“…the party of the first part, hereafter referred to as ‘adorable little cuties…’” Cass sighed and scratched a note that simply read “Terrans, again,” in the margin. Half of the treaty was the sort of legalese she ran into all the time when she’d worked in Archives, but the other half was this kind of nonsense that felt completely out of place. “Just say terrans if you mean terrans,” she grumbled.

“Is everything alright?” Tsuga was peering into the bedroom from outside. “I heard you muttering something.”

Cass grunted an acknowledgement. “Just this ridiculous treaty. This is an important document, isn’t it? So why are there so many passages that, as far as I can tell, just boil down to you cooing over how adorable we supposedly are?” She’d been seated at the desk for over an hour now, paging through the document in the big leather-bound binder, trying to make sense of the labyrinthine language of the Human Domestication Treaty.

“Well, I suppose it’s because we feel it’s important to acknowledge how adorable you are in a documented and legally binding way,” Tsuga said, as if this wasn’t completely ridiculous.

“At least half of this treaty is boilerplate cute-talk that could be stripped out,” Cass continued. “Is it meant to obfuscate what’s actually going on by hiding it under a deluge of this stuff?”

“No, we honestly just think you’re adorable,” Tsuga said, sounding almost confused. “I don’t see the problem.”

Cass sighed. “Is every treaty like this?”

“More or less.” She crossed to the desk in two long steps. “Every species has unique issues that need to be addressed in their respective treaties of course, or if not unique, situational ones at least. Yours, for example, has the section on capitalism — not every species needs to be told not to do that.”

“But they all need to be told they’re cute?”

“Oh, definitely,” Tsuga said. “It’s very important.”

Cass pinched the bridge of her nose. Unreal. “So you’re telling me that you’ve never encountered a species you don’t think is cute?”

“This language doesn’t have a distinction between singular and plural second-person pronouns,” she said. “Did you mean me personally, or the Affini as a whole?”

Cass shrugged. It was honestly a good question. “Both, I suppose.”

Tsuga seemed to think it over. Halfway through, she made a go at rubbing her chin. “Well, personally, no. Every xeno sophont I’ve ever encountered has been surpassingly adorable. As for the Affini Compact as a whole, well, I can’t speak to that. I suppose it’s possible that some species, somewhere, might potentially be less than wholly adorable, but I think it’s very unlikely.”

“So if every species you’ve ever encountered is cute…doesn’t that lower the social value of cuteness? If everyone is cute, isn’t it kind of meaningless to say? Functionally, doesn’t that make cuteness not a subject worth commenting on?”

“Oh, no,” Tsuga said. “Not at all. If anything, it makes it more important, because they might not realize how cute they actually are if we didn’t specifically tell them.”

Cass stared up at Tsuga. How the hell is this the species that’s conquered multiple galaxies?

“In any case, it’s almost time for lunch,” she went on. “Let’s try another go at walking with assistance.”

“I could do with something to eat,” Cass admitted. “And maybe some time away from this will let me clear my head.” She braced her hands against the surface of the desk and pushed, grimacing against the strain. Two days in bed had let her heart recover, but her legs were still wrung out and liable to give out under her, as nearly happened with that morning on the way to the bathroom. As she held herself there, Tsuga’s vines coiled around her legs, torso, and shoulders, forming a harness that supported a good fraction of her weight. It made it easier to straighten up, to turn, and to walk. One foot in front of the other, she told herself as Tsuga led her out. At least her knee didn’t hurt anymore.

Lunch, like the past two days, was a sandwich — Tsuga had discovered that these were relatively easy but had wide variety, so she could keep giving Cass something different every day while still maintaining the same general workflow. Today’s was turkey and havarti on sourdough with some kind of spicy aioli, onions for crunch, and a single perfectly shaped leaf of lettuce. “You’re getting good at these, you know,” she said after she finished the first half.

“Perhaps someday soon I’ll tackle something a bit more complicated and traditional,” she said, the warmth in her voice a gentle undertone to her words. “Oh, and your tablet was chirping earlier,” she added, pulling it out of her foliage and handing it off to Cass. “I think you may have messages from a friend.”

“I always have messages from her,” Cass said, smiling and rolling her eyes as she unlocked the mini-tablet and opened up the chat up. Sure enough, the username random_seed was front and center.

<random_seed> Gooooood morning!!!

<random_seed> Cassiiieeeeeeee

<random_seed> Oh no are you sleeping in????

