Ryee put a warm hand on my shoulder. Frowned. “If you can ne go home, have you foods here? After strong healing, one must eat.”
Derees walked towards the sleeping area. “I will bring crackers from the wallkitchen. Later, I will help Vonn trade for some good food.”
“I am all right. Crackers are enough.” How much trade is food? The only food we ever got from Areon Hub was dahsee, on our birthdays! A week’s salary. I kept one dahsee in my alt storage and feared to touch it. Aronna should have it, the next time she needed a surprise if she became upset. How will she feel when we do not come home?
He rushed back with a platter of crackers. Lifted one. Frowned. Sniffed it. “Oh, the kitchen is kaput! Ugh!” A wave brought a simulant to vaporize it.
Ryonne~ startled and waved a menu. Foods there were mostly pastries. “Please, choose a food! I fear you shall be very unwell!”
Oh, everything looked delicious! But I must not take advantage— “I cannot take your food! Never saw such a variety in a kitchen!”
“On Ye~, this menu is the same for all. Rare ingredients come to bakers for a festival, to celebrate a marriage or discovery. Please, choose.” Then he looked at Tanda. And, your other scientist?”
I waved her over. “Here is Tanda Weiss. She researches nitrogen production from waste rock.”
“Thank you, for saving Adia’s life! How did you leap over all those counters to get to her? How did you know she needed healing?”
Ryee’s hand tightened on my shoulder. “I felt her pain, through my telepathy! As for counters, they are ne difficult.” He leapt, flatfooted, over my counter and back again, sitting by me! Tanda giggled. So did I!
Many choices. He let us taste each using his telepathy. As we looked over the menu, the others came back.
Citsa and Ossy had huge plates, and the smells from their food tortured me! Beside their feast was a platter of blue dahsee.
“Vonn, Derees, have you hunger?” They joined us in my area and we feasted. After I tasted, I decided this food was better than anything Areon had to offer!
“You should have seen him leap over these counters! Would you show him, Ryonne~?” Tanda smiled.
Again, Ryee leapt from sitting by me, over my counter, and back again, sitting.
Vonn giggled. “Oh, I wish I could—”
“Must you boast, Zheien? Surely you know that the best Areonian athlete could not do that!” Ossy took a bite of dahsee and dropped crumbs.
“I meant ne disrespect—”
Vonn strode to him. “If you cannot be polite, you may leave. The Alliance would not think highly of you offending a diplomat, would they?”
“I was merely joking—”
“You were not, and there are laws against upsetting people! You do know that EDs record?” He pointed to one, floating in a corner. Hovered behind a light fixture, and the rotating fins on it reflected. I gasped!
Ryee hummed something pretty, and I felt calm.
“Bring up all of your progs. When we finish eating, Derees and I shall inspect. You also, Citsa.”
Her mouth dropped open, but Ossy nudged her arm. Both waved up their prog screens. Furiously dragged symbols about. Citsa’s sloppy eating as she did this made it hard for me not to laugh. Tanda noticed and stifled a smile. Ossy was worse. Containments held their spills. Frivolous progs! Will they bring an Energy Inspector to our department?
With a jerk, Vonn waved a privacy screen for us. Smiled. “Now we may get to know one another while we have lunch.”
Derees smiled and touched Ryee’s forearm. “My friend, I enjoyed your leap! Tell me, what do these foods taste like?”
His mind pointed to them, and I tasted them! Giggled. One was very like dahsee! FFbah. Also tasted several small pastries.
Vonn laughed aloud as he sat by Derees. “Oh, I will be very sad when you leave us! I want to try that hot and spicy one!”
The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
Ryee waved plates that floated to us.
“What is this material? It is warm, like the crystal I found on the Barrens!” I waved up a holo of it. Ryee paled. Why?
“Eaezhfee, a compound that is plentiful on Zhea~ and many worlds of the Sixth. We brought much with us when we colonized Ye~. I can run an analysis of your crystal, if you give permission.” Looked at Vonn, and he nodded, so I did. They came from so far away? Travel from the Sixth Galaxy to the Seventh would take months in our ships!
“My friend, you may run any progs you like. Perhaps you detect useful minerals that we can use from that area. Security monitors, so you would see a warning if they objected.”
A holo popped up with complicated progs. He frowned. “It is ne a Zheien terminal. My analysis shows nothing, but I sent it to our Science Council. Perhaps their progs can tell you more.”
