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“You can tell him all about it right here,” Kan’n said.
But I was already walking toward the door. They’d started knocking down parts of the walls to give us better access between the shops of the shopping plaza so we didn’t need to step outside all the time, but currently there were orange construction pylons blocking my path, since they still needed to reinforce the bits that remained, and add doors.
“Pip won’t let me disconnect his power source,” I said to Jask’l when we were well out of earshot. “He came in in a few pieces, so I worked on the parts not attached to the main power source first, and I managed to disconnect some of the other parts to work on them as well. But I can’t do the rest unless the power’s disconnected…”
“And he won’t let you do that.” Jask’l was catching on.
“Bingo. He locked me inside the cabin for hours to prevent me from accessing his hatch. I mean, I can access itnow, but I’m no longer allowed to touch him.” I sent Kan’n my best side-eye.
“That does complicate things.”
“Yeah, I know. Pip is terrified he won’t wake up.”
Kan’n made a derisive sound at my words. “That’s what you get for feeding him this nonsense about him being a PIP model.Those things don’t exist anymore. The Xarc’n military got rid of them. It’s all written in the archive—”
“Yes,” Jask’l said slowly with a frown, “that is what is written in the archive, but we have found other confirmed PIP models right here on Earth. Their memories match the events, though each shuttle has a slightly different interpretation of them. Their behavior confirms intelligence and self-awareness beyond that of normal shuttles. From everything you have told me, it does sound like this is a PIP model.”
Kan’n’s scowl deepened.
I ignored him. “Pip doesn’t want to go up to the mothership. He thinks you guys are going to decommission him.”
“I’ll assure him that we won’t do that unless he threatens the life of any Xarc’n warrior or Xarc’n-friendly humans. I’ll connect him with another PIP model I’ve worked on. Pippa can vouch for me.”
Pippa? Cute.
Jask’l sniffed appreciatively at the smell of cooking food drifting on the air. The enticing combination of spices had my stomach growling too.
“Why don’t I secure you a serving of whatever they are making while you talk to Pip?”
Jask’l agreed eagerly. Kan’n just glared at me. I couldn’t wait until Pip was all in one piece and I never had to deal with the surly hunter again.
The two hunters went back to my shop, and I hurried to the kitchen. Mary and Aanya were in charge of serving up the grub today.
“Hey, Sam.” Mary waved.
“Hey!” I looked around for her baby. “Where’s Mina?”
“Lok’n has her today. With the scourge all staying in their nests, he thought it was the perfect opportunity to take her to splash in the river while he refills the shuttle’s water tank.” Her face told me she didn’t think it was as perfect an idea as Lok’n did.
She had a point, maybe. The bugs were still acting strange, and for the past two days, one might think they’d left Earth entirely, if it weren’t for the fact that they were all standing outside their nest looking up at the sky. Very weird.
“Here to snag some food?” Aanya asked.
“Yeah. What’s on the menu today? It smells so good.”
“It’s our own rendition of Butter Chicken. I had a craving. We got some cream in our last supply drop. I’m so glad we convinced the hunters on the islands to keep some milk cows.”
Some of the hunters were resistant to the idea of ingesting lactic secretions from another animal, but many of those who were brave enough to try milk had developed a taste for it. It was densely nutritious with lots of fat and protein, the very nutrients that hunters needed. Straight up cream was an especially big hit, because of the high caloric content. They needed a lot of energy to fuel their large, muscular bodies.
To our surprise, the warriors didn’t suffer from lactose intolerance, despite never having had milk in their diet. They’d explained, however, that their bodies were engineered to ingest almost anything edible, and even filter out toxins if required. It was necessary for their job to be able to adapt their diets to the food sources in each location since they moved from planet to planet in their fight against the scourge.
“And the chicken? I hope it’s not one of ours.” I was getting quite attached to the laying hens we’d brought over from Franklin.
“Oh, no! Never! Our girlies are safe,” Mary said. “Mina would throw a fit if one of them disappeared. The chicken is from Food Production too.” She held up a glass jar of white blocks. “But ever since we told them about salmonella and its effects on us, they’ve insisted on sending the pieces to us cooked and freeze-dried. Or at least, theirversion of freeze-dried.”
The pale, dry lumps did not look particularly appetizing. I was glad someone here knew how to make it palatable. Accustomed as they were to their food bars that could stay in their shuttles for years if need be, Xarc’n warriors were used to ultra-processed sustenance, but unlike our packaged food products, theirs prioritized nutrition over flavor.
Mary fished two pieces of meat, no longer pale and unappetizing, from the curry, transferred one to Aanya’s spoon and ate the other. “It’s finally soft in the middle!”
