Page 60 of The Explorer
“Interesting.” Pearl stepped inside the room, which had a purple warm light glowing. “This is what hydroponic farming looks like.”
A young guide was excited to learn that we were interested and went over how the plants grew vertically in this compact setting with a minimum of water.
“And what about the animals?” my mother asked.
The guide pointed to a large interactive screen that explained how the survival bunkers had been designed to be self-sufficient for a doomsday scenario.
When we left the museum, Victor called me. We walked Pearl to her meeting with the prime minister and told her that we’d wait outside.
The meeting took around half an hour.
“How did it go?” Aubri asked.
“I think Monsieur Moreau understood my warning, but he’s a vain and proud man.”
“Did you manage to smooth things out?”
“It was a civil conversation, but diplomacy takes time, Aubri.” Pearl didn’t want to share more details and insisted that we forget about her meeting and go out to lunch instead.
We took them to a restaurant that we’d been in before and laughed when we tried some of the strangest things on the menu.
“What do you think this is?” My mother held a wiggly pink-colored worm shaped thing up in front of her face to study it.
“I don’t know, but they definitely put garlic in the sauce,” I said and took another spoonful. “It looks weird, but it’s actually pretty good.”
“I wish we could read the menu card,” Pearl commented.
“I’m sorry but I refuse to eat this, I think it’s some sort of intestine.” Laura sniffed the dish in front of her. “Look at the texture, is it liver maybe?”
Aubri leaned closer and poked the pieces of meat with a fork. “Could be heart or tongue.”
With her nose wrinkled up, Laura pushed it away.
“Oh, no.” Aubri laughed and pushed the plate back in front of her mother. “Remember your rule that we always had to try something before deciding if we liked it or not?”
I laughed. “Sucks when your own rules come back to bite you, huh?”
Laura gave us the stink-eye. “Why did you have to tell that waiter to bring me the most unique local dish? You should have ordered some chicken.”
“Tell you what, Mom, I’ll order some chicken for you as soon as you taste the food in front of you.”
My mother gave Laura a sympathetic glance. “I would offer to taste it with you, but you know I don’t eat meat.”
“Right now, I wish I didn’t either,” Laura muttered and cut a tiny bit.
“Oh, come on. That’s not a healthy bite. You won’t be able to taste anything.”
Laura sighed. “Don’t use my words against me.” Taking the bigger pieces, she closed her eyes and swallowed hard before she took two deep breaths and put the fork with the meat in her mouth.
Aubri rubbed Laura’s back and the rest of us cheered for her.
“So, how does it taste?”
“It’s heart, definitely heart. I recognize the taste from when I was a child.”
I called the waiter over and asked her what Laura was eating. The waiter was Belle’s age and happy to use her English. “It’s deer.”
“Is it the heart?” Laura asked.