<random_seed> No morning cassie for leahs???? ;_;

<PropagandaOfTheDeed> Hi, sorry, I was trying to get some work done so I left my tablet in another room.

<random_seed> Cassie!!!! oms everyones so busy lately even Mistress!!! what ru doin???

<PropagandaOfTheDeed> Reading over the Human Domestication Treaty. Strictly speaking, I don’t think it applies to us on Solstice, since we seceded from the Accord, but there might be something useful in there, so it’s worth checking out. Even if half of it by weight is just the Affini talking about how cute we are.

<random_seed> U r cute tho!!!! ur super cute!!!!

<PropagandaOfTheDeed> I don’t think they mean cute in that way.

<random_seed> I was thinkin of goin to cliffs do u wanna come??? or r u still on all day bedtime????

<PropagandaOfTheDeed> I can move around a little, but I think going out is still probably a bit too much. Believe me, I wish I could get up and move around without help. Maybe tomorrow.

<random_seed> Ok!!! im sure Mistress will be busy tomorrow too

<random_seed> Theres so many people comin up from the planet and shes like a super terran specialist so shes got a lot to do to make sure everyone is ok

<random_seed> I love her so much shes so nice!!! ;_;

<PropagandaOfTheDeed> Wait, what do you mean there’s people coming up from the planet?

<random_seed> I dunno thats what Mistress said when she left after breakfast

<random_seed> Shes super busy but she said i could message her if i need her do u want me to????

<PropagandaOfTheDeed> No, I can probably find out on my own. Thank you for telling me, though.

<random_seed> Np of course happy to help!!!! <3 <3 <3

<PropagandaOfTheDeed> One second, I’m going to look into it.

Cass set down the tablet and looked up at Tsuga, who was in the kitchen putting away the various sandwich fixings. “Is there a reason you’re keeping things from me?”

She paused. “What do you mean?”

“I mean the fact that my people are being taken off the planet against their wishes.” She felt the itch of anger crawling up the back of her neck, hot and prickly.

“Well, you were at the meeting,” Tsuga said after a moment’s hesitation, “It was agreed that the planet isn’t safe for you, so we need to move you off.”

“I’m aware,” Cass said. “But we have contingencies in place to deal with invaders. There shouldn’t be anyone being taken off, much less a number big enough to keep Affini busy. Did you know about this?”

“I have been getting welcoming committee updates, yes,” Tsuga said. “And helping in whatever small way I can while remaining here to look after you.”

“And you kept it from me?” Cass wasn’t in the habit of letting her anger leak into her voice, but she felt it more than she had in a long time. Am I mad because my people are being taken against their will, or because Tsuga lied to me? she thought. And why do I even need to ask that?

“You are recovering from a trauma,” Tsuga said gently, crossing around the kitchen counter and crouching down next to Cass. “Part of that recovery includes ensuring you feel minimal stress, and I especially don’t want you getting stressed out over something you can’t change.”

“That’s not your concern,” Cass said. “If my people are in danger, I need to know!”

“They are not in danger,” Tsuga said firmly. “They are in far less danger now than they were before. And your well-being is my concern, and will always be my top priority.” She paused, then added, “Because you are currently in my care,” a little too quickly.

Always? A chill ran up Cass’s spine. “I’m recovering, yes,” she said quietly. “And you’re helping me, and I appreciate it. But that doesn’t give you leave to make decisions for me, or to decide what’s best for me, or to treat me like I’m a pet. I am not a floret, I am not your floret, I will never be a floret. Is that clear?”

Tsuga was silent for a long moment, looking away. “I have no intention of taking you as my floret,” she said. “Or taking any florets, for that matter.”

“Then stop treating me like I’m incapable of making decisions for myself!” Cass said, slamming her palm on the table. “You’re the only Affini that’s ever treated me like an equal, and that’s changed all of a sudden and I don’t know why!”

“If anything has changed,” Tsuga said, “It’s because I don’t want to see you get hurt again.”

“I am not your responsibility!” Cass braced herself against the tablet and pushed up, getting shakily to her feet — this way, she was almost eye-to-shoulder with Tsuga. Tsuga’s vines immediately leapt forward and began to coil around her. Cass tried to bat them away, but they were far too strong. “Stop that!”

“I am not going to let you fall,” Tsuga said. “You can walk wherever you want, but I will be there with you.”

“I don’t need your protection,” Cass hissed. “None of us need your protection! We were fine on our own before you showed up, and now…” She squeezed her eyes shut as they began to burn, tears threatening to well up. “Now you have them and you’ll do to them what you’ve done to McCracken! Brainwash them all, and make them grateful for you conquering them and stealing the freedom we fought and died to secure!”

