Kelly, more often called "Cook" had been a decent product of Manticore. Well, they didn't have much room there for any soldier to be less than decent. Less than excellent as a matter of fact. But Cook didn't really stand out in any way until the siege had begun.
Within days she had taken over all the aspects required to keep the small band going food-wise. No one objected because the girl seemed to have a talent mixing what little they had into something unreasonably good considering their situation.
She poured over recipes and insisted on keeping a detailed catalog of everything edible, spending endless hours cooking and recording as well as coming up with special diets for the former soldiers who were now with child.
This is not her story. However, she is the reason it began.
Biting her lip slightly, Cook glanced down at the neatly kept records in her hand. She had written them herself, counting everything twice before recording their supplies. "Twenty-nine, thirty, thirty-one…" But where was thirty-two?
The missing bag of rice was not a unique case. A few days before a can of peaches had disappeared as well. "Into thin air," she muttered before going around to the few others from her unit who had volunteered to help her with the task of feeding an army. Even a small army.
None of them had seen the bag and Cook knew none of them would lie. She knew she hadn't recorded it incorrectly because she had memorized the list as well and could say it backwards in her sleep. So where was the…
"Hey Cook!" the familiar voice made Cook smile even as she turned around to look up at Max.
"Come to ruin some more flour?" grinned Cook. It was a joke between them about a time Max had tried her hand at cooking. Cook had been sworn to secrecy.
"Hardly," laughed Max before her eyes flickered around the room. "Seen Logan anywhere?"
"Oh. He was just here. He's been a great help since he came. So many cooking styles they just didn't have in Manticore's survival training. I can't imagine why they left out all the French stuff."
Max's eyes flickered once again before she stooped to pick up a half empty bag of rice, jaggedly torn at the opening and spewing some of its contents.
"Oh!" cried Cook, accepting the mutilated bag. "I was actually going to mention this to you… Food's been missing lately… Little things but everything counts these days… Funny it should show up.."
Max nodded absently, her eyes elsewhere. Suddenly she sprang forward, courtesy of her feline DNA, past Cook grabbing at the darkness. Max looked down at her hands. She felt something there.. Someone.. But her eyes revealed nothing.
Whatever it was had begun to struggle and fight back so Max pushed it up against the wall, knocking several jars over and spewing the contents of a flour bag all over herself.
"Oh.." moaned Cook, her Manticorian mind already pondering a way to get by with less flour in the meal she had planned for this evening. Then she looked past Max, at what she was holding.
Max was doused in white powder. But so was the boy she had grabbed onto.
Within days she had taken over all the aspects required to keep the small band going food-wise. No one objected because the girl seemed to have a talent mixing what little they had into something unreasonably good considering their situation.
She poured over recipes and insisted on keeping a detailed catalog of everything edible, spending endless hours cooking and recording as well as coming up with special diets for the former soldiers who were now with child.
This is not her story. However, she is the reason it began.
Biting her lip slightly, Cook glanced down at the neatly kept records in her hand. She had written them herself, counting everything twice before recording their supplies. "Twenty-nine, thirty, thirty-one…" But where was thirty-two?
The missing bag of rice was not a unique case. A few days before a can of peaches had disappeared as well. "Into thin air," she muttered before going around to the few others from her unit who had volunteered to help her with the task of feeding an army. Even a small army.
None of them had seen the bag and Cook knew none of them would lie. She knew she hadn't recorded it incorrectly because she had memorized the list as well and could say it backwards in her sleep. So where was the…
"Hey Cook!" the familiar voice made Cook smile even as she turned around to look up at Max.
"Come to ruin some more flour?" grinned Cook. It was a joke between them about a time Max had tried her hand at cooking. Cook had been sworn to secrecy.
"Hardly," laughed Max before her eyes flickered around the room. "Seen Logan anywhere?"
"Oh. He was just here. He's been a great help since he came. So many cooking styles they just didn't have in Manticore's survival training. I can't imagine why they left out all the French stuff."
Max's eyes flickered once again before she stooped to pick up a half empty bag of rice, jaggedly torn at the opening and spewing some of its contents.
"Oh!" cried Cook, accepting the mutilated bag. "I was actually going to mention this to you… Food's been missing lately… Little things but everything counts these days… Funny it should show up.."
Max nodded absently, her eyes elsewhere. Suddenly she sprang forward, courtesy of her feline DNA, past Cook grabbing at the darkness. Max looked down at her hands. She felt something there.. Someone.. But her eyes revealed nothing.
Whatever it was had begun to struggle and fight back so Max pushed it up against the wall, knocking several jars over and spewing the contents of a flour bag all over herself.
"Oh.." moaned Cook, her Manticorian mind already pondering a way to get by with less flour in the meal she had planned for this evening. Then she looked past Max, at what she was holding.
Max was doused in white powder. But so was the boy she had grabbed onto.