“Twice daily we had vitamin and protein paste to supplement our nutrient drinks.” K made a face. “If that’s what you mean by food then I would rather not have any. I never liked that paste very much.”
“Oh, I think we can do a little bit better than protein paste. Come on.” Boone led her further up the hall until they ended back at the mess hall. He was glad to see that no one else was up and bitching about breakfast being late. Loki, especially, could be a picky eater though when he cooked he expected them all to eat Erian high holiday food which was much too frou-frou for Boone’s taste. He preferred plain old home cooking—the same recipes that had been handed down by his ancestors from Earth-that-was. Especially for breakfast.
“What are we supposed to do?” K asked.
“Fix breakfast for ourselves and the rest of the crew. Don’t worry, you’ll like it.” Boone was already rummaging in the cold storage unit for the ingredients he wanted.
K walked over and tapped the food simulator experimentally. “Why don’t we just use this? Isn’t it what Mom used to make that strange sweet drink—the hawt shauklat you gave me last night?”
“Hot chocolate,” Boone corrected her. “And the food sim doesn’t make anything nutritious—it only simulates the taste and texture of what you want without giving you the actual substance. As far as your body is concerned, you might as well be eating or drinking water. Not exactly the breakfast of champions.”
K frowned. “What will we do then?”
“We’ll cook. Pancakes, scrambled eggs, and bacon. How does that sound?”
“I have no idea. What do you want me to do?”
“Here,” Boone said. “Let me show you…”
To her credit, he found K was a hard and willing worker even though she obviously had no idea what she was supposed to be doing. Boone put her to work cracking the eggs into a bowl and whipping them with a whisk while he made the pancake batter.
Of course, this meal might be handed down from his ancestors but he doubted anyone from Earth-that-was would recognize the ingredients he was using to make the familiar fare. He only used two eggs even though he was cooking for four—himself, K, Mom, and Loki. That was because the eggs were from hens genetically modified to withstand the heavy G-forces of Colossus. By Earth-that-was standards they would have been about the size of an ostrich egg—an extinct bird Boone had only read about. Also, the flour in the pancake mix was ground from spliced wheat and the ‘bacon’ was actually strips of pre-cooked porcine substitute. But it was close enough as far as Boone was concerned and as the smells of cooking began to fill the small mess hall, his mouth was watering to taste his efforts.
K seemed interested in the food as well. “That smells…different,” she remarked as Boone flipped another pancake onto the large oval serving platter.
“Different as in good?” He raised an eyebrow at her.
“I don’t know.” She frowned. “But when I smell it, I start to salivate and…and I feel strange here.” She put one hand over her flat stomach. “Hollow somehow. Empty.”
Boone was delighted. “You’re hungry, that’s what you’re feeling. Your suit was probably shooting you up with appetite suppressants along with everything else. How else could they keep you from ever eating anything?”
“What’s hungry?” K seemed honestly curious and Boone was glad to see that for once she didn’t try to deny that her suit had been giving her meds.
“It’s that hollow feeling inside. Your stomach is sending messages to your brain to let you know it’s time to eat. Here, try a bite.” He tore off a tiny piece of warm pancake and held it in front of her mouth. “Come on, darlin’, open up.”
Hesitantly, K parted her lips. Boone popped the shred of pancake into her mouth before she could change her mind and then watched expectantly.
At first she let it sit there on her tongue but then she seemed to get the idea. Slowly, she began to chew and a strange expression came over her delicate features. “It’s sweet,” she said, swallowing at last. “But not as sweet as the shauklat. And it’s warm and soft between my teeth. I like it,” she concluded at last, looking up at him.
“Wait until you try the bacon.” Boone tore off a piece of that and fed it to her before she could protest. K chewed again and her eyes went wide.
“Salty. And crispy. It crunches when I chew it.”
“That’s bacon for you.” Boone grinned. He hadn’t expected to like having to keep K near him constantly—for one thing she was the enemy and for another she didn’t seem to have much of a sense of humor. But this was actually fun.