“You don’t think Aletheia is happier here?”

“Of course she is! You’ve given her something we couldn’t, not yet — but we could have, eventually! And the price you demand for it is…” There was no holding back the tears now. I’ve failed her, and I’m failing the rest of them. “I promised I’d keep her safe!”

“She is safe,” Tsuga said gently, her vines squeezing Cass in a hug that she desperately tried to squirm out of. “You don’t have to worry about that anymore.”

“Of course I do! You’ve taken everything she could ever be and burned it to ash in front of her, and you’ve got her so turned around she’s probably thanking you for it!” All the frustration, all the rage she’d been feeling began to boil over inside her. Tears streamed down her face, and a heavy sob burst from her mouth. Others followed it in a torrent.

“Cass, please,” Tsuga said. “You shouldn’t get so worked up. Your heart might–”

But Cass had no answer, no thought for words or argument. Her mind was slipping into a storm of grief and fury — fury at the Affini for what they were doing, and at herself for failing to stop it. Lotus, the name: divine, nectarious juice! The quote rose from within, and she clung to it like a plank of wood in a choppy sea — if she could conjure words, even to herself, she could ride this out. Which whose tastes, insatiate riots in the sweet repasts, nor other home, no other care intends, but quits his house, his country, and his friends! Her feet dangled in midair for a moment until she found herself scooped into two enormous arms. A gentle rocking motion soon matched the turbulent storm within, and something pressed itself against her mouth.

“Just breathe,” she heard, as if from a great distance — a foghorn to steer by when the lighthouse was cloaked in obscuring mist. “Just breathe, little one, and relax.” The mist grew thicker, but the foghorn she could fix upon for a short while. Slowly, the sound faded as well, the mists warm and heavy on her reclining body. Had she been crying? Whatever for? And anyway, it seemed a perfect time to sleep.

<DawnsongCry> Captain? Vella Ruellia, First Bloom. I hope this isn’t too much of an interruption, but you asked to be notified if anyone saw a particular terran, and I believe I may have encountered her during the operation at the hydroelectic facility.

<SuspendedDisbelief> Oh? Here, let me send you a picture.

<SuspendedDisbelief sent a file>

<DawnsongCry> Yes, I think that’s her! She’s very rambunctious, but I’m sure you know that if you’re asking for information about her. She shot me several times!

<SuspendedDisbelief> Oh my, yes, very rambunctious. I’m looking forward to taming this one. Do you have her?

<DawnsongCry> Unfortunately, no. She made it to one of the smaller terran vehicles along with two others, and they attempted to escape. I could have caught them eventually, but they were driving in an unsafe way on a very slick road surface. I nearly slipped and fell several times myself. And that was before they started throwing explosives out the window at me!

<SuspendedDisbelief> Explosives?

<DawnsongCry> Not very large ones, but given the condition of the mountain, I was worried the shock might set off an avalanche, or that they might drop the explosives inside the vehicle, or that they might lose control of the vehicle while trying to throw the explosives out at me — I thought it best to break off pursuit. That’s what they said to do in training, anyway, if the situation was dangerous to the subjects and there wasn’t a clean way to resolve it quickly.

<SuspendedDisbelief> You absolutely did the right thing. Satellites will have maintained their track, so we’ll give them a little rope before we haul them in. Thank you for letting me know, Vella. How are you holding up?

<DawnsongCry> It is unreasonably cold down here once you’re away from the heaters or the thermal wash from the shuttles! I’m probably going to lose a bit of foliage, and I think I might be out of action for a day or so. Still, we got most of the little cuties safely, so it’s worth it, even if I couldn’t get those three.

<SuspendedDisbelief> Alright. Be sure to take care of yourself.

<DawnsongCry> Will do, Captain!

The building had been a church, once, Nell was pretty sure — it had a few pews left over, and enormous windows that bled heat out into the freezing midmorning air. Like many of the old Quaker buildings, it had the feel of having been abandoned for a time and then rediscovered. Before the revolution, some of the Elysian anarcho-syndicalists had used it as a depot for nonperishables, arms, and other essentials that had become critical goods when the revolution finally came.

All that was gone now, shuffled elsewhere. Overlook was a repeater station now, little more than an antenna mounted to the top of the steeple that received and rebroadcast radio signals, part of an array that straddled the mountains. It had served its purpose, and already the small crew that kept the place running were packing up and getting ready to leave.

