“I don’t know,” Anandra admitted in a small voice, sounding miserable.
She contemplated the top of his head, coming to a decision a second later.“I’ll bring you something as soon as I can.”
She’d heard children liked to put things in their mouths.If providing food would keep him from nibbling on something he shouldn’t, it was a small price to pay.
Besides, Gus knew what hunger was.That gnawing pain in the gut that became all you could think about.The only thing worse was when that feeling faded, leaving you numb as you wasted away.
No child would starve while in her care.She was a hermit, not a monster.No matter what her nightmares told her sometimes.
Three
Gusrelaxedassoonas the greenhouse locked behind her.The solitude to which she’d become accustomed embracing her like an old friend.
Finally.Some peace and quiet.
She’d missed this.
For a second, Gus was tempted to seek out the comfort of her bed.She could take a nap.Ignore her problems for the next little while.But no, there were too many things requiring her attention.The boy needed to be fed.Not to mention, there was still her orchid to get settled.Then there were messages to be checked.Oh, yeah, and the issue of the bodies.They’d need disposing of eventually.
The only thing working in her favor was that Caius would be out for hours.Perhaps days.
Gus let out a weary sigh, already tired.Except for the orchid, everything else sounded exhausting.
First things first.
Gus headed toward her kitchen and grabbed one of the prepackaged meals she kept on hand for whenever she was home.
The ingredients came mostly from what she grew herself.Human food, with a few exceptions, was nasty.Some of it was also poisonous to her kind.When the decision had come to make Titan her home, she created an expansive vegetable and fruit orchard in the two back containers.
Protein was still a bit of an issue, but there were enough human alternatives for Gus to survive.
She grabbed one of the more protein dense meals and stuck it in the warmer.Next, she took out one of her sauce pots and filled it with water before setting it on an electric burner.While she waited for the water to boil, she bustled over to her spice rack, selecting a couple whole green cardamom pods, a cinnamon stick, a whole clove, star anise and ginger.
She added all of them to a mortar and pestle, breaking them up slightly to release their oils before adding them to the pot of water.
Before long, the scent of the spices filled the air.
There were easier and quicker ways to make masala chai, but after the day she’d had, Gus was craving the sense of ritual and comfort that this method gave her.
Also, the depth of flavor obtained from choosing and grinding her own blend of spices was unparalleled.
When the spices finished infusing, she added black tea leaves and let them steep for a few minutes before pouring in her milk substitute.Since there were no cows on Titan, it was the closest she could hope to get.Gus let everything steep for a few more minutes as she grabbed two mugs off the shelf.
The first she poured for herself.The second she set aside to take to Anandra later.
Carrying her mug of chai, Gus retrieved the Nakawa orchid.Ignoring the trawler full of dead bodies, she headed into her workshop to gather everything she needed to transplant the orchid into its new home.
Her workshop was the backbone of the complex, taking up an entire container on its own.This was where she kept the tools of her trade.Everything from gloves, to buckets full of various types of dirt, rocks and fertilizer.
A large worktable took up the center of the room.There was a cutout at one end for Gus to sweep cuttings and dirt into once she was done.A sink sat in one corner.Next to it was a cabinet that held her vault of seeds and a few other odds and ends.The fridge where she kept some of the more temperature sensitive supplies was on the same wall.
On the opposite side of the space were shelves and a giant pegboard where her hori hori knives were as proudly displayed as others might the weapons of a bygone era.
Stopping in front of the fridge, Gus opened it and pulled out a pack of pre-processed animal bones.The name on the side identified them as arapo.A species similar to the deer of old Earth that were native to one of the Consortium’s planets.
Epsilon, if Gus remembered right.
Truthfully, she couldn’t always be bothered to know which animal belonged where.