He’d always enjoyed cooking and introducing others to good food but to actually introduce someone to the entire concept of food was completely different. It was almost as though K was a baby or a child that hadn’t been allowed to mature and she was just now seeing the universe through fresh eyes. I always wanted to be a father, Boone thought dryly as he coaxed her to try the scrambled eggs. But this wasn’t exactly what I had in mind.
He didn’t really see her as a child, though, despite her asexual appearance and unfamiliarity with things he considered basic and everyday. There was too much of the trained killer in her for that. And she had a woman’s self-assured grace and confidence, even if she didn’t have any curves to go with them.
“So you like it?” he asked, giving her another piece of pancake, this time dipped in simulated maple syrup.
“I do. It’s strange but I really do.” She looked thoughtful. “In fact—”
“What the hell is she doing here?”
They both looked up to see Loki standing in the doorway. He was dressed in his usual flamboyant attire with a gold laminate cross-cut shirt and tight blue flack pants tucked into his gold and white boots. Fancy clothes aside, it was the scowl on his face that worried Boone.
“K’s helping me make breakfast,” he said mildly, hoping to defuse the situation.
“You’re letting her touch the food? Great, just great.” Loki threw up his hands. “Why not just hand her a plasma rifle and draw a target on all our heads while you’re at it, Boone? Or better yet, hand her a bottle of poison in case she didn’t bring enough of her own.”
“She’s not poisoning your damn breakfast, Loki. She didn’t even understand the concept of food until about half an hour ago. All her life she’s lived on nutrient drinks and protein paste.”
Loki’s gold ringed eyes widened. “You expect me to believe that?”
“It’s true.” K stepped forward, her eyes flashing. “I have never tasted solid food until Boone gave me some just now. And if I were going to kill you, I would not choose such a cowardly method as poison. There is no honor in such treachery.”
“There’s no honor in attacking an unarmed ship, either, but you did that,” Loki shot back. “Chall is dead because of your honorable methods.”
To Boone’s surprise K actually looked slightly ashamed of herself. He wondered if she realized she was showing more and more emotion as time passed without her suit.
“I did not wish to kill those aboard your vessel,” she said quietly. “I wanted to take the lot of you to the pshalite mines. But my commanding officer ordered that you must all die. He believes Erians are so depraved they cannot even make good slaves.”
“And now you find out you’re one yourself. Ha!” Loki gave her a bitter grin. “That must really burn your hide—Princess Purist a filthy Erian.”
K took a step forward, her black-on-black eyes narrowing dangerously. “I am not like you.”
“No, you’re not. I’m not a soulless killing machine.”
“Okay, okay, that’s enough. Break it up.” Boone stepped between them and put a hand on each of their shoulders. Loki was stiff with anger but what really worried Boone was the tension he could feel coursing through K’s slender frame. Loki could handle himself in a fight but K was a trained killer and Boone was betting she could be lethal, even without her suit.
“I don’t like this,” Loki said, speaking to Boone bu
t still glaring at K who returned his look with an unwavering stare of her own. “I don’t like her being out here with us. She ought to be locked up.”
“And just how will that help?” Boone demanded. He let go of K and backed Loki away so he could lean down and talk to the man privately. “Look, Loki, you said yourself she’s still in full Paladin mode and as long as she stays that way the chance of her helping me get Shayla out of those mines is slim to none.”
Loki raised one perfectly shaped eyebrow. “And you think letting her run loose is the answer?”
Boone sighed in frustration. “I think she needs a chance to realize we’re not the enemy. All she knows about us is what she’s been taught by her superiors which is why she thinks the entire rest of the solar system is inhabited by sex-crazed infidels. If I keep her locked up in my quarters her opinion of us is never going to change.”
“I still don’t like it.” Loki glanced around Boone’s shoulder to glare at K who was standing beside the table, still tense for a fight. “Don’t like it one damn bit.”
“You don’t have to like it. But I need you to deal with it. For me. For Shayla.” Boone searched the other man’s eyes. “Try to understand. I need K’s help if I’m ever going to see my sister again.”
