They both continued to stand there for a few more minutes.
"Well, is the meal going to appear?" she finally asked after a few minutes.
Harbin blinked.
Where was the meal going to come from?
"I can have--"
Data hit him from Master System. An updated file on how to serve a meal to the Terran woman.
"Come," he said and walked back into the suite for the ambassadors. New data had been updated into their food replicator. As soon as he accessed it, the menus began to appear.
She followed him and stood over his shoulder. "Oh, the poultry salad sounds perfect."
He pressed a few controls to make the meal for her.
"Have you ever had it?" she asked.
"No."
"Join me, please. You can try something new, and I can visit with you about your world.”
He paused and looked over his shoulder at her. “What would you like to know?”
Immediately, he accessed Master System.
Protocol for talking about Sol system to the Terran Emissary.
Master System answered in a moment.Answer questions, except military secrets.
He had a similar thought but appreciated confirming it with Master System.
The food processor opened with two large, green bowls of vegetables and chunks of poultry. An additional bottle appeared with a sweet-smelling sauce in it.
He glanced at her again. “Does this look right to you?”
She came back over—what she’d been doing, he didn’t know—and looked at the food. “Oh yes, that makes my mouth water just looking at it.”
He picked up the tray that held the food and turned. “Where,” he said and paused.
She had cleared off the little table and moved the seats a bit closer, so the table separated the two chairs. It was a perfect little set-up for them to eat together.
“Take that right over there,” she said, and gestured to the table, and turned to the food preparation machine. “And I’ll get some water for us to drink.”
He walked over to the table and sat both bowls down, one in front of each chair. There were utensils on the tray, a set for each bowl, and he added them to the food. The bottle of sauce he put in the middle.
In a moment, she came back with two glasses of plain water.
“This looks quite lovely,” she said as she sat one glass down for each of them. “You did pretty well setting the table,” she said with a smile. “Do you have meals at tables, then?”
He shook his head. “Most of our nutrients are intravenously fed as needed.”
She paused again and stared at him, just for a moment, but then came back to herself, he assumed, since she continued speaking. “But you can eat.”
“Yes. We have functioning digestive systems.”
She picked up a utensil and stirred her food. “I apologize if I offended. I truly was just curious. It’s part of my job to ask questions.”
