CANAISIS ∞ Chronicle One ∞ 3: A Shard Of Code

115 ∞ Learning Curves and Dirt

By the time she'd tied her Laaj, the aroma of baking bread wafted into the room, making her stomach growl. She smiled at the thought of Ahmid's cooking. Ahmid was no chef, but he could whip up a breakfast. She found him in the kitchen, sitting at an island counter sipping his tea. A plate and cup had been set out for her.

"Good morning, Ahmid." She took the stool opposite him at the counter. "You do know how to wake a girl up."

"Do I?" He seemed absentminded as he poured tea into her cup. "The idea of testing the hull breach alarm crossed my mind, but I didn't want to disturb the peace and quiet."

"How thoughtful of you." Ayla squinted an eye at him, her lips curving. "Not to mention it saved your life. For me, the smell of bread is a much better way of waking up."

Ahmid ignored her implied threat as he got up and went to the oven. Approving of what he saw through the window, he turned off the oven and grabbed a pair of mitts. He returned with the golden brown bread protruding through the square holes of a rotisserie basket and set it on the counter with a sigh.

"I can never get the amount right," he muttered as he cracked open the basket. The crust ripped free from the loaf and stayed stuck to the wire panel of the cover, a puff of steam escaping from its insides.

Ayla laughed. "How many times before you learn? Besides, you could have used a pan this time." The basket was meant for holding the dough in the center of the oven during zero-G.

Ahmid met her gaze, his eyes betraying his annoyance. "You're right. And if you'd been up, you could have prevented this disaster."

"Aah," Ayla reached across and gave him a friendly slap on the wrist. "Stop complaining. We can nibble while we wait for the loaf to cool down." She got up to get some berry jam and added, "Besides, I like warm crust."

Ahmid brought another plate over, held the wire panel over it with his mitt, and started punching pieces out of the holes with his finger. When Ayla returned to her seat and slid the soft bottle over, the plate was full of steaming, bite-sized squares of bread. Ahmid motioned at them, so she turned each piece of crust fluffy side up in neat rows.

Ayla loved this ritual. Ahmid took the jam and as he squeezed out a drizzle across all the squares, she pinched one after another to fill her plate without waiting for him to finish. He set the jam bottle aside, took a sip of his tea and helped himself to a number of squares.

Freshly baked bread and jam... Ayla closed her eyes as she savored her first bite, that momentary taste of warm heaven, first thing in the morning. Two squares and a sip of tea went down before she broke the silence.

"Will you talk to the Captain about where we will go?"

Ahmid swallowed his bite. "I've thought about this a lot, Ayla. I keep coming to the same conclusions."

Ayla paused with a piece of crust halfway to her mouth as a scene filled her mind. The Goddess Angel holding her sword up high, a glowing white shard cutting into the sky. Her eyes spoke of vengeance as shooting stars and comets fell from her feathered wings. Ayla shivered at the fierce emotion in those eyes.

Ahmid snapped his gaze to her, sensing her sudden fear. He reached across to place a calming hand on hers, his questioning eyes studying her with concern. Ayla feared having to answer the question. She couldn't explain what she'd seen when she didn't understand it herself. All she knew was that it came from a dream she had—was it a week ago? When the Gift gripped her with visions?

Still, she didn't need Ahmid worrying about her mental state. With effort, she brought her thoughts back to New Jordan. She had a bad feeling about it she couldn't justify, but she couldn't fault Ahmid's reasons for his decision, either.