“The feast will be done in the traditional Inugorian communal style. Large tables will be placed in the middle of the dining room and it will be covered by large leaves from a generation tree. The leaves symbolize the soil that all Inugorians trod upon and the bluish yellow color of it symbolizes the defining color of our homeworld.

The food is typically served by placing the food without any plating on the leaf, using large leafy vegetables as the base for the other prepared dishes. The practice has been changed somewhat when we started socializing with the other space-faring species. We now use earthen bowls to serve dishes to avoid it mixing with the other food that might not be bio-compatible to the other diners.

We have tried our best to seat the officers beside the species that are bio-compatible with them but we could not guarantee the same for the Forest Lord’s table. It would be your job to ensure that none of our officers would suddenly find themselves in the healing ward due to food poisoning. I understand that this is a tall order for the short amount of time given for you but we don’t have a choice. Are there any questions?” The officer explained the situation precisely but it did nothing to assuage my fears.

“Yes sir. Does the ship carry any human food?” Amal asked. He was peering around, probably trying to see if he could spot a carrot or something.

“We have requested some of the human ships to part with some of their foodstuffs and you could expect it to arrive in a few more minutes. Here is a listing of what will be made available.” The officer pressed a couple of commands on her ArmComm then sent the information package to the three of us.

“Sir, do any of the ship’s cooks have any experience in xenoculinary?” Frederick inquired as he scanned the list scrolling on his holo.

“One or two of them might have assisted in some form in serving our Barral allies but I doubt that they have any relevant experience preparing meals for humans. This task force is primarily formed from ships serving the border of the Inugorian coreworlds and the Barral frontier. Very few humans in those sectors.” I could see a frown flashed on Amal’s face but it was gone so quickly I was not sure it was even there at all.

“Again, We apologize for the short notice but I am sure you would do flawlessly. Now, if there are no other questions, I have a number of things I have to attend to with very little time to do it.” The officer paused just to make sure that there were no questions before she nodded in goodbye. The two military men snapped to attention and saluted the departing officer.

Once she was gone, both relaxed and walked around the galley. I did the same to check our workspace.

“Not too bad. Shame we don’t have a stove, though. It’ll be hard to work on that fire pit.” Frederick said. He was checking the pots and pans, making sure of what we could use.

“Could have been worse, I’ll tell you that. I was given a tour of a Barral ship once and would you believe it, they just have a flash oven and a Barral distillation unit. Talk about limiting factors.” Amal laid out a rolled up leather pouch, revealing his knives. It was of good quality from what I could see. I decided it that I should do the same. I placed my crate on top of preparation table and started taking things out.

“Hey… Come to think of it, we don’t know your name.” Amal asked. He looked over to scrutinize me. Both of them were wearing standard galactic council navy uniform while I was there in my shirt and pants and bandolier of knives. Not exactly military proper.

“Oh, yeah. Name’s Albert Mayon from the Woglinde. I’m with Red Tiger.”

“Red Tiger, huh. I heard about you guys.” Frederick’s tone suggests that he was not fond of mercenaries even if he did try not to sound too dismissive of my current employer. I did not take it personally. I don’t know how well Red Tiger stacked up against council forces but I do know how mercs are generally not looked at in a good light by service personnel.

“So what are your cooking backgrounds? We need to get that sorted out.” Amal asked quickly. I think he might have done that to prevent Frederick from needling me too much about being a merc.

We shared our various experiences behind the counter and it turned out that Amal was astonishingly overqualified as a navyman cook. Petty Officer Amal Hussein was not just papered in preparing dishes for human, Inugorian, and Barral species, he’s also a graduate of Le Ponse Culinary School of Hestia. He’s a genuine chef. Amal used to serve politicians and other worthies before he enlisted.

“Why in the void are you here, then? You could be living the life now. You could have a cooking show or make food for the high and mighty.” I couldn’t believe that the man chose to be in the navy rather than working a kitchen in a world somewhere.

“It’s not all that cracked out to be. Sure, I would be making hand over fist but I want more than serving those people who can afford what I make on a regular basis. Most people have never even tasted Fillet Mignon with Foie Gras or the Inugorian Savat Sumal or even the Kakker meat skewer native to Barral prepared with care and expertise. Most people get to eat something from the local neighborhood, that’s not to say they’re bad, it’s just very limited, or they would spend tons of credits to taste what their local governor is eating. I want to give the regular working stiff a chance at eating fancy.”