At last Loki looked away. “All right. But I don’t trust her and you shouldn’t either.”
“I’ll keep your advice in mind, as always,” Boone said evenly. He raised his voice. “Now let’s eat before everything gets cold.”
Mom joined them shortly and simmed herself a cup of caffeine brew before sitting down beside Loki. She smiled at everyone and helped herself to the food, remarking that K was a good cook when Boone explained that she’d helped make the meal. Boone was beyond grateful for the graciousness of his navigator. He had never known Mom to get ruffled about anything. No matter how tense the situation was, she had a smile for everyone. He just wished everyone at the table could have such a peaceful attitude. Unfortunately that was not to be—Loki and K were headed for a showdown.
Loki started it innocently enough by addressing K. “So you’ve never eaten anything before?”
“No.” She didn’t elaborate as she had for Boone.
“That’s a shame. And here I thought that protein paste crap was stuff the Purists only gave to their prisoners.”
Boone frowned at him. “You’ve had it?”
“What do you think they fed me in their genetics lab, caviar and shoalin lobster?” Loki made a face. “That paste is awful stuff—so bland.” He looked at K. “Of course the rest of the solar system has access to spices. Like this.” He pulled a small shaker out of the pocket of his gold shirt and began liberally applying it to his eggs.
K frowned. “What is that?”
“Helikat—an Erian spice. It’s a little hot but it certainly peps up these bland eggs you and Boone made.”
“Watch it, Loki,” Boone growled. “I seasoned those.”
“And I bet you did it with Princess Paladin in mind too, didn’t you? You didn’t want to burn her delicate little mouth with too much flavor.”
“It did occur to me that if she’d never eaten food before it would be better to start slow,” Boone admitted. “You wouldn’t feed a newborn baby kansiki peppers.”
“I am not an infant,” K objected. “Eating may be new to me but I am not afraid to try new flavors. Give it to me.” She held out her hand to Loki.
“Darlin’, I don’t think—” Boone began but Loki was already passing the shaker over.
“I’d be careful with that if I were you,” he said blandly. “Too much can burn a hole in your esophagus and put pits in your stomach.”
“K, he’s telling the truth,” Boone said, still trying to stop her. “I tried that stuff once and my mouth burned for a week. Don’t—”
But K had already tapped a generous portion of the bright green helikat over her eggs and taken a huge bite. Boone watched anxiously, expecting her to spit it out. She choked at first and her face turned red but after a moment she swallowed and speared another bite somewhat awkwardly with her fork. It was obvious she had never used utensils before but as with everything else, she was picking it up quickly.
“You don’t have to do that,” Boone told her but she only glared at Loki and ate what was on her fork. Then she went for more.
Loki was watching her, a mocking grin on his puckish features. “I hope you’re enjoying that, Princess. A little taste of your home planet—your true home planet.”
“I would rather die than be from your filthy Impure world.” K took another bite of eggs and swallowed grimly. She was beginning to sweat now, Boone saw with some concern, but she was still eating. Loki was enjoying baiting her and she wasn’t one to back down from a challenge. This little contest wasn’t going to end unless he saw to it himself.
“Okay, that’s enough.” Standing, he whisked K’s plate away from her and dumped the contents down the waste chute. Then he poured her some milk and sat it in front of her.
“What’s this?” K eyed the white liquid mistrustfully even though her cheeks were damp with sweat and tears of pain were standing in her eyes.
“Milk. Drink it—it helps.”
She gave him a single glance and then grabbed the glass and drank in long, thirsty gulps. When she finished the glass she looked up at Boone. “More, please.”
“Can’t handle the heat, hmm?” Loki gave her a nasty smile.
Boone stuck a finger in the pilot’s face. “Enough, Loki. This ends now, I mean it.”
“Ooo, well as long as you mean it then…” But at least Loki shut up and didn’t comment as K finished her second and then a third glass of milk. Boone was worried about her but she didn’t voice any complaints, just kept drinking until the last of the milk was gone. Then she sat back and gave Loki a small, satisfied smile.
