The Fall of the Absolute

by Karen Page

Chapter 5

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Chapter 5

The doorbell rang, echoing through the house. This was unusual. Nobody called.

"Stay inside," Adelle said to Jennifer and Theo.

It was just the two trainees. Kelly and Hope had gone to the Frotanian Space Racer track. It was a race day. Hope had gone with Kelly as they'd been invited by Ve'tran to see what it was like from inside a team during the event.

Jennifer looked out from an upstairs window. A small electric pickup truck was outside. Alex and Adelle were carrying boxes from the truck. As the last few boxes were taken off, the two trainees went down to see if they could help.

"Research time," Alex said, as he saw them. "Help us get this lot into the kitchen and we can start."

Theo glanced across at Jennifer to see if she had any clue at what was going on. Jennifer gave a tiny shrug in response. She had no idea either.

"We have Alphonian food," Adelle said as the last box was brought into the kitchen. "This is a task for all four of us. Identify what each item is and how it should be stored. These are based on some of the cookery books for popular dishes."

Jennifer squealed in delight. "Was Foyt'aap one of the dishes?"

Adelle consulted her phone. "Yes."

"I so hope we do it justice. That was such a fantastic dish. I had it the first time I ate on the Rohastin Station."

"You've done so much," Theo said wistfully, no malice in his voice.

"We've done different things," Jennifer said. "You did plenty before joining Hayfield too. And then we did lots of things together. How many can say they've been to a few alien home worlds? We can. I doubt, if you exclude Hayfield, there will be more than a handful who've even been to one, let alone more than one. You have experiences unique to you."

They sorted the boxes into items to freeze, put in the refrigerator or keep in the cupboard. They then looked up what each item was and how it was used. Human food is based on what is grown or on animals. Since crops were different, how they cooked was different too.

"You've got a lot of each ingredient," Jennifer pointed out. "How much cooking are we going to do?"

"This is new to us. We are going to make mistakes. I've also stocked up with Loperamide."

"So little faith," Alex cackled.

"Hopefully we won't need it, but it is better to be prepared," Adelle responded. "Remember your trip to Mumbai?"

Alex grimaced. "Please never remind me of that again! I don't think I've forgiven Ruth for telling you about it."

Jennifer and Theo grinned at their banter.

"She just wanted me to make sure you were okay and had no long-lasting effects."

"Poppycock. Anyway, let's finish putting things away and get cooking."

Hayfield was academically one of the best schools in Britain, yet it also made sure they knew how to cook. When Alex and Adelle had gone there, the head chef, Justin, made it his mission that every leaver could cook a simple meal. That was his stated aim. However, his real goal was to make sure they could cook to a much higher standard than that. The current head chef, Nancy, had carried on that mantra and enhanced it.

Yet they were faced with ingredients that they'd never seen before, and methods that made no sense.

"What do you think it means when it says, 'jiggle until lava jellifies'?" Theo mused.

"You're translating again," Jennifer said, and he groaned. "But even if we don't, it makes little sense."

Alex, trying a different recipe, said, "I have 'Tropando heat until bubble jiggle'. So, we both have jiggle. I've no idea what 'Tropando heat' is, or how it differs from any other heat."

Adelle giggled. "This is going to be so much fun to eat."

The other three looked up at her, and she chortled some more. In the end, they went with gut instinct. Looking at what was before them, they tried to imagine what they needed to do.

Alex gently rocked the bowl. "This is the closest I can think of. Nothing is jellifying."

When it came to sampling, they each took one taste and spat it out.

"I don't think our jiggling was correct," Alex said in a flat, deadpan voice. He turned to Adelle. "Make the call. Jill said she would be able to help."

"She doesn't work for us though."

"No, but she has the knowledge. Jill says she can keep secrets. I trust Jill. We trust Jill."

Adelle stalked out of the room and Alex sighed. "Let's clear this up and make something edible."

Theo and Jennifer glanced at each other. They'd never seen any tension between Alex and Adelle but there seemed to be something going on.

