This is a Chain story passed between @zakludick and @therneau. Each writer authors a post based on the events of previous episodes and carries on the story.

There is very little collusion between the writers as it is challenging to discover and develop a story by attuning the writing to the partner's plot, style, and presentation.

Last Time on Space Lore ZT

Thorne and Captain Freyai write each other secret messages and try keep it from the ever increasing awareness of the ship and J5.

Space Lore Log SLZT #27

Thorne noticed that Tanker was quite noisy in the kitchen. However the chef was preparing the food, the smell was incredible. Not synthesized stuff either, the creature had mentioned that he had his own hydroponic garden.

His mouth watered. He could not count when last he had a real meal, other than the ground up stuff he and Allan had to squeeze out of tubes on their survey missions.

Meanwhile, he was writing. He passed over the note.

That was a very cryptic message.

Captain Freyai smiled as she read this. Once her coffee had gone down in temperature, she cradled the cup with her lower set of arms while her upper right arm held the pen and wrote her reply.

He did not know much about Auk'ilit, he knew about the four arms but he had no idea how they managed to do anything finely without making errors. He supposed that he could move his feet and arms independently, but feet are not used dexterously.

"There is always some sort of threat to invasion of the Allied spaces." Freyai answered his original question. "There are a few factions and kingdoms out there that are either warlike or refused to join any central government... for various reasons."

Meanwhile she passed him a message across the table. We were seeking specifically for the signs of an Argidian invasion.

"Which ones give you the most trouble?" He asked.

"Well the Talaanos think themselves too superior to everyone else." She replied while picking up the pen as though considering if she should write something else. "And the Argidians are marauding, though they tend to be non-co-operative due to their beliefs."

"I see." Thorne could not think of anything else to say at this point and he felt a bit awkward. They were saved from further conversation by Tanker coming through the kitchen door. Freyai quickly took the notebook and placed it face down with the pen on top.

Tanker arrived with their food.

Thorne was shocked to find that his plate was filled with a golden yellow omelet. He had never seen one in real life. Again, this was the kind of old-school food that he had only seen in classic movies of the 2000's. There was a green plant garnish over the top. To the side of this, sliced of grilled tomato. Again, this did not have the look of a synthesized food product that was built layer for layer but instead seemed to be the real deal.

Finally, two grilled sausages were placed on the side of the plate. There was no way that this ship carried livestock so he know something had to be synthesized here. It seemed however that the sausage had not been constructed in a synthesizer. Instead, Tanked seemed to have generated materials separately and had assembled the sausage himself. It was the only explanation.

"Well?" Tanker said, still standing there, wringing his soft hands while Thorne stared at his food. "Is there something wrong with my interpretations? I know usually sausage is not served with Omlette on the side, but I wanted a real human... not some half-robot mess... to taste it. I had recently perfected my own sausage recipe. You are the first to try it!"

"It looks amazing!" Thorne said. "It smells amazing. Tanker, I have not seen most of this stuff outside of movies! How are you able to make this stuff?"

Freyai answered. "Our cook is a little... fond of Earth and it's things. I think it has to do with moving picture art."

The squat creature's face flashed with annoyance and then back to uninhibited glee. "I am rather fond of movies and all the things they show. I know its not longer a current state for Earth to be in, with all the galactic influence, but what I have seen of your traditional food... it is just astonishing." Tanker looked over his shoulder. "The crew around here just do not have much cultural appreciation."

A deep bass growl came from the creature then. Captain Freyai sat up straight in her seat, her eyes wide for a moment with fright. "We thank you Cantankerous Fool for the delicious meal. I am sure Master Herm would be delighted to give you feedback when we are done."

Tanker turned back towards the Captain. She bowed her head towards him and he bowed deeply to her. "Thank you Captain. I will be in the kitchen."

"Thank you chef." Thorne said, Freyai had a moment to look alarmed but the creature bowed even more deeply. "You honor me with such a title."

Thorne just smiled as Tanker backed away with a big smile and disappeared into the kitchen. Thorne looked back at Freyai who seemed to release a long breath.

"You seem stressed." He said.

"I don't know what you called him, but I am glad he liked it." Frayai said. "In my language, it sounded something similar to a swearword, but obviously it has another meaning in yours."

"You seem quite worried about what your cook thinks and feels Captain."

Her expression turned less serious, yet her intent seemed clear. "Trust me. If we get into combat, when things are most dire, I bring my cook to the fight. If he had decided you had wronged him and had gotten angry, there would have been very little I could have done to stop him without a rifle."

Thorne swallowed nervously. "Really?"

"Indeed." She smiled mischievously. "I am the only Captain with an Argidian on her ship."

Before he could recover from his shock she passed him another message that read.

We cannot tell the crew what makes J5 special.

Log SLZT #27 completed!

I am just going to leave it there! It has been a while!

The keyboard is passed on to @therneau to add in SLZT Log #28 of the story!

by @zakludick	by @therneau
SLZT#1	SLZT#2
SLZT#3	SLZT#4
SLZT#5	SLZT#6
SLZT#7	SLZT#8
SLZT#9	SLZT#10
SLZT#11	SLZT#12
SLZT#13	SLZT#14
SLZT #15	SLZT #16
SLZT #17	SLZT #18
SLZT #19	SLZT #20
SLZT #21	SLZT #22
SLZT #23	SLZT #24
SLZT #25	SLZT #26/Q1
-You are here-	Up next
Branch Log	Queen
	SLZT #26/Q1
SLZT.Q2	Up next

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