Earth Last Sanctuary (Universe in Flames Book 1)

by Christian Kallias

  “That’s very interesting. And this is Chinese food then?”

  “Exactly! It’s one of my favorites, so I thought we could share a meal and you could discover it as well.”

  “That’s very thoughtful…” Chase eyed it warily. “I’m not used to food that releases such a strong smell. Our food plans are mostly about providing exactly what the body needs, with subtle flavors added for personal taste.”

  “And that gift you brought me…is that what it makes?”

  Chase nodded. “Yes. It will prepare food almost instantly, and it will have all the elements the body needs.”

  She looked skeptical. “Hmm, the technology seems interesting, but I wonder if it takes away the pleasure of eating different flavors like we have on this planet. Here, let me show you—try something I ordered.”

  “Ordered?”

  “Well, since we banished the monetary system we can technically acquire food more easily, but it’s had some adverse effects on our way of life.”

  Chase frowned. “How so?”

  “Well, many things like restaurants were transformed so people could get food. But if people want particular types of food cooked for them, it isn’t so easy.”

  “Interesting. Can you cook?”

  “It’s not one of my best skills, I’m afraid, but I’m very good friends with the owner of the Chinese restaurant and he still lets me have some of my favorites now and then.”

  Chase’s stomach made a churning noise and they both laughed.

  “Looks like all this talk of food made you hungry; let’s dig in.”

  Chase looked back and forth between the containers and the sticks. “Are you trying to torture me? Because my training might kick in and then who knows what I’ll do.”

  She giggled. “I see you don’t know how to use chopsticks. I should have known. I’m sorry. I take these things for granted.”

  She tried to show him how to use the sticks, but some skill was involved and it wasn’t going very well. Eventually she took them from his hand and went to the kitchen.

  “I’m going get you a fork for tonight; it’s much easier to master.”

  He flushed. “Thank you.”

  Now that the containers were open, the smell was almost intoxicating. When Sarah came back with a fork, he dug in. His first bite was something he didn’t expect; it was a small explosion of taste in his mouth. He chewed slowly and swallowed.

  “So,” she asked tentatively, “how is it?”

  “This is incredible!” He could barely contain his excitement. “What is it?”

  “I believe you tried the chicken with cashew.”

  “What’s chicken?”

  “It’s an animal from this planet.”

  An animal? Chase gulped. This beautiful woman had fed him exotic flesh. While he’d heard of the concept before, he’d always found the idea repugnant. But now that he’d tasted it for himself…

  “I…I feel a little strange about eating an animal.”

  “I’m so sorry! Are you a vegetarian?”

  “What’s a vegetarian?”

  “It’s a person who doesn’t eat meat.”

  “Well, I guess we’re all vegetarians in the Alliance.” Then he said cheerfully, “But I must admit this food has an incredible taste; I’ve never had anything so good in my life.”

  “I’m glad. Try not to think about where it comes from; it’s completely natural here to eat flesh.”

  “I see. And what is it you are eating…?”

  “Sweet and sour pork. Wanna try?”

  “Yes, please.”

  The flavor of the pork was completely different but equally delicious. It was coated in a sauce that felt both sweet and sour to the tongue. It made him salivate even more and he wanted to try everything that was on the table. The Cantonese rice was also very good; it contained only little bits of flesh. Before he realized it, he was tasting from each container, be it chicken, rice, duck or pork. It was all delicious.

  “Should I put on the movie?”

  “Yes, sure.”

  She grabbed a plastic device on the table and pushed a few buttons. The next second, a nearby monitor sprang to life and what she called the “movie” started.

  After a few minutes of watching, Chase shot her a glance and she burst out laughing on the sofa. She had found “something that would fit” indeed. It was a tale of starship fighters, good versus evil, aliens and intrigue. The entire galaxy seemed to be at war.

  “Have more of these?” He gestured to the cartons when the movie was finished.

  “I’m afraid not and it’s too late to get more. I have some leftovers from last night but there’s not very much. Let me warm it up.”

  “Okay, cool.”

  She went to a device that was not dissimilar in looks to the food synthesizer. The food turned in a circle inside and, when she came back with it, it was steaming. She called it a microwave.

  Chase had an idea. “Maybe we can program the synthesizer to replicate this food…”

  “Can it do that?”

  “Technically, it can replicate almost any taste. It was programmed to deliver standard protein, vitamins, and other nutrients our body needs to function at peak efficiency, but maybe it can replicate this food.”

  “It wouldn’t be the same though, would it?”

  “Only one way to find out.”

  “You’re right, let’s give it a try. What should we try to replicate?”

  “I love the sweet and sour pork. Let’s try that.”

  He put the container in the synthesizer, then went on to scan the food inside. The on-board computer analyzed the food and some red symbols appeared on the screen. Sarah leaned curiously over his shoulder.

  “What’s happening?”

  “The computer says that thirty percent of this food contains things that aren’t good for the body. Eating only this food would lead to health issues.”

  “Ah, obesity. We have loads of that in this country.”

