Chapter 73:
Chapter 73: The Gold Foil
The fake steak tasted like salt and burned garlic powder, and Caleb ate every bite of it.
Rank C stipend meant the premium menu line instead of the gray paste vat at the back of the mess. He sawed through the slab with a serrated knife that wasn't sharp enough for the job, chewed slow, and let the calories settle. The thing under his ribs took the food without arguing today. That was as close to peace as he got anymore.
Hiro sat across from him stripping his rifle on the metal table, gravy bowl pushed off to one side. A streak of underground soot still ran along the kid's jaw. He hadn't noticed it yet. His hands moved over the receiver without the shake they'd had two weeks ago, and that was the thing Caleb kept clocking. The shake was gone.
A tray dropped hard onto the table. Iharu slid onto the bench, glared at the meltwater dripping off his boots, and stabbed his fork into something green and rubbery.
"You held the line," Iharu said.
