13. Evan
EVAN
The smell of something delicious permeated my sleep fogged brain.
“Unnh, what time is it?” I looked at my watch, which I’d synced to local time as soon as our ship entered the solar system. I blinked. That couldn’t be right. He’d let me sleep three hours?
I scrambled out of bed, hurriedly washing my face as I’d drooled in my sleep.
Probably because the food smells so good.
My stomach growled in demanding agreement.
“Oh, hey, Dad!” Jason greeted me as he set a side plate down onto the table.
“D.D. and I were just about to wake you - we’ve just finished making dinner.
” He grinned. “I buttered the bread and cut it into triangles and replicated some chocolate syrup to add to our glasses of milk. D.D. made the stew and sliced the bread. Did you know he makes his own bread?”
“I do know,” I replied, eyeing the soft aqua slices slathered with rich yellow butter. I realized the flour had to be made from local wheat and smiled as the thought came to me about how he’d baked a loaf of bread that color coordinated with the kitchen.
“The butter was churned here on the farm from our very own kilt-ha,” Thalen informed me with a shy but proud smile upon his face.
“The milk too,” Jason piped up, fetching two of the glasses of chocolate milk. “I tasted it already without the chocolate. It’s a little different from cow’s milk, but better, I think.”
“It has a higher fat content,” Thalen explained. “And is a bit sweeter.”
I took a hesitant taste from the glass Jason gave me. I blinked in surprise. It was richer and sweeter, almost like I was drinking melted ice cream.
“See? Told ya it was yummy!” Jason laughed as Thalen brought over two steaming bowls of stew, which he placed in front of Jason and me. Then he went back for the last glass of milk and another bowl before returning to take his seat.
I looked down at the stew, wondering what the small hot pink lumps and the little dark blue circles were, next to whatever kind of meat was in it.
Jason pointed into his bowl. “The pink thing is a space potato, and the little blue bits are kinda like carrots. The floaty yellow things are space onions.”
“And the meat is kilt-ha,” Thalen finished for him.
That didn’t sound too bad, though I knew from reading and Jesse's channel that kilt-ha could either taste like chicken or pork depending on which part of the animal it came from. I liked both chicken and pork, so that didn’t matter.
I picked up my spoon and blew on the steaming stew enough to cool it before taking an experimental bite.
Jason was busily eating a slice of bread, dunking it into his stew with enthusiasm.
Flavor exploded across my taste buds. The space potato had a bit of a garlicky taste to it while the “carrot” was vaguely nutty.
The space onion definitely tasted like a regular old onion, and the chunks of meat had the texture of chicken breast but definitely tasted more like pork.
The broth had a vaguely lemon and herb taste to it, and somehow, it all simply worked.
“Mm!” I said once I’d chewed and swallowed. “This is fantastic!”
Thalen beamed. “It’s a dish my mother used to make. It’s called borska.”
“Aww! You made us something your mom used to make for you? Did you use her recipe?” I asked, glancing at the pot on the stove.
“I did, and yes.”
“Everything here is so yummy!”
Thalen looked amused by Jason’s assertion.
“Aided perhaps by the appetite you worked up playing.”
Jason shrugged. “Maybe, but I played all the time back on Earth, and nothing tasted as good as what I’ve had here so far.”
“It’s probably because it’s all so fresh. Well, some of it is freshly replicated, but still,” I replied.
“Replicated food is created so that it is at peak freshness. So if you replicate an entire dish, it will be as if the ingredients were brought in straight from the field or butcher’s before the dish was prepared, and if you have it only create ingredients that are at peak freshness for you to use.”
I stared at the replicator next to our table.
“And I thought those things couldn’t get any more incredible,” I murmured, filling my spoon up once more.
“I have something I need to tell you,” Thalen said, changing the subject suddenly.
Whatever it was had him looking uneasy.
“Has something happened to one of the cats?” I asked, glancing at the two snoring lumps in the middle of the floor.
“No, nothing like that. It’s about our bed.”
“You wish we’d kept yours? I thought we’d agreed it wasn’t wide enough.”
“It’s not. It was made for a single Dragonii. But your bed isn’t quite wide enough either and is too short. I realized once I saw you upon it.”
“Well, sh–shoot,” I quickly caught myself, remembering Jason. “So, what do we do?”
“I took the liberty of looking through the catalogue and ordering us a bed and mattress that looks similar but is the correct size.”
“Works for me, but how long until it gets here?”
“Tomorrow afternoon. I will sleep in one of the other bedrooms in my old bed tonight.”
It was a neat, practical solution, but I didn't like it. After my bath time surprise, I’d looked forward to a bit more hanky panky, maybe even a full claiming, which we had to do within a week according to the treaty.
I sighed. “I suppose it can’t be helped.” Then a thought occurred to me. “Did you also order sheets to fit it?”
He shook his head. “I thought I’d let you look through the catalogue and choose those and the coverlet. Our home replicator can make those one set at a time.”
“Ah, okay.” That did sound convenient. “Um, where do I find this catalogue?"
“You’ll have to go onto Bob Net and visit the permanently bookmarked tab that says ‘Home Replication Goods’. The other tab says it’s for the general store, so you will be able to tell them apart easily.” Jason giggled. “Bob Net? The whole internet here is named after Bob?”
“Bob IS the internet here,” Thalen replied, “if I am understanding you correctly.”
Jason and I both stared at him. “That’s just...wow,” I said. “But then, when we were on the Mylos ship, Xeranos was doing it all, so yeah, that makes sense. I just hadn’t connected the dots.”
“Still sounds funny! Bob Net!”
“Someone call my name?” came a voice similar to Xeranos’s, but mellower.
“We were just talking about how to find the replicator catalogues, Bob,” Thalen replied.
“Ah, well, if you need any help, just call my name and let me know what you’re trying to find. The listings can be huge, depending on what you’re after, and I can help narrow down the results for you.”
“Thanks, Bob,” I replied.
“See you in school tomorrow, Jason!" Bob added gaily.
“I thought there wasn’t a school here and I was gonna be homeschooled!”
“That’s true, but it’s a virtual school, and I will be connecting you to it. Be ready at nine a.m. sharp! And don’t worry, I’ll make sure you’re up! Tootles!”
“Aw, man,” Jason muttered, looking down at his now empty bowl of stew. “Can’t I have another day off?” he begged me.
I shook my head. “Better not rock the boat.”
“I hope they won’t be doing fractions or long division,” he sighed. “I hate those.”
“Would you like some more stew?”
Jason perked up. “Yes, please!”
I laughed, thinking about how perfectly we were all fitting together already. I’d made a good choice, applying to adopt, taking in Jason, applying to be a colonist, and taking that mate test. Yes, I certainly had. I’d never felt at home this much anywhere before in my life. It had to be destiny.