“But you’re cooking for the navy. We got a menu the chief cook approves. There’s little deviation from that.” Frederick grunted. The food crates that the human ships have sent arrived on a lev pallet being pushed by an Inugorian assistant cook. We grabbed the crates and placed them on the ground, checking the ingredients against the list the officer gave us.

“My chief is a great guy, he listens to my suggestions and allows me to modify the menu somewhat. I’m not planning on having a career in the navy. I just want to serve my time then open a small place back home.”

The reminder of having a restaurant made me suddenly remember my eatery. It still hurts every time I remember it. I wish there would come a time that I could look back to it and not feel regret.

“What’s going on with you? Something missing? Don’t you worry, we’ll take care of it. Just help us prepare the ingredients.” Frederick’s not-so-snide remark brought me back to the present and I just looked at him with a raised eyebrow. He just smiled at me then continued sorting. I could see Amal shaking his head at the man. Frederick seems to have a chip on his shoulder. I decided to again let it pass.

“Alright, I would suggest that I take lead here. I’ve got the most experience and I just know what we could do in the timeframe we have. Agreed?” Amal asked. He and Frederick were both petty officers and I was a merc so there was no clear chain of command.

“You’re senior to me by a couple of months, and yeah, you know way more than I do.” Frederick easily agreed. I had a sneaking suspicion that if I tried to claim kitchen boss even if I was more qualified than the two, he would have given me problems.

“No problem, boss.” I said. Amal smiled in satisfaction then threw a tab on the prep table. A holo projected a few dishes that the petty officer probably has been thinking about ever since we got the list.

“Right, I was thinking of using rice as the base for our dishes. All three species are good with it and there would be no negative physiological reaction from the Parnesh of Xentilla though if the Parnesh accidentally ingests some, they’ll be walking with a slight blue pigmentation for a week.

The feast, from what I understand, would have all the dishes served at the same time. I’ve checked the cultural database of the ship and it says there that a normal Inugorian feast would have about four to six dishes served. I’m planning to incorporate some of the Inugorian food stuff we have here to give it some twist. It would also give our hosts something to try if they’re curious so here is what I’m thinking…”

Amal described the dishes he wanted to serve. He settled on serving five unique dishes that would use a Pansel fish as the central ingredient and the venison we got to complement it. We were talking about the available spices when I remembered the Hoaka seedpod that I took out. I remember using only one. I quickly rummaged through my crate and with a shout of victory, I took out the small pillbox.

“What have you got there?” Amal paused to look at what got me excited.

“I was hoping they packed this for me. I have a hoaka seedpod in this thing here. We could use this.” I opened it up and displayed the grain-sized pod proudly.

“Nice work. We could use that.”

We talked a bit more until we settled on preparing venison chili, using the hoaka seedpod to spice it up, pansel grilled then served with buttery wine and capers, a modified caesar salad using some of the pansel and Inugorian vegetables, venison and rice stuffed acorn squash, and lemon pie for dessert. There was some discussion about adding the pie. The acidity is not going to be a problem for an Inugorian but it could give them a slight stomach irritation for the very sensitive. Since we were serving humans, we ultimately decided that we would go with it.

Amal started directing us as we started working on the menu. The Inugorian cooks also made their entrance during our menu discussions and were directed to assist us in preparing the ingredients.

I was grilling some venison when Frederick passed me by. He just finished chopping the vegetables for the salad and has placed the ingredients in a large bowl.

“Are you sure you know what you’re doing? Do you need help? Do you even have grills on your ship or just use a food dispenser?” I don’t know if he was really asking or not but his tone suggests that he was most probably disparaging my ship. I flipped the meat then turned to face the smirking navyman.

“Oh, we have a grill. Nice model too. By the way, you’re chopping those vegetables too chunky. You might want to be more careful with that.” I said. The man started to rebut but I interrupted him.

“I was just giving you advice since you’re the only one here who never actually worked as a cook for a living.” Well, that’s pushing it a bit since being a ship cook is cooking for a living but Frederick needed somebody to burst his bubble. We were back to being like secondary education students. Making hurtful remarks and snide comments.