“And no one else got out?” Deakin said, pouring himself another cup of tea from the kettle over the kerosene camp stove. Even without his overcoat to give him added bulk, he was a broad fellow, his thick and bushy beard going gray at the edges.

“Some might have,” Nell said. She was holding on to a cup herself, trying to will the heat from it into her fingers, still ice cold from the wind and snow during the chase. “I don’t know. The truck didn’t, and I don’t think the other jeep did either, so if anyone did escape, they’ll be coming overland.”

“Well, someone’s gotta stay behind for them, then. Supply, assist, and move on with them.”

“That’ll be dangerous,” Raeburn said, her voice froggy until she cleared her throat. “Between the repeater and the raid at Twin Creeks. They’ll hit here and False Oaks next, for sure.” She wasn’t looking well, Nell thought, but then, she hadn’t looked great before, thin almost to the point of gauntness even before whatever illness she had had joined the fray. She wore her overcoat inside and still looked cold.

“Someone can set up out at Peake’s Cave with a set of binocs and keep an eye on the place,” Deakin said. “Should be enough distance to keep the plants off of us, right?”

“That’s, what, about a kilometer and a half?” Nell asked. When Deakin nodded, she added, “Well, maybe. We don’t know their capabilities, but if they don’t have at minimum a satellite observation network at this point, I’d be shocked. They can make anything they want just like that.” She snapped her fingers. “Just like that. Stars, if we could just get our hands on one of those compilers…”

“So we should stay under cover as much as possible?” Raeburn said.

“And use IR baffling when you do set up,” Nell continued. “In this cold any kind of heater open to the sky will stand out like a spotlight, for sure.”

“Just like the good ol’ days of the revolution, eh?” Deakin said, raising his cup. Nell and Raeburn matched the toast, and all three drank. It wasn’t anything but some heavily steeped local herbs and roots, but it felt good to have something hot in her belly. “What about counter-action?”

Nell shook her head. “No dice. Cass said not to fight back, and I hate to say I agree. These things…they do the impossible, and they make it look easy. She said they could probably blow the whole planet up if they wanted, and I have to say, just based on the sheer level of logistics they have going on, she’s probably right.”

The other two were silent for a moment. “Well, shit,” Deakin said.

“I think they might be bulletproof, too,” Nell went on. “At least, against small arms. I put twelve rounds from a .45 and six 12-gauge slugs into one of those things when it was chasing us, and it didn’t slow it down at all. We had to use grenades to get it off us — that’s why you got less than was planned.”

“Fuck me,” Raeburn gurgled, coughing.

“Not exactly promising,” Deakin said, nodding. “So, what, we just hide and hope they get bored?”

“We don’t exactly have many other options,” Nell said. “Maybe we can work some light sabotage, but that’s a dangerous game. It’s bad enough they’re bulletproof, these things can get inside your head, screw with your mind. Anyone who gets captured represents a massive security breach. Bulwark, at least, we kept isolated from operations at other sites, but Cass is still up there, and she knows a lot. Sooner or later, if they haven’t already…”

She hated to think about it. She and Cass might have butted heads constantly over ideology, but in the thick of things she was as committed a revolutionary as any Marxist she’d ever seen, and a leader able to get different strains of socialists, communists, and anarchists to work together towards a common goal. She was scarily smart and kept a truly ridiculous amount of operational detail in her head, even if she saturated it with useless quotes and trivia. That, at least, provoked a rueful smile — if the fucking weeds did try to crack into her head, they’d get just as much cruft as solid intel, and good luck sorting it out.

Cass was probably the only anarchist Nell could unreservedly call a friend as well as a comrade, and now she was trapped in orbit on a nine-kilometer-long starship full of mind-breaking alien weeds. The ache in her gut deepened.

“Hey.” Nell felt a hand on her shoulder, and turned. Trish was standing there, still bundled up and red-cheeked from the chill. “Unloading’s done. Thought you’d want to know.”

“Good, good. Sit, warm up.”

“Have some tea,” Deakin said. “It’ll do you good.”

“You are a lifesaver, my friend,” Trish said, grinning and pouring herself a cup, sipping it carefully. “Oh, stars, that’s good.”

“Something else I need to tell you,” Nell said. “If anyone does show up, check the back of their neck for a scar. They have–“ She bit her lip. Don’t you fucking say it, you big green bastard. “They can put something back there that lets them control you.” There. No ice down the back of her neck, no booming alien voice in her head. “So, anyone who shows up out of nowhere, you check them.”

