" She likes, ah, this stuff called.... 'nel-rur', or something?" Kirie said, motioning abstractedly with her hands.

" Yeah, that's a kind of salted fish- I guess you'd called it fish? They live in the ocean on Thrace... Anyway, it's kind of a weird texture? We don't really have anything... Well, it's prepared kind of like actual nel, but the ingredients are all different..."

Prima contemplated the mysteries of fermented fish dishes for another moment, lost in thought as Kirie looked at him somewhat blankly.

" But, like, how do I make it?" she said, after about a full minute of this.

" For neryurur, the traditional recipe takes like... four months? But if you're using a pressure cooker you can do a quick version in about five hours. The main problem is that the herb that's most important to the seasoning mix is hard to get off planet, I've heard... I've never used it myself..."

" Ah, but, couldn't we grow it on the ship if we had seeds?" Kirie inquired.

" Maybe? The soil on Thrace's is really weird, I don't know if it's replicable..."

" Excuse me, are you the Lieutenant Kirie Honda?"

A new voice joined in on their recipe discussion.

Prima looked up to see an unfamiliar person in uniform looking at them.

They smiled.

" I'm First Secretary Isotope Threo," they said. " I was asked by General Eyre to invite you to speak with us privately."

Kirie stood.

" Of course," she said, on guard. She looked back at Prima. " Go tell William I'm speaking with Sector 05, will you?"

" Right," Prima said.

He watched them leave.

Return......Next