  She went on to explain that Earth people knew the foods they regularly ate were bad for them, but they tasted so good that it was a daily struggle as to what to choose. Something fattening but delicious, or something healthy. Apparently, the healthy foods hardly compared.

  “That’s so strange,” Chase murmured as he ran his fingers through his hair. “Who would have guessed that would constitute a ‘struggle.’ But I have to admit, that kind of emotional satisfaction is hard to resist. We have a similar kind of satisfaction, but…Well, it comes from a different activity.”

  “Sex?”

  Chase didn’t expect her to approach the subject so openly, and he flushed as he glanced at the ground to gather his thoughts. “Well…yes. Are sexual relations also regulated on Earth?”

  She hopped up onto the counter. “Hell no! That would suck!”

  He nodded thoughtfully. “It seems humans have a lot of pleasures we don’t have in our daily lives.”

  “Why would sex be regulated in the first place?” she demanded.

  “To control population growth.”

  “We don’t really do that here. With all the sickness and war, the population kind of controls itself.”

  Chase frowned. “So every time you have sex, you get a baby. Isn’t that inconvenient?” He suddenly wondered how many children she might have.

  There was a brief pause, then she burst into uncontrollable laughter. It went on so long that eventually Chase started to smile himself.

  “What did I say that was so funny?”

  It took her another moment to regain her composure. “We’ve made sex recreational. We can have sex and not have the result be a new life.”

  She briefly explained the concept of birth control, and Chase listened with wide eyes. It baffled him how humans indulged in time-consuming activities on a daily basis just for the fun of it. But somehow, it sounded like a good time.

  “What an interesting world you have... Doesn’t it take up all your time when you indulge in preparing fo
od, eating it, watching movies, and having sex?”

  She grinned. “Yes it does. Maybe that’s why we haven’t progressed that far as a civilization; we like to procrastinate.”

  He nodded but stayed quiet. She’d given him a lot to think about.

  “What about the replicator?” she asked. “Can it make more Chinese food? I’m feeling peckish again.”

  “Oh yeah, sorry, I got distracted. The synthe…replicator can replicate the food and lower its amount of toxicity. Should we try that?”

  “Yeah why not. I would love it if it could do that.”

  Once Chase entered the parameters, the synthesizer made a replica of the food in a matter of seconds. He took a bite, and was pleasantly surprised that it tasted quite similar.

  “So how is it?” she asked eagerly.

  “Very similar. Why don’t you try it?”

  She took a bite and made a sound of satisfaction. “Yes, it tastes almost the same. Not quite exactly, but very similar.”

  “Good, you could use this for food from now on. But we would need to program it with various recipes; I’m afraid the ones that are pre-programmed won’t be to your liking.”

  “Sure, but won’t it be able to only replicate what we scan?”

  “Not necessarily. If we feed the computer a database of recipes, it should be able to emulate it and you can use these controls to choose how to make it more to your liking.”

  “That seems overly complicated, but what about feeding it recipes from the internet?”

  “The internet…? Oh yes, that network of information you humans use.”

  “You’ll have to do it though. I’m good at kicking some butt in the air, but technology isn’t my strong suit. When my computer refuses to work, I end up kicking it.”

  It took a while to interface the synthesizer with the wireless stream of information that humans called wi-fi but, after a few minutes, Chase managed to connect it to the internet.

  “That should do it. What food would you like to replicate?”

  Sarah put her finger over her mouth and made a humming sound as she considered. A second later, her eyes lit up. “A double pepperoni and cheese pizza, Chicago style!”

  The synthesizer made a similar humming noise for a few seconds, and then a thick rounded dish appeared out of thin air. The smell of it filled the room, and Chase suddenly felt like he needed to eat again, even though his stomach didn’t seem to agree with the thought. Sarah took a slice of what she called the pizza, and gave him a wide grin.

  “Any good?” he asked.

  “Dude, you have to try this. It’s one of the best pizzas I’ve had in a long time. This replicator thing is wicked!”

  Chase picked up a slice and experienced his first taste of pizza. He was bowled over, and quickly finished it off.

  “This is delicious! How many different types of food are there to try?”

  She laughed. “Too many for you to try in one year, let alone one night, I’m afraid.”

  “That much, huh? Then it’s something I can look forward to. I’m going to download the settings of this synthesizer so I can try more later on.”

  “Yeah, you do that. As long as this one stays here. Will it?”

  “Of course. It’s a gift, remember?”

  She slid back off the counter and ran her hand over the top of it. “I sure hope I’m not going gain too much weight. It’ll be almost impossible to resist now that I can have anything anytime I want…”

  Chase shrugged. “You shouldn’t gain too much weight at all. The machine will continue to replicate the taste while avoiding most toxic elements.”

  “That’s incredible! We all need one of these!”

  “That would be a little bit of a problem right now. It runs on quadrinium, and we’re running out. But hey, if we find a source for it, then we should be able to make a lot more. They’re already present in most of the food centers around the globe. They just deliver our kind of food, not yours.”

  “Can’t you just connect them to the internet as well?”

  “Yeah, it shouldn’t be a problem. I’ll put it on my list of things to do when I get back to my ship. Speaking of which, it’s already 4 a.m. Should I maybe let you sleep?”