"Don't worry about it," Alex said, putting some bowls into the dishwasher. "She rightly has concerns. She'll make a phone call and Miss T will confirm whether it's appropriate."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. The possibility was already discussed. Do you know Jill Toms?"

"I've heard of her. Julia, the IT teacher's daughter?"

"Yes. She was a Beta but didn't go down the usual route. She joined an orchestra and kept her eyes and ears open as they travelled. She and her wife are a different way of intel gathering. Anyway, Jill's sister is a chef. For the last eight years, Beth has worked on the Rohastin Station."

Jennifer nodded, understanding now what was happening.

Fifteen minutes later, Adelle stalked back into the room. The smell of normal food was in the air, and she seemed to relax a little. Not wanting to be anywhere near that discussion, Jennifer and Theo made a tactical withdrawal to do some more basic base-8 maths by playing darts.

Kelly and Hope arrived during the second match, and the game was forgotten. They were dressed in bright clothes, with their hair styled, wearing make-up. The two of them had dressed to impress and would have stood out. It wasn't the blend-into-the-background style they normally went for. They had only just started to tell their tale when Alex popped his head round the door.

"Haven't you seen it's time to eat?" Alex asked.

"Sorry," Theo responded automatically and they followed Alex to the kitchen.

Adelle had calmed down, which was a relief for everyone. Her hair was down and something had changed, though none of the younger people could put a finger on what it was.

"How was the racing?" Adelle asked, as she served the meal.

Hope and Kelly lit up like Christmas trees.

"We had positions in his booth," Hope said. "We were right next to Po'ropkin, who is Ve'tran's spotter. We could hear all the chat between them, the tactics before the race, and the feedback during it. Po'ropkin was anticipating moves three or four turns before they happened. It was amazing."

"And I got to see some of the manoeuvres I'd been practicing in action," Kelly added. "He managed to come in second."

"How did you get there?" Jennifer asked.

"The hoppers from Earth don't list it as a destination. We went on a special race transport from the Rohastin Station. Coming back, we had to wait for another person heading to the UK. We got invited to the next race too."

"Hope, how much did you understand what Po'ropkin was doing?" Alex asked.

Hope wiggled her hand. "Some of it. It helped that we've been watching Space Racers for years, so it isn't new. We also watched the lower leagues, and they are a lot simpler. The top manoeuvres aren't allowed at that level."

"Any idea why you are getting this level of attention?" Theo asked.

"Ve'tran thinks I have a skill," Kelly responded, blushing. "And he said it would be good for humans to have a racer. It would increase the sport's popularity on Earth."

"What's it like compared to television?" Theo asked.

"You don't appreciate the noise of the crowd," Kelly said, and Hope nodded along. "There was seating all around the track, including what we would describe as above it. Because the gravity isn't due to centrifugal forces, they have a special curved hallway that gradually moves you into the downward look. The technology for that is so impressive."

"Did you get to meet any officials or judges?" Theo asked.

"No. They were in a room beyond where we were permitted. We did get into areas the normal crowd couldn't go, but there are limits."

"You need to get the skills here first, but training there will be good for both of you. More for Kelly at first, but then Hope too."

Hope went white. "You want me to be Kelly's spotter? You want Kelly to do Space Racing?"

"If you can get the skills needed. It is a place that a lot of people go to. It is one of the only places that all species attend. If you are part of that world, then you will hear things."

"Ah, like Jill does?" Jennifer said, proud that her friend was getting recognition.

"Exactly," Adelle said, with a smile. "Like Jill does."

"What did we miss?" Hope asked, wondering who Jill was, but not pressing it at the moment.

"We tried cooking Alphonian food," Jennifer responded. "It was a disaster."

"I'm sure it wasn't that bad," Kelly responded, looking at her friend.

"Adelle and I tried to do a recipe too, and ours was just as bad," Alex said. "We spat out our single mouthful and binned the rest."