The man’s face slightly colored red and he turned to fully address me. He was probably embarrassed since I was talking loudly, making sure that everybody in the galley could hear me. I didn’t know if all the Inugorians could understand but since I was talking standard, everybody probably did.

“Now, see here. Just because you’re used to making something passably edible doesn’t make you an expert. The navy has standards, you see. A merc wouldn’t understand.”

“Right. Whatever makes you happy. Just don’t try that when you take your certification test. They’ll flunk you faster than you can say ‘bon appetite.’ Trust me, take it as a passer giving a test taker an advice.” I was not looking at the embarrassed man, I was focusing on making sure that the venison doesn’t get charred. I could feel his humiliation on my back as some of the Inugorians were trying to stifle their laughter. Even in the short amount of time that the ship’s crew have worked with the man they already had an impression of him.

I was waiting for him to make a comeback but Amal’s voice rang from the other end of the galley.

“Frederick, what the hell is your problem, man? You’re a damn navy officer, not a juvie student. What is your issue with the merc? I would have backed you since you’re a brother in the service but that doesn’t mean I’ll help you be a dick.” Amal didn’t really shout but he was definitely frustrated at our childish squabble. Frederick didn’t answer and just turned back and continued working on his salad, chopping it better. He was grumbling the entire time.

The workspace gave us a bit of a problem until we got used to it. We had some of the Inugorian cooks help us use the fire pit because the hanging pot required some practice in using it. Amal almost spilled the sauce he was making after trying to swirl it a bit. We were able to finish everything just on time with Amal giving the servers some last minute instructions. The dishes were not exactly high class but Amal was able to give them some flair by adding some spices that were made available. We had high hopes that it would be received well.

We were thanking the Inugorian galley crew for their help and usage of their galley when the Inugorian officer made an appearance. She gestured for us to follow her.

“Thank you for your work. As part of the ceremony, those who prepared the food for the feast are to be lauded publicly. I will escort you to somewhere where you can clean yourselves up then present you at the thanksgiving. Please follow me.” Just like before, the officer turned about then walked away without looking back. This time, I was prepared for it and was following closely. We passed the some very busy spacers, some carrying equipment while others were working on something. All stood aside and saluted our guide when we passed.

The trip was short and we only have to move one deck up before we reached our destination. The officer indicated that we should enter the room she was pointing at.

“Get clean then wait for me to come back to you. There is a specific order of presentation that we have to follow. Do not leave this room. Understand?” The two service cooks gave an appropriate ‘yes sir!’ while I just said ‘I understand.’ The officer left us alone allowing me a good look at the room. It was a very Spartan space with just a few tables and chairs scattered around. Just like the rest of the ship, it was wood paneled. There was a comm station at the far end and a holo projector tank set in the middle of the room but that was all. It kind of reminded me of a ready room for pilots. The refresher at the back had a sonic cleaner for our clothes. We stripped and had the machine vibrate the stains away then had it on quick wash. I ignored Frederick in the five minutes it took for my clothes to come out fresh. I donned everything back on and made sure that I looked presentable. I didn’t know if I was allowed to keep my bandolier strapped on my chest but unless somebody else said otherwise, I would bring my knives. I got used to it and felt naked without them. The other two were also looking mighty smart with their uniform.

We didn’t have the time to relax when the officer returned to fetch us. We walked behind her and it didn't take long before I noticed that the passageways were getting heavy with people traffic. I could see that the other cooks from the other species were also being led by their own guides. The mineral-like Parnesh took almost the entire width of the passageway. Its heavy steps making loud thuds on the wooden deck.

“Wait here until we call on you. You are to enter in a file then arrange yourselves into a singular rank. The forest lord will make a short speech of gratitude then all of you will salute on command. You will then be escorted out to another room where you can have some refreshments before you are released back to your assigned ships.” We answered in understanding. The officer addressed the entire crowd, about fourteen in number of different species of cooks. The Inugorians were already familiar with the ceremony so the other species were the ones listening closely.

