Khoth closed his eyes for a moment.
“Launch all ships,” his mother said.
The hangar bay doors of the Ashaton opened and dozens of Paladin-class ships flew out. At that same moment, almost as if choreographed, Gehenna came in, carrying dishes of food in both of her massive metal hands.
“Ta da!” Gehenna presented the food with a flourish, but the timing made it seem she was talking about the ships that were streaming towards Sunrise. “Lunch is served!” Catching sight of the ships quickly descending towards Earth, she amended, “Oh… or not.”
“We can eat and work,” Jace said with an ease that both impressed and worried Khoth.
How easy was it exactly for Jace to destroy the Alliance? Would it rest at all on his conscience since the Alliance had struck the first blow? But he immediately rejected these things. Jace could kill, but he was not a killer. No death would rest lightly upon Jace’s Xi.
“Okay,” Gehenna tried to sound easy about this, but she awkwardly placed a plate before each of them.
A burger and fries along with a Coke--Khoth recognized these items from his orientation--were put in front of Jace. Immediately, Jace took the burger in both hands and took a big bite of it, eyes closing in pleasure before they abruptly flew open and he made a gagging sound. He grabbed the napkin and spit out the burger into the cloth.
“Oh, dear! What’s wrong?” Gehenna cried, her arms lifting into the air in what likely wasn’t meant to be a menacing way, but came off that way just the same.
“Jace?” Alarm had Khoth half rising from his seat, but Jace waved both of them off.
“I’m okay. It’s just… gah! What is this? It’s terrible!” Jace pointed at the burger that lay on its side like a fallen soldier.
Khoth immediately scanned the food and gave a grunt. “It is made out of--”
“Space paste!” Jace’s eyes narrowed as if he had been betrayed. “It only looks like a burger and fries, but it’s really--”
“Far more nutritious for you,” Khoth stated, relieved that Jace was eating something that did not have cancerous chemicals in it or far too much sweetener.
“It looks like the Osiris made a mistake with your taste buds,” Gehenna clucked.
“My taste buds are fine. It’s this food--God, I can’t even call it food--that’s the problem!” Jace cried.
“Try it now,” Gehenna said with a gesture at the burger.
“God, no! I am not going to be on the toilet for a week like my dad was! Even if I could choke it down, I wouldn’t.” Jace shook his head violently. “I’m trying to convince a galactic alliance to accept humanity and myself as equals and the Osiris is trying to get me to eat space paste! And you’re helping it, Gehenna! You ought to be ashamed!”
“You won’t get sick. I promise you! We can’t keep beef and potatoes and ketchup… Well, we can’t have human food on board, plus food for every other species. There’s not enough room and it would go bad,” Gehenna explained. “Protein paste is the best option. Tuning your taste buds to like it, to think it tastes like things you enjoy is the only way to go.”
Jace glowered at her. “Dad got sick--”
“You won’t. Try a french fry. Pretty please, Jace?” Gehenna brought her metal claws together as if in prayer.
Jace glared from her to the french fry. He picked up one and dipped it into the ketchup. He bit the tiniest piece of it off. His forehead, which had been bunched, cleared slightly and he took another bite.
“This isn’t half bad,” Jace admitted as he popped the rest of the french fry into his mouth. “I don’t understand how the Osiris got the fries right, but not the burger.”
“Try the burger again.” Gehenna sounded ridiculously pleased with herself.
Jace suspiciously raised the burger to his mouth again and took another mini-bite. His expression changed to happiness and he devoured another bite of it.
“What the Hell?” Jace spoke through a full mouth. “It tastes great!”
“I know! I adjusted your taste buds!” Gehenna clapped her claws together and her blood red eyes glowed brighter. “Now everything in your meal should taste just as good as the best meal you’ve had like this one.”
Jace was bobbing his head as he stuffed another ketchup-laden fry in his mouth. “Dad’s going to be on the ship, too, Gehenna. Will the food taste as good for him?”
“Once we get true human biology down, it should be quite tasty for him and any other human crew! You, of course, will always have the best experience because of our connection!” Gehenna rocked back and forth on her metal feet with a clunking sound.
“Give Khoth his meal, too,” Jace said with a guilty glance at the plate that Gehenna had placed on the table while waiting on him.
