Chapter Two

Chapter Two

Casey—Back on the ship…

Casey wandered the halls of DoMicile. It was quiet, and she didn't run into anyone. Brode wanted to check with his brothers about something. She figured it was a good time to find the kitchen. For one thing, she wanted to know what that looked like on a spaceship. But she also wanted something to eat that wasn't… dehydrated crap. She wanted fresh fruit. Vegetables. MEAT. She definitely wanted meat.

If they didn't stock the kitchen with those types of things, she was going to request it. Surely, the brothers didn't eat dehydrated food all the time.

She knew where the dining hall was. Casey headed there, figuring the kitchen had to be near. But she couldn't find it. Standing in the middle of the room, surrounded by the long table and benches, she turned in a circle. There was no door leading behind the gray and black cupboards and countertop. The counter held several rehydration machines and what reminded her of an Earth-style soda machine. That machine dispensed water and something vaguely similar to coffee. Both were cold, and the coffee was weak.

Casey added that to her goal. Figuring out what the coffee was, and if she could heat it and make it stronger. With her hands on her hips, Casey frowned.

"Can I help you find something?" The deep voice scared her to death.

Squealing, she swung around and put up her fists. Ready to fight.

Casey didn't relax when she found another brother. This one was orange. Dressed in the loose gray pants and shirt the brothers seemed to favor, he quickly backed away from her, leaving her a clear path to the hall. With his hands out in front of him, he apologized. "I'm sorry. I didn't realize you wouldn't hear me and I should have. My name is TaBOBy. My brothers call me Tab."

Startled laughter about his name made her feel better. She shook her head. "Not Tab. Tabby. I'm sorry. It has to be Tabby. Your skin is the same color as my cat back home. She was an orange tabby."

He frowned. "Cat. A small feline animal you kept as a pet. I remind you of your pet?" His voice wasn't angry. Bemused would be a better explanation.

She snorted. "Just the color. I'm going to have difficulty with all…" She tried to remember how many of them there were.

Casey thought twenty —at the same time, Tabby said it.

"There are twenty of us. Right now, we are not all awake but are in the process of coming out of stasis. It will become difficult for you—remembering our names?"

She sighed. "I should get it pretty quick—I hope. I'm not really worried about me. My sister is in danger and I am waiting for some of your many brothers to save her. She is going to be very confused. I think she had a head injury. I didn't see it, but I believe one of the big red apes hit her hard and damaged her skull. It might be difficult for Cammy to remember names. She'll get the Tabby reference right away."

He nodded. "Tabby, it is then." Frowning, he mumbled something about name tags and then asked, "Are you hungry?"

She nodded. "Yes, but not for the dried stuff. I'm thankful and all… but… on Earth, we eat fruits and vegetables. Meat. Nothing is dehydrated." She sighed. "Actually, I used to snack on jerky. Which is dehydrated meat. I'll get used to it if that is all you have. As I said, I'm thankful… I'm just…" Casey sighed again. Feeling small. She shouldn't be so picky.

This time it was Tabby who laughed. "It isn't an unreasonable request. Should I call you mistress… or Casey, or is there some small creature you wish to be called as you named me? A scan of your language and the animals on your planet—offers two possibilities."

Narrowing her eyes, Casey held out a hand to stop him. "Look Tabby, if you call me a bitch or a shrew… this friendship is over."

His dark eyes widened, and Tabby took another step back. "No. I… never would. Those are not friendly words for females."

She snorted. "A bitch is not only a spiteful woman—it's also a female dog. And a shrew can be a bad-tempered female—or a small, mouselike creature with a long snout. If you weren't going to use those, what did you come up with?"

Tabby swallowed. "I am almost afraid to tell you in case I missed a nuance. But you named me for the color of my skin. I searched for an animal that had dark brown hair. The suggestion was mink ."

Shaking her head, Cas said. "No. that doesn't work. What else?"

He turned away from her and hit a small indentation on the wall. Using the palm of his hand, a door opened. He walked through it. "The kitchen is in here. The other is a type of dog. Dalmatian for your spots? That doesn't sound right either."

Rolling her eyes at his back, she shook her head. "No. The spots are called freckles and Casey is good. Or close family members call me Cas . My teammates called me Legs . And my employees called me Chef."

Walking into the kitchen, she felt a strong, coming home sensation.

It was small and beautiful. Taking a guess, she pulled on a handle and swung open what turned out to be a refrigerator. Stuffed full of alien-looking fruits and vegetables. "Who is the cook?" she wanted to know.

Tabby sighed. "No one. Not really. Each of us will make something now and again. But we'd rather eat the dehydrated…"

Casey spun on him. "No. It can't be that much different from what it is at home. All the studies on nutrition are clear. Our bodies need fresh food. Dehydration is good if you don't have a choice, but it isn't meant to be all you eat. On Earth, I owned a restaurant. Two actually. I would love to be in charge of cooking. I'll need help. Someone to make sure I don't combine herbs and come up with a deadly poison—that kind of help. I'll learn to identify proteins from fruit and veg."

Tab pulled out a box from a cupboard. There were green, knobby tomato-looking things stacked inside. "This is yama. It is ripe when soft. My translator tells me it should taste like a banana. Why Legs?"

She leaned in and started poking, hoping to find a soft one. Taking it out of the box, she frowned. "Because I used to run. Professionally. I competed and won worldwide championships. Do I peel it? Or just wash and eat?" She really wanted this to taste like a banana. It was one of her favorite fruits.

Tabby opened a drawer filled with odd-looking silverware and small tools. He handed her what she figured was a paring knife. It had a unique curlicue at the top. She cut the fruit in half, surprised to find the flesh inside was even greener than the outside. Then she scraped the skin off a section and took a tentative bite.

The flavor burst in her mouth. Casey giggled and did a happy dance around Tabby. "This… is amazing. It doesn't just taste like a banana… although I understand why they compare it. One bite of this and I feel like I'm eating an entire fruit salad. I taste kiwi, strawberry, and even some citrus essence. I absolutely love this."

Before she could take another bite, there was a red flashing light and Casey felt the ship vibrate under her feet. She steadied herself with a hand on the large metal table in the center of the room. She looked at Tabby and frowned. "What is happening?"

"We have to leave this docking station."

Casey's eyes widened. "We can't do that! My sister…" before she could finish her thought, BrOdByc strode through the door.

He pulled her into his arms. "We aren't leaving for good. Your sister is safe. But the Andaran who purchased you visited your sister's room at the medical center. Reb has been hiding in her room the entire time. He stays with your sister, day and night. One of the Siloth men was with the Andaran. Reb discovered that a tiny, poisonous spider on the Siloth's spaceship bit her. The hospital is treating her. But the Andaran has ordered the Siloth ship and anything near it… fumigated. He also wants all the ships in this station boarded and searched—for you."

Casey hugged him tightly. "You promise we'll come back for her?"

Brode wrapped his arms around her. "Yes. We promise, my love. Probably not to the docking station. We'll figure out a less… visible location to pick up your sister and the rest of my brothers. Reb has two of the brothers with him, the Captain and two additional brothers will remain on Viant to finish their investigation and to help Reb and your sister if needed. But for now, we need to leave. We're fumigating the ship, just in case any spiders crawled over here." He looked shocked when she squealed and scrambled onto the table.

"I hate spiders! Exactly how big and how venomous are the creepy crawlies?" Casey demanded.