The officer left and entered the function room where the feast was being held, leaving us to our devices. I circulated among the crowd, trying to get to know the others. Two other people showed the same disdain towards me when they noticed that I was not in uniform but I’ve come to accept the fact that there will always be animosity between those in service and the mercenary groups. Unsurprisingly, it was the Inugorians that greeted me warmly. They gave me tips on what to do when we were called and how to react if something in the ceremony changed. The large Parnesh also talked to me about his envy towards the mercenary guilds. He expressed his desire to fight and was unable to do so without council approval. No Parnesh was allowed to join a mercenary guild. They would be difficult to stop once they got into the thick of fighting.

We didn’t have to wait long before a steward stepped out of the room and had us form a line. Once we were settled, he opened the door and we marched in. I was at the end of the line since I was the only one that was not military.

The function room was larger than I imagined. It was also wood paneled but the wood they used in this room was different. It was glossy and was of a deeper shade of brown. A number of floating chandelier illuminated the room. Paintings and sculptures decorated the walls and corners of the room while large, circular tables took up the majority of the floor space. The ship captains were seated with their own kind in species-appropriate furniture. All were staring at us as we made our entrance. I tried to copy the snappiness and crisp movements of the others but was unsure if I was able to pass myself as somewhat military-like in precision.

The lead cook made a sharp right turn then continued marching. We entered from the left so we just had to keep on marching and follow the lead man. When he reached the appropriate distance, he stopped with a final stomp then pivoted left, facing the crowd. I was successful in following the others and not embarrassing myself.

“Officers of the fleet, these are the people that have prepared the food that we would partake in this feast. In the Inugorian tradition, it is always important to acknowledge those who make sustenance for our people. They have the responsibility of…”

I did not hear the rest of what the forest lord was saying because my attention was drawn towards the servers at the far back of the fleet officer’s table. Specifically, I was drawn towards one of the servers. He was a tall, well-groomed man and was looking out of place. There was nothing obvious that made him stand out. A Parnesh server was making like a pillar beside one of the tables sitting the Parnesh captains would have made a literal larger impression but everything that I saw in him just felt wrong. The way his cleaning rag was hung was wrong. His sleeves were a tad too long, it would touch the dishes he would carry. His tie was unsecured even if it was tucked inside his vest. His nails, from what I could see from the other side of the room, were longer than what is hygienic. His boots were not the sleek, synth leather shoes that were universal to all servers everywhere but were heavy duty work boots, though polished to perfection. Lastly, he was not looking at the covered food placed on the tables like the others. He was watching the people around him, not even watching us being presented to the crowd which was really odd. All of these were very subtle and would have passed my notice had I not taken that confounding servers training course when I was getting my certification. Most servers were invisible to the masses. You either see them or you don’t. Most people tend to mentally categorize a server as like furniture. You don’t stare at the furniture unless you want something from it so even if people have seen servers around them, they don’t really see them.

There was this niggling thought of familiarity that was banging on my brain but no matter how I try to grasp it, it eluded me. It almost made me miss our cue to bow at the officers. Luckily, the applause made me concentrate back on the proceedings. We took our bow then the feast was officially started. The servers stepped forward to remove the food covers. The forest lord’s table was smaller than the rest since it only seated the highly-placed officers and leaders of the fleet so they only needed two servers. It was probably the reason why I saw anything at all. As the tall server approached the forest lord purposefully. Blood spurted from his left sleeve as an oh-so-familiar knife emerged dripping from it. He drew it out with his left, intent on plunging it on fleet leader’s neck. Before I could process what I was doing, I already drew and let fly a knife in one smooth and practiced motion. the throwing knife spun gracefully through the air before terminating its flight on the man’s left bicep. I was able to make him flinch in pain and somewhat divert his knife from killing the forest lord. The killing instrument sliced the elder Inugorian’s shoulder, bisecting the hard muscle cleanly. His long knife slammed on the table as he stumbled and the attacker’s face contorted in agony as he pawed at the throwing knife embedded halfway through his arm. The forest lord shouted in pain and surprise, falling back and almost unseating the insectoid Xentilla sitting beside him.

The attacker was not finished. Seeing his knife entangled on the tablecloth, he ripped my knife from his arm with a yell and a hard yank, spilling more blood on his already gory self. He flipped it in an underhand grip then tried to pounce on the beleaguered leader. Most of those sitting at the forest lord’s table were already moving. These were service personnel, they registered the attack and were already moving to address the danger but they would not make it.

