"Francesca, are you asleep?" Josh walked out of the room and called downstairs.
"Not yet, sir. Do you need something?" came the sound of hurried footsteps.
A young girl in her early twenties peeked out from the staircase below. She was a newly hired maid in Josh's house, of Italian descent.
Since Josh and Margot had spent the entire winter in Florida, several of their experienced servants had been taken along, leaving only two behind in the Chicago villa to take turns watching the house.
Francesca was one of them.
"Is there still something to eat in the house? If possible, prepare some for me—add more vegetables, make it enough for two. And also bring up two bottles of red wine," Josh asked.
Although he hadn't been home much, Josh always notified the stay-behind servants before returning. Plus, they had to eat too, so the house was stocked with some basic supplies.
It wouldn't be possible to trade with Yuri on a large scale just yet, but satisfying his cravings temporarily was doable. As for the materials needed for actual trade, Josh had already called Lyndon Schneider to make arrangements.
He figured everything would be ready by noon the next day.
"Mr. Kane, would veal steak be okay for the main course? As for vegetables, we have some mushrooms, lettuce, carrots, and cabbage," Francesca asked carefully.
"You handle it. Oh, and add some fruit," Josh said casually. After all, he wasn't eating it himself. As for Yuri...before being bound by the dimensional beacon, the guy had already been in the Cretaceous period for over a year.
Although, as a superhuman skilled in psychic control, he didn't need to worry about survival and had dinosaur meat to eat every day…
But without proper cookware and seasonings, his life must have been pretty grim. You can imagine.
So never mind veal steak and vegetable salad—even just a few slices of dry bread would probably seem delicious to Yuri right now.
"Yes, sir!" Francesca nodded and went to prepare the meal.
Josh, meanwhile, returned to chat with Yuri.
Although Josh himself had no real interest in an old, lonely bald man, the guy had been isolated for over a year and was now in a chatty mood after finally seeing another human being. He wouldn't stop talking.
Given the value of the super technology from the Red Alert world, Josh had no choice but to humor him.
He listened to the old man go on and on about how he evolved from a psychic experiment subject to the Soviet Union's most important scientist and military strategist, and eventually into an ambitious dictator who nearly established a powerful Yuri Empire on the moon.
After over half an hour of this monologue, Francesca knocked on the door, carrying the prepared food.
Josh temporarily shut down the trading system and opened the door to let her in.
But after setting down the food, Francesca didn't leave right away. Instead, she looked at Josh hesitantly.
"Is something the matter, Francesca?" Josh immediately realized she probably had something she wanted to say.
"It's like this, Mr. Kane. Last winter, my younger brother got into some trouble and was arrested. Because he speaks Italian, he was conscripted into the army. Last November, he was captured, but Captain America rescued him. However, he was shot while escaping. He only just recovered and was granted a one-month leave. He'll be back in Chicago next week," Francesca said hesitantly.
"And?" Josh asked, somewhat curious. Rescued by Cap last November? That was probably the mission where Captain America saved Bucky and gained fame. That operation didn't just save members of Bucky's 107th Infantry Regiment but also soldiers from other units—some were British, French, even Soviet troops—totaling in the thousands.
It was exactly why Cap became a hero celebrated by all the major Allied nations, not just the U.S.
"It's my mother. She knows you're a powerful man, so she wanted me to ask if there's any way my brother could avoid being sent back to the battlefield. My father died in an accident last year, and my brother is the only male left in our family. My mother is terrified he won't return again. Mr. Kane, I beg you—please help us. I'll do anything you ask!" Francesca pleaded.
...Anything? Josh, mentally a man in his thirties, immediately misunderstood.
He sized up Francesca—maid uniform… Well, a proper maid's outfit was very conservative, floor-length, and unflattering, so there wasn't much to see. But her face was quite delicate—not a stunning beauty, but easily an 80 out of 100.
Then Margot's exquisite face suddenly flashed in his mind… and he shook his head.
"What's his name? Which unit is he in?" Josh asked. For him, it really wasn't a big deal—just a phone call. And a servant in his household was part of his people; helping with a small favor was nothing.
"Vito. Vito Scaletta! He's in the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 82nd Airborne Division!" Francesca answered eagerly, initially thinking Josh had refused when she saw him shake his head, but then lighting up at his question.
"Alright, I got it! I'll take care of it," Josh waved her off, signaling she could leave.
Francesca sensibly exited the study.
Josh reopened the trading device since Yuri was still waiting. He sent over the food and wine, and in return received two dinosaur eggs.
They were Pachycephalosaurus eggs. But Yuri didn't trade them to Josh for incubation or anything—just to let him taste them.
According to him, Pachycephalosaurus eggs were the best-tasting eggs he'd eaten during his time in the Cretaceous.
"Excellent! Top-tier red wine. But it's a pity—I still prefer vodka!" Yuri took a swig from the wine as soon as he retrieved it from the trading device.
"There'll be vodka in tomorrow's supply drop. That stuff is dirt cheap. One bottle of red wine could buy dozens of vodkas," Josh replied. He didn't drink much himself, but seeing Yuri guzzle it like that made his eye twitch. That red wine was from Margot's private stash—it was expensive!
But Yuri didn't care at all, devouring the food enthusiastically.
He only had a few bites of veal steak, but he went to town on the vegetables and fruit salad.
After all, meat wasn't scarce in the Cretaceous, but vegetables were. Occasionally he might find some young ferns to substitute, but otherwise it was extremely limited.
While Yuri was eating, Josh took the opportunity to give a brief overview of his own world.
And when Josh mentioned Red Skull, Captain America—these super-soldiers—and the Cosmic Cube, Yuri's interest was clearly piqued.