As the ship jerked into the dock, it sent Girry flying off his bunk and onto the floor. The sudden loud noise caused Billy to jump and tumble down the stairs while the lizirds, eating their algae, watched the commotion with blank, unblinking expressions.

  Rubbing his head, Girry looked around, stood up, and checked the bottom of the stairs to make sure the animals were fine. Aside from Billy’s ego, all of them seemed perfectly fine. But he was still confused and decided to check with Aura, who was busy cursing under her breath.

  “Mornin’, Aura. Bumpy ride, eh?”

  Fans spun up with a frustrated whirl. “This damn dock of yours is so small, it’s like trying to dock a moon to an asteroid.” The screen flashed red some more as the ship jerked. “Damn this stall.”

  Sitting in the pilot chair. “Take it easy, Aura. Ya gotta finesse her.”

  “Have you forgotten that the ship is me?”

  He looked at the screen and frowned. “Both of ya are the same?”

  “Obviously.”

  Taking over the controls. “Then why are ya having a hard time docking? This isn’t the first time.”

  Relinquishing control. “Yes, but since you always insisted on doing the docking, I never learned.”

  “Really? I didn’t notice.” He said, finishing the docking procedure. “Why did ya decide to do it then?”

  The screen flashed a slight red for a second, then turned off. “Because you finally gave me a name, so I wanted to do something nice,” she muttered.

  Leaning closer and tilting his ear. “What was that?”

  “Nothing,” she said, and turned herself off.

  Girry stared at the screen for a few seconds, shrugged, and went down to the cargo hold to prepare for moving the animals. Preparations included multiple impacts to the head with an anesthetic stick. Girry always kept one close by. Incidentally, it was one that he purchased from a traveling doctor that had an odd fascination with the innards of different lifeforms.

  If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.

  Once the animals had been ‘sedated,’ he carried them out of the ship and into his food stall. The inside of which is rather cozy. It’s made from the remains of the rear end of a very large ship. At the front of his stall is a door. It’s not a particularly special door, but it gets the job done. The eating area is just in front of the door. A long counter made from scrap metal, wood, and pieces of thrusters. And behind that is where the magic happens.

  A large room with makeshift stoves, ovens, and fire pits for cooking. In one corner sits a fridge created from a cryopod and bunk bed. And in the center of all of that, constructed a few months ago, is the empty creature pen he used for his voogins.

  Anyway, he carefully placed the lizirds into their new home and spent a few hours fashioning a corner of the pen to have a constant water supply, light, and warmth to grow algae for the animals to eat. Once he was happy with everything, he turned on his stove, oven, and fire pit to start cooking himself and Billy some food.

  Grabbing his saltbug and a few other ingredients, he got to work preparing a fascinating dish made from the skin of a royaker, the legs of a scribble, and the eyes of a confused bird. And just to help you identify those three ingredients, I’m going to tell you what they look like.

  A royaker is a type of ground squirrel with absolutely nothing in common with one. Except for their size. Being completely hairless, the creature is very susceptible to sunburns and generally forages in the early morning and late afternoon.

  Now, I know what you’re all thinking. “We don’t care about a damn royaker. We want to know what the hell a scribble is.”

  And you’re right to ask. Simply put, a scribble is a creature that scared its discoverer so badly that instead of documenting the encounter correctly, she panicked and ended up with a word that looked like a scribble. When she handed in her report, her coworkers couldn’t bring themselves to question her. So, unable to read the word, the creature was called a scribble.

  As to what it looks like, it has a lot of fluffy fur covering a pair of big, round, fluffy ears that droop and has extremely sharp teeth capable of delivering a rare kind of toxin that, once in the blood, eats the heart of its victim. And yes, assuming you don’t get bitten, the legs of this creature are delicious.

  Now we get to the confused bird. Well, it’s just a confused bird, really. Apparently, when a bird is genuinely confused, it releases hormones into its eyes and boosts its eyesight. That hormone has a lovely subtle musk flavor with a pleasant bite.

  Anyway, Girry doesn’t need to go hunting for those ingredients since an acquaintance of his brings him fresh stock whenever he needs. That acquaintance works for a delivery company that, according to their ad, delivers to every corner of the universe with a smile, or your bolts returned!

  Also, he still has a massive stockpile of those ingredients. The dish he is making is one of his best sellers. It’s called “Plate O’ Bits” and is served in a quarter loaf of malt bread, which is usually made with any malt alcohol—

  Happy with the taste of the dish, he made the bread dough and threw it into the oven, then slammed the door closed with a bang. Billy opened a single eye, peeked at Girry, then rolled over and went back to sleep.

  As the scents of malt bread and freshly cooked Plate O’ Bits filled the stall, Girry sat outside staring off into space. No doubt thinking about either some strange ingredient or a dish that has clicks in the name. Sipping his drink with the vulgar planet behind him, a large, pink ship sputtered overhead and stopped just outside the stall.