Not how long was I going to be here, but how long did I get to stay? The phrasing gave me hope that he was as reluctant to part as I was.
“Three days this time. Hopefully, a lot longer the next time.”
Kit nodded, picking his hot dog up again to take a bite.
“That looks good. I think I’ll go order one,” I said, trying my damndest to play it cool, as if seeing that go into his mouth didn’t give me other ideas. Not about food either, but certain other sausage shaped things I’d dearly love to see disappear between his stretched lips. I subtly adjusted myself beneath the table before standing up.
“Take your tablet,” Kit called after me as I began to walk away. “You’ll need it for them to note on your ration account.”
I turned back to fetch it off the table, totally not feeling silly for forgetting that the Fleet famously did not use money the way we did. They had a sort of barter system where all anyone had to do was ask for something, and they’d get it, but they kept track of what everyone requested to ensure no one was taking unfair advantage of the system. Presumably, if someone got greedy, they were simply told no, although I was unsure exactly how that actually worked. Tablet in hand once more, I turned back around and strode over to the kiosk. I was third in line, so I took the time to read the menu. There was not only the expected assortment of hot dogs, but several I’d never seen offered anywhere else. One of them in particular struck my fancy, so as soon as it was my turn, I decided to go for it.
”I’d like a Taco Dog, please, with a vanilla Coke.”
“And would you like mild, medium, or hot sauce?” the fresh faced young woman behind the counter asked me.
“How hot are we talking?”
“If you’re used to Taco Bell, the spice levels are about the same, so the hot isn’t very hot in the grand scheme of things,” she confided, “and the medium is right between Taco Bell Mild and Hot.”
Still too hot for my comfort if I had the hottest though, especially given what the refried beans were going to do to me later. “Medium,” I said, deciding that mild was playing it too safe. I just hoped my asshole would forgive me later.
“Jalpanos?”
“Can you only put three individual ones on, spread evenly across?” She smirked. “Yeah, we can do that.” She leaned forward conspiratorially. “I love the taste of the hot, but my stomach rains down fire, so I do exactly the same thing when I order one of these.”
Sensing a kindred spirit, I smiled. “Cool, thank you.”
“Oh, if you want to cool it, we can add sour cream.”
”Yes, please. Um, can you add extra?”
“Yup, no problem. Before or after we add the crushed tortillas?”
“A bit before, then add some guac on top, and then the extra sour cream?”
She gave me a wink. “Noted. And what sort of cheese would you like? Colby, Monterey Jack, Pepper Jack, or Cheddar?”
“Monterey Jack,” I decided.
”And would you like anything else?”
“Just the Taco Dog and vanilla Coke.”
“Alrighty then, I just need to scan your tablet there,” she said.
I presented it, and she walked me through unlocking it so her register could sync to it. That done, she turned away to assemble my hot dog and grab my bottle of soda.
“A glass bottle?” I asked in surprise, seeing it.
“Yup. There’s a soft drink bottling plant up here now, bottles all the major brands, and the bottles are recycled into atoms and remade as needed. They chose glass as that was the overwhelming choice when polled. I gotta say, it tastes better out of a glass bottle than a plastic one or a can.” She popped the top for me. “Enjoy!”
“I will. Thanks!”
I picked up my tray and took it back to Kit’s table. “This is so cool,” I told him, sitting down. “I mean, I’ve seen representations on TV and in movies, but they’ve never shown that you guys have actual parks and artificial skies and shit.”
“Playtime Fleet does,” he countered. “I’ve seen memes using stills from that.”
“Yes, but that’s a make believe world that’s not entirely accurate,” I pointed out.
