Total pages in book: 159
Estimated words: 149470 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 747(@200wpm)___ 598(@250wpm)___ 498(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 149470 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 747(@200wpm)___ 598(@250wpm)___ 498(@300wpm)
“Got it…” her sweet, bird-like voice was tight but not with pain, I thought. She was just concentrating so hard she was all wound up inside.
After a moment, one of the doors on the Matter Synthesizer lit up and I saw the particles swirling as it drew what it needed from the air to make the food little one had asked of it.
After a moment there was a soft ding and the food was ready.
“How is it? Did I do it?” Little one opened her eyes eagerly as I tugged open the door.
“Let’s see, shall we?” I said, pulling out the golden plate—the Matter Synthesizer always used pure, precious metals as food vessels to avoid any contamination—and examined its contents.
I frowned at what I saw. Several flat disks were stacked on top of each other and all of them seemed to be studded with small pockets of some kind of brown goo. On the very top disk there was a yellow square that seemed to be melting all over the place.
The odd concoction certainly did not look appetizing—though it smelled surprisingly good. But when I showed it to little one, she clapped her hands together and jumped up and down.
“Yes! I did it!” she exclaimed. “Chocolate chip pancakes, just like mom used to make!”
“So…that’s how they’re supposed to look?” I asked doubtfully. “With tiny pockets of brown goo oozing out of them?”
“Those are the chocolate chips, silly,” little one informed me. Oh, I know…” She looked up at me with bright eyes. “Let’s try for some bacon and hash browns to go with them! Oh—and some scrambled eggs and a glass of orange juice!”
“One thing at a time, little one—you don’t want to wear out your brain trying to make a whole feast,” I said sternly, removing the controller from her head.
“Oh, all right.” She sighed and then gave me that sweet smile that melted me almost as much as the shock-a-lot ships. “I’m just happy to have the pancakes—to have anything besides nutritional gel,” she told me. “Come on, let’s sit down and enjoy these.”
I looked at her in surprise.
“You want me to eat some too?”
“Absolutely—I made enough for both of us,” little one said firmly. “Come on—you’re going to love these.”
She went over to my circular metal table and would have got onto her knees on the bench—which is how she has to sit because of her tiny stature—when I remembered something I had made her.
“Little one, wait,” I called, going to get the thick bolster I had put in the corner. It looked exactly like the one she’d sat on at the short, rather disastrous feast we’d had with Baron Vik’tor. When little one sat on it, it raised her to the right height at the table, so she didn’t have to sit on her knees.
“Oh, this is perfect! Thank you, Sir.” She smiled up at me gratefully as she settled on the bolster.
“You’re very welcome,” I said gravely. “I am only ashamed that it took the generosity of another to make me see what you needed. I should have made my ship more accessible to you weeks ago, when I first got you.”
“Well, you’re doing it now,” little one pointed out. “And besides, I’m almost used to everything being too big after all these weeks. Come on…” She motioned for me to sit down. “Let’s eat these while they’re still hot.”
I sat across from her and watched as she picked up one of the flat disks—the one with the melted yellow square on it—and took a bite.
“Well?” I asked anxiously. “How is it?”
Little one didn’t answer at once, but she didn’t need to—her expression told me everything I needed to know. Her eyes rolled up in her head and an expression of pure ecstasy crossed her face.
“Oh my God…so good,” she moaned, when she swallowed the first bite.
I couldn’t help smiling at her reaction—the pure joy on her face was beautiful to see.
“So I take it the Matter Synthesizer finally got it right?” I asked, arching an eyebrow at her.
Little one nodded eagerly.
“Just like my mom used to make. Try it, Sir,” she added, looking up at me. “You’ll never want those nasty bland nutritional gel cubes again!”
Dubiously, I picked up one of the flat disks with the warm, gooey specks in it and brought it to my nose. It smelled sweet and almost nutty—much different from the nutritional gel, which had no smell at all.
“Am I supposed to just eat it with my hands like this?” I asked, frowning.
Little one shook her head.
“No, you’re supposed to have a fork to cut them with. But this works just fine.” She had rolled up the rest of her own disk into a cylinder and she took another big bite as some of the yellow stuff went dripping out the end.