The canteen was fairly empty when she arrived, which was no surprise. The crew of the Iron Raven wasn't small, a few dozen people, but most of them were hot-bunked and worked on different schedules. There was no day or night in space after all, so it didn't really matter who was awake when. A solid chunk of the crew was military as well, and unlike the rest of the crew always ate on a carefully managed schedule.
With a hint of relief, Jai noticed that the head cook was absent at the moment. It wasn't that she didn't like the old woman, but she was a lot to handle and right now Jai didn't have that kind of energy.
"What's the damage, Janto? Ree cook up something edible for us today or will I have to call engineering when I'm done with the bathroom again?" Jai asked, pulling a tray out of the dispenser.
"Careful, Pilot! Say that too loud and Ree might decide to put you on a special diet." The assistant cook gave Jai a toothy smile that stretched the freckles on his face. "And for your information, today's special is absolutely, unequivalently guaranteed to flush. Can't promise you'll survive the smell, though."
Janto brandished his ladle and gestured at the various bubbling sludges filling his serving station.
"As always, we got the white and green. Mashed potatoes from instant and algae paste. Today's batch of potatoes is pretty tasty, if a little heavy on the garlic and synthbutter. The green is sesame flavored today and it is particularly bad! Not even Ree defended it and if it weren't for Vex and the other boots having such high caloric intake I reckon she'd 86 the green entirely. From the rotating menu, we have one of your favorites! Sweet and sour curry lentils." Janto gestured towards an orange sludge and paused for a moment to allow Jai to finish the exaggerated gagging noises she was making. "Still don't see what your problem with that one is."
"I just happen to think curry should actually have, you know, curry. In it." Jai jabbed at the last tray. "What about the red?"
"New dish. First time in rotation, and reviews are... let's call it... emotionally diverse. Meat came from a crate labeled miscellaneous proteins. Niv snagged it during the last resupply. Called it a local specialty which usually translates to technically edible alien livestock. Still had the discount sticker on it and at that price I'd say even the locals don't eat it. I've been calling it spaghetti bolognese to keep morale up, but there's no spaghetti and the only thing it has in common with bolognese is depth of flavor." Janto punctuated that last part with air quotes.
"Bolognese, I guess. White on the side." Jai said, giving up on enjoying her food and choosing to at least avoid an upset stomach. "Got any re-hydrated biscuits left today or are we fresh out of sawdust?"
"Set one aside just for you." Janto said with a wink as he scooped a hearty serving of red slop onto Jai's tray, "Same game as always. Guess which meat went into the new dish on the first try and you get a shot from my personal stash. I've already heard rindle pork, neobov, skelk, and mokk-beetles."
Jai steeled her nerves and used her hands to grab a piece of grayish flesh out of the sauce before popping it into her mouth. Depth of flavor indeed.
"I'd wager it's some local xeno-fish." Jai hadn't heard of anyone actually winning this game considering just how many options there were, but it was still fun to play. "No, wait. That discount story is a red herring, isn't it. Are you sure you didn't sneak expired chicken into this?"
"Not today, you were warmer with that fish guess. Closer to the flavor profile, anyway."
At that same time, Jai felt someone poke her shoulder and quietly mumble. Turning around she saw a short, gloomy looking kid wearing a surgical mask and far too many layers for how warm the ship ran, including a hood pulled low over his brow. In his gloved hands was a dirty food container.
Taking her turning around as an invitation, he squeezed past Jai and handed the container to Janto who had stopped serving Jai in order to pull an identical container out from under the counter. A container that seemed to be filled with, and Jai had to suppress actual nausea this time, a brown slurry of all four of today's wonderful "food" options. Once the kid had the new container Jai heard them mumble out what sounded like a "thank you" before quickly retreating back into the hall.
"Sorry about that. He's weird about eating around people, so I box his up to-go" Janto said, placing a biscuit onto Jai's tray that he'd grabbed from the same place as the container.
"Who is that, exactly? I noticed him a few stops ago, figured he was just a hired hand helping load cargo. Is that kid actually part of the crew?"
"You know, he's been around so long, I almost forgot how weird it is to have a kid on board." Janto chuckled to himself. "That's Arel, the medical officer. It's the reason Ree puts up with giving him special treatment. Don't wanna piss off the guy who patches you up, right? Plus that kid'll eat whatever you throw at him. Only member of the crew not to grimace the first time he tried one of Ree's specials."
"Can't believe the captain lets someone that young operate on people." Jai said with a bit of a frown. She wasn't planning to get injured, but with how clandestine this whole thing was turning out to be it wasn't something she could rule out.
"Arel's older than he looks. Still a few years from being grown, but he hit seventeen a few months back. You're lucky, really. Guy's come a long way in the six years he's been aboard. So if you ever need treatment, you'll be in good hands."
"He's been the doctor on a military ship since he was eleven?" Jai raised an eyebrow. Every new thing she learned about this crew made her a little more doubtful she'd made the right choice to join. "No wonder he's so gloomy and rude."
Janto shrugged.
"Look, I'm not one to go airing people's business, but you gotta cut the kid some slack, he's been through hell."
"Haven't we all?" Jai scoffed.
"Ain't that the star-forsaken truth. Now chow down while it's still warm. The bolognese gets a bit of an odd texture when it cools."