Patterson was crowded in the Galley together with Garvey, Stocky, and Nieves to make supper for the day. She was teaching the team to prepare kontomire. They had all eaten the stew before. She watched Stocky put the chopped cocoyam leaves into the boiling water and cover the pot, and then she laid out the salted tilapia and catfish on the cutting board.
“Roughly cut this up. You want large chunks.”
He nodded and quickly divided the fish into several large pieces.
She looked over at Garvey and saw he had finished grinding the pumpkin seeds in the mortar. Although the seeds of the Egusi gourd were traditionally used, the Nineveh could not afford the space to grow an inedible gourd. Growing pumpkins produced a suitable substitute, and they could eat the flesh of the pumpkin some other time. His eyes met hers and he said, “I’m done.”
“Great. Get the pan hot and we’ll prepare the oil and spices.”
He energized the electric burner and set the pan on it. Although it was called a pan, it was close to being a stockpot. It was very deep with vertical sides. Specially adapted cookware such as this was the norm for starships because they allowed for safer usage when cooking in rotating habitats and their very noticeable (and potentially variable) Coriolis effect.
Garvey pulled down the curtain and set the oil nearby to wait for the pan to warm. The curtain was an absorbent contraption again to aid in cooking with the Coriolis effect from simulated gravity. There wasn’t a gravitational force on the Nineveh. Nothing pulled an object down, instead the surfaces of the Nineveh constantly applied inward forces to objects within the ship, pushing up on them. Any oil that spattered out of the pan would hurl upward (weightless) and the curtain would move to meet it (due to acceleration from rotation) and absorb it if it escaped the pan. The cook worked on the side that was safe from splatter.
She was satisfied with Garvey’s work. But then again, he knew how to cook kontomire and had done it many times. Having the four of them working together in the galley was more of a chance for Stocky and Nieves to learn how. And also to talk about killing the crew. She looked at Stocky. “The four of us will be the aggressor team for the exercise the Captain wanted. How do you want to go about it?”
“How do you want to go about it?” he asked back.
“Me? I’m just a Sci-Med Officer. What do I know about operations or tactical exercises?” She watched Garvey put the pan on the heating plate and set the chopped onions and the spices beside it. He opened the bottle of red palm oil (which was the traditional cooking oil for kontomire but was also one of the more widely available cooking oils in the Outers due to its high yield per acre in the O’Neill cylinders) and waited for the temperature of the pan to rise. She turned back at Stocky and caught him quickly shift his eyes away from her breasts. He breathed uneasily like he knew he was caught.
Patterson grinned and thought about Stocky’s behavior. Nieves was here, and she was a very attractive woman. Nieves had lustrous black hair, dark brown eyes, and gorgeous eyelashes. Patterson rarely coveted anything from another woman. But she did covet Nieves’ eyelashes. She could get out of bed in the morning and they were long and beautiful with no work. It was easier for a woman with dark hair.
Stocky hadn’t shown any interest in Nieves though, just her. This puzzled her. She had caught Stocky looking at her breasts before, but not often. He did it no more than anyone else. And Nieves was quite curvy too, even if not as big up top. She was also tall like her. So, the only thing she could think of for the difference in interest was personality – Nieves was incredibly soft spoken and shy. Could he develop an interest in Qureshi? She’s confident and outgoing…if I could clear away her depression. Nieves might be a match since they are both outcasts. But maybe it’s just me?
She leaned back against the counter, thrusting her chest out. “So, how do you want to do it?” She wasn’t wearing her lab coat (She never wore it in the galley – it was draped over a chair on the Mess) and her light shirt clung to her figure. The lines of her bralette pushed through its fabric. She looked at the pan on the heating plate but really focused upward on his eyes with her peripheral vision.
“I don’t know,” he said. “It doesn’t feel right to me. I would rather someone walk me through how a request like this is normally done.”
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
He didn’t look and didn’t seem to notice. Her breasts weren’t the reason for his infatuation. They might be a part of it, but there was definitely something else. It was a strange puzzle, and strange behavior from a replicant. And yet no unusual behaviors were documented in his psychological file. Garvey seemed to notice her stunt though.
“Are you going to show us how to make pounded yam to go with this?” Garvey asked, grinning ear to ear. “It’s a traditional compliment.”
She gave him a cold glance. “You can pound your own yam.”
Nieves silently glanced back and forth amongst them as if frightened while Garvey laughed it off.
Patterson looked back at Stocky while standing straight. “It’s just an exercise.”