“This is starting to sound like some bad horror movie cooked up by an algorithm,” Deakin muttered after a moment’s silence.

“Yeah, but it’s real,” Nell said, “so we have to deal with it. And step one is not doing the stupid thing like the idiots in those movies always do, like letting the guy with the mummy bite into their shelter.”

“Fair enough,” Deakin admitted. “You want to ride with us? There’ll be room at our hideout.”

“I’m going to stick you with Nikolai — and I apologize in advance for that — but Trish and I have things we need to do. If Cass is compromised, so are a lot of shelters, and not all of them will have receivers, so they won’t have gotten the coded message I sent out warning them about that. We need to update our tactics, anyway. There wasn’t any set code for ‘alien weeds that can scramble your brains,’ you know? Do you have a spare overland kit? We’re going to need to split up.”

“We can manage one, I think,” Raeburn said. “Should be in the back, still.”

“Alright. You sit and warm up some more,” Nell said to Trish as she stood up. “I’ll get the kit loaded. We should be out of here as soon as we can. Just because we were under tree cover for most of the drive here doesn’t mean they won’t find us eventually.”

The kit was where Raeburn had said it would be, leaning against the wall: a large hiking backpack along with a pair of cross-country skis and poles, one of several in an otherwise mostly empty storeroom. She shouldered the load — heavy, but well balanced — and lugged it out to the carport, where both the Overlook’s truck and their jeep was waiting. The rest of the Overlook crew was at their truck, putting the finishing touches on the load and getting ready to evacuate; Niko, meanwhile, was leaning up against the jeep, looking surly.

“Good, you’re finally done in there,” he said when he noticed her. “Now we can start planning. I figure we take those grenades back, along with–“

“Stop talking,” Nell said, glaring up at him. She opened the back of the jeep and dumped the overland kit inside.

“….what?” He seemed genuinely befuddled, but then, Nell reflected, this was hardly unusual.

“Stop. Talking. As in shut your fucking mouth for once and actually listen.” She slammed the door and turned to face him. “You and I are done. Finished. Over. And I mean it this time.”

“What?” he repeated. “Nell, what are you–“

“I said shut up. I can’t fucking believe you. First, you pull over and pick a fight with half a dozen of our comrades because you hear arguing from the back — you damn near break Forsythe’s jaw because, what, he’s a plantfucker? Niko, these are our comrades. It is not their fault the weeds got in their heads! That’s what they do.”

“You’re mad because I smacked some sense into some fucking traitors?!”

“I’m mad because you wasted so much fucking time being a violent shithead that we couldn’t get to False Oaks before sunup, which meant we had to hunker down at Twin Creeks which is not thermally baffled, which is absolutely how they found us, you selfish prick! Everyone who got caught, every single one of them, is getting their brains scrambled right now because of you, Niko!” She realized, on some level, that the Overlook crew had stopped their work and were staring at her and Nikolai, but right now she was too mad to care.

“Bullshit! If they weren’t so fucking weak–”

“And then, on top of that,” she went on, shouting over him, “stars, Niko, I’ve held some greenhorn-ass hands through fights before, but I have never seen someone freeze up that hard!” She jabbed a finger into his chest. “I thought you were a big hot-shot guard, huh? How many engagements did you say you fought in the revolution before you got captured, Niko? How many? Sixteen, you said? Bull. Shit.”

He fumbled for words, and she let him. Stars, why did I ever sleep with this oaf? she thought. “You don’t– you don’t fucking know what you’re talking about!” he finally stammered out. “I’m a fucking professional!”

“Professional waste of my time,” Nell said. “You’re going with the Overlook team, and you’re going to do what they say, and you’re going to keep your head down and fucking behave, because if I hear about anything like this ever again, Niko, I don’t care if I have to ski across the entire Elysium Valley, up and down the fucking mountains, and then clear out to fucking Featherstone, I will end you. Am I perfectly fucking clear? Yes, or no?”

He’d gone red in the face by now, and his hands were curling into fists. For a moment, Nell thought he might actually try to hit her, but instead he just muttered something inaudible under his breath and stalked off. “The fuck are you fairies looking at?!” he screamed at the Overlook crew as he passed them.

Nell let out the breath she’d been holding. Should have ripped that bandage off a long time ago, she thought. Might have saved a few lives. But it was no good lingering on recriminations. She had work to do. She took another deep breath, let it out in a cloud of condensation, and turned to walk back to the old church to get Trish — but she was already standing there, waiting, a big smile on her face.

