Mac dropped into one of the armchairs as Belle walked away, and a huge smile lit up her face when the owner brought the cakes and her coffee. The neurologist took a sip of the cappuccino and couldn't avoid to breathe a sigh of satisfaction. It was just the way she liked it, bitter from the espresso and sprinkled cocoa, and creamy from the foamed milk. Then she moved one of the pie plates of cake toward Isa, and took the other, grabbing a knife and fork to break it up before eating it.
The cake was perfect, a real explosion of flavor. Mac particularly liked that it had a pile of real strawberries covering the top, whose sweet but tender taste contrasted with the fluffy texture of the batter. She enjoyed each piece, eating them with genuine enthusiasm, and at the end she sighed again, her appetite calmed. She leaned back on the comfortable armchair and watched Niki also happily devour the piece of cake that Belle had brought her. The kitten was gobbling up small bites of cake and then looking up at Isabella and Mac, purring, as if trying to tell them how much she was enjoying it. She looked so funny that made the neurologist laugh.
"This was... delicious." Wilson took another sip of her coffee and looked Isabella. "It's very noticeable that the strawberries are fresh. It had been a long, long time since I had eaten strawberries. At Faith Haven we don't grow them, they're very delicate and require too much water."
Mac listened attentively as Isabella explained to her about in which foods the Healing Heart could be self-sufficiency and in which couldn't. It was true that a Nephilim's biodomes weren't as large as the ones the NCC had on Faith Haven, but it would have been impossible to attach something that size to a colony ship.
The neurologist made a gesture with her hand as if to remove seriousness. "Oh, well, but you've a fairly high level of nutritional autonomy, I think. We also don't have livestock in Faith Haven, it's currently not viable, and animal products must be brought from outside the planet, or from other colonies that do have. The only thing we've managed to do is grow meat in laboratories, you know, but that's just a small bandaid. We cannot produce it on a large scale." Mac looked around. "I could compare Faith Haven's self-sufficiency to the Healing Heart's, and I'd probably be being very generous to my humble colony, taking into account that MFE have much more means and collaborators to get everything you need." She took another sip of her coffee, and then she smiled at Saito. "Additionally, this 'colony' moves through space and jumps between systems. The truth is that it doesn't surprise me that the people who live here seem so relaxed and happy. This is a wonderful place to live, at least at first glance."
The neurologist was very excited when Isa commented on the new steps they had to take to make her become a member aboard the ship. She really wanted to be a part of something as big as the Healing Heart, and now that she had seen that it was something so impressive, she wanted it even more. She was sure that every second she spent there would be an enriching experience for her professional future, and the knowledge she acquired would directly benefit the settlers of Faith Haven.
Besides... well, she was very comfortable there, right? For a second Mac allowed herself to think that perhaps those months away from Pygar might even be good for her. Not only professionally, but perhaps also personally. The pace of daily work in the colony was overwhelming, and she had practically not had a vacation since the exodus from Gran Canaria. It was true that the situation had not allowed it, and rest was a luxury that the settlers of Faith Haven could not currently afford... but Mac sometimes felt that she needed a change of scenery, to clear her mind...
The neurologist forced herself to banish those thoughts from her head, almost ashamed for even having thought them. She wasn't there on vacation! The Church had sent her to study with the MFE so that she would become a competent psychologist and she could provide mental health care to the settlers. Hell, it had been her own idea, and she had had to insist a lot until the Concilium had finally listened to her. There were many people whose well-being could depend on her performance as a student at the Healing Heart, she couldn't waste time thinking about herself. She had a mission to accomplish, and also carrying it out successfully was part of fulfilling the Mandate of Deux. And of course, she was also indebted to Isabella, who had trusted her so much as to make her her personal student. There was too much at stake to allow herself to relax. She would not fail her people, her beliefs, and her mentor, just because she felt tired.
Mac nodded determinedly when Isa asked her what she wanted to do next. "Yes, that's right, we should get going now." She mentally reviewed the options Saito had offered her. "After the cake and the coffee I feel much better, ready to face a day of work. I think I'll be able to enjoy the atrium later, when I'm settled. There is certainly a lot to see, but I don't want to delay the admission procedures, I want to be able to be operational as soon as possible." She smiled, although inside she continued to feel guilty for what she considered her moment of weakness. "I would love to visit the bridge at a later moment, if the Captain allows it and it's not too much trouble for him. This is a unique occasion, a giant like this is something extremely rare to see, and I'll like to explore the Healing Heart in all the places I'm allowed. However, I agree with you that we should go to the library first. I want to have an idea of what study material I will need, maybe I can make a preview of something tonight in my cabin."
