Titanium Texicans by Alan Black Page A

refried beans from last night’s barbeque on Deck Double-C.” She pushed a tab on the box and it folded out of the way.
    Anisa and Freddy each grabbed one of the three plates. Both tilted their heads sideways taking huge crunchy bites of tacos. They were halfway through their first taco before Tasso picked up his plate and looked at it in confusion.
    He’d never seen such a thing. The taco was a weird U shaped hard … thing … shell and stuffed inside was some kind of something Tasso assumed was meat. He recognized lettuce and tomatoes because he grew them in their gardens. There was some kind of yellow spongy stuff sprinkled on top, with a red liquid poured over the whole thing. It leaked juice onto the plate.
    Tasso was hungry enough to try anything, but he was also parched. He tried to balance the plate on one knee as he reached for a drink, but gave up trying as a futile exercise. He decided to eat first and then drink.
    Freddy grinned, “I grabbed the last three Sola Colas in the cooler. They still hadn’t restocked from last night. I had my hands on a couple of Bright Star Beers, but La Dueña Dunstan caught me.”
    Anisa frowned, “La Dueña Dunstan is gonna report you for trying to sneak beers.”
    Freddy shrugged, “Yeah, so what? What are they gonna do? Stick me on observation deck duty?”
    Anisa jabbed the end of her taco at the boy. “They could send you back down to waste management training.”
    Freddy laughed, “Been there and done that twice. Mom won’t go for a third time.”
    Anisa shook her head. “Being the captain’s grandson is only going to get you so far.”
    Tasso took the point in the conversation to take a bite of the taco. He imitated Anisa. He leaned forward and held the taco at a slight angle over the plate, allowing the juice to drip down onto the plate. He tilted his head to the side and took a big bite.
    An explosion of flavors blasted his mouth. He wasn’t sure what kind of meat was in the taco, but he knew the filling wasn’t yapikino. The meat was a sweet without any gristle and a little spicy on his tongue. The meat was still warm and the lettuce and tomato were cold, giving him an odd sensation of both hot and cold in the same bite. He still didn’t know what the yellow spongy stuff was, but it blended well with everything else.
    Tasso froze. His mouth was on fire and he could feel his tongue starting to swell up. He tried to spit the taco out, but it refused to leave his mouth. His eyes began to water and he tried to chew, but couldn’t bite down without the fire spreading. He was sure his teeth were beginning to sweat. He tried to swallow, but he’d taken too big a bite.
    Anisa pointed at the window. “Look, the Cooperstown in lifting off. Great! We shouldn’t be far behind.”
    Tasso tried to look at the Cooperstown through the veil of tears streaming out of his eyes, but he could barely see. He grabbed a drink and took a mouthful of the liquid. Whatever was in the drink wasn’t water! Freddy called it Sola Cola. It did little to ease the burning sensation in his mouth. Instead, it began to fizz and fill his mouth, puffing out his cheeks. He tried to swallow, but a huge chunk of taco shell threatened to block his throat. Instead of going down his throat, the drink bubbled up and out through his nose. It took some of the burning taco heat with it.
    He leaned over his plate, regardless of any expected embarrassment, opened his mouth, and let the whole mass plop back onto the plate. He coughed and sputtered trying to clear his airway.
    Freddy laughed.
    Anisa started to laugh, but Tasso’s face was turning beet red. He was breathing, but was only able to take a raspy breath between coughs. She slapped an icon on her dataport and pointed a finger at Freddy, “Get a water bottle now!” She shouted at the ceiling. “Observation deck! Medical emergency! Choking victim, barely breathing! Repeat! Observation deck! Medical emergency! Choking—” She continued to repeat