Vortex of Evil by S D Taylor Page B

in a sauce and plate with what appeared to be a rectangular yellow omelet sitting in a reddish brown sauce.  There was a single utensil that was designed to cut and scoop, but not be used as a weapon.  It had a plastic handle attached to a rectangular piece of metal with a slightly concave side opposite to where the handle attached.  It was essentially a square spoon.  You could use the straight edges to cut with.  Erin didn’t think it would work well with a steak, but maybe they didn’t have meat in their strange future world.
    She took the small tray back to her bunk and decided to be the brave one and try the food.  The green drink was the biggest challenge, but it was not as bad as she envisioned.  It tasted like apple juice and tomato juice mixed together.  Slightly sweet.  The fruit in the cup was round and melon-like.  The sauce had a faint mint taste that was quite unique.  The yellow substance might have been egg, but it was egg in a much different way than Erin had ever seen.  She had seen the omelets prepared by sushi chefs and this was similar in size and texture.  The sauce it was sitting in was the biggest surprise.  It was much spicier than Erin had been expecting and it shocked her at first.  But after a couple of bites, she became quite fond of it.  The breakfast was good and for the first time, she found herself able to attribute a slight bit of humanity to these future people.  Until she ate that breakfast, she envisioned that they ate live rats or something else equally disgusting. 
    Peter and Gaby finally began stirring and immediately showed interested in Erin’s breakfast. 
    “Should we wait for a half hour to see if you survive?”  Gaby stretched her neck to get a better view of what Erin was eating.
    Erin laughed.  “I think it is safe.  I found it to be quite good.  Surprisingly good.”
    Peter grabbed the two remaining trays and handed one to Gaby, who was still sitting on the edge of the bunk.  Peter sat on the floor and studied the unique utensil.  “Is this a spife or a knoon?”
    Gaby looked puzzled.  “What do you mean?”
    “Well the fast food places call a combination spoon and fork a spork.  I was trying to figure out what they would call a combination knife and spoon.”
    “I vote for spife.  Knoon will be too confusing with noon or spoon.”  Erin set her dishes back on the shelf and wondered when they would receive their next visit from Dara.
    She lay back on her bunk and thought about her visit with the older Erin.  It had been so interesting and yet shocking at the same time.  So much of life revolves around the journey of discovery.  The journey defines us, both the good and the bad.   After reflection, Erin wondered if it was a good idea to find out what happened in that alternate version of her life.  She wondered how many versions of her life were underway now with the temporal distortions resulting in different Erins in different realities.  She imagined that there could be many Erin stories that were happy endings and many others that were tragedies.  Was it possible for her to change any of those results or were each of the versions following a predetermined path?
    “What are you thinking about?  You seem to be lost in thought.”  Dara stood at the door.
    “I was wondering when we might see you again.  Thank you for breakfast.”  Erin looked up at her, but did not get up.  She was afraid of what might come next.
    “You need to come with me, Erin.”  Dara opened the door just wide enough for Erin to pass through.
    Erin walked over slowly and went through the door, keeping her eyes on Dara the whole time.  “What are we doing today?  I hope you are not planning to saw my leg off.”
    Dara paused and looked at Erin intently.  “What a wonderful idea.  That was not the plan, but we could make an exception if it would make you feel special.”
    Erin made a note to lay off the sarcasm before it got her into real