Dark Star Rising by Bennett R. Coles

Author:Bennett R. Coles
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2020-09-29T00:00:00+00:00

The warmth of the ship was a welcome relief. Liam knew his spacesuit was fully powered and designed to maintain a comfortable environment, but this far out in the Halo the cold of the Abyss was never far away. He shivered as he rose from his chair in the senior mess, eager to get another coffee. Habit made him approach the decanter, but movement in his vision suddenly reminded him of the new reality.

The female Theropod, Bella, swung her head around at his approach. She was wearing the same black outfit that had been her serving uniform at the Cup of Plenty, and it looked to be recently washed. A faint waft of perfume hung around her, and Liam was sure he recognized the scent as Amelia’s favorite.

“Can I get you something, my lord?” Bella asked through her translator.

Liam paused, strangely comfortable with this particular brute serving food and drinks, even as his instincts recoiled at the idea of an alien moving so freely in one of His Majesty’s sailing ships.

“I was just going to get a coffee, Bella,” he responded.

Small, clawed hands moved with practiced efficiency to produce a cup of the hot, steaming liquid. No milk or sugar, just as Liam preferred. She rose to her resting stance and handed the cup to him, her nose lowered slightly. The brutes moving “freely” might not be the best description, he thought, watching as she kept her powerful tail tucked in close to her body. Human physique was essentially vertical, and the tight confines of this Human ship were no doubt a challenge to the horizontal body form of a Theropod. But Bella moved with a quick grace and nary a growl of complaint.

“Thank you,” he said.

“You’re welcome, my lord.”

He returned to his seat, suddenly noticing that all eyes were on him. Brown, Butcher, and Templegrey didn’t even try to hide their interest as he sat down.

“Can we keep them?” Brown whispered, her face alight.

“The food’s never been so good,” Butcher echoed, hefting his own mug. “And the coffee . . .”

Liam took a sip. It was divine. Even though they’d been drinking Cup of Plenty beans since their previous visit to Windfall, no Human apparently had the skill to mix it just so.

“And the desserts,” Templegrey added, popping the last bite of her pastry into her mouth with a contented sigh. “I’m going to have to get all my gowns let out.”

Liam allowed himself a chuckle. The crew seemed to have accepted their two passengers with remarkable indifference initially, which over the past two weeks had grown into enthusiastic support once Sam and Bella had asked to be useful and had started working in the galley. Sam was training the ship’s cooks on the perfect blends of spices, and Bella had filled the gap in senior mess stewards with quiet efficiency.

“The thing is,” Butcher added, “I’ve eaten brute food before. It’s usually raw. And disgusting.”

“Benefits of running a café that serves exclusively Humans,” Liam observed. “They figured out what our tastes are like, and with those fantastic noses of theirs they can refine it down to a science.

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