Porthole

4148 07 Chef Petra Longnose the Vulch

We boarded.

Petra Longnose the Vulch met us with the traditional greeting.

"Welcome. There are no pirates among us."

Vulches 'collected'. Pirates 'stole'. Petra was no thief but pirates hid everywhere.

"When's lunch?"

"Now."

Cook had come with us. After-all, Petra was a chef known to collect delicacies along with her penchant for used military weapons and ammo.

We were a motley group: Lor the merchant Gqarian, Kat the stargazing Dreamer, even a couple humans. I kept all four ears twitching and my feet on the floor. Kat had assured us that there was nothing to fear. But, was everything alright? We followed Cook's nose.

The table was set: all colors, tastes, smells, everything adequately cooked (as in dead, Cook often said).

"What's this? Where did you find THAT? Can I trade for..." We ate while Cook kept up the litany. "Nicely sour. Great texture. How did you ever find smoked monkey?" One of the humans frowned; after-all, monkeys were human.

"We traded."

Petra was not being ... Petra. Kat gave me that look. Lor changed the subject to the fancy plates and fancier utensils... and how was her collection of ancient Klingon armaments going? The tense moment passed.

When we finished Kat looked straight at Petra, "Something's wrong." We all locked Petra in our gaze. "Did you run into pirates. Are they following you?" Petra just nodded. "How?"

"We don't know."

"The others?"

"Locked in their quarters."

Lor smiled. "I'm willing to trade for these exquisite plates. Do you have more?" Cook also smiled, "We are low on provisions." I added, "I'm sure I could find a trinket or two."

Petra motioned us to follow and opened up bins and closets. "Take what you want."

There was no question what she needed from an armed starship in return.

Prompt for flash fiction: monkey, closet, floor. Entered as "Trading [155] (298 words)" . Won.

For:

Daily Flash Fiction Challenge  (13+) Enter your story of 300 words or less. #896794 by Arakun the twisted raccoon

Prompt Space Cadet characters: "There is no love sincerer than the love of food." George Bernard Shaw

From:

STATIC

Food in Writing  (13+) Using food in our stories and poems adds a special zest to their enjoyment. #1556328 by Joy

For:

FORUM

Space Blog  (ASR) Cruising WDC cyberspace and raiding ports for blog prompts! #2223838 by Sharmelle'sThankfulExpressions