Luckily, for some insane reason, I was already halfway through the expanse separating the attacker and I. Later during my debriefing, I could not think of a reason why in void’s name I acted as I did. I swear, there must be some otherworldly being controlling my body every time I was in a crisis.

The attacker had time to only brandish the bloody knife before I boldly tackled him from the side. I had a good amount of momentum when I slammed on the knifeman. It doesn’t matter how strong or big you are, momentum plus timing could bring down even the biggest of people.

I took the man off his feet, I could hear him grunt as the air in his lungs was forcefully evacuated. I had a good grip on his legs and was proud that my rudimentary skills in wrestling that I have learned during my teenage years were still present. I took it up just so that I didn’t have to take a ball sport. I hated ball sports.

I was fully expecting the man to be laid low by my sudden appearance but to my total and utter surprise, the man was able to twist his body midair to face me then he leaned forward, shifting the majority of his weight on his upper body that was bearing down on me. He tightened his leg muscles and spread them wide to anchor his feet. He killed the backward motion that I was forcing him into, completely stilling us for a moment.

Before I could register that my takedown attempt has failed, the man’s bloody hands grabbed the back of my head as his right knee punched forward towards my face. The world suddenly turned into a bright, blurry white. I could barely see a black splotch in front of me moving as I was completely detached with reality.

A sudden searing pain on my stomach cured me of my loose thoughts.

I had time to scream and notice blood flying from my person. As I crumpled on the deck, I could see my guts spilling out of a very wide cut on my midsection. The pain was unbelievable. I lay on the ground trying to comprehend how I could stuff my intestines back in my body amidst the indescribable agony wracking through me.

I was going to die.

I was so scared.

I was not supposed to go out like this. I was supposed to die of old age or getting my arteries clogged by fatty food or something but not getting disemboweled by a knife-wielding server.

The last thing I saw before I was released from the pain was the death grip I had on a large black boot and its partner crashing on my head.

***

I jerked awake as consciousness flooded my senses. Panic set in without any reason. I thrashed around, my limbs throwing in each and every way. I was not in control of my body. All I could think in my panic-induced moment was I needed to breathe. It was my overriding concern.

Something was holding me down. I couldn’t see anything. It was like I was under water. A thick and murky water. I tried screaming but something was plugged in my mouth. I became more frantic as I tried to get myself free, my thrashing becoming more and more violent.

I wanted out.

I needed to breathe.

Let me out!

LET ME OUT!!!

Dark figures from a distance approached me. I again tried to fight what was keeping me in the water but it was useless, I was powerless against it. A dark shape took hold of my neck and then nothing…

***

Again I opened my eyes but this time I was calm. It felt like I was waking up from a long night’s sleep. I tried rubbing my eyes but I couldn’t move my arms. I pulled harder but nothing happened. I looked around and was surprised to notice that I was actually underwater. Well, I don’t know if it was water. It was more like a gel. The viscosity was slowing any movement I could do under restraint.

I moved my head around, trying to see anything but the gel was like pale milk, I could only make out shapes from afar.

I tried testing the limit of the restraints on me arms and I was mildly surprised when my right hand bumped into a wall. What I think was a wall. It took some squirming and patient maneuvering but I was able to deduce that I was in a regeneration gel bed. This was my second time being submerged in the wondrous medical equipment.

The events of what lead me here crowded my thoughts. I thought I was dead. I’m not dead? I heard that stomach wounds like the one I had suffered were generally considered as fatal ones. Then again, I was on the flagship of the Inugorian navy. They undoubtedly have the best medical ward this side of space.

I was just starting to wonder what will happen next when the gel suddenly started draining. I was slowly put on my back as the gel was sucked by some drain around me. It took less than a minute before I was laying on a padded bed slick with the healing solution. I shook my head and was able to flick away the gunk that was covering my eyes. I took a good look, as much as I was able to, at my body. I was seriously tied down. I tried sitting up a bit more to get a good look at my stomach but the restraints didn’t have that much slack.

“Please stay still Mr. Mayon. We would open the canopy momentarily. Please remain calm. We are here for you.” The serene, female voice flowed out of the speaker unit beside my head.