He shook his head. “I don’t think it will help me fit in.”
“Nah, it will,” Garvey said. He dumped the onions in the heated oil and they began to sizzle. “Captain thinks you have great potential with us and he’s giving you a chance to show it. He’s got to want some sort of shock value. He’s always split the crew evenly before with repel boarders. I don’t ever remember an exercise with only four against ten.”
Garvey was certainly right about that. De Silva was intentionally giving the crew something unexpected. “The Captain doesn’t want the crew to be complacent. The Engineering checks will be done soon, and he wants the crew to relax but remain focused. We’re dealing with aliens. Anything can happen.” You’re the closest thing we have to an alien. What would you do?
“We might as well work together and try to do a good job,” Nieves said. “We’ll look like clowns if we don’t. Captain won’t accept us not doing our best.”
Patterson glanced at the onions frying in the oil. They had already started to become translucent but had further to go. As did the cocoyam. She reminisced on a shore leave incident in one of the shady districts a while back and looked back at Stocky. “You smashed up those androids pretty good in Twin Star City.”
“Those were androids,” he said. “And I gave those men a fair chance to order their property to stand down. I didn’t give any impression that I would hurt humans.”
It had been an uncanny experience for the crew recently. The galactic riffraff had a great sense for knowing who was being paid well. They were also quick to learn when to back away. “I don’t know if everyone on Gaganyaan tram station was sure about that. But, in the end, it didn’t matter, did it? And it won’t cause any problems here either. Everyone will know that the Captain ordered us to do it.”
“If you’re not going to try,” Nieves said, “then there is no point in us trying either. We might as well explain to him now why we can’t be a team.”
“Man, just pretend like they’re your old crew,” Garvey said.
Stocky looked at him with evident concern and she told Garvey to stop.
He doesn’t even care that they treated him as a slave. Don’t provoke animus when there is no reason to have it.
“If it’s fine for us to do it then it’s fine for you also. We’re one ship, one crew, one family.”
“It’s true,” Nieves said. “We don’t want to treat you any differently. That’s why we asked you to think about a name. I like Elvis, if you’re open to suggestions.”
She tried to muffle her laughter. Garvey did too.
He doesn’t look like an Elvis.
“What?” Nieves asked. “Elvis is a nice name!”
She nodded in agreement. It is a nice name. He just doesn’t look like an Elvis. She looked up at Stocky, still grinning. “If you like the name, it’s great.”
“I don’t like the name,” he said.
“No, don’t listen to them!” Nieves said. “Decide if you like it. Do what you want and choose what you want.”
Stocky nodded at Nieves and said, “I’ll think about it. And I’ll play the Captain’s game, just tell me how you want to do it.”
“Stocky, you’re the only one who’s going to be able to kill them all. How do you want to do it?”
He jerked his head as if agitated. “Why don’t you make the plan? You’re the officer.”
“A Staff Officer, not a Line Officer. You’re the senior man here in the operations authority structure. I just do Sci-Med stuff.”
“I really think the Captain wanted you to lead the op,” Garvey said.
“Alright,” Stocky said. “He probably does want to test me like that. But then what do you recommend?”
“We got to whittle down their numbers,” Garvey said with a shrug. “So, we’re going to have to come up with a few good traps.”
“We won’t have the time.”
“Yes, we will,” Stocky said. “If each of us can operate separately from the rest then we can lead them into crossfires.”
“See, I’m telling you,” Garvey said. He waved a knife as he spoke.
“That’s high risk, high reward,” Nieves said.
“The odds are against us,” Stocky said. “We’re not guaranteed to win. And we won’t by being cautious.” He beckoned Nieves to come over to him, and he gave her the knife when she did. “Strike the cutting board. I’ll try to stop you.” He stood with his hands down at his sides.
“Why?” she asked. She seemed afraid.
“Just do it,” he said. “To do this, we have to move fast, think fast, and act fast.”
“I guess,” she said. She looked at the others and got nods of approval. Then she raised the knife up and struck downward.
Stocky caught her arm before the tip of the knife struck the board. “That’s not bad for a human. I’m not belittling you.”
“I’ll do it.” Patterson grinned confidently while Stocky tried to size her up. You’re in for a surprise. Nieves timidly handed her the knife and she stepped up to the cutting board on the counter and struck. Stocky grabbed her arm too, but she had already stabbed wood.
“That’s pretty good,” he said, smiling. “For a splicer.”
She smirked. It’s going to be like that then.