The virgin & the bad boy (Gravity)

B2/Chapter 33/Good old Eye cooking

It didn't take long to get toe Little Joes. It was a 'traditional martian' restaurant. Early mars food was chosen for nutrition, easy growing, productivity and radiation resistance. I know your thinking potatoes but it was so much more. Given say, potatoes, sea weed and green algae what would you cook? I don't know either.  So Martain colonists got creative with what little spices they could afford to bring from earth, you got things like Hekne's wedges. Some Martians still appreciate traditional 'Martian' cooking and this kind of place reminded people of the good old days.  The kind of days when everything wanted you dead, but it wasn't personal.

 I went in and looked at the conveyor belt of food running past booths. I looked around and wondered who my contact was.I sat down in an empty booth. They were tiny and made from recycled rocket booster. A waitress came up.

"Would you like a drink bud?" said the cheerful waitress who looked as old and recycled as the rocket booster booth. If I wanted a beer I would have to have my chip scanned to prove I was over 23 ( Earth imposed regulation ).

"Err Dandelion and Burdock," I said it was a traditional Martian drink made from weeds, "Vaderman sent me bud."

The waitress looked at me "We don't do referrals yakwim." she said pressing buttons on her phone. It was worth a try. 

She walked off and I looked at the table/screen which was full of specials. I went to the restroom and on the way passed a junkbox and some other machines. I as I passed I asked each machine in turn, if it was Vaderman, but got no reply. So I went back to my seat.

This place was so old it was a few years off becoming an ironic parody of its self. A robot turned up with my drink. The robot was assembled out of spare parts, so make-do-and-mend early Martian I'm sure an old timer would want to lean down a hug it bits. 

"So you're the mighty shadow bud?" said the robot.

I sat back. "Says who?" I asked.

"I'm still Vaderman." said the machine. I looked around.

"Well if you're the resistance where have you muppets been bud? I've done more in six months than you lot did in nearly two years yakwim."

"Believe me sister. We've been active. It's OK for you kids. We do something and everyone in a sector dies. Lost 16 people yesterday alone."

"Really?" I said picking up a falafel burger, hot from the conveyer-belt.

"There was a demonstration in New New Delhi about the explosion near First foot print city. The so-called ring leaders died mid protest from their implants."

"Gawd" I said putting the burger down.

"You didn't know. It wasn't in the news. It will make it to samizdat in a few months bud." said the robot. It was clear a human had hacked into this robot to. Weirdly even on the Eye the speech software for the robots didn't sound like Martians.

"Why havn't you linked up with us before now? I've been more than six months or more bud" I complained.

"Well lets see. Girl suddenly arrives on Mars after a couple of years on Earth. She's been magically off grid for more than a year. The same kind of time it would take her to go through Earth spy school training. She magically arrives on Mars with no tracker and then proceeds to run rings around the robots. Oh and did I mention she happens to be engaged to a huge sell out general Dante Tyrell who is or was in charge of the Mars Occupation forces. It does stink like an old wet dog doesn't it? Like you could you write a bigger sign with sting operation on it bud" said the drone.

I was even more sure it wasn't a drone now - machines don't get that sarcastic there must be a human running the show.

"Plus that whole story of you riding a heat shield down from orbit. Like totally unrealistic yakwim. Really blew the cover story." said Vaderman.