Free Kidnapped by Maria Hammarblad

evenly, "I'm not in the mood to mingle."
    Travis nodded, and shoved a list of her top ten courses to try in the man's hand. "We will have these, and ten of each delivered to my ship. Have them there within an hour."
    She tried to look influential as she followed the older man to their very own room, and she nodded approvingly when he asked if it was alright. She waited for him to pull her chair out, and she didn't say anything even when he left and she and Travis were facing each other over the table. Her lover shook his head ever so little, and she understood, saying with a little wrinkle on her nose, "I do hope this kitchen is cleaner than the other one."
    It wasn't a brilliant line, but it was the best she could come up with. She could tell from Travis's eyes he was amused, but he just answered calmly, "It will be. The Supreme Commander frequents this place. Do you wish to inspect it?"
    Shaking her head, she answered, doing her best to sound as calm as he did, "No, Commander, that will not be necessary."
    He nodded with an air of, "as you wish," and they sat in silence for a couple of minutes. She was thinking fervently of what she might do or say that could seem official, but absolutely nothing came to mind, so she just sat there, waiting, with her back straight and head held high, trying not to show her heart was pounding hard with fright.
    She wondered why she'd had to open her big mouth the evening before. If she hadn't said anything, they'd still be on the ship. Being hungry seemed much easier than all this. At least she hadn't chosen anything looking like soup. Solid foods could be eaten safely even with a hand slightly shaking.
    It only took a few minutes before a waiter returned with a drink-list, and she wondered why she hadn't even thought about this becoming a problem. The list had holographic pictures, but they didn't help all that much. Everything looked completely foreign. Travis saved her smoothly through ordering something for both of them. She didn't know what it was, but she did know she would pretend to love it, no matter what it tasted like.
    The drinks and all their food arrived very quickly, and she suspected they'd gotten whatever was cooking for the other customers. No matter what people had to pay for this, they would have to wait in order to keep the Alliance officer happy.
    The ten courses filled the table and Patricia gawked at the abundance of food, hoping she didn't look as helpless as she felt. A waiter stayed in the room, ready to tend to their every need, but Travis nodded to him to go away, and he left very quietly.
    She grabbed something that looked like a fork and poked carefully at the food closest to her, trying to look like she knew exactly what she was doing. When she actually tried it, the flavour overwhelmed her palate, and it wasn't just because she'd been living on those little energy-bars for such a long time. This food was truly excellent.
    Travis sipped his drink, and she could have sworn the corners of his mouth were twitching as he watched her. She pointed towards the plate with her fork and said, working hard not to sound too excited, "You should try this. It's very good."
    She had expected him to shake his head, but he reached for the plate and munched the food, patiently trying everything she told him to.
    The waiters peeked in from time to time, making sure they had everything they might desire, and she wished she could have asked for a doggy bag and brought whatever remained from each course back to the ship. She was quite sure that if she did, the waiters would find a way to accommodate her wish or die, but she also thought doggy bags couldn't possibly be the behaviour of anyone in the Alliance.
     
    *****
     
    When they returned to the docking bay, Travis made a mental note to teach Patricia how to open the door to the ship. He handed her the box of goodies from the candy store, and pushed the carts with meals into a storage freezer, thinking he could deal with them