“If that’s all your planet can offer I can’t say I’m impressed.”
Loki glowered at her. “I’ll show you what we can offer.”
K raised an eyebrow. “Anytime. Anywhere.”
“I’ll take you up on that…oh, no wait—you’re still a slave to your touch-cravings. It wouldn’t be fair to kick your narrow little Paladin ass when you’d just have to go crying to Boone afterwards.”
“I am not a slave to anything,” K snarled.
“That’s what you think. You think your touch-cravings are bad now? Just wait.” Loki smirked at her. “I know what’s down the road for you, Princess—I’ve been there and lived it. And believe me, it’s not pretty.”
“You don’t know anything about me.” K’s voice was low and dangerous.
“I know everything I need to know. You have Erian DNA which means you’re going to burn, Princess. Burn like your mouth is burning now after eating all that helikat. Just imagine that sensation throughout your entire body.”
K went pale. “What exactly do you mean?”
“Yeah, Loki, what the hell are you talking about?” Boone frowned at him.
“Wouldn’t you like to know?” Loki gave him an arch look.
“Yes, I would.” Boone was tired of playing this game. “K is my responsibility so I need to know how to take care of her. You need to tell me—tell both of us—what to expect.”
“Sorry, Boone, it’s forbidden to reveal too much of the Erian cycle to an outsider.” Loki flicked an imaginary piece of dust off his immaculate sleeve. “I shouldn’t even have told you what I did last night.”
“Well K isn’t an outsider—she’s Erian,” Boone pointed out.
“No, she’s not—not really. She’s a genetic mutation—a freak made in the Purist labs and I do not recognize her as one of my people. Now, if you’ll excuse me…” He stood up from the table and gave Boone an overly elaborate salute. “I need to go check our course and make sure we’re approaching Minotaur at the right trajectory.”
“You said we wouldn’t get there for two damn weeks,” Boone growled.
“That’s just more time for me to make sure we??
?re on course. More time to think over what I know.” He gave K a nasty smile and sauntered off toward the flight deck, leaving Boone to grind his teeth in frustration.
“Oh dear.” Mom looked distressed. “I take it he’s still upset over Chall.”
Boone sighed. “Well, Chall was his touch-partner. And you know Loki—if there’s anything he does better than dressing up it’s holding a grudge.” He looked down at K who was sitting silently at the table, her face blank. What was she thinking behind those strange alien eyes? “K, darlin’, come help me clean up,” he murmured, putting a hand on her shoulder.
She shrugged it off and stood up, making sure to keep her distance from him. “I can manage myself. You do not have a responsibility to take care of me.”
“Yes, I do,” Boone said evenly. “You’re here because I wanted you here—because I need your help. Therefore I have to make sure you’re taken care of.”
“You’re doing a fine job of it so far.” She walked over to the sink where Boone had stacked the dirty pots they’d used. “How do I do this?”
“Don’t you worry about it, K honey.” Mom was suddenly there beside her. “I’ll do these. You and Boone go work things out. And don’t worry about Loki, he likes to pretend he has a secret—makes him feel important. He probably doesn’t know any more than you do about what’s going on with you.”
“Thank you.” There was genuine gratitude on K’s face as she looked down at the shorter woman.
“Yeah, thanks Mom. I’ll do the dishes next time it’s your turn to cook,” Boone said.
She made a shooing motion at him. “Go on and get out of here. Both of you.”
“All right.” Boone jerked his head at K, careful not to touch her. It was clear that even the most casual contact still set her on edge, even though she needed it. “Come on, K.”
“Where are we going?” she asked, following him out of the mess hall.
“To work off some tension.”
Chapter Six
“Sorry about the grav setting. I like to keep it around Colossus-normal or I don’t get a very good work out and now it seems to be stuck.” Boone was fiddling with the gravity setting controls on the wall of the small, ill equipped gym he’d brought her to in order to ‘work off some tension.’ But he didn’t seem to be having much luck.