"Though I did start to get used to some of the measurements used," Jennifer added after a moment's thought. "At least that made sense. I've no idea how to jiggle."

Kelly grinned and jumped off her chair. She did a little dance. "That's a jiggle."

Jennifer laughed. "Ah, that's what we missed."

As they cleaned up after the meal, Theo pointed out that Adelle and Alex were being more meticulous with the cleaning of the sides.

"Let's do the entrance hall," Jennifer whispered and nudged Kelly to follow.

"Someone's coming to help with the cooking," Theo told Kelly and Hope when they were out of the room. "I think Alex and Adelle are house proud. Let's do it out here."

"I'll grab some dusters," Hope responded. "You grab the mop!"

By the time Alex and Adelle had realised, they'd done the entrance hall and the training room. They'd started on the stairs when Adelle came out. When she saw them busy cleaning she burst into tears.

"You didn't have to," Adelle said.

"We have guests tomorrow, and it's nice for your home to look the best. That's no different from when we were at school. When we had a concert there, it always got an extra special sparkle."

* * *

The next day, not long after breakfast, they heard the warning that someone was at the gate. They'd been putting the dishes away when the alert sounded.

"Why don't you four relax on the settee?" Alex suggested. "Adelle and I can sort out the initial steps first."

It wasn't long before Beth and Jill were ushered in. When Jennifer saw Beth, she realised what Adelle's issue was. A good investigator was instantly forgettable. If someone was asked what they looked like, they would struggle to remember. Beth, though, wasn't forgettable. She was beautiful, with a grace that made her look stunning. Adelle had been jealous. They got up to meet them at the kitchen island.

"Jill has already briefed Beth," Alex said. "She has been given some examples and has promised to keep things to herself. She is happy to help you learn what you need to."

"Beth has never gossiped about my past nor that of Julia's," Jill said.

"We meet again," Kelly said to Beth.

Beth paused for a moment and then smiled. "Oh, yes, you were on the hopper last night from the Rohastin Station. I hardly recognised you."

"Are you able to help us learn how to cook non-human food?" Jennifer asked, hopefully.

"Of course. I believe you have some ingredients. This is going to be fun. It's so different from human cooking."

Jill stayed with her sister, wanting to see how to cook Alphonian food too.

"We tried to make Foyt'aap," Jennifer explained as they got utensils out. "I got lost when it mentioned jiggle."

"Jiggle is a medium stir."

Theo opened the Hytuna recipe book and showed the bit they'd had trouble with.

Beth shook her head in disgust. "You really need an Alphonian book, not a Hytuna translation. It makes more sense. Okay, we'll start with what look like beans. These are quite delicate and come from the Po'roshon tree."

Slowly Beth introduced them not just to cooking, but what the ingredients were and where they came from. "You can't begin to cook properly unless you know what you're handling, and the reason why the method tells you to do something. Following a book will only give you an approximation."

This wasn't new to any of them. Beth and Jill had been taught that by their mother before she died. Jill had seen the same at Hayfield.

"This is like learning to cook at school," Hope sighed. "Understanding leads to perfection."

"How did you learn all this?" Adelle asked.

"The restaurant I'd been working at went under. I got a hopper to the Rohastin Station and found a restaurant. I'd learnt enough Hytuna to speak with confidence and asked a cook there if I could help impart human cooking to them. They accepted but said someone on the station had enjoyed salmon but didn't like eggs."

Jennifer burst out laughing. "Shinara, one of the diplomatic doctors."

"I know Shinara," Beth said, with a grin.

Jennifer thought about telling Beth about when Shinara first visited Earth but thought that was too much information.

"The recipe we'd been following said something like, 'jiggle until lava jellifies'. We have jiggle, but the rest?"

Beth rolled her eyes and took one of the beans from the bag. "These are edible without cooking. Try one."

Jennifer did, and a second later she felt like her mouth and then throat were on fire. The fire spread as it went. After downing a glass of milk, that Beth had given her, she said hoarsely, "Ah, lava."