“You know, I don’t know what you ever saw in that shithead, but damn, I know what he saw in you now, because I don’t think I’ve ever been that turned on,” she said.

“Yeah, well, still straight,” Nell said. Unfortunately, she thought. Half the men at Bulwark were either nerds like Forsythe or wimps like McCracken, and the rest were taken. It’d be so much easier if she was into women.

“Sorry,” Trish said, still smiling. “Didn’t mean to be a creep or anything, but shit. Watching him shrivel felt good.”

“You’re fine, don’t worry about it,” Nell said, shaking her head. “You ready to head out? I figure we take the road as far as the Hairpins, then you take the overland kit and head for Goldman Commune. You might be able to make it before nightfall if we leave soon.”

“Wait, wait, wait,” Trish said, holding up one hand. “I thought I was taking the jeep and heading for Foster.”

“Change of plans,” Nell replied. “That was before they hit us at Twin Creeks. They know this jeep and they’re gonna be looking for it, and going down the Hairpins leaves us too exposed to satellite observation. After I drop you off, I’ll double back, go down the highland road, and ditch it at Grimké. That’ll let me stay mostly under forest cover.”

“You’re painting a huge target on your back, driving that far,” Trish said. “Nell–“

“This clusterfuck is my responsibility,” Nell said, cutting Trish off. “If I’d moved quicker, if I’d not given Niko so much rope… there’s a million things I could have done better, and now our comrades are up there.” She looked skyward, sighing. “And it’s my fault, in the end, because I didn’t do enough to keep it from happening.”

Trish looked at Nell for a long moment. “You finally learned how to be exactly as stubborn and self-sacrificing as Cass, I see.”

“Well, she’s not here,” Nell said quietly, “so someone has to.”

“Just be careful, okay?” Trish said, stepping forward and hugging Nell tightly. “I don’t want to lose anyone else.”

“I will,” Nell said, hugging Trish back after a moment’s hesitation. “Come on,” she added. “Let’s get going.”

<UnearthedHope> Captain, I’m sorry, but I think that meeting you wanted might need to move back another day or so. Cass has had something of a relapse.

<SuspendedDisbelief> Is it serious?

<UnearthedHope> I don’t believe so. She found out we’re taking evacuees on board and didn’t take it particularly well. I had to give her some of the Class-E/Z blend Arvense subscribed. I don’t think she did any damage to her circulatory system, but giving her another day to recover might be for the best. I know this affects your timeline, and I’m sorry.

<SuspendedDisbelief> It’ll be alright. Let the poor thing rest. We have a line on her loud little friend. Hopefully, before too long, we’ll have her up here, and then it’ll be much less pressing to get details out of Cass.

<UnearthedHope> I’m glad to hear things are going well on that score, at least.

<SuspendedDisbelief> And how about on the other front, hm? Between you and our little grey-striped girl?

<UnearthedHope> Not particularly well. I think that may have played a role in her relapse, in fact.

<SuspendedDisbelief> The stubborn ones can be like that, and she’s certainly the type. Just keep at it, Tsuga. She’ll come around eventually. They always do.

<UnearthedHope> I know you encouraged me to be more authoritative, Captain, but I’m not sure she’s responding well to that. It may have something to do with her particular ideology of anarchist feralism.

<SuspendedDisbelief> Oh, is that different from the communist feralists? I’ll have to take a look at that. I’ve been doing some light reading and I’ve almost finished up with this Marx that Polyphylla recommended.

<UnearthedHope> I’ve read a bit of Berkman but I’m afraid that doesn’t make me much of an expert. Learning to cook properly has occupied much of my last few days, anyway.

<SuspendedDisbelief> I never cease to be amazed at how much we can learn from our florets. And these terrans really are marvelous little creatures! Have you heard about turducken yet? It’s some kind of ridiculous feast they have, where they put three different kinds of avian inside one another and cook them like that. I very much want to try to make one. It sounds hilariously extravagant.

<UnearthedHope> I haven’t tried that, no. It seems a bit above my abilities at the moment.

<SuspendedDisbelief> Well, keep it in mind. It’s good to have something to aim for, isn’t it? Anyway, please keep me informed about Cass’s recovery, and please pass along my well-wishes. I wouldn’t want the little cutie to think I’ve forgotten about her entirely!

<UnearthedHope> I will, Captain. Thank you.