“Here, try this,” she said.
The role reversal was startling but also made him feel cherished.
Humans fed each other as a sign of affection. Even if the food was absolutely disgusting, he would swallow it down without complaint.
Opening his mouth, he accepted the spoonful. She withdrew the utensil and watched him intently. He chewed, surprised by the subtle and pleasing flavors.
“That’s good!” he exclaimed, making Han slump sideways with laughter.
“You’re so shocked!” she gasped, her face turning red with amusement.
“I’m not used to…Ugarian food,” he grumbled.
“I don’t think you’re used to much of anything outside your own species," she said, wiping her eyes as she sat back up. “Not that your jorjuk stew isn’t tasty, but there’s other good food out there.”
“As I’m learning,” he agreed and used her technique of filling one spoon with grain then using the second spoon to pour otherfood over it. By the time he’d tried all the different flavors on his plate, she was pushing hers away.
He was surprised to notice her plate was only half empty. Was she finished already?
“I eat fast,” she said when she noticed him looking at her plate. “It’s a bad habit. Don’t rush; we have some time to enjoy a meal.”
It was true, it would be at least three marks before they finished attaching the shipping containers to the ship’s undercarriage. Although his ship hadn’t originally been designed to carry cargo, someone had retrofitted container brackets and added extra boosters. He’d been assured all the work had been done well, but he still half expected to be unable to leave the dock!
“Tell me about why you travel so much,” he said before taking his next bite.
Her brow wrinkled slightly, and the corners of her mouth turned down briefly. “I don’t want to talk about that right now.”
That answer made him even more curious and worried for her. Was she doing something she thought of as distasteful? Did she think he’d look down on her?
“I’d never judge someone for their profession,” he said.
“That’s sweet,” she said. “Let’s talk about where we’re going. Why are we taking supplies to Misorm?”
“My sister is there,” he said. “She sent me a message asking if I could do this for her. She’s never asked me for anything, so this is important.”
The corners of her mouth turned back up and her brow smoothed. He liked this expression much more.
“Family is important,” she said. “Misorm isn’t part of the Talin Empire, is it? I thought it was Leemron.”
“No one owns the planet. There’s a treaty between my empire, the Leemron Collective, and the Hoquin Republic of Planets allowing all scientists of all three species to study the uniqueecology there. My sister is a botanist and stationed there for several rotations. There’s limited access, and I think she might be having a difficult time getting anyone to deliver a shipment to her because she’s doing independent research and not working for a government agency.”
“Where is this planet?” she asked, then widened her eyes when he named the sector. “Wow, she must be really committed to her work to go to such a remote location. And you’re a good brother to help her.”
Her comment made him think about his childhood. “She was a dedicated and kind sister when we were growing up in the cresh.”
“What’s a cresh?” she asked. “Is that a type of school?”
“In a way,” he said, then took another bite before answering. “It’s not efficient for our parents to raise children, so we are raised in a cresh with highly trained and skilled staff. When we reach the adultlette stage, we leave the cresh and join our family to decide what career we will pursue. Although my family favors academics, I decided to join the military. My sister followed our aunt's influence and became a botanist.”
“Wait, you mean you don’t live with your family growing up?” Han said, sounding outraged. “Your mom gives birth to you and then shoves you in a cresh? You don’t even get to go home for holidays?”
“We don’t give birth,” he answered. He didn’t understand why she was so upset over something so normal. “The parents contribute genetic material, and the cresh grows the children in artificial wombs. My parents were dutiful and visited my sister and I every solar.”
“Solar,” she murmured. “That’s a year, right?”
“I believe so,” he said.
Her eyes were wide and her mouth was doing that turned-down thing again, but even worse than earlier. “That’s so sad.”