"If you stir too slowly, you don't get the reaction to jellify. If you stir too vigorously, it doesn't get the chance to blend properly. So, you jiggle."

When it was cooked and they sampled it, nobody spat it out. If anything, it was even better than Jennifer remembered from her first meal on the Rohastin Station ten years ago.

"Now imagine that with the view of a gas giant visible through the window," Jennifer said, with a sigh of satisfaction.

"That's where I cook now," Beth said. "I started near the hangars."

"Do you miss Earth?" Theo asked.

"I can go as often as I like, as it doesn't take long. But cooking there has been one of the best experiences of my life. I get to see so much. Other humans come to the station too. I heard a concert there a few years ago. The human ambassador comes and eats most days in the restaurant with her aide."

"What other species foods can you cook?"

She rattled off a few, including Reginadde and Frotanians.

"Not Yvestigan?"

"Not many can, and there isn't a big demand. The Yvestigans might be back in the Rohastin Council, but I don't see many about the station. I don't think I've even seen their new Ambassador in the restaurant."

"You have been really helpful," Adelle said, her previous rancour gone. "Would you be willing to do this again?"

Beth shrugged. "Sure. It's nice to pass on my cooking knowledge, like my mum did for me. You aren't looking to be cooks on the station, are you?"

"No," Kelly said. "We just need to immerse ourselves a bit. Be able to understand what's out of the ordinary. Cooking is teaching us more about the different species, things like their weights and measurements."

"Since you've lived on the Rohastin Station for a while, and probably heard lots of things over the years, do you know who any of us are?"

Beth hesitated and pointed to her sister, Jill. "I know her."

Jill had been mostly quiet, letting the conversation flow. She spoke now, "Beth, it isn't a trick question. I think they're just trying to judge what is known about them. You are an independent person, so a good person to ask."

Beth nodded. "Okay. I don't know you two," she said pointing to Alex and Adelle. She then pointed to Theo, "I've no idea about you, either. The other three a little."

"Oh?" Kelly asked, intrigued.

"Jennifer is famous on the station. First Contact, The Trinity and a few other things. You two," she pointed to Kelly and Hope. "I saw you earlier on the hopper, but you were also shown on the Space Racer broadcast. You were seen as guests to one of the premier racing teams. Nobody knew who you were, but that you," she pointed at Kelly, "had been seen training hard and that you might be the first human to race."

"I bet my parents are having kittens if they saw that," Kelly said.

Beth looked perplexed. "You aren't trying to go undercover then?"

"You have a Device to allow communication with the space station computer, don't you?" Kelly asked.

"Sure. You wouldn't get far without one."

"It works by communicating with your brain. It recognises who you are by your brain patterns."

"Oh," Beth said, now thoroughly confused.

"Don't worry. We just don't want people to know we are learning about other species' cultures," Theo said. "Once that's over, I hope we can stay in touch. You're a nice person to know, and I don't mean for the cooking."

Beth blushed at the compliment.

The next day, they all had a go at cooking Alphonian style. The result wasn't as good as Beth's, but it was edible, and they began to understand a bit more about the road ahead. It was also the last day, for the next week, that Theo would be in the house. He was to have a crash course in being a Personal Assistant. This would be back in London at Laura Taylor's public company, GWPP.

Laura Taylor was an enigma. She'd inherited GWPP when her mother died and was well known as one of the top business executives in the United Kingdom. She also had side projects. She was part owner of Star Bright, the company founded by Jennifer's Ma. She was also one of the executives in the secret shell company, Greenacre Services, which the investigators worked for. There, she was affectionately known as Miss T.

Theo's time in London was to see if he could pick up the skills. If so, he would be back at GWPP later to fully immerse himself in that world before moving to the Rohastin Station.

It was unsettling for Jennifer. Kelly and Hope were going to embed in the Space Racer world. Theo would potentially be working as a Personal Assistant. But Jennifer wondered what she'd be asked to do, and why she hadn't been given any additional training.