Twinks in Space: Destination Unknown - Part One - 28. Chapter 28 - Cooking, Cocktails, and Conversation

“What is…” Lyoth paused mid-question. “Is it pronounced dzuwilla?”

He and Phentrom were with Tizzu and Devok in their kitchen.

“You said it perfectly!” Tizzu replied. “They’re a cave fish that our people have eaten forever.”

“Oh, that must be the traditional dish that Stawren and her father told us about,” Phentrom commented to Lyoth. He looked at Tizzu, “Are they little?”

Tizzu nodded and smiled.

“With so few inhabitants on Allthrin,” Devok explained, “the fish population has skyrocketed. Orzin and Stawren will have no problem catching plenty for supper.”

“I’m so excited to try them,” Phentrom declared. “Now, is there something we can help you prepare?”

“Not a thing,” Devok replied, “you two have a seat at the table, and Tizzu and I will take care of it all. Our life out here in Ebivon is pretty simple,” he added. “In its heyday, Allarei people living on Allthrin were able to cultivate lots of veggies, even down here underground, but we three live on a simpler diet, more like our ancestors.”

Tizzu let out a little laugh. “We eat dzuwilla multiple different ways, and there are countless varieties of mushrooms that our people have foraged since time immemorial. There is one vegetable that also thrives.” He held up a purple tuber. “This is sweet oilla. It grows on deep roots that reach all the way to these parts of the underground, and the leaves on the surface are almost black, which helps them absorb the light of our red dwarf.”

“Quite incredible,” Phentrom marveled.

“So, this evening,” Devok said, “we’ll be having spicy fried dzuwilla, chips made from oilla,” he pointed at the tuber, “and some delicious mushrooms. We also have pickled and salted dzuwilla in the cupboard.”

“Oh, yes,” Tizzu added, “they’re lovely on our chips! But can we start with a cocktail?” He took six long-stemmed glasses from a cabinet.

“Delightful!” Phentrom replied.

Lyoth gave the mandroid a peck on his cheek and asked Tizzu, “What’s in it?”

“Again,” Tizzu replied, “it’s pretty simple. We make a clear liquor from oilla that’s called oalli.”

“We mix it with a sugar substance that we extract from fresh sweet oilla tubers,” Devok added. “Cut with a little water, it’s very nice. Sorry we don’t have access to all the different mixers you might find in one of the regrowing urban centers, but we enjoy our simple life.” Devok pinched Tizzu’s bottom and he giggled.

“How often do you get visitors?” Phentrom asked the men.

“I’d say maybe about once a month, if we’re lucky.” Devok shrugged. “We like our quiet life.”

Tizzu finished mixing the drinks. “Here you go,” he said, handing glasses to Phentrom, Lyoth, and his husband. He had one for himself, and he set two other drinks on the counter off to the side for when Orzin and Stawren returned. Tizzu took a sip and puckered. “It’s zingy!”

Phentrom sampled his. “Oooh, Lyoth, I think you’re gonna love this.”

The four men enjoyed their first round while Tizzu prepped mushrooms and Devok sliced up three tubers. Just as Phentrom and Lyoth finished their drinks, Stawren and Orzin entered the house. They were carrying a bucket full of little fish.

“Look at all these!” Stawren said excitedly. “The rivers are overflowing with them.”

Orzin chuckled. “Stawren, help yourself to a drink,” and he took one of the two glasses Tizzu had saved. “Now, stand aside, you three, we’ve got a method.” He sat a large wok of oil to heat over a flame.

Like an organized assembly line, the three men took care of the fish. Orzin reached into the bucket and quickly pulled out a single fish. With a tiny knife, he slit open each one’s belly and removed its guts. Devok took the fish and dipped it in egg and flour, and egg and flour again, and Tizzu was in charge of frying them. One by one the little fish entered the hot oil, and as they cooked to perfection, Tizzu removed them and laid them out on a cooling rack.

After a moment, he encouraged their guests, “You three should try them while they’re hot.” He snatched one of the cooler ones from the rack and popped it into his mouth.

Stawren did not need to be offered the traditional delicacy twice. She closed her eyes and hummed contentedly as she chewed.

“The chips are baking,” Devok informed the others. “They’ll be done in a few.”

“And the ’shrooms are almost ready, too,” Orzin added.

Tizzu made another round of drinks while his husbands plated up the food. “I added a few drops of mushroom bitters to the cocktails this time,” he told the group. “It adds a little something to the oalli.”

The fish was crispy and succulent. The tuber chips were delightfully crunchy, and the mushrooms provided umami flavors that rounded out the meal.

“What is the flour made from?” Stawren asked, taking a moment to observe one of the fish before chomping it down.

“Dried oilla tuber that we grind down to a powder,” Orzin answered.

“You three really have made quite a life for yourselves,” Phentrom commented.

“We like it,” Tizzu replied.

When their meal was finished, they started a third round of drinks, and Orzin was just buzzing. “We haven’t asked yet,” he said, “but I’m dying to know, what are you hoping to find way out in Raxtack City? We always love to ask travelers what brings them out this far, since most people never leave Bavport after arriving. We’re always curious what drives the few people who make it out our way and beyond.”

Lyoth indicated himself and Phentrom, and he explained, “We used to be part of a community ship called the Ulaa-Lah, but we left to be together. Shortly after we left, there was a mutiny onboard. We were attacked, and then we connected with Stawren, and the three of us went with a bounty hunter on a rescue mission. The captain of the Ulaa-Lah had become a prisoner in his own home.”

“Oh, that’s awful!” Tizzu declared.

“It gets worse. We saved him,” Lyoth continued, “but we watched the ship enter a wormhole with an unknown destination.”

“And the wormhole is some sort of anomalous portal,” Stawren added. “It doesn’t simply eject matter in a single location elsewhere in space. The Ulaa-Lah is lost.”

“And,” Phentrom interjected, “let’s not forget that the wormhole was being powered by syphoning the brainwaves out of children!”

Orzin, Devok, and Tizzu were aghast.

“Is this all true?” Devok asked.

Phentrom nodded.

“We were able to find information about a hidden base,” Stawren continued, “but when we got there, it turned out to be a laboratory and a prison.”

“What happened to the children?” Tizzu asked in a whisper.

Stawren sighed. “When we learned about the base, there was a prison log listing 43 prisoners, but of course, it didn’t mention they were children.”

“By the time we arrived,” Lyoth added, “five of their test subjects,” and he said the words with disgust, “had already died, and we witnessed the scientist’s experiment drain the life of a sixth.”

“We managed to get the other 37 kids out,” Stawren concluded. “We packed them into a shuttle and brought them to one of the Hope medical ships.”

The three men were astounded by the story.

“Who are you three?” Tizzu asked.

Phentrom was quick to reply. “Oh, I’m just along for the ride.” He took Lyoth’s hand and nodded at Stawren. “It’s these two who are the heroes! As soon as Lyoth heard that the people in Stawren’s community were suffering, he orchestrated an uprising.”

“Stawren was definitely the lead on that,” Lyoth told the three men.

Orzin looked at his husbands and then back at their guests. “Would you mind if we offered you a traditional blessing tomorrow before you leave, for your success and your journey?”

“What do you mean?” Lyoth asked.

Devok smiled. “The three of us are practicing gijas.”

Stawren let out a gasp as her eyes lit up and a beaming smile spread across her face. Her voice cracked with excitement as she asked the three Blue-skinned men, “You’re witches?”