“We have a problem.”, Jolene Gwara, an analyst for Defense Fleet Andraskon - Terra (DFA-T) said calmly to Admiral Schwimmer: “We have a really big problem, and it is inexcusable that it took us this long to realize that it exist. But we need to deal with it, and we need to do it now.”

The Admiral answered: “Ok, what is so bad? And how will it affect our preparations?”

“Well, did you know that Andraskon is a net importer of food?”

“I have a bad feeling of where this is going… But please continue speaking Analyst Gwara.”

“Well, our food is not necessarily all that compatible with the Kyreikon, which was an issue for the occupation troops, because the opposite is true as well. But it is now an issue for the Kyreikon as well. We will run out of civilian food within the next three weeks, and that is already stretching it. I would feel much more comfortable if we have a resupply convoy here in less than two weeks. Which, if you can get it, should really be carrying a few more doctors and medical supplies. We are not critically low on anything, but that strike hit one of the biggest hospitals. Which means there are not enough local supplies, and we lost a lot of local expertise as well, which is certainly not helping.”

“I had hoped that your issue would have been something easier to solve, like, I don’t know, we need to help build some more farms. On that note, could that help after we have solved the immediate crisis?”

“Well, possibly. Ignoring the minor fact that nothing that is compatible with the Kyreikon digestive system grows in the local soil, and thus what farms they have are essentially domed or underground, it is possible. It will be expensive, but we should get a nutrient bar that’s compatible with them developed, and that’s cheap to produce and keep producing. Well, relatively. Won’t taste particularly well, and it might be even worse for the Kyreikon then our equivalent is for us, because we do not know enough. So, that is an option to prevent a disruption from causing starvation. But nothing more. I think that Earth “Jorneuiu” would be an excellent place to begin farming for the Kyreikon, if I remember that one memo correctly…” He trailed of a bit, checking something: “In fact, it should already have begun producing a bit. Now, it is producing mostly some experimental crops, although a bit is subsistence production for the few prisoners we had before the battle of Andraskon. Not sure how easy that is to expand however.”

“Let the Eggheads worry about that back home. Well, a humanitarian convoy is something the parliament is required to allow and to organise, and, considering that this is an active war zone, they need to send a few escorts with it. Maybe I can steal, I mean acquire, those… And hopefully the admiralty will manage to get a bit of war material into that convoy as well. We have access to a courier currently, so in 3 hours that will depart with this new information. Thank you, and please write up a report on the situation I can add. Oh, and I will not care if that report is as alarmist as possible, you understand?”

“I think I do. Thank you very much admiral Schwimmer, that you consider the blight of our enemies, even when it uses up valuable transports.”

An Extract from Nutrients and Biospheres, An in-depth Analysis by Theodor Jill:

The Kyreikon where not the first intelligent species the UE had discovered which could not eat standard human food. Well, not eat is a bit of a misnomer, especially because it would not have been poisonous for the Kyreikon. It would however, not offer them much in nutrients, and it might lead to some digestive issues, when some complex molecules could not be disassembled. It was also not the first where a massive anti-starvation effort became necessary.

It was, however the first time that had happened on a planet where the “native” population could not use local crops, as well as on a world that was difficult to connect to the usual logistics network of the UE. This issue was acerbated by the issue of how to produce the necessary crops. In earlier anti-starvation campaigns of that sort, the UE had simply searched for an earth which was similar to the earth where the issues existed, and then the wild plants where harvested. That was not particularly efficient, but it worked in an emergency, and, more importantly, it was enough to help the endangered civilisation survive until UE scientists could help the native develop new crops and farming strategies to reduce the risk of mass starvation in the future.

That strategy logically did not work all that well in the case of Andraskon. First where the basic logistical challenges. How to get the produce from production to destination? Now, the fact that the center of production was in a different universe was, other than what a Kyreikon of that era might have expected, not the biggest issue. The fact that it was on a different planet in a different solar system, however, was. The UE had not really expected the need to feed a captured Kyreikon population, which meant that transports where scarce. There where enough available, although some would be needed to supply DFA-T, and, hopefully in Admiral Schwimmers mind, to reinforce his fleet.

Still, at least for a few months, the transport capacity was there. Which meant that we need to analyse the second issue: production. The UE could not conveniently take an alternative Kyreikon, well, it could, but it would make the supply situation not merely worse, but untenable, as well as the minor fact that it would take too long to find an unoccupied one. Now, there was a solution, or at least a beginning of one: the earth Jorneuiu had the nutrients required. But there was a number of issues with it.

1. It would not be enough, even if they stripped the land bare.

2. They had only a minor idea of what might be poisonous and what not, not having a convenient example of non-poisonous domesticated equivalents lying around.

3. They generally expected to have months of leadtime for a serious commitment. They had a bit over ten days.

It was not insurmountable, but it would not be easy…

…But in the end, the effort succeeded through all trials.