  “That depends…are you sleepy?”

  “Not at all. I’m having a really wonderful time.”

  “Great!” She clapped her hands. “Then let’s watch the sequel! There are actually about a million of these movies now, so our options are unlimited.” She put the next one on the monitor and they sat down to watch. After a while she turned to him. “I’m actually surprised you like these so much. I would have thought you’d think it was too much ‘magic’ and not enough ‘science.’”

  Chase laughed. “Well, I’m not sure about the ‘force,’ but there seems to be a lot on your planet that seems pretty damn magical itself. I wonder if that’s what Aphroditis was talking about.”

  “You lost me there, Chase.” Her eyes grew wide. “Wait—you talked with the goddess? On your own?”

  He shifted, a little embarrassed by the attention, but dying to talk to someone about this huge revelation in his life. “She appears in my dreams sometimes. She was the one who made us come here and rescue you from the Zarlacks.”

  “No shit!”

  “She also told me I’m part human…and part Fury.”

  “What’s a Fury?”

  His face fell. “I wish I knew. Apparently, it’s the world I’m originally from.”

  “Well, how don’t you know? You mean you’ve never set foot on the planet?”

  “No, it was destroyed a long time ago. I was found on the planet Alpha Prime, in a small capsule, with no memory of who I was. The technology of the capsule was nothing from our world. Scientists tried to look into it, but it was dead beyond repair.”

  Sarah’s voice grew soft. “What about your parents?”

  “I never knew them. I was adopted by a couple on our world. They were the sweetest people you could imagine and they raised me as their own. Being an adult with no recollection of my past made me kind feel lost, not so different than being a kid I guess.”

  “I can imagine. We do that on Earth as well, adopting I mean. Are they still on Alpha Prime?”

  His face was hard. “They were killed many years ago…when Obsidian launched an attack on the Alliance. That’s what motivated me to join the Alliance’s military and become a pilot.”

  “I’m sorry.” She patted his leg. “My parents are dead too, so on some level, I know how you feel.”

  “Did they die in a war as well?”

  “No, my mother got sick, very sick. She had cancer and she fought it for a long time but, in the end, it got her.”

  “I’m so sorry to hear that. What about your dad?”

  “My dad never really recovered from my mom’s passing. He started to drink too much and, after a few years, he developed cirrhosis of the liver and died as well.”

  “That’s horrible,” he said softly.

  “Maybe your real parents are still alive. Did you ever think about that?”

  He shrugged. “Not really. To me, the couple who took care of me were my real parents.”

  “I can understand that. Hey, what do you say we watch a more…uplifting movie?”

  Chase chuckled. “That’s a good idea. Hey, can I ask for some water?”

  “Yes of course! I’m sorry, I’m a terrible host. But wait…maybe you’d like to try a soda instead?”

  “What’s soda?”

  Her eyes sparkled. “Oh, just another Earthling marvel. Hang on, let me find it.”

  She went to the replicator and handed him a thing called cola. It was a dark liquid, strange and bubbling, but it was incredibly refreshing.

  “I love cola!” Chase declared after a moment.

  Sarah laughed. “Me too. I rarely indulge in them because they’re pretty bad for you, but they taste great. So, how long will the replicator work until it needs more quadrinium?”

  “I wou
ld say a few months, unless you use it more than this.”

  “Nah. Tonight we ate a lot because you had a lot of catching up to do, but I don’t eat that much food all the time.”

  “Either way, hopefully we’ll find more quadrinium soon enough.”

  She frowned. “How will you find more?”

  “I’m leaving on a mission soon to scan for it in other sectors.”

  “What mission? When do you leave?”

  “Tomorrow or the day after. There are still some preparations to be made.”

  “Will you all be going? What if the enemy returns?”

  “It’s just a small group of us. We’re also going to try to locate more survivors. It’s possible that other battlegroups escaped like we did. If we found them, they could join us here. After all, we need to strengthen the Alliance if we are to survive.”

  Sarah was quiet for a moment. “It’s just like the movie. We’re the rebels, aren’t we?”

  “I guess…but we’re not alone. Maybe we’ll encounter other civilizations on our travels. Have you ever had contact with other life-forms on Earth?”

  “There are rumors and theories about that. Many people say they’ve seen UFOs, unidentified flying objects in the skies. We thought they were alien races visiting us without revealing themselves. But most people think it’s just made up.”

  “What do you believe?”

  “Well, if you had asked me that question a few months back, I would have told you I’m not sure. Today, I’m inclined to think there are many other species roaming the universe. You’re proof of it. Maybe they’re not even so far as we might think.”

  “If they’re close by, we could try to form an alliance.”

  “Yeah, I hear you.”

  “Hey, weren’t we supposed to watch another movie?” He smiled and lightened the mood. “And screw ‘uplifting.’ I want to know how the story we were watching ends.”

  “Absolutely.” She grinned. “I’ll replicate us some ice cream to go with it.”

  Chase froze. “Does it actually scream?”

  She shook her head and laughed.

  “Hey—you guys eat actual flesh. Maybe screaming’s not that far off—”