“You’re not supposed to give them things to carry,” Marc said.
“Hey, my gal always offers to carry stuff for me,” Samantha said. “I think she’s afraid I might drop it and cause confusion.” Samantha winked at Jackie.
“I guess I’ll get used to it,” Jackie said.
“Sure, did you even notice the two guards that shadowed you here?”
“There were two guards?”
“Yes, there were,” Blake said. “We’ll start having one actually with us soon as well as the two shadows. I’ve been able to avoid that until now.”
“I’ll give you the contact info for the clothier I use,” Samantha said. “She’ll either make you a gown or get one for you. Takes the hassle out of a lot of things. I’ll also leave you a bunch of the jewelry I’ve got. I don’t think I’ll be wearing much on Artemis.”
“You don’t have to do that.”
“They belong to the state,” Samantha said.
“Oh, nice.”
“Now, would anyone like an aperitif?” Samantha asked.
“I would,” Jackie said.
“We have a full bar, but I have some champagne on ice if you would like to try it.”
“I’d love to.”
“Blake?”
“I’ll have some champagne, too.”
Marc went to the kitchen and popped the champagne, returning a minute later with four flutes.
“Dinner will be ready in ten minutes or whenever we’re ready,” Samantha said. “I just want the sauce to simmer some more. The pasta is in the warming drawer, waiting for us.”
“Sam is an amazing cook,” Marc said.
“But how do you find the time?” Jackie asked.
“It’s my hobby, so I usually manage to budget some time. If I get behind, I have someone come in and be my sous chef.”
“How does that work?”
“This is Delphi City, there’s a service for everything,” Samantha said. “Even when we’re on Delphi Station, there’s always someone available. There’s a directory of services on your Comm. You can get anything from someone to wash the vegetables and clean up, to a nice chef to do everything. There are even some gourmet chefs who are amazing. Whatever you need, there’s someone at a price willing to come and work. Ask ADI, and she’ll be able to get you started.”
“That might be nice. I’m always too rushed to cook lately. But it’s been busy finishing up the new airliner, and we’re starting to bring staff in for training,” Jackie said.
“I thought we weren’t going to start the airline until next year,” Samantha said.
“We’re not. But you have to bring in certain staff early enough to get things set up,” Jackie said.
“Before I head back to the kitchen to finish up, I wanted to know if you’re going to Brussels,” Samantha said.
“If you’re going, it might be fun. We can leave these two behind and do some shopping. And maybe we can squeeze in a side trip to Paris.”
“If you want to do that, you have to let the security people know right away,” Marc said. “Things like that are more complicated when you’re the state representative.”
“Hey, you said this would be fun,” Jackie whined.
“It will be, you just have to put up with a few inconveniences.”
◆ ◆ ◆
“Dinner’s ready; everyone, have a seat,” Samantha said. She and Marc each carried two plates filled with pasta covered with a Bolognese sauce. There was a small serving of broccoli on each plate.
“Marc, please pour the wine,” Samantha said as she went back to the kitchen. She returned with a basket of bread and set it on the table before sitting down.
“Pasta and bread,” Marc said. “That’s an unusual treat.”
“Why, you don’t look like you need to lose weight?” Jackie asked.
“Someone wants me to watch my triglycerides,” Marc said. “I need to see if Dr. Metra has a treatment for that. I miss my bread.”
“Well, you might not have to miss it much longer,” Samantha said.
“Why not, are you giving up on your health campaign?”
“No, we’ll talk about it after dinner.”
◆ ◆ ◆
“This is really good,” Blake said as Jackie discreetly pushed some of her pasta off onto his plate.
“Did you really like it?” Samantha asked.
“Yes, this pasta is delicious.”
“What about the bread?”
“The same. Did you make it?” Blake asked.
“Yes, I did, and I think we’ve found one of Artemis’s first exports.”
“What?” Marc asked.
“The pasta and bread are made from that grain you were complaining about,” Samantha said. “You know the one that yields zero calories.”
“Zero calories?” Jackie asked as she scooped some of her pasta back onto her plate.
“Actually, negative calories; can you imagine how it would improve the diet of the average American if they could have bread that is non-fattening? It fills you up, tastes good, and yields no calories, and the little microbes in your intestines have just as much trouble digesting it as you do, so there won’t be any stomach distress.”
“I’m not sure the American wheat farmers are going to like that,” Blake said.
“There are still plenty of places that need wheat for calories,” Samantha said. “This just creates another option.”
“Won’t they just start growing it themselves?” Jackie asked.
“We’ll get a patent on the grain,” Samantha said, “so we’ll be able to control it. But Dr. Paratar says that we should be able to come up with a sterile form of the wheat so that the plants wouldn’t reproduce. His initial research says that you wouldn’t be able to cross-pollinate with an Earth variety anyway.”
“Why wouldn’t you just grind it up before you shipped it?” Blake asked.
“Shipping flour is a lot messier than shipping the grain. And there are all kinds of problems with flour, such as moisture, heat, things like that. Grain is just easier to ship.”
“We should have Marcie make some inquiries for us. Oh, damn, she doesn’t work for us anymore.”
“I’m sure she’ll be willing to help us out. Catie can’t be keeping her that busy yet,” Samantha said. “I’ll let Sharon know, and
