Zion's Children pt - 16

Byrin ate the thin slices of glazed meat on his plate, vaguely wondering what it was. It sort of tasted like beef, but he wasn't quite sure. Not that it mattered, really. It had been so long since he had eaten 'real' food that he could be eating dog meat for all he knew and it would have tasted wonderful. God, he hoped it wasn't dog meat! The bland food served in most ConFleet mess halls and on the starships were so processed that it ceased being 'real' long before it ever hit the plate. There were also long green beans and a mashed squash that he was unfamiliar with. The greens beans were seasoned well with pepper and the squash was sweetened with a sugar of some kind.

He normally didn't focus this much on food, but at the moment it was distracting him from his distraction. Miri did have a point...he couldn't cure this disease in one night, no matter how hard he tried. But each time he looked at her, he felt an urgency he had never felt before. Her original blood sample had been teaming with the cursed virus...even though her new one was clean. It was something they couldn't explain yet, but he knew deep down that it was a only a matter of time before this woman was sick and dying. And he didn't want that to happen.

And somehow he had worked himself back around to his first distraction.

It was more than her physical beauty. He had seen prettier women, though not by far. No, there was something deep about this woman. Something he couldn't put his finger on. All he knew is that he couldn't let her die. Suddenly the meat was sticking in his throat despite the thin sauce that flavored it.

"How's your food?" Miri asked suddenly, breaking into his thoughts.

Byrin looked over to her, though he had never really looked away. It looked as though she was nearly done with the blood samples. He should finish soon. "It's fine," he replied. "What exactly is the meat?"

Miri smiled. "It's beef. I doubt it tastes like anything you've ever called beef before. I've sampled ConFleet supplies before."

He laughed at how her nose wrinkled in disgust. "Our processed food does tend to be bland."

"That's one word for it."

"I have heard other descriptions," Byrin admitted. Very descriptive words actually. The price of progress he supposed.

Miri fell silent again, and Byrin let her. He dug back into his food, intent on finishing quickly so he could return to his task. Reflexively he checked the time. Miri was also right about that. He should at least let her go so that she could get some sleep. She must think him a slave driver keeping her to help him this long. Had she taken any breaks? Somehow he didn't think so.

"Miri, why don't you go ahead and get some sleep. I'll finish up here."

She tilted her head to look at him. "And when I return in the morning, will I find that you fell asleep at your computer screen?"

"Do I come off as that driven?"

"You do." Her smile took any sting out of the words. "I will stay, Doctor Gold."

He heard the unspoken 'someone needs to make sure you don't work yourself to death.' He managed to hold in his disgruntled sigh. He'd look at these blood samples and take what notes he needed and then they'd put things away for the night. After all, there was nothing stopping him from coming back early in the morning. He set his fork down, intent on his goal.

"All right then," he said. "Let's get this done so that we can call it a night."

Miri nodded as he hopped to his feet. "That's a good idea."