste. Beefy with a hint of pork. Interesting and quicky eaten. I’m almost afraid of the salad after Quin’s observation, but hey, the clothes are loose enough for a little bloat, so I take a bite. Not bad at all. Reminds me of asparagus with the crunch of fresh bean sprouts. “Very good, all of this.” I take another couple bites. “Are resources low?”
“Usually, but there’s enough food for you to eat as much as you’d like.” Cinq goes back to the dispenser. “Do you want anything in particular?”
Part of me wants to try something fun and new, but the rest of me affected by the tikk refuses. “Anything like what I just had would be terrific. I’m not picky.” Feeling a little silly over contradicting myself, I add, “Maybe I could have a little salt to sprinkle to my taste?”
“I can do that,” he says and nods at S’Tou. The other Gharian gets up, taking his bowl over to Cinq, who’s bringing a couple of plates.
I’m about to protest I won’t want two more meals when he gives me my second helping and sits with his. “I don’t usually eat this much,” I tell him, taking the odd salt shaker S’Tou hands me. “It’s just that the aliens, the other ones, fed us gelatin bars. Then after the tikk episode, I felt it’s better to be safe and not eat than to eat and die a painful death.”
“No one around here minds how much you eat,” Nilt says. “We all understand. You’ve been a guest of the Kostans and they’re not known for being kind to their pets.
“Pets?” I say, spork halfway to my mouth. “They think we’re animals?”
“We’re all animals,” Nilt says. “Some are more than others.”
They’re looking at me like I’m the zoo candidate. “Uh huh. Are all of you from spacefaring planets and cultures? Or am I the only one who’s freshly out of their original solar system?”
Finished with his meal, Cinq answers first. “You know S’Tou and I are from Ghar. Nilt’s half one of us and half Khscc, which is a race from a world equal to yours in advancement.” He tilts his head toward Quin. “Then Quin, here, is the odd man out. He’s half Vahdmoshi, which is an equal to Ghar, and half Quzi, another Lesser world.”
“Lesser?” I ask, ready to fight on that point. If he thinks spaceflight makes a race better than another planet bound one, I don’t mind adjusting his attitude. “Last time I checked, only lesser races keep another group as pets.”
He nods at me. “You’re right, morally. Lesser was more of a designation between technology, not morality.”
“Besides, no one around here has any Kostan blood,” S’Tou adds.
“Right,” Cinq adds. “So you’re not hurting our feelings by calling them out.”
I drink the last of my water. The moment I set down my glass, Quin grabs and refills it from a dispenser but not the dispenser. As he brings a full glass back to me, I ask, “Is that clean?”
“Yes. I retrieved water from the stream earlier and the container keeps it sanitized.”
