Page 23 of Thalen

It was nearly time to prepare supper by the time I’d found what I was looking for. I made the purchase and went to check on Jason, as his calls to the dog and laughter, as well as their yips and barks, had gone quiet. I didn’t have to look far. He had fallen asleep on the porch swing, the ball still clasped loosely in one hand, and the dogs were sprawled out on the porch, both of them lifting their heads to regard me as they became aware of my presence.

I chuckled softly to myself. As neither of the two humans in our family were awake yet, I could allow them a bit more time to sleep, I decided. This would give me time to make borska for our evening meal, preparing it myself instead of replicating it. Mind made up, I walked over to the strange chiller unit I’d had installed and began pulling out ingredients. I was short a few things, but the replicator was as capable of producing ingredients as it was for entire meals or small household goods. Then, with everything in hand, I began to peel and chop the vegetables after setting a pot of water on to boil.

13

EVAN

The smell of something delicious permeated my sleep fogged brain.

“Unnh, what time is it?” I looked at my watch, which I’d synced to local time as soon as our ship entered the solar system. I blinked. That couldn’t be right. He’d let me sleep three hours?

I scrambled out of bed, hurriedly washing my face as I’d drooled in my sleep.

Probably because the food smells so good.

My stomach growled in demanding agreement.

“Oh, hey, Dad!” Jason greeted me as he set a side plate down onto the table. “D.D. and I were just about to wake you - we’ve just finished making dinner.” He grinned. “I buttered the bread and cut it into triangles and replicated some chocolate syrup to add to our glasses of milk. D.D. made the stew and sliced the bread. Did you know he makes his own bread?”

“I do know,” I replied, eyeing the soft aqua slices slathered with rich yellow butter. I realized the flour had to be made from local wheat and smiled as the thought came to me about how he’d baked a loaf of bread that color coordinated with the kitchen.

“The butter was churned here on the farm from our very own kilt-ha,” Thalen informed me with a shy but proud smile upon his face.

“The milk too,” Jason piped up, fetching two of the glasses of chocolate milk. “I tasted it already without the chocolate. It’s a little different from cow’s milk, but better, I think.”

“It has a higher fat content,” Thalen explained. “And is a bit sweeter.”

I took a hesitant taste from the glass Jason gave me. I blinked in surprise. It was richer and sweeter, almost like I was drinking melted ice cream.

“See? Told ya it was yummy!” Jason laughed as Thalen brought over two steaming bowls of stew, which he placed in front of Jason and me. Then he went back for the last glass of milk and another bowl before returning to take his seat.

I looked down at the stew, wondering what the small hot pink lumps and the little dark blue circles were, next to whatever kind of meat was in it.

Jason pointed into his bowl. “The pink thing is a space potato, and the little blue bits are kinda like carrots. The floaty yellow things are space onions.”

“And the meat is kilt-ha,” Thalen finished for him.

That didn’t sound too bad, though I knew from reading and Jesse's channel that kilt-ha could either taste like chicken or pork depending on which part of the animal it came from. I liked both chicken and pork, so that didn’t matter. I picked up my spoon and blew on the steaming stew enough to cool it before taking an experimental bite. Jason was busily eating a slice of bread, dunking it into his stew with enthusiasm.

Flavor exploded across my taste buds. The space potato had a bit of a garlicky taste to it while the “carrot” was vaguely nutty. The space onion definitely tasted like a regular old onion, and the chunks of meat had the texture of chicken breast but definitely tasted more like pork. The broth had a vaguely lemon and herb taste to it, and somehow, it all simply worked.

“Mm!” I said once I’d chewed and swallowed. “This is fantastic!”

Thalen beamed. “It’s a dish my mother used to make. It’s called borska.”

“Aww! You made us something your mom used to make for you? Did you use her recipe?” I asked, glancing at the pot on the stove.

“I did, and yes.”

“Everything here is so yummy!”

Thalen looked amused by Jason’s assertion.

“Aided perhaps by the appetite you worked up playing.”

Jason shrugged. “Maybe, but I played all the time back on Earth, and nothing tasted as good as what I’ve had here so far.”

“It’s probably because it’s all so fresh. Well, some of it is freshly replicated, but still,” I replied.