I tried to keep my impatience from getting the better of me so I stopped messing around. Healing gel kinda smells like strawberries. Was that normal? I wonder if you could use the gel as lube. It’s universally biocompatible. I suppose that could present as a problem since you’d always be breaking the hymen of a woman. That could be uncomfortable. Hey, if there is an unused passageway somewhere, I could use the gel as a slip and slide. That’ll be fun.

Wait a minute, what was I thinking about? It was so hard to concentrate on something. I got hurt, right? Was I talking to myself? Is that weird? I don’t think that’s weird. Nah, that was probably my imaginary friend Floyd. You bastard! Floyd, where in the universe have you been for the last… I dunno, bajillion years!? I thought we were friends!?

“Concentrate, Mr. Mayon. Please try to focus on my voice.”

Was somebody talking to me? I didn’t know Floyd was a girl. Should I call him Fellya? That’s a girl’s name right?

Something grabbed my head. It was warm and it felt relaxing. Oooh! A massage! I haven’t had one of those since forever. Wait, why is the therapist not moving her hands?

Slowly, my roving thoughts melted away and I found myself staring at an older Inugorian doctor that had her eyes closed in concentration. I could feel her warm hands on the sides of my temple and cheeks. A slight, regular pulse of warmth cleared all the fogginess in my head. I stayed still and let the doctor continue with her mind healing. It didn’t take much more before the doctor slowly took her hands away from my head and opened her eyes. She let out a long breath then gave me a tired smile. The doctor’s coloration was interesting. Half of her furry face was in the shade of gold while the other was jet black.

“You gave my assistants quite the scare, Mr. Mayon. You are quite strong.” She said. It was her voice that I heard while I was confined inside the bed. Obviously, the canopy was retracted so she could get at me. I probably was high on drugs since I didn’t notice her until she was mid-treatment with her species’ specialty.

“What happened? I mean, other than you saving my life thing. Thank you for that, by the way.” I asked. I had to cough out a bit of the gel but I did a good job of being coherent even with my clogged throat.

“You had a negative reaction to a specially-engineered tissue regenerator that we applied in the healing gel. Your wounds were very extensive, Mr. Mayon. If you were somewhere else other than the Adanas, I greatly doubt you would have survived. We had to regrow multiple organs as some were damaged beyond healing and you have lost a lot of blood. Thankfully, everything that would facilitate your recovery is within our power. The forest lord had made it clear that you are to regain full health. I would so dearly hate to disappoint him.” The doctor said as she started unbuckling my restraints.

Right. I did something stupid that in a different set of circumstances, it would have killed me.

“How is the forest lord anyway? I saw that the guy was able to slice him up some.”

“He is fine. It was but a flesh wound. The fanatic was unable to do much more, from what I have heard. You were able to keep him busy long enough before a Parnesh captain who was seated near your altercation ensured his expiration. A fleet-wide investigation is currently ongoing. They have found a handful more fanatics embedded in other ships in the three days you were unconscious. This is a serious breach of security. The attack on the Pegasi system is temporarily on hold until the forest lord is satisfied that the fanatics have been purged from the ranks. Interestingly enough, it was the mercenary companies that have proven to be clean from the New World taint.” The doctor informed me.

“Wait, The guy is… was a New World fanatic? How did he get on the ship? Also, I’ve been here three days? Oh, Franny’s not going to like that. Could I have my comm? I need to get into contact with my boss.” I tried getting up but the doctor stopped me with a firm hand on my chest.

“You are to go nowhere, Mr. Mayon. You are not yet fully healed. Your ship has been informed and you will be transferred soon. As soon as the forest lord has a chance to speak with you. Also, with the investigation underway, ship transfers are temporarily halted.” The doctor calmly informed me. I sat back on my bed and relaxed. I felt a little weak anyway.

“Okay, doc. Whatever you say. Can I have something to eat? I’m starving.” My stomach made itself known with a loud growl. I remembered that I was also very hungry the first time I had to use one of these things.

“That is normal. The healing gel normally draws nutrients and building compound from the patient itself. Your meal is to arrive shortly, In fact, I think that is your meal now.” The doctor turned around as my wardroom door opened. A large, muscular, blonde-haired woman was carrying a tray full of steaming food.

“Miss me, handsome?” She gave me a large smile and a wink.

“Nabila!?”