Total pages in book: 126
Estimated words: 124077 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 620(@200wpm)___ 496(@250wpm)___ 414(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 124077 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 620(@200wpm)___ 496(@250wpm)___ 414(@300wpm)
“It wasn’t that bad.”
“Is that why your face is red, and your eyes are watering?” Taurex asked, raising his eyebrows.
“Oh, be quiet.” Terra swatted him on the arm and swiped at her eyes. “You should never point it out when a lady is wrong,” she lectured.
Taurex smiled.
“I’ll have to remember that in the future when you are wrong again.”
Terra lifted her chin.
“A lady is never wrong, either.”
“Then I will keep my peace,” Taurex said gravely, but the corners of his mouth were twitching again.
The vendor was laughing openly now.
“Well now, it seems she knows her mind–and yours too, for that matter!” he cackled.
“So she does.”
Taurex paid for the vegetables as well as the cooling blue fruit and the merchant gathered everything into one of the green vine baskets.
Terra watched in amazement as several loose tendrils rose from the sides and wove themselves together, twisting back and forth until they formed a sturdy handle.
“Okay, now that is cool,” she said.
“The basket is alive,” Taurex explained as he accepted it from the vendor.
“What do you do with it when you’re finished?” Terra was fascinated.
He shrugged.
“You plant it, of course.”
Terra looked at the green vines in surprise.
“You plant the basket?”
He nodded.
“Yes. If you keep it watered, it will eventually grow into a tarka vine.”
“And what does that do?”
“It produces edible purple pods that are not unlike your Earth vegetable called edamame,” Taurex told her. “They are delicious steamed and served with kafoola oil and salt.”
Terra stared at the basket in wonder.
“So your grocery bag turns into more groceries?”
Taurex nodded.
“That is the idea.”
Terra sighed.
“Meanwhile, we have plastic bags floating around in the ocean for five hundred years.” She shook her head. “I think your people might have us beat on this one.”
He raised his eyebrows.
“Only on this one?”
Terra nudged him with her elbow.
“Hey now, Bull-man, don’t get cocky.”
Taurex rumbled laughter and took her hand again as they moved farther into the Market.
Terra couldn’t help noticing that they had barely let go of each other since leaving Commander Rarev’s office, and what was strange was how natural it felt.
On Earth she would have been acutely conscious of holding hands with her boss– especially a boss she had once danced naked for–but here on the Mother Ship it seemed different somehow. Maybe it was because everyone around them was doing the same thing.
Everywhere Terra looked she saw Monstrum males walking with women tucked close beside them, their hands entwined or their arms around one another. Some of the women were human and some were clearly alien, but they all seemed comfortable and happy.
It gave the entire place a strangely romantic feeling…or maybe that was just because Taurex was holding her hand.
They came next to what Terra first thought was a bakery, due to the warm, yeasty smell in the air, though again there was nothing resembling an oven anywhere in sight. Instead, enormous pods about the size of watermelons hung from thick brown vines overhead, each one giving off a faint glow from within.
“What are those?” she asked, pointing to the enormous pods.
“Fargas,” Taurex rumbled.
Terra frowned.
“Wait–that’s the bread? But I thought you said you were going to make it?”
He nodded.
“I am.”
Terra was confused.
“But…you mean the bread grows?”
He nodded again.
“The starter grows. I will season and finish it at my domicile.”
As they watched, one of the enormous pods gave a soft pop! and split down the middle. A puff of fragrant steam drifted into the air and inside was a warm, pale loaf with a golden crust.
Terra’s mouth fell open.
“No way. That’s amazing!”
“And delicious.”
The vendor—a furry Monstrum with long pointed ears and a face that vaguely reassembled a bat—lifted the loaf free using broad green leaves.
“Fresh fargas,” he announced. “It doesn’t get better than this!”
Terra breathed in deeply. The fresh fargas loaf smelled incredible–almost like fresh-baked sourdough mixed with rosemary and something sweet she couldn’t identify. Suddenly her mouth was watering.
“Can I try some?” she asked.
Taurex smiled.
“I had hoped you would want to. I know my food must be strange to you, but it can be very delicious.”
“A slice for the lady.”
The bat-faced vendor produced a long silver knife that looked more like a serrated sword. With a flourish of pure showmanship, he sliced off a piece and handed it to Terra with a bow.
“My finest fargas for you, my lady,” he said gallantly.
Terra tried not to giggle at his display.
“Well…thank you very much,” she said as she took the warm slice of bread. Then she took a bite and sighed in delight.
The crust was crisp, but the inside was incredibly soft, almost melting on her tongue, with a rich savory-sweet flavor that made her immediately want another piece. It wasn’t bread exactly–it actually tasted better than bread. All she needed now was some fresh butter and some strawberry jam and she would be content to abandon her diet forever.