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“Are you ready for dinner?” he asked.
“Food?”Lila spun around to look up at him, using those big purple eyes to full effect.
“You said the magic word.” I chuckled and stood. “Let’s go eat.”
The mess hall was on the main hall of the crew quarters deck and the largest room I’d seen but for the shuttle bay. Rectangular tables lined with benches filled the well-lit space, with lots of Zaarn males dotted around. A serving window filled most of the back wall, with more Zaarn queued in front, waiting for food. But a mural covered one of the side walls with lots of leaves and pretty purple flowers.
The other women sat at the table in front of it.
“Sit. I’ll get food.” Raxnor headed over to the line to join Kirel and Sul, Lila trailing him.
“Sofie!” Mollie waved when she caught sight of me.
“This is beautiful!” I gestured to the wall as I slid onto the bench beside her.
“Mollie painted it!” Hazel said.
“All the plain walls on this ship.” Mollie gave a one-shouldered shrug. “Somebody needed to do something.”
“I love it!” Then I hooked a thumb over my shoulder to where the males were getting us food. “Are they always like that? I swear, I think Raxnor spends half the day trying to feed me.”
“Yep!” Hazel said. “Always.”
“I think it might be a biological thing with them,” Mollie added. “Like a need to provide for their mates or something.”
I raised both my hands. “I know I’m not complaining.”
Raxnor came back with two trays. He picked up a bowl of meat and one of water and set them on the floor for Lila, who fell to with a purr. Happy food thoughts filled my mind, and my stomach rumbled.
“Where are the other pets?” I asked.
Hazel said, “Vree’s getting a recharge, so he’s good to go for tomorrow.”
“And Glitter’s outside doing the same,” Mollie said. At my puzzled look, she added, “Glitter eats sunlight.”
“Wild!” I picked up a three-pronged fork. None of the males used one—they all seemed to eat using a special kind of knife I’d never seen before. Then again, we’d only had sandwich wraps and hot cereal on the shuttle.
The food in front of me was fresh. A salad of greens and strips of steak, perfectly cooked. The greens were tangy and refreshing and paired well with the salty meat, which was so tender it melted on my tongue.
“This is so good!” I said. “I never ate like this on Earth.”
“None of us did,” Hazel agreed.
“Why not?” Raxnor asked.
“Only the wealthy ate meat like this.”
“The only thing missing is some good bread,” Mollie said. “All they have are those thin wraps they use for the sandwiches. Which is great, but different from a raised, yeasted bread.”
“Oh, I agree. My favorite food is actually pizza, and you can’t beat the smell of fresh pizza dough cooking in the oven.”
We chattered on, talking about all the food we missed from Earth while the males watched us as if they were taking notes.
Then I told everyone about our ride on the back of a dragon.
“No fucking way!” Mollie’s eyes went big as saucers, and she turned to Sul. “Why didn’t you tell me there were flying dragons?”
“Because there was no way for you to see them.” The big male brushed his fingers over her forehead, a tender look on his face. “It’s a lot harder for you to visit Tularia than Juro. It’s the lizard home world, not a colony, and security is way tighter.”