Vonn studied the display and Ryee made it more detailed. “I never saw a prog screen like this.”
“We are Unified Science Service, and the interface is S’ai Zheien. All of us wished to share this tech with the Alliance, but ne Alliance Hub has capacity for progs required. While I am here, I can provide much. Where found you this?”
I waved up a holo of the location with coords. “One cave in the Barrens. Interesting minerals there. My father warned me to stay away from it—” Why tell him that?
“Did he? Why?”
“He tried to touch it and it hurt! Papa had headaches for a week.”
“Eja fae ne! Did you touch?”
“It did not hurt me. I keep it in my pocket.” How would he react if he knew it floated to my hand, as if a containment moved it?
“What does he say about this?” Ryee opened his eyes wide, but his eyebrows did not move.
I looked down. “He does not know.”
“We will not tell him, will we, Vonn?” Derees finished his roll and Ryee waved another on his plate. He smiled, big!
“No. Your secret is safe with us, Adia. Mmm, this pastry is wunderbar! Have you tried yours?”
I picked it up and took a bite. Oh, FFbah was better than dahsee! Flavor changed three distinct times as I ate. How is it possible?
Ryee waved up his screen. He had progs from ten scientists, including my parents and Maia, who sat in our dining room! They all looked at our lab, then to their displays. With a finger corner, he slid code around between the progs. All watched with delight. Waved.
“There. Now all in Eicken may use the interface by thinking to the terminals!” Mama and Maia smiled at me as their holos faded. Our personal menus came up. I noticed an interface for holos allowing messages between us. Went dark. Why?
Vonn fumbled his platter! “So soon? Wonderful!” He finished his pastry. All of us had two, and Derees ate a third. Two was more than I usually wanted. I still felt hungry and sleepy, but not as much now. My stomach was too full for more.
“Were you not hungry, Ryee? You did not eat.” I gave him my plate, but he ran a vaporizer. Surely it collects the compound for reuse.
He smiled. “I ate this morning, Madame Rayaline. Areonians eat more oft than a Zheien. When you need, my menu will appear on your Hub menu while I am here.”
“Please, call me Adia! I am not old enough for ‘Madame Rayaline’, at 18.” I giggled.
A huge smile crossed his face. Felt tingles on my skin. “Ea yeo, Adia! I am very happy to be your friend.” His golden eyes opened wide.
Tanda put a hand on my shoulder. “Now, perhaps, you will eat more this two weeks. That horrible kitchen! You are too thin.” I worried that she would feel my heartbeat, it pounded so. But she had a big smile on her face. Discreetly winked a blue eye.
“If you like, I will ask Be~saech to look. He is well with kitchen progs.”
I was grateful to her for the distraction.
“Would you? We will need a functioning kitchen for next time we must live here.” Vonn studied his menu. “Be~saech must be very skilled to know kitchen progs! Ryee, did you provide this means to share research?”
“I added the standard Science Service interface, which allows scientists to share research if they wish. Alliance and Unified ScSv uses it. See you a problem?”
Vonn pointed to the gray icon. “Why would it be deactivated if it is standard? Because Areon’s Science Service is not Alliance?”
“That is possible. Local governments have their protocols, though it is very unusual for one to forbid communication between scientists. You are allowed contact?”
“As Lead Scientist, I am. Sending holos while at work is forbidden, even between scientists sharing research. Director Pragate told me Governor Schwer forbids it because he sees it as idle conversation.”
Vonn glanced at Ossy and Citsa. They were staring at us. He frowned. Through the privacy screen? Realized Tanda sat between them and me. I squeezed her shoulder.
“If he knew I spent a third of my workday speaking with Joleon in Conventional Fuels? Asking questions that others could ask individual scientists? Perhaps he would see the importance of it.”
Derees shook his head. “I wish I could help you with it.”
Vonn chuckled. “My friend, you already do more work than anyone but for Adia. How many headaches you get helping in my trading!
“Pragate submitted a detailed request for us to become Alliance Science Service, for the War Effort, and Schwer threatened to replace him.”
Ryee’s eyes opened impossibly wide! Under any world’s Alliance charter, they are required to have an Alliance Trade Office, and an Alliance Science Service in addition to any local entities that duplicate functions. You are saying Areon does not have an Alliance Science Service?